Feminism in transit A study of the transnational feminist movement Non Una Di Meno

Drawing from a digitally mediated autoethnographic study within the Italian feminist movement Non Una Di Meno,1 inspired by the Argentinian anti-femicide collective Ni Una Menos, this thesis asks: how can we conceptualise feminist activism as a process of transit and transformation? In doing so, it provides a nuanced analysis of contemporary feminist activism in Italy, as part of a transnational feminist tide.The thesis considers how this movement transformed and grew over three years (2016-2019) and contributes to growing debates in feminist and social movement studies on the development of mobilisation in exceptional times (Della Porta, 2017). Building on recent scholarship conceptualising the emergence of a wave of digitally mediated feminism (Mendes et al., 2019), the thesis explores the role of internet-based communication for feminist theorising and grassroots mobilisation.Contrary to scholarly expectations of reduced mobilisation in times of crisis, in recent years, Italy saw the emergence of gender and anti-austerity protest (Chironi, 2019). This thesis points to the feminist movement analysed as a distinctive actor within such context, able to propose alternative ways of 'doing politics', aimed at systemic change.Feminists in different localities contribute to form a new political subject and construct transnational cognitive frames (Monforte, 2014). Drawing from previous experiences, feminists create horizontal organisational forms while carrying out unobtrusive, 'unglamorous' (Davis, 2008) actions aimed at local transformations, that call for an expansion of the notion of activism. This emerging form of 'locally rooted feminist internationalism' is made possible by digital connectivity and by a shared sense of affective dissonance (Hemmings, 2012), joy and rage (Ahmed, 2017).Centering the analysis on feminists' perceptions and experiences, the thesis explores how individual resources and affective connections are mobilized towards organizingactivism. The thesis also fills a gap in literature on the invisible emotional and unrecognized labour of feminist activism and on the experience of receiving onlineabuse.</div

Prefiguring a feminist academia: a multi-vocal autoethnography on the creation of a feminist space in a neoliberal university

Purpose: This paper is a reflective piece on a PhD workshop on “feminist organising” organised in November 2017 by the three authors of this paper. Calls to resist the neoliberalisation of academia through academic activism are gaining momentum. The authors’ take on academic activism builds on feminist thought and practice, a tradition that remains overlooked in contributions on resisting neoliberalisation in academia. Feminism has been long committed to highlighting the epistemic inequalities endured by women and marginalised people in academia. This study aims to draw on radical feminist perspectives and on the notion of prefigurative organising to rethink the topic of academic activism. How can feminist academic activism resist the neoliberal academia? Design/methodology/approach: This study explores this question through a multi-vocal autoethnographic account of the event-organising process. Findings: The production of feminist space within academia was shaped through material and epistemic tensions. The study critically reflects on the extent to which the event can be read as prefigurative feminist self-organising and as neoliberal academic career-focused self-organising. The study concludes that by creating a space for sisterhood and learning, the empowering potential of feminist organising is experienced. Originality/value: The study shows both the difficulties and potentials for feminist organising within the university. The concept of “prefiguration” provides a theoretical framework enabling us to grasp the ongoing efforts on which feminist organising relies. It escapes a dichotomy between success and failure that fosters radical pessimism or optimism potentially hindering political action.</div

Grading Central Diabetes Insipidus Induced by Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Challenging Task

