Identit\ue0 culturale e diritti umani

Analisi del "diritto all'identit\ue0 culturale" con attenzione alle questioni di genere relative alle donne immigrate, e osservazioni critiche alla legge sulle mutilazione dei genitali femminili. La societ\ue0 odierna si caratterizza sempre pi\uf9 per la coesistenza di etnie, culture, religioni, valori diversi. L\u2019attuale fenomeno migratorio \ue8 assolutamente eterogeneo quanto ai luoghi di provenienza, e ogni paese vede al suo interno un moltiplicarsi di gruppi etnici, religiosi e linguistici che rivendicano la propria appartenenza: rispetto al secolo scorso sono molti di pi\uf9 oggi gli immigrati che mantengono forti legami con i paesi d\u2019origine, anche quelli di seconda e terza generazione, nati in terra straniera. Le donne rappresentano oggi quasi la met\ue0 dei migranti nel mondo. Trovare regole di convivenza pacifica in un contesto pluriculturale costituisce una sfida impegnativa per gli ordinamenti occidentali. Due sono gli approcci all\u2019immigrazione che prevalgono nella maggior parte dei Paesi di accoglienza: l\u2019assimilazione, volta a negare riconoscimento alle diverse identit\ue0 culturali e pertanto limitativa della personalit\ue0 dello straniero, e la differenziazione, che invece riconosce allo straniero la libert\ue0 di mantenere la propria cultura, pur non facilitandone l\u2019integrazione. Sia pure con molte difficolt\ue0 e contestazioni sono in fase di attuazione anche politiche volte a riconoscere le diverse identit\ue0 e al contempo a sostenere l\u2019integrazione dell\u2019immigrato. \ue8 sul terreno dell\u2019immigrazione femminile che il dibattito assume rilievo particolare

dal patibolo alla tribuna

L'articolo si sofferma sui limiti alla soggettivit\ue0 femminile con particolare attenzione al tema dei diritti e della rappresentanza politica delle donne. Dopo aver ricordato il lungo cammino delle donne verso la parit\ue0, vengono presi in considerazione le tematiche dell'uguaglianza sostanziale e delle azioni positive, con analisi della giurisprudenza in materia di quote elettorali

EXP-Crowd: A Gamified Crowdsourcing Framework for Explainability

The spread of AI and black-box machine learning models made it necessary to explain their behavior. Consequently, the research field of Explainable AI was born. The main objective of an Explainable AI system is to be understood by a human as the final beneficiary of the model. In our research, we frame the explainability problem from the crowds point of view and engage both users and AI researchers through a gamified crowdsourcing framework. We research whether it's possible to improve the crowds understanding of black-box models and the quality of the crowdsourced content by engaging users in a set of gamified activities through a gamified crowdsourcing framework named EXP-Crowd. While users engage in such activities, AI researchers organize and share AI- and explainability-related knowledge to educate users. We present the preliminary design of a game with a purpose (G.W.A.P.) to collect features describing real-world entities which can be used for explainability purposes. Future works will concretise and improve the current design of the framework to cover specific explainability-related needs

Anomalies in supercooled NaCl aqueous solutions: A microscopic perspective

In this work we studied the effect of NaCl on the thermodynamic and dynamic properties of supercooled water, for salt concentrations between 0.19 and 1.33mol kg-1, using molecular dynamic simulations for TIP5PE water model and ion parameters specially designed to be used in combination with this potential. We studied the isobaric heat capacity (Cp) temperature dependence and observed a maximum in Cp, occurring at Tm, that moves to lower temperature values with increasing salt concentration. Many characteristic changes were observed at scaled temperature TTm ∼ 0.96, namely a minimum in the density of the system, a reduction of the slope of the number of hydrogen bonds vs. temperature, and a crossover from Vogel-Tamman-Fulcher to Arrhenius dynamics. Finally, at low temperatures we observed that water dynamics become heterogeneous with an apparently common relationship between the fraction of immobile molecules and T/Tm for all studied systems. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.Fil:Longinotti, M.P. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil:Corti, H.R. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

iPSCs-Based Neural 3D Systems: A Multidimensional Approach for Disease Modeling and Drug Discovery

