A genetic algorithm to design Laue lenses with optimal performance for focusing hard X- and gamma-rays

In order to focus hard X- and gamma-rays it is possible to make use of a Laue lens as a concentrator. With this optical tool it would be possible to improve the detection of radiation for several applications, spanning from the observation of the most violent phenomena in the sky to nuclear medicine applications, for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. A code named LaueGen, based on a genetic algorithm and aimed to designing optimized Laue lenses, has been implemented. The genetic algorithm was selected because the optimization of a Laue lens is a complex and discretized problem. The output of the code consists in the design of a Laue lens composed of diffracting crystals selected and arranged in such a way to maximize the performance of the lens. The code allows one to manage crystals of any material and crystallographic orientation. The program is structured in such a way that the user can control all the initial parameters of the lens. As a result, LaueGen is highly versatile and can be used for the design of very small lens, e.g. for nuclear medicine, to very large lens, e.g. for satellite-borne astrophysical missions.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

POLITICAL CONSUMERISM AND PRODUCERISM IN TIMES OF CRISIS. A Social Movement Perspective?

Local alternative consumerism practices supported by organized citizens seem to provide the only way to save small agro producers from economic failure. At the same time, organized small producers provide incentives to new forms of co-production. By relying on semi-structured and in depth interviews, a focus group, document analysis and participant observation, in this article, we show how Tuscan Solidarity Purchase Groups, together with producers, act in the context of the economic crisis, and how the crisis has influenced them. First, we show how organized political consumers and small producers are intensifying their relations to overcome the threats of the crisis. Secondly, we illustrate how these consumer-producer relations concretize in a co-production experience. Our case study shows that, in the adverse context of the economic crisis, local alternative consumerism practices can develop alternative processes through civic food networks and (re)discover radical forms of food democracy. That is they build a local Sustainable Community Movement

Between Resistance and Resilience. How Do Italian Solidarity Purchase Groups Change in Times of Crisis and Austerity?

This Paper deals with the current transformations of Solidarity Purchase Groups (SPGs) in Italy. We particularly wonder if and eventually how the economic crisis and austerity policies have affected SPGs. Through an approach based on the literature on political consumerism and social movements, six hypotheses are proposed: ‘less economic resources, less SPGs,’ ‘cultural path dependency,’ ‘increased op-portunities,’ ‘isomorphism,’ ‘civic traditions,’ and ‘resilience.’ Empirical data focus on Italian and Tuscan SPGs, by both articulating different research methods and focalizing on different levels. Although our work has only an explorative aim, our analysis shows that the amount of available economic resources cannot per se lead to a satisfying understanding of the evolution of SPGs. Hypotheses based on culture and politi-cal processes seem to be more promising and can point to the resilience capacity of those groups. Post-materialistic values resulting from economic well-being might have produced organized practices of political consumerism. However, once political consumerism gets structured—this is our tentative argument—not only does it resist to external shocks but also it transforms itself and adapts to the new conditions imposed by crises, that is, it becomes ‘resilient.’ The ‘resilience hypothesis’ applied to SPGs nevertheless has to face some social cleavages

Giovani al potere. Attivismo giovanile e partecipazione organizzata in tempo di crisi

Il volume affronta il tema dei mutamenti della partecipazione dei giovani, presentando i principali risultati del progetto di ricerca “Giovani e Partecipazione. Sfide e opportunità per il volontariato” promosso e realizzato dal Cesvot e dalla Fondazione Volontariato e Partecipazione. Il punto di partenza è che merita rivedere le attese che adulti e anziani hanno verso i giovani in tema di partecipazione e volontariato. Due sono le premesse che orientano le analisi di questo volume. la prima è: senza considerare il contesto generale della condizione giovanile rischiamo di capire molto poco della partecipazione dei giovani. La seconda è: occorre costruire una conoscenza sulla partecipazione giovanile non sclerotizzata da schemi rigidi e “spostare l’attenzione sui processi, osservare le pratiche degli attori” (Borghi, 2011: 10). Su questa base, il volume offre elementi di conoscenza sulla partecipazione (auto)organizzata dei giovani toscani che possono essere utilizzati anche allo scopo di migliorare gli interventi di promozione della partecipazione giovanile da parte dell’associazio- nismo strutturato toscano. I contenuti del volume si dividono in due parti: nella prima parte si tematizzano alcuni elementi d’importanza fondamentale per capire la partecipazione giovanile, mentre la seconda contiene i risultati di 10 studi di casi di attivismo in organizzazioni giovanili toscane

Dalle ferite neomanageriali alle mobilitazioni professionali. Una prospettiva europea sul lavoro sociale

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«Effetti corrosivi»? Problematizzare l’impatto del New Public Management e della governance sui social workers del settore pubblico

This paper contains some methodological and substantial considerations about the effects of New Public Management and governance reforms on social work. In the first part the main features of the reformer paradigms are briefly exposed. The second part tries to identify some crucial elements of a non-mechanicistic approach to study public administration inno- vation. The third part shows some findings in international literature about the changes in social work. About Italy, the author reviews some datas from two national surveys at the turn of italian welfare reforms of ’2000s. The paper concludes that a study of the effects of the reforms on social work needs to take into account many “translation variables” of the reforms (path-dependent and actor- dependent). At theoretical level, it suggests to “contaminate” sociological neo- institutionalism and Actor-Network Theory

