Anti-Semitic prejudice in adolescence: an Italian study on shared beliefs.

A study was conducted in Bologna and Venice on a sample of 427 subjects to verify whether anti-Semitic prejudice is observed in Italy, if it has direct, violent expression (blatant prejudice), or if it assumes less evident forms (subtle prejudice). The sample was chosen to represent levels of contact with the Jewish community to check the contact hypothesis (Bologna for the no-contact condition and Venice for the contact-condition) in groups of different ages (adolescents, young people, and adults). We predicted a decrease in blatant prejudice by subjects living in contact with Jews, but no differences in subtle prejudice. Also adolescents, more sensitive to polarised choices, could be less tolerant towards Jews. One-way analysis of variance indicated evidence for anti-Semitic prejudice, whose typical expression was a lack of positive emotions towards Jews. In particular, the whole sample denied negative emotions, such as disregard, annoyance, and irritation, and did not report positive emotions, such as attraction or curiosity.

Representation of the serial killer on the Italian Internet.

The representation of serial killers was examined from the analysis of 317 Web pages in the Italian language to study how the psychological profiles of serial killers are described on the Italian Internet. The correspondence analysis of the content of these Web pages shows that in Italy the serial killer is associated with words such as "monster" and "horror," which suggest and imply psychological perversion and aberrant acts. These traits are peculiar for the Italian scenario.

[Argon laser in dermatology: indications suggested by a 4-year experience]. / Il laser ad argon in dermatologia. Indicazioni suggerite da quattro anni di esperienza.

The Argon laser has been used in the treatment of port wine stains, telangiectasias, spider ectasias, ruby spots, venous lakes, pyogenic granulomas, tattoos, keloids, verrucous naevus, angiokeratomas, verrucous hemangiomas. The outcome results have been compared with those achievable using other treatments in order to give right indications to the use of the Argon laser. The comparison point out that Argon laser is the treatment of choice only in port wine stains, while in all the other diseases it doesn't give any advantage with regard to conventional therapies, less sophisticated, easier and sometime more effective.

Polyamines secreted by cancer cells possibly account for the impairment of the human erythrocyte sodium pump activity.

Using an original microcalorimetric method, we previously showed that in erythrocytes from cancer patients, the sodium pump activity was decreased and returned to normal in patient in remission. In addition we suggested that a plasma-borne factor probably secreted by cancer cells accounted for this impairment of the sodium transporter. In the present study we sought to identify this factor as well as its mechanism of action. First we determined the effect of culture media from undifferentiated and differentiated colon cancer cell lines (Caco-2 and HT29-D4) on the sodium pump activity of normal human erythrocytes. The inhibitory powers of culture media from undifferentiated cells were higher than those of differentiated cells (38.6 +/- 3.5% vs 6.9 +/- 4.6%, p<0.05 for Caco-2 and 45.8 +/- 6.2% vs 9.0 +/- 5.0%, <0.05 for HT29-D4). The use of alpha difluoro-methylomithine (2 mM) to inhibit ornithine decarboxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme for polyamine biosynthesis, dramatically reduced the sodium pump inhibition induced by the two undifferentiated cell lines (75% for Caco-2 and 89% for HT29-D4). Polyamines secreted by undifferentiated cells and then taken up by human erythrocytes thus appeared as inhibitors of sodium pump of these red blood cells. Putrescine, spermidine, and spermine (the main polyamines) exerted a similar inhibitory effect (33 +/- 2%). Tested in vitro on Na,KATPase, these polyamines (3 mM) were inhibitors (putrescine = 23 +/- 2%; spermidine= 48 +/- 3%; spermine= 55 +/- 2%) when assay condition for the ATPase reaction was suboptimal (Na+ = 10 mM; K+ = 1 mM). The inhibitory effect appeared to be related to their charge and their aliphatic chain length. The effect of spermidine and spermine on the ionic substrates and ATP-Mg showed that molecules decreased the affinity (Km) of the Na,K-ATPase for Na+ (11.24 +/- 0.49 mM for control vs 23.51 +/- 1.53 mM for spermine and 18.86 +/- 0.98 mM for spermidine), indicating that polyamines exerted their inhibitory effect in a competitive manner.