Saint James the Greater and Saint Michael Archangel: Historical, Anthropologycal and Artistic Features in their Routes

The project wants to explicate in a generic way the importance of the two sacred and charismatic medieval characters such as the figure of Saint James of the Greater from Santiago de Compostela from Spain and Saint Michael Archangel from Monte Sant'Angelo in South of Italy, through their main icons, their devotions, their anthropological approaches and their pilgrimages that have called so much people in their own cities. Santiago de Compostela and Monte Sant'Angelo were two of the most important places in the Middle Age. The representation of the saints and their actions are described in ancient literary texts and it explains not only the origin of their cults, but also the following development of the pilgrimages both through the main routes and through the alternative routes known as “tratturi” or sheep tracks. There are some aspects that are expressed better than others and icons can be defined as a functional artistic way to communicate to the entire people in the past. So, what are the main icons of Saint James and Saint Michael? And what are their routes? These are some common questions that can be answered by historical and artistic studies, but also anthropological and literature fields can be considered relevant at the same.This project is currently a work in progress for the PhD thesis.

THE COMPOSTELLAN DEVOTION AND THE MICHAELIC ONE ALONG THE SHEEP TRACKS: THE CASTEL DI SANGRO – LUCERA CASE IN SOUTHERN ITALY

The following paper wants to explain in a generic way the importance of two sacred and charismatic medieval characters such as Saint James the Greater from Santiago de Compostela in Spain and Saint Michael Archangel from Monte Sant’Angelo in the South of Italy, through their main icons, the devotions, the anthropological approaches and the history of the pilgrimages that have called so many people in their own cities. Santiago de Compostela and Monte Sant’Angelo were two of the most important places in the Middle Age. The representation of the saints and their actions, which are described in ancient literary texts, explains the origin of the cults and the following development of the pilgrimages both through the main routes and through the alternative routes known as “tratturi” or sheep tracks. Especially for the Castel di Sangro – Lucera sheep track there are traces referred to the saints not only in the villages touched by the grassy track, but also on the path itself. There are aspects that are expressed better than others and they are essential for the important “Civilization of Pilgrimages” as the icons and the architectural structures: they can be defined as functional artistic ways to communicate to all people not only in the past. So, historical and artistic studies, but also anthropological and literature fields of study are the relevant methodological approach to better figure out the history of the compostellan and michaelic pilgrimages

I metodi di stima del PIL potenziale tra fondamenti di Teoria economica e Contenuto empirico

The paper explores into the empirical estimates of potential output currently produced by international economic institutions. As for the theoretical foundations of the notion, the paper endeavours to show how the shift from the Keynesian notion of potential output as a ceiling on actual production to the idea (to be found in NAIRU models) of a permanent tendency of actual production to gravitate towards potential production has affected the very way in which estimates are currently built. As for the empirical content of the estimates, the survey of the main methods through which potential output is currently estimated aims at showing that the difficulties connected with the attempt to identify empirically the “long-period supply factors” that according to theory should determine the trend, imply that current estimates of potential output often amount to nothing more than elaborate techniques of extraction of a statistical trend from the data on actual output, thus in effect offering an ex-post synthesis of what happened, rather than the ideal benchmark with which to compare actual realizations. This sort of estimates are likely to provide a poor guide to the action of policy-makers.potential output, actual output, empirical estimates of NAIRU, empirical estimates of potential GDP, production function approach

Plasma Deposited Electrocatalytic Films with Controlled Content of Pt Nanoclusters

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Amphiphilic CCK peptides assembled in supramolecular aggregates: structural investigations and in vitro studies

