Musculoskeletal ultrasonography in gout

Gout is a frequent inflammatory disease induced by the deposition of monosodium urate crystals in joints and extra-articular tissues. The natural history of the disease includes four different phases: asymptomatic hyperuricemia, acute attacks, intercritical phase, and chronic tophaceous gout. Imaging techniques have several applications in the diagnosis, clinical monitoring and management of the disease but particularly, musculoskeletal ultrasound is able to detect a wide set of abnormalities in gout. This review reports the most relevant findings detectable by ultrasound and the current available data in the literature regarding the role of musculoskeletal ultrasound in gout.

La chiesa e il convento di Santa Chiara. Committenza artistica, vita religiosa, progettualità politica nella Napoli di Roberto d’Angiò e Sancia di Maiorca

Frutto del profondo legame che unì la coppia regale Roberto d’Angiò e Sancia di Maiorca all’Ordine francescano, il complesso di Santa Chiara fu avviato nel 1310. Impiantato a ridosso delle mura della città, Santa Chiara rappresenta non solo il maggiore complesso conventuale del Regno, ma anche un luogo dove, in alcuni frangenti, politica, religione, arte risultano così intimamente convergenti nelle loro finalità da aver alimentato la convinzione di una precisa volontà di pianificare i suoi spazi e la connessa decorazione in collegamento con tendenze millenaristiche attribuite ai frati e ai loro regali patroni. Sede di sepoltura di re Roberto e dei suoi diretti discendenti, ma anche polo ideale di riferimento dell’aristocrazia di corte, nel corso del Trecento la chiesa è stata teatro dell’attività di alcuni dei più grandi artisti italiani, quali Giotto e Tino di Camaino. Gli studi di storia dell’arte sull’edificio, incrementatisi in maniera significativa dopo la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, hanno finora privilegiato in un’ottica specialistica l’esame del contenitore architettonico e dei manufatti monumentali. È mancata finora una trattazione d’insieme che affrontasse in un’ottica moderna, da un lato, il rapporto del convento con la città, dall’altro, le intime relazioni tra istanze religiose, aspettative politiche, esigenze liturgiche, uso dello spazio sacro, che hanno determinato la forma della chiesa, l’allestimento degli arredi, la caratterizzazione iconografica dei programmi figurativi. Ad alcuni di questi problemi intende dare risposta questo volume, che mette insieme affermati studiosi italiani e stranieri, particolarmente sensibili a questa impostazione di ricerca, e giovani studiosi che hanno già dato prova delle loro competenze su tali complesse tematiche

Appunti sull’idea di Europa

The western civilization with Europe that it has built, is close to the end? Born in Greece with philosophy, when humans responsably wanted to loose a fantastic-mitological vision of reality and chose their lifestyle as something rational, Europe, nowadays, reminding its origins and conscious of its historical realizations, is still able to continue and have progress? According to which conditions

The Vicissitudes of a Coastal Lagoon from the 19th Century to the Present Day

An account is given of the man-made alterations in the ecology of Lesina, a large (5328 ha) shallow lagoon on the south Adriatic coast of Italy, alterations motivated by the necessities of fish production, reclaiming land for agriculture, and eliminating malarial marshland. Up to 1851 the ecosystem was ruled by entirely natural forces. In that year an artificial outlet to the sea was dug in addition to the existing natural one. In 1903 a second artificial sea channel was opened. By the 1950s all the surrounding freshwater marshes (ca 1500 ha) had been drained and a dike built around the perimeter of the basin. Underwater trenches in the lagoon have been dug to facilitate water circulation. Pollution has become evident in the last fifty years. Three years ago a small harbour for sea-going fishing vessels was constructed at the entrance of one of the sea channels

