synergistic anticancer potential of water garlic extract and copper in a human hepatocarcinoma cell line

Garlic extract in water, supplemented with copper, exerts an enhanced anti-proliferative and a caspase-independent apoptotic activity in a human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cancer cell line. Furthermore, a DNA double strand break downstream, likely responsible for the observed cell death in HepG2 cell, was evidenced by an early over expression of p53 and p21. This observed synergistic antiproliferative and antitumor capability of water garlic extract, in the presence of copper, might be useful as new tool in cancer prevention and therapy

Options for road user charges - two Italian case studies

This paper discusses the impact that tolling schemes with a higher degree of differentiation of tariffs among demand categories can have on road demand. The question addressed in the paper is whether the differentiation of inter-urban road tolls can help to manage demand and meet targets like alleviating congestion, reducing emissions or making feasible project financing schemes, where toll revenues are used to cover construction and operating costs. The paper is mainly based on the results of the DIFFERENT research project, co-funded by the European Commission DG TREN, where a number of modelling tests have been carried out using two different transport network models. Based on modelling results we conclude that a trade-off between alternative targets of toll differentiation exists and that results vary according to the specific context of the application. In non-congested corridors charge differentiation can raise money, but there is little room for social benefits, whereas in congested areas travel speed on the road network can be improved by introducing charges on congested non-motorway links. Additionally, achievement of benefits from differentiated charges may require the co-ordinated introduction of charges on ordinary roads as well as on motorways

Adaptation in Food Networks: theoretical framework and empirical evidences

The objective of the paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the governance of the food networks focusing on two related aspect: the integration among the agents and the adaptation in the face of emerging disturbances. Adaptation is a central problem of economic organisations (Williamson, 1985, 1991), and its conceptualisation is integrated within complementary theoretical perspectives. Arruñada, Garicano & Vàzquez (2005) posit that the assignment of decision rights in long-term relationships provides an opportunity to reduce the associated bargaining costs. Ménard (2004, 2006) offers a generalisation of the adaptation concept for the class of hybrid governance structures. Gibbon (2005) subsumes the theme of adaptation in a complex theoretical structure by framing four elemental theories of the firm. Among them, the adaptation theory asks whether integration or non-integration better facilitates ‘adaptive, sequential decision making’ in the sense of Williamson (Gibbon, 2005, p. 205). The paper aims at addressing the problem on what are the role of the adaptation processes in the implementation of sustainable strategies in Food Networks. After having elaborated and presented the theoretical framework, the paper illustrates and discusses seven cases of governance agreement. Four cases concern with agreement arranged at the Italian National level, three cases regard regional level Food Networks. Beyond the differences in the institutional environments, the cases also differ because of the degree of integration. The field research was carried out by documents analysis and interviews. The focus was on the identification of the five stages mentioned and on the classification of the decision rights the agreements allocated between the parties. The paper contributes to the literature by corroborating the theoretical hypothesis (Gibbons, 2005; Wu, 2006) and providing empirical information about the management of Food Networks in the face of emerging disturbances in critical fields: sustainability, quality systems and innovation

Analysis of the influence of the anisotropy induced by cold rolling on duplex and super-austenitic stainless steels

This report contains the results obtained from the mechanical characterization tests carried out on two different stainless steel (duplex 6%Ni, 22%Cr and super-austenitic 31%Ni, 28%Cr) used for the manufacturing of pipes which are employed in the oil production. The activity has been performed in order to evaluate the effects of anisotropy, induced by cold rolling, on the mechanical characteristics of the investigated steels, measured in the three main directions. Considering the small size of the component, the method and the specimens used for the tests were not the standard one. The procedure carried out provided the strain measurement of the specimen during testing by means of resistive strain gages, bonded on the specimens

