100 research outputs found
Pedofilia. Un approccio multiprospettico
No full textIl volume presenta al lettore una lettura multiprospettica della questione pedofila, ponendosi quale obiettivo prioritario quello di offrire una esplorazione del tema che vada oltre il pregiudizio. Gli autori procedono quindi ex negativo, vale a dire assumendo come dato di partenza l'inquietante proteiformità del fenomeno oggetto della loro analisi, interrogandosi metodologicamente sul suo inafferrabile profilo di fenomeno sociale ancora vivente, e come tale riottoso ad essere intrappolato in gabbie ermeneutiche rigide e solo nominalmente "infallibili".
Dopo aver richiamato le radici storico-culturali della pratica pedofila, sottolineandone la intrinseca diversità rispetto al fenomeno come appare oggi, vengono illustrati gli apporti definitori offerti alla questione della pedofilia dal sapere psichiatrico. Un'attenzione particolare è dedicata alla percezione sociale del problema, con l'analisi dei più diffusi stereotipi e pregiudizi che si contendono il ruolo di facile strumento per una comprensione corriva della pedofilia.
L'indagine sulla percezione sociale trova nel contesto scolastico un campione di riferimento particolarmente rappresentativo: sapere che cosa pensano insegnanti e studenti del pedofilo e della pedofilia si dimostra operazione conoscitiva non fine a se stessa, ma vera e propria azione di intervento culturale dotata di un suo feedback efficace, dal momento che contribuisce a donare una nuova prospettiva di riferimento a chi fronteggia il problema "sul campo"
Iodine intake in pregnancy
No full textIodine is an essential micronutrient required for thyroid hormone biosynthesis. The recommended daily adult intake is 150 μg, increasing to 220–300 μg for pregnant and lactating women. Urinary iodine concentration (UIC) is an accurate indicator of iodine intake because more than 90% is excreted over a 24-hour period. The World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, and the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders established that for a given population, the appropriate UIC in clinically healthy pregnant women should be 150–249 μg/L [1] and [2]. Iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs) are implicated in several diseases [3]. Despite iodine prophylaxis programs in many countries, iodine deficiency is still a significant public health concern [4]. Following the introduction of a salt iodization program (30 mg/Kg of salt) in Italy in 2005, we wanted to investigate whether the increased iodine requirement during pregnancy is being met in an urban area of Rome. Between January 2007 and March 2008, 124 clinically healthy pregnant women were enrolled to evaluate UIC in spot urine samples collected in the morning. The mean age of the women was 32 years, and mean body mass index (BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) was 25.3 ± 2.6. Fifty-seven women were in the first trimester of pregnancy, 34 in the second, and 33 in the third. A control group of 145 age-matched healthy nonpregnant women (mean age 30 years; mean BMI 24.2 ± 2.4) was also enrolled. All participants were resident in the urban area of Rome and had no restrictions on iodized salt intake. Informed consent was obtained from each participant. The mean UIC in the control group was 137.2 ± 5.9 μg/L (median 112 μg/L, range 62–465), but it was significantly lower in the pregnant women (P < 0.01). Mean UIC in the women who were in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy were 93.6 ± 6.6 μg/L (median 85 μg/L, range 28–223), 90.11 ± 6.4 μg/L (median 82 μg/L, range 25–165), and 89.8 ± 3.6 μg/L (median 88 μg/L, range 39–113), respectively (Fig. 1). Notably, severe iodine deficiency (UIC less than 50 μg/L) was found in 12 pregnant women who were in the first trimester, 2 in the second, and 2 in the third. These results demonstrate that even in an urban area where iodine intake is expected to be adequate, pregnant women may be at risk of IDD. They also indicate the need to monitor iodine intake during pregnancy in areas with recently established salt iodization programs, and raise the question of whether iodine supplementation in pregnancy should be generalized or tailored on an individual basis
Bisogni formativi e ruolo dei mass-media in un’indagine tra gli insegnanti della città di Milano a proposito di percezione sociale dell’abuso sessuale
No full textRole of the conventional ultrasonography and color doppler in predicting malignancy in the neck lymphonodes
No full textUnsupervised author identification and characterization
No full textAuthor identification is a hot topic, especially in the Internet age. Following our previous work in which we proposed a novel approach to this problem, based on relational representations that take into account the structure of sentences, here we present a tool that computes and visualizes a numerical and graphical characterization of the authors/texts based on several linguistic features. This tool, that extends a previous language analysis tool, is the ideal complement to the author identification technique, that is based on a clustering procedure whose outcomes (i.e., the authors’ models) are not human-readable. Both approaches are unsupervised, which allows them to tackle problems to which other state-of-the-art systems are not applicable
Thirthy years of earthquakes in Italy: how intervention culture changed
