57 research outputs found
Epidemiology and drug susceptibility of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in Italy in 2016-2020
No full textIntroduction: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are environmental mycobacteria which may cause pulmonary and extrapulmonary diseases. These organisms are difficult to treat due to their intrinsic drug-resistance. In Italy, no major nationwide study on NTM epidemiology and drug susceptibility was performed. Methods: Data on the epidemiology of 7,469 NTM clinical isolates identified in Italy in 2016-2020 and on the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 1,506 of these strains were analysed. Results: Overall, 63 species were identified in 42 hospital laboratories located in 16 out of 20 regions, with Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) being the most frequently isolated, followed by M. gordonae, M. xenopi, M. abscessus. The MICs of 12 drugs for MAC, M. xenopi, M. kansasii, M. abscessus, M. fortuitum and M. chelonae were interpreted for clinical significance (susceptible, intermediate, resistant) based on the guidelines published by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute in November 2018. Conclusions: Our data are in line with other nationwide studies and may be of value for further update of microbiological and clinical guidelines
Dataquake : intelligenza artificiale e discriminazione del consumatore
No full textThe essay analyzes the dataquake that the use of big data has brought on consumer protection. In the framework of a democratic and ethical market model, the Author underlines limits and peculiarity of European consumer law that could help reduce unfair and unlawful market behaviours. The purpose aims legally protect consumer from data discrimination
and from algorithms use related to the ‘filter bubble’ effets
Front-of-package food labels and consumer’s autonomous decision-making
No full textThe essay underlines some different perspectives of front-of-pack food labels, between European and other Countries models. According to EU consumer law developments, which also have to consider the requirements set by global trade of EU food products, the Author highlights links and gaps of EU Reg 1169/2011
Not Just a Bug: Brief Remarks of Legal Anthropology for New Food Choices
No full textFood patterns put ‘food of Europeans’ and ‘food of others’ closely together. The Author underlies how social, religious and cultural data make up a framework of analysis in which comparative and anthropologist scholars work closely together: anthropologists can be key in discovering important food habits and customs, and legal scholars can help find relevant legal rules taking into account different cultural needs
El consumidor en la venta de bienes de consumo en Italia : notas de derecho comparado
No full textEven if the European law system has indeed dealt with the possible loss of equilibrium between the parties involved in consuming transactions, it is for sure true that this intervention has represented in itself a factor of disturbance against the provisions of the Civil Codes dealing with the freedom of contract. In the context of a debate concerning the consumer in the Italian as well as Comparative Law, the Author makes an effort to identify features and peculiarities of this figure, in order to describe in the best possible way the connections between the Civil Code and the Consumer Law Code, also considering the more recent patterns of consuming and the problems of subjective distinction implied by them
Diritto e "a-crescita": contributo contro-egemonico alla preservazione delle risorse naturali
No full textLe nuove costituzioni latinoamericane offrono un contributo precipuo nella rilettura dell’idea del ‘consumo’ come fattore propulsivo della ‘crescita’ e del ‘benessere’. Il rinvio al buen vivir ed ai derechos de la naturaleza, nelle sedi del diritto ufficiale, determina una rottura con gli stilemi della modernità occidentale e, al tempo stesso, sottolinea al giurista la presenza di molteplici riflessi dei diritti indigeni su quelli della collettività latinoamericana nel suo complesso. Tra di essi emerge un rinnovato connubio tra ‘diritto’ ed ‘a-crescita’ per la preservazione delle risorse naturali, da cui muove non solo una rivisitazione critica del concetto di crescita ma anche una rifondazione giuridica dell’ordine economico. L’autrice mette in evidenza come l’accoglimento della tradizione ctonia nel nuovo costituzionalismo latinoamericano vincoli in modo significativo il fenomeno economico a quello ecologico ed a quello sociale, con il conseguente abbandono della presunta autonomia della sfera economica e, quindi, con il ripensamento della globalizzazione unidirezionale del diritto e dell’economia.The new Latin-American constitutions make a fundamental contribution in rereading the idea of ‘consumption’ as a driving force for ‘growth’ and ‘well-being’. The reference to buen vivir and to derechos de la naturaleza in official law implicates a detachment from the modern Western way of thinking and at the same time enlightens the presence of a many-sided influence of indigenous law on Latin-American Law as a whole. One of the aspects of this influence is a renewed bond between ‘law’ and ‘a-growth’, in order to preserve natural resources, which implies not only a critical reconsideration of the concept of growth, but also a juridically based refoundation of the economical order. The author argues that the reception of chthonic tradition in the new Latin-American Constitutionalism effectively binds economy to environmental awareness and social realities, implying a refutation of the alleged autonomy of the economic sphere and thus a much needed reconsideration of the unilateral globalization of law and economy
On the Absence of Structures for the Conservation and Transmission of Oral Tradition
No full textThis article explores the status of speech, as it became slowly dispossessed of its original signification
by the written word, and analyses the circumstances having contributed to the disappearance of
many collective aeations. Oral traditions raise methodological problems concerning the conservation
of their structures and thematic content. The author outlines the methods employed to preserve
these traditions, insisting on the need to ensure their dissemination, despite the costs involved in
saving an oral heritage.Explorant l'évolution du statut de la parole, de la lente dépossession de ses significations originelles
par l'écriture, et analysant les circonstances ayant contribué à l'extinction d'une multiplicité
de créations collectives, cet article traite des problèmes méthodologiques posés par les traditions
