A new analysis of the Scholia Photiana in the Pseudo-Oecumenian catena tradition

In 1933, the German scholar Karl Staab published an edition of the so-called catena of Pseudo-Oecumenius. In particular, Staab edited numerous scholia ascribed to the Patriarch Photius of Constantinople, identified in manuscripts of the so-called Typus Vaticanus and Erweiterte Typus, and formulated the hypothesis that those scholia could belong to a more extended commentary on Paul’s writings which has since been lost. The present study is a new examination of the Photian scholia edited by Staab with particular attention to the style, in order to gain a new understanding of the exegetical methods and procedures the Patriarch adopted to articulate his own interpretation of the Pauline Epistles. It undertakes a comprehensive re-examination of the distribution of this material in the manuscript tradition, offering extensive corrections to Staab’s treatment of GA 1915, GA 1923, GA 1982, GA 91 and GA 1907. In addition, it draws on three further manuscripts categorised as the Erweiterte Typus of the catena of Pseudo-Oecumenius, GA 1915, GA 2183, GA 1916, which provide new material attributed to Photius. I also propose an Editio princeps of the twenty-five newly identified Scholia Photiana in Appendix 2. From an analysis of the style of the whole collection of Scholia Photiana I found that the interpretation of the Epistles is strictly literal and lacks relevant, extended reference to the Church Fathers, denoting the exegete’s clear independence of thought. Additionally, the very few quotations from the Amphilochia suggest that the Scholia Photiana are generally independent from the other works of Photius. These two factors support Hergenröther’s hypothesis of the existence of another independent work that Photius produced as his own extended commentary on Paul’s Epistles

Methacronous Intercostal and Peritoneal Metastases from Resected Well-differentiated Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Description of a Case and Review of Literature

Introduction: The aim of this report is to prove the possibility of simultaneous difficult cardiac and urologic operation. Important point to make in our report concerns the fact that the oncologic treatment was not delayed despite severe heart disease. There is also an advantage in avoiding second operation and hence anesthesiaCase Presentation: A 72 year old male presented to us with right renal mass lesion with tumour thrombus extending up to right atrium. He had undergone Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty 5 years ago and had two coronary stents in situ. Coronary angiography revealed triple vessel coronary re obstruction. After proper planning he underwent right radical nephrectomy with tumour thombectomy along with Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in the same sitting.Conclusion: One-stage cardiac and uro-oncologic operation can be a safe and beneficial procedure, if performed in selected patients

Restoring autophagic function: a case for type 2 diabetes mellitus drug repurposing in Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a predominantly idiopathic pathological condition characterized by protein aggregation phenomena, whose main component is alpha-synuclein. Although the main risk factor is ageing, numerous evidence points to the role of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) as an etiological factor. Systemic alterations classically associated with T2DM like insulin resistance and hyperglycemia modify biological processes such as autophagy and mitochondrial homeostasis. High glucose levels also compromise protein stability through the formation of advanced glycation end products, promoting protein aggregation processes. The ability of antidiabetic drugs to act on pathways impaired in both T2DM and PD suggests that they may represent a useful tool to counteract the neurodegeneration process. Several clinical studies now in advanced stages are looking for confirmation in this regard

Ameliorating a Complex Urban Ecosystem Through Instrumental Use of Softscape Buffers: Proposal for a Green Infrastructure Network in the Metropolitan Area of Naples

Green Infrastructure (GI) definition, deriving from the United States green infrastructure for hydro-geological rebalancing through imitating the nature stormwater management, was consolidated in Europe by GI Planning Guide. Nowadays GI can be considered a valid and meaningful approach for ameliorating urban complex ecosystems, and could also be considered as mitigation action of land consumption, according to the guidelines on the soil sealing of the European Commission (2012). The metropolitan area of Naples located in south Italy is characterized by an unauthorized and chaotic urban development. The land-use map reported an average of 30% of urbanization in the metropolitan area, rising up to 50–60% and as high as 98% in the north core area of the city. This high level of urbanization is directly related to the habitat fragmentation. The National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy defines several challenges and targets to counteract the biodiversity loss in Italy, identifying urban areas as places exposed to the greatest pressures on ecosystems. Therefore, the integration of different policies limiting habitat fragmentation, heat island effect and natural soil hydro-geological degradation into spatial planning, especially through green corridors and ecosystem enhancement in urban areas is an urgent need for the society. Spatial planning has to be renewed in metropolitan areas, where threats and weaknesses to biodiversity conservation are stronger than in any other place, according to the Law n. 56/2014, (Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana, 2014) committing metropolitan cities to the enactment of General Territorial Plan. In the current paper, we aim at designing an ecological network for the metropolitan area of Naples one of the biggest city of southern Italy. The analyses include the adopted methodological procedure, i.e., ecological network analysis and design, and the introductory elements of a spatial analysis on a pilot ecological network of several patches. Finally, the paper illustrates the network analysis conceived as a monitoring system and also in future perspective, as a planning support system

