Violence against Women and Femicide: an analysis on the murders of foreign women in Italy

This paper presents the results of a research on the representations of femicide in the judicial field, in Italy. The use of the term femicide is analysed through the lens of the normative process, examining its social meanings and questioning its political and economic anchoring using the “juridical field” model (Bourdieu 1986). The essay is based on a wide theoretical framework. It starts by highlighting the problems evoked by the term ‘femicide’ (Corradi, et al. 2016; Radford and Russell 1992); its declension in criminal law and jurisprudence through its coding in specific types of offence (Merli 2015). The topics of power and imbalance between the sexes (Goffman 1977) are analysed by presenting their juridical definitions and those found in penal codes (Casanova 2016; Cavina 2011; Feci and Schettini 2017). This perspective helps framing considerations about the results of the empirical research based on quantitative data taken from 93 verdicts of ‘femicide’ sentences which involved foreign or migrant victims (chosen from a corpus of 370 issued in Italy between 2010 and 2016) and qualitative aspects: gathered through expert interviews and the tales of violence against women in a verdicts’ judgemental sample of murders of foreign women. The study confirms the way in which narrations produced in the “judicial field” – despite the “distortions” affecting them (Dubé 2012; Gusfield 1968) – prove to be rich sources for the knowledge of a phenomenon which, still today, suffers from a structural lack of data

Describing communication profiles of low-risk preterm and full-term late talkers

Introduction: Late talkers represent a heterogeneous population. We aimed to describe communication profiles of low-risk preterm and full-term late talkers according to their receptive and expressive vocabulary size, considering communicative, linguistic, cognitive, and motor skills, as well as biological and environmental risk factors. Methods: Sixty-eight late talkers (33 born low-risk preterm and 35 full-term) were identified through a language screening at 30 months. Parents filled out the Italian Short Forms of the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories and the Socio Conversational Skills Rating Scales. Children were assessed with the Picture Naming Game test and the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. Results: A two-step cluster analysis identified three distinct profiles among late talkers according to their receptive and expressive vocabulary size. Severe late talkers (25%) showed less frequent use of pointing, limited verbal imitation, receptive vocabulary size, lexical and sentence production, responsiveness and assertiveness, and lower cognitive scores than mild late talkers (40%). Moderate late talkers (35%) showed less frequent verbal imitation, limited lexical and sentence production and lower cognitive scores than mild late talkers. Male gender was significantly more represented in the severe late profile, whereas other biological and environmental factors did not differ among the three profiles. Conclusions: Findings highlighted the relevance of assessing communicative, lexical, grammar, pragmatic, and cognitive skills to describe late talkers’ profiles. A deeper investigation of phonological skills might also contribute to a further understanding of interindividual variability in this population

Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 Receptor (IGF-1R) expression on Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) and metastatic breast cancer outcome: results from the TransMYME trial

Purpose To evaluate the prognostic value of IGF-1R expression on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in a prospective randomized clinical trial comparing chemotherapy plus metformin with chemotherapy alone in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. Methods CTCs were collected at baseline and at the end of chemotherapy. An automated sample preparation and analysis system (CellSearch) were customized for detecting IGF-1R expression. The prognostic role of CTC count and IGF-1R was assessed for PFS and OS by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Seventy-two out of 126 randomized patients were evaluated: 57% had >= 1 IGF-1R positive CTC and 37.5% >= 4 IGF-1R negative cells; 42% had CTC count >= 5/7.5 ml. At univariate analysis, the number of IGF-1R negative CTCs was strongly associated with risk of progression and death: HR 1.93 (P = 0.013) and 3.65 (P = 0.001), respectively; no association was detected between number of IGF-1R positive CTCs and PFS or OS (P = 0.322 and P = 0.840). The prognostic role of CTC count was confirmed: HR 1.69, P = 0.042 for PFS and HR 2.80 for OS, P = 0.002. By multivariate analysis, the prognostic role of the number of IGF-1R negative CTCs was maintained, while no residual prognostic role of CTC count or number of IGF-1R positive cells was found. Conclusion Loss of IGF-1R in CTCs is associated with a significantly worse outcome in MBC patients. This finding supports further evaluation for the role of IGF-1R on CTCs to improve patient stratification and to implement new targeted strategies. Clinical trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01885013); European Clinical Trials Database (EudraCT No.2009-014,662-26)

Basaltic asteroids observed with ESO/XShooter

We present new spectroscopic observations of 17 putative basaltic asteroids, in the 0.3-2.5 micron spectral band, with the ESO/XShooter facility. The observed spectral range encompasses the two pyroxene bands centred at 0.9 and 2.0 micron, typical of the basaltic asteroids. The data allowed to taxonomically classify the observed asteroids, and in some cases to confirm their basaltic nature

