Sul concetto di iuris consensus in sant’Agostino

The real meaning of the expression iuris consensus, in the definition of the people quoted by Augustine in Civ. II, 21 and XIX, 21, can be understood only on the background of Roman legal thought. It refers to the subjective rights of the person (ius). However Augustine reverses the traditional relationship between these rights and the State: the acknowledgment of the former is the foundation of the latter, not vice versa. Consensus is the covenant according to which the State binds itself to respect the rights of the individuals and thus legitimates its power. From this point of view, Augustine paves the way to modern constitutionalism

Stadtentwicklung in Kabul im Kontext von Staatsaufbau und militärisch-humanitärer Intervention

Stadtentwicklung in der afghanischen Hauptstadt Kabul nach der westlichen Intervention ist gekennzeichnet von der Verschränkung einer durch Staatsaufbau nach westlichem Vor bild gesteuerten Logik und der sich in diesem Rahmen ausbreitenden Aneignung des städtischen Raumes durch ganz verschiedene Akteure. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird das Ziel verfolgt, stadträumliche Entwicklungsprozesse in Kabul nach 2001 genauer in den Blick zu nehmen und mit jüngeren Debatten um urbane Informalität im globalen Süden zu verknüpfen. Dabei werden verschiedene, aufeinander bezogene Regime der Stadtplanung und ihre Raumproduktionen unter der Linse urbaner Informalität genauer betrachtet. Es soll herausgearbeitet werden, wie eine Herstellung und Zementierung städtischer Ungleichheit forciert wird, wie bestimmte soziale Dispositionen und Praktiken im Kontext von Informalität charakterisiert werden und wie urbane Informalität gezielt als Ressource zur Macht- und Wohlstandsaneignung eingesetzt werden kann

Informalität von oben und unten

Stadtentwicklung in der afghanischen Hauptstadt Kabul nach der westlichen Intervention ist gekennzeichnet von der Verschränkung einer durch Staatsaufbau nach westlichem Vorbild gesteuerten Logik und der sich in diesem Rahmen ausbreitenden Aneignung des städtischen Raumes durch ganz verschiedene Akteure. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird das Ziel verfolgt, stadträumliche Entwicklungsprozesse in Kabul nach 2001 genauer in den Blick zu nehmen und mit jüngeren Debatten um urbane Informalität im globalen Süden zu verknüpfen. Dabei werden verschiedene, aufeinander bezogene Regime der Stadtplanung und ihre Raumproduktionen unter der Linse urbaner Informalität genauer betrachtet. Es soll herausgearbeitet werden, wie eine Herstellung und Zementierung städtischer Ungleichheit forciert wird, wie bestimmte soziale Dispositionen und Praktiken im Kontext von Informalität charakterisiert werden und wie urbane Informalität gezielt als Ressource zur Macht- und Wohlstandsaneignung eingesetzt werden kann

The Social Appearance Anxiety Scale in Italian adolescent populations: Construct validation and group discrimination in community and clinical eating disorders samples

Anxiety in situations where one’s overall appearance (including body shape) may be negatively evaluated is hypothesized to play a central role in Eating Disorders (EDs) and in their co-occurrence with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Three studies were conducted among community (N = 1995) and clinical (N = 703) ED samples of 11- to 18-year-old Italian girls and boys to (a) evaluate the psychometric qualities and measurement equivalence/invariance (ME/I) of the Social Appearance Anxiety (SAA) Scale (SAAS) and (b) determine to what extent SAA or other situational domains of social anxiety related to EDs distinguish adolescents with an ED only from those with SAD. Results upheld the one-factor structure and ME/I of the SAAS across samples, gender, age categories, and diagnostic status (i.e., ED participants with and without comorbid SAD). The SAAS demonstrated high internal consistency and 3-week test–retest reliability. The strength of the inter-relationships between SAAS and measures of body image, teasing about appearance, ED symptoms, depression, social anxiety, avoidance, and distress, as well as the ability of SAAS to discriminate community adolescents with high and low levels of ED symptoms and community participants from ED participants provided construct validity evidence. Only SAA strongly differentiated adolescents with any ED from those with comorbid SAD (23.2 %). Latent mean comparisons across all study groups were performed and discussed

A new tool to process forecast meteorological data for atmospheric pollution dispersion simulations of accident scenarios: A Sicily-based case study

