La Comune di Parigi del 1871. La storia di una insorgenza democratica.

La presente tesi di ricerca analizza sotto il profilo storico e politico quanto accaduto prima e durante l'insurrezione popolare del 1871 a Parigi e tenta di approfondire alcuni temi cari alla filosofia politica moderna, partendo proprio dall'elaborazione teorica dei significati precipui di questa esperienza rivoluzionaria. Partiremo allora dallo studio delle lotte sociali francesi dell'ottocento per ricostruire, da un lato l'importanza storica dei conflitti e dei tumulti popolari come pratiche sociali di opposizione al dominio politico e, dall'altro, per spiegare la progressiva soggettivazione politica del proletariato novecentesco e le sue molteplici istanze. In questo percorso analitico, ci soffermeremo in particolar modo sul ruolo e sull'azione insorgente del proletariato urbano parigino, della plebe, dei sindacati e dell'Associazione Internazionale dei Lavoratori, per poi attualizzare in chiave contemporanea il significato delle loro lotte sociali e politiche contro lo Stato e la centralizzazione del potere. Successivamente, sulla scia di alcuni pensatori contemporanei, daremo ampio spazio al rapporto tra politica, democrazia e conflitto, facendo nostra l'idea secondo cui la pratica del conflitto sociale-politico è inscindibile dalla creazione di eguaglianza e libertà umana, specialmente all'interno della dinamica di ampliamento e rafforzamento sostanziale della democrazia, ed è inoltre a fondamento della politica stessa. Anzi, proveremo a dimostrare che è proprio la negazione e la repressione violenta dei conflitti espressi dal corpo sociale a generare i presupposti per la scomparsa della vera democrazia e della politica; e che apre le porte al complementare sviluppo di regimi autoritari. All'interno di questa prospettiva, inoltre, proporremo una lettura singolare del concetto “democrazia”, interpretandola più come un movimento politico di superamento (rottura) e allargamento dei confini imposti ai dominati dai dominanti, che non nella sua accezione tradizionale di forma-struttura del politico. Dimostreremo cioè come la democrazia, oggigiorno, possa recuperare il suo antico e radicale significato politico solo se viene concepita come un'azione insorgente dei molti contro il dominio dei pochi, in un'ottica di espansione della partecipazione alla comunità politica anche da parte di chi prima ne era escluso. Partendo da questi presupposti teorici poc'anzi accennati, metteremo in seguito in contrapposizione il concetto di democrazia a quello di Stato. Attraverso le teorie critiche marxiane ed anarchiche, spiegheremo infatti come lo Stato, istituzione gerarchica, non neutrale e classista in sé indipendentemente dalla connotazione politica che assume (es. repubblicano, liberale, etc), non può che limitare ed essere ostile alla vera democrazia, pena il suo stesso superamento e scomparsa. E dimostreremo che proprio nella lotta allo Stato e alla centralizzazione del potere, i sostenitori della comune diedero vita ad una politica altra, imperniata sulla riduzione dell'asimmetria di potere tra dominati e dominanti e sulla partecipazione della plebe alle decisioni concernenti la res-publica. A questo proposito, ricostruiremo la nascita e lo sviluppo del movimento democratico-insorgente parigino, sia per quanto concerne i soggetti politici plebei che gli diedero vita, sia per quanto riguarda le sue forme organizzative e caratteristiche socio-politiche. Così, grazie a questo lavoro genealogico complessivo, chiariremo il ruolo e l'operato della moltitudine di attori sociali riuniti nel movimento insorgente-communaliste, specialmente in rapporto alla delegittimazione del vecchio regime governativo e alla costituzione della Comune di Parigi, nonché i loro eterogenei obiettivi rivoluzionari di trasformazione sociale e politica. Prenderemo allora in considerazione una serie di elementi tra cui la composizione sociale del Consiglio Comunale, le dottrine di riferimento dei rivoluzionari e le politiche comunarde adottate in vari settori (educazione, religione, economia, spazio urbano), per evidenziare il carattere marcatamente antistatale e a potere diffuso della Comune stessa, oltre alla sua natura patriottica, communaliste, democratico-socialista. E descriveremo brevemente, inoltre, anche la struttura politico-istituzionale della Comune e del movimento communaliste, per chiarire i rapporti di potere, talvolta conflittuali, presenti al loro interno. Una attenzione particolare, infine, sarà rivolta all'analisi della trasformazione del paradigma di potere a cui la Comune diede vita- da un potere sugli altri ad un potere con gli altri- e agli strumenti e modalità socio-politici attraverso cui ciò avvenne: il communalisme, l'agoraphilie e il federalismo