Adaptation in Food Networks: Theoretical Frame Work and Empirical Evidences

The objective of the paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the governance of the food networks focusing on two related aspect: the integration among the agents and the adaptation in the face of emerging disturbances. The paper aims at addressing the problem on what are the role of the adaptation processes in the implementation of sustainable strategies in Food Networks. Adaptation is a central problem of economic organisations (Williamson, 1985, 1991), and its conceptualisation is integrated within complementary theoretical perspectives. Among them, the adaptation theory asks whether integration or non-integration better facilitates ‘adaptive, sequential decision making’ in the sense of Williamson (Gibbon, 2005, p. 205). According to Gibbons (2005) the adaptive, sequential decision-making is modelled in terms of contracting the ex ante allocation of critical decisions rights across firms boundaries to the party who is expected to maximize the total surplus of the relationship. After having elaborated and presented the theoretical framework, the paper illustrates and discusses six cases of governance agreement. Three cases concern with agreement arranged at the Italian National level, three cases regard regional level Food Networks. Beyond the differences in the institutional environments, the cases also differ because of the degree of integration. The field research was carried out by documents analysis and interviews. The paper contributes to the literature by corroborating the theoretical hypothesis (Gibbons, 2005; Wu, 2006) and providing empirical information about the management of Food Networks in the face of emerging disturbances in critical fields: sustainability, quality systems and innovation

Adaptation in Food Networks: Theoretical Framework and Empirical Evidences

The paper concerns the integration in food networks under a governance point of view. We conceptualize the integration processes in terms of the adaptation theory and focus the issues related under a transaction cost economics perspective. We conjecture that the allocation of decisions rights between the parties to a transaction is a key instrument in order to cope with the sources of basic uncertainty in food networks: technological innovation, sustainability strategies, quality and safety objectives. Six case studies are proposed which contribute to corroborate our conjecture. Managerial patters based on a joint decision approach also are documente

Adaptation in Food Networks: Theoretical Frame Work and Empirical Evidences

The objective of the paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the governance of the food networks focusing on two related aspect: the integration among the agents and the adaptation in the face of emerging disturbances. The paper aims at addressing the problem on what are the role of the adaptation processes in the implementation of sustainable strategies in Food Networks. Adaptation is a central problem of economic organisations (Williamson, 1985, 1991), and its conceptualisation is integrated within complementary theoretical perspectives. Among them, the adaptation theory asks whether integration or non-integration better facilitates ‘adaptive, sequential decision making’ in the sense of Williamson (Gibbon, 2005, p. 205). According to Gibbons (2005) the adaptive, sequential decision-making is modelled in terms of contracting the ex ante allocation of critical decisions rights across firms boundaries to the party who is expected to maximize the total surplus of the relationship. After having elaborated and presented the theoretical framework, the paper illustrates and discusses six cases of governance agreement. Three cases concern with agreement arranged at the Italian National level, three cases regard regional level Food Networks. Beyond the differences in the institutional environments, the cases also differ because of the degree of integration. The field research was carried out by documents analysis and interviews. The paper contributes to the literature by corroborating the theoretical hypothesis (Gibbons, 2005; Wu, 2006) and providing empirical information about the management of Food Networks in the face of emerging disturbances in critical fields: sustainability, quality systems and innovation

Adaptation in Food Networks: Theoretical Framework and Empirical Evidences

The paper concerns the integration in food networks under a governance point of view. We conceptualize the integration processes in terms of the adaptation theory and focus the issues related under a transaction cost economics perspective. We conjecture that the allocation of decisions rights between the parties to a transaction is a key instrument in order to cope with the sources of basic uncertainty in food networks: technological innovation, sustainability strategies, quality and safety objectives. Six case studies are proposed which contribute to corroborate our conjecture. Managerial patters based on a joint decision approach also are documente

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and environmental mycobacteria divert Dendritic Cell functions interfering with the differentiation of precursors into competent APCs

