SOPRANNOMI ETNICI PROVERBIALI E ANEDDOTICI IN SICILIA. QUALCHE ESEMPIO DAL CORPUS DASES.

Il contributo si inserisce all’interno degli studi preparatori al Dizionario Atlante dei Soprannomi Etnici in Sicilia (DASES). A partire dai dati emersi durante la raccolta sul campo ma anche con il confronto sulle fonti bibliografiche, vi si analizzano alcune ricorrenze con varianti formali in diacronia e diatopia costruite su formule paremiologiche (es: Favarisi unu ogni paisi/e si nun ci nn’è mègghiu è) o su aneddoti specifici (es: Jàpicu ˗o Cià˗, mùzzica a crapa) o, ancora, su entrambi (es: Cu passa di l’Omumortu e unn-è arrubbatu/ Biancucci o è mortu o è carzaratu). La prospettiva del contributo, integrandosi con le altre sin qui affrontate in sede di analisi preliminare del DASES, ne conferma l’ampiezza del ventaglio disciplinare: pur trattandosi di formule ricorrenti, dunque poco utili per comprendere le singole dinamiche di contrapposizione tra centri, queste rappresentano un elemento linguistico con alto range di ricorrenze, collocandosi a pieno diritto in un contesto complessivo, quello dell’identità culturale condivisa, di cui proverbi e racconti popolari sono fulgida espressione.The paper is linked with the ones already appeared for the preparation of Dizionario Atlante dei Soprannomi Etnici in Sicilia (DASES). From data obtained during fieldwork but also by comparing bibliographic sources, some blasons populaires constructed on proverbs (ex: Favarisi unu ogni paisi/e si nun ci nn’è mègghiu è), oral tales (ex: Jàpicu ˗o Cià˗, mùzzica a crapa) or both (ex: Cu passa di l’Omumortu e unn-è arrubbatu/ Biancucci o è mortu o è carzaratu) will be analyzed here. Such a perspective confirms that the disciplinary range covered by DASES is very broad: blasons populaires seemingly uninteresting for their repetitive construction are in fact widespread and they help to detect many important elements about shared cultural identity of which proverbs and oral tales are brilliant expressions

Popular toponomastics pathways in Sicily: contacts between categories and new connotations

This study is a reflection on the category of popular toponym and on the pathways which they are subjected to. It operates in two directions: the first one is that of onomaturgy, the second one takes into account overextensions, secondary connotations and people's consciousness of places. The first issue moves from the reflections resulted from the collection of ethnic nicknames (or blasons pupulaires) in Sicily. In particular, we start from the observation according to which popular anthroponyms can contribute to generate in speakers popular toponyms that follow a pathway of overlapping/substitution like the one concerning ethnics and blasons populaires. The second issue regards official toponyms related to locations that have been charged with connotations in popular consciousness, becoming symbols or passing from proper nouns to common nouns on the basis of true or presumed peculiarities. It is the case of "Carrapipi" (today "Valguarnera Caropepe" in province of Enna), that indicates any place whose localization is difficult to identify, or that of Milocca (today "Milena" in province of Caltanissetta), which has become any remote place par excellence

Separate episodes of capillary leak syndrome and pulmonary hypertension after adjuvant gemcitabine and three years later after nab-paclitaxel for metastatic disease

