Traversing the margins of corruption amidst informal economies in Amazonia

This article focuses on local idioms of extra-legal economic activity among indigenous Amazonians in eastern Peru, and its overall argument is that these idioms are part of a broader context in which indigenous people are compelled by a variety of factors to act in a seemingly corrupt manner. I further suggest that within such a context these idioms are not confined to the informal economy but are also used to refer to activities that fall within the formal economy, supporting Hart’s (2009) claim that the informal economy is a way of imagining the orthodox economy. I argue that corruption within Amazonian economies is commonly perceived by non-indigenous people as contrasting with the workings of the orthodox economy without proper consideration of the economic conditions and bureaucratic structures that give rise to it. Lastly, I argue that, here, corruption can contravene bureaucracy by restoring the humanity that Herzfeld (1993) claims bureaucracy rejects through its acts of indifference toward individuals

REDD+ on the rocks? Conflict over forest and politics of justice in Vietnam

In Vietnam, villagers involved in a REDD+ (reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) pilot protect areas with rocks which have barely a tree on them. The apparent paradox indicates how actual practices differ from general ideas about REDD+ due to ongoing conflict over forest, and how contestations over the meaning of justice are a core element in negotiations over REDD+. We explore these politics of justice by examining how the actors involved in the REDD+ pilot negotiate the particular subjects, dimensions, and authority of justice considered relevant, and show how politics of justice are implicit to practical decisions in project implementation. Contestations over the meaning of justice are an important element in the practices and processes constituting REDD+ at global, national and local levels, challenging uniform definitions of forest justice and how forests ought to be managed

A Collaboratory, Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Risk Mitigation during HIV Analytical Treatment Interruption

Analytic treatment interruptions (ATIs) are currently the standard for assessing the impact of experimental interventions aimed at inducing sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART)-free remission in trials related to HIV cure. ATIs are associated with substantial risk to both study participants and their sexual partner(s). Two documented HIV transmissions occurring in the context of ATIs have been recently reported, but recommendations for mitigating the risk of such events during ATIs are limited. We outline a practical approach to risk mitigation during ATI studies and describe strategies we are utilising in an upcoming clinical trial that may be applicable to other centres

The Recent Seismicity of Campi Flegrei Caldera (Italy)

Campi Flegrei caldera is located in a very densely populated area. Half of the city of Naples lies within the caldera rims with about 350000 people living on this active volcano. For this reason the surveillance of this volcano requires advanced monitoring techniques in order to forecast even minor eruptions. The area was interested in the period 1982-84 by an unrest crisis with more than 16000 earthquakes and about 2m of ground uplift...INGV;Sezione di Napoli,Osservatorio VesuvianoPublishedTenerife, Canary Islands, Spain1.4. TTC - Sorveglianza sismologica delle aree vulcaniche attiveope

Scenari di Pericolosità e Danno SPeeD PROJECT -TASK 1.1 Connection of the “Centri Funzionali” of DPC and RC to the monitoring system of INGV-OV

Project specifications; •Server design & realization for the management of the multiparametric data,alarm and notifications provided by the OV-INGV monitoring system...INGV;DPCUnpublishedRoma1.4. TTC - Sorveglianza sismologica delle aree vulcaniche attiveope

Operationalizing Human Immunodeficiency Virus Cure-related Trials with Analytic Treatment Interruptions During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Pandemic: A Collaborative Approach

Efforts to recognize and minimize the risk to study participants will be necessary to safely and ethically resume scientific research in the context of the ongoing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. These efforts are uniquely challenging in the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cure clinical trials, which often involve complex experimental therapy regimens and perhaps analytic treatment interruption, in which participants pause antiretroviral therapy. In this viewpoint, we discuss our approach to reopening an HIV cure trial in this context, with a focus on key considerations regarding study design, informed consent and participant education, and study implementation. These recommendations might be informative to other groups seeking to resume HIV cure research in settings similar to ours