de l'oralité tant en ce qui concerne la conservation des structures que celle des
thématiques. Evoquant les méthodes employées pour assurer la conservation de ces traditions,
cet article insiste sur la nécessité de veiller à leur diffusion, en dépit des coûts qu'une telle opération
de sauvegarde du patrimoine oral représente
Technical and economic challenges for floating offshore wind deployment in Italy and in the Mediterranean Sea
No full textOffshore wind is nowadays already well developed in the North European countries. Ninety-nine percent of the offshore wind turbines are installed on fixed foundations in shallow waters. For areas with water depth greater than 50-60 m, the floating wind is the cheapest and mostly used technology. This technology is going to reach the commercial phase in a few years, thus disclosing the potential of all marine areas with deep waters close to the coast, including the Mediterranean basin. One of the main challenges for floating offshore wind deployment in this area is the achievement of its economic feasibility. The offshore wind resource in the Mediterranean is generally lower than the one in the North Sea and in Oceans and the cost of offshore wind farms, especially with floating technology, is higher than the present offshore wind farm installations also because this industrial sector has not yet started in this area. However, in the Mediterranean area, the potential of offshore wind to contribute to the decarbonization pathway and reduce the dependence on imported fuel supply is substantial. Numerous studies, examined in this article, have already performed a technical-economic assessment of offshore wind farms in different countries and geographical areas within the basin. A significant number of offshore wind projects are already in different stages of development, confirming the industrial interest and readiness of the Mediterranean offshore wind energy sector. The article provides a comprehensive review of various factors influencing the future deployment of offshore wind in the Mediterranean. It covers a range of topics including technology advancements, resource assessment, wind energy potential, ongoing projects, costs, and economic aspects. Additionally, it discusses environmental sustainability, regulatory frameworks, supply chain logistics, and system integration. The updated review presented in this article could assist decision-makers and stakeholders in gaining a better understanding of the characteristics of this promising sector and accelerating its development. This article is categorized under: Sustainable Energy > Wind Energ
Modeling student success: A longitudinal study of Black students and White students
No full textCommunity Colleges are enrolling an increasingly diverse student population, representing more minority group members and students with English as a second language. One minority group, American Black students, are disproportionally enrolled in community colleges and yet do not succeed at nearly the rates of groups of students.This study was designed to identify factors that are associated with student success and to use this information to predict which students are most likely to be at-risk students, that is are least likely to succeed. In keeping with this objective, American Black students' and American White students' progress and degree of success were assessed at a large East Coast community college.In the aggregate, the background of Black students was often disadvantaged, compared to White students, with lower family incomes, less parental education, and less college preparedness. In college, Black students collectively attended more frequently on a part-time basis, less frequently entered with college-level English or math skills, and more often had need of financial assistance than did White students.Black students succeeded at each of three levels of success, as defined within this study, less frequently than did White students. However, controlling for family educational levels, statistically significant differences between the performance of Black students and White students at Levels I and II were negated.An iterative chi-squared technique (CHAID) was used to identify potential independent variables to be used in constructing a predictive model. Logistic regression techniques were utilized to identify students that were most likely to be non-successful. Intervention strategies were recommended to improve the success rates of these students.The research methodology employed in this study may be custom fitted to other educational institutions to provide administrators and decision-makers with a sophisticated methodology that is both fairly inexpensive and yet is capable of identifying potentially at-risk students.Future research is needed to establish more refined measures of success and to further develop and generalize the methodological approach developed in this study.Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 58-02, Section: A, page: 5930.Advisors: Jurg Siegenthaler.Ph.D. American University 1997.Englis
Eradication of Drug-Tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis 2022: Where We Stand
No full textThe lungs of tuberculosis (TB) patients contain a spectrum of granulomatous lesions, ranging from solid and well-vascularized cellular granulomas to avascular caseous granulomas. In solid granulomas, current therapy kills actively replicating (AR) intracellular bacilli, while in low-vascularized caseous granulomas the low-oxygen tension stimulates aerobic and microaerophilic AR bacilli to transit into non-replicating (NR), drug-tolerant and extracellular stages. These stages, which do not have genetic mutations and are often referred to as persisters, are difficult to eradicate due to low drug penetration inside the caseum and mycobacterial cell walls. The sputum of TB patients also contains viable bacilli called differentially detectable (DD) cells that, unlike persisters, grow in liquid, but not in solid media. This review provides a comprehensive update on drug combinations killing in vitro AR and drug-tolerant bacilli (persisters and DD cells), and sterilizing Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected BALB/c and caseum-forming C3HeB/FeJ mice. These observations have been important for testing new drug combinations in noninferiority clinical trials, in order to shorten the duration of current regimens against TB. In 2022, the World Health Organization, following the results of one of these trials, supported the use of a 4-month regimen for the treatment of drug-susceptible TB as a possible alternative to the current 6-month regimen
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