From Judith Butler to Ranjana Khanna: looking back onto Simone de Beauvoir

La questione dell'identità femminile, come era stata posta dalla celebre affermazione di Simone de Beauvoir, "non si nasce donna, lo si diventa", è stata centrale per le successive articolazioni del pensiero femminista anglo-americano, in particolare per la riflessione della teorica Judith Butler sul genere, gender, come primaria identificazione soggettiva rispetto al sesso biologico. Eppure, la elaborazione di una soggettività in 'process', e non ontologicamente definita, deve sicuramente molto anche allo scenario storico-culturale in cui si muoveva de Beauvoir, tra riflessione esistenzialista e decoloniale, come mette in luce la teorica Ranjana Khanna, illuminando di nuove pieghe critiche il pensiero di de Beauvoir

Decolonizing Sex: Ranjana Khanna, Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler

Il tema della transessualità viene esplorato attraverso un percorso che conduce nel dibattito sul 'gender' (de Beauvoir, Butler, Khanna), per accogliere le proposte della filosofa italiana Fabrizia Di Stefano

Scienza e scienze umane. La ricerca della 'verità'

Un dibattito sotto forma di dialogo tra due studiosi di discipline diverse: Marina De Chiara, docente di letteratura inglese, e Ciro Discepolo, giornalista e studioso di astrologia di livello internazionale, si confrontano sul tema della 'scientificità del sapere', argomento oggi fortemente dibattuto a causa dello svilimento delle scienze umane, humanities, soprattutto negli ambiti accademici italiani e d'oltreoceano. Con riflessioni che attingono a filosofi e pensatori come Michel Foucault, Karl Popper, Sigmund Freud, Frances Yates, Jacques Lacan, fino alle teorizzazioni dal mondo artistico e narrativo (centrale il riferimento di De Chiara alla narrativa di André Brink, romanziere sudafricano), il dibattito pone al centro la questione della 'verità' come fattore indiscutibilmente prigioniero delle cosiddette scienze esatte

Decolonização, Sul global e colonialidade do poder

Este texto é a versão em português de "Decolonizzazione, Sud del mondo e colonialità del potere", de Marina De Chiara, capítulo do livro Sud immaginari. Colonialità del potere, chicane ribelli, interferenze blues, publicado na Itália em 2019 e organizado pela mesma autora. O artigo apresenta os principais conceitos advindos de perspectivas críticas sobre a modernidade como produto da empresa colonial e o sistema dela resultante, chamado por Aníbal Quijano de colonialidade do poder, ainda em operação. Tais reflexões são consideradas úteis para se pensar a oposição epistemológica entre norte e sul do mundo, fratura que atua inclusive no corpo das nações, promovendo uma forma de colonialismo interno. Nesse sentido, De Chiara faz referência às questões italianas, especialmente em relação à marcada divisão entre o mezzogiorno (o sul) e o norte do país desde a Unificação (1861), às migrações internas do sul ao norte no século XX e, mais recentemente, à migração do continente africano à Itália, que tem no sul italiano o seu ponto de chegada. Dessa forma, De Chiara mostra a produtividade de um pensamento subalterno - oriundo especialmente de grupos de estudos asiáticos e latino-americanos - para se pensar questões do Norte global

Is the Oxidant/Antioxidant Status Altered in CADASIL Patients?

The altered aggregation of proteins in non-native conformation is associated with endoplasmic reticulum derangements, mitochondrial dysfunction and excessive production of reactive oxygen species. Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a rare hereditary systemic vasculopathy, caused by NOTCH3 mutations within the receptor extracellular domain, that lead to abnormal accumulation of the mutated protein in the vascular wall. NOTCH3 misfolding could cause free radicals increase also in CADASIL. Aim of the study was to verify whether CADASIL patients have increased oxidative stress compared to unrelated healthy controls. We enrolled 15 CADASIL patients and 16 gender- and age-matched healthy controls with comparable cardiovascular risk factor. Blood and plasma reduced and total aminothiols (homocysteine, cysteine, glutathione, cysteinylglycine) were measured by HPLC and plasma 3- nitrotyrosine by ELISA. Only plasma reduced cysteine (Pr-Cys) and blood reduced glutathione (Br-GSH) concentrations differed between groups: in CADASIL patients Br-GSH levels were higher (p = 0.019) and Pr-Cys lower (p = 0.010) than in controls. No correlation was found between Br-GSH and Pr-Cys either in CADASIL patients (rho 0.25, P=0.36) or in controls (rho -0.15, P=0.44). Conversely, 3- nitrotyrosine values were similar in CADASIL and healthy subjects (p = 0.82). The high levels of antioxidant molecules and low levels of oxidant mediators found in our CADASIL population might either be expression of an effective protective action against free radical formation at an early stage of clinical symptoms or they could suggest that oxidative stress is not directly involved in the pathogenesis of CADASIL

