Effect of blueberry supplementation in overweight and obese pregnant women

Childhood obesity is a serious problem growing worldwide that needs to be early considered and treated. Maternal overweight and obesity lead to foetal complications and to an increased risk of child obesity. Blueberry bio-active compounds have antioxidant properties and improve insulin sensitivity in obese individuals. We proposed a daily integration of a freeze-dried blueberry extract in the last trimester of a population of overweight and obese pregnant women. Mother cytokine milieu, birth weight and at age one, were compared with a matched control group. Results: birth weight was significantly lower in those whose mothers assumed the blueberry extract (male: 3636 gr ± 56,7 in control group and 3302 gr ± 60,9 in the blueberry, P=.001; female: 3446 gr ± 53 in control group and 3094 gr ± 65,5 in the blueberry, P <.0001) and this result remained comparable at age one (male control group: 9597 gr ± 134,4; blueberry: 8656 gr ± 271,9; P=.0021; female control group: 8812 ± 167,5; blueberry: 8083 ± 266,3; P=.0211); pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and leptin) were significantly reduced in the blueberry group (control 29,89 pg/mL ± 0,283 vs blueberry 8,124 ng/mL ± 0,1085 and 17,28 ± 0,4742 vs 6,977 ± 0,1187, respectively); anti-inflammatory cytokines (TGF-β and IL-4) were significantly increased in the blueberry group (control 4,196 pg/ml ± 0,9752 vs blueberry 14,87 pg/ml ± 0,8844 and 14,87 pg/ml ± 0,8844 vs 55,22 ± 1,47, respectively), CRP levels were significantly lower in the blueberry group (control 5,917 mg/L ± 0,698 vs blueberry 3,741 mg/L ± 0,6279). Conclusion: a daily dietary supplementation with bioactive from whole blueberries in overweight and/or obese pregnant women is an effective intervention to reduce the risk of foetal macrosomia and early childhood obesity

Essays in Behavioural and Experimental Economics: Emotions, uncertainty and cooperation

In the present doctoral thesis I apply the experimental method in the context of two lines of research in Economics, the former investigating the role of incidental emotions in decision making under risk, whereas the latter shedding light on the impact of communication on cooperation. The dissertation consists of three sections. In the first chapter I conduct a laboratory experiment in order to study the effect of incidental sadness and happiness on risky decision making. An emotion induction procedure is the treatment variable of a between-subjects design where two sessions aim at eliciting either sadness or happiness, respectively. Two further groups are characterized by neutral conditions and serve as baseline. After a manipulation check verifies the validity of the induction procedure, I use a multiple price list `a la Holt and Laury (2002) to elicit individual risk preferences in the context of a lottery-choice task. The analysis reveals that both sadness and happiness promote greater risk aversion with respect to neutral conditions, a result which might be moderated by the risk elicitation task. Therefore, as effective explanation I propose the theory of ego depletion, whereby regulating emotions so as to subsequently process information consumes a limited self-control resource, which is needed to take risks as well. The second chapter is a meta-analysis of experimental studies on the same topic, so as to explain traditional heterogeneity of outcomes in the field. After performing an advanced search in Google Scholar and filtering out studies that do not match a list of selection criteria, I include 16 studies from which 46 observations are drawn at the treatment level. At this point, I code a set of moderator variables representing experimental protocols and calculate Cohen (1988)’s d effect size as dependent variable of a weighted least squares (WLS) regression where larger studies are given more weight. Among the results, which are robust to different techniques for computing standard errors, I find that emotions induce higher risk aversion when a multiple price list `a la Holt and Laury (2002) is used in place of stated preferences methods, as well as in case the risk elicitation task is framed as an investment decision instead of an abstract choice. Given the variety of procedures employed in this type of experiments and in the absence of a tailor-made game to answer such research questions, I recommend faithful study replication as preferential path in order to investigate the influence of emotions on risky decision making and ensure comparability. The third chapter offers evidence on the impact of communication on the provision of public goods whose quality is uncertain. I run a laboratory experiment with two treatments, where the control variable is pre-play communication in the form of unrestricted text chat. A binary threshold public goods game with four-person groups and threshold of three is at the core of the design, the main novelty lying in the provision mechanism with ambiguity. Moreover, a private signal for the actual value of the public good is provided, before the contribution decision. In accordance with related literature, I find that communication significantly increases public good provision by reducing inefficiency that comes from wasteful undercontribution. Nevertheless, the players in the chat treatment seem to neglect the free-rider issue and often end up overcontributing, in contrast with previous scientific findings. After chat analysis, I propose the pursuit of symmetric payoffs within the group as original explanation of the massive overcontribution, in addition to group identity generated by the partner matching and the common fate hypothesis. Since the players prefer to minimize ambiguity than to maximize the group earnings, I finally speculate that under uncertainty satisficing is more salient than optimizing

