Perceptions about the EU’s Crisis Response in Libya

Within the EU’s approach to crisis management, it is crucial to consider the point of view of all stakeholders to ensure that the crisis response is in line with European commitments towards local ownership and conflict sensitivity. This EUNPACK Policy Brief discusses the perceptions of those who have been exposed to the EU’s responses to the crisis unfolding in Libya. It is based on the results of a survey completed in the summer of 2017 by 228 respondents. It highlights, on the one hand, that while the EU is the most widely-known international actor involved in crisis response in Libya, the impact of its initiatives is less visible, thereby prompting a certain degree of dissatisfaction, if not of scepticism. This reaction is particularly pronounced remarkable among ethnic minorities living in peripheral regions. On the other hand, the EU is particularly praised for its initiatives in the fields of humanitarian assistance and capacity building, targeting most notably the most vulnerable social groups

Policy brief: Perceptions about the EU’s Crisis Response in Libya

Within the EU’s approach to crisis management, it is crucial to consider the point of view of all stakeholders to ensure that the crisis response is in line with European commitments towards local ownership and conflict sensitivity. This EUNPACK Policy Brief discusses the perceptions of those who have been exposed to the EU’s responses to the crisis unfolding in Libya. It is based on the results of a survey completed in the summer of 2017 by 228 respondents. It highlights, on the one hand, that while the EU is the most widely-known international actor involved in crisis response in Libya, the impact of its initiatives is less visible, thereby prompting a certain degree of dissatisfaction, if not of scepticism. This reaction is particularly pronounced remarkable among ethnic minorities living in peripheral regions. On the other hand, the EU is particularly praised for its initiatives in the fields of humanitarian assistance and capacity building, targeting most notably the most vulnerable social groups. To make sure that the EU’s crisis response in Libya achieves the highest degree of conflict sensitivity, appropriateness and effectiveness, the EU should: 1. Pay greater attention to security sector reform (SSR) as a pillar of crisis response in Libya. 2. Avoid undermining the positive image of the EU’s humanitarian commitment by engaging in contradictory policies. 3. Ensure that crisis-response initiatives are coherent with the needs of all Libyan social groups, including ethnic minorities. 4. Improve the monitoring and evaluation of its crisis response towards achieving its stated goals. 5. Invest more resources in conflict-sensitive crisis response

Working Paper: The implementation of EU Crisis Response in Libya: Bridging theory and practice

This working paper explores how the EU substantiates its crisis response in Libya by focusing on local stakeholders’ perceptions and practices. Complementing EUNPACK’s study on the EU’s framing of the crisis in Libya (Ivaschenko-Stadnik et al. 2017) and our preliminary survey on local perceptions of EU crisis response (Loschi and Raineri 2017), the present paper provides an in-depth analysis of the output level and impact of these measures. in Libya, the EU’s crisis response has come in for unprecedented levels of criticism. The securitisation of migration, and the framing of the latter as a crisis with destabilising potential, have led to the EU’s normative commitments being overlooked, if not abandoned, in spite of their relevance precisely in times of crisis. The shortcomings of the crisis response in Libya suggest that for the foreseeable future the European Union may face serious challenges if it wishes to be perceived as a credible actor inspired by “principled pragmatism” (European Commission 2016a), let alone as a “force for good” (European Commission 2003) in its foreign policy and in its neighbourhood

