The 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party: What Next?

The 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as widely expected and reported, confirmed Xi Jinping’s position as general secretary of the CCP for a normbreaking third term. But this is not the only reason why this Congress marks an historical change and has profound implications for both domestic and foreign policy

Oleoylethanolamide in the homeostatic and non-homeostatic control of eating

The goal of the present study is to evaluate the role of OEA as a potential novel pharmacological target for the treatment of obesity and eating disorders, two major health problems worldwide. OEA’s ability in inducing consistent and sustained food intake suppression in rats and mice, that is mediated by PPAR-α activation, has been well characterized over the last two decades from my laboratory and from other research groups. In fact, it is now well recognized that the pro-satiety effect of OEA is strictly dependent on the involvement of key brain hypothalamic and hindbrain areas. However, a crucial aspect remained to be fully elucidated, such as the way by which systemically administered OEA can reach the CNS from the periphery and whether it is able to permeate the brain parenchyma. In this background, circumventricular organs, such as the AP in the brainstem, are attracting a great deal of attention for their possible role in allowing the direct access to the brain for circulating peptides and other peripheral signals. Moreover, previous data showed that the i.p. administration of OEA, strongly activates neurons of the AP and significantly stimulates c-fos transcription in the subpostremal part of the NST, which is the closest sub nucleus to the AP. Based on these premises, in order to better delineate the mechanism underlying the eating-inhibitory effects of OEA, the aim of chapter II was to investigate the involvement of the AP in mediating OEA hypophagic action. To this purpose, in collaboration with Prof. Thomas Lutz at University of Zurich, we subjected rats to a surgical ablation of the AP and evaluated the effects of i.p. OEA administration (10 mg kg−1) on food intake, on Fos expression, on OXY immunoreactivity at both PVN and neurohypophysial level and on the expression of DBH within the brainstem and PVN. Further, we aimed to assess the phenotype of neuronal populations activated by OEA in the brainstem of controls and lesioned rats; to this aim, we assessed, also, whether OEA induced Fos expression co-localized with DBH as marker for noradrenergic neurons. Finally, as last step of our study, we investigated PPAR-alpha expression within the AP. Furthermore, since there are no observations demonstrating the ability of OEA to permeate the brain parenchyma, in the chapter III I aimed to investigate whether systemically administered OEA might directly reach and permeate the CNS through circumventricular organs devoid of a functional BBB, such as the AP and the ME. To this purpose, in collaboration with Prof. Lutz and Prof Giulio Muccioli at Université Catholique de Louvain, male Wistar rats were sacrificed at different time points (2.5, 5, 15, 30, 60 minutes) after acute administration of OEA (10 mg kg-1, i.p.). Plasma and different brain areas were collected for UPLC-MS/MS quantification of the main NAEs (including OEA, AEA, PEA, SEA, and LEA), and 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol (2-AG). In particular, in order to selectively investigate OEA concentrations within a variety of PPAR-α-expressing cerebral regions, selected brain areas of interest (AP, ME, NST, ventral and dorsal hippocampus (vHipp and dHipp)) were microdissected and used in this study. Finally, since current knowledge supports a relationship between neurobiological as well as psychological aspects of overeating, in chapter IV I also investigated the OEA’s pro-satiety action in a rat model of BED, which is a prototypical eating-related maladaptive behaviour that may determine fluctuations in body weight and in some instance may cause obesity. Among the different networks involved in the behavioural effect of OEA, it has been demonstrated that the systemic administration of OEA to obese rodents restores a “normal brain dopaminergic activity”, which resulted dampened by the excess of fat intake. Moreover, evidence suggests that OEA attenuates the effect of stress by dampening the hyperactivity of the HPA axis. Since both the abnormal dopaminergic transmission and the hyperactivation of HPA axis are considered mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of BED, by acting at both the two deregulated conditions OEA might represent a potential novel pharmacological target for controlling aberrant eating patterns occurring in BED. Based on these premises, in order to test this hypothesis in collaboration with Prof. Carlo Cifani of University of Camerino we evaluated OEA effects in a BED model in which female rats with a history of intermittent food restriction show binge-like palatable food consumption after a 15-minute exposure to the sight of the palatable food (frustration stress). In this model, we investigated the anti-bingeing acute effects of OEA (2.5, 5 or 10 mg kg-1, i.p.) on HPF intake and analysed the neurobiological bases of these effects by focusing on the brain pattern of c-Fos expression, on DA release in the shell of the nucleus accumbens (AcbSh), on monoamine concentrations/turnovers in selected brain regions and on both CRF and OXY mRNA in hypothalamic and extra hypothalamic areas