Background: Systemic capillary leak syndrome is a rare disease with a high mortality rate. This syndrome is characterised by generalised edema, hypotension, hemoconcentration, and hypoproteinemia. The cause is the sudden onset of capillary hyperpermeability with extravasations of plasma from the intravascular to the extravascular compartment. We present the case of a patient who experienced two episodes of systemic capillary leak syndrome and pulmonary hypertension; the first after gemcitabine in an adjuvant setting and the second three years later after treatment with nab-paclitaxel for metastatic disease.Case presentation: A 65-year-old patient underwent a pancreatectomy in January 2010 for ductal carcinoma (pT3 N0 M0, stage IIa), followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. Seven days after the last cycle, she developed dyspnea associated with orthopnea and cough. A transthoracic cardiac ecocolordoppler was performed, with evidence of pulmonary hypertension (58 mmHg). Blood tests showed an increase in creatinine, pro-BNP and D-Dimer. She began high-dose diuretic therapy combined with cortisone. After a month, the patient was eupneic and the anasarca had resolved. We decided gradually to reduce the steroid and diuretic therapy. After ten days of the reduction, the patient began to re-present the same symptoms after treatment with gemcitabine. Corticosteroid therapy was restored with rapid clinical benefit and decreased pro-BNP after a week of treatment. After two years, the disease returned. As a first line treatment, it was decided to use nab-paclitaxel 100 mg/m2 weekly. After two doses, followed by approximately 14 days of treatment, the patient developed acute respiratory distress syndrome. The clinical suspicion was a relapse of capillary leak syndrome and treatment with a high-dose diuretic (furosemide 250 mg daily) was started combined with cortisone (40 mg methylprednisolone). The patient showed a progressive clinical benefit.Conclusions: In patients treated with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel who experience a sudden onset of diffuse edema with respiratory distress, capillary leak syndrome should be suspected. Immediate treatment with corticosteroids may be life-saving. © 2013 Casadei Gardini et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Case Report: Circulating Myeloid-Derived Suppressive-Like Cells and Exhausted Immune Cells in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated With Three Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

: Immune checkpoint inhibition induced a great step forward in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer patients. In cancer immune microenvironment many checkpoints were studied and their involvement could represent a mechanism of resistance to cancer immunotherapy. For this reason, the inhibition of multiple immune checkpoints is under development. However, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and exhausted immune cells could limit the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. We analyzed the variation of circulating immune suppressive-like cell subsets and exhausted immune cells in three non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with the combination of anti-CTLA-4 plus anti-PD-1 plus anti-LAG-3 at T0 (baseline), T1 (after 2 months) and T2 (after 4 months). We also describe the clinical and radiological course of the disease during this treatment in all three patients. We observed both clinical differences and changes in the composition of immune suppressive-like cell subsets and exhausted immune cells between the patients receiving the same schedule of treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. The study on a wider patient population and experimental model design could help to clarify the kinetics of these cell subpopulations with the perspective to find new targets for treatment or new biomarkers for resistance to cancer immunotherapy

Case Report: Circulating Myeloid-Derived Suppressive-Like Cells and Exhausted Immune Cells in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated With Three Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

: Immune checkpoint inhibition induced a great step forward in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer patients. In cancer immune microenvironment many checkpoints were studied and their involvement could represent a mechanism of resistance to cancer immunotherapy. For this reason, the inhibition of multiple immune checkpoints is under development. However, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and exhausted immune cells could limit the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. We analyzed the variation of circulating immune suppressive-like cell subsets and exhausted immune cells in three non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with the combination of anti-CTLA-4 plus anti-PD-1 plus anti-LAG-3 at T0 (baseline), T1 (after 2 months) and T2 (after 4 months). We also describe the clinical and radiological course of the disease during this treatment in all three patients. We observed both clinical differences and changes in the composition of immune suppressive-like cell subsets and exhausted immune cells between the patients receiving the same schedule of treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. The study on a wider patient population and experimental model design could help to clarify the kinetics of these cell subpopulations with the perspective to find new targets for treatment or new biomarkers for resistance to cancer immunotherapy

Hypogonadism and Sexual Dysfunction in Testicular Tumor Survivors: A Systematic Review

Testicular tumor is the most common malignancy in men of reproductive age. According to the tumor histology and staging, current treatment options include orchiectomy alone or associated with adjuvant chemo- and/or radiotherapy. Although these treatments have considerably raised the percentage of survivors compared to the past, they have been identified as risk factors for testosterone deficiency and sexual dysfunction in this subgroup of men. Male hypogonadism, in turn, predisposes to the development of metabolic and cardiovascular impairment that negatively affects general health. Accordingly, longitudinal studies report a long-term risk for cardiovascular diseases after radiotherapy and/or cisplatin-based chemotherapy in testicular tumor survivors. The aim of this review was to summarize the current evidence on hypogonadism and sexual dysfunction in long-term cancer survivors, including the epidemiology of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, to increase the awareness that serum testosterone levels, sexual function, and general health should be evaluated during the endocrinological management of these patients