Calcium-Dependent Src Phosphorylation and Reactive Oxygen Species Generation Are Implicated in the Activation of Human Platelet Induced by Thromboxane A2 Analogs

The thromboxane (TX) A2 elicits TP-dependent different platelet responses. Low amounts activate Src kinases and the Rho–Rho kinase pathway independently of integrin αIIbβ3 and ADP secretion and synergize with epinephrine to induce aggregation. Aim of the present study was to investigate the role Src kinases and the interplay with calcium signals in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the activatory pathways engaged by TXA2 in human platelets. All the experiments were performed in vitro or ex vivo. Washed platelets were stimulated with 50–1000 nM U46619 and/or 10 μM epinephrine in the presence of acetylsalicylic acid and the ADP scavenger apyrase. The effects of the ROS scavenger EUK-134, NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibitor apocynin, Src kinase inhibitor PP2 and calcium chelator BAPTA were tested. Intracellular calcium and ROS generation were measured. Platelet rich plasma from patients treated with dasatinib was used to confirm the data obtained in vitro. We observed that 50 nM U46619 plus epinephrine increase intracellular calcium similarly to 1000 nM U46619. ROS generation was blunted by the NOX inhibitor apocynin. BAPTA inhibited ROS generation in resting and activated platelets. Phosphorylation of Src and MLC proteins were not significantly affected by antioxidants agents. BAPTA and antioxidants reduced P-Selectin expression, activation of integrin αIIbβ3and platelet aggregation. TXA2-induced increase in intracellular calcium is required for Src phosphorylation and ROS generation. NADPH oxidase is the source of ROS in TX stimulated platelets. The proposed model helps explain why an incomplete inhibition of TP receptor results in residual platelet activation, and define new targets for antiplatelet treatment

Characterization of V-type asteroids orbiting in the middle and outer main belt

We present new spectral observations using ground-based telescopes of 23 putative V-type asteroids, selected according to colour surveys in the visible from the Moving Objects Catalogue of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and near-infrared from the Moving Objects VISTA catalogue. 10 asteroids are orbiting in the middle main belt, while five in the outer part of the main asteroid belt. For the observed asteroids, we assign a taxonomical classification and confirm the basaltic nature for 16 of them. The high-quality spectra in the UV range, obtained with the X-Shooter spectrograph at ESO, allowed the identification of the Fe2+ forbidden transition of pyroxene for 10 asteroids. This band is centred at 506.5 nm, and it is diagnostic of the Ca-content in the pyroxene form. We determined a low Fe-content composition for asteroids (2452) Lyot, (5758) Brunini, (7675) Gorizia, (9197) Endo, (22308) 1990 UO4, (36118) 1999 RE135, (66905) 1999 VC160, and (189597) 2000 WG119, and a composition more rich in Fe for asteroids (75661) 2000 AB79 and (93620) 2000 UQ70. We also present a dynamical investigation of V-type asteroids in the middle and outer main belt. The principal finding of these simulations is that the middle and outer V-types are more likely to be associated with some families, which were considered as possibly originated from the break up of a partially or totally differentiated parent body by diverse studies. This reinforces the hypothesis that the identified V-type in the region were not originated from (4) Vesta and that the number of differentiated objects in the middle and outer main belt must have been much larger than previously assumed

An Italian Multicenter Perspective Harmonization Trial for the Assessment of MET Exon 14 Skipping Mutations in Standard Reference Samples

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. International societies have promoted the molecular analysis of MET proto-oncogene, receptor tyrosine kinase (MET) exon 14 skipping for the clinical stratification of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Different technical approaches are available to detect MET exon 14 skipping in routine practice. Here, the technical performance and reproducibility of testing strategies for MET exon 14 skipping carried out in various centers were evaluated. In this retrospective study, each institution received a set (n = 10) of a customized artificial formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) cell line (Custom METex14 skipping FFPE block) that harbored the MET exon 14 skipping mutation (Seracare Life Sciences, Milford, MA, USA), which was previously validated by the Predictive Molecular Pathology Laboratory at the University of Naples Federico II. Each participating institution managed the reference slides according to their internal routine workflow. MET exon 14 skipping was successfully detected by all participating institutions. Molecular analysis highlighted a median Cq cut off of 29.3 (ranging from 27.1 to 30.7) and 2514 (ranging from 160 to 7526) read counts for real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and NGS-based analyses, respectively. Artificial reference slides were a valid tool to harmonize technical workflows in the evaluation of MET exon 14 skipping molecular alterations in routine practice