Guglielmo di Poitiers, Molt jauzions mi prenc amar (BdT 183.8)

La canzone Molt jauzions è stata vista da molti come come il più antico manifesto della fin’amor e come rappresentativa della vena cortese del primo trovatore, che si contrappone nettamente a quella comica e satirica. Secondo Roncaglia, invece, il componimento conterrebbe un palese riferimento osceno («la désignation triviale du sexe féminin») che metterebbe in discussione l’immagine del poeta bifronte. L’interpretazione che qui si propone nega anch’essa l’idea di un canzoniere articolato su due piani antitetici, ma dà tutt’altra spiegazione del «mot scandaleux» intravisto da Roncaglia e suggerisce un diverso approccio alla componente parodica presente in Guglielmo di Poitiers. Il testo è nuovamente edito e accompagnato da un minuto commento

Le donne ti disiano, pulzell'e maritate (PSs 16.1, v. 2)

The meaning of the first lines of the contrasto Rosa fresca aulentisima, dated between 1231 and 1250, has always been problematic, at least from the time when, as documented in the 16th century by the philologist Angelo Colocci, someone corrected le donne into i homini, thus postulating an error. Some critics have pointed to a defective metaphor, some to a colourful hyperbole, others to a poetical witness to female homosexuality in the Middle Ages, and others merely ignored the problem. A detailed re-examination of the meanings of the Romance derivatives of DESIDERARE and *DISIDIARE (hence Sic. disiiari) and the identification of the person of the verb in the first line allow for a satisfactory interpretation of the manuscript’s reading

"Ove il mio corpo fanciulletto giacque"

The second line of Foscolo’s sonnet A Zacinto (1802/1803) has given rise to many redundant interpretations. The noun corpo and the verb giacque, while referring to the speaker as a child, seem to anticipate the illacrimata sepoltura of the last line, thus taking on the meaning of ‘dead body’ and ‘to lay buried’. A discussion of the meaning of the verb leads to a different interpre-tation, but the real surprise is the Gallicism, exclusive to the Middle Ages, il mio corpo, used as a personal pronoun. Foscolo had shown some interest in early Romance poetry and, as a bud-ding philologist working on the edition and translation of Catullus’ Coma Berenices (1803), he must have gained first-hand knowledge in the libraries he visited of troubadour songs long be-fore the publication of Raynouard’s monumental anthology (1816-1821). He must therefore have used the periphrastic locution in his sonnet as a rare Occitanism

Targeted metabolomic profiling in rat tissues reveals sex differences

Sex differences affect several diseases and are organ-and parameter-specific. In humans and animals, sex differences also influence the metabolism and homeostasis of amino acids and fatty acids, which are linked to the onset of diseases. Thus, the use of targeted metabolite profiles in tissues represents a powerful approach to examine the intermediary metabolism and evidence for any sex differences. To clarify the sex-specific activities of liver, heart and kidney tissues, we used targeted metabolomics, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis and linear correlation models to evaluate sex and organ-specific differences in amino acids, free carnitine and acylcarnitine levels in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Several intra-sex differences affect tissues, indicating that metabolite profiles in rat hearts, livers and kidneys are organ-dependent. Amino acids and carnitine levels in rat hearts, livers and kidneys are affected by sex: male and female hearts show the greatest sexual dimorphism, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Finally, multivariate analysis confirmed the influence of sex on the metabolomics profiling. Our data demonstrate that the metabolomics approach together with a multivariate approach can capture the dynamics of physiological and pathological states, which are essential for explaining the basis of the sex differences observed in physiological and pathological conditions

Comparison of quantitative muscle ultrasound and whole-body muscle MRI in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1 patients

Introduction: Muscle ultrasound is a fast, non-invasive and cost-effective examination that can identify structural muscular changes by assessing muscle thickness and echointensity (EI) with a quantitative analysis (QMUS). To assess applicability and repeatability of QMUS, we evaluated patients with genetically confirmed facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1 (FSHD1), comparing their muscle ultrasound characteristics with healthy controls and with those detected by MRI. We also evaluated relationships between QMUS and demographic and clinical characteristics. Materials and methods: Thirteen patients were included in the study. Clinical assessment included MRC sum score, FSHD score and The Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Form (CCEF). QMUS was performed with a linear transducer scanning bilaterally pectoralis major, deltoid, rectus femoris, tibialis anterior and semimembranosus muscles in patients and healthy subjects. For each muscle, we acquired three images, which were analysed calculating muscle EI by computer-assisted grey-scale analysis. QMUS analysis was compared with semiquantitative 1.5 T muscle MRI scale. Results: All muscles in FSHD patients showed a significant increased echogenicity compared to the homologous muscles in healthy subjects. Older subjects and patients with higher FSHD score presented increased muscle EI. Tibialis anterior MRC showed a significant inverse correlation with EI. Higher median EI was found in muscles with more severe MRI fat replacement. Conclusions: QMUS allows quantitative evaluation of muscle echogenicity, displaying a tight correlation with muscular alterations, clinical and MRI data. Although a confirmation on larger sample is needed, our research suggests a possible future application of QMUS in diagnosis and management of muscular disorders

The Higgs Working Group: Summary Report (2001)

Report of the Higgs working group for the Workshop `Physics at TeV Colliders', Les Houches, France, 21 May - 1 June 2001. It contains 7 separate sections: A. Theoretical Developments B. Higgs Searches at the Tevatron C. Experimental Observation of an invisible Higgs Boson at LHC D. Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson using Vector Boson Fusion at the LHC E. Study of the MSSM channel $A/H \to \tau \tau$ at the LHC F. Searching for Higgs Bosons in $t\bar t H$ Production G. Studies of Charged Higgs Boson Signals for the Tevatron and the LHCComment: 120 pages, latex, many figures, proceedings of the Workshop `Physics at TeV Colliders', Les Houches, France, 21 May - 1 June 2001, full Author list included in paper. Typos corrected, author list and acknowledgements completed. Convernors: D. Cavalli, A. Djouadi, K. Jakobs, A. Nikitenko, M. Spira, C.E.M. Wagner, W.-M. Ya