Mindset and Morality: Adolescents' Implicit Theories of Morality

In adolescents’ everyday interactions, it is inevitable that they encounter morally-laden events. Arguably, adolescents’ essentialist vs. incremental moral mindsets, or whether they perceive moral qualities and traits as fixed or malleable, might be linked to how they make sense of moral experiences. In two studies, this dissertation examined links between mindsets and youths’ constructions of meaning about their own and others’ moral experiences. Both studies were based on a sample of 98 adolescents from the Montreal area. Study 1 investigated how adolescents’ moral mindsets varied across contexts depicting others’ prosocial and antisocial actions that were recurrent or nonrecurrent, as well as their judgments of others. Youth endorsed moral essentialism more in the prosocial domain. When youth made essentialist attributions in prosocial situations, they judged actors as more likable, their actions as more acceptable, and endorsed more praise and “good person” attributions. In antisocial situations, essentialism was linked to judging actors as more unlikable, their actions as more unacceptable, more endorsement of punishment, and “bad person” attributions. Study 2 examined how moral mindsets were linked to youths’ narrative accounts of their own morally-laden experiences and how these associations might differ across experiences in which youth described acting consistently and inconsistently with an important value. Individual differences in moral incrementalism were associated with adolescents’ construction of meanings in their narratives. Adolescents who endorsed moral incrementalism referred more to moral emotions, elaborated more on psychological interpretations, and engaged in more meaning-making in their narratives. Furthermore, moral incrementalism was inversely linked with disengagement when youth narrated a time they acted inconsistently with a moral value. Both studies illuminate how moral mindsets are applied in nuanced ways across situations. Findings suggest that moral essentialism might be especially variable across contexts, and informs situation-specific ways in which adolescents make judgments of others. In turn, individual differences in moral incrementalism were more strongly associated with adolescents’ own moral self-constructions. This research contributes to scholarship on moral mindset during a crucial developmental period by illuminating inter- and intra-individual differences in adolescents’ judgments about others as well as meaning-making in relation to their own moral experiences

Moral Socialization in Mother-Child Conversations about Hurting Siblings and Friends

Parents play an important role in helping their children make sense of their harmful actions towards others (Recchia & Wainryb, 2014). The purpose of this study was to examine the socialization strategies that mothers employ in conversations about children’s experiences of harm, and particularly how these strategies vary in response to children’s distinct experiences of conflict with siblings and friends. Thirty-four mothers and their 7-year-old children discussed two events: one in which they harmed a friend and the other, a younger sibling (order counterbalanced). Conversations were transcribed verbatim and a presence/absence coding system was employed for various moral socialization strategies. Results indicated that mothers employed different strategies to support their children’s moral understandings depending on the relationship context (sibling, friend). Perhaps due to the more terminable nature of children’s friendships, mothers more frequently highlighted repair and consequences for the relationship in these conversations. In contrast, in conversations about siblings, mothers more often negatively evaluated the harmful act and encouraged their child to explore feelings of guilt. Given the uniquely ruthless nature of children’s harm against siblings (Recchia, Wainryb & Pasupathi, 2013), mothers may use these strategies to encourage children’s moral concern for their sibling. Findings suggest that mothers may be responsive to the distinct features that characterize their children’s experiences with their siblings and friends in ways that may serve to highlight and maximize their children’s moral development

I CROSTACEI DECAPODI DEL LAGO DI ACQUATINA: STRUTTURA DELLE POPOLAZIONI E CICLO RIPRODUTTIVO

The study analyses the structure of the Stagno di Acquatina Crustacean Decapods population and the reproductive biology, in the period from April 2006 to September 2007. The main species considered are: Carcinus aestuarii, Palaemon serratus, Palemon adspersus, Palaemon elegans and Palaemonetes antennarius; of them C. aestuarii resulted the more common species and P. elegans the less frequent one. Almost all the species presented a reduction in the capture in 2007, compared to 2006. The data on the biological composition and reproduction of the Crustacean Decapods represent an important instrument of a responsible management of the Stagno di Acquatina ecosystem

Analysis of stranded sea turtles in the Gargano coast: has the Gargano promontory an importance for the ecology of the turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Adriatic Sea?

During the period 2001-2004, 89 stranded individuals of Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) have been recorded along the Gargano coast, 58 of which were alive, and 31 dead; in particular, 57% of these former animals have been rescued along two thin strips of land at the Lesina and Varano Lakes. The greatest number of strandings (n=48), has been recorded during the 2002, in particular in January (n=31), a fact which seems to correspond to an abrupt drop of water temperature. The great number of stranded turtles reported in this area depends on its geographical position: the northern shore of Gargano entraps objects carried by the sea currents from the northern and the middle Adriatic Sea to the southern one