LE PRODUZIONI BIOLOGICHE: UN SETTORE EMERGENTE

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Scuola Nuova e democrazia in Italia e in Europa

L'article reconstrueix les característiques i la naturalesa de la relació entre les pràctiques innovadores de l'avantguarda educativa de l'ensenyament actiu, els processos de democratització i el moviment de les Escoles Noves en el marc del procés de la renovació de la cultura educativa italiana i europea a principis del segle xx. Aquest àmbit d'investigació, encara poc desenvolupat a Itàlia, revisa el conjunt de connexions que lliguen la renovació educativa italiana amb els processos d'expansió democràticade la instrucció, amb els horitzons de progrés de la nova pedagogia experimental i amb l'evolució del paper de l'educació, entesa com una important força motriu per al desenvolupament social, civil i econòmic de la societat. És una època amb nombroses i significatives pràctiques educatives i pedagògiques que promouen els processos de transformació i la reforma de l'escola, que maduren, en un sentit democràtic, associats al treball social i filantròpic per a la protecció dels drets de l'infant, el procés d'alfabetització i l'educació popular. En aquest context sorgeixen els fonaments per a una nova relació entre Escola Nova i democràcia, tot i que patirà un fort retrocés amb la progressiva consolidació del règim feixista.The article reconstructs the characteristics and nature of the relationship between innovative practices of the educational forefront of active teaching, the processes of democratisation and the movement of the New School in the framework of the process of renewal of Italian and European educational culture in the early 20th century. This area of research, poorly developed in Italy, revises the set of connections linking the Italian educational renewal with the processes of democratic expansion of the instruction, the horizons of progress that the incipient experimental pedagogy proposes and the changing role of education recognised as a driving force for social, civil and economic development of society. This is a period with numerous and significant educational and pedagogical practices that promote the processes of transformation and school reform, which mature in a democratic sense, associated with social and philanthropic work for the protection of children’s rights, the literacy process and popular education. In such a context, the basis for a new relationship between New School and democracy arise, which will suffer a serious setback with the progressive consolidation of the fascist regime.El artículo reconstruye las características y naturaleza de la relación entre las prácticas innovadoras de la vanguardia educativa de la enseñanza activa, los procesos de democratización y el movimiento de la Escuela Nueva en el marco del proceso de la renovación de la cultura educativa italiana y europea a principios del siglo xx. Este ámbito de investigación, todavía poco desarrollado en Italia, revisa el conjunto de conexiones que vinculan la renovación educativa italiana con los procesos de expansión democrática de la instrucción, los horizontes de progreso que la incipiente pedagogía experimental propone y la evolución del papel de la educación reconocida como una fuerza motriz para el desarrollo social, civil y económico de la sociedad. Es una época con numerosas y significativas prácticas educativas y pedagógicas que promueven los procesos de transformación y de reforma de la escuela, que maduran en un sentido democrático, asociados al trabajo social y filantrópico para la protección de los derechos del niño, el proceso de alfabetización y la educación popular. En dicho contexto, surgen las bases para una nueva relación entre Escuela Nueva y democracia que sufrirá un fuerte retroceso con la progresiva consolidación del régimen fascista

In vitro fosfomycin study on concordance of susceptibility testing methods against ESBL and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae.

Abstract Objectives The increasing emergence and diffusion of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogenic bacteria, both in hospital and community settings, is inducing clinicians to reconsider old antibiotics, such as fosfomycin, to overcome the difficulties posed by these microorganisms. Recent studies have reported good in vitro activity of fosfomycin against extended spectrum s-lactamases (ESBL) and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The aim of this study was to assess thein vitro activity of fosfomycin by different methods against 120 clinical MDR isolates. Methods Fosfomycin minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined using the agar dilution reference method (AD), gradient test (GT), broth microdilution method (BMD), according to CLSI recommendations, and automated systems (VITEK 2 and BD Phoenix) against 85 carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and 35 ESBL-producing Escherichia coli. Agreement and discrepancies between the evaluated methods and the reference method were calculated. Results Fosfomycin showed very good activity against ESBL-producing E. coli (88.6%). Excellent agreement (100%) between the three (AD, BMD and GT) susceptibility methods was found for E. coli. No major errors were observed. The fosfomycin resistance rate ranged from 24% (KPC-producing) to 100% (NDM-OXA-48 co-producing) K. pneumoniae. For all carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae strains, categorical agreement was >90% for all methods except for VITEK 2, which was 84%. Conclusions When ESBL E. coli isolates are found to be susceptible to fosfomycin with automated systems, it is not necessary to verify these results with the AD reference method; while for resistant strains, the GT can be used. In cases of KPC K. pneumoniae resistant to fosfomycin, the AD method is the only reference method

