Follow up prenatale e post natale dei feti IUGR: differenza di genere

Aim:The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference in perinatal outcome by gender among growth-restricted fetuses.Methods:This was a retrospective cohort study of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) singleton pregnancies over a one year period. Clinical outcomes compared by gender included preterm delivery, perinatal mortality (PNM), respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), grade 3 or 4 intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). Statistical analysis included bivariate and multivariable techniques.Results:One hundred singleton pregnancies with IUGR were identified in our Clinc. Fourtyseven (47.6%) were males. Birth weight was similar between the groups. After adjusting for maternal demographics, medical history, gestational age, mode of delivery, and antenatal corticosteroids, adverse perinatal outcomes were similar between the groups. Severity of outcomes was also similar between males and females.Conclusion:The general concept that male fetuses have a lower clinical performance than females apparently does not apply in the case of intrauterine growth restriction. The scales are tipped by females, who are more prone to develop IUGR

Follow up prenatale e post natale dei feti IUGR: differenza di genere

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference in perinatal outcome by gender among growth-restricted fetuses. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) singleton pregnancies over a one year period. Clinical outcomes compared by gender included preterm delivery, perinatal mortality (PNM), respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), grade 3 or 4 intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). Statistical analysis included bivariate and multivariable techniques. Results: One hundred singleton pregnancies with IUGR were identified in our Clinc. Fourtyseven (47.6%) were males. Birth weight was similar between the groups. After adjusting for maternal demographics, medical history, gestational age, mode of delivery, and antenatal corticosteroids, adverse perinatal outcomes were similar between the groups. Severity of outcomes was also similar between males and females. Conclusion: The general concept that male fetuses have a lower clinical performance than females apparently does not apply in the case of intrauterine growth restriction. The scales are tipped by females, who are more prone to develop IUGR

The transition to autonomous cars, the redesign of cities and the future of urban sustainability

Autonomous cars controlled by an artificial intelligence are increasingly being integrated in the transport portfolio of cities, with strong repercussions for the design and sustainability of the built environment. This paper sheds light on the urban transition to autonomous transport, in a threefold manner. First, we advance a theoretical framework to understand the diffusion of autonomous cars in cities, on the basis of three interconnected factors: social attitudes, technological innovation and urban politics. Second, we draw upon an in-depth survey conducted in Dublin (1,233 respondents), to provide empirical evidence of (a) the public interest in autonomous cars and the intention to use them once available, (b) the fears and concerns that individuals have regarding autonomous vehicles and (c) how people intend to employ this new form of transport. Third, we use the empirics generated via the survey as a stepping stone to discuss possible urban futures, focusing on the changes in urban design and sustainability that the transition to autonomous transport is likely to trigger. Interpreting the data through the lens of smart and neoliberal urbanism, we picture a complex urban geography characterized by shared and private autonomous vehicles, human drivers and artificialintelligences overlapping and competing for urban spaces

Can autonomous vehicles enable sustainable mobility in future cities? Insights and policy challenges from user preferences over different urban transport options

Creating sustainable urban futures partly requires reducing car-use and transport induced stresses on the environment and society. New transport technologies such as autonomous vehicles are increasingly assuming prominence in debates about the transition toward sustainable urban futures. Yet, enormous uncertainties currently exist on how autonomous vehicles might shape urban mobility. To address this gap, this paper examines the latent behavioural and socio-demographic factors that will drive the adoption of and preferences for different use options of autonomous vehicles, utilizing survey data from Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Based on this, it explores how autonomous vehicles might shape travel behaviors through mode choice and the potential sustainability implications. The findings show that regarding preferences for a specific alternative (i.e. sharing, ownership and public transport), attitudes toward these use options matter the most, rather than overall perceived benefits of autonomous vehicles. Moreover, for single mode options, shared-autonomous vehicles remain the least popular, while preference for ownership of autonomous vehicles, either as a single option or in combination with sharing and public transport, is high. Across the different autonomous vehicles options, there is high preference for clean engine fuel sources (i.e. electric and hybrid). Given the embeddedness of preferences for autonomous vehicles in attitudes and choices regarding existing forms of motorized transport, it is possible that the current modal split and the large share of private car-based transport, might not change in the era of autonomous mobility. However, urban transport policy can leverage the overall positive attitudes toward the environment, sharing and public transit to nudge choices toward achieving the normative goals of sustainable urban transport.</p

No city on the horizon: Autonomous cars, artificial intelligence, and the absence of urbanism

In this perspective piece we use a case study of Phoenix (Arizona) to explore the ways in which the implementation of autonomous vehicle technology is tied to the political economy of the city. We highlight the potential urban benefits that can stem from the use of autonomous vehicles, while also bringing to the fore the necessity of governance in realizing these same benefits. By using Phoenix as a case study, we illustrate the dissonance that exists between policymakers within government and the future urban imaginaries that are used as reasons to justify Phoenix as a test ground. By viewing the position of stakeholders within industry and within government we address the individual and political gains that adoption of such technology can bring on an inter-state competitive level. These dynamics of market competition, combined with a lack of proactive engagement in urban planning show that the potential urban benefits that can be brought on by the autonomous vehicle are left solely to the imagination

