Europa, diritti, democrazia in tempi difficili

Come osserva Norberto Bobbio – che non a caso ha coniato la suggestiva espressione “età dei diritti in relazione al costituzionalismo contemporaneo – c’è un nesso stringente tra pace, democrazia e diritti. «[S]enza diritti dell’uomo riconosciuti ed effettivamente protetti», scrive Bobbio, «non c’è democrazia; senza democrazia non ci sono le condizioni minime per la soluzione pacifica dei conflitti che sorgono tra individui, tra gruppi e tra quelle grandi collettività tradizionalmente indocili e tendenzialmente autocratiche che sono gli Stati, anche se sono democratiche coi propri cittadini». Non è dunque possibile, oggi, affrontare la questione dell’Europa senza dire qualcosa sui diritti umani e la democrazia

Laudatio per il conferimento del dottorato honoris causa in “Diritti umani: evoluzione, tutela e limiti” a Luciana Castellina

L’umanità vive oggi tempi bui. Le guerre in Europa e in Medio Oriente, le morti dei migranti a un passo dalle nostre coste, la crisi ambientale, la crescita della diseguaglianza tra nord e sud del mondo e, all’interno dell’occidente opulento, tra ricchi e poveri, l’insorgere di nuove schiavitù, spesso presentate come ineluttabili esternalità negative del migliore dei mondi possibili, l’incapacità della politica di immaginare un futuro alternativo e, soprattutto, di incidere su una realtà governata dall’economia, tutto questo – ma tanto altro si potrebbe aggiungere – ci fa guardare al mondo di domani con pessimismo se non addirittura con disperazione. Cosa più grave, sono i giovani ad avere perso la speranza e a provare – legittimamente – del risentimento nei nostri confronti per il mondo che lasceremo loro. Luciana Castellina con la sua vita mostra come sia possibile avere fiducia nel futuro anche in tempi bui. Ed è a questa fiducia che questa laudatio è dedicata.Humanity is living in dark times today. The wars in Europe and the Middle East, the deaths of migrants just a stone's throw from our shores, the environmental crisis, the growth of inequality between the north and south of the world and, within the opulent west, between rich and poor, the emergence of new slavery, often presented as inescapable negative externalities of the best of all possible worlds, the inability of politics to imagine an alternative future and, above all, to influence a reality governed by the economy, all of this - but much more could be added - makes us look at tomorrow's world with pessimism if not despair. Most seriously, the young people have lost hope and feel - legitimately - resentment towards us for the world we are leaving them. Luciana Castellina, with her life, shows how having faith in the future is possible, even in dark times. And it is to this trust that this laudatio is dedicated

Patrick George Zaki, l'Egitto e noi

Il 7 febbraio 2020 Patrick George Zaki, studente di un master internazionale in studi di genere e diritti umani presso l’Alma Mater Studiorum di Bologna nonché attivista presso la ong Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), è arrestato all’aeroporto del Cairo, dove era atterrato per una breve vacanza in Egitto, e viene sottoposto a detenzione preventiva su richiesta dei pubblici ministeri del tribunale di Mansoura, sua città natale. L’accusa è di istigazione a proteste e propaganda di terrorismo attraverso la pubblicazione sui social network di notizie false finalizzate a turbare la pace sociale e a rovesciare il regime egiziano. Anche l’ultima udienza per decidere sulla scarcerazione dello studente bolognese, il 28 febbraio scorso, ha dato esito negativo, nonostante l’attesa e le pressioni del mondo occidentale e, in primo luogo, dell’Italia. Il caso Zaki ci interroga più su noi stessi che sull’Egitto. Possiamo ancora dire che la cultura dei diritti umani – per usare l’espressione del filosofo argentino Eduardo Rabossi – sia ancora egemone nel nostro mondo? Rispondere a questa domanda non è semplice. In ogni caso, bisogna partire da una breve presentazione della cultura dei diritti che si è sviluppata nel mondo dopo il secondo dopoguerra

Cooperative role of thrombopoietin and vascular endothelial growth factor-a in the progression of liver cirrhosis to hepatocellular carcinoma