Water Conservation Behavior and Environmental Concerns

Water conservation represents important pro-environmental behavior for a sustainable environment. This paper investigates the link between water conservation behavior and general environmental concerns using a large dataset from the Multipurpose Household Survey conducted annually by the Italian Central Statistics Office. Univariate probit models show that pollution and resource exhaustion are positively related to individual water conservation behavior while alteration of environmental heritage exhibits a negative relationship with water saving behavior. These findings are robust to the inclusion of environment knowledge and social capital variables. Robustness analysis also indicates that television and radio, participation in environmental initiatives, money for environmental protection and churchgoing are significant determinants of water conservation behavior

PPARG: Gene Expression Regulation and Next-Generation Sequencing for Unsolved Issues

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is one of the most extensively studied ligand-inducible transcription factors (TFs), able to modulate its transcriptional activity through conformational changes. It is of particular interest because of its pleiotropic functions: it plays a crucial role in the expression of key genes involved in adipogenesis, lipid and glucid metabolism, atherosclerosis, inflammation, and cancer. Its protein isoforms, the wide number of PPARγ target genes, ligands, and coregulators contribute to determine the complexity of its function. In addition, the presence of genetic variants is likely to affect expression levels of target genes although the impact of PPARG gene variations on the expression of target genes is not fully understood. The introduction of massively parallel sequencing platforms—in the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) era—has revolutionized the way of investigating the genetic causes of inherited diseases. In this context, DNA-Seq for identifying—within both coding and regulatory regions of PPARG gene—novel nucleotide variations and haplotypes associated to human diseases, ChIP-Seq for defining a PPARγ binding map, and RNA-Seq for unraveling the wide and intricate gene pathways regulated by PPARG, represent incredible steps toward the understanding of PPARγ in health and disease

Avaliação de cursos de educação superior à distância

Since the 90's, the State has encouraged the opening and expansion of private higher education institutions. The gradual growth of these institutions has contributed to the increase of the distance and presential education in undergraduate courses all over the country. In relation to the distance education mode, the central issue is how to rightly evaluate its quality considering the insufficiency of tradition evaluation methods for presencial courses? This study codifies the informations from a set of categories that constitute an important reference to the regulation process of higher distance education. These categories resulted on an evaluation matrix that includes relevant aspects to coordination, teaching, tutoring, technical staff, students and elements as: teaching materials, programme broadcasting environment, technical support and others. Beyond quality improvement, intervention propositions seeking changes and/or improvement of the distance learning programmes constitutes a social and political measure for democratization of higher education access. Desde meados dos anos de 1990, o Estado vem incentivando e criando facilidades para a abertura e expansão de instituições privadas de ensino superior. O crescimento gradativo dessas instituições tem concorrido para o aumento da oferta de cursos de graduação presenciais e a distância, em todo o país. Em relação à modalidade a distância, a questão central que se coloca é: como avaliar adequadamente a sua qualidade tendo em vista a insuficiência do formato tradicional de avaliação usado em cursos presenciais? O presente artigo sistematiza informações referentes a um conjunto de categorias que constituem um referencial importante para os processos de regulação de cursos de educação superior a distância. Essas categorias resultaram na proposição de uma matriz de avaliação que inclui aspectos pertinentes à coordenação, docência, tutoria, equipe técnica e alunos e elementos como: material didático, ambiente de veiculação da programação e suporte técnico, entre outros. Para além da melhoria da qualidade, a proposição de intervenções visando alterações e/ou aperfeicoamento das programações a distância constitui uma medida social e política de democratização do acesso à educação superior