Eco city development in China: addressing the policy implementation challenge

Over the last few decades, China has seen a steep rise in diverse eco city and low carbon city policies. Recently, attention has begun to focus on the perceived shortcomings in the practical delivery of related initiatives, with several publications suggesting a gap between ambitious policy goals and the emerging realities of the newly built environment. To probe this further, in this article we examine – based on the policy network approach – how the gap between high-level national policies and local practice implementation can be explained in the current Chinese context. We develop a four-pronged typology of eco city projects based on differential involvement of key (policy) actor groups, followed by a mapping of what are salient policy network relations among these actors in each type. Our analysis suggests that, within the overall framework of national policy, a core axis in the network relations is that between local government and land developers. In some cases, central government agencies– often with buy-in from international architecture, engineering and consulting firms – seek to influence local government planning through various incentives aimed at rendering sustainability a serious consideration. However, this is mostly done in a top-down manner, which overemphasizes a rational, technocratic planning mode while underemphasizing interrelationships among actors. This makes the emergence of a substantial implementation gap in eco city practice an almost predictable outcome. Consequently, we argue that special attention be paid in particular to the close interdependency between the interests of local government actors and those of land and real estate developers. Factoring in this aspect of the policy network is essential if eco city implementation is to gain proper traction on the ground

Editorial: The governance of artificial intelligence in the “autonomous city”

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now mediating key urban services and infrastructures. As portrayed in recent studies, the “autonomous city” also known as the “algorithmic city” can be understood as a city where urban artificial intelligences perform tasks and take on roles which have traditionally been the domain of humans. For example, while autonomous cars transport people and drones deliver goods, large-scale AIs, such as city brains, can potentially govern entire cities. This literature stakes out a number of questions related to the meaning of intelligence, for both humans and machines. For instance, we have to ask what human intelligence means, as we seek to define AI at the same time. Moreover, as humans are shifted to new sectors of the economy or pushed aside by algorithms creating new ways of seeing and governing the city, we need to ask what kinds of cities we are making when increasingly autonomous systems are operating in place of human decisions

Sustainable–Smart–Resilient–Low Carbon–Eco–Knowledge Cities; Making sense of a multitude of concepts promoting sustainable urbanization

Over the last couple of decades, metropolitan areas around the world have been engaged in a multitude of initiatives aimed at upgrading urban infrastructure and services, with a view to creating better environmental, social and economic conditions and enhancing cities' attractiveness and competitiveness. Reflecting these developments, many new categories of 'cities' have entered the policy discourse: 'sustainable cities'; 'green cities'; 'digital cities'; 'smart cities'; intelligent cities'; 'information cities'; 'knowledge cities'; 'resilient cities'; 'eco-cities'; 'low carbon cities'; 'liveable cities'; and even combinations, such as 'low carbon eco-cities' and 'ubiquitous eco-cities’. In practice, these terms often appear to be used interchangeably by policy makers, planners and developers. However, the question arises whether these categories nevertheless each embody distinct conceptual perspectives, which would have implications for how they are understood theoretically and applied in policy. In response, this article investigates, through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis, how the twelve most frequent city categories are conceptualised individually and in relation to one another in the academic literature. We hypothesize that, notwithstanding some degree of overlap and cross-fertilization, in their essence the observed categories each harbour particular conceptual perspectives that render them distinctive. This is borne out by the findings, which demonstrate robustly for the first time the conceptual differences and interrelationships among twelve dominant city categories. The 'sustainable city' is the most frequently occurring category and, in a map of keyword co-occurrences, by far the largest and most interconnected node, linked closely to the 'eco-city' and 'green city' concepts. Recently, the more narrow concepts of 'low carbon city' and 'smart city' have been on the rise, judging by their frequency of occurrence in academic journals; the latter in particular appears to have become an increasingly dominant category of urban modernization policy. On their part, ‘resilient city’ and ‘knowledge city’ represent distinct concepts, albeit with comparatively low frequency. Overall, the findings point to the need for rigor and nuance in the use of these terms, not least if one wishes to comprehend their implications for urban development and regeneration policy and practice

The rise of AI urbanism in post-smart cities: A critical commentary on urban artificial intelligence

This is the final version. Available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record. Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as an impactful feature of the life, planning and governance of 21st-century cities. Once confined to the realm of science fiction and small-scale technological experiments, AI is now all around us, in the shape of urban artificial intelligences including autonomous cars, robots, city brains and urban software agents. The aim of this article is to critically examine the nature of urbanism in the emergent age of AI. More specifically, we shed light on how urban AI is impacting the development of cities, and argue that an urbanism influenced by AI, which we term AI urbanism, differs in theory and practice from smart urbanism. In the future, the rise of a post-smart urbanism driven by AI has the potential to form autonomous cities that transcend, theoretically and empirically, traditional smart cities. The article compares common practices and understandings of smart urbanism with emerging forms of urban living, urban governance and urban planning influenced by AI. It critically discusses the limitations and potential pitfalls of AI urbanism and offers conceptual tools and a vocabulary to understand the urbanity of AI and its impact on present and future cities

Expanding Cities

This chapter presents readers with an opportunity to engage with the concept of uncertainty through the lens of cities and urbanism. Operating within an environment of profound uncertainty relating to the future of humanity, contemporary cities present divergent narratives of hope and despair. They are chronically underfunded and over-burdened, home to deeply divided communities and decrepit infrastructure, and struggling with chaotic unplanned growth and chronic pollution. Yet they have the capacity to assemble social, material and technical actors and relations in novel, experimental and collaborative ways so as to respond to these emergent challenges. These insights lead us to the question, what can we learn from cities about living with, planning and governing uncertainty? The contributing authors answer this question by presenting five perspectives on urban uncertainties. Ranging from looking at the street level and ordinary uncertainty to looking at the governing of uncertain technological futures, to discussing the ethical outcomes of governmental solutions to climate change, the authors excavate the varying ways in which uncertainty stimulates experimental forms of urban development and governance, and with what social and political implications. They conclude with optimism: if a progressive, equitable and ethical socio-political milieu is fostered in cities, it is possible to effectively tackle urban challenges in uncertain cities