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In a search for bacteria having putative probiotic activity, we screened a collection of food-isolated microorganisms for the ability to survive at low pH in the presence of bile salts and for the production of antimicrobial compounds active against a number of animal pathogens. Among these, we found a strain that we classified as a member of Lactobacillus fermentum sp., and we further investigated its features. This organism was able to adhere to human enterocyte-like (Caco-2) cells with high efficiency as compared to that of a well known indicator strain. Chromatographic analysis indicated that at least two small (less than 3 kDa) factors were involved in mediating the in vitro interaction of L. fermentum with Caco-2 cells. Adhesion activity could be abolished by mild treatment of the bacterial cells in buffer and rescued by incubating them with either the same buffer after its use in the treatment or with chromatographic fractions containing each of the two factors, which indicated that these factors were loosely associated with the cell wall and that each of them was sufficient to warrant the adhesiveness of L. fermentum to Caco-2 cells. These data are suggestive of a novel mechanism of bacterial adhesion to epithelial cells.

In a search for bacteria having putative probiotic activity, we screened a collection of food-isolated microorganisms for the ability to survive at low pH in the presence of bile salts and for the production of antimicrobial compounds active against a number of animal pathogens. Among these, we found a strain that we classified as a member of Lactobacillus fermentum sp., and we further investigated its features. This organism was able to adhere to human enterocyte-like (Caco-2) cells with high efficiency as compared to that of a well known indicator strain. Chromatographic analysis indicated that at least two small (less than 3 kDa) factors were involved in mediating the in vitro interaction of L. fermentum with Caco-2 cells. Adhesion activity could be abolished by mild treatment of the bacterial cells in buffer and rescued by incubating them with either the same buffer after its use in the treatment or with chromatographic fractions containing each of the two factors, which indicated that these factors were loosely associated with the cell wall and that each of them was sufficient to warrant the adhesiveness of L. fermentum to Caco-2 cells. These data are suggestive of a novel mechanism of bacterial adhesion to epithelial cells.

Investment in nutritional programmes can contribute to economic growth and is cost-effective in improving child survival and development. In order to communicate this to decision-makers, the PROFILES nutrition advocacy and policy development programme was applied in certain developing countries. Effective advocacy is necessary to generate financial and political support for scaling up from small pilot projects and maintaining successful national programmes. The programme uses scientific knowledge to estimate development indicators such as mortality, morbidity, fertility, school performance and labour productivity from the size and nutritional condition of populations. Changes in nutritional condition are estimated from the costs, coverage and effectiveness of proposed programmes. In Bangladesh this approach helped to gain approval and funding for a major nutrition programme. PROFILES helped to promote the nutrition component of an early childhood development programme in the Philippines, and to make nutrition a top priority in Ghana's new national child survival strategy. The application of PROFILES in these and other countries has been supported by the United States Agency for International Development, the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Micronutrient Initiative and other bodies.This paper describes a database approach to nutrition policy development and advocacy. The PROFILES nutrition advocacy and policy development program was applied in such developing countries as Bangladesh, Philippines, and Ghana. It has been used to increase awareness among decision-makers of the need for greater investment in nutrition, to facilitate the design and selection of programs, and to promote particular interventions that were already being designed. The program uses scientific knowledge to estimate development indicators such as mortality, morbidity, fertility, school performance, and labor productivity from the size and nutritional condition of populations. Nutritional condition changes were estimated from the costs, coverage and effectiveness of proposed programs. This nutritional program contributes to economic growth and is cost-effective in improving child survival and development. Thus, this approach has been successful: in Bangladesh, it played a vital role in bringing the government to accept the young child nutrition program and obtaining approval for assisted funding; in the Philippines, PROFILES also helped in developing and advocating an early childhood development program that included a large nutrition component in combination with health, family planning and educational components; in Ghana, it helped make nutrition the government's top priority, as evidenced by the Ministry of Health's new child survival strategy.

