I beni immobili in uso alla Difesa: dismissione e gestione economica

In questi ultimi anni la contingente situazione economico-finanziaria dello Stato ed il modificarsi delle condizioni e delle funzioni del settore militare hanno portato a valutare la possibilità di razionalizzare quello che è il patrimonio dei beni immobili in uso all’Amministrazione Difesa, in considerazione soprattutto delle indilazionabili esigenze di risanamento del debito pubblico e dell’importante processo di riduzione e professionalizzazione del personale delle Forze Armate. La tesi, che ha l’obiettivo di analizzare tale processo, sarà strutturata fondamentalmente in tre parti. Una prima, costituita dai primi due capitoli, che approfondirà l’attuale quadro normativo in merito alla classificazione dei beni pubblici, con particolare riferimento a quelli militari, e tratterà in maniera approfondita quali sono state e quali sono le procedure di dismissione e di gestione commerciale del patrimonio immobiliare pubblico previste dalla nostra legislazione. La seconda parte, anch’essa strutturata su due capitoli, introducendo un caso studio concreto, verterà sulla tipologia degli immobili militari da dismettere andando ad analizzare un campione di essi: quelli collocati nella regione Piemonte. Tali immobili verranno prima descritti nel loro stato di fatto tecnico-amministrativo e poi valutati economicamente con l’utilizzo della procedura del valore di trasformazione mediante analisi dei flussi di cassa attualizzati. Tale procedura di valutazione, per ogni immobile, permetterà di individuare un’ipotesi di trasformazione secondo il principio dell’highest and best use nell’ambito dei relativi vincoli urbanistici, e di determinare la stima e i volumi degli investimenti necessari alla trasformazione in beni apprezzabili dal mercato. La tesi si concluderà con l’analisi critica – basata sulle tipologie di beni in dimissione e sulle relative valutazioni economiche costituenti il caso studio esposto nella seconda parte – delle diverse procedure offerte dalla normativa vigente, esplicitate nella prima parte, e con la contestuale proposta di un’applicazione vantaggiosa di una combinazione di quest’ultime, supportata da una simulazione economico-finanziaria della stessa che completa il caso studio quantificando e confrontando le fattispecie economiche interessate

GPER agonist G-1 decreases adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) cell growth in vitro and in vivo

We have previously demonstrated that estrogen receptor (ER) alpha (ESR1) increases proliferation of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) through both an estrogen-dependent and -independent (induced by IGF-II/IGF1R pathways) manner. Then, the use of tamoxifen, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), appears effective in reducing ACC growth in vitro and in vivo. However, tamoxifen not only exerts antiestrogenic activity, but also acts as full agonist on the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER). Aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a non-steroidal GPER agonist G-1 in modulating ACC cell growth. We found that G-1 is able to exert a growth inhibitory effect on H295R cells both in vitro and, as xenograft model, in vivo. Treatment of H295R cells with G-1 induced cell cycle arrest, DNA damage and cell death by the activation of the intrinsic apoptotic mechanism. These events required sustained extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 activation. Silencing of GPER by a specific shRNA partially reversed G-1-mediated cell growth inhibition without affecting ERK activation. These data suggest the existence of G-1 activated but GPER-independent effects that remain to be clarified. In conclusion, this study provides a rational to further study G-1 mechanism of action in order to include this drug as a treatment option to the limited therapy of ACC

Lossy mode resonance sensors based on tungsten oxide thin films

Tungsten oxide (WO3) thin-films fabricated on glass slides have been proven to generate lossy mode resonances (LMRs) in the visible region. Obtained devices were characterized in transmission by lateral incidence of light on the edge of glass slides. Resonances at both TE and TM polarizations were analyzed for different thicknesses and in different deposition conditions. Moreover, it was successfully proved that WO3 coated glass slides present a high sensitivity to refractive index, which opens the path to the application of this structure in the domain of optical sensors.This work was supported in part by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) through project PID2019-106231RB-I00 and by Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR) through the University Research Project 2017 (prot. RG11715C8213BD81)

