Democrazia diretta e circolazione di modelli: Svizzera e Paesi baltici

L’articolo tende ad individuare in alcuni Stati europei (Svizzera Estonia, Lettonia e Lituania) punti in comune in relazione alla democrazia diretta, i cui istituti potrebbero essere in grado di riportare l’elettorato al voto. Una circolazione di modelli in questo ambito che appare chiara è quella tra la Svizzera, in cui la democrazia diretta è così fortemente presente da essere quasi un tratto distintivo dell’identità nazionale, e gli Stati baltici, proprio nel periodo immediatamente successivo alla prima guerra mondiale, quando furono adottate le Costituzioni degli anni ‘20, su ispirazione di modelli già esistenti. In quel periodo, infatti, in cui le neonate Repubbliche baltiche dovevano darsi una Costituzione democratica senza averne avuto alcuna esperienza diretta, esse si ispirarono, da un lato, alla Costituzione di Weimar del 1919, e, dall’altro, alla democrazia diretta svizzera, abbastanza nota anche perché molti esuli dagli Imperi centrali avevano vissuto nella piccola Repubblica alpina o, comunque, ne conoscevano i particolari istituti. Alla base di tale democratizzazione c’erano probabilmente anche alcune delle idee della Rivoluzione francese che, al di là delle Costituzioni dell’epoca rivoluzionaria che avevano avuto vita assai breve, erano comunque transitate nel costituzionalismo europeo. Furono previsti quindi sia il referendum, spesso però promosso dall’alto, che l’iniziativa popolare, oltre alla revoca (di diretta derivazione dalle prime idee discusse in epoca rivoluzionaria) non del singolo parlamentare, bensì dell’intero Parlamento e, in alcuni casi, del Capo dello Stato. In altri casi, e cioè nell’ipotesi di contrasto tra i due massimi organi, il corpo elettorale era chiamato a decidere, non certo in imitazione del modello elvetico, ma piuttosto di quello weimariano. Durante il lungo periodo d’incorporazione nell’URSS (1940-1990), non fu usato nessun autentico strumento di democrazia diretta, salvo la revoca del singolo rappresentante del popolo, del tutto diretta però dall’onnipresente e onnipotente Partito comunista e quindi molto distante da un reale intervento del corpo elettorale. Tale periodo, però, non eliminò il sentimento nazionale né il desiderio d’indipendenza; anzi, per dimostrare l’illegittimità dell’occupazione sovietica, si volle proprio sostenere la continuità con il periodo precedente all’incorporazione anche dal punto di vista costituzionale e legislativo. Molti degli istituti delle Costituzioni degli anni ‘20 relativi alla democrazia diretta sono sopravvissuti quindi in quelle degli anni ‘90, facendo proseguire il legame ideale con la ben viva e funzionante democrazia diretta svizzera. A conclusione delle riflessioni di queste pagine, non si può che notare ancora una volta come il trapianto d’istituzioni giuridiche, specie se a livello costituzionale, spesso porti a risultati che differiscono fortemente dal modello originario, dal momento che si basa su storie, culture, situazioni politiche e sociali assai diverse. Come ultima, importante domanda rimane infine da chiedersi se la democrazia diretta, specie laddove non siano richieste alta affluenza alle urne o maggioranze particolari, sia sempre compatibile con i diritti delle minoranze

Towards the fabrication of sintered IDEAL-Cells by tape casting, wet powders spraying and screen printing

The realization of complete anode supported cells reproducing the IDEAL-Cell concept was approached by standard and inexpensive ceramic processes like tape casting, screen printing and wet powder spraying. Both commercial and custom powders were employed to build-up layers for button cells (1 inch footprint) and larger (5?5 cm2) substrates. This paper reports the details of the slurries formulation as well as the deposition parameters and sintering conditions. Resulting microstructural features are also presented together with an outlook on future steps of the activit

Baseline assessment of prevalence and geographical distribution of HPV types in Chile using self-collected vaginal samples