China in Italy: Risk Assessment and Preventive Solutions

Italy’s 2019 decision to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with China in support of the Belt and Road Initiative sparked a heated debate at home and abroad. The possibility of Italy upgrading its trade and investment relations with China through the shortcut of a political endorsement of President Xi Jinping’s flagship foreign-policy initiative was framed as either a heaven-sent opportunity or a serious strategic threat. Two years on, most of the concerns pointed out in the debate, especially regarding infrastructures, have proven unsubstantiated (although the economic opportunities for which the Italian Government wished have also failed to materialise). However, cooperation initiatives between Italian and Chinese entities in sectors often overlooked in the mainstream debate, such as media and academic partnerships, do present risks. The creation of an interagency China Information and Coordination Unit would help to prevent – or, at least, to minimise – such risks

Conversion of a Semi-two Lanes Roundabout into a Turbo-roundabout: A Performance Comparison

AbstractIn the last years, as regards the functional design of at-grade intersections, near to classic layouts (signal-controlled junctions, roundabouts, etc.) a new solution has born: the "turbo-roundabout". It is a canalized multilane oval intersection with a non-traversable or partially traversable center island and with a spiral circulatory carriageway. This kind of roundabout is also characterized by a predictable lane use: some direction flows are physically separated by curbs. Several roundabouts with spiraling circular carriageways were built in northern Europe (in particular in Netherlands) and they have further allowed to extend the notable advantages of this functional solution against multilane roundabouts, such as: 1) no lane changing on the circulatory carriageway; 2) no need to yield to traffic flow on more than two lanes; 3) low driving speed along the through movement because of raised lane dividers and, consequently, a high reduction of accident risk. In this paper a careful literature review on turbo-roundabouts is proposed. Furthermore, the Authors examine the potentialities offered by the transformation of an existing semi-two lanes roundabout into a "virtual" configuration of a turbo-roundabout. In particular, they also evaluate and compare the performance parameters in the two configurations by using a microsimulation software. The case study roundabout is placed in the city of Cosenza (Southern Italy) and it is characterized by great problems of congestion during peak hours. Experimental measures of traffic flows (O/D matrixes), critical gaps, queue lengths and approaching and circulating speeds represent input data for calibration procedures. Afterwards, derived calibration parameters are used as input variables for the new configuration of the intersection as a turbo roundabout. The Authors highlight that the conversion of the existing roundabout into a virtual turbo roundabout determine an increase of capacity together with a minimization of the queue lengths

Effects of calibration process on the simulation of rear-end conflicts at roundabouts

A methodology for calibrating and validating VISSIM simulation model is presented that allows to replicate the observed vehicles conflicts. A roundabout case study has been selected to test the usefulness of a combined approach of VISSIM simulation package and the surrogate safety assessment model (SSAM) for providing reliable estimates of traffic conflicts. Safety performance has been assessed from the field by video-recording vehicle interactions at the roundabout, and then expressed in terms of time to collision (TTC) values.The proposed calibration procedure has been performed by a multistage methodology involving microscopic drivers' car following behavior parameters to enhance the correlation between observed and simulated queue lengths at the roundabout's entries. The calibration procedure is based on a statistical screening of inputs leading to a linear expression relating significant parameters to the queue length. The best estimates of the model's parameters have been determined using a genetic algorithm technique.The spatial distribution of the rear-end conflicts and the TTC values determined by SSAM have been finally compared with the observed ones to analyze the capability of the model of replicating rear-end conflicts.The results suggest to this calibration procedure impacts positively on the estimate of the safety performance measures obtained through the simulation processes.Notwithstanding the good results in the evaluation of the model's accuracy, the simulation seems to fail in reproducing the traffic phenomena linked to unusual driving behavior, and therefore it is not able to replicate forced drivers' maneuvers that can lead to a conflict situation. Keywords: Simulation, Safety performance, Unmanned aerial vehicle, Roundabouts, Traffic conflict

