Thatcher’s Victims vs. Beveridge’s Sons: The New Cleavage of European Parties

The Rokkans’ theory of cleavages has traditionally been a valid helpful instrument, although questionable, to interpret the nexus between social dynamics and party models. Thanks also to this theo-ry, during the hundred years between 1885 and 1985, European political party classification, at least where their origins are concerned, is reasonably straightforward. At the end of the sixties of ‘900, the per-formance of the political actors in terms of policy stimulated a level of feedback on the social conditions of populations to the point of reducing the impact of the traditional cleavages. The thirty-year “Golden Age” steadily led the population to believe in a world where the affirmation of universalistic social rights was an acquired right regardless of offsetting economic measures. But in the following forty years, with this con-viction still holding, the economic conditions for the sustainability of that model were overturned, and the prospect, therefore, of social benefits for all changed radically. Especially after the 2008 crisis, a new cleavage explodes with such an intensity that it actually squares the interests of the “protected” (state employees with steady jobs, workers of large and medium-sized firms protected by the Unions) with the “non-protected” (the unemployed, self-employed and seasonal labourers), in other words those of the established and non-established. In this framework, if they want to survive, the political parties both old and new, are continually being pressurised by an agitated electorate to realign themselves. And while in the short term gain votes populist and nationalist parties, the nature of the latest cleavage seems there-fore to be a challenge especially for those parties which find themselves managing the “social blocs”, gen-erated from the classic cleavages, and the identity nuclei

Disagio giovanile e contesto familiare: un confronto tra famiglie italiane e famiglie immigrate

L’articolo vuole presentare i risultati di una ricerca condotta allo scopo di esaminare e confrontare lo stile di parenting tra famiglie italiane e famiglie immigrate. La letteratura indica come lo stile di parenting genitoriale può influenzare lo sviluppo psicosociale della prole: dalla qualità della relazione genitore/figlio dipende la qualità dei percorsi di definizione dell’identità personale del soggetto in corso di sviluppo. In ottica di prevenzione primaria, lo stile di parenting può essere assunto come importante elemento atto a prevenire il disagio e la devianza giovanile. Assunta l’ipotesi che l’ambivalenza culturale di cui risente la famiglia immigrata – da un lato il desiderio di mantenere le proprie tradizioni, dall’altro il bisogno di far propri i valori della cultura ospitante per una migliore integrazione – possa influire sullo stile di parenting, la ricerca ha voluto indagare quali differenze tra famiglie italiane e famiglie immigrate rispetto alle dinamiche volte a favorire i processi di crescita psicoemotiva della prole

Preclinical efficacy of [V 4 Q 5 ]dDAVP, a second generation vasopressin analog, on metastatic spread and tumor-associated angiogenesis in colorectal cancer

Purpose Control of metastatic spread of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains as a major therapeutic challenge. [V 4 Q 5 ]dDAVP is a vasopressin peptide analog with previously reported anticancer activity against carcinoma tumors. By acting as a selective agonist of arginine vasopressin type 2 membrane receptor (AVPR2) present in endothelial and tumor cells, [V 4 Q 5 ]dDAVP is able to impair tumor aggressiveness and distant spread. Our aim was to evaluate the potential therapeutic benefits of [V 4 Q 5 ]dDAVP on highly aggressive CRC disease using experimental models with translational relevance. Materials and Methods Murine CT-26 and human Colo-205 AVPR2-expressing CRC cell lines were used to test the preclinical efficacy of [V 4 Q 5 ]dDAVP, both in vitro and in vivo. Results In syngeneic mice surgically implanted with CT-26 cells in the spleen, sustained intravenous treatment with [V 4 Q 5 ]dDAVP (0.3 jg/kg) dramatically impaired metastatic progression to liver without overt signs of toxicity, and also reduced experimental lung colonization. The compound inhibited in vivo angiogenesis driven by Colo-205 cells in athymic mice, as well as in vitro endothelial cell migration and capillary tube formation. [V 4 Q 5 ]dDAVP exerted AVPR2-dependent cytostatic activity in vitro (IC50 1.08 |jM) and addition to 5-fluorouracil resulted in synergistic antiproliferative effects both in CT-26 and Colo-205 cells. Conclusion The present preclinical study establishes for the first time the efficacy of [V 4 Q 5 ]dDAVP on CRC. These encouraging results suggest that the novel second generation vasopressin analog could be used for the management of aggressive CRC as an adjuvant agent during surgery or to complement standard chemotherapy, limiting tumor angiogenesis and metastasis and thus protecting the patient from CRC recurrence.Fil: Garona, Juan. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sobol, Natasha Tatiana. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pifano, Marina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Segatori, Valeria Inés. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gomez, Daniel Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ripoll, Giselle Vanina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Alonso, Daniel Fernando. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Thatcher’s Victims vs. Beveridge’s Sons: The New Cleavage of European Parties

The Rokkans’ theory of cleavages has traditionally been a valid helpful instrument, although questionable, to interpret the nexus between social dynamics and party models. Thanks also to this theo-ry, during the hundred years between 1885 and 1985, European political party classification, at least where their origins are concerned, is reasonably straightforward. At the end of the sixties of ‘900, the per-formance of the political actors in terms of policy stimulated a level of feedback on the social conditions of populations to the point of reducing the impact of the traditional cleavages. The thirty-year “Golden Age” steadily led the population to believe in a world where the affirmation of universalistic social rights was an acquired right regardless of offsetting economic measures. But in the following forty years, with this con-viction still holding, the economic conditions for the sustainability of that model were overturned, and the prospect, therefore, of social benefits for all changed radically. Especially after the 2008 crisis, a new cleavage explodes with such an intensity that it actually squares the interests of the “protected” (state employees with steady jobs, workers of large and medium-sized firms protected by the Unions) with the “non-protected” (the unemployed, self-employed and seasonal labourers), in other words those of the established and non-established. In this framework, if they want to survive, the political parties both old and new, are continually being pressurised by an agitated electorate to realign themselves. And while in the short term gain votes populist and nationalist parties, the nature of the latest cleavage seems there-fore to be a challenge especially for those parties which find themselves managing the “social blocs”, gen-erated from the classic cleavages, and the identity nuclei

