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The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 has created the need of compounds able to interfere with the biological processes exploited by the virus. Doxycycline, with its pleiotropic effects, including anti-viral activity, has been proposed as a therapeutic candidate for COVID-19 and about twenty clinical trials have started since the beginning of the pandemic.To gain information on the activity of doxycycline against SARS-CoV-2 infection and clarify some of the conflicting clinical data published, we designed in vitro binding tests and infection studies with a pseudotyped virus expressing the spike protein, as well as a clinically isolated SARS-CoV-2 strain. Doxycycline inhibited the transduction of the pseudotyped virus in Vero E6 and HEK-293 T cells stably expressing human receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 but did not affect the entry and replication of SARS-CoV-2.Although this conclusion is apparently disappointing, it is paradigmatic of an experimental approach aimed at developing an integrated multidisciplinary platform. To avoid wasting precious time and resources we believe very stringent experimental criteria are needed in the preclinical phase, including infectious studies with SARS-CoV-2 in the platform before moving on to [failed] clinical trials.Author SummaryThe pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has created a completely unusual situation in rapidly searching for compounds able to interfere with the biological processes exploited by the virus. This new scenario has substantially changed the timing of drug development which has also resulted in the generation of controversial results, proving that the transition from computational screening to the clinical application requires great caution and careful studies. It is therefore necessary to establish new paradigms for evaluating the efficacy of a potential active molecule.We set up a preclinical platform aimed at identifying molecules active against SARS-CoV-2 infection developing a multidisciplinary approach based on very stringent experimental criteria, comprising in-silico studies, in vitro binding tests and infection studies with pseudovirus expressing the spike protein as well as clinically isolated SARS-CoV-2 strains. We focused our attention on doxycycline which has been suggested as potential therapeutic candidate for treating COVID-19 and is currently employed in about twenty clinical trials. Doxycycline resulted effective in inhibiting the transduction of pseudovirus but it did not affect the entry and replication of SARS-CoV-2. The results obtained underline the need to define more stringent and controlled pharmacological approaches before wasting precious time and resources with clinical trials.

The chapter discusses young Italian’s political activation against the exacerbation of socio-economic and intergenerational inequalities fostered by the 2008 economic crisis and the austerity measures. The study contributes to the book and to the broader scholarship in youth studies and social movement studies by providing an in-depth analysis of young people’s collective reaction to inequalities through self-organisation and mutualism. The chapter is based on qualitative materials (interviews, focus groups and participant observations) collected on five experiences of youth activism in political squats (centri sociali). These materials are analysed in relation to three main research questions: how did the crisis transform activists’ practices of participation? How has this transformation changed the relationships between activists and the surrounding communities? And what about young activists’ relationships with institutions?

L'introduzione al numero monografico si focalizza sul rilievo del rapporto tra disuguaglianze, territorio e politica. Viene mostrato come la «politicizzazione» della disuguaglianza sociale e della sua articolazione spaziale negli anni recenti ha intercettato molteplici ambiti di riflessione teorica e di ricerca empirica, al punto che è diventato impossibile spiegare la politica contemporanea senza chiamare in causa la dimensione territoriale.

The article investigates the role of mafias in the gambling sector in Italy. The gambling sector is a field of business that has recently undergone radical and decisive changes, affected above all by a process of accelerated legalisation that has made it one of the most dynamic legal gambling markets in the world in terms of volume of money gambled. Although gambling has become legal, the demand for illegal gambling services has not definitely disappeared. In the article we first reconstruct the business chain of the gambling industry, identifying both the most relevant aspects of its recent development and the various actors working in this business sector. Based on some judicial documents, we then offer a picture of the role of the mafias in the gambling sector, focusing on the aspects that most attract mafia interests or make it vulnerable to predatory action by mafias. Finally, we present a particularly significant case study of the action of an entrepreneur close to the mafias in the field of gambling activities relying on the consultation of court documents and interviews with qualified witnesses. The emerging picture highlights how the criminal rise is being combined with the process of “regulated opening” of the gambling market, which is being transformed relatively quickly from a black market to a fully legal one.

L'introduzione fa il punto sul dibattito internazionale che ha interessato sia la sociologia che la scienza politica attorno al tema periferie e voto. Nell'introduzione gli autori presentano la letteratura recente sulle disuguaglianze sociospaziali e la collegano alla riflessione sulle trasformazioni recenti del comportamento di voto che hanno visto l'emergere di partiti sfidanti radicati frequentemente nelle aree territoriali periferiche.

L'aumento delle disuguaglianze nelle democrazie avanzate non è avvenuta con la stessa intensità e ha colpito fasce diverse della popolazione. Il capitolo esamina gli assetti occupazionali generati dalla crescita della terziarizzazione avvenuta in modi e tempi specifici da paese a paese e la riorganizzazione delle politiche del lavoro a partire dagli anni Ottanta del secolo scorso fino ai giorni nostri. Prima degli ainni Duemila si osservano tre modelli (Europa continentale, nordica, Stati Uniti e Regno Unito) che successivamente, in un gioco di continuità e mutamento, diventano quattro. I quattro regimi di politica del lavoro sono analizzati sia in riferimento alla configurazione istituzionale delle politiche del lavoro distinguendo tra politiche di protezione e di investimento, sia in relazione ai loro esiti distributivi con specifica enfasi alle disuguaglianze salariali, di età, di genere e per livelli di qualificazione.

