Il Patrimonio Culturale tra esigenze e funzionalità quotidiane

La memoria vuole evidenziare come la politica che una nazione adotta sul patrimonio storico, ed in particolare sulle aree urbane, se adeguatamente correlata agli aspetti della Conservazione, della Valorizzazione, della Fruizione etc., puà migliorare, anche in modo significativo, lo sviluppo economico di un territorio che spesso, essendo depositario di specifiche caratteristiche, è Patrimonio non soltanto del singolo paese ma dell’intera Umanità. Una città accessibile a tutti i fruitori, dal turista, allo studioso, al portatore di handicap, etc., puà divenire fattore trainante di uno sviluppo culturale ed economico del territorio stesso. Per raggiungere questo scopo occorre proporsi l’obiettivo di offrire strutture, percorsi e attrezzature che ne consentano la piena godibilità a tutti, nel rispetto del contesto

Recupero delle ex Officine Ducrot, oggi Cantieri culturali alla Zisa a Palermo

Il costante aumento della popolazione delle grandi città, ha indotto i comuni a reperire, spesso in maniera più o meno disordinata, nuove aree edificabili destinate, soprattutto, ad edilizia residenziale. Tale attività ha soventemente portato ad inglobare, all’interno delle città, particolari strutture come ad esempio, carceri, mercati ortofrutticoli, mercati ittici, agglomerati industriali, ecc. Nello specifico, le attività industriali, in seguito ad oculate pianificazioni, hanno spesso abbandonato gli antichi siti, per trasferirsi in aree industriali moderne e idoneamente attrezzate. La memoria, prendendo in esame le “Officine Ducrot”, realizzate alla fine dei XIX secolo a Palermo, vuole evidenziare come una corretta azione “politica” sul patrimonio di archeologia industriale, può rifunzionalizzare i siti rendendoli fruibili, consentendone una riappropriazione da parte della società e, al contempo, fare in modo che possano divenire fonte di sviluppo culturale ed economico del territorio stesso. Per raggiungere questo scopo occorre porsi l’obiettivo di offrire strutture, percorsi e attrezzature che ne consentano la piena godibilità a tutti, nel rispetto del contest

Changes in aortic pulse wave velocity of four thoracic aortic stent grafts in an ex vivo porcine model

OBJECTIVES: Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has been shown to lead to increased aortic stiffness. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of stent graft type and stent graft length on aortic stiffness in a controlled, experimental setting. METHODS: Twenty porcine thoracic aortas were connected to a pulsatile mock loop system. Intraluminal pressure was recorded at two sites in order to measure pulse wave velocity (PWV) for each aorta: before stent graft deployment (t1); after deployment of a 100-mm long stent graft (t2); and after distal extension through deployment of a second 100-mm long stent graft (t3). Four different types of stent grafts (Conformable Gore\uae TAG\uae Device, Bolton Relay\uae Device, Cook Zenith Alpha\u2122, and Medtronic Valiant\uae) were evaluated. RESULTS: For the total cohort of 20 aortas, PWV increased by a mean 0.6 m/s or 8.9% of baseline PWV after deployment of a 100-mm proximal stent graft (P<0.001), and by a mean 1.4 m/s or 23.0% of baseline PWV after distal extension of the stent graft (P<0.001). Univariable regression analysis showed a significant correlation between aortic PWV and extent of stent graft coverage, (P<0.001), but no significant effect of baseline aortic length, baseline aortic PWV, or stent graft type on the percentual increase in PWV at t2 or at t3. CONCLUSIONS: In this experimental set-up, aortic stiffness increased significantly after stent graft deployment with each of the four types of stent graft, with the increase in aortic stiffness depending on the extent of stent graft coverage

Modelling home care organisations from an operations management perspective

Home Care (HC) service consists of providing care to patients in their homes. During the last decade, the HC service industry experienced significant growth in many European countries. This growth stems from several factors, such as governmental pressure to reduce healthcare costs, demographic changes related to population ageing, social changes, an increase in the number of patients that suffer from chronic illnesses, and the development of new home-based services and technologies. This study proposes a framework that will enable HC service providers to better understand HC operations and their management. The study identifies the main processes and decisions that relate to the field of HC operations management. Hence, an IDEF0 (Integrated Definition for Function Modelling) activity-based model describes the most relevant clinical, logistical and organisational processes associated with HC operations. A hierarchical framework for operations management decisions is also proposed. This analysis is derived from data that was collected by nine HC service providers, which are located in France and Italy, and focuses on the manner in which operations are run, as well as associated constraints, inputs and outputs. The most challenging research areas in the field of HC operations management are also discussed

hospital factory for manufacturing customised patient specific 3d anatomo functional models and prostheses

The fabrication of personalised prostheses tailored on each patient is one of the major needs and key issues for the future of several surgical specialties. Moreover, the production of patient-specific anatomo-functional models for preoperative planning is an important requirement in the presence of tailored prostheses, as also the surgical treatment must be optimised for each patient. The presence of a prototyping service inside the hospital would be a benefit for the clinical activity, as its location would allow a closer interaction with clinicians, leading to significant time and cost reductions. However, at present, these services are extremely rare worldwide. Based on these considerations, we investigate enhanced methods and technologies for implementing such a service. Moreover, we analyse the sustainability of the service and, thanks to the development of two prototypes, we show the feasibility of the production inside the hospital