Physical Layer Identification and authentication of electronic devices

In this thesis, I have investigated the problem of identification and authentication of electronic devices through their physical layer intrinsic features or fingerprints. The concept is that small differences in the electronic components of electronic devices leave small but significant traces in the digital output generated by the electronic device. Then, an analysis of the digital output provides the capability to identify and/or authenticate an electronic device from its digital output with a degree of accuracy, which is based on various factors including environmental effects. This research area has become more prominent in recent times due to the increasing computing power available for signal processing and analysis, which allows a more efficient and accurate extraction of the fingerprints. Even if there is considerable research in this area, which has proven the concept both with theoretical analysis and experimental results, there are still many aspects to be investigated both for the different types of electronic devices and for the analysis of the digital output through signal processing and machine learning techniques. The PhD activities have investigated various novel aspects in comparison to the existing literature. This thesis describes most of the results and describes the novelty in comparison to previous research literature. Three specific use cases were considered: identification of wireless devices, microphones and magnetometers

Privacy nell’era digitale: la tutela dei dati personali fra legislazione e salvaguardia della libertà e dignità dell’uomo

In the first chapter, starting from some general definitions of privacy and tracing the history of the term since its modern affirmation, we have directed our attention to the inherent aspect of the protection of personal data, coming to outline the concept of privacy as "self-ownership ", an area belonging to the subject and, as such, like any economic asset (although it is an immaterial property) needs to be safeguarded from external interference. From the question of privacy and its protection, the foundations have been laid for a broader reflection, closely related to the values of human dignity and freedom, fundamental and essential components of every democracy. In the second chapter we focused on the description of the complex social reality in which we live: postmodernity. Our analysis took into consideration three closely related aspects: 1. Technological aspect: it was highlighted how a radical anthropological change occurred in human being following an instrumental dimension that influenced his mindset (brainframe) allowing him to transcend the categories of space and time, virtually extending his being beyond the physicality of the body. 2. Socio-economic aspect: we have shown how the emergence of a new planetary economy has favored the birth of a morphological structure of the society of which the Network embodies the model par excellence. 3. Political aspect: the establishment of forms of power and control that tend to colonize every aspect of life in a subliminal way. In the third chapter, starting from the concept of the infosphere, the economic, political and social value of the big data (Big data) and the dangers that may derive from their mismanagement by third parts or from their voluntary dissemination have been highlighted, as in the case of social networks. In the fourth chapter the general legal principles underlying the right to privacy have been reported. Moving from a broader context, which sees the protection of the private life of the person sanctioned for the first time in 1948 with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we have restricted the field of investigation to the right to the protection of personal data, analyzing in the specific the most interesting points of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In the fifth and last chapter, we focused on what, hopefully, should be the direction to take to protect the person in the digital age and guarantee them the rights of freedom and dignity; it provides, in addition to solid legislation on data protection (a necessary but not sufficient condition), a cultural-educational policy aimed at making the individual acquire conscious digital citizenship

Diketopiperazines as scaffold for the synthesis of new compounds modulating protein-protein interactions and functions

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Towards circular economy in developing cities: an integrated approach for planning international cooperation projects

Solid waste management (SWM) issues are an environmental and social burden, which affect mainly the population of low-middle income countries worldwide, as well as the global environment. The application of the circular economy (CE) principles (reuse of waste materials) is considered the main solution spreading the economy of the waste and therefore reducing environmental impacts. This research is focused on the analysis and application of integrated approaches for planning sustainable SWM systems in developing big cities, demonstrating the importance of the inclusion of the informal recycling and drafting international cooperation projects for introducing new appropriate technologies and awareness campaigns. The case study of this research is La Paz (Bolivia), low-middle income city where international support is required for the sustainable development. The results allow suggesting that the inclusion of informal recyclers can be considered the most useful option in terms of technical and financial issues, exploiting a CE system just in place. Moreover, the cooperation with local and international stakeholders allows writing and submitting two international cooperation projects. The research demonstrates that the cooperation among various international and local actors, such as Universities, non-governmental organizations and local Government, in parallel with the use of technical knowledge and methodologies can support the sustainable development in low-middle countries, driving low-middle income cities towards the CE

