Lo schema destra-sinistra: rappresentazioni dello spazio politico in Europa ed Italia

2008 - 2009The aim of this work is to analyze the meaning, the role and the functioning of the left-right opposition in Western Europe Democracies. In this work, the left-right opposition is conceived as a social representation of political space which realize a synthesis of the main values conflicts of European societies. In this way, the left-right dimension allows every actor of the political system to evaluate his position in relation to the position of others actors, to establish his identity and to perform correspondent actions. This conception of left-right opposition is closely related to the emergence of modernity: indeed, such device to ordinate the political conflict become necessary in a pluralistic society, where the political fight is focused on the desirable end-state of society. This conception of left-right opposition was elaborated after an analysis of the way the two terms were conceptualized in literature... [edited by Author]VIII n.s

Controlli doganali e sicurezza portuale

2011/2012Il tema della tesi di dottorato si propone di rispondere ad alcuni quesiti che riguardano aspetti cruciali del traffico internazionale delle merci, rispetto alle innovazioni normative degli ultimi anni. In particolare ci si vuole riferire al ruolo del controllo di sicurezza doganale, che deve muoversi parallelamente all’applicazione delle procedure dirette a velocizzare i traffici (quelli leciti, naturalmente). Infatti, secondo il nuovo Codice Doganale Comunitario, il ruolo delle Autorità Doganali comunitarie è radicalmente cambiato, passando da quello di “anello di una catena” (ruolo ostico ed osteggiato, anziché visto come ruolo di garanzia) a quello di supervisore settoriale della liceità e sicurezza dei trasporti. La questione si rivolge ai porti marittimi, giacchè la stragrande maggioranza dei traffici commerciali mondiali si svolge via mare ed è su tale settore, quindi, che le attenzioni degli Operatori si sono rivolte per garantire ed assicurare il massimo rendimento (o un giusto equilibrio) tra le agevolazioni accordate e concesse dalle norme vigenti ed i livelli di “security”. In tale prospettiva, infatti, Organizzazione ed Istituzioni, nazionali ed internazionali, hanno sentito la necessità di affrontare questioni molto scottanti e specifiche, che riguardano la sicurezza degli stati e delle proprie infrastrutture, nonché la sicurezza dei cittadini, intesa in senso lato, quale “security” e “safety”. Il lavoro svolto si articola in tre parti: - Nella prima parte (capitolo 2) viene inquadrato il problema della security nei trasporti marittimi e nei porti: la domanda posta riguarda il perché si siano considerati a rischio sicurezza i porti ed il traffico commerciale via mare. Vengono evidenziati gli elementi di base che coinvolgono la sicurezza nei porti, con una panoramica di dati e grafici legati alle tipologie, quantità e crescita dei traffici commerciali marittimi, individuando, poi, i vari aspetti del significato di “security” nel traffico commerciale via mare e nella sicurezza degli impianti portuali; - Nella seconda parte (capitoli 3 e 4) vengono evidenziati gli ambiti di intervento dei controlli di sicurezza, relativamente ai settori maggiormente a rischio: si passa dall’immigrazione clandestina, al traffico di armi e di distruzione di massa, al traffico di stupefacenti, al traffico di rifiuti, al riciclaggio di denaro legato alle attività di gruppi criminali e terroristici. Prosegue questa parte con l’analisi dell’attività dell’Autorità Doganale, con i raccordi a livello dell’Unione Europea, evidenziando gli strumenti normativi ed organizzativi a disposizione: dalle norme del Nuovo Codice Doganale Comunitario, ai compiti propri della Dogana in materia di controlli di sicurezza, al raccordo comunitario del management in tale materia, alle varie raccomandazioni pervenute tramite l’Organizzazione Mondiale delle Dogane. E’ proprio l’organizzazione del management e la struttura dei controlli doganali