No full textIl contributo si compone di diversi apporti, maturati nelle aree italiane colpite da eventi sismici negli ultimi 30 anni: Friuli (1976), Campania (1980,1983) e Umbria e Marche (1997,1998). I Decreti del Ministero dei Lavori pubblici (1987, 1999) sulle costruzioni in zona sismica, evoluzione della Legge 64 (1974), le Circolari del Ministero dei Beni culturali e ambientali (1986, 1997), relative agli interventi sui beni architettonici tutelati, le Ordinanze del Ministero dell’Interno e della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri (1999), disposizioni per gli interventi in Umbria e Marche, hanno, infatti, condizionato i criteri di intervento sull’edificato in zona sismica, in un processo di accresciuta conoscenza che ha visto il passaggio dalla politica della ricostruzione a posteriori a quella della prevenzione. | The paper collects several contributions, referring to Italian areas stroked, in the last 30 years, by severe seismic events: Friuli (1976), Campania (1980,1983), Umbria and Marche (1997,1998). In structural interventions, an evident evolution was operated, in time, by the Ruling Acts, as a result of the understanding of mistakes and positive issues. This circumstance is illustrated by the authors for the different contexts analysed
Therapy of Hyperthyroidism in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
No full textUncontrolled hyperthyroidism in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of perinatal complications. The state of the art discussed here has been derived through a wide MEDLINE search throughout English-language literature by using a combination of words such as hyperthyroidism, propylthiouracil (PTU), methimazole, rituximab, and pregnancy to identify original related works and review articles. Thioamides are the main first-line therapeutic options, whereas beta-blockers and iodine are second-choice drugs; surgery is resorted to only in exceptional cases. Methimazole and PTU reduce the production of thyroid hormones by selectively inhibiting thyroid peroxidase. PTU was once considered to be the first-choice drug in the treatment of gestational hyperthyroidism; however, the United States Food and Drug Administration now recommends it as a second-line thioamide, which should be used solely by women in their first trimester of pregnancy. Thyroidectomy is to be carried out only in pregnant women affected by life-threatening, uncontrollable hyperthyroidism, or in cases with thioamide intolerance. Target Audience: Obstetricians & Gynecologists, Family Physicians Learning Objectives: After completion of this article, the physician should be better able to choose appropriate therapies for hyperthyroidism in pregnant women, assess the risk of possible complications due to maternal hyperthyroidism, and evaluate strategies for patient follow-up
Structural Basis for Mutations of Human Aquaporins Associated to Genetic Diseases
No full textAquaporins (AQPs) are among the best structural-characterized membrane proteins, fulfilling the role of allowing water flux across cellular membranes. Thus far, 34 single amino acid polymorphisms have been reported in HUMSAVAR for human aquaporins as disease-related. They affect AQP2, AQP5 and AQP8, where they are associated with nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, keratoderma and colorectal cancer, respectively. For half of these mutations, although they are mostly experimentally characterized in their dysfunctional phenotypes, a structural characterization at a molecular level is still missing. In this work, we focus on such mutations and discuss what the structural defects are that they appear to cause. To achieve this aim, we built a 3D molecular model for each mutant and explored the effect of the mutation on all of their structural features. Based on these analyses, we could collect the structural defects of all the pathogenic mutations (here or previously analysed) under few main categories, that we found to nicely correlate with the experimental phenotypes reported for several of the analysed mutants. Some of the structural analyses we present here provide a rationale for previously experimentally observed phenotypes. Furthermore, our comprehensive overview can be used as a reference frame for the interpretation, on a structural basis, of defective phenotypes of other aquaporin pathogenic mutants
Terapia con farmaci antitiroidei
No full textMethimazole and Propylthiouracil are the cornerstones in the management of Graves' disease. Their primary effect is to inhibit thyroid hormone synthesis at different steps, i.e. in thyroid gland and in peripheral tissues. Antithyroid drugs can be used as the primary treatment for hyperthyroidism (long term therapy: 1-2 years) or as preparative therapy before radioiodine treatment or surgery (short term therapy: weeks or months). Generally, the starting dose of methimazole is 10-30 mg, as single daily dose, while that of PTU is 100-300 mg every 6 hours. Methimazole is the drug of choice, because major side effects are less common, it can be used as single dose, it's less expensive and more available. As far as the treatment of hyperthyroidism in pregnancy, MMI and PTU have same therapeutic efficacy and are both safe for the fetus, having similar placental transfer kinetics. The use of methimazole can be associated with aplasia cutis and choanal/esophageal atresia, while there are no data supporting the association between congenital anomalies and PTU. For this reason the latter is the drug of choice in the treatment of hyperthryroidism in pregnancy. Both thionamides are present in breast milk, but there are no controindications for their use during lactation
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