La tutela della vittima nell’ordinamento europeo: quale impatto della direttiva 2012/29/UE?

[The protection of the victim in European Law: what will be the impact of Directive 2012/29 / EU?] Adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of Europe a decade after the  2001/220 / JHA Framework Decision, Directive 2012/29 / EU complements the European Statute as regards the victims of crime. The latters are granted a number of prerogatives intended to ensure that they take part in the legal proceedings in a conscious and mindful way and to avoid the risk of so-called secondary victimization. Italy has just adopted measures to implement the Directive, because  the increased protection for crime victims concerns a constitutionally guaranteed  principle

LA CITTA' MULTICULTURALE (tra realta' e percezione)

Questo lavoro è diviso in due parti, la prima si occupa di analizzare l'immigrazione nei suoi vari aspetti, dalla storia alla situazione attuale nella città di Livorno con dati statistici a confronto. La seconda parte è una raccolta di informazioni tramite intervista e l'esperimento di un gioco di ruolo usato come strumento di osservazione

Il fiore e la biologia fiorale

Floral biology includes the series of processes which leads buds to evolve into flowers and fruits. Improving the knowledge on floral biology in olive is important both for scientific understanding and for practical reasons, since optimizing these applications results in better fruit yield. These processes are: induction (the conversion of vegetative to inflorescence buds), differentiations (the actual formation of flower parts in the bud), floral formation (the formation and evolution of the inflorescence and the flowers after bud brake), flowering (timing, flower types, andromonoecy), pollination, fertilization and compatibility, ovary abortion, fruit set. This papers describes all these steps and discusses the most recent knowledge on olive floral biology, including some recent theories like the “aging” theory, for which a minimum aging of the meristematic apex is necessary to allow floral induction and differentiation, and the “competition” theory, for which the greater competition for resources among flowers in cultivars with larger flower and fruit sizes, explains the greater ovary abortion and reduced fruit set in such cultivars. Finally, the very low fruit set and the apparently redundant flowering in olive is explained in evolutionary terms (mail fitness). The paper ends with concluding remark and practical suggestions for improving fruit yield, and provides answers to frequently asked questions.Realizzato nell'ambito del progetto "Ricerca ed Innovazione per l'Olivicoltura Meridionale", finanziato dal MiPAA

Free Radicals and Neonatal Brain Injury: From Underlying Pathophysiology to Antioxidant Treatment Perspectives

: Free radicals play a role of paramount importance in the development of neonatal brain injury. Depending on the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying free radical overproduction and upon specific neonatal characteristics, such as the GA-dependent maturation of antioxidant defenses and of cerebrovascular autoregulation, different profiles of injury have been identified. The growing evidence on the detrimental effects of free radicals on the brain tissue has led to discover not only potential biomarkers for oxidative damage, but also possible neuroprotective therapeutic approaches targeting oxidative stress. While a more extensive validation of free radical biomarkers is required before considering their use in routine neonatal practice, two important treatments endowed with antioxidant properties, such as therapeutic hypothermia and magnesium sulfate, have become part of the standard of care to reduce the risk of neonatal brain injury, and other promising therapeutic strategies are being tested in clinical trials. The implementation of currently available evidence is crucial to optimize neonatal neuroprotection and to develop individualized diagnostic and therapeutic approaches addressing oxidative brain injury, with the final aim of improving the neurological outcome of this population

L’uso di video tutorial nella formazione di assistenti familiari a domicilio

Il presente contributo descrive un’esperienza di progettazione e realizzazione di video tutorial a supporto dell’apprendimento di assistenti familiari e di persone assistite a domicilio e per l’acquisizione di abilità assistenziali. Il progetto è scaturito da alcune criticità riscontrate da infermieri delle Cure Domiciliari nei percorsi formativi indirizzati agli assistenti domiciliari riconducibili a barriere culturali e linguistiche, esiguità di risorse e aspetti relazionali. I video sono stati organizzati in sequenze, sottotitolati in spagnolo e romeno e composti da immagini statiche, filmati, commenti audio e testi scritti. La sperimentazione ha evidenziato un riscontro positivo sia dei materiali realizzati sia dell’impatto nei percorsi di apprendimento

Dopaminergic and glutamatergic signaling crosstalk in Huntington's disease neurodegeneration : the role of p25/cyclin-dependent kinase 5

Altered glutamatergic and dopaminergic signaling has been proposed as contributing to the specific striatal cell death observed in Huntington's disease (HD). However, the precise mechanisms by which mutant huntingtin sensitize striatal cells to dopamine and glutamate inputs remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate in knock-in HD striatal cells that mutant huntingtin enhances dopaminemediated striatal cell death via dopamineD1 receptors. Moreover, we show thatNMDAreceptors specifically potentiate the vulnerability of mutant huntingtin striatal cells to dopamine toxicity as pretreatment withNMDAincreased D1R-induced cell death in mutant but not wild-type cells. As potential underlying mechanism of increased striatal vulnerability, we identified aberrant cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) activation. We demonstrate that enhanced Cdk5 phosphorylation and increased calpain-mediated conversion of the Cdk5 activator p35 into p25 may account for the deregulation of Cdk5 associated to dopamine and glutamate receptor activation in knock-in HD striatal cells. Moreover, supporting a detrimental role of Cdk5 in striatal cell death, neuronal loss can be widely prevented by roscovitine, a potent Cdk5 inhibitor. Significantly, reduced Cdk5 expression together with enhanced Cdk5 phosphorylation and p25 accumulation also occurs in the striatum of mutant HdhQ111 mice and HD human brain suggesting the relevance of deregulated Cdk5 pathway in HD pathology. These findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the selective vulnerability of striatal cells in HD and identify p25/Cdk5 as an important mediator of dopamine and glutamate neurotoxicity associated to HD

VKORC1 and CYP2C9 polymorphisms related to adverse events in case-control cohort of anticoagulated patients

Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) are highly effective but have a narrow therapeutic index and require routine monitoring of the INR. The primary aim of pharmacogenetics (PGx) is to optimize patient care, achieving drug treatments that are personalized according to the genetic profile of each patient. The best-characterized genes involved in VKA PGx involve pharmacokinetics (VKORC1) and pharmacodynamics (CYP2C9) of VKA metabolism. The role of these genes in clinical outcomes (bleeding and thrombosis) during oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy is controversial. The aim of the present study was to evaluate any potential association between genotype VKORC1 and CYP2C9 and adverse events (hemorrhagic and/or thrombotic), during initiation and long-term VKA treatment, in Caucasian patients. Furthermore, we aimed to determine if the concomitant prescription of other selected drugs affected the association between genotype and adverse events.We performed a retrospective, matched case-control study to determine associations between multiple gene variants, drug intake, and any major adverse effects in anticoagulated patients, monitored in 2 Italian anticoagulation clinics.Our results show that anticoagulated patients have a high risk of adverse events if they are carriers of 1 or more genetic polymorphisms in the VKORC1 (rs9923231) and CYP2C9 (rs1799853 and rs1057910) genes.Information on CYP2C9 and VKORC1 variants may be useful to identify individualized oral anticoagulant treatment for each patient, improve management and quality of VKA anticoagulation control, and monitor drug surveillance in pharmacovigilance programs