POLG1-Related Epilepsy. Review of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Findings

Background: The clinical spectrum associated with POLG1 gene mutations ranges from non-syndromic epilepsy or mild isolated neurological signs to neurodegenerative disorders. Our aim was to review diagnostic findings, therapeutic approaches and outcomes of reported cases of epilepsy related to POLG1 mutation. Methods: The articles for review were identified through a systematic research on PubMed and EMBASE databases from January 2003 to April 2020, searching for the terms "Epilepsy AND POLG OR polymerase gamma," OR "POLG1". Results: Forty-eight articles were selected for review, which included 195 patients. Two main peaks of age at epilepsy onset were found: at ages 1 and 13 years. The most frequent seizure type was myoclonic. The occurrence of Status Epilepticus was reported in 46.4% of cases. Epileptiform and slow abnormalities were most frequently seen over occipital regions. Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) revealed increased T2 signal intensities in thalamic regions. Genetic analysis revealed a prevalence of A467T, W748S and G848S (74.2% of patients) mutations. Survival at 5 years was estimated at very low levels (30.2% of patients). Conclusion: In this review, we included cases with both pediatric and adult epilepsy onset. The analysis of data regarding prognosis showed that survival is related to age at onset of epilepsy

Modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for surgical site infection after colorectal surgery: a single-center experience

PURPOSE: Surgical site infection (SSI) is the most common complication of colorectal surgery, resulting in significant burden in terms of morbidity and length of hospital stay. The aims of this study were to establish the incidence of SSI in patients undergoing colorectal surgeries and to identify potentially modifiable risk factors to reduce overall SSI rates. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed patients who underwent colorectal resection at our Department. Patients were identified using a prospective SSI database. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify risk factors. RESULTS: A total of 687 patients were enrolled in the study and the overall SSI rate was 19.9% (137 patients). Superficial incisional surgical site infections (SSSIs) developed in 52 (7.6%) patients, deep incisional surgical site infections (DSSIs) developed in 15 (2.2%), and organ/space infections (OSIs) developed in 70 (10.1%). Univariate and multivariate analyses confirmed that age, diabetes, emergency surgery, and a high infection risk index are risk factors for SSI. CONCLUSIONS: There are some modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for SSI. IRI and age are non-modifiable, whereas the timing of surgery and diabetes can be modulated by trying to defer some emergency procedures to elective ones and normalizing the glycemia of diabetic patients

Touch Imprinting Cytology may be useful in the intraoperative evaluation of the sentinel lymph node in melanoma

The aim of the study was to assess whether the reliability of Touch Imprinting Cytology (TIC) of Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in skin melanoma patients allows intraoperative decisions regarding simultaneous radical lymphadenectomy to be made. Previous experiences have shown that the limit of TIC in extemporaneous diagnosis was represented by the minimal deposits of the tumor. Many current data seem to show that in this situation radical lymphadenectomy is no longer necessary, so we wondered if TIC could regain importance in the intraoperative management of these patients

Helicobacter pylori-derived neutrophil-activating protein increases the lifespan of monocytes and neutrophils

P>An invariable feature of Helicobacter pylori-infected gastric mucosa is the persistent infiltration of inflammatory cells. The neutrophil-activating protein (HP-NAP) has a pivotal role in triggering and orchestrating the phlogistic process associated with H. pylori infection. Aim of this study was to address whether HP-NAP might further contribute to the inflammation by increasing the lifespan of inflammatory cells. We report that HP-NAP is able to prolong the lifespan of monocytes, in parallel with the induction of the anti-apoptotic proteins A1, Mcl-1, Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L). This effect does not result from a direct action on the apoptotic machinery, but rather it requires the release of endogenous pro-survival factors, such as interleukin-1 beta, which probably acts in synergy with other unidentified mediators. We also report that HP-NAP promotes the survival of Ficoll-purified neutrophils in a monocyte-dependent fashion: indeed, mononuclear cell depletion of Ficoll-purified neutrophils completely abolished the pro-survival effect by HP-NAP. In conclusion, our data reinforce the notion that HP-NAP has a pivotal role in sustaining a prolonged activation of myeloid cells