Nota introduttiva

Il dossier monografico offre al lettore quattro contributi inizialmente presentati nel panel “Wastescapes: spatial justice and inequalities in contemporary cities” (Panel 149) della 15th EASA Biennial Conference tenuta presso la Stockholm University dal 14-17 agosto 2018. Il panel intendeva raccogliere secondo il modus operandi antropologico e in prospettiva comparativa l’analisi dei rifiuti urbani come topos (in senso letterale e figurato) per indagare il rapporto tra giustizia e spazialità ..

Pour une anthropologie de l’écoute

Le type d’anthropologie que j’ai pratiquée est celle de l’écoute, de l’installation d’une proximité avec les gens, passant par l’effort de vivre comme eux, de les accompagner dans le quotidien [...] Il faut rester modeste dans la relation avec les gens, parce qu’il n’est pas question de leur dire ce qu’ils sont, mais de plus il faut rester très prudent dans l’élaboration du sens.Gérard Althabe (2000) Je ne veux pas rendre hommage à l’intégrité de l’homme et à la profondeur du savant. Tous ceu..

Berardino Palumbo, Piegare i santi. Inchini rituali e pratiche mafiose

Che senso dare all’omaggio che i portatori delle statue dei santi, nelle processioni cattoliche in Sicilia, nell’Italia del sud ma non solo, rendono a esponenti della criminalità organizzata e/o a loro familiari facendo appunto inchinare le statue di fronte ad essi, sostando di fronte alle loro abitazioni, lungo il tragitto e anche, se il caso, deviandolo di proposito? Cosa significano “gli inchini” per gli attori sociali che li mettono in atto e per coloro che li osservano? Queste sono le do..

Il professionista riflessivo: apprendere dalla pratica professionale

Il professionista pu\uf2 arrivare a comprendere che la realizzazione di s\ue9 passa attraverso l\u2019esercizio e l\u2019interpretazione della propria professione. Il riconoscimento del legame tra lavoro e vita reale pu\uf2 spiegare da dove pu\uf2 scaturire la forza per dare una motivazione di senso a favore di ci\uf2 che fa, delle persone per cui lavora e dell\u2019ambiente che vuole contribuire a trasformare

Search for anomalies in the neutrino sector with muon spectrometers and large LArTPC imaging detectors at CERN

A new experiment with an intense ~2 GeV neutrino beam at CERN SPS is proposed in order to definitely clarify the possible existence of additional neutrino states, as pointed out by neutrino calibration source experiments, reactor and accelerator experiments and measure the corresponding oscillation parameters. The experiment is based on two identical LAr-TPCs complemented by magnetized spectrometers detecting electron and muon neutrino events at Far and Near positions, 1600 m and 300 m from the proton target, respectively. The ICARUS T600 detector, the largest LAr-TPC ever built with a size of about 600 ton of imaging mass, now running in the LNGS underground laboratory, will be moved at the CERN Far position. An additional 1/4 of the T600 detector (T150) will be constructed and located in the Near position. Two large area spectrometers will be placed downstream of the two LAr-TPC detectors to perform charge identification and muon momentum measurements from sub-GeV to several GeV energy range, greatly complementing the physics capabilities. This experiment will offer remarkable discovery potentialities, collecting a very large number of unbiased events both in the neutrino and antineutrino channels, largely adequate to definitely settle the origin of the observed neutrino-related anomalies.Comment: Contribution to the European Strategy for Particle Physics - Open Symposium Preparatory Group, Kracow 10-12 September 201

Search for "anomalies" from neutrino and anti-neutrino oscillations at Delta_m^2 ~ 1eV^2 with muon spectrometers and large LAr-TPC imaging detectors

This proposal describes an experimental search for sterile neutrinos beyond the Standard Model with a new CERN-SPS neutrino beam. The experiment is based on two identical LAr-TPC's followed by magnetized spectrometers, observing the electron and muon neutrino events at 1600 and 300 m from the proton target. This project will exploit the ICARUS T600, moved from LNGS to the CERN "Far" position. An additional 1/4 of the T600 detector will be constructed and located in the "Near" position. Two spectrometers will be placed downstream of the two LAr-TPC detectors to greatly complement the physics capabilities. Spectrometers will exploit a classical dipole magnetic field with iron slabs, and a new concept air-magnet, to perform charge identification and muon momentum measurements in a wide energy range over a large transverse area. In the two positions, the radial and energy spectra of the nu_e beam are practically identical. Comparing the two detectors, in absence of oscillations, all cross sections and experimental biases cancel out, and the two experimentally observed event distributions must be identical. Any difference of the event distributions at the locations of the two detectors might be attributed to the possible existence of {\nu}-oscillations, presumably due to additional neutrinos with a mixing angle sin^2(2theta_new) and a larger mass difference Delta_m^2_new. The superior quality of the LAr imaging TPC, in particular its unique electron-pi_zero discrimination allows full rejection of backgrounds and offers a lossless nu_e detection capability. The determination of the muon charge with the spectrometers allows the full separation of nu_mu from anti-nu_mu and therefore controlling systematics from muon mis-identification largely at high momenta.Comment: Experiment proposa