Role of RNASET2 in innate immune response regulation

Numerous studies have highlighted the existence of enzymes that, besides presenting a conserved role, take part in different biological processes acquiring new functions. In particular, the T2 RNase family of enzymes is one of the most investigated group, which is involved not only in RNA regulation, but also performs additional functions, regardless of the catalytic activity. It has been recently observed that, through the continuous cross-talk between the cancer cells and the adjacent microenvironment and the activation of inflammatory response by inducing macrophages activation, the human protein RNASET2 is able to control the ovarian cancer malignancy. However, the details about the mechanisms by which T2 enzymes interact with immune system remain poorly defined. The medicinal leech Hirudo verbana is here proposed as a consolidated invertebrate model to shed light on these aspects. The results presented in this project reveal that both human and leech T2 RNases cause fibroplasia, connective tissue remodeling and macrophage recruitment in leeches. Moreover, in vivo and in vitro experiments proved that HvRNASET2, released by granulocytes after bacterial infection, is a candidate molecule for counteracting pathogens. In particular, it plays a dual role, inducing bacterial clustering to facilitate macrophage phagocytosis and promoting immunocompetent cells recognition. In conclusion, HvRNASET2 acts as an effector of innate immune response, to favore an efficient microbial pathogen elimination and an effective oncosuppressive activity. These studies, related to roles of T2 RNases in tissue remodeling, immune response modulation and antimicrobial activity, could be essential for developing new therapeutic application

Barred galaxies in cosmological simulations. Tidal perturbations and feedback.

Bars are truly common objects among disc galaxies. Even though it is now commonly accepted that non-axisymmetric structures could deeply affect the life of isolated disc galaxies, by shaping their stellar and gaseous distribution, some fundamental aspects of their formation and growth are still debated. The following manuscript is divided in two parts, in which I contribute to the study of bar formation and evolution through the use of state-of-the-art hydrodynamical and cosmological simulations. In the first part of my work, I investigate the influence of tidal encounters on either unbarred, or already barred systems. Here, I take advantage of two specific simulations belonging to the Eris suite – ErisBH and Eris2k – which evolve two Milky Way-sized barred galaxies in their cosmological volume. I both analyse the direct output of these simulations, and run a sample of new cosmological zoom-in simulations, by altering the original history of galaxy-satellite interactions in the ErisBH run. In the second part, I focus on the analysis of the effect of the different feedback prescriptions implemented in the ErisBH and Eris2k runs. My conclusions depict a scenario where, once the disc has grown to a mass large enough to sustain global non-axisymmetric modes, bar formation is inevitable and tidal encounters have, a destructive effect on the two-fold overdensity. In addition, the self-gravity of the disc and its interplay with various internal processes, seem to be the main drivers of bar formation and growth. I confirm the importance of accurate feedback prescriptions in cosmological zoom-in simulations on the investigated processes, and propose a possible use of a statistical sample of barred galaxies to quantitatively assess this dependence

La giurisdizione in materia extracontrattuale nello spazio giudiziario europeo.

Articles 7 n. 2 of Regulation No 1215/2012 and 5 n. 3 of the Lugano Convention of 2007 regulate jurisdiction in cross-border non-contractual matters. Given the issues of interpretation concerning the jurisdictional criterion of the “place where the harmful event occurred” (so-called locus commissi delicti), the European Court of Justice: i) developed the ubiquity rule; ii) differently located the place of the event giving rise to the damage and the place where the damage occurred, depending on the type of tort; iii) specified the ubiquity rule with the rule of the initial event giving rise to the damage, the relevance of direct and nonconsequential damages, the mosaic principle and the principle of territoriality and iv) included a third jurisdictional criterion in online defamation and antitrust matters and derogated to the mosaic principle in national trade mark, antitrust and product liability matters. In light of such a variety of interpretations, this thesis considers to develop a uniform interpretation of the locus commissi delicti in cybertorts in order to confirm the sole principle of ubiquity by attributing jurisdiction to the court of the place of establishment of the wrongdoer and to the court of the place of the center of interest of the victim of the tort. This solution is also confirmed by Article 79, paragraph 2, of Regulation No 2016/679. Regarding cross-border collective actions, the thesis proposes to include in Article 7 n. 2 of Regulation No 1215/2012 the jurisdictional criterion of the “place where the majority of the harmful event occurred or may occur”, referring to both the place where the majority of the event giving rise to the damage occurred and to the place where the majority of the damage occurred. This thesis also considers the coordination between Article 7 n. 2 of Regulation No 1215/2012 and Articles 79, paragraph 2, of Regulation No 2016/679, 122, paragraph 2, lett. a) of Regulation No 2017/1001, 79, paragraph 3, lett. a) of Regulation No 6/2002 and 31 of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court