Central diabetes insipidus (CDI) is a rare endocrine disease deriving from an insufficient production or secretion of anti-diuretic hormone. Recently, CDI has been reported as a rare side effect triggered by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in cancer patients. Despite its current rarity, CDI triggered by ICI is expected to affect an increasing number of patients because of the expanding use of these effective drugs in a growing number of solid and hematologic malignancies. An appropriate assessment of the severity of adverse events induced by anticancer agents is crucial in their management, including dosing adjustment and temporary withdrawal or discontinuation treatment. However, assessment of the severity of CDI induced by ICI may be challenging, as its main signs and symptoms (polyuria, dehydration, weight loss, and hypernatremia) can be incompletely graded. Indeed, the current grading system of toxicity induced by anticancer treatments does not include polyuria. Additionally, dehydration in patients affected by diabetes insipidus, including ICI-induced CDI, is different in certain aspects from that due to other conditions seen in cancer patients, such as vomiting and diarrhea. This prompted us to reflect on the need to grade polyuria, and how to grade it, and to consider a specific grading system for dehydration associated with CDI induced by ICI. Here we propose a new grading system for polyuria and dehydration, as critical symptoms of the CDI syndrome occurring in patients on ICI treatment, to obtain better management of both the adverse event and the triggering drugs

Modulators of HIF1α and NFkB in cancer treatment: Is it a rational approach for controlling malignant progression?

HIF1α and NFkB are two transcription factors very frequently activated in tumors and involved in tumor growth, progression, and resistance to chemotherapy. In fact, HIF1α and NFkB together regulate transcription of over a thousand genes that, in turn, control vital cellular processes such as adaptation to the hypoxia, metabolic reprograming, inflammatory reparative response, extracellular matrix digestion, migration and invasion, adhesion, etc. Because of this wide involvement they could control in an integrated manner the origin of the malignant phenotype. Interestingly, hypoxia and inflammation have been sequentially bridged in tumors by the discovery that alarmin receptors genes such as RAGE, P2X7, and some TLRs, are activated by HIF1α and that, in turn, alarmin receptors strongly activate NFkB and proinflammatory gene expression, evidencing all the hallmarks of the malignant phenotype. Recently, a large number of drugs have been identified that inhibit one or both transcription factors with promising results in terms of controlling tumor progression. In addition, many of these molecules are natural compounds or off-label drugs already used to cure other pathologies. Some of them are undergoing clinical trials and soon they will be used alone or in combination with standard anti-tumoral agents to achieve a better treatment of tumors with reduction of metastasis formation and, more importantly, with a net increase in survival. This review highlights the central role of HIF1a activated in hypoxic regions of the tumor, of NFkB activation and proinflammatory gene expression in transformed cells to understand their progression toward malignancy. Different molecules and strategies to inhibit these transcription factors will be reviewed. Finally, the central role of a new class of deacetylases called Sirtuins in regulating HIF1a and NFkB activity will be outlined. ©2013 Tafani, Pucci, Russo, Schito, Pellegrini, Perrone, Villanova, Salvatori, Ravenna, Petrangeli and Russo

Standards for the care of people with cystic fibrosis (CF); Planning for a longer life

This is the final of four papers updating standards for the care of people with CF. That this paper "Planning a longer life" was considered necessary, highlights how much CF care has progressed over the past decade. Several factors underpin this progress, notably increased numbers of people with CF with access to CFTR modulator therapy. As the landscape for CF changes, so do the hopes and aspirations of people with CF and their families. This paper reflects the need to consider people with CF not as a "problem" to be solved, but as a success, a potential and a voice to be heard. People with CF and the wider CF community have driven this approach, reflecting many of the topics in this paper. This exercise involved wide stakeholder engagement. People with CF are keen to contribute to research priorities and be involved in all stages of research. People with CF want healthcare professionals to respect them as individuals and consider the impact of our actions on the world around us. Navigating life presents challenges to all, but for people with CF these challenges are heightened and complex. In this paper we highlight the concerns and life moments that impact people with CF, and events that the CF team should aim to support, including the challenges around having a family. People with CF and their care teams must embrace the updated standards outlined in these four papers to enjoy the full potential for a healthier life.</p

A multi-element psychosocial intervention for early psychosis (GET UP PIANO TRIAL) conducted in a catchment area of 10 million inhabitants: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial

Multi-element interventions for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are promising, but have mostly been conducted in non-epidemiologically representative samples, thereby raising the risk of underestimating the complexities involved in treating FEP in 'real-world' services