Time to focus on circulating nucleic acids for diagnosis and monitoring of gliomas: a systematic review of their role as biomarkers

Gliomas are diffusely growing tumours arising from progenitors within the central nervous system. They encompass a range of different molecular types and subtypes, many of which have a well‐defined profile of driver mutations, copy number changes, and DNA methylation patterns. A majority of gliomas will require surgical intervention to relieve raised intracranial pressure and reduce tumour burden. A proportion of tumours, however, are located in neurologically sensitive areas and a biopsy poses a significant risk of a deficit. A majority of gliomas recur after surgery, and monitoring tumour burden of the recurrence is currently achieved by imaging. However, most imaging modalities have limitations in assessing tumour burden and infiltration into adjacent brain, and sometimes imaging is unable to discriminate between tumour recurrence and pseudo‐progression. Liquid biopsies, obtained from body fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid or blood, contain circulating nucleic acids or extracellular vesicles containing tumour‐derived components. The studies for this systematic review were selected according to PRISMA criteria, and suggest that the detection of circulating tumour‐derived nucleic acids holds great promises as biomarker to aid diagnosis and prognostication by monitoring tumour progression, and thus can be considered a pathway towards personalized medicin

Role of Estrogen and Estrogen Receptor in GH-Secreting Adenomas

Acromegaly is a rare disease with several systemic complications that may lead to increased overall morbidity and mortality. Despite several available treatments, ranging from transsphenoidal resection of GH-producing adenomas to different medical therapies, complete hormonal control is not achieved in some cases. Some decades ago, estrogens were first used to treat acromegaly, resulting in a significant decrease in IGF1 levels. However, due to the consequent side effects of the high dose utilized, this treatment was later abandoned. The evidence that estrogens are able to blunt GH activity also derives from the evidence that women with GH deficiency taking oral estro-progestins pills need higher doses of GH replacement therapy. In recent years, the role of estrogens and Selective Estrogens Receptor Modulators (SERMs) in acromegaly treatment has been re-evaluated, especially considering poor control of the disease under first- and second-line medical treatment. In this review, we analyze the state of the art concerning the impact of estrogen and SERMs on the GH/IGF1 axis, focusing on molecular pathways and the possible implications for acromegaly treatment

A novel RUNX1 mutation with ANKRD26 dysregulation is related to thrombocytopenia in a sporadic form of myelodysplastic syndrome

Aging is associated with a higher risk of developing malignant diseases, including myelodysplastic syndromes, clonal disorders characterised by chronic cytopenias (anaemia, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia) and abnormal cellular maturation. Myelodysplastic syndromes arising in older subjects are influenced by combinations of acquired somatic genetic lesions driving evolution from clonal haematopoiesis to myelodysplastic syndromes and from myelodysplastic syndromes to acute leukaemia. A different pattern of mutations has been identified in a small subset of myelodysplastic syndromes arising in young patients with familial syndromes. In particular, dysregulation of ANKRD26, RUNX1 and ETV6 genes plays a role in familial thrombocytopenia with predisposition to myelodysplastic syndromes and acute leukaemia. Whether these genes affect thrombopoiesis in sporadic myelodysplastic syndrome with thrombocytopenia is still undefined. Thirty-one myelodysplastic syndromes subjects and 27 controls subjects were investigated. Genomic DNA was used for mutation screening (ETV6, RUNX1, 5′UTR ANKRD26 genes). Functional studies were performed in the MEG-01-akaryoblastic cell line. We found four novel variants of RUNX1 gene, all in elderly myelodysplastic syndromes subjects with thrombocytopenia. Functional studies of the variant p.Pro103Arg showed no changes in RUNX1 expression, but the variant was associated with deregulated high transcriptional activity of ANKRD26 in MEG-01 cells. RUNX1 variant p.Pro103Arg was also associated with increased viability and reduced apoptosis of MEG-01, as well as impaired platelet production. Our findings are consistent with dysregulation of ANKRD26 in RUNX1 haploinsufficiency. Lack of repression of ANKRD26 expression may contribute to thrombocytopenia of subjects with sporadic myelodysplastic syndromes

