Storytelling in design for social innovation and politics: a reading through the lenses of Hannah Arendt

The German philosopher Hannah Arendt believes that storytelling can be used to reopen the idea of public space and to facilitate dialogue/action amongst citizens aimed at attaining a more participative society. She regards storytelling as the only real political action, as it opens up the idea of public space where everybody is invited to take part in the discussion in which decisions upon the polis – the common realm – are taken together. Arendt goes back to Aristotle’s definition that man is a political animal, “zoon politikon”. To participate in the construction of the common realm and to be an active component of societal life is what defines the most profound human vocation. Arendt sees this as the meaning of the word “hero”; not a superman, but rather one who contributes to the construction of the public sphere. This paper further expands on the political implications of storytelling in social innovation, by taking into account the writings of Arendt as well as some experimentations of use of storytelling in social innovation taken place at international level

Storytelling in design for social innovation and politics: a reading through the lenses of Hannah Arendt

The German philosopher Hannah Arendt believes that storytelling can be used to reopen the idea of public space and to facilitate dialogue/action amongst citizens aimed at attaining a more participative society. She regards storytelling as the only real political action, as it opens up the idea of public space where everybody is invited to take part in the discussion in which decisions upon the polis – the common realm – are taken together. Arendt goes back to Aristotle’s definition that man is a political animal, “zoon politikon”. To participate in the construction of the common realm and to be an active component of societal life is what defines the most profound human vocation. Arendt sees this as the meaning of the word “hero”; not a superman, but rather one who contributes to the construction of the public sphere. This paper further expands on the political implications of storytelling in social innovation, by taking into account the writings of Arendt as well as some experimentations of use of storytelling in social innovation taken place at international level.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Targeted industrial policy and government failures: insights from the South Korean experience

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the efficiency and effectiveness of industrial policies by focusing on the peculiar experience of South Korea. It analyzes Korean structural change from a historical and empirical standpoint, highlighting industrial policy interventions involved in this process. The analysis presented offers important insights to inform the debate on the contemporary industrial policy, identifying specific elements and circumstances that can contribute to mitigate government failures and to improve the effectiveness of public action. Design/methodology/approach: The paper adopts a historical and empirical perspective. Concerning the empirical analysis, a composite indicator to assess the process of structural change of economies is presented. This methodology provides annual rankings based on the different economic relevance of the manufacturing sectors over the period 1963–2012. Findings: The paper shows that industrial policy has been extensively involved in South Korean structural development but public intervention interacted with several other factors, including gradual markets liberalization, education, societal and cultural characteristics and low level of income inequalities. As a result, economic development is conceived as systemic process, namely as the outcome of a balance in the roles played by government, markets and civil society. In this framework, government failures, as inability of the government to respond effectively and efficiently to the general interest of the society, are intimately inherent to the mechanisms that rule the relevant relationships within the system. Originality/value: In the post-crisis debate, very little attention has been devoted in academic and political debate to the ways to mitigate government failures. By analyzing the historical and recent Korean experience with industrial policy, the paper addresses an issue insufficiently analyzed offering an innovative contribution

The Palliative Prognostic (PaP) Score without Clinical Evaluation Predicts Early Mortality among Advanced NSCLC Patients Treated with Immunotherapy

Background: An acceptable risk-benefit ratio may encourage the prescription of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) near the late stage of life. The lung immune prognostic index (LIPI) was validated in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with ICIs. The palliative prognostic (PaP) score without clinical prediction of survival (PaPwCPS) predicts early mortality probability in terminal cancer patients. Methods: We performed a retrospective study including 182 deceased advanced NSCLC patients, treated with single-agent ICI at our Institution. Two prognostic categories of high and low mortality risk were identified through ROC curve analysis for PaPwCPS and LIPI scores. Results: Most were >65 years of age (68.3%) and received second-line ICI (61.2%). A total of 29 (15.9%) and 131 (72.0%) patients died within 30 and 90 days from treatment start, respectively. A total of 81 patients (44.5%) received ICI during the last month of life. Baseline PaPwCPS and LIPI scores were assessable for 78 patients. The AUC of ROC curves was significantly increased for PaPwCPS as compared with LIPI score for both 30-day and 90-day mortality. A high PaPwCPS score was associated in multivariate analysis with increased 30-day (HR 2.69, p = 0.037) and 90-day (HR 4.01, p < 0.001) mortality risk. A high LIPI score was associated with increased 90-day mortality risk (p < 0.001). Conclusion: We found a tendency towards ICI prescription near the late stage of life. The PaPwCPS score was a reliable predictor of 30- and 90-day mortality

From Monoamine Oxidase Inhibition to Antiproliferative Activity: New Biological Perspectives for Polyamine Analogs

: Monoamine oxidases (MAOs) are well-known pharmacological targets in neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. However, recent studies have revealed a new role for MAOs in certain types of cancer such as glioblastoma and prostate cancer, in which they have been found overexpressed. This finding is opening new frontiers for MAO inhibitors as potential antiproliferative agents. In light of our previous studies demonstrating how a polyamine scaffold can act as MAO inhibitor, our aim was to search for novel analogs with greater inhibitory potency for human MAOs and possibly with antiproliferative activity. A small in-house library of polyamine analogs (2-7) was selected to investigate the effect of constrained linkers between the inner amine functions of a polyamine backbone on the inhibitory potency. Compounds 4 and 5, characterized by a dianiline (4) or dianilide (5) moiety, emerged as the most potent, reversible, and mainly competitive MAO inhibitors (Ki < 1 μM). Additionally, they exhibited a high antiproliferative activity in the LN-229 human glioblastoma cell line (GI50 < 1 μM). The scaffold of compound 5 could represent a potential starting point for future development of anticancer agents endowed with MAO inhibitory activity

