Modello Big Five di Personalità in adulti: Effetti di indicatori diversi di livello socio-culturale

L’obiettivo della presente ricerca è stato quello di indagare l’influenza dei principali indicatori di livello socioculturale (LSC) sulle dimensioni del modello Big Five di Personalità in adulti. In particolare, si è voluto verificare se le dimensioni di personalità variassero in base a Status socioeconomico (SES, professione e livello d’istruzione), Capitale Culturale e Capitale Sociale dell'individuo. Per questo scopo, sono stati somministrati a genitori di studenti delle scuole superiori il Big Five Questionnaire-2 (BFQ-2), per indagare le dimensioni e sottodimensioni di personalità, e questionari specifici a ciascun indicatore del LSC. Dai risultati è emerso che SES, Capitale Culturale e Capitale Sociale dell'individuo hanno effetti differenziati sulle dimensioni (e sottodimensioni) del BFQ-2

Chewing the fat on natural killer T cell development

Natural killer T cells (NKT cells) are selected in the thymus by self-glycolipid antigens presented by CD1d molecules. It is currently thought that one specific component of the lysosomal processing pathway, which leads to the production of isoglobotrihexosylceramide (iGb3), is essential for normal NKT cell development. New evidence now shows that NKT cell development can be disrupted by a diverse range of mutations that interfere with different elements of the lysosomal processing and degradation of glycolipids. This suggests that lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) in general, rather than one specific defect, can disrupt CD1d antigen presentation, leading to impaired development of NKT cells

An Atypical Presentation of Crohn Disease in the Elderly. A Case report and Literature review

The Authors present a case of an insidious onset of Crohn Disease (CD) in an elderly patient. Diagnosis complicated by extraintestinal manifestation properly of old age could be delayed and often made after surgery on the histological specimen as in our case. CD is uncommon as primary manifestation in old age, often unsuspected, incorrectly diagnosed and in many case the clinical fea - tures may lead to late diagnosis. Differential diagnosis of CD in elder people with fever, diarrhoea and abdominal pain is difficult and other symptoms affecting intestinal tract can closely mimic CD symptoms, although the pattern of clinical presentation in older patient resemble those in younger

Una herramienta para dinamizar el sistema de innovación territorial: programa innovación y capital humano

El programa “Innovación y Capital Humano” surge en el año 2010, en el marco del Programa Desarrollo Territorial en el Área Metropolitana de Córdoba –REMECO- es una iniciativa de la Agencia para el Desarrollo Económico de Córdoba –ADEC- cuyas primeras cuatro convocatorias fueron cofinanciadas por la alianza interinstitucional constituida por el FOMIN-BID, el Ministerio de Industria de la Provincia de Córdoba a través del CFI, la Municipalidad de Córdoba y la ADEC, dando respuesta a la detección de un área de vacancia en el financiamiento al desarrollo e implementación de innovaciones. Dado el éxito del programa por su impacto en la transferencia de innovaciones y la demanda que se percibió por parte del sector académico, productivo y social, en el año 2015 se lanza la 5º Convocatoria de Innovación y Capital Humano, cofinanciada con recursos de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, la Municipalidad de Córdoba y la ADEC y actualmente, se gestionan fondos para lanzar la 6° convocatoria con el fin de promoverlo como una política de largo plazo. El programa tiene por objetivo fomentar el vínculo entre el sector educativo con el productivo y social de Córdoba, mediante el cofinanciamiento de tesis, tesinas, trabajos finales de grado y posgrado y también proyectos curriculares de escuelas técnicas de nivel medio, que desarrollen innovaciones factibles de ser transferidas e implementadas en empresas, el estado y/o instituciones de la sociedad civil. El objetivo último de este programa, es instalar un instrumento innovador, diseñado en Córdoba y con un alto impacto en facilitar la vinculación del sistema educativo con el sistema productivo y social y así contribuir al fortalecimiento del sistema de innovación del territorio

An explorative study setting a national supportive system of near-miss management for the Italian industrial sector

