Сицилия и ислам: прошлое и настоящее

In this article, the author analyzes the historical past of Sicily, a region that became the object of the Arab- Berber, or Saracen conquest in the early Middle Ages, and the current realities of this region of Italy in the light of the migration problem. The researcher in detail discusses the background, characteristics, time frame and results medieval “Arabization” of the region, the similarities and diff erences of Islamization in Sicily and other European regions undergoing the expansion of the Muslim. Special emphasis is placed on the relation of Sicily to the Muslims: the author examines the specifi city of the interpretation of the concept “Islam” in various segments of the population, features of the mapping Sicilian, religious affi liation and regional origin of migrants with their status in the local evaluation system, the reasons for the existence of positive attitudes towards Muslims and Islam, as well as the identity of the Sicilians and migrants and interpretation of each of these categories of the population of the terms “own” and “alien”.В настоящей статье автор на основе различных материалов, включая полевые, анализирует историческое прошлое Сицилии — региона, ставшего в ранние Средние века объектом арабо- берберского, или сарацинского, завоевания, — а также современные реалии этой области Италии в свете миграционной проблемы. В частности, в деталях рассматриваются предпосылки, особенности, временные рамки и результаты средневековой «арабизации» региона, сходство и отличия исламизации в Сицилии и других европейских регионах, подвергшихся экспансии мусульман, превращение Сицилии в мусульманское государство, специфика протекавших в нем культурных процессов, формирование самосознания населения и складывание у сицилийцев стереотипов видения исламских правителей и своего участия в жизни исламского государства. Наравне с этим анализируются современная миграционная ситуация в Сицилии, причины и истоки странноприимности региона, отношение сицилийцев к «пришлым», роль исторической памяти и традиционных архаичных стереотипов восприятия Другого в формировании позитивного образа мигрантов у местного населения. Особый упор делается на отношение в Сицилии к мусульманам: исследуются специфика трактовки понятия «ислам» в различных слоях населения; особенности соотнесения сицилийцами конфессиональной принадлежности и регионального происхождения мигрантов с их статусом в локальной системе оценок; причины бытования положительного отношения к мусульманам и исламу; идентичность сицилийцев и мигрантов и интерпретация каждой из этих категорий населения понятий «свои» и «чужие»; позиции, занятые властями Сицилии и локальными церковными структурами по отношению к мусульманам, в свете взаимоотношений Сицилии с центральной властью в Италии

Forensic applications of micro-computed tomography: a systematic review

Purpose: The aim of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive overview of micro-CT current applications in forensic pathology, anthropology, odontology, and neonatology. Methods: A bibliographic research on the electronic databases Pubmed and Scopus was conducted in the time frame 01/01/2001–31/12/2021 without any language restrictions and applying the following free-text search strategy: “(micro-computed tomography OR micro-CT) AND (forensic OR legal)”. The following inclusion criteria were used: (A) English language; (B) Application of micro-CT to biological and/or non-biological materials to address at least one forensic issue (e.g., age estimation, identification of post-mortem interval). The papers selected by three independent investigators have been then classified according to the investigated materials. Results: The bibliographic search provided 651 records, duplicates excluded. After screening for title and/or abstracts, according to criteria A and B, 157 full-text papers were evaluated for eligibility. Ninety-three papers, mostly (64) published between 2017 and 2021, were included; considering that two papers investigated several materials, an overall amount of 99 classifiable items was counted when referring to the materials investigated. It emerged that bones and cartilages (54.55%), followed by teeth (13.13%), were the most frequently analyzed materials. Moreover, micro-CT allowed the collection of structural, qualitative and/or quantitative information also for soft tissues, fetuses, insects, and foreign materials. Conclusion: Forensic applications of micro-CT progressively increased in the last 5 years with very promising results. According to this evidence, we might expect in the near future a shift of its use from research purposes to clinical forensic cases

Template Entrance Channel as Possible Allosteric Inhibition and Resistance Site for Quinolines Tricyclic Derivatives in RNA Dependent RNA Polymerase of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus

The development of potent non-nucleoside inhibitors (NNIs) could be an alternate strategy to combating infectious bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), other than the traditional vaccination. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is an essential enzyme for viral replication; therefore, it is one of the primary targets for countermeasures against infectious diseases. The reported NNIs, belonging to the classes of quinolines (2h: imidazo[4,5-g]quinolines and 5m: pyrido[2,3-g] quinoxalines), displayed activity in cell-based and enzyme-based assays. Nevertheless, the RdRp binding site and microscopic mechanistic action are still elusive, and can be explored at a molecular level. Here, we employed a varied computational arsenal, including conventional and accelerated methods, to identify quinoline compounds' most likely binding sites. Our study revealed A392 and I261 as the mutations that can render RdRp resistant against quinoline compounds. In particular, for ligand 2h, mutation of A392E is the most probable mutation. The loop L1 and linker of the fingertip is recognized as a pivotal structural determinant for the stability and escape of quinoline compounds. Overall, this work demonstrates that the quinoline inhibitors bind at the template entrance channel, which is governed by conformational dynamics of interactions with loops and linker residues, and reveals structural and mechanistic insights into inhibition phenomena, for the discovery of improved antivirals