Transcriptional activation of the miR-17-92 cluster is involved in the growth-promoting effects of MYB in human Ph-positive leukemia cells.

MicroRNAs, non-coding regulators of gene expression, are likely to function as important downstream effectors of many transcription factors including MYB. Optimal levels of MYB are required for transformation/maintenance of BCR-ABL-expressing cells. We investigated whether MYB silencing modulates microRNA expression in Philadelphia-positive (Ph+) leukemia cells and if MYB-regulated microRNAs are important for the MYB addiction of these cells. Thirty-five microRNAs were modulated by MYB silencing in lymphoid and erythromyeloid chronic myeloid leukemia-blast crisis BV173 and K562 cells; 15 of these were concordantly modulated in both lines. We focused on the miR-17-92 cluster because of its oncogenic role in tumors and found that: i) it is a direct MYB target; ii) it partially rescued the impaired proliferation and enhanced apoptosis of MYB-silenced BV173 cells. Moreover, we identified FRZB, a Wnt/β-catenin pathway inhibitor, as a novel target of the miR-17-92 cluster. High expression of MYB in blast cells from 2 Ph+leukemia patients correlated positively with the miR-17-92 cluster and inversely with FRZB. This expression pattern was also observed in a microarray dataset of 122 Ph+acute lymphoblastic leukemias. In vivo experiments in NOD scid gamma mice injected with BV173 cells confirmed that FRZB functions as a Wnt/β-catenin inhibitor even as they failed to demonstrate that this pathway is important for BV173-dependent leukemogenesis. These studies illustrate the global effects of MYB expression on the microRNAs profile of Ph+cells and supports the concept that the MYB addiction of these cells is, in part, caused by modulation of microRNA-regulated pathways affecting cell proliferation and survival. Copyright© 2019 Ferrata Storti Foundation

May SmartPhones Help to Maintain Audience Attention During Presentations?

In this paper we describe a new tool for interactive presentations: the speaker shows a common slideshow on the screen, and the users can see the same slide in their smartphone or tablet, independently from its model and brand. The system can be used for both on-line and on-site presentations and encourages the user to perform social activities, e. g., comment or like a slide. The author can also submit a questionnaire or a poll to the audience and see in real-time the answers. Our tool has been used during 37 different events, followed by 3753 users. We recorded the actions of the users and, depending on the different kind of events, the average of actions ranges from 1 to 8 per user per presentation. This data shows that our tool helps to increase users engagement and to maintain user attention

A constitutive active MAPK/ERK pathway due to BRAFV600E positively regulates AHR pathway in PTC

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor mediating the toxicity and tumor-promoting properties of dioxin. AHR has been reported to be overexpressed and constitutively active in a variety of solid tumors, but few data are currently available concerning its role in thyroid cancer. In this study we quantitatively explored a series of 51 paired-normal and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) tissues for AHR-related genes. We identified an increased AHR expression/activity in PTC, independently from its nuclear dimerization partner and repressor but strictly related to a constitutive active MAPK/ERK pathway. The AHR up-regulation followed by an increased expression of AHR target genes was confirmed by a meta-analysis of published microarray data, suggesting a ligand-independent active AHR pathway in PTC. In-vitro studies using a PTC-derived cell line (BCPAP) and HEK293 cells showed that BRAF(V600E) may directly modulate AHR localization, induce AHR expression and activity in an exogenous ligand-independent manner. The AHR pathway might represent a potential novel therapeutic target for PTC in the clinical practice