A platform technology for dynamic control of cell behavior

Mammalian cells rely on complex and highly dynamic gene networks to maintain cellular homeostasis in response to environmental stimuli and intracellular signals. Efficient cellular reprogramming thus requires integration of exogenous components for cell engineering with endogenous cellular networks through feedback control systems. We explored the use of post-translational tools for superior feedback regulation of dynamic behaviors. Specifically, we demonstrated efficient detection and manipulation of the main cellular stress response system – the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) – for the design of high producing cell lines for protein manufacturing and for the development of cell therapies for sustained protein production. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Feedback-responsive cell factories for biomanufacturing

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Analysis and experimental characterization of a 2 channel analog audio mixer for didactic laboratories

LAUREA SPECIALISTIC

Ducted Fuel Injection: a mixing-enhancement strategy to abate soot emissions in compression-ignition engines

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Anti-ganglioside antibodies induced in chickens by an alum-adsorbed anti-idiotype antibody targeting NeuGcGM3

Racotumomab is a murine anti-idiotype cancer vaccine targeting NeuGcGM3 on melanoma, breast, and lung cancer. In order to characterize the immunogenicity of alum-adsorbed racotumomab in a non-clinical setting, Leghorn chickens were immunized in dose levels ranging from 25 μg to 1600 μg. Racotumomab was administered subcutaneously in the birds' neck with three identical boosters and serum samples were collected before, during and after the immunization schedule. A strong antibody response was obtained across the evaluated dose range, confirming the immunogenicity of racotumomab even at dose levels as low as 25 μg. As previously observed when using Freund's adjuvant, alum-adsorbed racotumomab induced an idiotype-specific response in all the immunized birds and ganglioside-specific antibodies in 60–100% of the animals. In contrast to the rapid induction anti-idiotype response, detection of ganglioside-specific antibodies in responsive animals may require repeated boosting. Kinetics of anti-NeuGcGM3 antibody titers showed a slight decline 2 weeks after each booster, arguing in favor of repeated immunizations in order to maintain antibody titer. Interestingly, the intensity of the anti-NeuGcGM3 response paralleled that of anti-mucin antibodies and anti-tumor antibodies, suggesting that the in vitro detection of anti-ganglioside antibodies might be a surrogate for an in vivo activity of racotumomab. Taken together, these results suggest that Leghorn chicken immunization might become the means to test the biological activity of racotumomab intended for clinical use.Fil: Guthmann, Marcelo D.. Laboratorios ELEA; ArgentinaFil: Venier, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo; ArgentinaFil: Toledo, Darien. Center of Molecular Immunology; CubaFil: Segatori, Valeria Inés. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Alonso, Daniel Fernando. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Fainboim, Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo; ArgentinaFil: Vazquez, Ana Maria. Center of Molecular Immunology; CubaFil: Ostrowski, Héctor. Laboratorios ELEA; Argentin

Zinc Oxide Particles Induce Activation of the Lysosome–Autophagy System

Metal-oxide-based materials are highly versatile and used in a wide variety of applications ranging from medical technology to personal care products. Generally recognized as safe by the US Food and Drug Administration, zinc oxide (ZnO) has been increasingly used in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, and commodity chemical industries. As a result, exposure to nano- and micron-sized ZnO particles through occupational processes and consumer products is increasing and has raised concerns over the health effects associated with the large-scale production and commercialization of ZnO-based materials. It is therefore important to investigate the interaction of ZnO particles with biological systems and elucidate the consequent effect on cell physiology. Of particular interest is the autophagic response to zinc oxide particles, as autophagy is the first line of defense activated in response to the uptake of foreign materials. As the main cellular catabolic pathway, the lysosome–autophagy system plays an important homeostatic function and defects or deficiency of this degradation system is associated with the cellular pathogenesis of a number of human diseases, ranging from neurodegenerative disorders to cancer. In this study, we investigated the response of the lysosome–autophagy system to three relevant types of ZnO particles, namely, a polydisperse mixture of bare, micron-sized particles (100–1000 nm) and monodisperse, bare, and coated (with triethoxycaprylylsilane) ZnO nanoparticles (85 nm). To investigate the molecular mechanisms mediating the response of the lysosome–autophagy system to these ZnO particles, we examined a complete set of markers of this pathway and characterized each step, from transcriptional activation to clearance of autophagic cargo. To evaluate the effect of the different types of ZnO particles on the lysosome–autophagy system, biological assays were conducted under conditions that do not cause considerable cytotoxicity. All three types of ZnO particles were found to result in activation of the transcription factor EB, a master regulator of autophagy and lysosomal biogenesis. Cellular exposure to bare and coated nano-sized ZnO enhanced the formation and turnover of autophagosomes and cellular clearance. Cellular exposure to the polydisperse mixture of ZnO particles, however, resulted in enhancement of autophagosome formation, but also in blockage of the autophagic flux. Results from this study underscore the importance of characterizing the autophagic response to ZnO-based materials and contribute significant engineering principles for the future design of nano- and micron-sized ZnO materials with the desired autophagy-modulating properties