Masks, temperature-taking and an app: Italy’s approach to reopening schools

A month after schools reopened in much of Europe, what are the new rules? How many have been forced to close? Anna Longhini looks at the situation in Italy and compares it with the rest of the continent

Regional security dialogues in Europe and in Asia: The role of Track 1.5 forums in the practice of international security

The term regional security dialogue brings to mind state-organised conferences and events; however, an under-appreciated subset of such dialogues are organised by non-state actors that have unique formal aspects. These quasi-formal dialogues operate alongside, and sometimes in competition to, state-sanctioned processes. Why do some of these forums appear to be more effective at fostering regional dialogue than strictly formal or informal processes with the same goals? Drawing from heterogenous discourse approaches, we address this question by identifying and expanding the concept of the quality of discursive space, as a key feature for the success of security dialogues. We then apply this concept to two of the most successful so-called Track 1.5 security dialogues: the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Europe and the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) in Asia. We analyse these cases using a mix of interviews with participants and organisers, participant observation, and public outputs with the aim of improving the understanding of the role and impact of Track 1.5 diplomacy in the practice of international security. Our findings highlight that it is what we call the quality of discursive space, as a mix of different components in this space, which differentiates effective dialogues from mere policy 'talk shops'

Potencial de produção de bovinos de corte em pastagens tropicais: revisão de literatura

O termo potencial de produção representa a quantidade máxima de produto que seria possível se obter em uma determinada área. Mas qual é o potencial de produção da bovinocultura de corte em pastagens tropicais? Para responder esta pergunta, é necessário compreender os fatores relacionados ao acúmulo de forragem, eficiência de pastejo, composição química da planta forrageira, consumo de forragem e requerimento nutricional dos animais para um dado desempenho, manejo, genética e gestão do sistema de produção. A produtividade média anual da pecuária de corte no Brasil está em torno de 120 kg de peso corporal (aproximadamente 60 kg de carcaça) por hectare. Este índice está bem abaixo de resultados reportados na literatura. O manejo adequado de pastagens com forrageiras tropicais normalmente proporciona taxa de lotação acima de uma unidade animal (UA, 450 kg) por hectare. O aumento na taxa de lotação, combinado com elevado ganho de peso proporcionam alta produtividade, podendo ultrapassar 1260 kg de peso corporal (aproximadamente 630 kg de carcaça) anuais por hectare. A produção de bovinos de corte em pastagens tropicais possui alto potencial de resposta quanto a adoção de tecnologias para incremento nos índices de produtividade. Palavras-chave: gado de corte, ganho de peso, intensificação, produtividade, taxa de lotação

Reuso de águas cinzas em empreendimentos comerciais: um estudo de caso em edifício hoteleiro de Belo Horizonte / Reuse of gray water in commercial projects: a case study in a hotel building in Belo Horizonte

As tecnologias de reuso de águas cinzas são soluções sustentáveis e contribuem para uso racional da água, proporcionando a redução da demanda sobre os mananciais de água. A atividade hoteleira pode ser considerada uma das atividades comerciais que mais consomem água, graças a sua complexidade e por necessidades peculiares a este ramo econômico. Portanto, é urgente implementar o uso racional da água, a preservação e o seu reuso nestes ambientes. O estudo apresenta um levantamento sobre a viabilidade econômica de se implementar o reuso de água em um empreendimento hoteleiro de Belo Horizonte e faz uma análise desta prática acerca de sistemas de tratamento que propiciam a recirculação deste efluente, citando suas vantagens e desvantagens.

