Our diversity and the Italian Constitution. Do we really need human races?

This paper describes a proposal regarding the presence of the word "race" in the Italian Constitution. Three points are worth of note. Firstly, simply removing the word race from the Constitution is of no real help, since we could miss an indispensable hook for laws concerned with racism. Rather, we should be able to introduce an alternative phrase that: (i) can express the concept of diversity without forgetting all the various aspects of its meaning (biological and cultural, above all); (ii) in no way evokes a hierarchy of values. To make it more effective, the amendment must be accompanied by an explicit statement that race has no meaning for the human species and that any discriminatory view based on such an invalid assumption must therefore be rejected. Secondly, overcoming the old, but still existing, dichotomy between “physical” and “cultural” anthropology, is an absolute necessity in every discussion about the ”human races”. In fact, the term race is also used to stigmatize cultural differences, as if they were the product of different intellectual skills or moral predispositions. Achieving a synthesis between the biological and cultural dimensions of race is a preliminary step to effectively counter the dangerous links between new forms of intolerance and the resurgence of genetic determinism. Thirdly and finally, we should be aware that our commitment must not end simply by signing a document. On the contrary, it must start from there. In our educational and training activities, we must seek to involve wider audiences and provide them with the best tools so they can look at human diversity with no preconceptions. It is important to raise awareness of the need for a change among all those who, for various reasons,are involved in scientific and cultural dissemination

Lab-on-a-chip and integrated strategies in tumor immunotheraphy

Background While conventional chemotherapy and radiation therapy have improved the survival of many cancer patients, there are still major disadvantages associated with these treatments such as high toxicity and drug-resistance. The possibility to manipulate the immune system to recognize and kill tumor cells is very attractive despite numerous obstacles remaining to be overcome. In particular, the ability of the immune system to destroy disseminated metastases in a specific way makes immunotherapy an attractive alternative to conventional therapies. Nevertheless, other unconventional technologies emerged in recent years seem to be very promising; in particular the analysis and monitoring of single cell-to-cell interactions and the capability to individually control single cells by Lab-on-a-chip devices have become of great interest in different areas of life sciences. These new technologies, in combination with progresses reached in anti-tumor vaccines, could be useful to improve immune T cell responses against tumor antigen for a more efficient immunotherapy. Aims This thesis focuses on two tumor immunotherapy issues: 1) design, realization and validation of innovative Lab-on-a-chip devices for immune system study, that allows single tumor cell and effector cell interaction, detection and isolation; 2) identification of molecular mechanisms that prevent EBV-associated tumors (e.g. Burkitt’s lymphoma) recognition by T cells and study of their potential correction by specific treatments. The main goal of this study remains indeed the evaluation of an integrated strategy for immunotherapy development enhancing for malignancies treatment. Methods Biocompatibility test, generation of memory CTL cultures, 51Cr release assay, IFN-Elispot, proteasomes purification, western blot assay, enzymatic assay, immunofluorescence, RT-PCR. Main Results As concerns the first part of the thesis, a main achievement was the design of Lab-on-a-chip platform that combined microfluidics and electronics together, consisting in a matrix of up to thousand microwells where living cells can be deposited. Subsequently, different materials have been evaluated to identify the most biocompatible ones for biosensor manufacturing. Once developed Lab-on-a-chip prototype, it has been tested from a functional point of view. In particular, it has been demonstrated that the biosensor is able to isolate and trap single cells inside microwells by dielectrophoresis, that recovered cells are still alive and that their biological functions and gene expression remain unaltered. Furthermore, tumor cell lysis by immune effector cells could be successfully monitored inside device microwells, showing that biosensor could be used for cell to cell interaction studies. Regarding the second aim of this thesis, it has been identified a new epitope-specific T cell response against EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1). It has also been demonstrated that CTLs specific for another EBNA1-derived epitope (referred as HPV) are detectable in the majority of HLA-B35 individuals, and recognize EBV-transformed B lymphocytes (LCL) but not Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL). Afterwards LCL and BL have been compared for their antigen processing machinery, demonstrating that one of the major differences was at the proteasome level; indeed, proteasomes from BL cells have displayed a far lower chymotryptic and tryptic-like activities. Interestingly, it has also been shown that treatment with proteasome inhibitors partially restored the capacity of BL cells to present the HPV epitope. Conclusions The results achieved in single cell manipulation and cell to cell analysis interaction by Lab-on-a-chip technology, and the findings reached to improve BL immune recognition, represent an implementation of innovative tools that could allow important progresses in cancer diagnosis and immunotherapy

Anthropologists, Italians and “human races”

This article is part of an international forum on raceand racism published by the Journal of Anthropological Sciences and edited by Alan Goodman of the New Hampshire College (USA). The paper presents an overview of the use and meaning of the term "human race" among Italian scholars, both on the biological and cultural side, in a historical perspective. The theme is also contextualized with respect to political and social current events

The Law of Jealousy

This book applies anthropological insights to the understanding of an ancient and puzzling ritual, that of the sotah, or suspected adulteress. The ritual, initiated by a suspicious husband, was first described in Numbers 5, is elaborated by the later rabbis. Destro argues that the rabbis patter the sotah ritual to emphasize its, and the woman’s, anomalous nature and the symbolic work that this patterning does for the rabbinic system as a whole

Simulations of oblique impacts on regular and hierarchical lattice structures

This study considered twelve lattice structures subjected to oblique impacts with three velocities: 6, 7.5 and 9m/s. The structures, simulated with FEM, differ for number of cells through the thickness, cell shape and cells dimensions (regular or hierarchical schemes). Both for transmitted forces and absorbed energy, the best performing structures are those with five through-the-thickness tetrahedral-shape cells and that one with ten hierarchical through-the-thickness prismatic-shape cells.ope

Equality, Social Welfare and Equal Protection

As my contribution to this forum, I thought I would try to make a few tentative distinctions concerning the various tasks judges and commentators seek to assign to the Equal Protection Clause. Approaching it from this perspective spares me the necessity of getting into what one of the earlier speakers described as the more Byzantine details of current equal protection doctrine. Such a discussion would inevitably lead to criticisms of the Judiciary and certain commentators, to comparisons between what some might call the liberal and conservative approaches, and to discussion concerning the needs of a changing and dynamic society. Each of these topics would be an interesting subject in its own right, but I do not think that extended discussion of any or all of them will get us any closer to a clear understanding of what it is that the Equal Protection Clause is supposed to do

ABA and AALS Accreditation: What’s ‘Religious Diversity’ Got To Do With It?

The subject of this essay is whether, and under what circumstances, the religious commitment of an institution should become an issue in the law school accreditation process. Originally presented at the March 1994, Marquette University Conference on Religiously Affiliated Law Schools, this essay begins with the commonly shared assumption that some tensions do exist between religiously affiliated law schools and their accrediting agencies, the American Bar Association (ABA), and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). For present purposes, the task will be to differentiate those tensions that arise from the accreditation process itself, and those that arise from the religious identity or mission of the institution