E' possibile giustificare moralmente l'obiezione di coscienza in campo medico?

Scopo di questa tesi di dottorato è stabilire se l’obiezione di coscienza in ambito medico sia moralmente giustificabile. Esistono essenzialmente tre tipi di rifiuto motivati dall’obiezione di coscienza (1) rifiuto di informare un paziente relativamente alle opzioni terapeutiche come ad esempio l’uso di un contraccettivo di emergenza o l’interruzione volontaria di gravidanza (2) rifiuto di rinviare un paziente che chiede un particolare intervento (o terapia) presso un collega non obiettore (3) rifiuto di svolgere in prima persona una certa attività richiesta dal paziente Per rispondere a questo interrogativo si è svolta un’analisi filosofico-morale dei principali argomenti utilizzati dalla letteratura su questo tema per giustificare o per negare un diritto morale all’obiezione di coscienza degli operatori sanitari. Il diritto degli operatori sanitari all’integrità morale e a non essere complici di attività ritenute immorali dev’essere infatti confrontato con il diritto dei pazienti ad avere un’assistenza sanitaria efficiente, a poter compiere scelte autonome riguardo alla propria salute e ad essere informati relativamente a tutte le opzioni terapeutiche disponibili. Nel corso dell’intero lavoro è stato dimostrato come suddetti diritti dei pazienti sono facilmente e frequentemente violati a causa dell’incidenza dell’obiezione di coscienza in ambito medico. L’analisi condotta nel corso del lavoro di tesi si concentra fondamentalmente su quattro importanti aspetti del problema quali diritto all’integrità morale dell’ operatore sanitario, obblighi professionali, cooperazione al male e laicità dello stato. Alla fine del lavoro di analisi si è giunti alla conclusione che: le obiezioni di tipo (1) e (2) non sono mai moralmente giustificabili perché comportano sempre una violazione dei diritti fondamentali del paziente. Le obiezioni di coscienza di tipo (3) sono moralmente accettabili solo quando non impongono un peso eccessivo al paziente, vale a dire quando il rinvio presso un collega non obiettore è veloce, sicuro e agevole. Tuttavia le condizioni ideali in cui vengono rispettati i criteri minimi di ammissibilità dell’obiezione di coscienza di tipo (3) non si verificano quasi mai nella realtà dei fatti (per ragioni ampiamente spiegate nel corso del lavoro), per cui tali obiezioni risultano in pratica solo raramente accettabili da un punto d vista morale.

La figure de Méduse. Réécritures ovidiennes entre XVIe et XVIIe siècle

Starting from an original assumption that Ovid is one of the most influential and studied European mythographers from ancient times till at least the end of the XVII century, my research is about rediscovering Medusa's myth which has been brought to us from Metamorphosis during the period of time between the mid XVI and the last years of the XVII century. The main thread that leads the research trough English, French, Spanish and Italian Literatures gets particularly clarified in the crucial crux that binds the image of Gorgon, the protector of hight mysteries, tightly correlated to the goddess of knowledge, Minerva, and the attraction/dismay for knowing so far considered inaccessible but now perceived as possible (so more attractive than before) thanks to the scientific and geographic discoveries of the Renaissance.

Three Essays in Spatial Economics

This work contributes to the field of spatial economics by embracing three distinct modelling approaches, belonging to different strands of the theoretical literature. In the first chapter I present a theoretical model in which the changes in urban system’s degree of functional specialisation are linked to (i) firms’ organisational choices and firms’ location decisions. The interplay between firms’ internal communication/managing costs (between headquarters and production plants) and the cost of communicating with distant business services providers leads the transition process from an “integrated” urban system where each city hosts every different functions to a “functionally specialised” urban system where each city is either a primary business center (hosting advanced business services providers, a secondary business center or a pure manufacturing city and all this city-types coexist in equilibrium.The second chapter investigates the impact of free trade on welfare in a two-country world modelled as an international Hotelling duopoly with quadratic transport costs and asymmetric countries, where a negative environmental externality is associated with the consumption of the good produced in the smaller country. Countries’ relative sizes as well as the intensity of negative environmental externality affect potential welfare gains of trade liberalisation. The third chapter focuses on the paradox, by which, contrary to theoretical predictions, empirical evidence shows that a decrease in international transport costs causes an increase in foreign direct investments (FDIs). Here we propose an explanation to this apparent puzzle by exploiting an approach which delivers a continuum of Bertrand- Nash equilibria ranging above marginal cost pricing. In our setting, two Bertrand firms, supplying a homogeneous good with a convex cost function, enter the market of a foreign country. We show that allowing for a softer price competition may indeed more than offset the standard effect generated by a decrease in trade costs, thereby restoring FDI incentives.

Identification and genetic diversity in phytoplasmas associated with diseases of cassava and other agronomic relevant crops in south-east Asia and Latin America

Identification and genetic diversity of phytoplasmas infecting tropical plant species, selected among those most agronomically relevant in South-east Asia and Latin America were studied. Correlation between evolutionary divergence of relevant phytoplasma strains and their geographic distribution by comparison on homologous genes of phytoplasma strains detected in the same or related plant species in other geographical areas worldwide was achieved. Molecular diversity was studied on genes coding ribosomal proteins, groEL, tuf and amp besides phytoplasma 16S rRNA. Selected samples infected by phytoplasmas belonging to diverse ribosomal groups were also studied by in silico RFLP followed by phylogenetic analyses. Moreover a partial genome annotation of a ‘Ca. P. brasiliense��� strain was done towards future application for epidemiological studies. Phytoplasma presence in cassava showing frog skin (CFSD) and witches’ broom (CWB) diseases in Costa Rica - Paraguay and in Vietnam – Thailand, respectively, was evaluated. In both cases, the diseases were associated with phytoplasmas related to aster yellows, apple proliferation and “stolbur” groups, while only phytoplasma related to X-disease group in CFSD, and to hibiscus witches’ broom, elm yellows and clover proliferation groups in CWB. Variability was found among strains belonging to the same ribosomal group but having different geographic origin and associated with different disease. Additionally, a dodder transmission assay to elucidate the role of phytoplasmas in CWB disease was carried out, and resulted in typical phytoplasma symptoms in periwinkle plants associated with the presence of aster yellows-related strains. Lethal wilt disease, a severe disease of oil palm in Colombia that is spreading throughout South America was also studied. Phytoplasmas were detected in symptomatic oil palm and identified as ‘Ca. P. asteris’, ribosomal subgroup 16SrI-B, and were distinguished from other aster yellows phytoplasmas used as reference strains; in particular, from an aster yellows strain infecting corn in the same country.