Entrevista com Elena Pulcini

Elena Pulcini é professora titular de Filosofia Social no Departamento de Ciências Políticas e Sociais da Universidade de Florença. Colocou no centro de sua pesquisa o tema das paixões e do individualismo, as patologias sociais da modernidade e as formas de vínculo social, desenvolvendo também uma reflexão sobre o sujeito feminino; e propôs uma filosofia de cuidado para a era global. Sua pesquisa atual se concentra principalmente no desafio ecológico e nas implicações emocionais, sociais e éticas. Orador principal e convidado em conferências internacionais Entre os seus trabalhos mais recentes, alguns dos quais foram traduzidos para as principais línguas europeias: O indivíduo sem paixões (L'individuo senza passioni - Bollati Boringhieri 2001); O poder de união. Feminino, desejo, cuidado (Il potere di unire. Femminile, desiderio, cura - Bollati Boringhieri, 2003); Cuidando do mundo. Medo e responsabilidade na era global (La cura del mondo. Paura e responsabilità nell'età globale - Bollati Boringhieri 2009; primeiro Prêmio de Filosofia "Journey to Syracuse" 2009); Inveja. A triste paixão (Invidia. La passione triste - Il Mulino 2011); "Espelho, espelho dos meus desejos." Beleza e inveja ("Specchio specchio delle mie brame". Bellezza e invidia - Orthotes 2017); Responsabilidade, Igualdade, Sustentabilidade. Três palavras para interpretar o futuro (Responsabilità, Uguaglianza, Sostenibilità.Tre parole per interpretare il futuro com S.Veca e E. Giovannini - Lampi EDB, Bolonha 2017); Felicidade italiana. Uma amostra filosófica (Felicità italiane. Un campionario filosofico, co-curador e co-autor, Il Mulino 2016), Cuidado e emoções. Uma aliança complexa (Cura ed emozioni. Un'alleanza complessa co-curadora, com Sophie Bourgault, e coautora, Il Mulino 2018). A ser publicado em breve: Entre o cuidado e a justiça. Paixões como recurso social, Bollati Boringhieri 2020. Ela participou e participa de programas de rádio cultural e televisão

Public Sociology and Participatory Approaches. Towards a Democratization of Social Research?

The subject of participation has been gathering increasing interest from the various social disciplines: from politology to psychology, from urban sociology to evaluation, this concept carries a particular fascination and discussing participatory research has now become an absolute must. However, an adequate reflection on methodologies for analyzing research practices and evaluating hypotheses and effects when setting up actual research relationships has not followed on the tail of this new tendency. This paper arises from that need and aims, through discussion of the main debates that have interested science and sociology, to reevaluate a critical approach towards the analysis of the social relationships that are created during a research investigation. This study starts out as a reflection aimed at analyzing the impact that participation, in all its various forms, can have on the way research is carried out. The originality of this article lies in the proposal of a form of participation, and from this, the expression of a hope for the future of social sciences: that we can aspire towards a dialogical model and towards a new cooperative and emancipatory relationship with the public

L’impresa immaginativa delle Sociologie post Covid

L'articolo introduce la tematica dell'impresa immaginativa delle sociologie in merito al fenomeno Covid-19 come fatto sociale totale. In particolare vengono introdotte riflessioni sull'impatto che il fenomeno ha avuto sulle partiche della scienza, sulle disuguaglianze di genere, sulla comunicazione e i processi decisionali delle amministrazioni locali, la dimensione spazio-temporale e i movimenti sociali. Nelle conclusioni si propone una riflessione sulla convivenza uman

Gender-related issues in the pharmacology of new anti-obesity drugs

Four new medicines-liraglutide, lorcaserin, bupropion/naltrexone, and phentermine/topiramate-have been recently added to the pharmacological arsenal for obesity treatment and could represent important tools to manage this epidemic disease. To achieve satisfactory anti-obesity goals, the use of these new medicines should be optimized and tailored to specific patient subpopulations also by applying dose adjustments if needed. In the present review, we posit that gender could be among the factors influencing the activity of the new obesity drugs both because of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic factors. Although evidence from premarketing clinical studies suggested that no dose adjustment by gender is necessary for any of these new medicines, these studies were not specifically designed to identify gender-related differences. This observation, together with the strong theoretical background supporting the hypothesis of a gender-dimorphic response, strongly call upon an urgent need of new real-life data on gender-related difference in the pharmacology of these new obesity drugs

Regulation of CREB activation by p38 mitogen activated protein kinase during human primary erythroblast differentiation.

