Social capital components and social support of persons with multiple sclerosis: a systematic review of the literature from 2000 to 2018

Purpose: To identify experiences of persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) in terms of social capital and its components (i.e., social networks, trust, and interpersonal relationships) and social support based on the current scientific knowledge. Methods: Systematic literature review was conducted through PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and PsycINFO. Included articles were published from 2000 to 2018 and met specific selection criteria. Screening of records determined eligible studies for inclusion to data extraction and synthesis process. Results: A total of 551 abstracts were screened, of which 34 studies met all selection criteria. The themes that emerged referred to the impact of physical and cognitive impairments on social functioning, stigma, psychosocial, emotional and mental challenges, association of quality of life with social capital components and social support, and contribution of social support to improvement of social functioning and health of persons with MS. Persons with MS face a series of issues regarding social support and social capital-related components, primarily facing psychological difficulties, difficulties with making and maintaining interpersonal relationships, and limitations for participating in social and daily activities due to the symptoms of MS, particularly fatigue. Conclusion: It appears that the ability to seek and maintain social relationships and to participate in social and daily activities is important for persons with MS. This has an impact on their quality of life, as well as on their health functioning, however issues around mobility and stigmatization of their condition hinder their social functioning

O331 Patterns of viral suppression on cART as predictors of uncontrolled viremia after starting a new antiretroviral after 1 January 2003

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Proton dynamics in cancer

Cancer remains a leading cause of death in the world today. Despite decades of research to identify novel therapeutic approaches, durable regressions of metastatic disease are still scanty and survival benefits often negligible. While the current strategy is mostly converging on target-therapies aimed at selectively affecting altered molecular pathways in tumor cells, evidences are in parallel pointing to cell metabolism as a potential Achilles' heel of cancer, to be disrupted for achieving therapeutic benefit. Critical differences in the metabolism of tumor versus normal cells, which include abnormal glycolysis, high lactic acid production, protons accumulation and reversed intra-extracellular pH gradients, make tumor site a hostile microenvironment where only cancer cells can proliferate and survive. Inhibiting these pathways by blocking proton pumps and transporters may deprive cancer cells of a key mechanism of detoxification and thus represent a novel strategy for a pleiotropic and multifaceted suppression of cancer cell growth

Back to social classes?

Alongside a literature that considers the reference to social classes to be misleading, there has been a recent debate on the persisting importance of social classes in sociological explanation. This debate has brought interesting empirical results, but has also put into question the traditional schemes of classes that have been used since the 1980s.The diminishing ability of the variable ‘class’ to explain a large part of social phenomena is not due to the disappearance of classes, but to the inability of the traditional schemes to reflect the emerging aspects of the structure, which continue to perform their central role in explaining social inequalities. The article identifies and discuss the most important of these emerging aspects and their implication for the proposal of new empirical schemes

Presentazione

Il termine «capitale sociale» vive un periodo di successo nel dibattito sociologico nazionale ed internazionale, sull’onda di articoli pubblicati su riviste come «American Journal of Sociology», «American Sociological Review», «British Journal of Sociology», «European Sociological Review», «The Annual Review of Sociology», «Theory & Society» e sulla base dell’interesse mostrato da istituzioni internazionali come la World Bank, l’oecd e l’ilo. In Italia il dibattito è stato avviato da recenti ..

Presentazione

A distanza di otto anni dallo scoppio della grande crisi del nuovo secolo, le risposte dei paesi coinvolti appaiono molto diverse. Gli Stati Uniti, da cui la crisi ha preso le mosse, sono stati più veloci ad uscirne, grazie ad un fortissimo intervento pubblico di bailout, restituito con gli interessi dalle aziende salvate entro il 2012. La crisi continua tuttavia ad esercitare effetti depressivi sulla maggior parte dei paesi occidentali e sui paesi ricchi di materie prime, a causa della cadut..

Familismo amorale e capitale sociale

The concept of «amoral familism», as introduced by Edward C. Banfield for explaining the backwardness of Southern Italy, has provoked many criticisms since the publication of his book «The Moral Basis of a Backward Society» (Italian edition 1961). Nonetheless, this concept has been used by several scholars for identifying a specific form of social structure, based on a strong family cohesion, a relatively weak civil society and distrust of the state. The article discusses the reasons underlying the success and influence of Banfield’s book and focuses on certain limitations of its analysis, with special reference to its deficiency at the analytical and theoretical level