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Bioresorbable scaffolds in lower limb arterial disease: a narrative review of advancements and future directions
No full textEndovascular recanalization has revolutionized the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD), offering minimally invasive alternatives to open surgery. However, permanent metallic stents, while effective in restoring blood flow, are associated with long-term complications such as chronic inflammation, restenosis, and stent thrombosis. Bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) have emerged as an innovative solution, providing temporary mechanical support while delivering antiproliferative drugs before fully degrading, thus eliminating the risks associated with permanent implants. Significant advancements in bioresorbable materials have led to the development of new-generation scaffolds with improved radial strength, controlled degradation rates, and enhanced drug-eluting properties. Several BRS platforms, including polymer- and magnesium-based designs, are undergoing clinical and preclinical evaluation for peripheral applications. Early trials suggest that BRS may offer comparable short-term patency rates to conventional stents while potentially reducing late adverse events. However, challenges such as scaffold thrombosis, mechanical integrity in large and calcified vessels, and long-term efficacy remain under investigation. This narrative review explores the evolution of BRS technology, the mechanisms of scaffold resorption, current clinical evidence, and future prospects for their use in peripheral endovascular interventions. As research progresses, BRS may represent a paradigm shift in the treatment of PAD, offering a balance between structural support and vascular restoration
Cambio del nome e diritto all’oblio delle proprie origini culturali
No full textIl contributo esamina la questione del diritto al cambio del nome come
(possibile) espressione di un diritto all’oblio delle proprie origini culturali. Viene preliminarmente ricostruita la questione del collegamento tra nome e identità culturale,
evidenziando come l’esperienza degli Stati nazionali sia stata caratterizzata dalla pretesa
del pubblico potere di ingerirsi dei nomi dei consociati per promuovere l’omogeneità.
L’era delle migrazioni ha inaugurato una nuova fase in cui il cambio del nome per “far
dimenticare” le proprie origini è stato utilizzato dalle minoranze per integrarsi nella
comunità “ospitante” ed evitare discriminazioni. Nell’era del multiculturalismo, la questione ha perso di attualità, per via della nuova apertura al pluralismo. Tuttavia, nella fase
attuale, caratterizzata da nuovi nazionalismi, il cambio del nome per “far dimenticare”
le proprie origini potrebbe assumere una nuova centralità.The chapter examines the issue of the right to change one’s name as a (possible) expression of a right
to be forgotten with respect to one’s cultural origins. It first reconstructs the connection between name and
cultural identity, highlighting how the experience of nation-States has been characterized by the public
powers’ interference with citizens’ names to promote homogeneity. The era of migration inaugurated a
phase in which changing one’s name was used by minorities to integrate into the “host” community and
avoid discrimination. In the age of multiculturalism, the issue lost much of its relevance due to a new
openness toward pluralism. However, in the current phase, marked by the resurgence of new nationa
A Polymorphic Reconfigurable Multi‐Electrode Device Based on Electrically Bistable Nanostructured Metallic Films
No full textThe scale-up of computation performances required by the rapidly increasing demand for the analysis and management of large databases poses serious doubts about the sustainability of von Neumann hardware architectures. Unconventional computing, taking inspiration from biological models and relying on self-assembled systems based on nanoparticles and nanowires, may offer interesting alternatives. Here, we report the experimental characterization of the mechanisms that regulate the bistable electrical behavior and the resistive switching of self-assembled gold nanostructured thin films. We show that the adaptive reconfiguration properties of the nanostructured network under specific input stimuli drive the reprogrammability of the device. We demonstrate how this system can be employed for the implementation of polymorphic devices, which can be used both as unconventional multiplexers (MUX) and as reconfigurable threshold logic gates (TLG), able to generate a complete set of Boolean functions
Bifunctional Photocatalysts: Exploiting Proximity for Enhanced Reaction Performance
No full textThe bifunctional approach has often been employed in catalysis to obtain more effective and enantioselective transformations. In the sub-area of photocatalysis, bifunctional systems have been designed (i) to introduce chirality in the system and thus gain stereocontrol, and (ii) to more effectively exploit the short-lived catalytic intermediates (e.g., photoexcited species and radicals). In some cases, instead of two distinct catalytic units, a single photoactive group displaying also other types of activity can be employed (“bivalent photocatalysts”). This review aims to cover the most recent examples in this field, establishing—when possible—a comparison with the corresponding dual catalytic systems
GENOMIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL INSIGHTS INTO BACTERIAL HEAVY METAL RESISTANCE MECHANISMS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DECONTAMINATION
No full textThe contamination of soils and waters with heavy metals (HM) such as chromium, copper, zinc and cadmium represents one of the most severe environmental challenges, posing risks to ecosystem balance and human health. Microorganisms and plants have evolved a range of mechanisms to tolerate, transform and immobilize these pollutants, offering opportunities for sustainable bioremediation strategies. The aim of this PhD thesis was to investigate how bacteria can contribute to the removal and detoxification of heavy metals. The work is structured to explore complementary aspects: (1) Analyses of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and biofilm formation of Serratia plymuthica strain As3-5a(5) highlight the role of tightly bound EPS in Cu removal from industrial wastewaters; (2) Genome sequencing and transcriptomic analysis of Rhodococcus erythropolis strain SC26 provide insights into its Cr(VI) reduction pathways; (3) Characterization of Cd resistance and plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacteria contributes to knowledge of plant-microbial interactions to alleviate Cd stress in plants; (4) Characterization of microbial communities in heavy metal- hydrocarbon contaminated area demonstrates how ecological indicators can support rhizoremediation assessment.
Collectively, these findings contribute to a deeper understanding of microbial and plant-microbe interactions in metal-contaminated environments, and support the development of innovative, eco- compatible strategies to mitigate heavy metal pollution and promote ecosystem restoration
ALTERNATIVE AL CARCERE, ESECUZIONE DELLA PENA NELLA COMUNITÀ E IMPATTO SULLA RECIDIVA
No full textThe thesis critically examines the system of alternatives to imprisonment in Italy, focusing in particular on the modalities of sentence execution within the community and on the impact of non-custodial sanctions on recidivism rates. Starting from the structural and functional crisis of the prison system – characterized by chronic overcrowding, poor rehabilitative efficiency, and conditions often detrimental to human dignity –, the research investigates the actual capacity of community-based sanctions to fulfill the constitutional aim of rehabilitating the offender, using the reduction of reoffending rates as a benchmark. Through an interdisciplinary approach and a comparison with the French experience, the study highlights the need to construct individualized sanctioning paths capable of identifying and addressing the specific risk factors related to each offender, as the most effective strategy to ensure the punitive response to crime is also effective in preventing recidivism. Furthermore, a methodological model for the empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of different sanctioning modalities is developed. The conclusions outline the prospect of a reformed punitive system praeter carcerem founded on the centrality of the rehabilitative function, the principle of proportionality, and the use of prison as an extrema ratio, within a framework of criminal justice genuinely oriented toward social reintegration
On properties of languages accepted by deterministic pushdown automata with translucent input letters
No full textWe study deterministic pushdown automata operating with translucent input letters. These devices can be obtained by equipping classical deterministic pushdown automata with a translucency function which, depending on the current state, establishes the set of invisible input symbols: such invisible symbols are skipped in the current move and dealt with in subsequent sweeps, while the first visible symbol from the current input head position rightward is processed and consumed. Deterministic pushdown automata with translucent input letters can be returning, meaning that a new input sweep starts from the leftmost input symbol left on the tape immediately after processing a visible symbol, or non-returning. We show some incomparability results between the acceptance capabilities of returning and non-returning deterministic pushdown automata with translucent input letters and those of non-returning deterministic and nondeterministic finite state automata with translucent input letters. Then, we prove the non-closure of the families of languages accepted by returning and non-returning deterministic pushdown automata with translucent input letters under: concatenation, Kleene star, length-preserving and inverse homomorphism, reversal, and intersection with regular languages. In particular, arguments used to prove the non-closure under intersection with regular languages enable us to answer a question left open in the literature, on the recognition power of non-returning deterministic finite state automata with translucent input letters
SYNTHESIS AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF CARBOHYDRATE-BASED ARCHITECTURES: FROM VACCINE ADJUVANTS TO GLYCAN FOLDAMERS
No full textCarbohydrates are complex molecules currently under deep investigation for the multiple roles they have in Nature: from source of energy, bricks of cell surface to several biological processes1. In the past years carbohydrates have been used in many applications: in the pharmaceutical field they are found in drug discovery2, design and synthesis of glycomimetics structures3, vaccine adjuvants4. Polyglycan structures have been used both for biology and for material chemistry purpose5.
