1,351 research outputs found
Non prompt D-meson measurements with ALICE at the LHC
No full textThe production of hadrons with open heavy flavour (charm and beauty) in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions is a powerful tool to study the properties of the deconfined phase of strongly interacting matter known as the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). The production of charm and beauty quarks occurs in hard partonic scattering processes in the early stage of the collisions. ALICE is the LHC experiment devoted to the study of heavy-ion physics. It is able to reconstruct charmed mesons in exclusive decays (e.g. D0→K−π+) and beauty hadrons in semi-inclusive decays (e.g. B→eX, B→J/ψ X) . At LHC energies a significant component of the inclusive D-meson yield originates from the decay of beauty-flavoured hadrons, whose knowledge is essential to determine the production of prompt D mesons coming from charm quarks. A precise determination of the non-prompt fraction combined with the determination of the inclusive D-meson yield would allow a measurement of beauty production. A data-driven method that exploits the different shapes of the distributions of the transverse-plane impact parameter to the primary vertex of prompt and feed-down D mesons in p-Pb collisions is used in ALICE. An alternative approach based on the D-meson decay length for Pb–Pb collisions is under study
Multidimensional indicators for evaluating impacts of climate change and air pollution on human health at local scale: a test case in Southern Italy.
No full textA dynamical systems approach to gross domestic product forecasting
No full textModels developed for gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasting tend to be extremely complex, relying on a large number of variables and parameters. Such complexity is not always to the benefit of the accuracy of the forecast. Economic complexity constitutes a framework that builds on methods developed for the study of complex systems to construct approaches that are less demanding than standard macroeconomic ones in terms of data requirements, but whose accuracy remains to be systematically benchmarked. Here we develop a forecasting scheme that is shown to outperform the accuracy of the five-year forecast issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by more than 25% on the available data. The model is based on effectively representing economic growth as a two-dimensional dynamical system, defined by GDP per capita and ‘fitness’, a variable computed using only publicly available product-level export data. We show that forecasting errors produced by the method are generally predictable and are also uncorrelated to IMF errors, suggesting that our method is extracting information that is complementary to standard approaches. We believe that our findings are of a very general nature and we plan to extend our validations on larger datasets in future work
EXTENSÃO UNIVERSITÁRIA COMO PRÁTICA FORMATIVA E PROJETO INSTITUCIONAL: UM OLHAR A PARTIR DA PEDAGOGIA UNIVERSITÁRIA
No full textEste trabalho sintetiza os resultados parciais da pesquisa, desenvolvida desde 2009 em três universidades, que objetiva compreender a relação entre as práticas e políticas de extensão e a qualificação do trabalho docente. Partindo da indissociabilidade entre ensino, pesquisa extensão como princípio fundador das universidades brasileiras, a pesquisa busca compreender como a prática extensionista pode promover a melhoria da qualidade do ensino. A metodologia qualitativa se desenvolve em dois momentos: inicialmente, levantamento de documentos institucionais que possibilitaram o entendimento de como tais instituições compreenderam a extensão e que práticas decorreram de tais concepções e, posteriormente, entrevistas semi-estruturadas com docentes que praticam a extensão. Utilizamos como referência as seguintes categorias teóricas: os conceitos de saberes e formação profissional docente, de Tardif; de extensão universitária, de Tavares; e o princípio da indissociabilidade entre ensino, pesquisa e extensão, de Mazzilli. As análises desenvolvidas apontam a extensão como elemento de qualificação do trabalho docente e do ensino de graduação socialmente referenciado e seu reconhecimento na formação de professores e alunos, muitas vezes distanciado da potencialização das experiências por parte das instituições universitárias
Il rafforzamento dei diritti dell'offeso davanti al giudice italiano, statunitense e della Corte penale internazionale
No full textIn recent years, victims’ rights have gained a central place in the academic and policy reflections both in North America and Europe. After decades of indifference, in which the victim was relegated to the marginal role of being a reporter of the crime and a witness in court, the light has been turned towards this figure, leading to the discovery of the importance of its contribution to the trial dialectical confrontation, a role traditionally reserved for the accused and the prosecutor. Starting from the 1970s onwards, the «victims’ movement», composed of radical feminists, groups of ex-victims, lawyers, psychologists and psychiatrists, criminal justice agencies, academics, all moved by different ideologies and aims, struggled to put in the political and legislative agenda the victims’ need for consideration and respect .
One of the most controversial issues on this subject, both from an international and domestic perspective, concerns the victim’s rights of participation in the criminal proceedings. In fact, the participation of the victim of a crime in the respective trial and, more specifically, the recognition of victim’s powers to intervene, in different ways, in the process, affects the utmost right of the accused to a fair trial.
My research project aims at analyzing three different criminal models, looking at their evolution through the case-law of the different courts. Through a structural approach to the legal institutes, it will be possible to infer «le grands courants législatifs actuels» on the victim’s role and participation. The victims’ right to participate in court proceedings by expressing views and concerns through their own legal representative has been one of the major innovations of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Article 68 of the Rome Statute (the treaty that created the ICC) clearly declares that the Court shall permit the views and concerns of the victim to be presented and considered at stages of the proceedings determined to be appropriate by the Court. Since the first decision on the topic, issued by the Court in 2006, ICC judges have endorsed a broad interpretation of Article 68 and of the related articles of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (Chapter II, Subsection 2), but failed to reach an agreement on the boundaries of that participation. Therefore, this essential right of the victim is influenced by the Pre-Trail and Trial Chambers different interpretations. A study of these decisions could bring to a wider knowledge of the topic, highlight potential improvements and explore failings in delivering meaningful participation to victims.