Thesis of PhD of Immunology 2004 Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and environmental mycobacteria divert Dendritic Cell functions interfering with the differentiation of precursors into competent APCs Human monocytes can differentiate into dendritic cells (DCs) according to the nature of environmental signals. We tested here whether the infection with the live tuberculosis vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), that is known to be limited in preventing pulmonary tuberculosis, modulate monocytes and DCs differentiation. We found that monocytes infected with BCG differentiate into CD1a- DCs (BCG-DCs) in the presence of GM-CSF and IL-4 and acquired a mature phenotype in the absence of maturation stimuli. In addition, BCG-DCs produced pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-a, IL-1b, and IL-6) and IL-10 but not IL-12. BCG-DCs were able to stimulate allogeneic T lymphocytes to a similar degree as DCs generated in the absence of infection. However, BCG-DCs induced IL-4 production when co-cultured with human cord-blood mononuclear cells. Since environmental mycobacteria can interfere with BCG efficacy in preventing tuberculosis in some tropical areas, we verify whether this capacity to interfere with DCs functions was a feature common to environmental mycobacteria. To this aim, we infected DCs precursors with Mycobacterium smegmatis (Msm) to generate DCs. We found that Msm-infected monocytes differentiate into DCs with the same phenotype of BCG-DCs but some differences in the capacity to produce immunoregulatory cytokines and polarize naïve CD4+ T cells. The induction of IL-4 production by DCs generated from BCG-infected monocytes could explain one of the mechanisms for the failure of the BCG vaccine to prevent pulmonary tuberculosis.Tesi di dottorato in Immunologia XVI ciclo Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and environmental mycobacteria divert Dendritic Cell functions interfering with the differentiation of precursors into competent APCs I monociti umani possono generare cellule dendritiche in base alla natura dei segnali provenienti dal loro microambiente. Abbiamo testato se l’infezione dei monociti con micobatteri quali il Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), o il Mycobacterium smegmatis, modulasse il differenziamento dei monociti in cellule dendritiche competenti. Abbiamo osservato che i monociti infettati con BCG differenziavano in cellule dendritiche con un peculiare fenotipo caratterizzato dall’assenza del CD1a sulla loro superficie e da up regolazione di molte molecole come il CD80, CD86 o l’MHC. Questa popolazione cellulare originata, era in grado produceva citochine pro-infiammatorie come il TNF-a, IL-1b, e IL-6 e grandi quantità di IL-10 ma non erano in grado di produrre l’IL-12. Le cellule dendritiche differenziate in tali condizioni stimolavano le cellule T allogeniche in maniera simile alle cellule dendritiche di controllo ma, in particolare, però, queste inducevano una risposta Th2 se messe in contatto con cellule naive derivate da cordone ombelicale. Le cellule dendritiche derivate da monociti infettati con Mycobacterium smegmatis differenziavano in cellule dendritiche con lo stesso fenotipo delle cellule dendritiche derivate da monociti infettati con BCG, ma con diversa capacita immunoregolatoria. La capacità del BCG e dei micobatteri ambientali di sovvertire il differenziamento dei precursori in cellule dendritiche immunocompetenti può spiegare uno dei meccanismi con i quali i micobatteri influenzano la risposta immunitaria dell’ospite

Tariffazione dell’uso delle infrastrutture stradali da parte dei veicoli pesanti: la valutazione d’impatto di politiche a scala europea

La Direttiva Eurovignetta (1999/62/EC e sue successive modifiche) definisce a livello europeo la politica di tariffazione stradale attraverso la regolazione dell’applicazione di tasse, pedaggi e diritti di utenza ai veicoli commerciali che utilizzano la rete di trasporto trans-europea e altre autostrade. Nonostante la Direttiva si collochi lontano nel tempo, il panorama europeo delle tariffe autostradali è ancora oggi discordante e necessita di essere armonizzato. Quest’articolo illustra i principali risultati di un’analisi ex-post sugli impatti della Direttiva Eurovignetta e descrive la metodologia di valutazione seguita per l’analisi ex-ante d’impatti derivanti da future proposte legislative europee