Il lavoro attiene agli aspetti fiscali relativi all’acquisizione della residenza fiscale in Italia. Un profilo di indagine riguarda il trattamento dei soggetti che, assumendo una posizione di regolarità nel contesto del lavoro, presentano la dichiarazione dei redditi, vengono tassati e contribuiscono alla previdenza sociale e alle entrate tributarie e, eventualmente. Altro profilo di analisi è la disciplina per cui la leva fiscale determina delle posizioni “agevolate” per incentivare il trasferimento, nel caso di soggetti che possono apportare “ricchezza” implementando la ricerca o con l’investimento di capitali. E’ essenziale il rispetto dei principi costituzionali, a garanzia della considerazione delle identità e delle capacità dei singoli. The analysis deals with the transfer of tax residence to Italy. There is a substantial difference between the hypotheses of economic activity carried out in Italy while maintaining the residence in another State, and the hypotheses in which the economic operator chooses to transfer the residence to Italy. It is possible to use tax for social reasons, for example including specific contributions or facilitations to tax the income of immigrants who have new residence in Italy. There is a profile of analysis which concerns the treatment of immigrants, who, assuming a position of regularity in the context of work, present the tax return (and they are subsequently taxed), and they contribute to social security and tax revenues. These individuals are eventually recipients of grants. Another profile of interest and analysis is the possibility that the tax is an instrument that can determine the “facilitated” positions, but with a different purpose: providing an incentive to transfer, in the case of subjects who can bring “wealth” in the sense of implementing scientific research or capital investment in Italy. The immediate and intense impact on the territory of the choices adopted and implemented through taxation is evident, and is likely to generate elements characterizing the cohabitation in the country.

Il contributo tratta dei rapporti tra procedimento penale e procedimento tributario, con riferimento: - al principio di specialità, e alle problematiche connesse; - alla non eseguibilità delle sanzioni amministrative in pendenza del procedimento penale; - alla valenza della sentenza penale nel processo tributario e della sentenza tributaria nel giudizio penale.

Il lavoro, indicando i tratti caratterizzanti della fattispecie della sottrazione fraudolenta al pagamento di imposte (art. 11, comma 1, D. lgs n. 74/2000), ne affronta gli aspetti problematici. In particolare, si occupa del bene giuridico oggetto di tutela, del soggetto attivo, della condotta, dell’elemento soggettivo, e, richiamando la dottrina e la giurisprudenza, propone degli spunti critici di riflessione. The work, showing the characterizing sections of the case of the fraudulent subtraction to the payment of taxes (article 11, paragraph 1, d.lgs no. 74/2000), faces the problematic aspects. In particular, the work is responsible for the juridical good tutelage object, of the active subject, of the behavior, of the subjective element, and, recalling doctrine and jurisprudence, it proposes some critical reflection starting points.

Il lavoro tratta dei profili di costituzionalità degli istituti della mediazione tributaria e del reclamo, di recente introduzione. Vengono, in particolare, esaminate le problematiche relative all'“assenza” nel procedimento di un soggetto terzo “imparziale”, della giurisdizione condizionata, del regime delle spese, della tutela cautelare, della indisponibilità della pretesa fiscale.

Il lavoro si occupa delle definizioni normative, cui il legislatore penale tributario ha dedicato un’intera rubrica, all’art. 1, D. lgs. 10 marzo 2000, n. 74. Vengono effettuati, dopo una premessa che inquadra l’oggetto della ricerca, alcuni riferimenti di teoria generale, indispensabili per un approccio alla tematica delle definizioni in campo giuridico, nel cui ambito vengono enucleati i problemi essenziali e generalissimi inerenti alla logica dell’attività definitoria. Viene poi esaminata la rilevanza delle definizioni legislative in materia penale, con particolare riguardo alle funzioni e ai limiti delle stesse; l’indagine viene approfondita anche attraverso cenni comparatistici, riferiti alla Germania e all’Austria, alla Spagna e al Portogallo, alla Francia. Nel terzo capitolo, con specifico riguardo alla disciplina penale tributaria, sono oggetto di esame le definizioni contenute nel D. lgs. n. 74/2000, in considerazione dell’impatto delle stesse sull’elaborazione dottrinale e giurisprudenziale. Gli enunciati definitori, concernendo elementi costitutivi essenziali del fatto punibile che sono presenti in più fattispecie incriminatrici, perseguono come prima ed evidente funzione quella di definire in via generale concetti destinati a svolgere un ruolo di elementi tipici ricorrenti. Gli enunciati contenuti nella disciplina penal-tributaria, all’art. 1, D.lgs. n. 74/2000, lett. a), lett. b), lett. c), lett. d), lett. e), lett. f) e lett. g), vengono esaminati dedicando specifica attenzione alle singole fattispecie di reato. Tra i vari problemi interpretativi si possono ricordare, ad esempio, quelli che si ricollegano alla definizione sub lett. a), in riferimento alla nozione di “operazione inesistente”, e alle possibili accezioni implicate da questa espressione; l’enunciato sub lett. b), riguardante gli “elementi attivi e passivi”, determina pure peculiari questioni interpretative, attinenti al concetto di “fittizietà” in senso materiale o in senso giuridico (per gli elementi passivi), e a ciò che debba intendersi per “ammontare inferiore a quello effettivo” (per gli elementi attivi); ancora, la definizione sub lett. f), riguardante l’“imposta evasa”, intesa come la differenza tra l’imposta “effettivamente dovuta” e quella indicata nella dichiarazione (ovvero come l’intera imposta dovuta nel caso di omessa dichiarazione), lascia irrisolta la questione di come vada determinata la richiamata imposta “effettivamente dovuta”. Sia in dottrina che in giurisprudenza non sono mancate le posizioni controverse e degne di interesse e di studio, sotto lo specifico profilo dell’analisi delle definizioni legislative e della sufficienza ed idoneità delle stesse a raggiungere lo scopo.

