Countering Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking Through Special Investigative Techniques: Transnational Undercover Operations in the Italian and International Legal Systems

L'adozione di misure di coordinamento internazionale per diffondere l'uso di "tecniche investigative speciali" volte a combattere efficacemente la criminalità organizzata è incoraggiata dall'articolo 20 della Convenzione delle Nazioni Unite contro la criminalità organizzata transnazionale. Lo scritto esamina il quadro giuridico italiano, modificato da una nuova legge approvata nel 2019, relativo ad un istituto giuridico in evoluzione come quello delle "operazioni sotto copertura" che coinvolgono, o si svolgono in più di uno Stato. L'articolo cerca di stabilire se e in quale misura l'Italia stia rispettando i suoi impegni internazionali in materia.The adoption of international coordination measures to spread the use of 'special investigative techniques' to combat organised crime effectively is encouraged by Article 20 of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. The paper examines the Italian legal framework, amended by a new law passed in 2019, on an evolving legal tool such as the "undercover operations" involving, or taking place in more than one State. The article seeks to establish whether and to what extent Italy is complying with its international commitments in this field

Spontaneous electrical activity of guinea-pig sinoatrial cells under modulation of two different pacemaker mechanisms

The main cellular determinants of cardiac automaticity are the hyperpolarization-activated cationic current If, and the electrogenic Na+/Ca2+ exchanger which generates an inward current after each action potential (AP). Our goal was to evaluate their relative role in pacemaking, by means of application of Ivabradine (IVA) (specific If blocker) and Ryanodine (RYA) (known to abolish calcium transient) on enzimatically isolated guinea-pig pacemaker cells. Spontaneous APs were recorded in patch-clamp whole cell configuration at 36°C from 7 cells perfused with the following sequence of solutions: physiological normal tyrode (NT), IVA 3 mM, NT and RYA 3 mM. Cycle length (CL, ms) and diastolic depolarization rate (DDR, V/s) were also calculated. Both blockers displayed similar effects, increasing CL (by 27 and 30%, respectively), and decreasing DDR (by 34 and 42%) with respect to NT exposure. These results suggest that both mechanisms are involved into pacemaking mechanism at a similar degree

Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors for Elderly Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in both men and women and approximately 219,440 new cases of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were estimated to occur in the USA in 2009, which caused 159,390 NSCLC-related deaths. More than 50% of cases of advanced NSCLC are diagnosed in patients older than age 65, and recent Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEERs) data suggest that the median age at diagnosis is 70 years. Until recently, the disease has been undertreated in this patient population, with a perception among many clinicians that elderly patients do not tolerate chemotherapy or radiotherapy. So, single agent chemotherapy is the recommended approach by the ASCO and International Expert Panels in unselected patients. The introduction of novel targeted therapies, such as Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) which improved survival versus placebo in patients who had previously failed on chemotherapy, gives clinicians new, effective, and better tolerated options to consider when treating NSCLC in elderly patients. This paper describes the advances of EGFR TKIs for elderly patients with advanced NSCLC

Calibration of a real-time tsunami detection algorithm for sites with no instrumental tsunami records: application to coastal tide-gauge stations in eastern Sicily, Italy

Abstract. Coastal tide gauges play a very important role in a tsunami warning system, since sea-level data are needed for a correct evaluation of the tsunami threat, and the tsunami arrival has to be recognized as early as possible. Real-time tsunami detection algorithms serve this purpose. For an efficient detection, they have to be calibrated and adapted to the specific local characteristics of the site where they are installed, which is easily done when the station has recorded a sufficiently large number of tsunamis. In this case the recorded database can be used to select the best set of parameters enhancing the discrimination power of the algorithm and minimizing the detection time. This chance is however rare, since most of the coastal tide-gauge stations, either historical or of new installation, have recorded only a few tsunamis in their lifetimes, if any. In this case calibration must be carried out by using synthetic tsunami signals, which poses the problem of how to generate them and how to use them. This paper investigates this issue and proposes a calibration approach by using as an example a specific case, which is the calibration of a real-time detection algorithm called TEDA (Tsunami Early Detection Algorithm) for two stations (namely Tremestieri and Catania) in eastern Sicily, Italy, which were recently installed in the frame of the Italian project TSUNET, aiming at improving the tsunami monitoring capacity in a region that is one of the most hazardous tsunami areas of Italy and of the Mediterranean