Advanced Label-Free Optical Methods for Spermatozoa Quality Assessment and Selection

Current in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques require a severe selection of sperm, generally based on concentration, morphology, motility, and DNA integrity. Since routinely separation methods may damage the viability of the sperm cell, there is a growing interest in providing a method for noninvasively analyzing spermatozoa taking into account all those parameters. This chapter first reviews the state-of-the-art of label-free sperm cell imaging for IVF, highlighting the limitations of the used techniques. Then, our innovative approach combining Raman spectroscopy and digital holography will be described and its advantages detailed. These include the ability to perform a simultaneous and correlative morphological and biochemical analysis of sperm cells, without labeling, in a fast and reliable way. Finally, the difficulty in reaching clinical use will be discussed, as well as the possible solutions offered by new technological improvements

Associations between Learning and Behavioral Difficulties in Second-Grade Children

Learning and behavioral difficulties often emerge during the first years of primary school and are one of the most important issues of concern for families and schools. The study was aimed at investigating the co-occurrence of difficulties between academic learning and emotional-behavioral control in typically developing school children and the moderating role of sex. A sample of 640 second-grade school children participated in the study. This study used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to measure the emotional and behavioral difficulties and a battery of objective and standardized tests to evaluate the learning skills in children. In this sample 7% to 16% of children performed below the normal range in reading and/or arithmetic tests. Mixed models showed that children's hyperactive behaviors were positively related to both reading and math difficulties, and emotional problems correlated negatively with reading accuracy. The more children displayed behavioral difficulties, the more they were exposed to the risk of worsening reading and math performance, especially for girls. The result that among different emotional-behavioral problems within the school setting, hyperactivity behaviors and emotional difficulties are related to learning difficulties with a moderate effect of sex, needs to be taken into account in screening and prevention programs for learning difficulties in order to not disregard the complexity of the associated profiles

Ranolazine Attenuates Trastuzumab-Induced Heart Dysfunction by Modulating ROS Production

The ErbB2 blocker trastuzumab improves survival in oncologic patients, but can cause cardiotoxicity. The late Na+ current inhibitor ranolazine has been shown to counter experimental HF, including doxorubicin cardiotoxicity (a condition characterized by derangements in redox balance), by lowering the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Since ErbB2 can modulate ROS signaling, we tested whether trastuzumab cardiotoxicity could be blunted by ranolazine via redox-mediated mechanisms. Trastuzumab decreased fractional shortening and ejection fraction in mice, but ranolazine prevented heart dysfunction when co-administered with trastuzumab. Trastuzumab cardiotoxicity was accompanied by elevations in natriuretic peptides and matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) mRNAs, which were not elevated with co-treatment with ranolazine. Trastuzumab also increased cleavage of caspase-3, indicating activation of the proapoptotic machinery. Again, ranolazine prevented this activation. Interestingly, Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocytes (NRVMs), labeled with MitoTracker Red and treated with trastuzumab, showed only a small increase in ROS compared to baseline conditions. We then stressed trastuzumab-treated cells with the beta-agonist isoproterenol to increase workload, and we observed a significant increase of probe fluorescence, compared with cells treated with isoproterenol alone, reflecting induction of oxidative stress. These effects were blunted by ranolazine, supporting a role for INa inhibition in the regulation of redox balance also in trastuzumab cardiotoxicity

Different Biliary Microbial Flora Influence Type of Complications after Pancreaticoduodenectomy: A Single Center Retrospective Analysis

Background: Bacterobilia is associated with postoperative morbidity after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD), mostly due to infectious complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of bacteria species isolated from intraoperative biliary cultures, and related complications after PD. Methods: An ANOVA test was used to assess the prevalence of isolated bacterial species and postoperative complications. The odds ratio was computed to evaluate the association between biliary cultures and each complication, Endoscopic Retrograde CholangioPancreatography (ERCP) and each complication, ERCP and biliary cultures, Delayed Gastric Emptying (DGE) and Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula (POPF). Results: Positive biliary cultures were found in 162/244 (66%) PDs. Different prevalences of polymicrobial biliary culture were detected in patients with postoperative complications. In SSIs, a significant prevalence of biliary culture positive for E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoni AE and Enterococcus f AE calis (p < 0.001) was detected. Prevalences of polymicrobial biliary cultures with Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoni AE, Enterococcus f AE calis and Enterococcus f AE cium were significantly associated with POPF (p < 0.001). Biliary culture positive for Escherichia coli, Enterococcus f AE calis and Enterococcus f AE cium showed a higher prevalence of intra-abdominal collection and DGE (p < 0.001). Notably, Escherichia coli was significantly associated with DGE as a unique complication (OR = 2.94 (1.30-6.70); p < 0.01). Conclusions: Specific prevalences of polymicrobial bacterobilia are associated with major complications, while monomicrobial Escherichia coli bacterobilia is associated with DGE as a unique complication after PD