L'articolo tratta delle problematiche più rilevanti del giudizio di ottemperanza dinanzi alle commissioni tributarie, muovendo dall’origine dell’istituto e dalla controversa qualificazione della sua natura, affrontando specificamente il rapporto con l'esecuzione del giudicato prevista dal c.p.c. Sono oggetto di analisi i presupposti per l'applicazione dell'istituto, con le problematiche connesse al tema del giudicato (qualificazione di “cosa giudicata formale”, giudicato interno) nonché all’efficacia delle sentenze provvisoriamente esecutive. Si affrontano poi le questioni riguardanti la competenza (spettante, di regola, al giudice che ha pronunciato il provvedimento), relative soprattutto all’individuazione dell’organo giudicante per l’ottemperanza di sentenze emesse nei gradi di giudizio successivi al primo. Si esamina inoltre il tema della legittimazione, sia attiva che passiva, la prima, riguardante i soggetti parte nel giudizio (e, comunque, beneficiari dell’obbligo imposto all’amministrazione dalla sentenza), la seconda che fa riferimento all’Ufficio del Ministero delle finanze o all’ente locale. Infine, oggetto di attenzione e studio sono l'istituto del commissario ad acta, e la disciplina dell'impugnazione dei provvedimenti.

The aim of this study was to check if two different recording systems utilized by AIA and a typical buffalo herd influence the lactation curve characteristics of dairy buffalo, such as peak yield and day to peak. Two different recording systems of milk yield data for 569 Mediterranean Italian buffalo primiparous farmed in the same herd were compared. The AIA’s system (RS1), consisting in monthly collections of individual milk yield data, and the pedometer system (Dairy Plan C21–Westfalia) (RS2), consisting in daily collections of individual milk yield data, were compared. Lactation curves were obtained with the Wood function (1967). The different estimates of peak yield and day to peak obtained from the data collected with the two systems, indicate that the type of system may influence these two characteristics. The lower coefficient of determination from fitting the Wood function to the data collected with RS1 compared to that of data collected with RS2, also suggests that the second system may be more accurate. However, cumulative milk yields estimated at 270 days of lactation did not differ between the two systems

The use of molecular markers for fingerprinting applied to genotype represents a useful tool for the traceability of production in the agri-food chain and for the identification and control of propagation material during the various nursery stages. Apricot takes an important place in Campania fruit production. The aim of this work is to make a contribution to complete the characterization of local (Campania Region) apricot germplasm and to show that the analysis of DNA by molecular markers is a useful tool for the defence of typical local products. In this work, 10 apricot cultivars were analyzed by performing Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR. RAPDs are based on PCR amplification of polymorphic DNA using single primers containing arbitrary nucleotide sequences. Our results show that 8 cultivars present a unique profile of amplification, thus providing a fingerprint of their genome.

Background The most serious criticisms leveled at bacteriophage therapy are as follows: phages induce neutralizing antibodies, phages are active only when administered shortly after bacterial infection, and phage-resistant bacteria emerge rapidly in the course of therapy. Methods Phages lytic for several Salmonella enterica serovars were isolated by means of standard protocols from feces of patients with gastroenteritis. Growth of S. enterica serovar Paratyphi B (Salp572(phi1S)) in the presence of phage phi1 (selected from among 8 phages for its larger host range) provided a phage phi1-resistant bacterial strain (Salp572(phi1R)). The properties of the Salp572(phi1S) and Salp572(phi1R) strains and of phage phi1 were studied in a mouse model of experimental infection. Results Phages induced nonneutralizing antibodies and were active 2 weeks after experimental infection of mice; phage-resistant bacteria were avirulent and short lived in vivo. More importantly, phage-resistant bacteria were excellent vaccines, protecting against lethal doses of heterologous S. enterica serovars. Conclusions Phage therapy effectiveness has not yet been properly assessed.