Tsunami generation in Stromboli island and impact on the south-east Tyrrhenian coasts

Stromboli is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aeolian island arc in south Tyrrhenian sea, Italy. In the last 100 years the most relevant volcanic eruptions have beenaccompanied by local tsunamis, that have caused damage and casualties. In some cases the direct mechanism of local tsunami generation is clear, i.e. pyroclastic flows entering the sea. In some others it is uncertain and some speculation concerning the collapse of the eruptive column on the sea surface or the failure of some underwater mass can be made. But the ordinary activity is unlikely to generate large regional tsunamis. These can be produced by the lateral collapse of the volcanic cone that geomorphological and volcanological&nbsp; investigations have proven to have occurred repeatedly in the recent history of the volcano, with return period in the order of some thousands of years. The last episode is dated to less than 5 ka BP, and left the Sciara del Fuoco scar on the north-west flank of Stromboli.</p> <p style='line-height: 20px;'>Based on previous studies, the possible collapse of the nortwestern sector of Stromboli and the consequent generation and propagation of a tsunami are explored. The impact on Stromboli and on the other islands of the Aeolian archipelago is estimated, as well as the impact on the coast of Sicily and the Tyrrhenian coasts of Calabria. The simulation is carried out by means of a double model: a Lagrangian block model to compute the motion of the collapsing mass, and a finite-element hydrodynamic model to compute the evolution of the tsunami. Two distinct tsunami simulations are carried out, one on a very fine grid around the source region to evaluate the tsunami near Stromboli, and one utilising a coarser grid covering the whole south-east Tyrrhenian sea to compute the tsunami propagation toward Sicily and Calabria. It is found that a huge-volume collapse of the north-western flank of the Stromboli cone is capable of producing a regional tsunami which is catastrophic at the source and devastating on long stretches of Tyrrhenian coasts, but particularly in the neighbouring islands of Panarea and Salina, and along the Calabria coasts around Capo Vaticano

Coping with negative stereotypes toward older workers: Organizational and work-related outcomes

The current study aims to test a moderated-mediation model in which occupational selfefficacy determines the indirect effect of negative stereotypes about older workers in the organization both on psychological engagement in the work domain and on attitudes toward development opportunities through identification with the company. The survey involved 1,501 Italian subjects aged over 50 who were employed by a major large-scale retailer. Consistently with the Social Identity Theory and the Social Exchange Theory, results showed that the perception of negative stereotypes about older workers in the organization is associated with low identification with the company and, subsequently, with poor psychological engagement in the work domain and with attitudes indicating very little interest in development opportunities. In addition, this association was found to be stronger in older workers with higher and medium levels of occupational selfefficacy. These findings suggest that organizations should discourage the dissemination of negative stereotypes about older workers in the workplace because they may lead to older workers' disengagement from the work domain and their loss of interest in development opportunities

Rapid review on covid-19, work-related aspects, and age differences

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the labor market and multiple aspects of work and workers’ life. The present rapid review analyzes this impact considering the effects that COVID-19 pandemic had on employment and work-related aspects across different age groups. A comprehensive literature search was performed on scientific contributions published between 2019 and March 2021, resulting in 36 papers pertinent to the scope of this review. Findings were grouped according to different topics, all linked to age: occupational risk, implications on the labor market (i.e., job loss and reemployment, job insecurity, turnover intentions and retirement, and healthcare workers’ return-to-work phase), remote work, and key individual and organizational resources and strategies. Overall, the review revealed variability across age groups in the impact this pandemic had on employment and several work-related aspects (i.e., occupational risk, remote work). Findings supported an age-differential effect of normative history-graded events such as the current pandemic, highlighting different responses and consequences depending on workers’ age

IL METODO SCIENTIFICO NELLE SCIENZE DELLA NATURA, UN'APPLICAZIONE ALLA FISIOLOGIA: Scoperta e riscoperta della eccitabilità elettrica animale.

