Building political relations: cooperation, segmentation and government in Bancoumana (Mali)

A stable and peaceful country by West African standards, Mali uneasily fits the paradigm of a ‘failed state.’ While government and development agencies tend to interpret Mali’s stability as the outcome of successful institutional reform, foreign scholars and local intellectuals emphasise the power of enduring traditions and their adaptation to changing conditions in Malian society. Critically assessing both views, this dissertation explores political relations and practices in post-colonial Mali in a rural locality of Mande, the region south-west of the capital Bamako. The work draws on 18 months of field research in the rural municipality of Bancoumana to document an intensely mediated form of government resulting from the dynamic process of grouping and of building cooperative relations in everyday social life. I examine how projects broadly intended to deepen state control such as the ‘framing’ of resident and migrant populations by the state, the betterment of the land, the recognition and the registration of ‘traditional’ rights, among other practices of bureaucratic ‘fixing’ are dealt with in the locality. The analysis links their history to processes of fission and fusion of social groups, where the interventions may exacerbate tensions or, instead, create solidarity among different village factions. Thus, the practices and processes of government in the locality are able to successfully fill the gap between the state and other agencies, and society. Contributing to the anthropological tradition studying law, politics and the state in Africa, the dissertation links recent trends in the anthropology of the state, and of more specific regulatory domains such as land development and taxation, to a reanalysis of the traditional chestnut of the anthropology of West Africa, a ‘segmentary style’ of social organization

Advances in the Management of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma. Focus on Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy

Effective treatment options in advanced/progressive/metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) are currently limited. As in other neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs), peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) has been used as a therapeutic option in MTC. To date, however, there are no published reviews dealing with PRRT approaches. We performed an in-depth narrative review on the studies published in this field and collected information on registered clinical trials related to this topic. We identified 19 published studies, collectively involving more than 200 patients with MTC, and four registered clinical trials. Most cases of MTC were treated with PRRT with somatostatin analogues (SSAs) radiolabelled with 90 yttrium (90Y) and 177 lutetium (177Lu). These radiopharmaceuticals show efficacy in the treatment of patients with MTC, with a favourable radiological response (stable disease, partial response or complete response) in more than 60% of cases, coupled with low toxicity. As MTC specifically also expresses cholecystokinin receptors (CCK2Rs), PRRT with this target has also been tried, and some randomised trials are ongoing. Overall, PRRT seems to have an effective role and might be considered in the therapeutic strategy of advanced/progressive/metastatic MTC

Pathology reporting in neuroendocrine neoplasms of the digestive system: everything you always wanted to know but were too afraid to ask

During the 5th NIKE (Neuroendocrine tumors Innovation in Knowledge and Education) meeting, held in Naples, Italy, in May 2019, discussions centered on the understanding of pathology reports of gastroenetropancreactic neuroendocrine neoplasms. In particular, the main problem concerned the difficulty that clinicians experience in extrapolating relevant information from neuroendocrine tumor pathology reports. During the meeting, participants were asked to identify and rate issues which they have encountered, for which the input of an expert pathologist would have been appreciated. This article is a collection of the most rated questions and relative answers, focusing on three main topics: 1) morphology and classification; 2) Ki67 and grading; 3) immunohistochemistry. Patient management should be based on multidisciplinary decisions, taking into account clinical and pathology-related features with clear comprehension between all health care professionals. Indeed, pathologists require clinical details and laboratory findings when relevant, while clinicians require concise and standardized reports. In keeping with this last statement, the minimum requirements in pathology datasets are provided in this paper and should be a baseline for all neuroendocrine tumor professionals

Sex-Differences in the Pattern of Comorbidities, Functional Independence, and Mortality in Elderly Inpatients: Evidence from the RePoSI Register

Background: The RePoSi study has provided data on comorbidities, polypharmacy, and sex dimorphism in hospitalised elderly patients. Methods: We retrospectively analysed data collected from the 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 data sets of the RePoSi register. The aim of this study was to explore the sex-differences and to validate the multivariate model in the entire dataset with an expanded follow-up at 1 year. Results: Among 4714 patients, 51% were women and 49% were men. The disease distribution showed that diabetes, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, and malignancy were more frequent in men but that hypertension, anaemia, osteoarthritis, depression, and diverticulitis disease were more common in women. Severity and comorbidity indexes according to the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS-s and CIRS-c) were higher in men, while cognitive impairment, mood disorders, and disability in daily life measured by the Barthel Index (BI) were worse in women. In the multivariate analysis, BI, CIRS, and malignancy significantly increased the risk of death in men at the 1-year follow-up, while age was independently associated with mortality in women. Conclusions: Our study highlighted the relevance and the validity of our previous predictive model in the identification of sex dimorphism in hospitalised elderly patients underscoring the need of sex-personalised health-care

Une Venise impériale (1895-1945)

In 1895-1945 Venice was reborn not only under the auspices of tourism, but also of industrialism and imperialism. A network of investors founded monopolistic companies, relying on political and State connections, on nationalism, urban and industrial expansionism. A colonialist entrepreneur became a Fascist leader and accumulated an extraordinary power, with an impact on the city and its image. Nationalism made Venice one of the centers of anti-Austrian and anti-Slavic Adriatic claims, processing imperial rites and myths. The elites united to locally manage modernization in a hierarchical and paternalistic way, supporting the projects of big business, making use of the commercial and naval power of the past as an element of integration and legitimation. Today’s urban order arose in such context, which presented both creative and violent predatory elements