Primary thrombopoietic mediator thrombopoietin (THPO) is mainly produced by the liver; it may act as a growth factor for hepatic progenitors. Principal angiogenesis inducer vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) is critical for the complex vascular network within the liver architecture. As a cross-regulatory loop between THPO and VEGF-A has been demonstrated in the hematopoietic system, the two growth factors were hypothesized to cooperatively contribute to the progression from liver cirrhosis (LC) to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The mRNA and protein expression levels of THPO, VEGF-A, and their receptors were examined, compared, and correlated in paired cancerous and LC tissues from 26 cirrhosis-related HCC patients, using qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. THPO and VEGF-A were alternatively silenced by small interfering RNA (siRNA) in human liver cancer cell lines Huh7 and HepG2. THPO and VEGF-A expressions significantly increased in tumor versus LC tissues. HCC and paired LC cells expressed similar levels of THPO receptor (R), whereas vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) -1 and VEGFR-2 levels were higher in HCC than in corresponding LC tissue samples. A significant linear correlation emerged between THPO and VEGF-A transcripts in HCC and, at the protein level, THPO and THPOR were significantly correlated with VEGF-A in tumor tissues. Both HCC and LC expressed similar levels of gene and protein hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1α. Positive cross-regulation occurred with the alternative administration of siRNAs targeting THPO and those targeting VEGF-A in hypoxic liver cancer cell lines. These results suggest THPO and VEGF-A might act as interdependently regulated autocrine and/or paracrine systems for cellular growth in HCC. This might be clinically interesting, since new classes of THPOR agonistic/antagonistic drugs may provide novel therapeutic options to correct the frequent hemostatic abnormality seen in HCC patients

A microRNA prognostic signature in patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas through non-invasive liquid biopsy

Diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs) originate in the thalamus, brainstem, cerebellum and spine. This entity includes tumors that infiltrate the pons, called diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs), with a rapid onset and devastating neurological symptoms. Since surgical removal in DIPGs is not feasible, the purpose of this study was to profile circulating miRNA expression in DIPG patients in an effort to identify a non-invasive prognostic signature with clinical impact. Using a high-throughput platform, miRNA expression was profiled in serum samples collected at the time of MRI diagnosis and prior to radiation and/or systemic therapy from 47 patients enrolled in clinical studies, combining nimotuzumab and vinorelbine with concomitant radiation. With progression-free survival as the primary endpoint, a semi-supervised learning approach was used to identify a signature that was also tested taking overall survival as the clinical endpoint. A signature comprising 13 circulating miRNAs was identified in the training set (n = 23) as being able to stratify patients by risk of disease progression (log-rank p = 0.00014; HR = 7.99, 95% CI 2.38–26.87). When challenged in a separate validation set (n = 24), it confirmed its ability to predict progression (log-rank p = 0.00026; HR = 5.51, 95% CI 2.03–14.9). The value of our signature was also confirmed when overall survival was considered (log-rank p = 0.0021, HR = 4.12, 95% CI 1.57–10.8). We have identified and validated a prognostic marker based on the expression of 13 circulating miRNAs that can shed light on a patient’s risk of progression. This is the first demonstration of the usefulness of nucleic acids circulating in the blood as powerful, easy-to-assay molecular markers of disease status in DIPG. This study provides Class II evidence that a signature based on 13 circulating miRNAs is associated with the risk of disease progression

Genome-wide analyses of platinum-induced ototoxicity in childhood cancer patients: Results of GO-CAT and United Kingdom MAGIC consortia

: Hearing loss (ototoxicity) is a major adverse effect of cisplatin and carboplatin chemotherapy. The aim of this study is to identify novel genetic variants that play a role in platinum-induced ototoxicity. Therefore, a genome-wide association study was performed in the Genetics of Childhood Cancer Treatment (GO-CAT) cohort (n = 261) and the United Kingdom Molecular Genetics of Adverse Drug Reactions in Children Study (United Kingdom MAGIC) cohort (n = 248). Results of both cohorts were combined in a meta-analysis. In primary analysis, patients with SIOP Boston Ototoxicity Scale grade ≥1 were considered cases, and patients with grade 0 were controls. Variants with a p-value <10-5 were replicated in previously published data by the PanCareLIFE cohort (n = 390). No genome-wide significant associations were found, but variants in TSPAN5, RBBP4P5, AC010090.1 and RNU6-38P were suggestively associated with platinum-induced ototoxicity. The lowest p-value was found for rs7671702 in TSPAN5 (odds ratio 2.0 (95% confidence interval 1.5-2.7), p-value 5.0 × 10-7). None of the associations were significant in the replication cohort, although the effect directions were consistent among all cohorts. Validation and functional understanding of these genetic variants could lead to more insights in the development of platinum-induced ototoxicity