174,071 research outputs found
Antiphospholipid antibody mechanisms of thrombosis
No full textAnti-phospholipid antibodies (aPL) are diagnostic and pathogenic antibodies. There is evidence from both in vitro and in vivo models that they can mediate thrombosis through several mechanisms. aPL may interact with beatta-2 glycoprotein I or with prothrombin and may interfere with fluid- phase coagulation steps: inhibition of protein C-S activity and fibrinolysis. More importantly beta-2 glycoprotein I –dependent aPL may recognize their own target on several cell types involved in the coagulation: endothelial cells, peripheral blood monocytes, and platelets. Once bound aPL may induce a pro-inflammatory and pro-coagulant endothelial phenotype, may induce tissue factor expression on monocytes, and can increase aggregation of platelets stimulated by another agonist. All these mechanisms may play a role in supporting the thrombophilic state of the anti-phospholipid syndrome. aPL are necessary for clotting but are not sufficient and require an additional stimulus (two- hit theory) and complement activation so explaining why thrombosis can occur only sometimes in spite of the persistent presence of the antibodies
Electoral competition with strategic voters
No full textA recent literature has found a positive relationship between the disproportionality of the electoral system and the convergence of parties’ positions. Such a relationship depends crucially on the assumption that voting is sincere. We show that, when voters are players in the game and not simply automata that vote for their favorite party, two policy-motivated parties always take extreme positions in equilibrium
Zaak C-270/12 (ESMA-short selling) als opvolger van de Meroni- en Romano-non-delegatiedoctrine
No full textDe meer dan een halve eeuw oude Meroni/Romano-non-delegatiedoctrine lijkt zijn opvolger te hebben gevonden. Dit blijkt uit het onlangs gewezen arrest van het Hof van Justitie in de zaak C-270/12 (ESMA-short selling) van 22 januari 2014. Hierin wordt geoordeeld dat de delegatie van bevoegdheden om handelingen van algemene strekking vast te stellen mogelijk is, zodra de bevoegdheden nauwkeurig omkaderd zijn en door de rechter kunnen worden getoetst aan de door het delegerende gezag vastgelegde doelstellingen. Hiermee lijkt het Hof van Justitie de Romano-doctrine overboord te gooien. Een aantal belangrijke vragen met betrekking tot de Meroni-doctrine blijft echter onbeantwoord.HvJ EU 22 januari 2014, zaak C-270/12, Verenigd Koninkrijk van Groot-Brittannië en Noord-Ierland/Europees Parlement en Raad van de Europese Unie, n.n.g
Role of the horizontal SST structure in the modulation of heavy precipitations over the Ligurian Sea - time averaged data
No full text<p>Time averaged data used in the analysis the paper Meroni, A. N., A. Parodi and C. Pasquero "Role of the horizontal SST structure in the modulation of heavy precipitations over the Ligurian Sea". The variables are SST, downwind SST gradient, SST laplacian, surface wind magnitude and convergence.</p>
The structure of Nash equilibria in Poisson games
No full textWe show that many results on the structure and stability of equilibria in finite games extend to Poisson games. In particular, the set of Nash equilibria of a Poisson game consists of finitely many connected components and at least one of them contains a stable set (De Sinopoli et al., 2014). In a similar vein, we prove that the number of Nash equilibria in Poisson voting games under plurality, negative plurality, and (when there are at most three candidates) approval rule, as well as in Poisson coordination games, is generically finite. As in finite games, these results are obtained exploiting the geometric structure of the set of Nash equilibria which, in the case of Poisson games, is shown to be semianalytic
Kallikreins and lupus nephritis
No full textThe kidney kallikrein-kinin system plays important roles in inflammation, coagulation, angiogenesis, and regulation of vessel tone and permeability. In this issue of the JCI, Liu et al. provide data that suggest a protective role for kallikrein in animal models of anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) antibody-induced nephritis, an experimental model of Goodpasture disease (see the related article beginning on page 911). Furthermore, human systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis were shown to be associated with kallikrein 1 (KLK1) and the KLK3 promoter. The authors suggest that kallikrein genes are involved in the development of SLE and lupus nephritis and may exert a renoprotective role. It is possible, however, that the kallikrein-kinin system may play dual roles: protecting the kidney against ischemia and interstitial fibrosis while also mediating vasodilation, inflammation, and activation of the innate immune response
Designing for social innovation. The project “Feeding Milano. Energy for change”
No full textDesign for social innovation can be defined as the use of design thinking and knowledge to foster innovations in the behavioural sphere, both supporting existent initiatives and helping new ones to start up.
From a disciplinary perspective, it is a mix of strategic design
and design for service approaches, where a specifi c emphasis is
put on social, environmental and economic sustainability.
This essay will explore a possible way of designing for social
innovation, by presenting a case of applied research within the
Italian context that is the project “Feeding Milano” which aim is
to create a local foodshed in the region of Milano
A concept of sincerity for combinatorial voting
No full textA basic problem in voting theory is that all the strategy profiles in which nobody is pivotal are Nash equilibria. We study elections where voters decide simultaneously on several binary issues. We extend the concept of conditional sincerity introduced by Alesina and Rosenthal (1996) and propose an intuitive and simple criterion to refine equilibria in which players are not pivotal. This is shown to have a foundation in a refinement of perfection that takes into account the material voting procedure. We prove that in large elections the proposed solution is characterized through a weaker definition of Condorcet winner and always survives sophisticated voting
The role of environmental estrogens and autoimmunity
No full textThe prevalence of autoimmune diseases has significantly increased over the recent years. It has been proposed that this epidemiological evidence could be in part attributable to environmental estrogens, compounds that display estrogen-like activity and are ubiquitously present in the environment. Environmental estrogens can be found in a wide variety of foods: phytoestrogens occur in plants such as clover and soy, while mycoestrogens are food contaminants produced by fungi. Meat, eggs and dairy products from animals given exogenous hormones contain relatively high concentration of estrogens. Among xenoestrogens, industrial estrogens are synthetic chemicals produced for specific purposes (pesticides, plastics, surfactants and detergents) while metalloestrogens are found in heavy metals. Estrogens can be also administered through medications (contraceptive pill, hormone replacement therapy, genistein, cimetidine, creams). There is a considerable burden of evidence in vitro and in animal models that these compounds may exert immunotoxic effects. However, to date there is no convincing data that exposure to environmental estrogens can be regarded as a risk for human health. In particular, there is no consensus whether prolonged exposure to relatively low concentrations of different estrogenic chemicals can affect the human immune system and induce clinically evident diseases in real-life scenario. Moreover, the effects on human health of the synergistic interactions between natural, medical, dietary and environmental estrogens have not been fully elucidated yet. Here we provide an extensive review of the in vivo and in vitro effects of environmental estrogens on the immune system, focusing on the evidences of association between exposure and autoimmune disorders
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