Claudia Moro, Lucie Biehler-Gomez, Giuseppe Lanza Attisano
et al.
Enamel hypoplasia (EH) is a stress marker commonly used in bioarcheological research to investigate health during growth. However, its analysis in contemporary samples allows for additional avenues of research, including comparison with medical records. The aim of the present research is to explore the influence of biological sex and socioeconomic status on the distribution of EH and examine the factors that contribute to the development of this defect. In this perspective, analysis of dentition was conducted on 132 individuals, with known information about age, biological sex, nationality, medical records, and socioeconomic status. Statistical analysis was conducted using Fisher’s test and the chi-square test. As a result, EH was observed more frequently among individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, while a significant association was observed with socioeconomic status, evidencing a strong association between EH presence and structural vulnerability (chi-square, <i>p</i> = 0.04). The frequency of EH between sexes was not significant; however, a higher frequency was observed among males (chi-square, <i>p</i> = 0.94). We hypothesize that the impact of female biological buffering might be reduced in the European sample, as this result aligns with background information of the context. These results align with the research hypotheses and reinforce the multifactorial etiology of EH.
Gabriella Martino, Mariagrazia Di Giuseppe, Orlando Silvestro
et al.
BackgroundChronic immune-mediated diseases, such as Severe Allergic Asthma (SAA) and Hymenoptera Venom Anaphylaxis (HVA), significantly impact quality of life. Defense mechanisms, as implicit emotion-regulation strategies, shape an individual’s adaptation to chronic stressors. This cross-sectional study explored the relationship among defensive functioning, psychological symptoms, and perceived physical and mental health in patients with SAA and HVA.MethodsTo explore the role of defensive functioning in perceived physical and mental health 34 patients with SAA and 32 with HVA were assessed with the Short-Form Health Survey, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales Self Report-30; between-group differences, and mediation analyses were performed.ResultsDefensive functioning was positively associated with mental health and negatively related to depressive symptoms, anxiety and alexithymia. Males reported significantly higher physical and psychological health than females. Patients with SAA exhibited significantly higher defensive functioning but worse physical health than HVA patients. Mediation analysis revealed that defensive functioning correlated with disease type and physical health, accounting for 39% of the explained variances. Moreover, defensive functioning independently predicted mental health.ConclusionThis study highlights the influence of implicit emotional regulation on psychophysiological well-being in patients with chronic immune-mediated disorders. Despite reporting lower perceived physical health, patients with SAA exhibited higher defensive functioning, suggesting that chronic conditions may shape distinct psychological adaptation processes. These findings support the importance of defence mechanisms assessment to tailor psychological interventions promoting well-being in patients with chronic diseases.
The users of synchrotron light are now tens of thousands throughout the world. Paradoxically, many of them do not know much about the early history of their domain. This is regrettable, since education about the initial developments makes it easier to fully understand synchrotron radiation and effectively use its amazing features. Scarcely known, in particular, is the key role of scientists working in Frascati, Italy. Partly based on his personal experiences, the author reports here relevant aspects of this story, including a pioneering French–Italian experiment that started in the early 1960s, and the Frascati contributions in the 1970s and 1980s to the birth of synchrotron light research. Finally, the unwise strategic decisions that prevented Italy from achieving absolute leadership in this domain – in spite of its unique initial advantages – are analyzed.
Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, Crystallography
Background. The theory of modernization, claimed in the 1960s in order to become
an alternative to Marxism, in fact, in the person of Western authors, was unable to
satisfactorily present a generalizing line of social development. Meanwhile, this theory itself
is needed, but requires an updated approach, which, in particular, represents an analysis
of process technology. The purpose of the stu is to verify this approach and demonstrate its
capabilities using the example of specific scientific subjects. Materials and methods. The
article outlines the theoretical principles of the essence of modernization transformations in
the sphere of state and law. It is noted that the renewal of the state mechanism leads to the
politicization of society and the formation of civil society, which is also accompanied by
the modernization of the legal system, while the final stage of the entire process is the
emergence of the rule of law. The applicability of this theory to the phenomenon of colonialism,
legal humanization carried out since the 19th century, and the modernization of
Greece, which started at the turn of the 1870–1880s, is shown. In essence, the authors use
the deduction method, demonstrating how the theoretical postulates proposed by Professor
A.Yu. Salomatin can be applied to various circumstances. The comparative method is also
used. Results. Turning to the phenomenon of colonialism, it is advisable to consider its mature
forms of the 19th – mid-20th centuries. in the context of modernization, when colonial
empires do not simply continue to engage in primitive robbery of colonies, but carry out
their systematic integration into their economies, which is accompanied by infrastructural
development of territories and experimentation with self-government principles. Or there is
every reason to connect the appearance of slogans against information imperialism to the
1970s, since then the West not only unexpectedly and inexplicably weakened, but temporarily
lost its aggressiveness due to the exhaustion of the previous modernization model and the delay in the transition to postmodernization. The technological theory of modernization
helps to better understand such an innovation in the legislation of the 19th century as the
humanization of criminal penalties, to see in it not an accident, but a pattern. Equally, on
the basis of this theory, we can analyze the pace and characteristics of renewal in different
countries. For example, when comparing the modernization starts of Great Britain, France,
Germany, Italy, it should be noted that in small, economically and socially stagnant Greece,
dependent on the great powers, the starting point of transformation should be sought somewhere
at the turn of the 1870–1880s. – that is, much later than even in the countries of the
second modernization echelon (Russia, Japan, Argentina). Conclusions. The state and legal
history of Europe, and other continents, requires serious study based on the technological
theory of modernization. By examining phenomena through the prism of consistent and
natural transformations within the state and society, by comparing the pace and characteristics
of modernization processes in different countries, we can better understand the dynamics
of the development of state and law.
Objective. To report cross-sectionally serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in women living in Italy within 12 months from breast cancer (BC) diagnosis.
Methods. Baseline data were obtained from 394 women diagnosed with primary BC, enrolled from 2016 to 2019 in a lifestyle trial conducted in Italy. Subjects’ characteristics were compared between two 25(OH)D concentrations (hypovitaminosis D<20 and ≥20 ng/mL) with the Chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test for small-expected counts. Using multiple logistic regression-adjusted models, we estimated odds ratios (ORs) of hypovitaminosis D with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in the total sample and in the unsupplemented subgroup.
Results. Hypovitaminosis D was found in 39% of all subjects, 60% in unsupplemented subjects, and 10% in supplemented subjects. Increasing ORs of hypovitaminosis D were found with increasing body mass index, 25-30, >30, and ≥35 versus <25 kg/m2 (ORs: 2.50, 4.64, and 5.81, respectively, in the total cohort and ORs: 2.68, 5.38, and 7.08 in the unsupplemented); living in the most southern Italian region (OR 2.50, 95%CI 1.22-5.13); and with hypertriglyceridemia (OR 2.46; 95%CI 1.16-5.22), chemotherapy history (OR 1.86, 95%CI 1.03-3.38), and inversely with anti-estrogenic therapy (OR 0.43, 95%CI 0.24-0.75) in the total sample.
Conclusions. Hypovitaminosis D in women recently diagnosed with BC and participating in a lifestyle trial in Italy was widespread and highest with obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and chemotherapy use. Considering that hypovitaminosis D is a risk factor for lower efficacy of bone density treatments and possibly BC mortality, our results suggest the need to promptly address and treat vitamin D deficiency.
Marco Scaglione, Flavia Napoli, Giulia Prato
et al.
We report the case of a 13-year-old patient, female, born in Northern Italy, who presented with an acute episode of aphasia, lasting about 15 min, accompanied by left arm dysesthesia. The state of consciousness remained preserved throughout the episode. After a first clinical evaluation at second-level hospital, the patient was sent to our institute for further investigations. Brain MRI performed at admission showed no noteworthy structural alterations. Electroencephalogram was not significant, as was the echocardiographic examination. ECG was normal, except for a corrected-QT at the upper limits of the normal range for age and gender. The neurological examination was substantially normal for the entire duration of the hospital stay. The symptomatology initially described has never reappeared. Blood tests were substantially negative, in particular thrombophilic screening excluded hereditary-familial thrombophilic diseases. Color doppler ultrasound of the supra-aortic trunks, splanchnic vessels and lower limbs were also normal. Only positivity to SARS-CoV-2 serology is reported. In the recent clinical history there were no symptoms attributable to symptomatic coronavirus infection.