The impact of surgical delay on resectability of colorectal cancer: An international prospective cohort study

AIM: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to explore the impact of surgical delays on cancer resectability. This study aimed to compare resectability for colorectal cancer patients undergoing delayed versus non-delayed surgery. METHODS: This was an international prospective cohort study of consecutive colorectal cancer patients with a decision for curative surgery (January-April 2020). Surgical delay was defined as an operation taking place more than 4 weeks after treatment decision, in a patient who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy. A subgroup analysis explored the effects of delay in elective patients only. The impact of longer delays was explored in a sensitivity analysis. The primary outcome was complete resection, defined as curative resection with an R0 margin. RESULTS: Overall, 5453 patients from 304 hospitals in 47 countries were included, of whom 6.6% (358/5453) did not receive their planned operation. Of the 4304 operated patients without neoadjuvant therapy, 40.5% (1744/4304) were delayed beyond 4 weeks. Delayed patients were more likely to be older, men, more comorbid, have higher body mass index and have rectal cancer and early stage disease. Delayed patients had higher unadjusted rates of complete resection (93.7% vs. 91.9%, P = 0.032) and lower rates of emergency surgery (4.5% vs. 22.5%, P < 0.001). After adjustment, delay was not associated with a lower rate of complete resection (OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.90-1.55, P = 0.224), which was consistent in elective patients only (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.69-1.27, P = 0.672). Longer delays were not associated with poorer outcomes. CONCLUSION: One in 15 colorectal cancer patients did not receive their planned operation during the first wave of COVID-19. Surgical delay did not appear to compromise resectability, raising the hypothesis that any reduction in long-term survival attributable to delays is likely to be due to micro-metastatic disease

Institutionalization of Foreign Policy Think Tanks in Italy and in the UK: An Explanatory Framework

This article explores the phenomenon of foreign policy think tanks in Europe in a comparative perspective and offers a framework of analysis for this topic. Assuming that think tanks were largely imported from the US after World Wars I and II, the article argues that European think tanks have been influenced by the different national political contexts in which they have undergone a process of institutionalization. First, the article hypothesizes that such contexts have contributed to determining different incentives for cooperation between think tanks and national policymakers. Such cooperation is based on the willingness of policymakers to turn to think tanks for expertise, advice or validation of policy decisions. Secondly, different political contexts are expected to influence the strategies of action that think tanks have developed towards policymakers and their audience. In this respect, the article identifies three strategies: the generalist, the advocate and the lobbyist. Empirically, the article is based on a survey of eleven organizations conducted in two countries, Italy and the United Kingdom, in 2013-14. Given that very few data are available on this type of organization, their activities, funding, policy audience and goals are investigated. These indicators are used to investigate the main commonalities and differences between the two cases and to compare them with the hypotheses. The results first show that there is comparatively more funding available for think tanks in the UK system than in the Italian one. Secondly, there is apparently more willingness from policymakers to turn to think tanks for expertise in the former case, considering that the UK think tanks hold a higher number of closed-door events and parliamentary hearings. On the contrary, where policymakers tend, instead, to more scarcely rely on external expertise - as it seems more evident in the Italian case - the core audience of think tanks tends to shift to other, more accessible targets (the public opinion, the academia or even businesses). The case study makes it more evident how advocacy becomes a far less important activity for an Italian think tank than a UK one

Continuità e cambiamento nella politica migratoria dell’UE dopo il 2015

When in 2015 an unprecedented number of migrants crossed the Mediterranean from North Africa towards Southern Europe, the EU was forced to update the its Migration and Asylum Policy. This article reviews the main EU responses to the so-called “Migrant crisis” from the peak of arrivals of more than 1.8 million migrants in 2015 to the end of the mandate of the Juncker Commission in 2019, right before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the drafting of the New Pact on Migration. Drawing on historical institutionalism as a theoretical background to examine the evolution and the transformation of the EU Migration and Asylum Policy, the article examines how the cumulated layers of rules and agreements produced since 2000 have contributed to the policy change or rather its continuity, also driven by the 2015 crisis. In that perspective, particular attention is paid to the EU-Turkey Statement, and the agreements with Niger and Libya.Quando nel 2015 un numero senza precedenti di migranti ha attraversato il Mediterraneo dal Nord Africa verso l’Europa, l’Unione europea è stata costretta ad aggiornare la politica UE in materia di migrazione e asilo. Questo articolo passa in rassegna le principali risposte dell’UE alla cosiddetta “crisi dei migranti” nel 2015 fino alla fine del mandato della Commissione Juncker nel 2019, proprio prima dello scoppio della pandemia di Covid-19 e della stesura del Nuovo Patto sulla Migrazione. Attingendo all’istituzionalismo storico come background teorico per esaminare l’evoluzione e la trasformazione della politica di migrazione e asilo dell’UE, l’articolo indaga come strati cumulativi di norme e accordi prodotti a partire dal 2000 abbiano contribuito al cambiamento o, piuttosto, alla continuità di questa politica, anche sotto la spinta della crisi del 2015. In quest’ottica, l’articolo si concentra in particolare sulla dichiarazione UE-Turchia e gli accordi con Niger e Libia

