L’amore svenduto nella Commedia: uomini «a mal più ch’a bene usi» e donne vittime di un dovere imprescindibile

The verses of the Commedia guard and reveal a multifaceted universe of female figures, live and unforgettable portraits, whose features reveal the care and sensitivity of the Poet in outlining the countless nuances of the identity of women of his time – and beyond – often united by the same destiny: a life spent in the imperative duty of full male satisfaction, a life deprived of the inviolable right of freedom. A casuistry of the lives of some of the most famous women of Dante’s dictation will be proposed as the main evidence of one of the many facets of the reality of being a woman and wife in the Late Middle Ages: girls condemned to live a life that they had not had the opportunity to choose and to conform to the rigid scheme that has connoted roles, rights and duties within the boundaries of a planned existence, which claimed to define the legality of being 'female': first daughter to sign alliances, then wife to generate descent. The profound ethical impulse of Dante’s writing cannot, in any case, erase the belonging of the Commedia and its Poet to a sociocultural system, sometimes regulated by norms that seem to a modern reader oriented towards criteria of prevarication and injustice: admitted and invoked in marriage, rejected and condemned outside it.Los versos de la Comedia custodian y desvelan un universo polifacético de figuras femeninas, retratos vivos e inolvidables, cuyas características revelan el cuidado y la sensibilidad del poeta al esbozar los innumerables matices de identidad de mujeres de su tiempo - y no solo - a menudo cercanas por el mismo destino: una vida vivida en el deber inderogable de la plena complacencia masculina, una vida privada del derecho inviolable de la libertad. Una casuística de las vidas de algunas de las mujeres más conocidas del dictado dantesco constituirá el principal testimonio de una de las múltiples facetas de la realidad de ser mujer y esposa en la Baja Edad Media: Niñas condenadas a vivir una vida que no habían tenido la posibilidad de elegir y de conformarse al rígido esquema que caracterizó sus papeles, derechos y deberes dentro de los confines de una existencia programada, que pretendió definir la licitud de ser 'mujer': primero hija para firmar alianzas, luego esposa para engendrar descendencia. El profundo impulso ético de la escritura dantesca no puede en ningún caso borrar la pertenencia de la Comedia y de su Poeta a un sistema sociocultural regulado, A veces, por normas que a un lector moderno parecerían orientadas hacia criterios de prevaricación e injusticia: admitidos e invocados en el matrimonio conyugal, rechazados y condenados fuera de él.    Les vers de la Comédie abritent et dévoilent un univers polyédrique de figures féminines, de portraits vivants et inoubliables, dont les traits révèlent le soin et la sensibilité du Poète à esquisser les innombrables nuances d’identité de femmes de son temps - et pas seulement - souvent rapprochées par le même destin : une vie passée dans le devoir incontournable de la pleine complaisance masculine, une vie privée du droit inviolable de la liberté. Une casuistique des vies de certaines des femmes les plus connues de la dictée dantesque constituera le principal témoignage d’une des multiples facettes de la réalité d’être femme et femme au Bas Moyen Âge : Jeunes filles condamnées à vivre une vie qu’elles n’avaient pas eu la possibilité de choisir et à se conformer au schéma rigide qui en a caractérisé les rôles, les droits et les devoirs dans les limites d’une existence programmée, qui a prétendu définir la licéité d’être 'femelle' : d’abord fille pour signer des alliances, puis femme pour engendrer une descendance. La profonde impulsion éthique de l’écriture dantesque ne peut en aucun cas effacer l’appartenance de la Comédie et de son Poète à un système socioculturel réglementé, parfois, par des normes qui, pour un lecteur moderne, semblent orientées vers des critères de prévarication et d’injustice : admises et invoquées dans le mariage conjugal, rejetées et condamnées en dehors de celui-ci.I versi della Commedia custodiscono e disvelano un universo poliedrico di figure femminili, ritratti vivi e indimenticabili, le cui fattezze rivelano la cura e la sensibilità del Poeta nel tratteggiare le innumerevoli sfumature di identità di donne del suo tempo – e non solo – spesso avvicinate dal medesimo destino: una vita trascorsa nel dovere inderogabile del pieno compiacimento maschile, una vita privata del diritto inviolabile della libertà. Si proporrà una casistica delle vite di alcune tra le donne più note del dettato dantesco come principale testimonianza di una delle molteplici sfaccettature della realtà dell’esser donna e moglie nel Basso Medioevo: fanciulle condannate a vivere una vita che non avevano avuto la possibilità di scegliere e a conformarsi allo schema rigido che ne ha connotato ruoli, diritti e doveri entro i confini di un’esistenza programmata, che ha preteso di definire la liceità dell’esser ‘femmina’: prima figlia per siglare alleanze, poi moglie per generare discendenza.  Il profondo impulso etico della scrittura dantesca non può in ogni caso cancellare l’appartenenza della Commedia e del suo Poeta a un sistema socioculturale regolato, talvolta, da norme che a un lettore moderno parrebbero orientate verso criteri di prevaricazione e ingiustizia: ammessi e invocati nel matrimonio coniugale, respinti e condannati al di fuori di esso