Effect of dietary inclusion of different lipid supplements on performance and carcass quality traits of growing beef heifers

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of dietary extruded flaxseed and/or rumen-protected lipids on growth performance and carcass quality of growing beef heifers. Sixty-three crossbreed heifers (Charolais X Limousine) were distributed into seven experimental groups, balanced in terms of age and live weight. Diets fed to the groups were isoproteic and differed in both, the dietary lipid source (extruded linseed and/or rumen-protected conjugated linoleic acid) and the supplementation length (90 or 180 days before slaughtering), having the same total amount of lipids and vitamin E, during their finishing period. The results obtained in the present study confirm that in low-protein diets, the inclusion of rumen-protected CLA, alone or in combination with flaxseed, did not bring any evident effect on feed intake, performance and carcass quality traits of growing beef heifers

Prediction of early recurrent thromboembolic event and major bleeding in patients with acute stroke and atrial fibrillation by a risk stratification schema: the ALESSA score study

Background and Purposes—This study was designed to derive and validate a score to predict early ischemic events and major bleedings after an acute ischemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. Methods—The derivation cohort consisted of 854 patients with acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation included in prospective series between January 2012 and March 2014. Older age (hazard ratio 1.06 for each additional year; 95% confidence interval, 1.00–1.11) and severe atrial enlargement (hazard ratio, 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.08–2.87) were predictors for ischemic outcome events (stroke, transient ischemic attack, and systemic embolism) at 90 days from acute stroke. Small lesions (≤1.5 cm) were inversely correlated with both major bleeding (hazard ratio, 0.39; P=0.03) and ischemic outcome events (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.30–1.00). We assigned to age ≥80 years 2 points and between 70 and 79 years 1 point; ischemic index lesion &#62;1.5 cm, 1 point; severe atrial enlargement, 1 point (ALESSA score). A logistic regression with the receiver-operating characteristic graph procedure (C statistic) showed an area under the curve of 0.697 (0.632–0.763; P=0.0001) for ischemic outcome events and 0.585 (0.493–0.678; P=0.10) for major bleedings. Results—The validation cohort consisted of 994 patients included in prospective series between April 2014 and June 2016. Logistic regression with the receiver-operating characteristic graph procedure showed an area under the curve of 0.646 (0.529–0.763; P=0.009) for ischemic outcome events and 0.407 (0.275–0.540; P=0.14) for hemorrhagic outcome events. Conclusions—In acute stroke patients with atrial fibrillation, high ALESSA scores were associated with a high risk of ischemic events but not of major bleedings

Timing of initiation of oral anticoagulants in patients with acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation comparing posterior and anterior circulation strokes

Background: The aim of this study in patients with acute posterior ischemic stroke (PS) and atrial fibrillation (AF) were to evaluate the risks of recurrent ischemic event and severe bleeding and these risks in relation with oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT) and its timing. Methods: Patients with PS were prospectively included; the outcome events of these patients were compared with those of patients with anterior stroke (AS) which were taken from previous registries. The primary outcome was the composite of: stroke recurrence, TIA, symptomatic systemic embolism, symptomatic cerebral bleeding and major extracranial bleeding occurring within 90 days from acute stroke. Results: A total of 2,470 patients were available for the analysis: 473 (19.1%) with PS and 1,997 (80.9%) AS. Over 90 days, 213 (8.6%) primary outcome events were recorded: 175 (8.7%) in patients with AS and 38 (8.0%) in those with PS. In patients who initiated OAT within 2 days, the primary outcome occurred in 5 out of 95 patients (5.3%) with PS compared to 21 out of 373 patients (4.3%) with AS (OR 1.07; 95% CI 0.39-2.94). In patients who initiated OAT between days 3 and 7, the primary outcome occurred in 3 out of 103 patients (2.9%) with PS compared to 26 out of 490 patients (5.3%) with AS (OR 0.54; 95% CI 0.16-1.80). Conclusions: Patients with posterior or anterior stroke and AF appear to have similar risks of ischemic or hemorrhagic events at 90 days with no difference concerning the timing of initiation of OAT

Hemorrhagic transformation in acute ischemic stroke patients and atrial fibrillation: time to initiation of anticoagulants and outcome

Background: In patients with acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation, early anticoagulation prevents ischemic recurrence but with the risk of hemorrhagic transformation (HT). The aims of this study were to evaluate in consecutive patients with acute stroke and atrial fibrillation (1) the incidence of early HT, (2) the time to initiation of anticoagulation in patients with HT, (3) the association of HT with ischemic recurrences, and (4) the association of HT with clinical outcome at 90 days. Methods and Results: HT was diagnosed by a second brain computed tomographic scan performed 24 to 72 hours after stroke onset. The incidence of ischemic recurrences as well as mortality or disability (modified Rankin Scale scores &gt;2) were evaluated at 90 days. Ischemic recurrences were the composite of ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, or systemic embolism. Among the 2183 patients included in the study, 241 (11.0%) had HT. Patients with and without HT initiated anticoagulant therapy after a mean 23.3 and 11.6 days, respectively, from index stroke. At 90 days, 4.6% (95% confidence interval, 2.3–8.0) of the patients with HT had ischemic recurrences compared with 4.9% (95% confidence interval, 4.0–6.0) of those without HT; 53.1% of patients with HT were deceased or disabled compared with 35.8% of those without HT. On multivariable analysis, HT was associated with mortality or disability (odds ratio, 1.71; 95% confidence interval, 1.24–2.35). Conclusions: In patients with HT, anticoagulation was initiated about 12 days later than patients without HT. This delay was not associated with increased detection of ischemic recurrence. HT was associated with increased mortality or disability