Role of anti-osteopontin antibodies in multiple sclerosis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Osteopontin (OPN) is highly expressed in demyelinating lesions in multiple sclerosis (MS) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). OPN is cleaved by thrombin into N- (OPN-N) and C-terminal (OPN-C) fragments with different ligands and functions. In EAE, administering recombinant OPN induces relapses, whereas treatment with anti-OPN antibodies ameliorates the disease. Anti-OPN autoantibodies (autoAbs) are spontaneously produced during EAE but have never been detected in MS. The aim of the study was to evaluate anti-OPN autoAbs in the serum of MS patients, correlate them with disease course, and recapitulate the human findings in EAE. We performed ELISA in the serum of 122 patients collected cross-sectionally, and 50 patients with relapsing-remitting (RR) disease collected at diagnosis and followed longitudinally for 10 years. In the cross-sectional patients, the autoAb levels were higher in the RR patients than in the primary- and secondary-progressive MS and healthy control groups, and they were highest in the initial stages of the disease. In the longitudinal group, the levels at diagnosis directly correlated with the number of relapses during the following 10 years. Moreover, in patients with active disease, who underwent disease-modifying treatments, autoAbs were higher than in untreated patients and were associated with low MS severity score. The autoAb displayed neutralizing activity and mainly recognized OPN-C rather than OPN-N. To confirm the clinical effect of these autoAbs in vivo, EAE was induced using myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein MOG35-55 in C57BL/6 mice pre-vaccinated with ovalbumin (OVA)-linked OPN or OVA alone. We then evaluated the titer of antibodies to OPN, the clinical scores and in vitro cytokine secretion by spleen lymphocytes. Vaccination significantly induced antibodies against OPN during EAE, decreased disease severity, and the protective effect was correlated with decreased T cell secretion of interleukin 17 and interferon-\u3b3 ex vivo. The best effect was obtained with OPN-C, which induced significantly faster and more complete remission than other OPN vaccines. In conclusion, these data suggest that production of anti-OPN autoAbs may favor remission in both MS and EAE. Novel strategies boosting their levels, such as vaccination or passive immunization, may be proposed as a future strategy in personalized MS therapy

Determinants of long COVID among adults hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 infection: A prospective cohort study

Rationale: Factors associated with long-term sequelae emerging after the acute phase of COVID-19 (so called "long COVID") are unclear. Here, we aimed to identify risk factors for the development of COVID-19 sequelae in a prospective cohort of subjects hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 infection and followed up one year after discharge. Methods: A total of 324 subjects underwent a comprehensive and multidisciplinary evaluation one year after hospital discharge for COVID-19. A subgroup of 247/324 who consented to donate a blood sample were tested for a panel of circulating cytokines. Results: In 122 patients (37.8%) there was evidence of at least one persisting physical symptom. After correcting for comorbidities and COVID-19 severity, the risk of developing long COVID was lower in the 109 subjects admitted to the hospital in the third wave of the pandemic than in the 215 admitted during the first wave, (OR 0.69, 95%CI 0.51-0.93, p=0.01). Univariable analysis revealed female sex, diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO) value, body mass index, anxiety and depressive symptoms to be positively associated with COVID-19 sequelae at 1 year. Following logistic regression analysis, DLCO was the only independent predictor of residual symptoms (OR 0.98 CI 95% (0.96-0.99), p=0.01). In the subgroup of subjects with normal DLCO (> 80%), for whom residual lung damage was an unlikely explanation for long COVID, the presence of anxiety and depressive symptoms was significantly associated to persistent symptoms, together with increased levels of a set of pro-inflammatory cytokines: interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-12, IL-1β, IL-17. In logistic regression analysis, depressive symptoms (p=0.02, OR 4.57 [1.21-17.21]) and IL-12 levels (p=0.03, OR 1.06 [1.00-1.11]) 1-year after hospital discharge were independently associated with persistence of symptoms. Conclusions: Long COVID appears mainly related to respiratory sequelae, prevalently observed during the first pandemic wave. Among patients with little or no residual lung damage, a cytokine pattern consistent with systemic inflammation is in place

Sorelle d'Italia. Scrittrici e identità nazionale

Sorelle d’Italia offre una riflessione critica sul contributo che poetesse e scrittrici di diverse epoche hanno dato alla costruzione del discorso identitario nazionale. Sempre relegata ai margini del canone, la produzione poetica e romanzesca delle donne, fin dalla prima modernità, ha concorso a definire il concetto di identità nazionale, declinandosi di volta in volta in modo diverso. I saggi raccolti in questo studio tracciano una linea d’indagine che mostra come la voce delle donne si sia confrontata con una materia comunemente ritenuta di pertinenza maschile, quale quella politica e civile, dialogando, talvolta in modo conflittuale, con il discorso dominante, e restituendo prospettive formali e culturali alternative

