Rito e comunità: Analisi del sacrificio islamico in occasione di Aid al Adha

La ricerca analizza, con gli strumenti della semiotica della cultura, il rito islamico del sacrificio in occasione di Aid al Adha. Il lavoro dunque esplora un oggetto tradizionalmente più vicino all’interesse etnografico e antropologico. Di tale sapere si rende conto nel Capitolo 1 dedicato interamente a una puntualizzazione dei maggiori studi antropologici elaborati sul sacrificio. Tali riflessioni sono anche l’occasione per problematizzare il dialogo tra semiotica e antropologia, in particolare in riferimento alla costruzione del corpus e alla applicabilità della categoria di “testo” a oggetti e pratiche sociali così complesse. Dopo una descrizione (Capitolo 2) delle caratteristiche del sacrificio islamico, nella seconda parte del lavoro si passa alla vera e propria analisi semiotica del rito in contesto di immigrazione (Capitolo 3), soffermandosi su alcune dimensioni significative per la semiotica: attori (Capitolo 4) e organizzazione spaziale (Capitolo 5)

'Being Here, Being There' - Experiencing the Threshold of the Otherness: Discourses and Figures of Immigration in Italian Filmography

There are not many academic researches examining the relation between cinema and immigration in Italy. We believe cinema is an important media to enhance collective memory, religion, and national identity. This research focuses on a broad corpus of 30 movies that compose the whole Italian filmography on immigration, from 1989 up to now. In so doing, we will analyze how Italian movies interpret the immigration phenomenon and, in particular, if it is based on exclusion, illegality, and social security as news media do. The research is based on a methodology consistent with cultural studies and cinema semiotics, with a focus on ‘perspective’ and ‘point of view.’ Observation drives a strategic role of selection, orienting the discourse by information and cultural values brought into it. Main goals are a) the making of relation between 'us' and 'them,' b) the role played by migrants and Italians, c) the relevance of the issue of citizenships. The results show that a) there is no Diaspora cinema in Italy, as directors are exclusively Italian, b) analyzed movies give attention and visibility to the unexpressed immigrants’ ordinary life and problems. Cinema brings the audience behind the scenes, where immigrants interact with Italians, making a new social-scape. In this way, cinema is meant as cultural switch that constitutes figures of observers by making meaningful events semiotically unknown and bringing them to the map of meanings that shapes the cultural knowledge of a community of interpreters

The Philosophy of Computer Games 2007

"The Philosophy of Computer Games"An Interdisciplinary ConferenceReggio Emilia, Italy 25-27 January 2007[ http://game.unimore.it/game/Benvenuto.html ]Conference Venue:Department of Social, Quantitative and Cognitive SciencesUniversity of Modena and Reggio Emilia Viale A. Allegri 9, I-42100 Reggio Emilia, ItalyConference AimsThe purpose of the conference is to initiate an investigation into how current research on computer games touches upon philosophical issues. In line with this purpose, the conference is interdisciplinary, drawing together researchers from very diverse fields: philosophy, computer game-theory, semiotics, aesthetics, sociology, psychology, and anthropology.The conference is a collaboration between the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo; the Center for Computer Game Research at the IT-University of Copenhagen; Department of Social, Cognitive and Quantitative Science at the University of Modena/Reggio Emilia and the Philosophical Project Centre (FPS), Oslo.The conference is the second international instalment of The Third Place, an ongoing project on philosophical problems arising from the increasing cultural/societal significance of computer games. The first instalment of the project, the conference “The Third Place: Computer Games and Our Conception of the Real”, was a shared initiative of FPS in Oslo and the Center for Computer Game Research at the IT-University of Copenhagen. That conference took place at the IT-University of Copenhagen on May 20-21, 2005.OrganizationThe organizing committee consists of the following people:• Olav Asheim, professor at Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo• Anita Leirfall, Ph D. candidate Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo• John Richard Sageng, Ph. D. candidate Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo• Tarjei Mandt Larsen, Ph. D. candidate Department of Philosophy, University of Tromsø, Norway• Hallvard Fossheim, assistant professor, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo• Espen Aarseth, director at the Center for Computer Game Research at the IT-University of Copenhagen• Patrick Coppock, assistant professor Department of Social, Cognitive and Quantitative Science at the University of Modena/Reggio Emili

Characteristics and outcome predictors of patients involved in an outbreak of Burkholderia cepacia complex

A Burkholderia cepacia complex outbreak occurred among ventilated non-cystic fibrosis patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) in Italy: 33 colonized and 13 infected patients were included in a retrospective study aimed at investigating factors related to clinical infection and mortality. Demographic/clinical conditions and mortality did not vary significantly between colonized and infected patients, both groups showing high mortality rates compared with the overall ICU population and similar to that observed in patients with other infections. In multivariate regression analysis, disease severity (defined by the Simplified Acute Physiology Score II) and age were the only independent predictors of early mortality (odds ratio: 1.12; 95% confidence interval: 1.02-1.26; and 1.07; 1.01-1.15, respectively)

Obesity Is One of the Strongest Risk Factor for Respiratory Failure and Death in COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Multicentric Cohort Study

Background A significant spread of Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) has been observed in Western countries. The aim of the study was to analyze whether obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) was a risk factor for respiratory failure and death. Methods Retrospective multicentric cohort study of 296 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital between February 28 and March 28, 2020. Demographic characteristics, laboratory findings and clinical scores were compared in obese and non-obese patients. Multivariable analysis was carried out to identify the risk factors for respiratory failure and mortality. Findings Of 296 patients, 70 (23·6%) had a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2. Obese patients were significantly older (68±13·5 vs. 63±16·8, p=0·0052) and reported a higher rate of hypertension (77.9% vs. 40.2%, p<0.0001), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (24·3% vs. 9·7%, p=0·0017), type 2 diabetes (18·6% vs. 9·3%, p=0·033) and moderate/severe renal disease (12·9% vs. 2·7%, p=0·0007). Obese patients were more likely to require continuous positive airway pressure (20% vs. 7·8%, p=0·0052), non-invasive ventilation (20% vs. 7·5%, p=0·0061) and intensive care admission (40% vs. 15·9%, p<0·0001). At multivariable analysis, age and obesity were the only significant risk factors for the onset of respiratory failure (odds ratio [OR] 1·04, p<0·0001; OR 3·16, p=0·001) and mortality (OR 1·10, p<0.0001; OR 3·11, p=0·008). Interpretation Obesity is the strongest risk factor for respiratory failure and death among COVID-19 patients. Taking into account the high prevalence of obesity in the Western countries, prompt evaluation and aggressive treatment are advisable in obese patients

Celebrazioni per il V centenario della nascita di Ferrante Gonzaga

Collaborazione alle iniziative legate alla celebrazione del V centenario della nascita di Ferrante Gonzaga, per il settore relativo alla produzione monetale della zecca di Novellara