Initiatives, projects, and programmes for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) management benefit from supportive systems to develop and properly last over time. National OSH systems were born to enforce the law by applying national regulations. In the last years, most countries have started to take preventative actions to improve workers’ health and safety conditions. Assistance initiatives are growing fast, and new roles and profiles are arising to keep up with changes. Nowadays, national OSH actors usually perform both supervisory and supporting activities. This is widely applied in Italy where several bodies promote and support companies in taking part in OSH initiatives. In Italy, a collaborative project for near-miss management is under development by the Italian National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL, i.e., in Italian, “Istituto Nazionale Assicurazione Infortuni sul Lavoro”). The project aims at increasing awareness of the relevance of near-miss monitoring. This paper studies the environment setting for this project, so bodies that will have an active role in its implementation and daily management. A focus group with INAIL’s experts and researchers from two Italian universities has enabled to identify key actors and their role in the project’s development and to select the most viable scenarios. This work provides a methodological approach to study other national supportive OSH systems and also detects Italian best practices replicable in other countries

Metallic wear in failed titanium-alloy total hip replacements. A histological and quantitative analysis

We conducted extensive histological examination of the tissues that were adjacent to the prosthesis in nine hips that had a failed total arthroplasty. The prostheses were composed of titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. The average time that the prosthesis had been in place in the tissue was 33.5 months (range, eleven to fifty-seven months). Seven arthroplasties were revised because of aseptic loosening and two, for infection. In eight hips cement had been used and in one (that had a porous-coated implant for fifty-two months) no cement had been utilized. Intense histiocytic and plasma-cell reaction was noted in the pseudocapsular tissue. There was copious metallic staining of the lining cells. Polyethylene debris and particles of cement with concomitant giant-cell reaction were present in five hips. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry revealed values for titanium of fifty-sic to 3700 micrograms per gram of dry tissue (average, 1047 micrograms per gram; normal, zero microgram per gram), for aluminum of 2.1 to 396 micrograms per gram (average, 115 micrograms per gram; normal, zero micrograms per gram), and for vanadium of 2.9 to 220 micrograms per gram (average, sixty-seven micrograms per gram; normal, 1.2 micrograms per gram). The highest values were found in the hip in which surgical revision was performed at fifty-seven months. The concentrations of the three elements in the soft tissues were similar to those in the metal of the prostheses. The factors to which failure was attributed were: vertical orientation of the acetabular component (five hips), poor cementing technique on the femoral side (three hips), infection (two hips), and separation of a sintered pad made of pure titanium (one hip). A femoral component that is made of titanium alloy can undergo severe wear of the surface and on the stem, where it is loose, with liberation of potentially toxic local concentrations of metal debris into the surrounding tissues. It may contribute to infection and loosening

CD1d-restricted NKT cells: an interstrain comparison

CD1d-restricted Va14-Ja281 invariant abTCR1 (NKT) cells are well defined in the C57BL/6 mouse strain, but they remain poorly characterized in non-NK1.1-expressing strains. Surrogate markers for NKT cells such as abTCR1CD42CD82 and DX51CD31 have been used in many studies, although their effectiveness in defining this lineage remains to be verified. Here, we compare NKT cells among C57BL/6, NK1.1-congenic BALB/c, and NK1.1-congenic nonobese diabetic mice. NKT cells were identified and compared using a range of approaches: NK1.1 expression, surrogate phenotypes used in previous studies, labeling with CD1d/a-galactosylceramide tetramers, and cytokine production. Our results demonstrate that NKT cells and their CD4/CD8-defined subsets are present in all three strains, and confirm that nonobese diabetic mice have a numerical and functional deficiency in these cells. We also highlight the hazards of using surrogate phenotypes, none of which accurately identify NKT cells,and one in particular (DX51CD31) actually excludes these cells. Finally, our results support the concept that NK1.1 expression may not be an ideal marker for CD1d-restricted NKT cells, many of which are NK1.1-negative, especially within the CD41 subset and particularly in NK1.1-congenic BALB/c mice

Altered thymic differentiation and modulation of arthritis by invariant NKT cells expressing mutant ZAP70

Various subsets of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells with different cytokine productions develop in the mouse thymus, but the factors driving their differentiation remain unclear. Here we show that hypomorphic alleles of Zap70 or chemical inhibition of Zap70 catalysis leads to an increase of IFN-gamma-producing iNKT cells (NKT1 cells), suggesting that NKT1 cells may require a lower TCR signal threshold. Zap70 mutant mice develop IL-17-dependent arthritis. In a mouse experimental arthritis model, NKT17 cells are increased as the disease progresses, while NKT1 numbers negatively correlates with disease severity, with this protective effect of NKT1 linked to their IFN-gamma expression. NKT1 cells are also present in the synovial fluid of arthritis patients. Our data therefore suggest that TCR signal strength during thymic differentiation may influence not only IFN-gamma production, but also the protective function of iNKT cells in arthritis