Republics in Comparison. Cross-cultural perspectives on Genoa, Venice and the United Provinces in Italian literature (1650–1699)

Italian historiographers of the second half of the seventeenth century often establish parallels between early modern republics, comparing Genoa and Venice with the United Provinces, considered as similar political entities despite their evident political differences. The article, taking into account four different sources, investigates the meaning of those comparisons, published when the absolutist model was taking root all around Europe. In the twilight of the republican state, when the power and reputation of the Italian republics was maybe at its weakest, those comparisons served both as a way to boost a supranational republican identity, and to question the strength of the classical republican constitution. This survey explores how these authors claim that, in order to survive in the Europe of absolute monarchies, those republics have to undergo a radical political change. Only by avoiding splitting the sovereignty among too many subjects, and reinforcing the monarchical element in their constitution, these republican states, no more based on the principle of equality, could compete in the new seventeenth-century political scenario. For this reason, Italian authors looked with great interest, and often celebrated the Dutch republic, considered a stronger government than that of Venice, even if it was regarded as an imperfect republic

Il dramma pastorale in Arcadia. Dibattiti teorici e prove teatrali

The article aims to describe the employment of the pastoral tragicomedy in the Arcadian literary theory, paying specific attention to Giovan Mario Crescimbeni\u2019s and Gian Vincenzo Gravina\u2019s critical works. The recourse to the bucolic fiction, rather than testifying the inclination for the sober Renaissance literary model, seems to be the proof of a still ongoing fascination with the Baroque cultural season. Several theatric works and poetic treatises of this period, produced by men of letters and dramatists linked to the Arcadian circle, show indeed the presence of typical Baroque elements, both in style \u2013 as the abuse of the technique of hybridization confirms \u2013, and in the development of the subject, as well as in the passions represente

Corrosion prediction of metallic cultural heritage assets by EIS

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was used to predict corrosion behaviour of metallic Cultural Heritage assets in two monitoring campaigns: 1) an iron bar chain exposed indoor from over 500 years in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Amiens (France); and 2) a large weathering steel sculpture exposed outdoor from tens of years in Ferrara (Italy). The EIS portable instrument employed was battery operated. In situ EIS measurements on the iron chain could be used to investigate the phenomena involved in the electrochemical interfaces among various corrosion products and assess and predict their corrosion behaviour in different areas of the Cathedral. Meanwhile, the sculpture of weathering steel, like most outdoor artefacts, showed rust layers of different chemical composition and colour depending on the orientation of metal plates. The EIS monitoring campaign was carried out on different areas of the artefact surface, allowing assessment of their protective effectiveness. Results of EIS measurements evidenced how employing a simple test that could be performed in situ without damaging the artefacts surface is possible to quickly gain knowledge of the conservation state of an artefact and highlight potential danger conditions

The current knowledge on Anastrepha Schiner (Dip., Tephritidae) in the State of Amapá, Brazil.

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Use of intravesical injections of platelet-rich plasma for the treatment of bladder pain syndrome: A comprehensive literature review

Background: Bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) or primary bladder pain syndrome (PBPS) is a complex and poorly understood condition. This comprehensive review aimed to discuss the potential application of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of BPS/IC. The pathophysiology of BPS/IC is characterized by urothelial damage that triggers a chain of events leading to chronic inflammation and other conditions. Frequently, in subjects affected by BPS/IC, recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI) is associated with difficult therapeutic management. For these reasons, many oral and intravesical treatments (e.g., antibiotic therapy and intravesical anesthetic instillations) have been proposed to alleviate the symptoms of IC/BPS. However, the limitation of these treatments is the short duration of improvement. The purpose of this review is to analyze the efficacy of intravesical PRP injections in subjects with PBS/IC and to try to understand the potential therapeutic effects on the pathophysiology of this disease. Methods: A nonsystematic literature search using Pubmed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, Medline was performed from January 2000 to August 2021. The following terms were combined to capture relevant publications: “platelet-rich plasma”, “interstitial cystitis”, “PRP”, “bladder pain syndrome”, and “painful bladder syndrome”. Results: After exclusion of non-pertinent studies/articles, we have analyzed 5 studies. In detail, 2 articles concerned preclinical studies in which animal models were used. The authors showed an improvement in the histological pattern with less bleeding in treated subjects, a lower presence of inflammatory cytokines and an increase in the mitotic index of urothelial cells in animals treated with intravesical PRP. In the three prospective clinical trials analyzed, patients with BPS/IC who underwent monthly intravesical PRP injections were found to have a statistically significant improvement in symptoms with modulation of growth factors and inflammatory proteins. Conclusions: New evidence suggests that treatment with intravesical PRP could improve urothelial regeneration and reduces chronic inflammation in BPS/IC, modifying the clinical history of its pathology

Neurofilaments in motor neuron disorders: towards promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers

Motor neuron diseases (MNDs) are etiologically and biologically heterogeneous diseases. The pathobiology of motor neuron degeneration is still largely unknown, and no effective therapy is available. Heterogeneity and lack of specific disease biomarkers have been appointed as leading reasons for past clinical trial failure, and biomarker discovery is pivotal in today’s MND research agenda. In the last decade, neurofilaments (NFs) have emerged as promising biomarkers for the clinical assessment of neurodegeneration. NFs are scaffolding proteins with predominant structural functions contributing to the axonal cytoskeleton of myelinated axons. NFs are released in CSF and peripheral blood as a consequence of axonal degeneration, irrespective of the primary causal event. Due to the current availability of highly-sensitive automated technologies capable of precisely quantify proteins in biofluids in the femtomolar range, it is now possible to reliably measure NFs not only in CSF but also in blood. In this review, we will discuss how NFs are impacting research and clinical management in ALS and other MNDs. Besides contributing to the diagnosis at early stages by differentiating between MNDs with different clinical evolution and severity, NFs may provide a useful tool for the early enrolment of patients in clinical trials. Due to their stability across the disease, NFs convey prognostic information and, on a larger scale, help to stratify patients in homogenous groups. Shortcomings of NFs assessment in biofluids will also be discussed according to the available literature in the attempt to predict the most appropriate use of the biomarker in the MND clinic