Gli animali, ma potremmo estendere la considerazione a tutti i viventi, sono dotati della proprietà fondamentale di rispondere a stimoli di diversa natura provenienti dall’ambiente interno a essi o da quello esterno con impulsi elettrici singoli o ripetuti, risposte che stanno alla base delle loro principali funzioni. Che si tratti di un paramecio che, urtata una foglia, cambia direzione di nuoto, di un’alga filamentosa che, beccata da un’anatra, induce la gelificazione del citoplasma per evitarne la perdita, di motoneuroni che attivano i muscoli della palpebra e mi fanno «schiacciare l’occhio», o di una cellula del nervo uditivo, attivata da una cellula cigliata dell’orecchio interno, che vibra al suono del violino di mia figlia, in tutti i casi una forma di energia è trasdotta, a livello cellulare, in un evento elettrico transitorio. Per la verità esistono anche cellule che si sono specializzate a emettere impulsi elettrici ripetuti spontaneamente, anche se non stimolate, e a costituire quindi dei veri e propri orologi interni all’organismo, essendo la loro frequenza di emissione costante in condizioni fisiologiche. Sono le cosiddette cellule pacemaker che sganciano, per così dire, il tempo scandito per le loro funzioni, dagli orologi biologici che battono coi giorni, le stagioni, gli astri. Che alla base della attività motoria e nervosa animale vi fossero fenomeni elettrici era già noto agli studiosi della seconda metà del XVIII secolo. Fino ad allora, una prestigiosa scuola di fisiologi, primo fra tutti Albrecht Von Haller (1708-1777) dell’Università di Berna, insieme con Leopoldo Caldani (1725- 1813) dell’Università di Padova, riteneva che il meccanismo fosse riconducibile a una «irritabilità» latente nei tessuti animali, una sorta di energia potenziale che, in particolari condizioni, si liberava e generava movimento o impulsi nervosi [1]. In quel periodo cominciarono tuttavia a comparire, sui banconi di lavoro di anatomisti e fisiologi, curiosi apparecchi atti a generare carica elettrica e, letteralmente, a imbottigliarla in recipienti (le bottiglie di Leida) che la rendevano a lungo disponibile per la sperimentazione. Da qui in poi la scoperta, e, come vedremo, la riscoperta della attività elettrica animale nasceva e procedeva di pari passo con la scienza dell’elettrologia prima e, più tardi, dell’elettronica e dell’informatica. L’intreccio con la fisica e la tecnica dell’elettricità è quindi costitutivo dell’elettrofisiologia e tesse il filo conduttore di una storia scientifica, controversa al suo inizio, ma per certi versi unica ed affascinante. La rilettura di questa storia consente di far bene emergere il travaglio che accompagna il tentativo di utilizzare il metodo scientifico nella scienza della vita, intrinseca-mente complessa quest’ultima e meravigliosamente qualitativa. Come nel seguente brano, Loligo media di Jünger: «Mi comparve dinanzi trasformato in un piatto di anelli delicatamente rosolati nell’olio, presso i quali era posata la testa dalle dieci braccia simile alla chiusa fioritura di un giglio di mare o al frammento di una figuretta mitologica. Quel che subito avevo intuito si confermò: l’armonia segreta che si nasconde in tutte le qualità di un essere diveniva palese anche al senso del gusto, ed anche se avessi mangiato con gli occhi bendati mi sarebbe stato possibile collocare nel siste-ma zoologico, con sufficiente sicurezza, l’origine di quel boccone» (E. Jünger, Il cuore avventuroso)