Trends in the implementation of biopesticides in the Euro-Mediterranean region: a narrative literary review

This article explores the global commitment to achieving sustainable solutions for addressing hunger, emphasizing the urgent need to transform the agricultural sector in the face of escalating global population growth and threats to the food system. Despite commitments to reduce conventional pesticide use, the global market for these products is expanding. Biopesticides are a sustainable alternative with targeted action and ecological benefits. While the biopesticide market is growing, it remains a small segment within the overall expanding pesticide market. The study focuses on the Mediterranean region, specifically Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey, to investigate the structural challenges hindering the adoption of biopesticides. Technical issues, coupled with broader market dynamics involving producers, farmers, regulators, and consumers, contribute to the limited market presence of biopesticides in the region. Challenges such as knowledge gaps, market constraints, limited manufacturing plants, and registration complexities further impede biopesticide development, confining them to niche markets. Overcoming these challenges requires addressing issues of availability, affordability, and efficacy, alongside legislative barriers. The paper suggests potential roles for farmers, producers, and regulators as agents of change, acknowledging the complexity of devising concrete strategies to navigate the current impasse. The research proposes directions for facilitating change

Il principio di Landauer e la termodinamica dell’informazione

Il principio di Landauer prevede che lâ operazione di cancellazione di un bit produca una minima quantità di calore nellâ ambiente. Evidenziando la connessione tra lâ entropia di Boltzmann e lâ entropia della teoria dellâ informazione, questa tesi propone di dimostrare la validità del principio di Landauer con un modello unidimensionale e la sua compatibilità con il secondo principio della termodinamica. Verrà mostrato anche come questo principio si presti anche alla risoluzione del paradosso del diavoletto di Maxwell e le sue verifiche sperimentali rese possibili grazie allâ enorme sviluppo tecnologico degli ultimi anni. The Landauerâ s principle says that the reset operation of a bit produces a minimum heat generation in the environment. By focusing on the connection between the Boltzmann entropy and the information entropy, this thesis demonstrates the validity of the Landauerâ s principle through a unidimensional model and his compatibility with the second principle of thermodynamics. This principle will be applied to solve the Maxwellâ s demon paradox and then its recent experimental checks, thanks to the last technological developments, will be exposed.ope

DAX-1 Expression in Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcomas: Another Immunohistochemical Marker Useful in the Diagnosis of Translocation Positive Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of DAX-1 in a series of pediatric rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) with known translocation and compare it to Ap2\u3b2, known to be selectively expressed in ARMS. DESIGN: We revised a series of 71 alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas (ARMS), enrolled in the Italian Protocols RMS 79 and 96, and 23 embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas (ERMS) as controls. Before investigating Ap2\u3b2 and DAX-1, ARMS were reviewed and reclassified as 48 ARMS and 23 non-ARMS. RESULTS: Translocation positive ARMS showed a characteristic Ap2\u3b2/DAX-1+ staining pattern in 78% of cases, while 76% of classic ERMS were negative for both. Ap2\u3b2 alone was positive in 3.9% of RMS lacking translocation, whereas DAX-1 alone was positive in 25.4%. Conversely, 9% and 6% of translocation positive ARMS were positive only for DAX-1 or Ap2\u3b2, respectively. The 23 non-ARMS shared the same phenotype as ERMS but had a higher frequency of DAX-1 expression. CONCLUSIONS: DAX-1 is less specific than Ap2\u3b2, however it is a sensitive marker for translocation positive ARMS and can be helpful in their diagnosis if used in combination with Ap2\u3b2

Mappa proteomica del cervello di un modello murino con sindrome da deficienza cerebrale del trasportatore di creatina (CCDS1)

Le mutazioni nel gene del trasportatore (CRT) di creatina (Cr) conducono alla sindrome-1 da deficienza di creatina cerebrale (CCDS1), un disordine metabolico associato al cromosoma X caratterizzato da deficit cerebrale di creatina che causa ritardo mentale, crisi epilettiche, disturbi comportamentali e del movimento acustico-simili, e disturbi del linguaggio e della parola. Dal momento che non sono disponibili dati sulle basi neurale e molecolare di questa malattia, abbiamo effettuato un'analisi su un modello murino con CCDS1 che consentisse di capire i meccanismi patofisiologici della malattia, capire se c'è un coinvolgimento mitocondriale, che potrebbe fornire spunti per la terapia al deficit del trasportatore di creatina. Lo scopo del progetto, è quello di identificare, tramite elettroforesi bidimensionale, le differenze, sia qualitative che quantitative, tra le varie mappe proteiche dei modelli murini wild-type e knock-out al fine di identificare le proteine marker che indichino un coinvolgimento mitocondriale