MINT, the molecular interaction database: 2012 update

The Molecular INTeraction Database (MINT, http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/) is a public repository for protein-protein interactions (PPI) reported in peer-reviewed journals. The database grows steadily over the years and at September 2011 contains approximately 235,000 binary interactions captured from over 4750 publications. The web interface allows the users to search, visualize and download interactions data. MINT is one of the members of the International Molecular Exchange consortium (IMEx) and adopts the Molecular Interaction Ontology of the Proteomics Standard Initiative (PSI-MI) standards for curation and data exchange. MINT data are freely accessible and downloadable at http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/download.do. We report here the growth of the database, the major changes in curation policy and a new algorithm to assign a confidence to each interaction

Allele *2 of the HS1,2A enhancer of the Ig regulatory region associates with rheumatoid arthritis

Objective: To investigate the role of the HS1.2 enhancer polymorphisms as a new candidate marker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to define the possible association with autoantibody positivity and clinical outcome. Methods: Genomic DNA was obtained from two cohorts of patients with RA (100 with early RA (ERA) and 114 with longstanding RA (LSRA)) and from 248 gender-matched controls from the same geographical area. Clinical and immunological characteristics were recorded for all the patients. Results: The percentage of the 2/2 genotype was higher In patients with ERA (27.0%), and In patients with LSRA (34.2%), than In controls (14.9%) (ERA: OR = 2.11 (95% Cl 1.20 to 3.70) vs controls; LSRA: OR = 2.96 (95% Cl 1.76 to 5.00) vs controls). A lower representation of allele *3 was present In patients with ERA (2.0%) than In controls (6.0%; OR = 0.32 (95% Cl 0.11 to 0.91)). No significant associations were found between polymorphisms and autoantibodies positivity. Conclusion: The HS1.2A allele *2 associates with early and longstanding RA

Seismological Monitoring of Mount Vesuvius (Italy): More than a Century of Observations

Mt. Vesuvius (southern Italy) is one of the volcanoes that poses the greatest risk in the world because of its highly explosive eruptive style and its proximity to densely populated areas. The urbanization around Mt. Vesuvius began in ancient times, and the impact of eruptions on human activities has been severe. This is testified to by the ruins of Pompeii, which are covered by the products of the plinian eruption that took place in A.D. 79 (Sigurdsson et al. 1985), and more recently by the published reports of the eruptions that occurred from 1631 to 1944. For these reasons, Mt. Vesuvius was also one of the first volcanoes to be equipped with monitoring instruments. Pioneering instrumental observations began just before the second half of the 1800s, when the Vesuvius Observatory was founded in 1841 (Imbò 1949). At that time, Vesuvius was very active (Ricciardi 2009), and its effusive and explosive eruptions often caused damage to the surrounding areas. At the same time, it was a famous tourist attraction that drew travelers from all over the world (Gasparini and Musella 1991). Since the middle of the 1800s, at least 12 eruptions have occurred that have been superimposed on persistent intra-crater activity that has been characterized by Strombolian explosions and by the formation of small lava lakes. The last eruption occurred on 18 March 1944 and marked a change in the status of Mt. Vesuvius, as it entered a closed-conduit phase that persists today. Following this last eruption, a change occurred in the 1960s, as documented by an increase in the occurrence rate of earthquakes. Since 1972, the monitoring of Mt. Vesuvius has improved over time and become more systematic, so that there is a remarkable dataset relating to the current phase of quiescence. Over more than a century and a half of observations, many monitoring instruments have been used for Mt. Vesuvius, including early seismometers, several of which are now kept in the Museum of Volcanology of the Vesuvius Observatory. The present monitoring system is based on seismological, geodetical geodetical, and geochemical observations performed using an instrumental network that was designed on the basis of the current state of the volcano while also taking into account the likely scenario of future unrest.Published625-6341.4. TTC - Sorveglianza sismologica delle aree vulcaniche attiveJCR Journalreserve