The US system has been modified in 2004, with the approval of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA) and the subsequent introduction of Section 3771 to title 18 of the US Code. The amendment has enumerated a list of rights afforded to the victims harmed as a result of «the commission of a Federal offense or an offense in the District of Columbia», and between them «the right to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding in the district court, involving release, plea, sentencing, or any parole proceeding». The emergent expanded role of the victim, under this most recent piece of legislation, has been drawn by the case-law, with particular progress in increased victim participation at sentencing. The study of the case-law could contribute to highlight differences and similarities with regard to the victim status in the European legislation.
The most recent European directive (2012/29/UE) on the subject was approved in October 2012. The first part of the directive defines the general status of the victims, recognizing them information from the first contact with a competent authority and about their case, their right to interpretation and translation and the right to understand and be understood; chapter 3, more specifically, states the right to be heard during criminal proceedings, to provide evidence and to receive a review of a decision not to prosecute. In 1989 the Italian code of criminal procedure has adopted the accusatorial system, keeping several corrective inquisitorial institutions, such as the participation in the trial of the parte civile (i.e. the damaged of the crime, not necessary coincident with the victim) to obtain punitive damages from the convicted. The parte civile can take part in the trial, but has no rights during the criminal investigations; meanwhile the victim as well, has very little chances to influence the investigation, helping the prosecutor to search evidences of the crime committed and of the supposed author. In the context of European law, modified by the Treaty of Lisbon, regulations and directive have an increasingly large impact on the national criminal systems. The analysis of the Italian decisions, implementing the directive, together with the study of US Courts case-law and ICC jurisprudence, could lead to a deeper comprehension of these three different criminal procedure systems, offering the basis to infer general trends and future perspective of the status of the victim participation in the criminal proceedings, at the international and national level
Assessment of epithelial cells’ immune and inflammatory response to Staphylococcus aureus when exposed to a macrolide
No full textNon-specific (innate) immune response plays a major role in defending the udder from bacterial
invasion. Moreover, recent investigations suggest that mammary gland epithelial cells (MGEC)
could have a large and important role as a source of soluble components of immune defences.
Despite many attempts to find other ways to control/prevent mastitis (i.e. vaccine) antimicrobial
therapy is still the most used and effective means of curing clinical and subclinical mastitis.
However, drug concentrations and therapy durations are far from the optimal in order to reduce
costs. Therefore, efficacy of antimicrobial therapy is dependent not only on the substance
activity but also on the positive interactions with the host innate immune response. Surprisingly,
information on these interactions is rather scarce in the mastitis field. A simple experimental
model was developed based on BME-UV cell line, Staphylococcus aureus as a challenge and a
macrolide as an antimicrobial to assess the interactions among epithelial cells, Staph. aureus
and the potential effects of antimicrobials on the immune system. The results of this study
confirmed that tylosin has good antimicrobial activity against both intracellular and extracellular
Staph. aureus in bovine MGEC without affecting cell functions. In this study, a significant downregulation
of IL-1 and IL-6 was observed, while TNF and IL-8 expression rate numerically
increased, but differences were not significant. To our knowledge, this is the first paper assessing
the concentration of two lysosomal enzymes, lysozyme and N-acetyl-b-D-glucosaminidase
(NAGase), in Staph. aureus-stimulated MGEC. The results of this study confirmed that tylosin
could have a significant effect on the release of these enzymes. Moreover, even if both enzymes
have a similar substrate as a target, the results suggest different secretion mechanisms and an
influence of antimicrobial treatment on these mechanisms. Successful mastitis cure is the result
of achieving the optimal efficiency of both innate immune defences and therapeutical activities,
by means of killing bacteria without eliciting an excessive inflammatory response. Therefore,
antimicrobials for mastitis therapy should be selected not only on bacterial sensitivity, but also
for their positive interactions with the innate immune response of the mammary gland. This
study showed that an in-vitro model based on Staph. aureus challenge on MGEC could be
helpful in assessing both the intracellular and extracellular activity of antimicrobials and their
influence on epithelial cell immune and inflammatory response
Testosterone replacement in 49,XXXXY syndrome. andrological, metabolic and neurological aspects
No full textWe report the case of a 19-year-old boy, presenting several congenital malformations (facial dysmorphisms, cardiac and musculoskeletal abnormalities), mental retardation, recurrent respiratory infections during growth and delayed puberty. Although previously hospitalised in other medical centres, only psychological support had been recommended for this patient. In our department, genetic, biochemical/hormonal and ultrasound examinations were undertaken. The karyotype was 49,XXXXY, a rare aneuploidy with an incidence of 1/85 000-100 000, characterised by the presence of three extra X chromosomes in phenotypically male subjects. The hormonal/biochemical profile showed hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, insulin resistance and vitamin D deficiency. The patient was then treated with testosterone replacement therapy. After 12 months of treatment, we observed the normalisation of testosterone levels. There was also an increase in pubic hair growth, testicular volume and penis size, weight loss, homeostatic model assessment index reduction and the normalisation of vitamin D values. Moreover, the patient showed greater interaction with the social environment and context.
LEARNING POINTS:
In cases of plurimalformative syndrome, cognitive impairment, recurrent infections during growth and, primarily, delayed puberty, it is necessary to ascertain as soon as possible whether the patient is suffering from hypogonadism or metabolic disorders due to genetic causes. In our case, the diagnosis of hypogonadism, and then of 49,XXXXY syndrome, was unfortunately made only at the age of 19 years.The testosterone replacement treatment, even though delayed, induced positive effects on: i) development of the reproductive system, ii) regulation of the metabolic profile and iii) interaction with the social environment and context.However, earlier and timely hormonal replacement treatment could probably have improved the quality of life of this subject and his family
- …
