Definitely Maybe : What's the Real Obama Signature on US Defence Policies?

Several challenges that Obama faced in his first four years in office remain at the top of his agenda. Yet, the circumstances in which they are to be met are considerably changed. Obama\u2019s second term foreign policy is suffering from a number of domestic and international constraints: The American public is tired of war, the economic slow-down leads to severe cuts on defense budget, austerity in Europe is negatively affecting NATO international commitment and Obama's support abroad and at home is lessened. This paper explores how the Obama administration is coping with these constraints. It focuses on elements of evolution and continuity in U.S. foreign and security policies in four policy area: (a) strategic planning; (b) the strategic shift toward Asia; (c) mission in Afghanistan; and (d) war on terrorism and the use of drones

Bioactive Phenolic Compounds From Agri-Food Wastes : An Update on Green and Sustainable Extraction Methodologies

Phenolic compounds are broadly represented in plant kingdom, and their occurrence in easily accessible low-cost sources like wastes from agri-food processing have led in the last decade to an increase of interest in their recovery and further exploitation. Indeed, most of these compounds are endowed with beneficial properties to human health (e.g., in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular diseases), that may be largely ascribed to their potent antioxidant and scavenging activity against reactive oxygen species generated in settings of oxidative stress and responsible for the onset of several inflammatory and degenerative diseases. Apart from their use as food supplements or as additives in functional foods, natural phenolic compounds have become increasingly attractive also from a technological point of view, due to their possible exploitation in materials science. Several extraction methodologies have been reported for the recovery of phenolic compounds from agri-food wastes mostly based on the use of organic solvents such as methanol, ethanol, or acetone. However, there is an increasing need for green and sustainable approaches leading to phenolic-rich extracts with low environmental impact. This review addresses the most promising and innovative methodologies for the recovery of functional phenolic compounds from waste materials that have appeared in the recent literature. In particular, extraction procedures based on the use of green technologies (supercritical fluid, microwaves, ultrasounds) as well as of green solvents such as deep eutectic solvents (DES) are surveyed

The Relationship Between Loneliness and Psychological Adjustment: Validation of the Italian Version of the Interpersonal Acceptance–Rejection Loneliness Scale

In recent literature, many researchers have highlighted that the feeling of loneliness can be considered a sign of relevant distress with short- and long-term consequences on the health of people who needs to be appropriately monitored and treated. In this view, the Interpersonal Acceptance–Rejection Loneliness Scale (IPARLS) has been developed to evaluate the subjective feelings and distress related to interpersonal loneliness and to overcome the limits of the previous scales; however, its psychometric characteristics have not yet been fully investigated. Starting from these considerations, two studies have been conducted. The first study, involving 688 adults (19–69 years; 51% females), assessed dimensionality, reliability, and validity of and tested the measurement invariance (MI) of the Italian version of the IPARLS. The second study, involving 205 adults (20–69 years; 51% females), investigated the relationship between loneliness and psychological adjustment. Results confirmed the unidimensionality of the scale and showed that it is reliable, valid, and fully invariant as a function of age and gender. Moreover, data showed a strong association between perceived loneliness and psychological adjustment. The IPARLS is confirmed to be a valid and reliable measure to investigate loneliness in the life cycle from clinical and research perspectives

Adding flavour to twistor strings

Twistor string theory is known to describe a wide variety of field theories at tree-level and has proved extremely useful in making substantial progress in perturbative gauge theory. We explore the twistor dual description of a class of N=2 UV-finite super-Yang-Mills theories with fundamental flavour by adding 'flavour' branes to the topological B-model on super-twistor space and comment on the appearance of these objects. Evidence for the correspondence is provided by matching amplitudes on both sides.Comment: 6 pages; contribution to the proceedings for the European Physical Society conference on High Energy Physics in Manchester, 19-25 July 2007. v3: Typos correcte

Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in cancer patients. An italian multicenter survey

INTRODUCTION: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) include a wide range of products (herbs, vitamins, minerals, and probiotics) and medical practices, developed outside of the mainstream Western medicine. Patients with cancer are more likely to resort to CAM first or then in their disease history; the potential side effects as well as the costs of such practices are largely underestimated. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We conducted a descriptive survey in five Italian hospitals involving 468 patients with different malignancies. The survey consisted of a forty-two question questionnaire, patients were eligible if they were Italian-speaking and receiving an anticancer treatment at the time of the survey or had received an anticancer treatment no more than three years before participating in the survey. RESULTS: Of our patients, 48.9% said they use or have recently used CAM. The univariate analysis showed that female gender, high education, receiving treatment in a highly specialized institute and receiving chemotherapy are associated with CAM use; at the multivariate analysis high education (Odds Ratio, (OR): 1.96 95% Confidence Interval, CI, 1.27-3.05) and receiving treatment in a specialized cancer center (OR: 2.75 95% CI, 1.53-4.94) were confirmed as risk factors for CAM use. CONCLUSION: Roughly half of our patients receiving treatment for cancer use CAM. It is necessary that health professional explore the use of CAM with their cancer patients, educate them about potentially beneficial therapies in light of the limited available evidence of effectiveness, and work towards an integrated model of health-care provision

A liver angioma colonized by colon cancer cells in a patient with two primitive localizations by colon adenocarcinoma: biologic, diagnostic and therapeutic implications

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Chemically exfoliated graphene detects NO2 at the ppb level

Abstract The high sensitivity of graphene to the adsorption/desorption of gas molecule, is at the very beginning of its exploitation. This sensitivity relies on the two-dimensional nature of graphene allowing a total exposure of all its atoms to the adsorbing gas molecules, thus providing the greatest sensor area per unit volume. Indeed several technological limits weigh on the synthesis and manipulation of the material for the device fabrication. Herein a simple approach to fabricate conductometric sensors based on chemically exfoliated natural graphite is presented. The devices were tested upon sub-ppm concentrations of NO 2 in environmental conditions and show the ability to detect this toxic gas down to few ppb at room temperature

intermittent or continuous panitumumab pan plus folfiri for first line treatment of patients pts with ras braf wild type wt metastatic colorectal cancer mcrc a randomized phase ii trial improve

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Novel compounds targeting the RNA-binding protein HuR : Structure-based design, synthesis and interaction studies

The key role of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in regulating post-transcriptional processes and their involvement in several pathologies (i.e., cancer and neurodegeneration) have highlighted their potential as therapeutic targets. In this scenario, Embryonic Lethal Abnormal Vision (ELAV) or Hu proteins and their complexes with target mRNAs have been gaining growing attention. Compounds able to modulate the complex stability could constitute an innovative pharmacological strategy for the treatment of numerous diseases. Nevertheless, medicinal-chemistry efforts aimed at developing such compounds are still at an early stage. As part of our ongoing research in this field, we hereby present the rational design and synthesis of structurally novel HuR ligands, potentially acting as HuR-RNA interferers. The following assessment of the structural features of their interaction with HuR, combining saturation-transfer difference NMR and in silico studies, provides a guide for further research on the development of new effective interfering compounds of the HuR-RNA complex