Emergency response plans to mitigate the severity of the accidental release of hazardous compounds in the air have become a primary concern in view of the many adverse events occurred over the years in high-risk plants. To do this, an accurate estimate of forecast meteorological data to be used in dispersion models can be very useful to respond in advance to emergency situations. In this field, FORCALM is a new tool developed to elaborate European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts data on a 3D computational domain with a high-resolution grid. FORCALM data can be used to perform predictive simulations of impacts on local and regional levels by using CALPUFF modelling system. A case study relevant to an accident, occurred in the “Mediterranea” Refinery at Milazzo (Italy) in 2014, has been also examined for validation purposes. A comparison with results obtained by using CALMET modelling system and observed meteorological data, covering the area under study, is also described. The validation work has allowed confirming that predictive assessments, carried out with the help of FORCALM, lead to information regarding potential environmental impacts with a good degree of accuracy

Syphilis as osteomyelitis of the fifth metatarsal of the left foot: the great imitator hits once again

We report an unusual case of osteomyelitis of the left foot due to syphilitic bone involvement

A new subspecies of Cicindela (Cicindela) campestris Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera Cicindelidae) from the Aeolian Islands (Italy)

Cicindela (Cicindela) campestris didyme n. ssp. from the islands of Salina and Lipari (Aeolian Archipelago, Sicily, Italy) is here described. The new subspecies differs from other Italian populations of C. campestris, in particular from the closest ones of Sicily (C. campestris siculorum Schilder, 1953) and Calabria (C. campestris calabrica Mandl, 1944) for some morphological characters such as the shape of the clypeus, the granules of the elytra less elevated and more sparse and the different aedeagus. It is immediately recognizable by more or less extensively green-brown color of the dorsal surface often entirely red-brown

Identification of the zinc finger 216 (ZNF216) in human carcinoma cells. A potential regulator of EGFR activity

Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), a member of the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) proteins, is aberrantly expressed or deregulated in tumors and plays pivotal roles in cancer onset and metastatic progression. ZNF216 gene has been identified as one of Immediate Early Genes (IEGs) induced by RTKs. Overexpression of ZNF216 protein sensitizes 293 cell line to TNF-α induced apoptosis. However, ZNF216 overexpression has been reported in medulloblastomas and metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinomas. Thus, the role of this protein is still not clearly understood. In this study, the inverse correlation between EGFR and ZNF216 expression was confirmed in various human cancer cell lines differently expressing EGFR. EGF treatment of NIH3T3 cells overexpressing both EGFR and ZNF216 (NIH3T3-EGFR/ZNF216), induced a long lasting activation of EGFR in the cytosolic fraction and an accumulation of phosphorylated EGFR (pEGFR) more in the nuclear than in the cytosolic fraction compared to NIH3T3-EGFR cells. Moreover, EGF was able to stimulate an increased expression of ZNF216 in the cytosolic compartment and its nuclear translocation in a time-dependent manner in NIH3T3-EGFR/ZNF216. A similar trend was observed in A431 cells endogenously expressing the EGFR and transfected with Znf216. The increased levels of pEGFR and ZNF216 in the nuclear fraction of NIH3T3-EGFR/ZNF216 cells were paralleled by increased levels of phospho-MAPK and phospho-Akt. Surprisingly, EGF treatment of NIH3T3-EGFR/ZNF216 cells induced a significant increase of apoptosis thus indicating that ZNF216 could sensitize cells to EGF-induced apoptosis and suggesting that it may be involved in the regulation and effects of EGFR signaling

Antibiotic-loaded hydrogel coating to reduce early postsurgical infections in aseptic hip revision surgery: a retrospective, matched case-control study

Periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs) are a cause of frequent implant failure in revision hip replacement surgery. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the onset of early postoperative infections in patients who underwent hip surgery with cementless prostheses treated with an antibiotic loaded hydrogel on their surface, in addition to systemic prophylaxis, and compare them to a control group. The secondary objective was to evaluate the onset of any local and systemic adverse effects and interference with bone ingrowth processes and functional recovery. A retrospective observational study was conducted on patients who underwent revision hip surgery by performing a 1:1 match between patients treated with an antibiotic hydrogel (ALH) and the control patients. The incidence of PJIs was assessed with a minimum of six months follow-up. Seventeen patients treated with the ALH were compared with 17 patients from the control group. No PJIs were reported in the ALH group versus the six cases encountered in the control group (p < 0.0001). No significant differences were reported with regard to prosthetic osseointegration and functional results, nor were there side effects in the ALH group. Despite the low sample size, the use of on-site prophylaxis with ALH has proven effective and safe in reducing the risk of PJIs in patients with a high risk for infections. Further studies are needed to validate these results in other implant-related surgeries