<Contributed Talk 25>Modeling Coupled Serial Non-Uniform bi-SQUIDs

[Date] November 28 (Mon) - December 2 (Fri), 2011: [Place] Kyoto University Clock Tower Centennial Hall, Kyoto, JAPA

Atrial septal aneurysm as a cardioembolic source in adult patients with stroke and normal carotid artery. A multicenter study

Background Atrial septal aneurysm has been considered a potential source of cardiogenic embolism for many years.The present study evaluated the prevalence and characteristicsof atrial septal aneurysm in a patient population with stroke and normal carotid arteries compared to a control population without stroke.Methods A total of 606 patients were enrolled between November 1990 and December 1996. The study group included 245 patients who had experienced cerebral ischaemic attack but had normal carotid arteries. The control group included 316 age- and sex-matched patients undergoing transoesophageal echocardiography for indications other than a search for a cardiac source of embolism. The prevalence and morphological characteristics of atrial septal aneurysm were evaluated and compared.Results We reported a higher prevalence of atrial septal aneurysm in the group with cerebral ischaemia; 68 patients (27·7%) vs 36 patients (9·9%) from the control group; P<0·001. A patent foramen ovale was detected with contrast injection in 69·2% of the patients with atrial septal aneurysm. Atrial septal aneurysm predicted the presence of a patent foramen ovale (odds ratio of patent foramen ovale 4·2; 95% CI 1·03–9·8). Multivariate analysis showed that atrial septal aneurysm was an independent predictor of an embolic event. In the 95% of patients with atrial septal aneurysm and cerebral ischaemia aged less than 45 years, transoesophageal echocardiography did not detect a source of embolism other than an associated patent foramen ovale. Conclusions The prevalence of atrial septal aneurysm inpatients with cerebral ischaemia and normal carotid arterieswas 27·7%, higher than the control group. Atrial septalaneurysm was frequently associated with patent foramenovale. In patients less than 45 years old, atrial septalaneurysm was the only potential cardiac source of embolismdetected with transoesophageal echocardiography

Frequency of atrial septal aneurysm in Patients with Recent Stroke. Preliminary resulta from a multicenter Study

BACKGROUND: The role of atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) as a risk factor for cerebral ischemia of unknown etiology is controversial. Recent studies have found an association between ASA and focal ischemic events, while results from other studies suggest a low incidence of embolism in patients with ASA. HYPOTHESIS: The present study was designed to evaluate the frequency of ASA, a minor cardioembolic source, in patients with a recent stroke presenting with normal carotid arteries. METHODS: In all, 394 patients with cerebral ischemic stroke were referred to our institutions. Patients underwent transthracic and transesophageal echocardiography and carotid artery ultrasound examination. The study population included 215 patients without significant arterial disease. Frequency and morphologic characteristics of ASA were evaluated. RESULTS: Transthoracic examination showed ASA in 39 patients (18%), while transesophageal echocardiography showed ASA in 61 patients (28%). A patent foramen ovale was found in 47 patients (21.8%) and was associated with ASA in 40 patients (65.5%). We observed an increased thickness of the aneurysmatic wall (3.80 +/- 1.7 mm) in all patients with ASA. CONCLUSIONS: The present study confirms the relationship between ASA and stroke in patients with normal carotid arteries. The most common abnormality associated with ASA was patent foramen ovale. We suggest that patients who have a stroke in the absence of significant carotid disease undergo transesophageal echocardiography to identify possible underlying septal abnormalitie