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chile has broad variations in weather, economics and population from the far desert north (Region 1) to the cold, icy south (Region 12). A home-based self-collected vaginal sampling was nested in the 2003 Chilean population-based health survey in order to explore the possibility of a type-specific geographical variation for human papillomavirus</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The population was a national probability sample of people 17 years of age and over. Consenting women provided self-collected cervicovaginal swabs in universal collection media (UCM). DNA was extracted and typed to 37 HPV genotypes using PGMY consensus PCR and line blot assay. Weighted prevalence rates and adjusted OR were calculated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 1,883 women participating in the health survey, 1,219 (64.7%) provided a cervicovaginal sample and in 1,110 (56.2% of participants and 66.5% of those eligible) the samples were adequate for analysis. Refusal rate was 16.9%. HPV prevalence was 29.2% (15.1% high-risk HPV and 14.1% low-risk HPV). Predominant high-risk types were HPV 16, 52, 51, 56 and 58. Predominant low-risk HPVs were HPV 84, CP6108, 62, 53 and 61. High-risk and low-risk HPV rates were inversely correlated between the regions. High-risk HPV prevalence was highest among the youngest women, whereas low-risk HPV increased slightly with age.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Self-obtained vaginal sampling is adequate for monitoring HPV in the community, for identifying high-risk areas, and for surveying the long term impact of interventions.</p

Asociación entre la alteración de la autopercepción del estado nutricional estilo y calidad de vida: Estudio transversal de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud de Chile 2016-2017

Introducción. La alteración de la autopercepción del estado nutricional (EN) es la discordancia entre el EN objetivo según índice de masa corporal (IMC), y la percepción del individuo. Los programas que se implementan en Chile con el objetivo de dar respuesta a las estrategias de promoción y prevención de salud, así como la vigilancia nutricional de la población bajo control del sistema público, utilizan el IMC como indicador del EN objetivo.  Este estudio analizó la asociación entre la alteración de la autopercepción del EN el estilo y la calidad de vida en Chile. Metodología. Estudio transversal analítico de datos secundarios de 5.483 participantes de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud (ENS) 2016-2017 de ≥15 años. El EN fue determinado por IMC, y la autopercepción, la calidad y los estilos de vida se determinaron mediante auto reporte. Resultados. Se incluyeron 5.483 participantes representativo de 14,449,868 [95% IC 13.540.101-15.359.635] ≥15 años residentes en Chile. Se observó que el 51% de la población presenta discordancia del EN, 47% [95%CI 46.96 – 47.04] subestima su EN y 4.1% [95%CI 3.3-5.1] lo sobreestima. Quienes tuvieron un EN percibido y objetivo concordante, presentaron mejor percepción de la calidad de vida y mejor cumplimiento de algunas de las recomendaciones de las Guías Alimentarias Basadas en Alimentos (GABAs). Ser hombre > 30 años y tener < 8 años de escolaridad fueron los factores más influyentes en la discordancia de la autopercepción del EN.  Conclusión. La discordancia del EN está asociada a un mayor riesgo de mala calidad de vida e incumplimiento de las GABAs en la población chilena de ≥ 15 años.  Estos resultados sugieren la necesidad de considerar la autopercepción del EN como un determinante del comportamiento en salud en los programas y políticas públicas

Study of high-pT charged particle suppression in PbPb compared to pp collisions at sqrt(sNN)=2.76 TeV.

The transverse momentum spectra of charged particles have been measured in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC. In the transverse momentum range pt = 5-10 GeV/c, the charged particle yield in the most central PbPb collisions is suppressed by up to a factor of 5 compared to the pp yield scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions. At higher pt, this suppression is significantly reduced, approaching roughly a factor of 2 for particles with pt in the range pt=40-100 GeV/c

Integrated production of biopolymers with industrial wastewater treatment: Effects of OLR on process yields, biopolymers characteristics and mixed microbial community enrichment