An explainable model of host genetic interactions linked to COVID-19 severity

We employed a multifaceted computational strategy to identify the genetic factors contributing to increased risk of severe COVID-19 infection from a Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) dataset of a cohort of 2000 Italian patients. We coupled a stratified k-fold screening, to rank variants more associated with severity, with the training of multiple supervised classifiers, to predict severity based on screened features. Feature importance analysis from tree-based models allowed us to identify 16 variants with the highest support which, together with age and gender covariates, were found to be most predictive of COVID-19 severity. When tested on a follow-up cohort, our ensemble of models predicted severity with high accuracy (ACC = 81.88%; AUCROC = 96%; MCC = 61.55%). Our model recapitulated a vast literature of emerging molecular mechanisms and genetic factors linked to COVID-19 response and extends previous landmark Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS). It revealed a network of interplaying genetic signatures converging on established immune system and inflammatory processes linked to viral infection response. It also identified additional processes cross-talking with immune pathways, such as GPCR signaling, which might offer additional opportunities for therapeutic intervention and patient stratification. Publicly available PheWAS datasets revealed that several variants were significantly associated with phenotypic traits such as "Respiratory or thoracic disease", supporting their link with COVID-19 severity outcome.A multifaceted computational strategy identifies 16 genetic variants contributing to increased risk of severe COVID-19 infection from a Whole Exome Sequencing dataset of a cohort of Italian patients

Carriers of ADAMTS13 Rare Variants Are at High Risk of Life-Threatening COVID-19

Thrombosis of small and large vessels is reported as a key player in COVID-19 severity. However, host genetic determinants of this susceptibility are still unclear. Congenital Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura is a severe autosomal recessive disorder characterized by uncleaved ultra-large vWF and thrombotic microangiopathy, frequently triggered by infections. Carriers are reported to be asymptomatic. Exome analysis of about 3000 SARS-CoV-2 infected subjects of different severities, belonging to the GEN-COVID cohort, revealed the specific role of vWF cleaving enzyme ADAMTS13 (A disintegrin-like and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 motif, 13). We report here that ultra-rare variants in a heterozygous state lead to a rare form of COVID-19 characterized by hyper-inflammation signs, which segregates in families as an autosomal dominant disorder conditioned by SARS-CoV-2 infection, sex, and age. This has clinical relevance due to the availability of drugs such as Caplacizumab, which inhibits vWF-platelet interaction, and Crizanlizumab, which, by inhibiting P-selectin binding to its ligands, prevents leukocyte recruitment and platelet aggregation at the site of vascular damage

Gain- and Loss-of-Function CFTR Alleles Are Associated with COVID-19 Clinical Outcomes

Carriers of single pathogenic variants of the CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) gene have a higher risk of severe COVID-19 and 14-day death. The machine learning post-Mendelian model pinpointed CFTR as a bidirectional modulator of COVID-19 outcomes. Here, we demonstrate that the rare complex allele [G576V;R668C] is associated with a milder disease via a gain-of-function mechanism. Conversely, CFTR ultra-rare alleles with reduced function are associated with disease severity either alone (dominant disorder) or with another hypomorphic allele in the second chromosome (recessive disorder) with a global residual CFTR activity between 50 to 91%. Furthermore, we characterized novel CFTR complex alleles, including [A238V;F508del], [R74W;D1270N;V201M], [I1027T;F508del], [I506V;D1168G], and simple alleles, including R347C, F1052V, Y625N, I328V, K68E, A309D, A252T, G542*, V562I, R1066H, I506V, I807M, which lead to a reduced CFTR function and thus, to more severe COVID-19. In conclusion, CFTR genetic analysis is an important tool in identifying patients at risk of severe COVID-19