Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca- Università del Piemonte Orientale
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Cristianesimo e rivoluzione. Traiettorie di una feconda ambivalenza
No full textIl saggio intende riflettere sul rapporto, complesso e ambivalente, tra cristianesimo e rivoluzione. Il commento di alcuni passi del Vangelo apre un vasto approfondimento che giunge fino al Concilio Vaticano II e a al papato di Jorge Bergoglio
Towards a genetic obesity risk score in a single-center study of children and adolescents with obesity
Get PDF: The objective of this study was to identify clinical and/or metabolic predictive factors of genetic obesity. Subjects aged ≤ 18 years with obesity (BMI ≥ 97 th percentile) followed-up at the Paediatric Endocrinology Clinic of Maggiore Hospital in Novara, Italy were screened for genes associated with obesity by next-generation sequencing. Anamnestic, anthropometric, and biochemical data were collected, and parents completed two questionnaires, to screen for hyperphagia and daytime sleepiness, respectively. The study included 50 patients. Six genetic variants (6/50 patients,12%) were classified as pathogenic/likely pathogenic, three (3/50 patients,6%) as polygenic, and 16 (13/50 patients,26%) as variants of uncertain clinical significance (VUS). Eight patients carried > 1 variant. All pathogenic mutations were in genes implicated in the hypothalamic melanocortin pathway or responsible for syndromic obesity. All subjects with definitive genetic diagnosis developed obesity before five years of age. There were no statistically significant differences in auxological nor metabolic parameters between the three genetic patterns of absent genetic mutations, VUS, and pathogenic/likely pathogenic mutations. Finally, a Genetic Obesity Risk Score was developed using logistic regression analysis, selecting Hyperphagia Questionnaire score, age of onset of obesity, and family history as variables. Genetic screening of our cohort of children and adolescents with severe obesity revealed pathogenic/polygenic variants in 18% of cases, with PCSK1 the most frequently mutated gene and with a definitive genetic diagnosis in 3 patients. Identifying clinical, behavioral, and metabolic features predictive of genetic obesity would facilitate early diagnosis and tailored management
IL BREVETTO SUI FARMACI E GLI INEFFETTIVI STRUMENTI DI BILANCIAMENTO
No full textI farmaci sono stati sottratti al regime brevettuale per lungo tempo dopo la nascita della produzione industriale. Solo nel 1978 la Corte Costituzionale ha abrogato il divieto, sotto la pressione del commercio internazionale e sull’esempio degli altri stati europei. La concessione del brevetto è spiegata con la necessità di remunerare gli ingenti investimenti nella ricerca dei privati al fine di tutelare il bene salute ed è giustificata dal fatto che il sistema appariva dotato degli strumenti necessari a controbilanciare il diritto di esclusiva attribuito con il brevetto. Gli strumenti presi in considerazione dalla corte sono il potere dello stato di espropriare il privato per pubblica utilità, il potere di imporre delle licenze obbligatorie, quello di fissare i prezzi dei farmaci in via autoritativa e la durata temporalmente limitata del brevetto. Tuttavia negli anni successivi il sistema di fissazione dei prezzi è stato trasformato in una negoziazione individuale, il rimedio dell’espropriazione non è mai stato applicato, le licenze obbligatorie sono rimaste sostanzialmente ineffettive (anche nel caso della pandemia del Covid-19), e gli ingenti finanziamenti pubblici alla ricerca privata inducono gli economisti a mettere in dubbio l’esistenza dei presupposti sui quali si fonda il regime di esclusiva brevettuale
Higher Serum Monolaurin Is Associated with a Lower Risk of COVID-19: Results from a Prospective Observational Cohort Study