The aim of this chapter is to discuss spatial aspects of young people's participation through a closer look on spatial appropriation practices. Specifically, we look at public and semi-public spaces in the city that young people appropriate as their 'homes', focusing on processes that, within the home and urban studies debates, are commonly defined as domestication of public space. The chapter scrutinizes how through domestication young people turn spaces into meaningful and familiar places. Looking at how young people make their 'home' in the urban space is also a way to look, from a micro perspective, how young people deal with urban transformations. The analysis of the empirical material shows, first of all, that, for young people, home does not necessarily take place in private spaces; instead, home can also be in public or semi-public spaces. The homes the young people create usually involve strong emotional components, going along with the attribution of great symbolic values to objects, activities and people who constitute homes. Home-making processes, moreover, can stand in opposition to control by state authorities or youth workers when their control is experienced as coercive. More generally, home-making in public or semi-public spaces can also involve challenging taken-for-granted meanings, potentially leading to conflicts with co-user of the urban space.

Il rapido incremento e l’ormai stabile presenza di studenti con background migratorio nel sistema scolastico italiano è una delle caratteristiche più evidenti del processo di stabilizzazione della presenza straniera in Italia che più ha attirato l’interesse delle scienze sociali. Tale attenzione per le trasformazioni del sistema scolastico conseguenti all’incremento delle presenze degli alunni con cittadinanza non italiana si è per certi versi sviluppata seguendo la maturazione demografica delle cosiddette seconde generazioni (o nuove generazioni italiane): dopo il consolidamento della ricerca sul segmento della formazione secondaria, negli ultimi anni è cresciuta l’attenzione per l’istruzione post-secondaria. Dopo aver ricostruito l’andamento della crescita degli studenti con cittadinanza non italiana nell’intero sistema scolastico e come si sono modificate le principali forme di svantaggio sperimentate rispetto agli alunni italiani, l’obiettivo del capitolo è mettere in luce – tramite la combinazione di indicatori ricavati dalle fonti ufficiali – i tratti essenziali del processo che ha portato ad una crescente partecipazione degli studenti stranieri all’interno degli atenei italiani, mostrando non solo come le disparità di istruzione tra cittadini italiani e stranieri si siano andate progressivamente riconfigurando, ma anche le differenze interne a questo segmento di popolazione. Nella parte finale del capitolo, la ricostruzione di alcune storie di vita di studenti con cittadinanza straniera iscritti all’Università di Bologna permette di esplicitare come un elemento strutturale di svantaggio quale l’origine straniera sia concretamente sperimentato, prodotto e talvolta contestato nell’esperienza universitaria, mostrando gli esiti possibili delle complesse interazioni tra le dinamiche strutturali descritte nelle pagine precedenti e l’agency individuale.

Concussion represents the immediate and transient symptoms of a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI),1 and is defined as a clinical syndrome of biomechanically induced alteration of brain function.2 The term “concussion” is often used interchangeably with “mild traumatic brain injury.”1

Physiatrists are uniquely qualified to serve as sports medicine physicians and care for the recreational and competitive athlete as well as those who exercise for health-related benefits. Physiatrists are trained extensively in musculoskeletal medicine and injury, functional rehabilitation, and coordinating and leading a team of professionals to optimize care of patients. The sports medicine team includes the athlete, his or her family, specialty and primary care physicians, athletic trainers, physical and massage therapists, chiropractors, dieticians, psychologists, and coaches. Physiatrists are also skilled in prehabilitation, or preventive rehabilitation, which is an important aspect of care for any athlete involved in routine physical training. Exercise physiology, emergency medical care, and more routine medical care are also important to any well-rounded sports medicine physician. This chapter covers the breadth of sports medicine for the physiatrist, including the general role and medicolegal aspects of being a team physician, sporting event administration with a particular focus on emergency preparedness, athletic conditioning and training principles, injury prevention and functional rehabilitation, biomechanics of sports, pharmacology in sports, emergency assessment and care of the athlete, common medical and neurologic conditions in athletes, and a review of specific populations of athletes and their common ailments, including a special focus on athletes with disabilities and adaptive sports medicine. This chapter is not intended to be a musculoskeletal medicine chapter because other chapters in this text cover in-depth musculoskeletal issues that overlap with the musculoskeletal injuries seen in athletes.

Adaptive athletes have globally embraced the sport of adaptive cycling, and participation is expanding rapidly on local, national, and international levels. With a diverse array of events supporting adaptive cyclist participation, there is a need to create more awareness about the history and classes of adaptive cycling, adaptive cycle technology, and injuries and medical concerns specific to this group of adaptive athletes. This communication aims to review the major aspects of adaptive cycling, from the technological aspects of both the cycles and adaptations of the athlete to injuries and medical concerns specific to adaptive cyclists.

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to assess the accuracy of ultrasound-guided needle placement for sacroiliac joint injections.DesignInstitutional review board approval was gained for a prospective cohort study of 50 patients (N = 50). Study patients who were referred for sacroiliac joint injections