The first chapter of this PhD thesis focus the attention on vaccine adjuvant semi-synthesis. Vaccines are one of the oldest treatments in medicine prevention, since the first vaccination was performed in the 1790s by Edward Jenner for the cowpox prevention6. Science has made great strides over the last two centuries however, for many years vaccination relied on whole-pathogen approach exploiting: viral vector, live-attenuated vector or inactivated/killed vector to generate immunological response7. Although whole-pathogen vaccines elicit long-lasting immunity, safety issues related to administering these complex mixtures, prevent their universal application8; therefore, in the early 2000s, modern subunit vaccination were deeply investigated due to their improved safety and more precise targeting compared to whole-pathogen vaccination, as possible alternative9. Nevertheless, immunization with purified protein antigen (subunit) are inherently less immunogenic, typically resulting in a modest antibody response with little or no T cell response10.
Adjuvants, in the context of vaccines, are defined as substances capable to enhance antigen-specific immune responses by triggering and modulating both the innate and acquired immunity: memory of long-lasting10. However, despite many years of improvements and developments, only few adjuvants are currently included in vaccination approved for human use: aluminium salts, emulsions (e.g. squalene), liposomes/virosomes and microparticles just to mention a few11. In this scenario, new classes of adjuvants are currently under investigation to offer an alternative and overcome this issue. Among them QS-21, an immunostimulatory saponin natural product extracted form Quillja Saponaria tree bark9, has emerged as a noteworthy alternative. The semi-synthesis of QS-21 and its main components will be faced in the first chapter of this thesis.The second chapter will be dedicated to the synthesis of polyglycan structures for material chemistry purpose. It is well-known that proteins have the capability of encoding essential information by self-folding onto themselves, permitting to carry out sophisticated functions. Starting from an alphabet of 20 α-ammino acid, a linear peptide sequence can fold in a secondary structure module (helices, sheet, β-turn and hairpin) capable to organize in more complex tertiary structure and quaternary
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association12. In contrast, glycan structures capable of folding in a defined secondary 3D conformation have not been explored so far due to lack of designing rules and structural complexity13. However, some examples of glycan with rigid conformation are present in nature: Lewis antigen14, cellulose and amylose15 to mention a few.
Recently, a glycan hairpin with a rigid conformation has been synthesized to demonstrate that polyglycans with such feature can be created16. Taking inspiration from what found in nature, and from previous works16, the purpose of the second chapter of this thesis is to go deeper inside this field designing a synthetic route to obtain a triple strand glycan hairpin with rigid conformation. Due to the challenging synthesis of these kinds of structures: glycosylation step, deprotection and purification will be performed with the aid of automated glycan assembly (AGA)
Youth and Populism: A Scoping Review
No full textThis scoping review maps the rapidly expanding literature on the relationship between youth and populism, revealing a field that is empirically rich yet conceptually fragmented. Across 80 peer-reviewed studies, clear patterns emerge: research is predominantly Eurocentric, focuses heavily on demand-side dynamics, and overwhelmingly examines the populist radical right. Existing research highlights substantial heterogeneity among young people: while some mobilize against radical right actors, others support them, with gender, socialization experiences, and digital environments playing crucial shaping roles. Although young individuals with populist orientations express high dissatisfaction with democratic performance, they tend to maintain normative commitments to democracy, alongside a comparatively greater openness to non-democratic alternatives. The review identifies several gaps, including limited attention to generational mechanisms, supply-side strategies, left-wing populism, and the implications of populist attitudes for youth political participation. Together, these unresolved questions underscore the need for a more integrated research agenda to understand the evolving role of youth in contemporary populist politics