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-based two-dimensional (2D) protocols have offered invaluable insights into the pathophysiology of neurological diseases. However, these systems are unable to reproduce complex cytoarchitectural features, cell-cell and tissue-tissue interactions like their in vivo counterpart. Three-dimensional (3D)-based culture protocols, though in their infancy, have offered new insights into modeling human diseases. Human neural organoids try to recapitulate the cellular diversity of complex tissues and can be generated from iPSCs to model the pathophysiology of a wide spectrum of pathologies. The engraftment of iPSCs into mice models and the improvement of differentiation protocols towards 3D cultures has enabled the generation of more complex multicellular systems. Consequently, models of neuropsychiatric disorders, infectious diseases, brain cancer and cerebral hypoxic injury can now be investigated from new perspectives. In this review, we consider the advancements made in modeling neuropsychiatric and neurological diseases with iPSC-derived organoids and their potential use to develop new drugs

Using Vesicular Dispersion for Stabilizing Suspensions of Dense Colloidal Particles against Sedimentation

Colloidal dispersions, like inks and paints, are often required to remain stable for long times, i.e., the dispersed colloidal particles should remain suspended. In most cases, a stable dispersion requires preventing the agglomeration of the suspended colloidal particles. If the particles agglomerate, their sizes will increase and rapid sedimentation will occur. Nevertheless, many colloidal particles of commercial interest have high densities. Thus, they quickly settle even without agglomeration. One novel approach to preventing the settling of high density particles is the use of close-packed vesicular dispersions (CPVDs) made of the surfactant DDAB (didodecyldimethylamine bromide). Previous work demonstrated the ability of these CPVDs to prohibit the settling of high density titania particles. However, only a limited range of particle sizes that were found to remain stable with CPVDs were investigated. Also, the effects of the method of preparation of the CPVDs was not fully explored, as an effecitve CPVD should be generated from the smallest possible amount of added DDAB. Thus, the impact of various preparation methods on the resulting properties of the DDAB vesicular dispersions are examined. DDAB vesicular dispersions are generated via stirring only to form primarily liposomes, sonication to break down large multi-layer vesicles, and extrusion through membranes to obtain specifically sized vesicles. Various light scattering and absorbance techniques are also used to probe the structure of the vesicular dispersions, important information needed for improving the ability of CPVDs to stabilize against sedimentation a broader range of colloidal particle sizes

Studies on Model Water-in-Oil (w/o) Emulsions: Phase Behavior, Emulsion Stability, and Hydrate Formation

Colloidal dispersions are widely encountered in several industrial settings including in ink, paint, and food formulations, as well as during subsea oil production. The present study focusses on the formation of hydrates in subsea oil pipelines from colloidal precursors that cause plugging and have tremendous environmental and economic consequences. Model systems for hydrate precursors are studied – water in cyclopentane emulsions stabilized by either SPAN 80 or AOT surfactants. The phase behavior, emulsion stability, and hydrate formation mechanisms are delineated using experimental techniques such as dynamic light scattering, spectroturbidimetry, and differential scanning calorimetry. The phase behavior is found to strongly depend upon the emulsion stabilizer with AOT systems displaying strong “solubilization” in contrast to SPAN 80 systems. Furthermore, for AOT systems the emulsion stability decreases with an increase in AOT concentration from 1 wt% to 5 wt %. For SPAN 80 systems, the emulsion stability is largely unaffected by its concentration. Additionally studies are underway to study the effect of temperature on emulsion stability and to identify the mechanisms for hydrate growth. Overall, the insights obtained from the present study will help in designing strategies for hydrate plug prevention, thereby, facilitating safe and economic oil production

Chronic treatment with long-acting nifedipine reduces vasoconstriction to endothelin-1 in essential hypertension