Influence of radical initiators in gold catalysis: Evidence supporting trapping of radicals derived from azobis(isobutyronitrile) by gold halides

[EN] Gold halides (AuCl3, HAuCl4, and AuCl) efficiently trap the radicals generated in the room-temperature photolysis of azobis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) to give an organogold H[(CH3)(2)CCN](2)AuCl2 compound that has been characterized by spectroscopy. The characteristic features of the organogold are a quaternary carbon at 100 ppm on C-13 NMR and a HR-MS peak with a molecular formula Of C8H13N2AuCl. Catalytic data for cyclohexene aerobic oxidation confirms the beneficial influence of the presence of AlBN on the catalytic activity of Au/CeO2C.Alvaro Rodríguez, MM.; Aprile ., C.; Corma Canós, A.; Ferrer Ribera, RB.; García Gómez, H. (2006). Influence of radical initiators in gold catalysis: Evidence supporting trapping of radicals derived from azobis(isobutyronitrile) by gold halides. Journal of Catalysis. 245(1):249-252. doi:10.1016/j.jcat.2006.10.003S249252245

R&D Spillovers Effects on strategic behaviour of Large International Firms

This study contributes to existing literature on firms’ innovative activity examining the relationship between the R&D rivalry and spillovers at the firm level. In particular, we present an empirical analysis in United States, Japan and Europe based upon a new dataset composed of 879 worldwide R&D-intensive firms. In order to identify the technological proximity, we use the Jaffe industry weight matrix, based on the construction of technological vectors for each firm, where its patents are distributed across technology classes, in such a way that we compute knowledge spillovers. Opportune econometric techniques, which deal with both firm’s unobserved heterogeneity and weak exogeneity of the explanatory variables, are implemented. In order to test the robustness of our results, we introduce also the combined spatial-autoregressive model with autoregressive disturbances and additional endogenous variables. The empirical results are differentiated across countries, and suggest that the spatial effects are statistically significan

R&D Spillovers Effects on strategic behaviour of Large International Firms

This study contributes to existing literature on firms’ innovative activity examining the relationship between the R&D rivalry and spillovers at the firm level. In particular, we present an empirical analysis in United States, Japan and Europe based upon a new dataset composed of 879 worldwide R&D-intensive firms. In order to identify the technological proximity, we use the Jaffe industry weight matrix, based on the construction of technological vectors for each firm, where its patents are distributed across technology classes, in such a way that we compute knowledge spillovers. Opportune econometric techniques, which deal with both firm’s unobserved heterogeneity and weak exogeneity of the explanatory variables, are implemented. In order to test the robustness of our results, we introduce also the combined spatial-autoregressive model with autoregressive disturbances and additional endogenous variables. The empirical results are differentiated across countries, and suggest that the spatial effects are statistically significan

Capecitabine-induced cardiotoxicity: More evidence or clinical approaches to protect the patients' heart?

Fluoropyrimidines, such as capecitabine and 5-fluorouracil, may cause cardiac toxicity. In recent years, the incidence of this side effect has increased and it is expected to further rise due to the population aging and the disproportionate incidence of breast and gastrointestinal cancers in older individuals. The spectrum of cardiac manifestations includes different signs and symptoms and the diagnosis may be difficult. Here, we report the case of a 43-year-old woman with advanced breast cancer who was rechallenged with a capecitabine-based regimen after experiencing a cardiac adverse event during the first fluoropyrimidine exposure. This real-practice case serves as a springboard for discussion about the current evidence on differential diagnosis of capecitabine-related cardiac toxicity, its risk factors, and the underpinning mechanisms of early onset. Moreover, we discussed whether a rechallenge with fluoropyrimidines could be safe in patients who had experienced a previous cardiac adverse even