Differently Collective. Youth Activism in Italian University Associations

This paper deals with the “ordinary life” of non-institutional university participation and more specifically addresses Italian university student organizations, a neglected entity in youth participation research. We set this case study in a wider research agenda that critically reviews the use of concepts of “second modernity” to interpret contemporary youth participation and focuses on the situated emerging collective forms of youth participation in times of a complicated transition to adulthood. University stu-dent organizations are empirically studied through a longitudinal panel qualitative analysis (1st round: 2013; 2nd round: 2016) based upon a non-probabilistic sample of organizations and activists in the cities of Pisa and Florence. Both qualitative comparative analysis and qualitative content analysis are conduct-ed. Our situated and exploratory study suggests that the term ‘reflexive’ cannot be opposed to the term ‘collec-tive’ when we focus on (youth) participation. The differently collective participatory style of the in-terviewed youngsters becomes particularly original when the associative strategy includes an emerging economic and professionalizing activit

Bacteria and cancer : from toxin delivery to carcinogenesis

Epidemiological evidence link certain chronic bacterial infections to a higher risk of cancer development. Induction of an inflammatory circuit and the accumulation of genomic instability are considered mechanisms by which bacteria contribute to malignant transformation. Whether production of toxins, that directly induce DNA damage, enhances the tumor promoting effects of chronic inflammation is still unknown. This thesis investigates the role of the cytolethal distending toxin (CDT), the first bacterial genotoxin identified, in carcinogenesis. We have studied the cellular responses to acute and chronic CDT intoxication, as well as the toxin production and secretion during bacterial infection. Acute CDT intoxication triggers the activation of the DNA damage response and induction of survival signals in the target cells, which may favor cancer growth. Through a screening of a Saccharomyces cerevisiaelibrary, we identified 78 genes whose deletion confers hypersensitivity to CDT exposure (paper I). Bioinformatics analysis revealed that DNA repair and endocytosis were the two most represented signaling pathways among the genes identified in the screening. We further demonstrated that in response to DNA damage, the flap-endonuclease 1 (FEN1) regulated the RHOAdependent activation of the actin cytoskeleton and cell survival via the ROCK and MAPK p38 kinases, respectively, revealing a complex and previously unrecognized crosstalk between DNA damage, cell survival and cytoskeleton dynamics. As chronic exposure to DNA damaging agents is a well-characterized risk for cancer development, we assessed the effects of chronic CDT exposure in vitro(paper II). Cells grown for more than six months in the presence of sub-lethal toxin doses showed an altered DNA damage response, genomic instability, and acquisition of several hallmarks of tumor progression, such as enhanced oxidative stress and capacity of anchorage independent growth. Cell survival of the chronically intoxicated cells was dependent on sustained activation of the MAPK p38 pathway. To dissect the role of CDT in tumor development in vivo, we produced aSalmonella typhimuriumstrain that encode for the Salmonella typhiCDT-like toxin, known as typhoid toxin (TT). As control, we used an isogenic strain carrying an inactive toxin. Both strains successfully infected the immunocompetent sv129 mice for more than 2 months, however only the bacteria expressing the active genotoxin caused an enhanced inflammation in liver and spleen. To understand how this potential bacterial carcinogen is delivered to the target cells, we studied the secretion of the SalmonellaTT (paper III). We demonstrated that TT is secreted from the bacterium via outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). These vesicles are further released into the extracellular environment via an exocytosis-like process. The paracrine internalization of TT-loaded OMVs by bystander cells was dependent on dynamin-1-mediated endocytosis. Taken together, our studies contribute to elucidate the survival strategy of cancer cells in response to CDT, its role in cancer progression and its secreting mechanisms

In cerca di consenso e stabilità. Note su un progetto di innovazione mediante partecipazione nel welfare locale

The political processes of contemporary European welfare systems are significantly characterized by the growing importance of local scale and citizens' participation. At least since 2000, Italian welfare system has been crowded by local participatory experiments that have involved citizens, thid sector organizations, experts, social workers, public managers and politicians. The article critically examines an innovation through participation project carried out by a Municipality in Central Italy in 2012-2013. It involved citizens, thid sector organizations, social workers, public sector managers and politicians with the aim to innovate local welfare services. Methods include in-depth interviews, participant observation, focus-groups. The article mainly focuses on the obstacles to the local institutional entrepreneurship and on the resources successfully mobilized to overcome them. According to the collected results, consensus-building and stabilization of innovation seem the main obstacles. The first one seems to be easier to overcome than the second one. How to upscale and stabilize social innovation in times of crisis and austerity seems to be a «dilemma» on which scholars are expected to work further through wider research programs

Grassroots Economic Activism in Hard Times

According to an authoritative literature (KOUSIS 2017, KOUSIS & PASHOU 2017), citizens of Southern European countries have developed “alternative forms of resilience” to cope with the hardship due to recession and austerity. This Chapter explores and questions this hypothesis. The first section illustrates the “alternative forms of resilience” perspective, second re-frames it into the more complex possible trends of grassroots economic activism in the shadow of crisis, third uses the case of alternative food networks in Italy in hard times to test the “alternative forms of resilience” hypothesis against competing ones. Although limited, the analysis shows that grassroots economic activism in times of crisis present a complex intertwine of persistencies and transformations. Some evolutions appear coherent with the “alternative forms of resilience” perspective, while some diverge