“We may be caught in the trap of a garrison state”:* Harold D. Lasswell, the American Middle Class and the Political Legitimacy of the National Security State

The cases of Snowden and Manning have contributed to the re-opening of the public and academic debate about national security, individual freedom and democracy. This debate began after 9/11 when the war on terror renewed the state-building process that had begun after World War II. Although historians have reconstructed the historical making of the national security state, the essay sheds new light on the debate culminating in the National Security Act by analyzing the writings of the social scientist that first urged upon Americans the perils of a “garrison state”: Harold D. Lasswell. His scientific essays and public speeches recognized the international role of the United States and the related necessities of national security, but suggested adjustments that—in his mind—would avoid the rise of a garrison state. What emerges was the question of the political legitimation of the national security state, a legitimation that Lasswell based upon the consensus of the American middle class

The New Class of Neoconservatism and the De/legitimization of American Capitalism

The essay presents the U.S. debate on new class as a political category that pivoted to the rise of neoconservatism, the public writing of the neoconservative discourse – particularly Daniel P. Moynihan and Irving Kristol – and their strategy aimed at attacking the scientific and political foundations of the liberal order of American capitalism, which between the 1960s and 1970s no longer found in the middle class the public word that had laid to rest the social and political conflict of the 1930s fueling the post-World War II consensus. In the neoconservative discourse, also in dialogue with neoliberalism, new class identified an "ideological enemy" that had to be disciplined in favor of capitalism, that is, educated in respect to the authority – of society and its moral foundation, the market and its hierarchies – that social movements were challenging

Un progetto in movimento. Il capitale in azione nella nuova storia (politica) del capitalismo americano

The essay reconstructs the recent U.S. history of American capitalism, organizing it around the long nineteenth century from early republic to the social and political transformations following the Civil War, and a short century marked by the implosion of the New Deal social order in the neoconservative and neoliberal turn. The New History of Capitalism undoubtedly has the merit of bringing history – and political history in particular – back centre to the study of American capitalism, but the convergence of economic/social history and political/intellectual history marks a shift in the centrality of social conflict which marked Labour History in the last century. The history of American capitalism thus tends to be a history of its order of power – proprietary, mercantile and monetary, economic and financial, legal and institutional

La New Class del neoconservatorismo e la de/legittimazione del capitalismo americano.

The essay presents the American debate on the \uabnew class\ubb as a political category that has been the pivot of the rise of neoconservatism, the public writing of the neocons\u2019 discourse \u2013 in particular the one of Daniel P. Moynihan and Irving Kristol \u2013 and their strategy aimed at attacking the scientific and political foundations of the liberal order of the American capitalism that between the Sixties and Seventies no longer found in the \uabmiddle class\ubb the public word that had tamed the social and political conflicts of the Thirties and fueled the consensus of the second post-war period. In the neoconservative discourse, also in dialogue with neoliberalism, the \uabnew class\ubb identified an \uabideological enemy\ubb that had to be disciplined in favor of capitalism, educated in respect of the authority \u2013 of society and its moral foundation, of the market and its hierarchies \u2013 that the social movements were contesting

Middle-Class Revolution. La classe media americana come categoria ideologica della teoria della modernizzazione

Nella prospettiva della intellectual history il saggio ricostruisce come le scienze sociali statunitensi abbiano affrontato la crisi della classe media americana nella grande depressione degli anni Trenta delineando una categoria ideologica di middle class che negli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta è stata posta alla base della teoria della modernizzazione plasmando la politica estera statunitense nei confronti dell’America Latina: middle class diventava un’arma politico-culturale dell’arsenale democratico statunitense impiegato per vincere la Guerra fredda, nello stesso tempo rilevava limiti e contraddizioni di una politica della modernizzazione che subordinava i processi di democratizzazione a motivi di interesse economico, sicurezza nazionale e dominio imperiale

Cervical manipulation and cerebrovascular ischemia. A rare but dangerous association. Monocentric experience in a high CEA volume center and literature review.

Abstract Background: A correlation between stroke and cervical manipulation in the neck is reported in the literature with increasing frequency, and each new publication seems to rekindle the debate. The manipulations in the cervical region is potentially dangerous for arterial vessels. The aim of this work is to analyze the incidence of these events in the experience of a center with high volume surgery, in which emergency interventions are performed for acute cerebrovascular Ischemia. Methods: Data were collected regarding patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy surgery for neurological symptoms of cerebrovascular insufficiency over a seven-year period. Results: The intervention was conducted urgently in 66 cases for acute symptoms (7.6%) with a median symptom interval / CEA: 39.4 ± 5.4 h) in 32 cases for hemispheric transient ischemic attack, while in 34 for minor stroke. Only in 1 case (1.5%) did a condition of severe spondyloarthrosis of the cervical spine occur in acute carotid plaque in C4-C5. In another case (1.5%) a cervical trauma caused by beatings is documented. Conclusions: Manipulations of the neck and cervical spine can rarely cause or contribute to worsening neurological symptoms, however they should always be considered

Autologous fat grafting efficacy in treating PostMastectomy pain syndrome: A prospective multicenter trial of two Senonetwork Italia breast centers.

Postmastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) represents a common complication following breast surgery defined as a chronic neuropathic pain located in the front of the chest, in the axilla and in the upper arm that for more than 3 months after surgery. Several medications prove to be ineffective while autologous fat grafting revealed to be an innovative solution in the treatment of neuropathic pain syndromes based on retrospective studies. For this reason, we performed a prospective multicenter trial to reduce the memory bias and further increase the evidence of the results. From February 2018 to March 2019, 37 female patients aged between 18 and 80 years, underwent mastectomy or quadrantectomy with pathologic scarring and chronic persistent neuropathic pain, compatible with PMPS, are been included in the study and treated with autologous fat grafting. During the enrollment phase, patients were asked to estimate pain using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and POSAS questionnaire in order to evaluate scar outcomes. The VAS scale, starting from 6.9 (1.3), decreased in the first month by 3.10 (1.59), continuing to fall by 0.83 (1.60) to 3 months and by 0.39 (2.09) at 6 months. Statistical analysis showed a significant reduction after 1 month (P < .0001) and 3 months (P < .005). All POSAS grades documented a statistically significant reduction (P < .0001) of the scores by both observers and patients. We observed that no significant association was found between age, BMI, menopausal status of patients, days from oncologic surgery to autologous fat grafting and reduction of VAS values over time while both smoking and axillary dissection were observed as the main factor significantly associated with a reduced clinical efficacy (respectively, P = .0227 and P = .0066). Our prospective multicenter trial confirms the efficacy of fat grafting in the treatment of PMPS based on the principle of regenerative medicine with a satisfactory response in terms of pain reduction and improvement of the quality of the treated tissues. Clinical questionnaires show that the cicatricial areas improve in terms of color, thickness, skin pliability, and surface irregularities. Regenerative effect is based also on the adoption of needles. The combined effect of fat grafting and needles determines a clinical full response

Prodromal angina and risk of 2-year cardiac mortality in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous intervention

We sought to investigate the prognostic significance of prodromal angina (PA) in unselected patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) and its additive predictive value to the GRACE score.We prospectively enrolled 3015 consecutive STEMI patients undergoing PPCI. Patients were divided in 2 groups according to the presence or absence of PA. Multivariable Cox regression was used to establish the relation to 2-year cardiac mortality of PA.The mean age of the study population was 68 (±14) years; 2178 patients (72%) were male. During follow-up, 395 (13%) patients died with 278 of these (9.2%) suffering from cardiac mortality. Kaplan-Meier estimates showed a survival rate of 95% and 87% for patients with PA and no PA, respectively (log rank test &lt; 0.001). After multivariable analysis, patients with PA had still a lower risk of 2 years' cardiac mortality compared with patients without PA (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.50; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-1.81, P = .001). Evaluation of net reclassification improvement showed that reclassification improved by 0.16% in case patients, whereas classification worsened in control patients by 1.08% leading to a net reclassification improvement of -0.93% (95% CI: -0.98, -0.88).In patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI the presence of PA is independently associated with a lower risk of 2-year cardiac mortality. However, the incorporation of this variable to the GRACE score slightly worsened the classification of risk. Accordingly, it seems unlikely that the evaluation of PA may be useful in clinical practice

Robot-assisted upper limb training for patients with multiple sclerosis: an evidence-based review of clinical applications and effectiveness

Upper extremities limitation is a common functional impairment in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS). Novel technological devices are increasingly used in neurorehabilitation to support motor function improvement and the quantitative assessment of motor performance during training in patients with neurological diseases. In this review, we systematically report the evidence on clinical applications and robotic-assisted arm training (RAT) in functional recovery in PwMS. PubMed/MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) databases were systematically searched from inception to March 2021. The 10-item PEDro scale assessed the study quality for the RCT, and the AMSTAR-2 was used to assess the quality of the systematic review. The 5-item Oxford CEBM scale was used to rate the level of evidence. A total of 10 studies (161 subjects) were included. The selected studies included one systematic review, four RCTs, one randomized crossover, and four case series. The RCTs were scored as high-quality studies, while the systematic review was determined to be of low quality. Shoulder range of motion, handgrip strength, and proximal arm impairment improved after RAT. Manual dexterity, arm function, and use in daily life also ameliorated arm function. The high clinical heterogeneity of treatment programs and the variety of robot devices affects the generalizability of the study results; therefore, we emphasize the need to standardize the intervention type in future studies that evaluate the role of robotic-assisted training in PwMS. Robot-assisted treatment seems safe and useful to increase manual dexterity and the quality of movement execution in PwMS with moderate to severe disability. Additional studies with an adequate sample size and methodological rigour are warranted to drive definite conclusion