Raffaele Pucinotti, Rita A. De Lorenzo, Chiara Bedon
Seismic isolation devices, as known, are particularly efficient tools for the protection of newly designed or existing buildings and infrastructures and for the mitigation of maximum effects due to earthquakes. The highest is the vulnerability of a given existing construction, and the higher is the benefit in structural terms due to a possible retrofit intervention based on base isolation. This is especially the case of reinforced concrete (RC) building frames built in the 1960s in the Italian context and originally designed with a code of the first generation (“Regio Decreto Legge 25 Marzo 1935, n. 640”) in a city characterized by a long history of severe earthquakes (as the Reggio Calabria and Messina earthquake in 1908), and thus recognized as highly seismic regions. In this paper, a case-study application is proposed for the Frangipane school constructed in Reggio Calabria (Italy) and recently subjected to a major renovation intervention for its retrofit against the high seismic hazard.
Lucia Mangone, Carmine Pinto, Pamela Mancuso
et al.
Abstract Background Right-sided colorectal cancer (CRC) has worse survival than does left-sided CRC. The objective of this study was to further assess the impact of right-side location on survival and the role of the extent of lymphadenectomy. Methods All CRCs diagnosed between 2000 and 2012 in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy, were included. Data for stage, grade, histology, screening history, and number of removed lymph nodes (LN) were collected. Multivariable Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR), with relative 95% confidence intervals (95%CI), of right vs. left colon and of removing < 12, 12–21 or > 21 lymph nodes by cancer site. Results During the study period, 29,358 patients were registered (8828 right colon, 18,852 left colon, 1678 transverse). Patients with right cancer were more often older, females, with advanced stage and high grade, and higher number of removed LNs. Five-year survival was lower in the right than in the left colon (55.2% vs 59.7%). In multivariable analysis, right colon showed a lower survival when adjusting for age, sex, and screening status (HR 1.12, 95%CI 1.04–1.21). Stratification by number of lymph nodes removed (12–21 or > 21) was associated with better survival in right colon (HR 0.54, 95%CI 0.40–0.72 and HR 0.40, 95%CI 0.30–0.55, respectively) compared to left colon (HR 0.89, 95%CI 0.76–1.06 and HR 0.83, 95%CI 0.69–1.01, respectively). Conclusions This study confirms that right CRC has worse survival; the association is not due to screening status. An adequate removal of lymph nodes is associated with better survival, although the direction of the association in terms of causal links is not clear.
The article introduces and discusses the notion of ‘peripheral locations’ as a key concept for understanding the relation between, on the one hand, the production and distribution strategies of contemporary Italian television and, on the other, screen tourism initiatives. After defining the notion and stressing its relevance in the European circulation of national crime productions, the article focuses on the TV series La porta rossa (The Red Door) as a case study. The series is co-produced by Rai Fiction and Vela Film (Garbo Produzioni from the second season) and is internationally distributed by Studio Canal. Set in the city of Trieste, close to the border between Italy and Slovenia, the story plot intertwines crime and fantasy. The series’ production history demonstrates the complex role played by peripheral locations in both the writing process and the represented fictional world. The Virtual Reality walking tours organised by Esterno/Giorno – a tourism organisation related to the regional film commission of Friuli Venezia Giulia, which also contributed its own funding into the production – underline how peripheral locations can help create innovative and engaging forms of screen tourism.
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities
Aurélie Labeur, Nicolas E. Beaudoin, Olivier Lacombe
et al.
Unravelling the burial-deformation history of sedimentary rocks is prerequisite information to understand the regional tectonic, sedimentary, thermal, and fluid-flow evolution of foreland basins. We use a combination of microstructural analysis, stylolites paleopiezometry, and paleofluid geochemistry to reconstruct the burial-deformation history of the Meso-Cenozoic carbonate sequence of the Cingoli Anticline (Northern Apennines, central Italy). Four major sets of mesostructures were linked to the regional deformation sequence: (i) pre-folding foreland flexure/forebulge; (ii) fold-scale layer-parallel shortening under a N045 σ<sub>1</sub>; (iii) syn-folding curvature of which the variable trend between the north and the south of the anticline is consistent with the arcuate shape of the anticline; (iv) the late stage of fold tightening. The maximum depth experienced by the strata prior to contraction, up to 1850 m, was quantified by sedimentary stylolite paleopiezometry and projected on the reconstructed burial curve to assess the timing of the contraction. As isotope geochemistry points towards fluid precipitation at thermal equilibrium, the carbonate clumped isotope thermometry (Δ<sub>47</sub>) considered for each fracture set yields the absolute timing of the development and exhumation of the Cingoli Anticline: layer-parallel shortening occurred from ~6.3 to 5.8 Ma, followed by fold growth that lasted from ~5.8 to 3.9 Ma.