che si evidenziano con maggior forza, poiché la struttura comunitaria di management (Common Risk Management System), l’attività di analisi dei rischi e previsionale, l’acquisizione anticipata dei dati relativi ai traffici commerciali marittimi (Entry Summary Declarations, ENS, e le Export Summary Declarations, EXS), consentono di interagire a più livelli tra i vari Enti, pubblici e privati, per migliorare ed alzare un maggior livello di contrasto ai fini della sicurezza, con una “compliance” come nel caso degli A.E.O. (Operatore Economico Autorizzato); - La terza parte (capitolo 5) è dedicata ad un’analisi della valutazione dei costi legati alla sicurezza dei controlli doganali; si sviluppano alcune teorie riguardo alla molteplicità degli interventi in tale ambito, che fanno emergere una oggettiva difficoltà di valutazione di tali studi, data la rilevante presenza di variabili riguardo alla prevenzione, al contrasto ed alla repressione di attività e commerci a rischio sicurezza, per analizzare più nel dettaglio una serie di studi effettuati negli Stati Uniti d’America relativamente ad ipotesi di attacchi terroristici nei porti di Los Angeles e Long Beach, ove l’attenzione è stata posta sull’impatto economico derivante da danni alle infrastrutture portuali ed alle ricadute nel medio-termine sull’economia locale, più che su quella di scala nazionale. Gli unici riferimenti reali, comunque, si riferivano a dati conosciuti, riguardanti l’impatto di uno sciopero degli operatori portuali nel 1962 ed i costi sostenuti a seguito dei danni prodotti dall’uragano Katrina nel porto di New Orleans. Il capitolo 6 è indirizzato alle conclusioni del lavoro. In particolare, riferendosi innanzitutto all’introduzione (capitolo 1), il problema era stato inquadrato nell’ambito dei controlli di sicurezza previsti a livello comunitario sul traffico marittimo delle merci e sugli oneri posti in carico alle varie Autorità Doganali a seguito degli attacchi terroristici, iniziati con l’attacco alle Torri Gemelle di New York l’11 settembre 2001. Il costante aumento dei traffici commerciali via mare ed il potenziale rischio di attacchi al territorio ed ai cittadini dell’Unione Europea perpetrabili attraverso il commercio internazionale hanno posto le basi per una stringete attività in materia di controlli doganalui di sicurezza. Il compito che si è proposta l’Unione Europea e le Autorità Doganali dei paesi Membri è quello di trovare un giusto equilibrio tra la velocizzazione delle procedure doganali ai fini di una maggiore fluidità dei trasporti e l’efficacia di controlli, intesi ad assicurare una ragionevole sicurezza sia ai cittadini dell’Unione, che ai commerci, per finire alla sicurezza legata alla salute ed all’ambiente, il tutto con una sostenibilità dei costi che non fosse sproporzionata rispetto alle attese. Lo scopo indiretto era anche quello di provare a delineare un quadro degli aspetti di controlli di security nell’ambito delle attribuzioni del Punto Franco di Trieste. E si è individuata, così, la possibilità che lo status di Punto Franco, unito alle norme già esistenti in tema di depositi fiscali e doganali, insieme alla previsione normativa comunitaria ancora da attuare, connessa al luogo di presentazione delle dichiarazioni doganali (ufficio doganale più vicino al luogo di residenza dell’operatore), unitamente alle procedure doganali in materia di controlli di sicurezza ed alla logistica ed all’informatizzazione delle movimentazioni delle merci nel Punto Franco stesso, possa divenire un sistema, uno strumento cui poter attingere per migliorare e sviluppare i traffici marittimi, in considerazione del fatto che il porto, con tutti i magazzini già esistenti, potrebbe essere visto come un enorme distripark, smistamento di merci (quasi) in linea, sia in entrata che in uscita dal territorio dell’Unione, dal moment o che la stessa normativa comunitaria permette l’uso dei depositi nel Punto Franco per lo stoccaggio di merci allo stato estero, da un lato, e merci nazionali e comunitarie, dall’altro.XXIV Ciclo196

In vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Ampicillin-Ceftriaxone and Ampicillin-Ertapenem Combinations Against Clinical Isolates of Enterococcus faecalis with High Levels of Aminoglycoside Resistance

This paper reports on the in vitro antimicrobial activity of ampicillin-ceftriaxone and ampicillin-ertapenem combinations against five strains of E. faecalis with high-level aminoglycoside resistance recovered from blood of septicemic patients. Double disk diffusion test and time killing curves were used. A bacteriostatic synergistic effect between ampicillin and ceftriaxone was detected using the disk diffusion assay for three of the five enterococcal strains studied. With the same three isolates enhanced bactericidal activity was also observed using time killing experiments. Overall, for these three strains, after 24 hr of contact, a decrease ≥ 2 log10 from the initial bacterial inoculum was registered with most ampicillin-ceftriaxone combinations, reaching with some of them a colony reduction ≥ 3 log10. This bactericidal interaction was negatively influenced increasing the bacterial inoculum. In all five isolates neither a bacteriostatic nor a bactericidal cooperation was observed for ampicillin combined with 2 mg/l of ertapenem

CluGene: A Bioinformatics Framework for the Identification of Co-Localized, Co-Expressed and Co-Regulated Genes Aimed at the Investigation of Transcriptional Regulatory Networks from High-Throughput Expression Data

The full understanding of the mechanisms underlying transcriptional regulatory networks requires unravelling of complex causal relationships. Genome high-throughput technologies produce a huge amount of information pertaining gene expression and regulation; however, the complexity of the available data is often overwhelming and tools are needed to extract and organize the relevant information. This work starts from the assumption that the observation of co-occurrent events (in particular co-localization, co-expression and co-regulation) may provide a powerful starting point to begin unravelling transcriptional regulatory networks. Co-expressed genes often imply shared functional pathways; co-expressed and functionally related genes are often co-localized, too; moreover, co-expressed and co-localized genes are also potential targets for co-regulation; finally, co-regulation seems more frequent for genes mapped to proximal chromosome regions. Despite the recognized importance of analysing co-occurrent events, no bioinformatics solution allowing the simultaneous analysis of co-expression, co-localization and co-regulation is currently available. Our work resulted in developing and valuating CluGene, a software providing tools to analyze multiple types of co-occurrences within a single interactive environment allowing the interactive investigation of combined co-expression, co-localization and co-regulation of genes. The use of CluGene will enhance the power of testing hypothesis and experimental approaches aimed at unravelling transcriptional regulatory networks. The software is freely available a

A Narrative Approach to Describe QoL in Children With Chronic ITP

Objective: Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a hemorrhagic disorder. Spontaneous recovery within 12 months occurs in the majority of pediatric patients. Nevertheless, in 20–30% of children the disease is chronic. The impact extends to the patients' families, whose everyday life, in terms of interpersonal relationships and financial status, is adversely affected. This study investigated the ability of a narrative instrument to improve the quality of life of pediatric chronic ITP patients and their families and quantified the familial burden imposed by the illness.Method: A quantitative survey and a narrative plot delivered through an online platform were adopted for the analysis.Results: Pediatricians of ten Italian Hematologic Centers explained the projects to patients and their family in the outpatient clinic. 70 caregivers of children with ITP filled the ad-hoc questionnaire. Data from 53 caregivers revealed the emotional impact of pediatric chronic ITP. The narrative approach highlighted the specific resources used by patients and their families to cope with the disease and its chronicity.Discussion: Caregivers underlined the need for “humaneness” in their interactions with clinical personnel. The majority of respondents provided positive feedback regarding the narrative project, defining the experience as “liberating” and improving their quality of life

Pediatric tuberculosis in Italian children: Epidemiological and clinical data from the Italian register of pediatric tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Over the last decades, TB has also emerged in the pediatric population. Epidemiologic data of childhood TB are still limited and there is an urgent need of more data on very large cohorts. A multicenter study was conducted in 27 pediatric hospitals, pediatric wards, and public health centers in Italy using a standardized form, covering the period of time between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012. Children with active TB, latent TB, and those recently exposed to TB or recently adopted/immigrated from a high TB incidence country were enrolled. Overall, 4234 children were included; 554 (13.1%) children had active TB, 594 (14.0%) latent TB and 3086 (72.9%) were uninfected. Among children with active TB, 481 (86.8%) patients had pulmonary TB. The treatment of active TB cases was known for 96.4% (n = 534) of the cases. Overall, 210 (39.3%) out of these 534 children were treated with three and 216 (40.4%) with four first-line drugs. Second-line drugs where used in 87 (16.3%) children with active TB. Drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were reported in 39 (7%) children. Improving the surveillance of childhood TB is important for public health care workers and pediatricians. A non-negligible proportion of children had drug-resistant TB and was treated with second-line drugs, most of which are off-label in the pediatric age. Future efforts should concentrate on improving active surveillance, diagnostic tools, and the availability of antitubercular pediatric formulations, also in low-endemic countries

Influenza vaccination coverage among medical residents: An Italian multicenter survey