Scienze Umane e Medical Humanities nella didattica medica. Il contributo della Storia della Medicina

Le scienze storiche si aggiornano continuamente rivedendo a volte anche totalmente i propri cardini interpretativi su cui si posano le loro fondamenta; anche la Storia della Medicina ha decisamente cambiato la propria attività di ricerca nel corso degli anni. Nello studio che ho condotto ho potuto constatare come nell’arco di un secolo gli indirizzi di ricerca storico-medica si siano diversificati, come sia mutato il panorama dei protagonisti, come siano sorti nuovi interessi per la storia delle istituzioni sanitarie, per la storia delle malattie e delle singole discipline specialistiche. Alla ricerca di date significative di questo percorso, credo sia stata davvero importante, come vedremo, la nascita nel 1907 della Società Italiana di Storia delle Scienze Mediche e Naturali. Questa ricerca si è posta gli obiettivi di delineare come, nell’arco del secolo scorso, siano cambiate le identità di quanti affrontavano lo studio della Storia della Medicina, di stendere le biografie dei protagonisti della Storia della Medicina, di ricostruire un secolo di storiografia italiana tramite gli autori ed i trattati, i maestri e le legislazioni, di trattare della nascita e dello sviluppo delle Società e della stampa periodica in Italia inerente la Storia della Medicina, di analizzare le attualità e le problematiche della attività didattico-formativa, di indicare quali prospettive la Storia della Medicina, le Scienze Umane e le Medical Humanities possano avere oggi nella formazione del medico. Da alcuni anni si è aperta una discussione sull’ingresso delle Scienze Umane e delle Medical Humanities nei percorsi formativi delle professioni mediche, in particolare nei piani didattici delle Scuole di Medicina. Con l’avanzare della ricerca medico-scientifica, abbiamo assistito alla spersonalizzazione del rapporto medico-paziente. La necessità di affrontare e gestire questi cambiamenti porta senza dubbio al recupero delle origini umanistiche della medicina anche attraverso corsi nel piano didattico degli studenti dell’area sanitaria. Qui entrano in campo le Scienze Umane e le Medical Humanities su cui negli ultimi anni abbiamo avuto un aumento crescente di studi e pubblicazioni non solo in Italia, segno di un costante aumento di interesse da parte degli studiosi. Per il raggiungimento degli obiettivi sopra esposti mi sono indirizzata verso quanto è stato pubblicato dalla Società Italiana di Storia della Medicina (SISM) attraverso il suo periodico ed attraverso i cinquantuno Congressi Nazionali, ho consultato i maggiori trattati di Storia della Medicina editi dall’inizio del secolo scorso, i documenti emanati dal Regno d’Italia, dal Consiglio Superiore di Sanità, dal Ministero della Salute e da quello dell’Istruzione oltre gli articoli in riviste. Ho consultato le fonti conservate presso biblioteche universitarie e documenti di collezioni private. Per la ricerca ergobiografica mi sono avvalsa di testimonianze di coloro che hanno conosciuto personalmente alcuni dei personaggi oggetti del mio studio oltre che di ricerca archivistica. I risultati del mio studio hanno sottolineato l’importanza della Storia della Medicina nella storiografia italiana del secolo scorso e nei piani didattici formativi del personale sanitario, in particolar modo per gli studenti di medicina. Inoltre la mia ricerca vuole essere un punto di partenza per analizzare e riflettere sull’attualità, le problematiche e le prospettive dell’insegnamento di Storia della Medicina, anche nelle più vaste denominazioni di Scienze Umane e di Medical humanities, alla luce di una ridefinizione dei Settori Scientifico Disciplinari (SSD)