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Pope Benedict XVI, after writing the encyclicals “Deus Caritas Est” and “Spe Salvi”, wrote in 2009 the third letter of an ideal trilogy: “Caritas in Veritate”. A lawyer who is also a believer might feel uncomfortable reading a prescriptive text which is – for understandable reasons – more abstract than a legal text or an academic paper. But when the same lawyer recovers from the first impact, he may find the recent encyclical more familiar than he would have thought. He will, in any case, find it extremely stimulating; he can trace the results of the lively debate about the structure and function of legal rights and of the preference accorded to an approach which is not only conceptual (or formal) but also “explanatory” (of rights, their nature, their function, etc.); he comes across many legal issues, as well as questions about the role of the state in a free market economy, the anthropological background of corporate social responsibility and the individuation of the duties of company directors, and other themes which are directly or indirectly discussed in this Review. These issues were addressed by Prof. Zamagni, who gave the following interview to Renato Mangano.

Background Hypercortisolism affects calcium and phosphate metabolism in dogs; however, the exact mechanisms are not completely understood. Objectives To evaluate circulating concentrations of whole parathormone (wPTH), 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25‐(OH)D), calcitriol, and fibroblast growth factor‐23 (FGF‐23) in dogs with naturally occurring hypercortisolism (NOHC) and healthy dogs, and their association with calcium and phosphate homeostasis. Animals Twenty‐three client‐owned dogs with NOHC, and 12 client or staff‐owned healthy dogs. Methods Prospective cross‐sectional study. The circulating concentrations of total calcium, ionized calcium (iCa), phosphate, wPTH, 25‐(OH)D, calcitriol and FGF‐23, and the urinary fractional excretion of phosphate (FEP) and calcium (FECa) were compared between dogs with NOHC before treatment and healthy dogs. Results Dogs with NOHC had higher mean serum phosphate concentrations (4.81 mg/dL, SD ± 0.71 vs 3.86 mg/dL, SD ± 0.60; P

This essay outlines the main themes characterizing John Hicks's contribution to economic theory. In particular, the essay emphasizes that the intellectual agenda of John Hicks shows a remarkable mix of continuity and change. This is partly due to the tolerant disposition that was typical of Hicks as a theorist. In Hicks's view, the course of economic history may require changes in the theorist's concentration of attention. Hicks, however, always preferred to combine elements from different theoretical frameworks rather than following a specific analytical scheme in a single-minded way. This approach paves the way to Hicks's propensity to go back to past concepts in order to highlight new and sometimes radical changes in economic institutions and patterns of behaviour. One important theme running though Hicks's contributions is the idea that at any given time the space of possible outcomes open to individual choice is bounded by physical or historical constraints, and that such constraints causally link events along temporal sequences. Complementarities over time are central to Hicks's understanding of money, capital accumulation and economic dynamics.

The limping syndrome is occasionally reported during acute feline calicivirus (FCV) infections or as consequence of vaccination. In this retrospective study, three clinical cases of lameness in household cats naturally infected by FCV were described and phylogeny of the virus were investigated by analysing the hypervariable E region of the ORF2 viral gene. Cats were diagnosed with polyarthritis and FCV RNA or antigens were detected in symptomatic joints. One cat, euthanized for ethical reasons, underwent a complete post-mortem examination and was subjected to histopathological and immunohistochemical investigations. No phylogenetic subgrouping were evident for the sequenced FCV. Histopathology of the euthanized cat revealed diffuse fibrinous synovitis and osteoarthritis eight months after the onset of lameness and the first detection of FCV RNA, supporting the hypothesis of a persistent infection. FCV was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry in synoviocytes and fibroblasts of the synovial membranes. This study provides new data on the occurrence of polyarthritis in FCV-infected cats, demonstrates by immunohistochemistry the presence of FCV in the synovial membranes of a cat with persistent polyarthritis and supports the absence of correlation between limping syndrome and phylogenetic subgrouping of viruses.

In humans, leptospiral acute kidney injury (AKI) is characterised by tubulointerstitial involvement and renal electrolyte losses, impacting clinical presentation and case management. The aim of this study was to evaluate urine chemistry findings in dogs with leptospirosis in order to identify characteristic patterns of tubular damage associated with this disease. Dogs with intrinsic AKI caused by leptospirosis and by other aetiologies were prospectively enrolled. Clinical and clinicopathological variables, including serum and urine chemistry, fractional excretion (FE%) of electrolytes, and urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), were evaluated in both groups and compared statistically. Dogs with leptospirosis (n = 38) had significantly higher serum creatinine concentration than dogs with AKI caused by other aetiologies (n = 37). Serum potassium and glucose concentrations were comparable between groups. Dogs with leptospiral AKI had significantly higher FE of potassium (median 100%, range 20–480 vs. median 68%, range 5–300; P = 0.048), as well as higher magnitude of glucosuria (urine glucose to creatinine ratio, median 0.64, range 0–26 vs. median 0.22, range 0–13; P = 0.023) and frequency of positive glucose dipstick reaction (59% vs. 18%; P = 0.002), than dogs with AKI of other aetiologies. Additional markers of tubular damage considered in this study, including FE of other electrolytes and urinary NGAL, did not differ between groups. In conclusion, when compared to other aetiologies of intrinsic AKI, canine leptospirosis was characterised by increased glucosuria and kaliuresis.

Leptospirosis is an infectious disease that causes serious illness in dogs. For this reason, epidemiological and clinical studies focusing on disease characterization are widely advocated. The aim of this study was to characterize the leptospires identified in dogs with confirmed symptomatic acute leptospirosis. Leptospira spp. DNA detected in urine, blood, or both samples from nine infected dogs was analyzed using the multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) technique. Leptospires from two dogs were successfully typed: one was identified as belonging to Sequence Type (ST) 17 and one to ST198, both within the L. interrogans species, serogroups Icterohaemorrhagiae and Australis, respectively. Based on the results of routine serologic tests, antibodies reactive toward these serogroups are commonly revealed in dogs in Italy. This study provides the first molecular analysis that identifies infecting Leptospira directly on DNA from biological samples of dogs, showing that serogroup Australis can lead to a severe clinical presentation of leptospirosis in infected dogs.

The early diagnosis of acute leptospirosis is still a major challenge in dogs. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the suitability of two in-clinic tests detecting anti-leptospiral IgM and IgG antibodies in diagnosing canine leptospirosis. The performances of the two rapid tests were compared to the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) carried out on acute sera and to diagnostic criteria adopted in this study to confirm leptospirosis infection (MAT upon admission, convalescent MAT and quantitative real-time PCR on blood and/or urine). The dogs were enrolled on the basis of reported exposure to known risk factors and clinical presentation (acute kidney injury and/or systemic inflammatory response syndrome with multi-organ damage). Eighty-nine dogs included in the study were sub-grouped on the basis of the results of the diagnostic criteria adopted: (1) confirmed leptospirosis cases (42/89 dogs); (2) negative leptospirosis cases (36/89 dogs); and (3) unconfirmed leptospirosis cases (11/89 dogs). The results supported the usefulness of the two rapid diagnostic tests as a first in-clinic screening tool for suspected leptospirosis; positive results in the in-clinic tests in dogs with suggestive clinical and laboratory signs strongly indicated acute leptospirosis, while negative results required additional diagnostic investigation to exclude the infection. Confirmatory tests recommended for canine leptospirosis are still necessary in addition to the use of rapid in-clinic tests.