In the presence of a bacteriophage (a bacteria-attacking virus) resistance is clearly beneficial to the bacteria. As expected in such conditions, resistant bacteria emerge rapidly. However, in the absence of the phage, resistant bacteria often display reduced fitness, compared to their sensitive counterparts. The present study explored the fitness cost associated with phage-resistance as an opportunity to isolate an attenuated strain of S. aureus. The phage-resistant strain A172 was isolated from the phage-sensitive strain A170 in the presence of the M(Sa) phage. Acquisition of phage-resistance altered several properties of A172, causing reduced growth rate, under-expression of numerous genes and production of capsular polysaccharide. In vivo, A172 modulated the transcription of the TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma and Il-1beta genes and, given intramuscularly, protected mice from a lethal dose of A170 (18/20). The heat-killed vaccine also afforded protection from heterologous methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) (8/10 mice) or vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) (9/10 mice). The same vaccine was also effective when administered as an aerosol. Anti-A172 mouse antibodies, in the dose of 10 microl/mouse, protected the animals (10/10, in two independent experiments) from a lethal dose of A170. Consisting predominantly of the sugars glucose and galactose, the capsular polysaccharide of A172, given in the dose of 25 microg/mouse, also protected the mice (20/20) from a lethal dose of A170. The above results demonstrate that selection for phage-resistance can facilitate bacterial vaccine preparation.

Il lavoro affronta il tema dell’impugnabilità della sentenza emessa a seguito del giudizio di ottemperanza, disciplinata dall’art. 70, comma 10, D. lgs. 31 dicembre1992, n. 546. I limiti all’impugnazione previsti dalla normativa particolare sono esaminati alla luce dei principi costituzionali, trattando del problema dell’applicabilità dell’art. 111 Cost.

The present study describes a bacteriophage (M Sa ) active against Staphylococcus aureus , including methicillin-resistant staphylococcal strains. When inoculated into mice simultaneously with S. aureus A170 (10 8 CFU/mouse), phage (10 9 PFU) rescued 97% of the mice; when applied to nonlethal (5 × 10 6 CFU/mouse) 10-day infections, the phage also fully cleared the bacteria. The phage M Sa , delivered inside macrophages by S. aureus , kills the intracellular staphylococci in vivo and in vitro. The phage can also prevent abscess formation and reduce the bacterial load and weight of abscesses. These results suggest a potential use of the phage for the control of both local and systemic human S. aureus infections.

A pharmacokinetic study based on the distribution of radioactivity from the double labelled S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) has been carried out by oral administration of the liposoluble stable salt [methyl-14C, 8-3H]SAM N-ole-1-oyltaurate to rats. The SAM sulfate p-toluensulfonate salt, the only SAM salt at present commercialized as drug, was chosen as reference compound to have a comparative pharmacokinetic analysis. The metabolism of the SAM is characterised by a differential use of the two labelled moieties by the various organs, liver being the most active in metabolizing the sulfonium compound with a preferential uptake of the methyl-14C fragment. The radioactivity detected after the administration of [methyl-14C, 8-3H]SAM N-ole-1-oyltaurate is, in all the organs examined, two times higher than the [methyl-14C, 8-3H]SAM sulfate p-toluensulfonate compound, attesting that the liposoluble [methyl-14C, 8-3H]SAM N-ole-1-oyltaurate is provided with better bioavailability. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Il lavoro affronta il tema dell’applicabilità dell’oblazione discrezionale nel giudizio penal-tributario, disciplinata dall’art. 162 bis c.p. Viene approfondita l’analisi dell’interesse tutelato dal legislatore penal-tributario, in considerazione del fatto che, sotto la vigenza della l. n. 516/1982, le fattispecie dei reati contravvenzionali prescindono dall’avvenuta realizzazione dell’evasione, e si configurano come reati di pericolo. Il giudice penale chiamato a pronunciarsi sull’istanza di oblazione opera in un contesto in cui non vige la pregiudiziale tributaria (abrogata con l’art. 13, l. n. 516/1982) e le fattispecie incriminatrici non sono legate né al quantum evaso, né all’effettività dell’evasione, poiché il meccanismo sanzionatorio è mirato a reprimere la violazione di obblighi meramente formali, in cui possono identificarsi condotte “preparatorie”: le fattispecie suscettibili di oblazione sono contravvenzionali, punite con la pena alternativa dell’arresto o dell’ammenda, mentre rimangono escluse dall’applicabilità dell’istituto dell’oblazione le fattispecie delittuose punite con pena congiunta. Si rileva l’essenziale prevalenza della funzione deterrente, intimidatrice e repressiva cui assolve la sanzione connessa a reati di lieve entità, per cui la funzione dell’oblazione può essere individuata nel costituire un “correttivo” di una eccessiva criminalizzazione.