Although influenza vaccination is recognized to be safe and effective, recent studies have confirmed that immunization coverage among health care workers remain generally low, especially among medical residents (MRs). Aim of the present multicenter study was to investigate attitudes and determinants associated with acceptance of influenza vaccination among Italian MRs. A survey was performed in 2012 on MRs attending post-graduate schools of 18 Italian Universities. Each participant was interviewed via an anonymous, self-administered, web-based questionnaire including questions on attitudes regarding influenza vaccination. A total of 2506 MRs were recruited in the survey and 299 (11.9%) of these stated they had accepted influenza vaccination in 2011-2012 season. Vaccinated MRs were older (P = 0.006), working in clinical settings (P = 0.048), and vaccinated in the 2 previous seasons (P < 0.001 in both seasons). Moreover, MRs who had recommended influenza vaccination to their patients were significantly more compliant with influenza vaccination uptake in 2011-2012 season (P < 0.001). "To avoid spreading influenza among patients" was recognized as the main reason for accepting vaccination by less than 15% of vaccinated MRs. Italian MRs seem to have a very low compliance with influenza vaccination and they seem to accept influenza vaccination as a habit that is unrelated to professional and ethical responsibility. Otherwise, residents who refuse vaccination in the previous seasons usually maintain their behaviors. Promoting correct attitudes and good practice in order to improve the influenza immunization rates of MRs could represent a decisive goal for increasing immunization coverage among health care workers of the future. © 2014 Landes Bioscience

A machine-learning based bio-psycho-social model for the prediction of non-obstructive and obstructive coronary artery disease

Background: Mechanisms of myocardial ischemia in obstructive and non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), and the interplay between clinical, functional, biological and psycho-social features, are still far to be fully elucidated. Objectives: To develop a machine-learning (ML) model for the supervised prediction of obstructive versus non-obstructive CAD. Methods: From the EVA study, we analysed adults hospitalized for IHD undergoing conventional coronary angiography (CCA). Non-obstructive CAD was defined by a stenosis &lt; 50% in one or more vessels. Baseline clinical and psycho-socio-cultural characteristics were used for computing a Rockwood and Mitnitski frailty index, and a gender score according to GENESIS-PRAXY methodology. Serum concentration of inflammatory cytokines was measured with a multiplex flow cytometry assay. Through an XGBoost classifier combined with an explainable artificial intelligence tool (SHAP), we identified the most influential features in discriminating obstructive versus non-obstructive CAD. Results: Among the overall EVA cohort (n = 509), 311 individuals (mean age 67 ± 11&nbsp;years, 38% females; 67% obstructive CAD) with complete data were analysed. The ML-based model (83% accuracy and 87% precision) showed that while obstructive CAD was associated with higher frailty index, older age and a cytokine signature characterized by IL-1β, IL-12p70 and IL-33, non-obstructive CAD was associated with a higher gender score (i.e., social characteristics traditionally ascribed to women) and with a cytokine signature characterized by IL-18, IL-8, IL-23. Conclusions: Integrating clinical, biological, and psycho-social features, we have optimized a sex- and gender-unbiased model that discriminates obstructive and non-obstructive CAD. Further mechanistic studies will shed light on the biological plausibility of these associations. Clinical trial registration: NCT02737982

Electron-muon ranger: performance in the MICE muon beam

The Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) will perform a detailed study of ionization cooling to evaluate the feasibility of the technique. To carry out this program, MICE requires an efficient particle-identification (PID) system to identify muons. The Electron-Muon Ranger (EMR) is a fully-active tracking-calorimeter that forms part of the PID system and tags muons that traverse the cooling channel without decaying. The detector is capable of identifying electrons with an efficiency of 98.6%, providing a purity for the MICE beam that exceeds 99.8%. The EMR also proved to be a powerful tool for the reconstruction of muon momenta in the range 100–280 MeV/c

Electron-muon ranger: performance in the MICE muon beam

The Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) will perform a detailed study of ionization cooling to evaluate the feasibility of the technique. To carry out this program, MICE requires an efficient particle-identification (PID) system to identify muons. The Electron-Muon Ranger (EMR) is a fully-active tracking-calorimeter that forms part of the PID system and tags muons that traverse the cooling channel without decaying. The detector is capable of identifying electrons with an efficiency of 98.6%, providing a purity for the MICE beam that exceeds 99.8%. The EMR also proved to be a powerful tool for the reconstruction of muon momenta in the range 100–280 MeV/c