L’attualità del pensiero di Fanon e Dussel: prospettive critiche su decolonizzazione e identità attraverso il caso studio della performance “Pink Attack” a Milano

This article proposes a comparison between the postcolonial and decolonial perspectives in Frantz Fanon and Enrique Dussel and tries to apply the results to analyze the meaning of a performance on colonialism and neo-colonialism organized in Milan. Fanon and Dussel have been involved respectively in national liberation movements (and in the négritude debate) and in the “Philosophy of the Liberation”. Their operas define a continuative arch between the colonial domain and nowadays. Fanon focuses on both the European supremacy and the brutal coloniality, Dussel assumes this reality as a starting point to define the de-structuring effects of globalization. The comparison faces three critical points: 1. The epistemological violence 2. The conception of identity 3. The relationship between race and gender liberation instances. The second part of this paper gives an insight about the public debate taking place in Italy on European colonialism and the young “Italians without citizenship” generations, particularly after the Pink Attack performance organized by a group of young Italian and non-Italian girls during the global women’s strike on the 8th of March 2019. The performance consisted in pink painting the new Indro Montanelli’s statue in Milan and tried to highlight contrasts in collective memories, identities and differences in the perceptions of social values. This performance and the echo it had been able to produce on media and social networks can work as a test for previous analysis, as useful tool to frame contemporary issues, such as the race-gender-class intersection, the mestizaje or the multiple modernity paradigm

Laughs and Jokes in Assisted Reproductive Technologies: Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Video-Recorded Doctor-Couple Visits

Purpose: To explore the characteristics of the use of laughs and jokes during doctor-couple assisted reproductive technology (ART) visits.Methods: 75 videotaped doctor-couple ART visits were analyzed and transcribed in order to: (1) quantify laugh and jokes, describing the contribution of doctors and couples and identifying the timing of appearance; (2) explore the topic of laughs and jokes with qualitative thematic analysis.Results: On average, each visit contained 17.1 utterances of laughs and jokes. Patients contributed for 64.7% of utterances recorded. Doctor (40.6%) and women (40%) introduced the majority of laughs and jokes. Visits with female physicians had significantly more laughs and jokes than visits with male doctors; no differences were found considering physicians' age and years of experience, cause of infertility, and prognosis. Laughs and jokes were mainly recorded during history taking and information giving. Four core themes were identified, regarding the topic of laughs and jokes: health status, infertility treatment, organizational aspects, and doctor-patient interaction.Conclusion: Laughs and jokes are common in doctor-couple ART visits and are frequently used during the dialogue, covering a wide range of topics. Results seem to show that laughs and jokes are related to doctor's personal characteristics (like gender), while are not associated with infertility aspects. Given the complexity of this communicative category, further studies are needed to explore the functions and the effects of laugh and jokes

Insights on Lulworthiales Inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea and Description of Three Novel Species of the Genus Paralulworthia

The order Lulworthiales, with its sole family Lulworthiaceae, consists of strictly marine genera found on a wide range of substrates such as seagrasses, seaweeds, and seafoam. Twenty-one unidentified Lulworthiales were isolated in previous surveys aimed at broadening our understanding of the biodiversity hosted in the Mediterranean Sea. Here, these organisms, mostly found in association with Posidonia oceanica and with submerged woods, were examined using thorough multi-locus phylogenetic analyses and morphological observations. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian phylogeny based on nrITS, nrSSU, nrLSU, and four protein-coding genes led to the introduction of three novel species of the genus Paralulworthia: P. candida, P. elbensis, and P. mediterranea. Once again, the marine environment is a confirmed huge reservoir of novel fungal lineages with an under-investigated biotechnological potential waiting to be explored