Aim. To assess the prospects of using quantitative contrast-enhanced ultrasound perfusion imaging of atherosclerotic carotid sinus plaques.Material and methods. The study included 5 men and 1 woman (59-76 years old, median 72) with symptomatic coronary sinus atherosclerosis. The inclusion criterion was history of ischemic stroke due to internal carotid artery lesion (NASCET >60%). We performed contrast-enhanced ultrasound perfusion imaging of the carotid arteries, endarterectomy, studying pathomorphology of the removed plaque with the calculation of the neovascular density and the total number of neovessels with a diameter <40 μm. Neovascularization was assessed by quantitative contrast-enhanced ultrasound 20 seconds after the 1 ml infusion of Sonovia (Bracco, Italy) and subsequent application of the flash. The analysis of dynamics of ultrasonic signal intensity in the atherosclerotic plaque was carried out by creating the curves of the ultrasonic signal intensity (dB)/time (s) over 3 segments of the cross section of the internal carotid artery long axis. The automatic calculation of the intensity dynamics took into account the parameter values in the studied areas within 20 s after the flash. The calculated coefficients (A, B, β) of the exponential equation for 3 atherosclerotic segments were recorded.Results. Perfusion and neovascularization were assessed in 27 segments of atherosclerotic plaques. The correlation relationships between the ultrasonic parameters of plaque perfusion and the severity of neovascularization were assessed according to the histological data. Significant correlations of the exponential curve coefficient β and histological parameters characterizing the prevalence of “young” vessels (<40 microns) in the atherosclerotic plaque were revealed. Spearman’s R for the density of neovessels was 0,54; for the number of neovessels with a diameter <40 μm. —0,66 (p<0,01).Conclusion. Diagnosis of atherosclerotic plaque neovascularization becomes possible to quantify, assessing not only the presence of neovascular vessels, but also the perfusion intensity. The novel approach replaces the qualitative and semi-quantitative method for calculating the number of carotid plaques neovessels in vivo.
Diseases of the circulatory (Cardiovascular) system
AbstractBlindfolded by a lack of earlier systematic data, comparative studies of regional developments in historical Italy begin with the formation of the Italian state, in 1861. We use literacy rates reported in post-1861 population censuses combined with the fact that literacy skills were usually achieved during youth to predict regional literacy developments all the way back to 1821. Our analysis informs ongoing debates about the origins and long-run evolution of Italy’s north–south divide. By lifting the veil into Italy’s pre-unification past, we establish that the north–south literacy gap was substantial already in 1821, grew markedly wider in the first half of the nineteenth century, only to revert back in 1911 to the 1821 level. Gender gaps in literacy essentially close in the north during 1821–1911, while in the south they registered a secular stagnation. This opens an avenue for investigating a new dimension of the north–south gap largely overlooked in the existing literature.
Lineage 2 West Nile virus (WNV) caused a vast epidemic in Europe in 2018, with the highest incidence being recorded in Italy. To reconstruct the evolutionary dynamics and epidemiological history of the virus in Italy, 53 envelope gene and 26 complete genome sequences obtained from human and animal samples were characterised by means of next-generation sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis revealed two Italian strains originating between 2010 and 2012: clade A, which apparently became extinct in 2013−2014, and clade B, which was responsible for the 2018 epidemic. The mean genetic distances in clade B increased over time and with the distance between sampling locations. Bayesian birth-death and coalescent skyline plots of the clade B showed that the effective number of infections and the effective reproduction number (Re) increased between 2015 and 2018. Our data suggest that WNV-2 entered Italy in 2011 as a result of one or a few penetration events. Clade B differentiated mainly as a result of genetic drift and purifying selection, leading to the appearance of multiple locally circulating sub-clades for different times. Phylodynamic analysis showed a current expansion of the infection among reservoir birds and/or vectors.