The production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) using industrial wastewaters as feedstocks is a current and challenging topic. This study investigated the production of biopolymers by a mixed microbial culture under different OLRs equal to 1 kgCOD m-3d-1 (Period 1), 2 kgCOD m-3d-1 (Period 2) and 3 kgCOD m-3d-1 (Period 3). The maximum PHA content was achieved in Period 2 (0.38 gPHA gTSS-1), whereas lower values were obtained in Period 1 (0.13 gPHA gTSS-1) and Period 3 (0.26 gPHA gTSS-1). Overall, the maximum PHA productivity resulted equal to 0.08 gPHA L-1h-1 (P2), 0.05 gPHA L-1h-1 (P1) and 0.04 gPHA L-1h-1 (P3), respectively. The molecular weight of the PHA increased from Period 1 (250 kDa) to Period 2 (417 KDa) and Period 3 (463 KDa), although resulting in a slight decrease of crystallinity degree. Microbial community analysis, revealed a reduction in bacterial diversity and a progressive shift of the microbial community with the increasing OLR. Alpha-diversity indexes based on Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) at 99% identity revealed higher species richness (Taxa (S) 280) and diversity (Shannon (H) 4,06) in Period 1, whereas Period 3 was characterized by reduced richness and diversity and higher dominance (Taxa (S) 133, Shannon (H) 2,40). Based on the results obtained, it was pointed out that the OLR variation determined significant effects on the process performances, as well as on the productivity and quality of the biopolymers. This means that OLR is a key control parameter to maximize the PHA production and control the physical-chemical characteristics of the polymers

Estimation of Individual Neonatal Survival Using Birthweight and Gestational Age: A Way to Improve Neonatal Care

The study was conducted to determine the combined effect of birthweight and gestational age at birth on neonatal mortality using individually-identified livebirths. Logistic regression was used for studying the interactive effect of birthweight and gestational age on the individual probability of neonatal death. All livebirths from Chile in 2000 were included in a linked file. Odds ratio models for birthweight and gestational age were developed for each sex. The probability of neonatal death by sex was presented using contour plots. The models were statistically significant, and odds ratios were different and non-linear for the effects of birthweight and gestational age. Contour plots of constant neonatal mortality according to birthweight and gestational age were presented; they were similar for each sex. A single graph for both sexes that estimates the survival potential of infants born too early or too small would improve neonatal care in developing countries

Olfaction in people with Down Syndrome: a comprehensive assessment across four decades of age

Background: Down syndrome (DS) shows neuropathology similar to Alzheimer disease, which presents olfactory impairment. Previous work showed olfactory impairment in DS, but a comprehensive evaluation of olfactory function in DS is lacking. Methods: We investigated a large number (n = 56; M = 31, F = 25) DS participants (age range18-57y) using the \u201cSniffin\u2019 Sticks\u201d Extended test. This comprises three subtests (threshold, discrimination, and identification) yielding a global score (TDI) defining normosmia, hyposmia, and functional anosmia. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second largest group of DS people investigated for olfactory function ever. Age- and sex matched euploid individuals (n = 53) were the control. Results: In DS, TDI was lower (16.7\ub15.13 vs. 35.4\ub13.74; P<0.001), with DS people performing worse in any subtests (P<0.001 for all); 27 DS participants showed functional anosmia (i.e., TDI<16). In DS, age was weakly and negatively correlated with TDI (r = -0.28, P = 0.036) and identification (r = -0.34, P = 0.012). When participants were stratified in young adults (18-29y) and older adults (30-61y), a significant effect of age was found for identification in both DS (young adults, 8.3\ub12.58; older adults, 6.9\ub12.99; P = 0.031) and control (young-adult, 14.3\ub11.18, older adult, 13.0\ub11.54; P = 0.016). Conclusion: Olfactory function is overall severely impaired in DS people and may be globally impaired at relatively young age, despite of reportedly normal smell. However, specificity of this olfactory profile to DS should be considered with some caution because cognition was not evaluated in all DS participants and comparison with a control group of non-DS individuals having cognitive disabilities was lacking. Further study is required to longitudinally assess olfactory dysfunction in DS and to correlate it with brain pathology