Testing a procedure for measuring personal networks

Personal Network Analysis is a specific research sector of Social Network Analysis, which deserve particular research tools. This working paper copes with a technical challenge: testing a standard procedure for doing research on personal networks and detecting their core, through two standardized tools for gathering information on emotional and functional ties. The procedure is being tested on a typological-factorial panel, and gives significant results about personal networking and homophily. The main statistical and methodological tools for personal network analysis are presented, employed, and discussed

Graz. Rosarium

Rosarium am Opernrin

Sphingosine Kinases and Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptors: Signaling and Actions in the Cardiovascular System

The sphingosine kinases 1 and 2 (SphK1 and 2) catalyze the phosphorylation of the lipid, sphingosine, generating the signal transmitter, sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P). The activation of such kinases and the subsequent S1P generation and secretion in the blood serum of mammals represent a major checkpoint in many cellular signaling cascades. In fact, activating the SphK/S1P system is critical for cell motility and proliferation, cytoskeletal organization, cell growth, survival, and response to stress. In the cardiovascular system, the physiological effects of S1P intervene through the binding and activation of a family of five highly selective G protein-coupled receptors, called S1PR1-5. Importantly, SphK/S1P signal is present on both vascular and myocardial cells. S1P is a well-recognized survival factor in many tissues. Therefore, it is not surprising that the last two decades have seen a flourishing of interest and investigative efforts directed to obtain additional mechanistic insights into the signaling, as well as the biological activity of this phospholipid, and of its receptors, especially in the cardiovascular system. Here, we will provide an up-to-date account on the structure and function of sphingosine kinases, discussing the generation, release, and function of S1P. Keeping the bull’s eye on the cardiovascular system, we will review the structure and signaling cascades and biological actions emanating from the stimulation of different S1P receptors. We will end this article with a summary of the most recent, experimental and clinical observations targeting S1PRs and SphKs as possible new therapeutic avenues for cardiovascular disorders, such as heart failure

Sociological models of scientific knowledge

In contemporary advanced societies, the study of science and technology has acquired huge importance; this has been possible also thanks to the sociology of science. It is a hybrid specialty, because it derives from the sociology of knowledge and the social history of science, and yet is more and more conditioned by economics and politics. This critical review article examines the opposing sociological models of science which were developed in the 20th century, and relates them to the global processes of collectivization and steady state of science and technology. The diffusion of scientific communication is suggested as an important social goal

Il processo di operazionalizzazione nella ricerca sociale

E’ il capitolo 2 del vol. I del trattato di Ricerca sociale in 3 volumi. Il processo di operazionalizzazione viene prima inquadrato storicamente, a partire dal pragmatismo americano e po dall’operazionalismo di Bridgman, per proporre poi un’integrazione fra approccio lazarsfeldiano e strumentalismo sociologico