Thalamo-cortical network activity between migraine attacks. Insights from MRI-based microstructural and functional resting-state network correlation analysis

BACKGROUND: Resting state magnetic resonance imaging allows studying functionally interconnected brain networks. Here we were aimed to verify functional connectivity between brain networks at rest and its relationship with thalamic microstructure in migraine without aura (MO) patients between attacks. METHODS: Eighteen patients with untreated MO underwent 3 T MRI scans and were compared to a group of 19 healthy volunteers (HV). We used MRI to collect resting state data among two selected resting state networks, identified using group independent component (IC) analysis. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) values of bilateral thalami were retrieved from a previous diffusion tensor imaging study on the same subjects and correlated with resting state ICs Z-scores. RESULTS: In comparison to HV, in MO we found significant reduced functional connectivity between the default mode network and the visuo-spatial system. Both HV and migraine patients selected ICs Z-scores correlated negatively with FA values of the thalamus bilaterally. CONCLUSIONS: The present results are the first evidence supporting the hypothesis that an abnormal resting within networks connectivity associated with significant differences in baseline thalamic microstructure could contribute to interictal migraine pathophysiology

Sottosopra: Indagine su processi di sovversione

[Italiano]: L’idea di sovversione è un principio di movimento, segnato dall’etimo: volgere dal basso verso l’alto, ovvero cambiare di posto, invertire la rotta. Il rovesciamento dell’ordine precostituito attraversa ciclicamente la storia, manifestandosi in tutti gli ambiti della vita umana attraverso un atto rivoluzionario contingente che innesca a sua volta ulteriori processi di rigenerazione. Obiettivo di questo volume è, pertanto, quello di riconoscere e ricostruire il dialogo tra i segmenti che compongono le sovversioni della nostra storia socio-culturale, identificandone i contorni in una modalità dell’agire che fonda e sabota se stessa nello stesso momento in cui insorge. Il discorso critico interdisciplinare qui condotto si sviluppa seguendo la tripartizione proposta da Thomas Ernst nei suoi numerosi studi riguardanti il concetto di sovversione nella cornice artistico-letteraria del Novecento, giovando della sua collaborazione che è confluita nel contributo con cui si apre il volume, intitolato Subversion Studies. The Political – The Media – The Public. Tale tripartizione è stata adottata e riletta dalle curatrici alla luce dei contributi proposti dagli autori, al fine di investigare ambiti differenti in cui il sovversivo manifesta la propria natura. In tal senso è stato posto l’accento prima sul politico, ovvero sulle condizioni di negoziazione tra un soggetto e il mondo esterno, successivamente sui media, nell’accezione di supporti dall’utilizzo potenzialmente rivoluzionario e, infine, sul pubblico, vale a dire sul dialogo tra l’eredità culturale e i suoi interpreti, colti nell’atto di riscrivere e tradire l’autorità della tradizione. Il presente volume è dunque frutto di un’indagine collettiva e trova la propria collocazione all’interno dei Subversion Studies, branca del sapere di recente sviluppo. Alla base della sua composizione vi è uno sguardo duplice che tiene insieme presente e passato e che ricerca, anzitutto, la dimensione processuale insita in ogni espressione di rinnovamento ./[English]: According to its etymology, the concept of subversion traces a precise movement: the turning upside-down, that is, switching, reversing course. The overthrow of established paradigms periodically leaves its mark upon history, taking the form of a revolutionary act that, in turn, triggers further regenerations processes. In this framework, the subversive condition reveals its elusive nature, since it disappears in the moment of its fulfilment, hiding itself behind the curtains of every historical event. Based on these considerations, this volume aims to outline subversion as a dynamic process of our socio-cultural history, whose different forms are shaped by the dialogue between opposing subjects. In doing so, this book positions itself firmly within the new-born field of Subversion Studies, offering an interdisciplinary double gaze, that, similarly to the same concept of subversion, holds together past and present. The volume is divided into three sections: The Political – The Media – The Public, tripartition borrowed from the research carried out by Thomas Ernst - a leading exponent of Subversion Studies – whose article opens this volume. By applying this subdivision, we intend to draw attention to three different areas in which the Subversive manifests its own nature: firstly, the political negotiation between subjects and the outside world; secondly, media and their revolutionary use; and, finally, the cultural heritage and its interpreters, caught in the act of rewriting and subverting tradition