Supramolecular aggregates obtained by self-aggregation of five new cationic amphiphilic CCK8 peptides have been obtained in water solution and characterized for: (i) aggregate structure and stability; (ii) CCK8 peptide conformation and bioavailability on the external aggregate surface; and (iii) for their cell binding properties. The cationic amphiphilic CCK8 peptides self-aggregate giving a combination of liposomal and micelle structures, with radii ranging between B60 nm and B90 nm, and between B5 and B10 nm, respectively. The presence of CCK8 peptide well-exposed on the aggregate surface is demonstrated by fluorescence measurements. Peptide conformation changes in the five supramolecular aggregates: the CCK8 conformational behaviour is probably induced by the presence of three charged lysine residues close to the bioactive peptide sequence. Only aggregates in which the CCK8 peptide presents a structural arrangement similar to that found for the same peptide in DPC micelles give promising binding properties to CCK2-R receptors overexpressed by transfected A431 cells. Chemical modifications on the CCK8 N-terminus seem to play an important role in stabilizing the peptide active conformation, either when the peptide derivative is in monomeric or in aggregate form. For their easy preparation procedures and their binding properties, supramolecular aggregates based on cationic peptide amphiphiles can be considered as promising candidates for target selective drug carriers on cancer cells

Separase prevents genomic instability by controlling replication fork speed

Proper chromosome segregation is crucial for preserving genomic integrity, and errors in this process cause chromosome mis-segregation, which may contribute to cancer development. Sister chromatid separation is triggered by Separase, an evolutionary conserved protease that cleaves the cohesin complex, allowing the dissolution of sister chromatid cohesion. Here we provide evidence that Separase participates in genomic stability maintenance by controlling replication fork speed. We found that Separase interacted with the replication licensing factors MCM2-7, and genome-wide data showed that Separase co-localized with MCM complex and cohesin. Unexpectedly, the depletion of Separase increased the fork velocity about 1.5-fold and caused a strong acetylation of cohesin's SMC3 subunit and altered checkpoint response. Notably, Separase silencing triggered genomic instability in both HeLa and human primary fibroblast cells. Our results show a novel mechanism for fork progression mediated by Separase and thus the basis for genomic instability associated with tumorigenesis

Separase prevents genomic instability by controlling replication fork speed

Proper chromosome segregation is crucial for preserving genomic integrity, and errors in this process cause chromosome mis-segregation, which may contribute to cancer development. Sister chromatid separation is triggered by Separase, an evolutionary conserved protease that cleaves the cohesin complex, allowing the dissolution of sister chromatid cohesion. Here we provide evidence that Separase participates in genomic stability maintenance by controlling replication fork speed. We found that Separase interacted with the replication licensing factors MCM2-7, and genome-wide data showed that Separase co-localized with MCM complex and cohesin. Unexpectedly, the depletion of Separase increased the fork velocity about 1.5-fold and caused a strong acetylation of cohesin's SMC3 subunit and altered checkpoint response. Notably, Separase silencing triggered genomic instability in both HeLa and human primary fibroblast cells. Our results show a novel mechanism for fork progression mediated by Separase and thus the basis for genomic instability associated with tumorigenesis

The computation of reproduction numbers for the environment-host-environmen cholera transmission dynamics

This study presents a new model for the environment-host-environment transmission dynamics of V. cholerae in a community with an interconnected aquatic pond–river water network. For the case when the human host is the sole target of anti-cholera control and the volume of water in the pond is maximum, the disease-free equilibrium of the model is shown to be globally asymptotically stable whenever a certain epidemiological threshold, known as the basic reproduction number, is less than unity. The epidemiological implication of this result is that cholera can be eliminated from the community if the control strategies implemented can bring (and maintain) the basic reproduction number to a value less than unity. Four scenarios, that represent different interpretations of the role of the V. cholerea pathogen within the environment, were studied. The corresponding basic reproduction numbers were shown to exhibit the same threshold property with respect to the value unity (i.e., if one is less (equal, greater) than unity, then the three others are also less (equal, greater) than unity. Further, it was shown that for the case where anti-cholera control is focused on the human host population, the associated type reproduction number of the model (corresponding to each of the four transmission scenarios considered) is unique. The implication of this result is that the estimate of the effort needed for disease elimination (i.e., the required herd immunity threshold) is unique, regardless of which of the four transmission scenarios is considered. However, when any of the other two bacterial population types in the aquatic environment (i.e., bacterial in the pond or river) is the focus of the control efforts, this study shows that the associated type reproduction number is not unique. Extensive numerical simulations of the model, using a realistic set of parameters from the published literature, show that the community-wide implementation of a strategy that focus on improved water quality, sanitation, and hygiene (known as WASH-only strategy), using the current estimated coverage of 50% and efficacy of 60%, is unable to lead to the elimination of the disease. Such elimination is attainable if the coverage and efficacy are increased (e.g., to 80% and 90%, respectively). Further, elimination can be achieved using a strategy that focuses on oral rehydration therapy and the use of antibiotics to treat the infected humans (i.e., treatment-only strategy) for moderate effectiveness and coverage levels. The combined hybrid WASH-treatment strategy provides far better population-level impact vis a vis disease elimination. This study ranks the three interventions in the following order of population-level effectiveness: combined WASH-treatment, followed by treatment-only and then WASH-only strategy.Gruppo Nazionale per la Fisica Matematica (GNFM), the Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica Francesco Severi (INdAM) of Italy, the Simons Foundation and the National Science Foundation.https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/jbs2021-02-13hj2020Mathematics and Applied Mathematic