Short test evaluation of the anti-wrinkles efficacy of topical adhesive pads

Introduction. In the last decades, in dermo-cosmetic field, a lot of cosmetic products, invasive treatments and medical devices were popping up to improve aged skin. Recently several cheap and innovative products called anti-wrinkle pad adhesive appeared but their efficiency against winkles is not really certain. Theoretically this product is intended to reduce local muscular contraction getting a reduction of the existing winkles and forming new dynamical winkles. Commercial advertisements claims that the utilization of pads can temporarily delete winkles with just an application and last longer with a continuous application. A recent study demonstrated that using this product for a month don’t have any positive effect on forehead wrinkles but still not demonstrate if this pad have the real ability to temporarily reduce wrinkles (Ryan 2009). For this reason this work focus on the efficiency of this pad in crow’s feet temporarily reduction. Materials and Methods. The anti-wrinkles efficiency was valued on 20 volunteers at baseline and 15, 30, 60 minutes after short time (30 minutes) application of the anti?wrinkles pad using Cutometer MPA580® (Courage + Khazaka Electronic GmbH, Köln, Germany) and siliconic replica technique analized with SEM FEI Quanta 200 in low vacuum and profilometric analysis software 3D MEX® (Alicona Imaging, Graz, Austria). Pads are made out of plastic with a vertical strong support fixed at a soft membrane covered by adhesive gel made by emollient and anti-wrinkles materials. Roughness and elasticity differences on values after pads application were valued using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results. The short time application of the pad caused a relevant reduction of all roughness standards parameters (Ra, Rt, Rz, Rp, Rv) till 15 minutes after the treatment (p <0,001). These changes not happened in the contralateral area (non treatment control test). Within 30 minutes after the treatment, all roughness parameters reverted to normal baseline values. Analysing the elastometric measure average, it was not noticed any relevant standards changes (R0, R5, R6 e R7) after the treatment. Conclusions. Finally results obtained demonstrate that the sporadically application for 30 minutes of anti-wrinkle pad have the capacity to stretch temporarily the skin. Ryan WR, Most SP. A Prospective Evaluation of the Efficacy of Topical Adhesive Pads for the Reduction of Facial Rhytids. Arch Facial Plast Surg. 2009 Jul-Aug;11(4):252-6

Hydration, pH, pigmentation, sebum and skin texture: an in vivo non invasive study in centenaries

Skin is the largest organ of the human body and during aging it shows easily modifications caused by the senescence. Hydration, pH, pigmentation, sebum and skin texture may undergo modifications, above all in centenaries. We can find some papers that analyse the modifications induced by aging (Marrakchi et al., 2007); but no one of these studies people in the range 90-110 years old. Thus, our work has the aim to verify how these parameters can change. In our study we recruited 80 volunteers of Sardinian population divided in two groups: young and old people. We analyzed levels of sebum, hydration, pigmentation and pH with instruments of Courage + Khazaka electronic GmbH. Then we prepared the imprint that must be observed at SEM. The microscope used was a FEI INSPECT S, wherewith we took some photos of each imprint. The modifications are: hydration and sebum decrease significantly in centenaries; pigmentation and pH levels were higher in the old volunteers like demonstrated by other authors (Stucker et al., 2002). Studying skin texture, we found a diminution of furrows in old people. We can say that decrease of hydration and sebum is mainly linked to low level of hormones, such as estrogens and androgens, while the augmentation of pigmentation is due to the thinness of skin; the higher values of pH have probably a relation with a minor presence of sebum and water in cutaneous surface. Furthermore, accuracy of the pictures taken with SEM demonstrates that the study of skin texture associated with analysis of pH, sebum, pigmentation and hydration can help the comprehension of skin aging

www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms Role of Btg2 in the Progression of a PDGF-Induced Oligodendroglioma Model

Abstract: Tumor progression is a key aspect in oncology. Not even the overexpression of a powerful oncogenic stimulus such as platelet derived growth factor-B (PDGF-B) is sufficient per se to confer full malignancy to cells. In previous studies we showed that neural progenitors overexpressing PDGF-B need to undergo progression to acquire the capability to give rise to secondary tumor following transplant. By comparing the expression profile of PDGF-expressing cells before and after progression, we found that progressed tumors consistently downregulate the expression of the antiproliferative gene Btg2. We therefore tested whether the downregulation of Btg2 is sufficient and necessary for glioma progression with loss and gain of function experiments. Our results show that downregulation of Btg2 is not sufficient but is necessary for tumor progression since the re-introduction of Btg2 in fully progressed tumors dramatically impairs their gliomagenic potential. These results suggest an important role of Btg2 in glioma progression. Accordingly with this view, the analysis of public datasets of human gliomas showed that reduced level of Btg2 expression correlates with a significantly worse prognosis