Prime nella vita comune - Impronte femminili nella specie umana

Le impronte femminili segnano tutti gli aspetti della vita di ciascuno, in ogni luogo e tempo, ma sono spesso celate, appannate dalla scontatezza del quotidiano e talvolta svilite dalle donne stesse. Obiettivo di quest’opera è farle emergere utilizzando differenti approcci: antropologico, sociologico, storico, filosofico. Si ripercorrono varie dimensioni dell’esistenza umana alla ricerca del contributo femminile, partendo dal positivo, ma senza rimuovere il negativo, le contraddizioni: dal rapporto con il proprio corpo a quello con la natura, dalla dimensione culturale a quella materiale, passando per la sfera sociale. A quest’ultima si è particolarmente dedicata la sottoscritta, facendo riferimento alle relazioni con gli altri e con le altre, con i più piccoli, tra i generi, in famiglia e in collettività più ampie

Deep Flow Cytometry Unveils Distinct Immune Cell Subsets in Inducible T Cell Co-Stimulator Ligand (ICOSL)- and ICOS-Knockout Mice during Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

The inducible T cell co-stimulator ligand (ICOSL), expressed by antigen presenting cells, binds to the inducible T cell co-stimulator (ICOS) on activated T cells. Improper function of the ICOS/ICOSL pathway has been implicated in several autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous studies showed that ICOS-knockout (KO) mice exhibit severe experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of MS, but data on ICOSL deficiency are not available. In our study, we explored the impact of both ICOS and ICOSL deficiencies on MOG35–55-induced EAE and its associated immune cell dynamics by employing ICOSL-KO and ICOS-KO mice with a C57BL/6J background. During EAE resolution, MOG-driven cytokine levels and the immunophenotype of splenocytes were evaluated by ELISA and multiparametric flow cytometry,respectively. We found that both KO mice exhibited an overlapping and more severe EAE compared to C57BL/6J mice, corroborated by a reduction in memory/regulatory T cell subsets and interleukin (IL-)17 levels. It is noteworthy that an unsupervised analysis showed that ICOSL deficiency modifies the immune response in an original way, by affecting T central and effector memory (TCM, TEM), long-lived CD4+ TEM cells, and macrophages, compared to ICOS-KO and C57BL/6J mice, suggestinga role for other binding partners to ICOSL in EAE development, which deserves further study

Deep Flow Cytometry Unveils Distinct Immune Cell Subsets in Inducible T Cell Co-Stimulator Ligand (ICOSL)- and ICOS-Knockout Mice during Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

The inducible T cell co-stimulator ligand (ICOSL), expressed by antigen presenting cells, binds to the inducible T cell co-stimulator (ICOS) on activated T cells. Improper function of the ICOS/ICOSL pathway has been implicated in several autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous studies showed that ICOS-knockout (KO) mice exhibit severe experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of MS, but data on ICOSL deficiency are not available. In our study, we explored the impact of both ICOS and ICOSL deficiencies on MOG35-55 -induced EAE and its associated immune cell dynamics by employing ICOSL-KO and ICOS-KO mice with a C57BL/6J background. During EAE resolution, MOG-driven cytokine levels and the immunophenotype of splenocytes were evaluated by ELISA and multiparametric flow cytometry, respectively. We found that both KO mice exhibited an overlapping and more severe EAE compared to C57BL/6J mice, corroborated by a reduction in memory/regulatory T cell subsets and interleukin (IL-)17 levels. It is noteworthy that an unsupervised analysis showed that ICOSL deficiency modifies the immune response in an original way, by affecting T central and effector memory (TCM, TEM), long-lived CD4+ TEM cells, and macrophages, compared to ICOS-KO and C57BL/6J mice, suggesting a role for other binding partners to ICOSL in EAE development, which deserves further study