Igor V Ovchinnikov, Taryn Dahms, Billie Herauf
et al.
Feral horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) represent an iconic era of the North Dakota Badlands. Their uncertain history raises management questions regarding origins, genetic diversity, and long-term genetic viability. Hair samples with follicles were collected from 196 horses in the Park and used to sequence the control region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and to profile 12 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) markers. Three mtDNA haplotypes found in the TRNP horses belonged to haplogroups L and B. The control region variation was low with haplotype diversity of 0.5271, nucleotide diversity of 0.0077 and mean pairwise difference of 2.93. We sequenced one mitochondrial genome from each haplotype determined by the control region. Two complete mtDNA sequences of haplogroup L were closely related to the mtDNA of American Paint horse. The TRNP haplotype B did not have close matches in GenBank. The phylogenetic test placed this sequence in a group consisting of two horses from China, one from Yakutia, and one from Italy raising a possibility of historical transportation of horses from Siberia and East Asia to North America. Autosomal STR loci were polymorphic and indicated that the TRNP horses were distinctly different from 48 major horse breeds. Heterozygosity, mean number of alleles, and other measures of diversity indicated that TRNP herd diversity was below that observed for most other feral herds and domestic breeds. Both mtDNA and STRs demonstrated that the existing genetic data sets of horses are insufficient to determine the exact origins of the TRNP horses. However, measures of nuclear and mitochondrial diversity have elucidated management needs. It is recommended that new genetic stock be introduced and that adaptive management principles are employed to ensure that unique mitochondrial lineages are preserved and genetic diversity is increased and maintained over time.
Italian literature includes a large number of dialect writers. Their number is particularly high in Quadrio’s History of Italian Literature, but was reduced in the works written in the Romantic Age (i.e. those by Ginguené, Corniani, Ugoni and Emiliani). The elimination of dialect writers was most drastic in the masterly History of Italian Literature by Francesco De Sanctis published in 1870 for use in schools. He ignored them basically for political reasons, being an ardent supporter of the unity of Italy. Thus he considered dialects an obstacle to this unity. For this reason he backdated the existence of a common Italian language to as early as the 13th century, using the term ‘dialect’ only for writings by Tuscan authors who made use of the spoken language of their region, which could easily be understood by all other Italians.
In this paper, the authors present a recent integrated survey carried out on an archaeological urban site, generally free of buildings, except some temporary structures related to excavated areas where multi-chamber tombs were found. The two methods used to investigate this site were thermal infrared and ground penetrating radar (GPR). The thermography was carried out with the sensor mounted under a helium balloon simultaneously with a photographic camera. In order to have a synthetic view of the surface thermal behavior, a simplified version of the existing night thermal gradient algorithm was applied. By this approach, we have a wide extension of thermal maps due to the balloon oscillation, because we are able to compute the maps despite collecting few acquisition samples. By the integration of GPR and the thermal imaging, we can evaluate the depth of the thermal influence of possible archaeological targets, such as buried Punic tombs or walls belonging to the succeeding medieval buildings, which have been subsequently destroyed. The thermal anomalies present correspondences to the radar time slices obtained from 30 to 50 cm. Furthermore, by superimposing historical aerial pictures on the GPR and thermal imaging data, we can identify these anomalies as the foundations of the destroyed buildings.
The Challenge of the Sexual Labyrinth Sensuality in the Work of Italo CalvinoIn this article, the novels, stories and essays of Italo Calvino are being studied from the perspective of sensuality and Eros. In literary criticism Calvino’s work is rarely being associated with sexuality, even though the subject did fuel the imagination of the writer himself. Calvino recognized the importance of the theme of sexuality in literature as well as the challenge inherent in trying to depict faithfully a similar ineffable subject, that has, moreover, been covered by society under a thick layer of clichés and repetitive language and therefore been emptied of meaning. The importance of a non-banal, renewing sexuality in literature inspired Calvino to experiment in a light, humorous, surprising way with a myriad of forms of literary sensuality. Calvino has searched Eros in space, as the prime mover in evolution, amongst animals and celestial bodies (instead of the usual heavenly bodies), in rituals and objects, in the heads of his characters, but seldom there where the reader would expect it to be. In a mild and often indirect way Calvino integrates his reflections on the subject in his short stories and comments on the role of sexuality in modern society and literature.
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities, History of Italy