A Brief Depression Screening Tool for Perinatal Clinical Practice: The Performance of the PHQ-2 Compared with the PHQ-9

Introduction There is ongoing interest in using brief screening instruments to identify perinatal depression in clinical practice. One ultra-brief screening instrument for depression is the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), but thus far its accuracy in perinatal clinical practice has been barely researched. In the present study, we aimed to assess the screening accuracy of the PHQ-2 against the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in a large sample of perinatal women. Method A total of 1155 consecutive women attending 11 health care centers throughout Italy completed the PHQ-9 (which includes the PHQ-2) during pregnancy (27-40 weeks) or postpartum (1-13 weeks). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, likelihood ratio positive, likelihood ratio negative, and overall accuracy were calculated using cut points 3 or greater and 2 or greater. Results During pregnancy, PHQ-2 greater than or equal to 3 revealed low sensitivity (38.4%-44.7%) but high specificity (97.8%-99.3%). In postpartum, it revealed moderate sensitivity (56.9%-70.6%), high specificity (95.8%-99.8%), and fair overall accuracy in pregnancy (70%). The alternative threshold greater than or equal to 2 revealed very high sensitivity (pregnancy: 92.1%-95.2%; postpartum: 87.1%-95.2%), moderate specificity (pregnancy: 78.1%-83.2%; postpartum: 68.8%-81.1%) and good overall accuracy, both during pregnancy (87%) and postpartum (84%). Discussion The PHQ-2 provided acceptable accuracy for screening for depression compared with the PHQ-9. In perinatal screening practice, a threshold of 2 or greater should be preferred as this ensures high sensitivity, missing only approximately 6% to 8% of cases, and a false-positive rate (percentage of women classified as affected with depressive symptoms when they are not) of 19% to 25%

Synthesis of Tailored Perfluoro Unsaturated Monomers for Potential Applications in Proton Exchange Membrane Preparation

The aim of the present work is the synthesis and characterization of new perfluorinated monomers bearing, similarly to Nafion®, acidic groups for proton transport for potential and future applications in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. To this end, we focused our attention on the synthesis of various molecules with (i) sufficient volatility to be used in vacuum polymerization techniques (e.g., PECVD)), (ii) sulfonic, phosphonic, or carboxylic acid functionalities for proton transport capacity of the resulting membrane, (iii) both aliphatic and aromatic perfluorinated tags to diversify the membrane polarity with respect to Nafion®, and (iv) a double bond to facilitate the polymerization under vacuum giving a preferential way for the chain growth of the polymer. A retrosynthetic approach persuaded us to attempt three main synthetic strategies: (a) organometallic Heck-type cross-coupling, (b) nucleophilic displacement, and (c) Wittig–Horner reaction (carbanion approach). Preliminary results on the plasma deposition of a polymeric film are also presented. The variation of plasma conditions allowed us to point out that the film prepared in the mildest settings (20 W) shows the maximum monomer retention in its structure. In this condition, plasma polymerization likely occurs mainly by rupture of the bond in the monomer molecule