MAPPING EVOLVING HISTORICAL LANDSCAPE SYSTEMS

Landscape is not a sum of elements to be juxtaposed in a paper or a digital space. It is a complex system of relationships among components that have evolved over time. It is not a sum of material permanencies, more or less recognizable and placeable in space, but an interweaving of economic, social, religious and political meanings that link permanencies and give them value.How to represent these relationships from existing geographic or historical databases? How can we illustrate the co-evolution between nature and culture that has given form to today’s landscape? And how to allow at the same time to update data and their relationships?Through the comparison among examples taken from local participative experiences (ecomuseum community maps) and others directly managed and produced by the Authors (itinerary maps), the contribution reflects on these main critical issues: landscape representation problems, data collecting and updating, information sharing. The main results show that the data digitalization and georeferencing can help to illustrate and understand tangible and intangible characteristics of landscape and overcome the gaps from a sharing mapping procedure with a bottom-up approach and the point of view by the experts with a top-down approach. On the contrary, the digital representation of landscape data shows another set of problems that currently are mainly solved in traditional ways. The paper will also deal with these aspects.</p

Tamoxifen in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma: a randomised controlled trial

Background Results from small randomised trials on tamoxifen in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are conflicting, We studied whether the addition of tamoxifen to best supportive care prolongs survival of patients with HCC. Methods Patients with any stage of HCC were eligible, irrespective of locoregional treatment. Randomisation was centralised, with a minimisation procedure accounting for centre, evidence of disease, and time from diagnosis. Patients were randomly allocated best supportive care alone or in addition to tamoxifen, Tamoxifen was given orally, 40 mg per day, from randomisation until death. Results 496 patients from 30 institutions were randomly allocated treatment from January, 1995, to January, 1997. Information was available for 477 patients. By Sept 15, 1997, 119 (50%) of 240 and 130 (55%) of 237 patients had died in the control and tamoxifen arms, respectively. Median survival was 16 months and 15 months (p=0.54), respectively, No differences were found within subgroups defined by prognostic variables. Relative hazard of death for patients receiving tamoxifen was 1.07 (95% CI 0.83-1.39). Interpretation Our findings show that tamoxifen is not effective in prolonging survival of patients with HCC

Landscape compatibility of wind energy: suggestions from Italian and foreign guidelines

The need of a widespread landscape quality (European Landscape Convention, 2000 has led, in Italy as abroad, to the establishment of laws, procedures and tools for a preliminary assessment of territorial transformations in relation to their landscape compatibility. The awareness of the ineffectiveness of a purely prescriptive rule has led to a wide production, since some decades, of “guidelines” as a tool to accompany design activity with qualitative suggestions, stemming from a careful reading of the landscape in which the project is placed. The paper analyses guidelines for wind farms, referring, in particular, to micro wind turbines and the urban environment. Through the comparison of national and international experiences the paper reflects on possible shortcomings and potentialities

Paesaggio ed energie rinnovabili. Il supporto degli Enti territoriali ad una progettazione integrata

The important role played by renewable energy plants (in particular wind and photovoltaics) and the conflicting relationship that they often establish with the landscape, has led Institutions and Territorial bodies to draft not mandatory tools to favor a quality design and, consequently, the landscape preservation. In the last twenty years, guidelines have been disseminated, both nationally and regionally, aimed at providing suggestions to promote a renewable energy landscape project, starting, first of all, from a fruitful comparison with the area of transformation. The paper offers a review of the contents of these tools; it reports, in particular, the case of the Province of Foggia whose guidelines stem from a research project that attempts to trace a method that goes from the consideration of the specific characteristics of the place (and the most effective ways for their representation and communication) to the delineation of design criteria that result from those characteristics. The comparison with some international practices makes it possible to reflect on ongoing critical issues and the potential of the process

Un punto sulle cascine di Milano

The City of Milan has a huge heritage of farms of strategic cultural value. Some of them are in abandonment and degradation condition. For their enhancement, several policies have been adopted, concurrently with the 2015 Universal Exposition. The paper makes a point about completed and ongoing actions, identifying best practices and critical issues