Essential hypertension is associated with enhanced biological activity of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilatation. Dihydropyridine calcium antagonists have antioxidant activity in vitro, and they improve endothelial function in vivo. We tested whether calcium antagonists also influence the biological activity of ET-1 in essential hypertensive (EH) patients in the presence and absence of hypercholesterolemia. In 9 healthy subjects (normotensive [NT] subjects, age: 48.3+/-7.6 years; blood pressure: 118+/-8.6/69+/-5.4 mm Hg) and 21 EH subjects (age: 50.0+/-7.8 years; blood pressure: 164.4+/-5.4/103.8+/-4.4 mm Hg), we studied forearm blood flow and its modification induced by intrabrachial administration of ET-1, phenylephrine, acetylcholine, and sodium nitroprusside at baseline and after 24 weeks of treatment with a nifedipine gastrointestinal therapeutic system (30 to 60 mg per day). At baseline, the first dose of ET-1 (0.5 microg/100 mL of forearm tissue per minute) caused a slight vasodilatation in NT but not in EH subjects, whereas the following higher doses caused a comparable dose-dependent vasoconstriction in EH and NT subjects. The effect of acetylcholine was significantly reduced in EH as compared with NT subjects. In contrast, sodium nitroprusside and phenylephrine had similar effects in NT and EH subjects. After chronic treatment with the nifedipine gastrointestinal therapeutic system, the vasoconstrictor effect induced by both ET-1 and phenylephrine was significantly blunted, whereas the response to acetylcholine was significantly increased and the vasodilation to sodium nitroprusside unchanged. Hypercholesterolemic EH subjects showed a further reduced response to acetylcholine compared with normocholesterolemic EH subjects, and the nifedipine gastrointestinal therapeutic system restored the vasodilation to acetylcholine in this subgroup. In conclusion, in EH subjects, chronic treatment with a long-acting dihydropyridine calcium antagonist not only exhibits a blood pressure-lowering effect but also reduces ET-1-induced vasoconstriction and improves endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Those vasculoprotective effects may importantly contribute to a reduction in major clinical events seen during treatment with these compound

Effect of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate and Sodium Chloride on the Stability of Aqueous Dispersions of TiO2 Particles Against Aggregation and Sedimentation

Dispersions of TiO2 particles are widely used as the main pigment in white inks for inkjet printers due to its brightness and high opacity. The TiO2 particles, however, have a high density, and so the possible fast settling of these particles can cause maintenance problems for the printers and lower the printing quality. We studied the effect of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), a commonly used dispersant, on the stability of 1 wt% TiO2 aqueous dispersions, both with and without NaCl, against aggregation and sedimentation. The sedimentation half time (t50), defined as the time need for the particles to sediment from an initial sample height of 1 cm to 0.5 cm, was determined for various SDS concentrations. t50 was found to first increase with an increase in SDS concentration, reach a plateau upon further increases in concentration, and then rapidly decrease for SDS concentrations above a critical value. A similar trend was observed in 100 mM NaCl, though the transitions in t50 occurred at different SDS concentrations. Particle sizes were measured using dynamic light scattering, both before and after redispersion of the sediment to the same or different SDS concentrations. These measurements confirm that coagulation, no aggregation and then flocculation occurs as the SDS concentration is increased, indicating the effect of micelles in the dispersion stability at high enough SDS concentrations

Application of effect-based methods (EBMs) in a river basin: a preliminary study in Central Italy

Introduction. Effect-based methods (EBMs), i.e. in vitro and in vivo bioassays, represent innovative tools for the effect detection of environmental chemical pollutants on living organisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the water quality of a river ecosystem implementing two in vivo bioassays on target freshwater animal species: the crustacean Daphnia magna and the small fish Danio rerio, also known as zebrafish. Materials and methods. The methods applied in this study, i.e. the Daphnia sp. Acute Immobilisation assay and the Fish Embryo Acute Toxicity (FET) test, are commonly used in water quality research and their application in short-term ecotoxicity detection is suggested by recent European projects. Two sampling sites were chosen in the urban part of the Tiber River in Rome, while a third one was chosen as a reference site in the Farfa River, a tributary upstream of the city. The sites in the Tiber River are potentially affected by different pollution sources, including urban and industrial wastewater discharges, the pesticide release, livestock waste products, and waste dumps. Results and discussion. The results of the study showed wide differences between the two applied bioassays. The FET test was generally more sensitive in detecting even low effects in all the water samples, but the strongest statistically results were observed with the D. magna Acute Immobilisation test. The results of this research confirm the effectiveness of EBMs in investigating and monitoring water chemical pollution, and stress the need for performing further studies, e.g. chemical analyses and other bioassays, to improve the knowledge of the health status of the Tiber River basin. Conclusions. Further results will aim to support the local authorities in adopting measures to reduce and to eliminate the sources of chemical pollution in the study area