26 research outputs found

    Clinical and Pathophysiological Insights Into Immunological Mediated Glomerular Diseases in Childhood

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    The kidney is often the target of immune system dysregulation in the context of primary or systemic disease. In particular, the glomerulus represents the anatomical entity most frequently involved, generally as the expression of inflammatory cell invasion or circulant or in situ immune-complex deposition. Glomerulonephritis is the most common clinical and pathological manifestation of this involvement. There are no universally accepted classifications for glomerulonephritis. However, recent advances in our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms suggest the assessment of immunological features, biomarkers, and genetic analysis. At the same time, more accurate and targeted therapies have been developed. Data on pediatric glomerulonephritis are scarce and often derived from adult studies. In this review, we update the current understanding of the etiologic events and genetic factors involved in the pathogenesis of pediatric immunologically mediated primitive forms of glomerulonephritis, together with the clinical spectrum and prognosis. Possible new therapeutic targets are also briefly discussed

    ‘Privacy does not interest me’. A comparative analysis of photo sharing on Instagram and Blipfoto

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    Photo sharing online has become immensely popular and is a central aspect of modern visual culture. Yet it creates a number of privacy issues, both in relation to other individuals and corporate surveillance. The purpose of this study was to investigate users’ understanding of privacy issues in photo sharing, based on a comparative study of two contrasting platforms: Instagram and Blipfoto. The study combined netnography and in-depth interviewing. It was found that Instagram users had a greater awareness of how the platform might use their data, but saw this loss of privacy as inevitable in return for a free service. Blipfoto users were more trusting of what they experienced as a very community minded platform. Any concerns felt by both groups of users were out-weighed by the sense that photo sharing was highly meaningful and their fascination with watching and being watched. Both groups main approach to privacy was through restricting certain types of image of people and not revealing the location of certain personal spaces. Notions of privacy thus remained primarily personal and ignored corporate dataveillance

    Regional labour market mobility. A network analysis of inter-firm relatedness

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    Labour market rigidity is known to hamper the proper adjustment of an economy, thus making it less resilient to shocks. This paper investigates the characteristics and resilience of the regional labour flow network in Veneto, a region famous for its industrial districts and the expertise of its workforce. A unique database of inter-firm worker mobility is used and the made-in-Italy relatedness to other industries is quantified. Descriptive results suggest that permanent-contract workers are more mobile within-sector than fixed-term contractors. The latter are more mobile across sectors. A finer disaggregation of the made-in-Italy industries shows that textile, food and woodwork are highly related to leisure-retail, logistics-wholesale and agriculture. These results can orient policy-making in getting faster labour reallocation. Network analysis establishes a number of stylised facts about labour flow networks, in particular, a hierarchical organisation of flows and a preference for workers to move from low-connected to high-connected firms and vice-versa, i.e. disassortativity. Unlike previous research, this paper identifies clusters of a non-spatial nature, that is, based on the intensity of labour flows. Regression analysis shows that labour mobility, both in and out, is beneficial for firms. However, being located inside labour clusters negatively affects firm performance. Interestingly, when these clusters include MNEs, the firm benefits. These results combined suggest that variety of connections prevails over standardisation

    Public expectations of critical infrastructure operators in times of crisis

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    Maintaining a minimum level of service and recovering quickly after a shock are key components of critical infrastructure (CI) resilience. Nevertheless, recent literature indicates that there is an ‘expectation gap’ in relation to the services CI operators should provide to members of the public in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. However, few of these studies have empirically investigated what members of the public expect. As such, this paper explores this under-researched area by drawing on key themes that emerged from a literature review, results from an online questionnaire-based study (N = 403), and analysis of 22 semi-structured interviews with CI operators and other relevant stakeholders. Results indicate that the public appear willing to tolerate reductions in service during crisis. The public also expect CI operators to keep them informed about progress to restore these services and answer direct queries via both traditional and social media. Based on these findings, resilience recommendations are presented

    Critical Infrastructure Operators, Risk Communication and Community Resilience

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    Effective risk communication practices play a key role in building community resilience. This paper examines the role played by critical infrastructure (CI) operators in building community resilience by studying public expectations of disaster related information provided by CI operators during such crisis

    Chronic Granulomatous Disease Presenting with Salmonella Brain Abscesses.

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    Chronic granulomatous disease is a rare primary immunodeficiency caused by phagocytic cell defect. We describe the case of 43-month-old boy with chronic granulomatous disease presenting with Salmonella spp brain abscesses, together with a review of the 13 cases reported in the literature

    The stratified disc wind of MCG-03-58-007

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    Past Suzaku, XMM–Newton, and NuSTAR observations of the nearby (z = 0.03233) bright Seyfert 2 galaxy MCG-03-58-007 revealed the presence of two deep and blue-shifted iron K-shell absorption line profiles. These could be explained with the presence of two phases of a highly ionized, high column density accretion disc wind outflowing with vout1 ∼ −0.1c and vout2 ∼ −0.2c. Here we present two new observations of MCG-03-58-007: one was carried out in 2016 with Chandra and one in 2018 with Swift. Both caught MCG-03-58-007 in a brighter state (⁠F2−10keV∼4×10−12 erg cm−2 s−1) confirming the presence of the fast disc wind. The multi-epoch observations of MCG-03-58-007 covering the period from 2010 to 2018 were then analysed. These data show that the lower velocity component outflowing with vout1 ∼ −0.072 ± 0.002c is persistent and detected in all the observations, although it is variable in column density in the range NH ∼ 3–8 × 1023 cm−2. In the 2016 Swift observation we detected again the second faster component outflowing with vout2 ∼ −0.2c, with a column density (⁠NH=7.0+5.6−4.1×1023 cm−2), similar to that seen during the Suzaku observation. However during the Chandra observation 2 yr earlier, this zone was not present (NH < 1.5 × 1023 cm−2), suggesting that this faster zone is intermittent. Overall the multi-epochs observations show that the disc wind in MCG-03-58-007 is not only powerful, but also extremely variable, hence placing MCG-03-58-007 among unique disc winds such as the one seen in the famous QSO PDS456. One of the main results of this investigation is the consideration that these winds could be extremely variable, sometime appearing and sometime disappearing; thus to reach solid and firm conclusions about their energetics multiple observations are mandatory
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