[Presentazione delle] "Terze giornate di studio di letteratura cristiana antica": Università degli Studi di Sassari, 3-4 ottobre 2014: breve cronaca

Nei giorni 3 e 4 ottobre 2014 si sono svolte a Sassari le Terze giornate di studio di Letteratura Cristiana Antica. Le finalità del convegno annuale di Letteratura cristiana antica (i primi due incontri si sono svolti a Roma presso la L.U.M.S.A. negli anni 2012 e 2013) sono quelle di fare il punto sulle novità bibliografiche e metodologiche, di presentare e discutere i risultati di nuove ricerche, di operare una verifica sullo stato della ricerca nel settore con particolare attenzione alle prospettive aperte da e per i giovani studiosi

[Recensione a] Pietrina Pellegrini, Militia clericatus. Monachici ordines. Istituzioni ecclesiastiche e società in Gregorio Magno

PIETRINA PELLEGRINI, Militia clericatus. Monachici ordines. Istituzioni ecclesiastiche e società in Gregorio Magno, Catania, Edizioni del Prisma, 2008 (Testi e studi di storia antica, 20), 380 pp

[Recensione a] Enciclopedia gregoriana: la vita, l'opera e la fortuna di Gregorio Magno, a cura di Giuseppe Cremascoli e Antonella Degl'Innocenti

Enciclopedia gregoriana: la vita, l'opera e la fortuna di Gregorio Magno, a cura di Giuseppe Cremascoli e Antonella Degl'Innocenti, Firenze, SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2008 (Archivum Gregorianum, 15), XXXV + 380 pp., 16 tavv. f. t

Inductor losses estimation in DC-DC converters by means of averaging technique

A suitable inductor modeling for power electronic DC-DC converters is presented in this paper. It is developed with the aim of improving inductor losses estimation achievable by averaged models, which inherently neglect inductor current ripple. In order to account for its contribution to the overall inductor losses, an appropriate parallel resistance is thus enclosed into the inductor model, whose value should be chosen in accordance with the DC-DC converter operating conditions. This allows the development of improved averaged models of DC-DC converters, especially in terms of power losses estimation. The effectiveness of the proposed modeling approach has been validated through a simulation study, which refers to the case of a boost DC-DC converter and is performed by means of a suitable circuit simulator designed for rapid modelling of switching power systems (SIMetrix/SIMPLIS)

Disruption of nNOS-NOS1AP protein-protein interactions suppresses neuropathic pain in mice

Elevated N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) activity is linked to central sensitization and chronic pain. However, NMDAR antagonists display limited therapeutic potential because of their adverse side effects. Novel approaches targeting the NR2B-PSD95-nNOS complex to disrupt signaling pathways downstream of NMDARs show efficacy in preclinical pain models. Here, we evaluated the involvement of interactions between neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and the nitric oxide synthase 1 adaptor protein (NOS1AP) in pronociceptive signaling and neuropathic pain. TAT-GESV, a peptide inhibitor of the nNOS-NOS1AP complex, disrupted the in vitro binding between nNOS and its downstream protein partner NOS1AP but not its upstream protein partner postsynaptic density 95 kDa (PSD95). Putative inactive peptides (TAT-cp4GESV and TAT-GESVΔ1) failed to do so. Only the active peptide protected primary cortical neurons from glutamate/glycine-induced excitotoxicity. TAT-GESV, administered intrathecally (i.t.), suppressed mechanical and cold allodynia induced by either the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel or a traumatic nerve injury induced by partial sciatic nerve ligation. TAT-GESV also blocked the paclitaxel-induced phosphorylation at Ser15 of p53, a substrate of p38 MAPK. Finally, TAT-GESV (i.t.) did not induce NMDAR-mediated motor ataxia in the rotarod test and did not alter basal nociceptive thresholds in the radiant heat tail-flick test. These observations support the hypothesis that antiallodynic efficacy of an nNOS-NOS1AP disruptor may result, at least in part, from blockade of p38 MAPK-mediated downstream effects. Our studies demonstrate, for the first time, that disrupting nNOS-NOS1AP protein-protein interactions attenuates mechanistically distinct forms of neuropathic pain without unwanted motor ataxic effects of NMDAR antagonists

Indagine sulle fonti dell’<i>expositio</i> in <i>Canticis canticorum</i> di Gregorio Magno

The present study aims at cataloguing and identifing the sources that have inspired Gregory the Great's (590-604) exegesis of Song of Songs. The study consists of two principal sections: the first one describes the object of the research, materials and methods; the second one collects the data and explains the results. The latter represents the topic of the thesis and a continuous commentary on the Gregorian text, section by section, following the 46 paragraphs of the Verbraken’s edition (Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina, 144). The study shows both tight intertextual connections with the previous exegetic tradition, also with the one not referred to the Song of Songs, but also with other works ascribed to the same Pope. The research contributs to the study of Gregorian theological thought and their exegetical praxis, and confirms the authorship of the work

La Sovranità Internazionale ed i suoi agenti politici

In 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development along with a set of new global goals (SDGs). One of them (Goal 16) places a certain emphasis on developing effective, accountable and transparent institutions, as well as ensuring responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels. Tellingly, matters of governance were not mentioned in the previous Millennium Development Goals. The addition reveals growing attention for an essential truth: to achieve ambitious policy objectives, process matters. The EU has long been making pioneering efforts on this track, the latest of which in 2016 with its Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy that includes a priority on reforming multilateral for a of global governance, particularly the UN Security Council and the International Financial Institutions. Recent events in world economic affairs have emphasized the urgency of the matter for the World Trade Organization. The purpose of the thesis is to provide a legal contribution to such developments, by means of an interdisciplinary study of the interplay between state sovereignty and international institutions. The diplomatic function is analyzed both from the perspective of classic international law and in light of emerging theories, such as the doctrine of Global Administrative Law and a constructivist approach to international relations. Diplomatic activity is further examined in the context of European integration vis-à-vis domestic standpoints of Member States: on the one hand, institutional norms in the EU Treaties providing for concerted international action represent a critical step forward with a view to a coherent European foreign policy. On the other hand, however, little progress has been made at the national and international levels to adapt the legal foundations and institutional framework upon which that common action should be based, as constitutional documents and charters of multilateral institutions ––drawn up before the post-war “globalization unbundlings”–– implicitly subsume international governance under the agency of the executive branch of government, without due provisions to address the profound changes and challenges underway. The role assigned to international secretariats and the European civil service, along with the participation of nongovernmental actors, is one such aspect. The new practice of public diplomacy is another. These and other issues are considered while proposing an evolutionary understanding of States’ external sovereignty as ‘inter-dependence’