An unusual case of corpse concealment driven by emotional distress

Corpse concealment involves hiding a body for criminal purposes for many different reasons, such as destroy evidence of a murder or avoid the discovery of the victim. Although defendants could argue that they did not conceal the corpse with any criminal intent, but rather to spare themselves or others from emotional distress or to honor the wishes of the deceased. However, these arguments are often challenging to substantiate, and defendants may encounter significant legal obstacles when attempting to justify their actions. Herein, we report a case involving the concealment of a woman's corpse by her father. Autopsy and histological investigations were significantly limited due to the advanced decomposition of the body. Nevertheless, by integrating these data with radiological findings obtained from total body CT and micro-CT of the larynx-hyoid complex, hanging was deemed the cause of death. Additionally, the psychological evaluation of the father indicated that the act of concealment was motivated by emotions rather than criminal intent

Design of 3-Phenylcoumarins and 3-Thienylcoumarins as Potent Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitors: Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Docking Studies

Coumarin scaffold has proven to be promising in the development of bioactive agents, such as xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitors. Novel hydroxylated 3-arylcoumarins were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their XO inhibition and antioxidant properties. 3-(3’-Bromophenyl)-5,7-dihydroxycoumarin (compound 11) proved to be the most potent XO inhibitor, with an IC50 of 91 nM, being 162 times better than allopurinol, one of the reference controls. Kinetic analysis of compound 11 and compound 5 [3-(4’-bromothien-2’-yl)-5,7-dihydroxycoumarin], the second-best compound within the series (IC50 of 280 nM), has been performed, and both compounds showed a mixed-type inhibition. Both compounds present good antioxidant activity (ability to scavenge ABTS radical) and are able to reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in H2O2-treated cells. In addition, they proved to be non-cytotoxic in a Caco-2 cells viability assay. Molecular docking studies have been carried out to correlate the compounds’ theoretical and experimental binding affinity to the XO binding pocket

Effects of miRNA-15 and miRNA-16 expression replacement in chronic lymphocytic leukemia : implication for therapy

This work was supported by: Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC) Grant 5 x mille n.9980, (to M.F., F.M. A. N., P.T. and M.N.) ; AIRC I.G. n. 14326 (to M.F.), n.10136 and 16722 (A.N.), n.15426 (to F.F.). AIRC and Fondazione CaRiCal co-financed Multi Unit Regional Grant 2014 n.16695 (to F.M.). Italian Ministry of Health 5x1000 funds (to S.Z. and F.F). A.G R. was supported by Associazione Italiana contro le Leucemie-Linfomi-Mielomi (AIL) Cosenza - Fondazione Amelia Scorza (FAS). S.M. C.M., M.C., L.E., S.B. were supported by AIRC.Peer reviewedPostprin

DESIGNING OF A RT REAL TIME PCR ASSAY BASED ON NS1 GENE FOR RAPID DETECTION OF USUTU VIRUS (USUV)

Introduction: Usutu virus belongs to the Japanese encephalitis virus group (the isolates exhibited 97% identity) within the family Flaviviridae closely related to West Nile virus (WNV). Both share in nature an enzootic infectious cycle between avian hosts and mosquito vectors (i.e. Culex spp.). The distribution areal is expanding in several European countries, including Italy; the simultaneous spatial and temporal co-circulation of new flaviviruses require a new approaches in the laboratory diagnosis for Flaviviridae infection in humans

Effect of ischemic preconditioning and a Kv7 channel blocker on cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats

Recently, we found cardioprotective effects of ischemic preconditioning (IPC), and from a blocker of KCNQ voltage-gated K+ channels (KV7), XE991 (10,10-bis(4-pyridinylmethyl)-9(10H)-anthracenone), in isolated rat hearts. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the cardiovascular effects of IPC and XE991 and whether they are cardioprotective in intact rats. In conscious rats, we measured the effect of the KV7 channel blocker XE991 on heart rate and blood pressure by use of telemetry. In anesthetized rats, cardiac ischemia was induced by occluding the left coronary artery, and the animals received IPC (2 × 5 min of occlusion), XE991, or a combination. After a 2 h reperfusion period, the hearts were excised, and the area at risk and infarct size were determined. In both anesthetized and conscious rats, XE991 increased blood pressure, and the highest dose (7.5 mg/kg) of XE991 also increased heart rate, and 44% of conscious rats died. XE991 induced marked changes in the electrocardiogram (e.g., increased PR interval and prolonged QTC interval) without changing cardiac action potentials. The infarct size to area at risk ratio was reduced from 53 ± 2% (n = 8) in the vehicle compared to 36 ± 3% in the IPC group (P < 0.05, n = 9). XE991 (0.75 mg/kg) treatment alone or on top of IPC failed to reduce myocardial infarct size. Similar to the effect in isolated hearts, locally applied IPC was cardioprotective in intact animals exposed to ischemia-reperfusion. Systemic administration of XE991 failed to protect the heart against ischemia-reperfusion injury suggesting effects on the autonomic nervous system counteracting the cardioprotection in intact animals. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.Aarhus Universitets ForskningsfondHjerteforeningen: 17-R116-A7616-22074K. Corydon was supported by a scholarship from Aarhus University Research Foundation , U. Simonsen and E.R. Hedegaard were supported by the Danish Heart Foundation (grant 17-R116-A7616-22074 ). The study was also supported by Jens Anker Andersens Foundation, Helge and Peter Kornings Foundation, Direktør Kurt Bønnelycke and wife Mrs Grethe Bønnelyckes Foundation, Helge Peetz and Verner Peetz and wife Vilma Peetz grant. Appendix