Among the molecular events underlying erythroid differentiation, we analyzed the signalling pathway leading to cAMP response element binding (CREB) nuclear transcription factor activation. Normal donor blood light density cells differentiated to pro-erythroblasts during the proliferative phase (10 days) of the Human Erithroblast Massive Amplification (HEMA) culture, and to orthochromatic erythroblasts, during the differentiative phase (4 additional days) of the culture. Since erythropoietin was present all over the culture, also pro-erythroblasts left in proliferative medium for 14 days continued their maturation without reaching the final steps of differentiation. p38 Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (p38 MAPK) and CREB maximal activation occurred upon 4 days of differentiation induction, whereas a lower activation was detectable in the cells maintained in parallel in proliferative medium (14 days). Interestingly, when SB203580, a specific p38 MAPK inhibitor, was added to the culture the percentage of differentiated cells decreased along with p38 MAPK and CREB phosphorylation. All in all, our results evidence a role for p38 MAPK in activating CREB metabolic pathway in the events leading to erythroid differentiation

Caspase-3 is dually regulated by apoptogenic factors mitochondrial release and by SAPK/JNK metabolic pathway in leukemic cells exposed to etoposide-ionizing radiation combined treatment.

Ionizing radiation induces a series of multiple intracellular events which can lead to activation of caspases, cytoplasmic proteases involved in the occurrence of apoptosis. The response of leukemic cells to ionizing radiation is amplified when they have been pre-treated with the anticancer drug etoposide, therefore the aim of this work has been to establish the lowest etoposide concentration combined with the lowest ionizing radiation dose to obtain the best antineoplastic response. Two leukemic cell lines, HL-60 and Jurkat, employed in this study, demonstrated different sensitivities to ionizing radiation and to etoposide treatment, with Jurkat T cells requiring a higher dose (1 μM) to display cell cycle perturbation and apoptotic DNA damage similar to those seen in HL-60. We hypothesize that this kind of response could be mediated by mitochondrial release of apoptogenic factors and by SAPK/JNK metabolic pathway activation, both leading to caspase-3 cleavage. All in all these results provide insight into the sensitivity or resistance of leukemic cells to antineoplastic agents and identify molecular targets for rational therapeutic intervention strategies

Adhesion of human gingival fibroblasts/Streptococcus mitis co-culture on the nanocomposite system Chitlac-nAg

10noComposite materials are increasingly used as dental restoration. In the field of biomaterials, infections remain the main reason of dental devices failure. Silver, in the form of nanoparticles (AgNPs), ions and salt, well known for its antimicrobial properties, is used in several medical applications in order to avoid bacterial infection. To reduce both bacterial adhesion to dental devices and cytotoxicity against eukaryotic cells, we coated BisGMA/TEGDMA methacrylic thermosets with a new material, Chitlac-nAg, formed by stabilized AgNPs with a polyelectrolyte solution containing Chitlac. Here we analyzed the proliferative and adhesive ability of human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) on BisGMA/TEGDMA thermosets uncoated and coated with AgNPs in a coculture model system with Streptococcus mitis. After 48 h, HGFs well adhered onto both surfaces, while S. mitis cytotoxic response was higher in the presence of AgNPs coated thermosets. After 24 h thermosets coated with Chitlac as well as those coated with Chitlac-nAg exerted a minimal cytotoxic effect on HGFs, while after 48 h LDH release raised up to 20 %. Moreover the presence of S. mitis reduced this release mainly when HGFs adhered to Chitlac-nAg coated thermosets. The reduced secretion of collagen type I was significant in the presence of both surfaces with the co-culture system even more when saliva is added. Integrin β1 localized closely to cell membranes onto Chitlac-nAg thermosets and PKCα translocated into nuclei. These data confirm that Chitlac-nAg have a promising utilization in the field of restorative dentistry exerting their antimicrobial activity due to AgNPs without cytotoxicity for eukaryotic cells.openopenCataldi, Amelia; Gallorini, Marialucia; Di Giulio, Mara; Guarnieri, Simone; Mariggiò, Maria Addolorata; Traini, Tonino; Di Pietro, Roberta; Cellini, Luigina; Marsich, Eleonora; Sancilio, SilviaCataldi, Amelia; Gallorini, Marialucia; Di Giulio, Mara; Guarnieri, Simone; Mariggiò, Maria Addolorata; Traini, Tonino; Di Pietro, Roberta; Cellini, Luigina; Marsich, Eleonora; Sancilio, Silvi