101 research outputs found

    Youth policies in Europe: logics and actors in the field

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    The aim of this chapter is to capture the logic and mechanisms underlying youth policies across Europe. I take a broad sociological approach, seeking to highlight the main focuses in the functioning of these policies. In fact, while the implementation of youth polices across European countries is deeply influenced by contextual factors, including national political climates, some overarching issues of wider interest emerge, and these are relevant to processes of youth transitions. Whether youth policies are more appropriate and effective than policies in other areas is also a subject of youth studies debates. However, the conceptual framework that justifies attention to youth citizenship and youth participation is established, and foregrounds youth policies. After illustrating this mechanism, the chapter gives an overview of the institutions more directly involved in ensuring a focus on youth policies and suggests how they are linked to the theoretical framework of transitions to adulthood

    Mobility exchanges and the 'experience' of learning on the move

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    The chapter begins from an acknowledgment of the porous boundaries between formal and non-formal education. Such opportunities are supported across the European Union (EU) through supranational institutional arrangements that encourage young people to engage in non-formal education, promoting it as a gateway to active citizenship. We seek to investigate the particular configurations of learning that become possible when young people undertake mobility exchanges. Despite the general risk of incurring additional hardship, when “on the move,” learning is usually reported as being faster (because it is “compacted”), wide ranging, and motivating. One reason this topic has attracted scholarly attention in recent years, and could now be described as a preoccupation, lies with the new, post-pandemic limits imposed on mobility. Drawing on the work of the Italian sociologist Paolo Jedlowski (Il sapere dell’esperienza. Il Saggiatore, Milan, 1994) – who in turn borrows from German philosophy – this chapter uses the distinction between “Erfahrung” and “Erlebnis,” both translatable into “experience,” to discuss varieties of learning on the move. By “Erfahrung,” we signify the cultivation of experience, based on active engagement and the knowledge that derives from it; by “Erlebnis,” we refer to “lived experience,” or the way we feel in any given situation in the present. Undertaking mobility encompasses both of these, but precisely because it implies interacting with new sites – specifically, new sites of learning – the resulting configuration of learning is particularly interesting. The chapter exemplifies these notions by discussing empirical material collected for a large, ongoing research project investigating the futures of young people in Italy (“Mapping Youth Futures”)

    Se non qui, dove? CittĂ , giovani e appartenenze

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    Se non qui, dove? CittĂ , giovani e appartenenze propone una riflessione ben fondata sulla letteratura delle scienze sociali sul rapporto tra i giovani e la cittĂ , nella considerazione che i primi dovrebbero trovare nella seconda lo spazio per eccellenza dove mettere alla prova la propria capacitĂ  di agire nel mondo. Gli autori discutono anche i limiti di questa capacitĂ , ancora di piĂč in un momento storico avverso, quello corrispondente alla crisi pandemica, caratterizzato dal distanziamento sociale e dalle inedite e molteplici limitazioni nella fruizione dei luoghi urbani. Se non qui, dove? si snoda attraverso vignette etnografiche, come un volume pop- up, su alcuni luoghi iconici della cittĂ  di Cagliari: la stazione, la scuola, l’universitĂ , la piazza della movida, gli spazi interstiziali tra un luogo e un altro, la spiaggia cittadina sul mare. Ogni capitolo Ăš tuttavia non soltanto l’espressione della freschezza di quei luoghi nel vissuto giovanile, nella concretezza e materialitĂ  del caso cagliaritano che il ricco ma teriale documentale ed etnografico (anche visuale), permette di ricostruire. È anche e soprattutto il punto di partenza per problematizzare il posto dei giovani nella cittĂ : la criticitĂ  dei processi di appartenenza appare il quid da cui partire per ripensare la convivenza tra le generazioni

    A proof-of-concept analysis of plasma-derived exosomal microRNAs in interstitial pulmonary fibrosis secondary to antisynthetase syndrome

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    Antisynthetase syndrome (ASSD) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the positivity of autoantibodies against different aminoacyl transfer RNA (tRNA) synthetases. Morbidity and mortality of this disease are highly affected by interstitial lung disease (ILD) which is present in about 80% of patients. In this study, we investigated possible differences in 84 immune-related circulating miRNAs between ASSD patients with and without ILD; we enrolled 15 ASSD patients, 11 with ILD (ILD+) and 4 without ILD (ILD-), and 5 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) as an additional control group. All patients were at disease onset and not on therapy at the time of inclusion. Differentially expressed miRNAs were identified in plasma-derived exosomes, using an miRNA PCR array (MIHS-111ZG, Qiagen, Hilden, Germany); miR-30a-5p and miR-29c-3p were upregulated in ASSD-ILD patients compared to patients without lung involvement (adjusted p-value < 0.05). IPF patients showed higher miR-29c-3p expression levels with respect to both ASSD and ASSD-ILD (p = 0.0005), whereas levels of miR-30a-5p were not different. miR-29c-3p and miR-30a-5p are overexpressed in ASSD-ILD+ patients compared with ILD?. These miRNAs are involved in the regulation of inflammation and fibrosis through their action on NF-?B and TGF-?1. Although the mechanistic role of these miRNAs in ASSD-ILD development has to be elucidated, we suggest that their exosome levels could be useful in identifying patients at risk of ILD.Funding: This research was supported by the Ministry of Health IRCCS Foundation Policlinico San Matteo Grant [grant number 948-rcr2019i2-46]

    protective effect of a new hyaluronic acid carnosine conjugate on the modulation of the inflammatory response in mice subjected to collagen induced arthritis

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    Abstract Several studies demonstrated the pharmacological actions of carnosine as well as hyaluronic acid (HA) during joint inflammation. In that regard, the aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of a new HA -Carnosine conjugate (FidHycarn) on the modulation of the inflammatory response in mice subjected to collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). CIA was induced by two intradermal injections of 100 Όl of an emulsion of collagen (CII) and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) at the base of the tail on day 0 and 21. At 35 day post CIA induction, the animals were sacrificed. CII injection caused erythema and edema in the hind paws, histological alterations with erosion of the joint cartilage as well as behavioral changes. Oral treatment with FidHycarn starting at the onset of arthritis (day 25) ameliorated the clinical signs, improved behavioral deficits as well as decreased histological and radiographic alterations. The degree of oxidative damage evaluated by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nitrotyrosine, poly-ADP-ribose (PAR) expressions and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, was also significantly reduced in Carnosine+HA association and FidHycarn treated mice. Moreover, the levels of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines and cyclo-oxygenase COX-2 enzyme were also more significantly reduced by Carnosine+HA and FidHycarn compared to carnosine alone. However, interestingly, in some cases, the effects of FidHycarn were more important than Carnosine+HA association and not statistically different to methotrexate (MTX) used as positive control. Thus, the conjugation of Carnosine with HA (FidHycarn) could represent an interesting therapeutic strategy to combat arthritis disorders

    Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

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    Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection
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