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The «acerrimus Malebrancius». Vico, the De antiquissima Italorum sapientia and Malebranche. The article analyzes the contribution of Malebranche’s thought to the formation of the Vichian metaphysics as it is expressed in the De antiquissima Italorum sapientia. In particular, the comparison with Malebranche’s philosophy allows Vico to define three fundamental issues: bringing back the Cartesian cogito to the simple function of consciousness; reaching a correct explanation of the concept of animi mens; determining the possibilities and the limits of our knowledge.

Feeding bioassays were conducted on several Pinus sylvestris clones to establish if there were any differences in suitability for two pine defoliators: the sawfly Diprion pini L. (Hym., Diprionidae), which causes considerable damage in Europe, and the rare and protected moth Graellsia isabellae galliaegloria Oberthür (Lep., Attacidae). There were significant differences in survival, weight, sex-ratio and female fecundity of D. pini on Scots pine clones. However, sawfly survival appeared to be the most stable variable in time and three clone categories were revealed by conducting feeding bioassays on 16 clones. The survival of G. isabellae galliaegloria until the formation of the chrysalis was significantly different among clones. It varied from 35 to 75% but no clear clone category was distinguished. The two clone classifications according to insect survival showed differences. In particular, one unsuitable clone for D. pini development appeared to be favourable to moth development. The 3-carene richness of foliage was significantly linked with sawfly survival and the monoterpene composition of foliage was not linked with G. isabellae galliaegloria survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary 1 When laying eggs, adult female Diprion pini discriminated between clones of Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris. 2 Larval survival was affected by Scots pine clone but was not correlated with oviposition preference. 3 Diprion pini laid most eggs on tougher needles of Scots pine. 4 There was no evidence to suggest that D. pini is responding to the monoterpene composition of the foliage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Five methological writings by Eugenio Colorni in the papers of Vittorio Somenzi]. This article presents five texts by Eugenio Colorni (1909-1944) kept at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Library of the Department of Physics, Fondo Vittorio Somenzi. In these texts Colorni presents some of the key points of his methodology, defining an epistemological proposal that will be rediscovered and appreciated with the fall of Fascism after the Second World War.

Flammacerium is a topical treatment composed of silver sulfadiazine and cerium nitrate initially used in burns. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of silver sulfadiazine and cerium nitrate on ischemic necrosis wounds of the lower limb as an alternative to amputation for a period of 12 weeks. Patients were prospectively randomized to receive silver sulfadiazine and cerium nitrate or standard care. Patients included adults with an ischemic wound of the lower limb, with necrosis covering over at least 50%. Critical ischemia limb was confirmed by an ankle-brachial index <0.7 or >1.3 with radiological confirmation. Patient demographic data, amputations procedures, wound area, Visual Analogue Scale pain rating, clinical infection, and adverse events were recorded. Fifty patients, 34 males and 16 females, were recruited between January 2010 and April 2014, 25 in each group. The mean age was 75.14 years (±11.64). Nine amputations (36%) occurred in each group. Amputation-free survival was superior in the active treatment group versus the standard group (169 393 days, 95% confidence interval = 134.926-203.861, vs 169 393 days, 95% confidence interval = 134.926-203.861). It was not statistically significant (log-rank, P = .958). Wound area reduction between both groups was not statistically different ( P = .651). Less adverse events of the lower limb occurred in the active treatment group ( P = .001). Our study showed that silver sulfadiazine and cerium nitrate is not inferior to standardized care on ischemic necrotic wounds of the lower extremity. Further studies are still needed to confirm its effectiveness.

Earlier cytological investigations characterize the family Diprionidae with a modal chromosome number of seven. This study shows that Diprion pini and D. similis have 14 acrocentric chromosomes (n = 14 for haploid males and 2n = 28 for diploid females). In D. pini, rRNA genes are located on the satellite and the round short arm of the chromosome carrying this segment. We studied six populations with no evidence of chromosomal polymorphism at the species level. Our results disagree with those published previously and reopen the question of karyotype evolution. Chromosome morphology, ISH and C-banding results support the hypothesis of chromosome number doubling by centric fission and not by polyploidization, followed by the growth of short arms by means of pericentromeric DNA amplification.