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Paradoxa Stoicorum is a short essay written by Cicero in 46 BC focused on six Stoic Paradoxa. In this essay Cicero doesn’t limit himself to quoting the Stoic sources: he also applies the Stoic paradoxa to his own Roman world. Therefore, Paradoxa Stoicorum is rich in allusions and references to Cicero’s contemporary Rome. Politics was dominated at that time by the figure of Julius Caesar: in April 46 BC Caesar was appointed dictator for 10 years and the dictatorship granted him near absolute power in both theory and in practice. In 2000 one of the most astute scholars who studied Cicero, Emanuele Narducci, noted that Paradoxa Stoicorum is full of hidden opposition against Caesar’s dominion. Nevertheless, this aspect hasn’t received further study from other scholars. The article examines the most direct attacks to Caesar in Paradoxon 5., Ciceroniana on line, Vol. 7 No. 1 (2023): CICERONIANA ON LINE 2023 VII, 1

The use of backpacks is common to both adults and children and often leads to the onset of musculoskeletal discomforts. Although a large number of studies have focused on the optimal load for children schoolbags, there is no general consensus. Here we report a 13-yr old girl case study, showing the impact of weight and wearing the school backpack on gait parameters. The variation of gait parameters and pelvis angles in different conditions were studied: without backpack (CTRL), or with backpack at 10% Body Weight (10BW), 15% BW (15BW) and 20% BW (20BW), carried "on both shoulders" (2S), "on one shoulder" (1S), or "with one hand" (1H). Swing phase was comparably modified by 2S/20BW and 1S/10BW conditions, suggesting that a lower backpack weight was sufficient to induce gait alterations when carried in asymmetrical conditions. Pelvic tilt, which was preserved by a two-shoulders distributed 10% BW load (2S/10BW), was strongly reduced in asymmetrical condition (1S/10BW), suggesting that a low weight carried on a single shoulder generates postural modifications including reduction of pelvic tilting, which is known to be associated to low back pain.

Myelofibrosis (MF) - either primary (PMF) or arising from a previous PV or ET - is a Philadelphia-negative MPNs characterized by aberrant platelet production and consequent variable platelet count with altered hemostatic function (1). It has already been demonstrated that the risk of thrombotic events is one of the most common co-morbidities associated with PV and ET (2-5). However, risk of thrombotic events in PMF has not been investigated yet. We previously demonstrated that PKCepsilon (PKCε) is over-expressed in platelets from patients with acute myocardial infarction and accounts for their increased reactivity (6). Additionally, we recently showed that PKCε overexpression plays a crucial role in PMF MK impaired differentiation and that its levels correlated with the disease severity (expressed by the IPSS/DIPPS risk category) (7,8). On these bases, we analyzed PKCε expression in platelets from PMF patients, investigating a potential correlation with thrombotic risk and the aggressiveness of the disease. For this study, peripheral blood samples from 6 PMF patients and 3 healthy donors (HD) were collected in Na-citrate tubes. PKCε mRNA and protein levels were determined in platelets purified as described by Carubbi C, 2012. Finally, patients are stratified according to the history of cardio-vascular events and the IPSS/DIPSS risk category. PMF platelets showed significantly higher mRNA levels of PKCε as compared to HD. Protein analysis confirm PKCε over-expression in PMF platelets, almost reaching statistical significance. We then found that platelet from PMF patients who suffered from cardiovascular events display significantly higher levels of PKCε as compared to the one with a negative history. Finally, similarly to what observed in PMF magakaryocytes, we showed a positive correlation between PKCε platelets levels and IPSS/DIPSS risk category, with the lowest levels in low-risk patients and higher levels in high-risk patients. Collectively, our preliminary results indicate that PMF platelets show an aberrant expression of PKCε which correlates with the disease burden and a history of cardiovascular events. This suggests that the over-expression of PKCε may account for PMF platelet altered reactivity and function., Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology, Vol. 121, No. 1 (Supplement) 2016

Psoriasis is a noncontagious, arytematous-squamose dermatitits affecting both sexes and all races. Although its exact etiology is largely unknown, it is now recognized as one of the most common immune-mediated disorders and several studies demonstrate an impairment of regulatory T-cells (Tregs) function and an up-regulation of IL-17 levels produced by T-helper 17 lymphocytes (Th17)(1,2). Protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε) is a serine/threonine kinase which plays a key role in the proliferation and differentiation of epidermal cells. We have previously demonstrated a role for PKCε in the pathogenesis of the autoimmune disease Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (3). PKCε is over-expressed in CD4+ T lymphocytes isolated from PBMC fraction in patients affected by this pathology and its forced down-modulation primed the TGF-mediated in vitro Treg polarization of human T CD4+ cells. Since it has been demonstrated that PKC-signalling is altered in psoriatic keratinocytes (4), we investigated the involvement of PKCε in Th17 in vitro differentiation and its potentially implication in immune response correlated to psoriasis. Using western blot and real time PCR, we have observed that PKCε protein levels and mRNA increase during Th17-lineage in vitro differentiation from naïve CD4+ T cells with a similar trend of Th17 markers of differentiation STAT3 and RoRyT. Moreover, PKCε overexpression significantly increases STAT3 and phosphorylated STAT3 levels, suggesting that PKCε boosts Th17 polarization. Thereafter, we sought to investigate PKCε expression in CD4+ lymphocytes obtained from peripheral blood of psoriatic patients and we observed that PKCε expression levels are significantly higher compared with healthy donors. Intriguingly, we observed a closely correlation of PKCε expression with PASI index, suggesting an involvement of the kinase with the severity of the disease. Collectively these data suggest that PKCε might be involved in Th17 differentiation, that it could be a key factor to regulate Th17 pathological expansion and therefore a potential psoriatic pharmacological target., Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology, Vol. 121, No. 1 (Supplement) 2016

Physical activity has a positive role on muscle remodelling and vascularization, involv-ing stem cells differentiation processes. Indeed, the skeletal muscle homeostasis and repair are maintained by a subset of muscle stem/progenitor cells called Satellite Cells (SCs), while for heart repair and remodelling the cardiac potential of progenitor cells is otherwise expressed by different stem cell types: bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells (BMHSC), bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSC), cardiac stem cells and embryonic stem cells. The ε isoform of the PKC family (PKCε) is a serine-threonine kinase that is expressed in muscle and in a variety of other tissues, regulating their homeostasis acting on cell death and differentiation. We focused on the role of PKCε in skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle differentiation of adult stem cells. We found that inhibition of PKCε prevents myogenic differentiation of the myoblast cell line C2C12 and of primary SCs. In vivo PKCε inhibition resulted in impaired muscle regeneration, as well [1]. On the contrary, in cardiac and smooth muscle differentia-tion of stem cells we observed a negative role of PKCε both in vitro and in vivo [2,3]. In fact, it impaired cardiac markers expression like NKX2.5 and GATA4 but also vascular differ-entiation markers like SMA and PECAM. PKCε should therefore be considered as a finely tuned modulator of muscle cell differentiation., Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology, Vol. 122, No. 1 (Supplement) 2017