Although there is little truth behind the ‘Godfather’ stereotype, mafia infiltration remains a serious problem in Italian politics

From the Godfather to Tony Soprano, the idea of the Mafia continues to have a special place in Western popular culture. Francesco Calderoni argues that despite the popularity of Mafia stereotypes, relatively little research has been carried out on the actual link between organised crime and politics in Italy. By mapping the areas of the country which have the highest Mafia presence, he illustrates the extent to which the problem has spread beyond the traditional hotspots of Mafia activity in Naples, Western Sicily, Northern Campania and Southern Calabria

The complexity of the embeddability relation between torsion-free abelian groups of uncountable size

We prove that for every uncountable cardinal $\kappa$ such that $\kappa^{<\kappa}=\kappa$, the quasi-order of embeddability on the $\kappa$-space of $\kappa$-sized graphs Borel reduces to the embeddability on the $\kappa$-space of $\kappa$-sized torsion-free abelian groups. Then we use the same techniques to prove that the former Borel reduces to the embeddability on the $\kappa$-space of $\kappa$-sized $R$-modules, for every $\mathbb{S}$-cotorsion-free ring $R$ of cardinality less than the continuum. As a consequence we get that all the previous are complete $\boldsymbol{\Sigma}^1_1$ quasi-orders.Comment: 14 pages, final versio

Universality of group embeddability

Working in the framework of Borel reducibility, we study various notions of embeddability between groups. We prove that the embeddability between countable groups, the topological embeddability between (discrete) Polish groups, and the isometric embeddability between separable groups with a bounded bi-invariant complete metric are all invariantly universal analytic quasi-orders. This strengthens some results from [Wil14] and [FLR09].Comment: Minor corrections. 15 pages, submitte

Predicting atomic dopant solvation in helium clusters: the MgHen_n case

We present a quantum Monte Carlo study of the solvation and spectroscopic properties of the Mg doped helium clusters MgHe$_n$ with $n=2-50$. Three high level (MP4, CCSD(T) and CCSDT) MgHe interaction potentials have been used to study the sensitivity of the dopant location on the shape of the pair interaction. Despite the similar MgHe well depth, the pair distribution functions obtained in the diffusion Monte Carlo simulations markedly differ for the three pair potentials, therefore indicating different solubility properties for Mg in He$_n$. Moreover, we found interesting size effects for the behavior of the Mg impurity. As a sensitive probe of the solvation properties, the Mg excitation spectra have been simulated for various cluster sizes and compared with the available experimental results. The interaction between the excited $^1$P Mg atom and the He moiety has been approximated using the Diatomics-in-Molecules method and the two excited $^1\Pi$ and $^1\Sigma$ MgHe potentials. The shape of the simulated MgHe$_{50}$ spectra show a substantial dependency on the location of the Mg impurity, and hence on the MgHe pair interaction employed. To unravel the dependency of the solvation behavior on the shape of the computed potentials, exact Density Functional Theory has been adapted to the case of doped He$_n$ and various energy distributions have been computed. The results indicate the shape of the repulsive part of the MgHe potential as an important cause of the different behaviours

Up to date on the use of triptans for child and adolescent migraine: “the state of the art”

The introduction of triptans, in the early 1990s, has improved the therapy for acute migraine attack, offering a new quality of life for those patients who suffer from this disabling neurological disorder. Epidemiological data point out that about 10% of school–age children suffer from migraine, with a progressive increase in incidence and prevalence up to the threshold of adulthood. The increase in extent and prevalence of migraine from the years of growth stresses the importance of the application and adjustment of ad hoc therapeutic (either pharmacological or not) and diagnostic measures. Indeed, the peculiar neurobiological and psychological aspects which are typical of an “evolving” organism preclude the use, by simple “transposition” or “proportion”, of the knowledge acquired from adult–targeted studies. That requires the implementation of studies to analyze the specific responses of children and adolescents to the triptans. To date, the studies on such issues are absolutely insufficient to draw definitive conclusions and indications for the use of triptans for child and adolescent migraineurs

The biological role of 45A ncRNA in Neuroblastoma

45A non-coding RNA (ncRNA) overexpression induces modifications of neuroblastoma (NB) cell cytoskeleton leading to a cascade of reactions that interferes with proliferation control, cell migration, tumorigenic potential, and cell adhesion properties. In detail, 45A-overexpressing cells show non-specific metastatic engraftment whereas the silencing of its expression drives to the production of liver-specific metastasis. We investigated by Real-time RT-PCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence analysis the different expression and/or localization of GTSE1, MCAK, Aurora B, p53, EGFR, and the altered organisation of tubulin in different neuroblastoma cell (SKNBE2) models stably overexpressing or downregulating 45A ncRNA. Indeed, the proper regulation of these proteins\u2019 expression and function is fundamental for cytoskeleton organization as their impairment leads to the particularly dangerous condition of chromosomal instability (CIN). We demonstrate that 45A ncRNA not only directly regulates the expression of aforementioned proteins but can even affect GTSE1 subcellular localization: in 45A-overexpressing cells, the protein is accumulated in nuclei, while 45A-downregulation leads to a significant GTSE1 cytoplasm relocation, together with simultaneous cytoplasmatic sequestration of p53, driven by GTSE1/p53 interaction. This shuttling of the oncosopressor decreases the apoptotic potential of 45A-downregulating cells, justifying the resistance to toxoids that we observed. Furthermore, 45A-overexpression leads to an increased number of abnormal spindles, thus promoting CIN, and possibly explaining the increased tumorigenic potential exhibited by 45A-overexpressing cells. Lastly, we also observed EGFR nucleolar sequestration in 45A overexpressing cells, a mechanism observed in several kind of tumors and correlated with malignancy. These data highlight the role of 45A ncRNA in the functional regulation of several proteins expression involved in microtubules dynamics, causing different drugs responses and suggesting its possible relevance in prognosis

Telesecundaria of Mexico

A perspective by one who has spent many years working in a distance education program that is successful… Mexico\u27s Educational Satellite Progra

La Commissione italo-svizzera per la pesca: oltre 100 anni di storia

Breve descirizione delle attivit? della Commissione Italo-Svizzera per la Pesc

In memory of Ettore Grimaldi

Ettore Grimaldi (1934-2015) was one of the brightest and active ichthyologists in Italy. He was a man of great enthusiasm, boundless energy and great curiosity. He was a person with an open mind. He originally visited the Institute of Pallanza in June 1957 as a master student at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Milan. He was formally called back by the Director Vittorio Tonolli, as a research assistant in 1962..