Development, accreditation and application of a confirmatory method for the determination of mercury in biological matrices:results of a biomonitoring study

Dottorato di Ricerca in Medicina Traslazionale. Ciclo XXIXUniversità della Calabri

Mercury in Children: Current State on Exposure through Human Biomonitoring Studies

Mercury (Hg) in children has multiple exposure sources and the toxicity of Hg compounds depends on exposure routes, dose, timing of exposure, and developmental stage (be it prenatal or postnatal). Over the last decades, Hg was widely recognized as a threat to the children’s health and there have been acknowledgements at the international level of the need of a global policy intervention—like the Minamata treaty—aimed at reducing or preventing Hg exposure and protecting the child health. National human biomonitoring (HBM) data has demonstrated that low levels of exposure of Hg are still an important health concern for children, which no one country can solve alone. Although independent HBM surveys have provided the basis for the achievements of exposure mitigation in specific contexts, a new paradigm for a coordinated global monitoring of children’s exposure, aimed at a reliable decision-making tool at global level is yet a great challenge for the next future. The objective of the present review is to describe current HBM studies on Hg exposure in children, taking into account the potential pathways of Hg exposure and the actual Hg exposure levels assessed by different biomarkers

Applicabilità dei sistemi di classificazione geomeccanica agli ammassi rocciosi carbonatici

The paper deals with a critical analysis of the available classification systems of rock masses. Starting from the description of the most common systems, the authors illustrate their main limits in the case of carbonate rocks, where karst features (not considered in standard systems) have necessarily to be taken into account. In addition some new criteria are also considered and critically evaluated

Beavers are not alone: parasitic assessment of released Eurasian beavers in Central Italy

The Eurasian beaver Castor fiber L., 1758, absent in Italy for over 500 years, has established reproductive populations in Central Italy since 2019, most likely following unauthorized releases. Besides positive effects on local biodiversity, beavers may host a plethora of infective agents, including parasites. Therefore, an assessment of parasitic load of released beavers is pivotal to predict potential risks for other species and human health, following beaver releases. Microscopical and molecular analyses on collected beaver feces confirmed the presence of Giardia duodenalis, Trichuris spp., and Travassosius rufus, a species of nematode recorded in Italy for the first time. The necropsy carried out on a road-killed adult female beaver provided us the first records for Italy of the beaver beetle Platypsyllus castoris, and of the ectoparasite "fur mites," belonging to the genus Schizocarpus. The bacterium Bordetella bronchiseptica was isolated for the first time from the bronchi of C. fiber, and it may represent a threat to wild and domestic animals and human health. The dipteran species Chrysomya albiceps was also recorded for the first time on a beaver; this blowfly can cause myiasis in livestock and humans. Although the acquired data represent a first assessment for Italy, the high number of pathogens found in these few samples should be evaluated in terms of disease risk analysis

Studi di teoria e storia letteraria in onore di Pieter de Meijer

The pathogenesis of the adrenocortical cancer (ACC) involves integration of molecular signals and the interplay of different downstream pathways (i.e. IGFII/IGF1R, β-catenin, Wnt, ESR1). This tumor is characterized by limited therapeutic options and unsuccessful treatments. A useful strategy to develop an effective therapy for ACC is to identify a common downstream target of these multiple pathways. A good candidate could be the transcription factor estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα) because of its ability to regulate energy metabolism, mitochondrial biogenesis and signalings related to cancer progression. In this study we tested the effect of ERRα inverse agonist, XCT790, on the proliferation of H295R adrenocortical cancer cell line. Results from in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that XCT790 reduced H295R cell growth. The inhibitory effect was associated with impaired cell cycle progression which was not followed by any apoptotic event. Instead, incomplete autophagy and cell death by a necrotic processes, as a consequence of the cell energy failure, induced by pharmacological reduction of ERRα was evidenced. Our results indicate that therapeutic strategies targeting key factors such as ERRα that control the activity and signaling of bioenergetics processes in high-energy demanding tumors could represent an innovative/alternative therapy for the treatment of ACC