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated the search for effective preventive and therapeutic agents. In recent years, many studies have considered the effects of different nutrients. This study aimed to investigate the association between serum monolaurin levels and the risk of developing COVID-19 among healthcare workers. In this prospective observational cohort study, 2712 healthcare workers from the University Hospital “Maggiore della Carità” in Novara, Italy were enrolled. Participants underwent blood sampling and were followed up for six months to evaluate the protective role of serum monolaurin against COVID-19 infection. Monolaurin levels were quantified using targeted metabolomic analysis. The study cohort consisted of 1000 individuals with a mean age of 46.4 years, predominantly female. Higher serum monolaurin concentrations were significantly associated with a lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection at both 3- and 6-month follow-ups. The optimal cut-off value for serum monolaurin, which provides protective efficacy, was identified as 0.45 μg/mL. Higher serum monolaurin levels appear to be associated with a reduced risk of COVID-19, suggesting its potential as a protective dietary supplement against SARS-CoV-2 infection. This study contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting the role of dietary factors in the management and prevention of infectious diseases and highlights the potential of targeted metabolomics in identifying prophylactic biomarkers
Biomimetic synthesis of rare cannabigerol-type cannabinoids and evaluation of their cytotoxic effect on human glioblastoma cell lines
No full textAlthough Cannabis sativa L. is well known for being prolific in phytocannabinoids, their biosynthetic modular mechanism is ruled by a main enzyme: the geranyltransferase able to pursue the C-isoprenylation of olivetolic acid with the geranyldiphosphate. However, the existence of more than 160 meroterpenoids can be partially explained by a side degree of promiscuity of the geranyltransferase itself, able to recognise different substrate than the ordinary ones. This biological process led to the identification of several unconventional phytocannabinoids with a limited distribution in the plant both for occurrence and concentration. Taking advance of the existing synthetic protocols and using as example the enzymatic promiscuity, we propose a bio-inspired synthesis of naturally occurring minor cannabinoids related to the cannabigerol-type and their preliminary biological inspection in U87, U251 and T98 human glioblastoma cell lines to investigate their potential contribute as supplement in anticancer therapy
Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing: Deciphering Cardiovascular Complications in Systemic Sclerosis
Get PDFQueer in Italia 2
No full textIl volume presenta 30 interventi di accademici/che e attivisti/e per fornire una mappatura aggiornata sui posizionamenti queer in Italia a 15 anni di distanza dal primo volume Queer in Italia. Differenze in Movimento (ETS 2011). La curatela ha individuato gli e le autrici nel modo più inclusivo possibile allo scopo di dare spazio di tutto lo spettro delle identità di genere e sessuali che stanno rivendicando la propria soggettività al di là dei binarismi di genere tradizionali, e spesso con un approccio di radicalità politica e di giustizia sociale più ampia delle singole rivendicazioni "identitarie". La lunga postfazione del curatore riflette sulla metodologia e sui problemi insiti nella ripetizione di un progetto a 15 anni di distanza, e sulle mutate condizioni di ricezione e di composizione del movimento LBGTQIA+. Il carattere transnazionale del movimento queer italiano è testimoniato da alcune voci diasporiche e da una ricognizione bibliografica di tutti i contributi tradotti in italiano di recente, cosicché la bibliografia a fondo volume rappresenta anche un'ideale biblioteca queer disponibile oggi in italiano
Asymmetric Double Tax Treaties: Relief Method and Tax Sparing for Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries
No full textThis paper focuses on asymmetric tax treaties and investigates from an empirical perspective the impact of OECD member states’ double tax relief method and of treaty tax-sparing provisions on investments in developing countries, while considering network effects. Our results suggest that having a treaty between the OECD member state and the developing country, which improves the investor's conditions in terms of tax burden, by changing the unilateral tax relief method, increases FDI to the developing country. The positive effect prevails when investigated within investments made through the direct route from residence to source. Results suggest that OECD member states offer tax-sparing provisions mostly to less-developed economies, which already receive very low FDI. Finally, we extend the investigation to an analysis of the impact of residence countries’ tax relief methods on source countries’ domestic tax policy. Our results suggest that developing countries set higher CIT rates when the OECD member state relieves double taxation through the exemption method, as compared to when it offers a foreign tax credit