Evaluating the accuracy of vehicle tracking data obtained from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Abstract This paper presents a methodology for tracking moving vehicles that integrates Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with video processing techniques. The authors investigated the usefulness of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to capture reliable individual vehicle data by using GPS technology as a benchmark. A video processing algorithm for vehicles trajectory acquisition is introduced. The algorithm is based on OpenCV libraries. In order to assess the accuracy of the proposed video processing algorithm an instrumented vehicle was equipped with a high precision GPS. The video capture experiments were performed in two case studies. From the field, about 24,000 positioning data were acquired for the analysis. The results of these experiments highlight the versatility of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles technology combined with video processing technique in monitoring real traffic data

China’s official narratives on Xinjiang : interethnic mingling, economic prosperity and religious terrorism

The northwest region of Xinjiang in the People’s Republic of China has drawn international attention recently because of state-perpetrated violence towards its non-Han population. This paper examines how Chinese authorities construct their narratives about the Xinjiang issue and justify their actions in the region. The analysis will focus on official white papers published by the State’s Council Information Office. Through the investigation of the documents, three main narratives on Xinjiang will be presented, together with the way in which they have developed over the past decades. Each will be then situated within the larger transformation of Chinese politics and political discourse in recent years, especially since General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping has taken office. Instead of considering Beijing’s narratives on Xinjiang as an exception, this essay maintains that their underlying paradigms comply with Chinese governmental strategy as a whole, although the repression in Xinjiang represents their extreme consequences

Plasma ACTH, α-MSH and cortisol variations in the dog during the oestrous cycle in different photoperiods

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) is a complex system regulated by multiple factors.Sexual dimorphism of this axis has been described in different species under physiological conditions and it hasbeen proposed that sexual hormones could have an effect on it. There are only a few reports about sex-linkedvariations in HPA axis hormones in the dog. Thus, studying the impact of sexual hormones on the HPA axis wouldbroaden the knowledge about its function in this species. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determinewhether there are variations in HPA plasma hormones (ACTH, alfa-melanocyte-stimulating hormone [α-MSH]and cortisol) according to the sex and photoperiod (positive or negative photoperiod were considered when theduration of the light hours of the day was more than 12 or less than 12, respectively) under basal conditions (likeanoestrus) and throughout the oestrous cycle in the female dog. The population under study consisted of 11 intactfemale and 14 intact male dogs. Under basal conditions neither ACTH nor α-MSH concentrations showed differencesbetween sexes and different photoperiods. Cortisol showed greater values in the negative photoperiod thanin the positive, both in females and males (P = 0.03 and P = 0.015, respectively). Throughout the oestrous cycle,all the studied hormones showed variations (P < 0.0001). The greatest concentrations of ACTH were observed atproestrus, while α-MSH and cortisol showed their greatest concentrations at oestrus. The three hormones decreasedin diestrus. ACTH and cortisol concentrations were higher in the negative photoperiod (P = 0.04 and P < 0.0001,respectively), while α-MSH concentrations were higher in the positive photoperiod (P = 0.012). In the group offemales oestradiol and progesterone correlated with ACTH (r = 0.75, P < 0.0001; r = 0.34, P < 0.01, respectively),α-MSH (r = 0.49, P < 0.0001; r = 0.52, P < 0.0001, respectively) and cortisol (r = 0.33, P < 0.01; r = 0.5, P < 0.0001,respectively). These results show that in females, HPA axis hormones vary during the oestrous cycle in relation tooestradiol and progesterone fluctuations. The ACTH, α-MSH and cortisol concentrations also showed differencesbetween photoperiods in females, but only cortisol did so in males. These findings suggest that sexual hormonescould have an effect on the HPA axis. Further research needs to be done to fully understand this interaction andthe mechanisms involved.Fil: Gallelli, María Florencia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Monachesi, N.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Miceli, Diego Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Cabrera Battler, M. F.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Gomez, N. V.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Meikle, A.. Universidad de Montevideo; UruguayFil: Castillo, V, A.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentin