475 research outputs found

    LES VOIX MULTIPLES D'AMELIA ROSSELLI (1930-1996): FIGURES ET VARIATIONS D'UN SUJET POETIQUE EN LUTTE

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    Amelia Rosselli\u2019s work took shape, within Italian lyric poetry, as an experience of subversion of the process of sublimation and of stylisation of the female body. Through the translation and the analysis of the content of poems chosen from the collections Cantilena (1953), La Libellula (1958) and Variazioni belliche (1964), I conducted a critical exegesis of the texts. I performed an analysis according to suggestions of a dialogical practice with the poetical text and with a female subjectivity often hidden, anchored to my critical investment inside feminist comparatism. From petrarchist idea of deletion and \u201csuppression\u201d of women\u2019s body \u2013 deletion, of which Pasolini talked already in relation to the genesis of Italian poetry and its characterisation of the lyrical canon \u2013 I analysed how the attempt to ease the impact potentially dangerous of love affection has caused the denial of sensuality. The language of camouflaged sorrow is then established as a deliberated choice included in some poetics where it is not the statement that reveals, but the poetical word, which in its cryptic canonical measure, is able to make resonate beyond declarations. We can observe the deployment of a \u201csursensual device\u201d, similar process to what Gilles Deleuze perceived in Sacher-Masoch's literary personality. The process of subversion does not seem a reconstitution of identity roles, but rather a deconstruction of the traditional model. The starting point for the analysis of those deconstructions is based on the hypothesis that the non-functionality of the desiring organisms (desiring subject and desired object) will lead to a reject of the organic and at the same time to a revelation of an eccentric subjectivity. The revision of the literary model of the canon lies in the hypothesis that a set of female figures of the mythical and literary repertoire in Greco-Roman antiquity are placed in the imaginary practice of Amelia Rosselli's poetical writing, with a view to incorporate the nature of the characters born and conceived inside and by the patriarchal imaginary and to form the body of a subject that aims at making them speak through the voice of a female poet

    COVID-19 and surgical training in Italy: Residents and young consultants perspectives from the battlefield

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    COVID-19 is seriously affecting Italy, putting the health system under extreme pressure. Training of medical students and residents is also suffering from this with the suspension of lectures and clinical rotations. What solutions have been taken to deal with the issue

    Mechanotransduction in human and mouse beta cell lines: reliable models to characterize novel signaling pathways controlling beta cell fate

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    Background and aims: Attempts to influence \u3b2-cell differentiation by engineering substrates that mimic appropriate extracellular matrix (ECM) topographies are hampered by the fact that profound details of mechanosensing/transduction complexity remain elusive. We recently demonstrated that human islets of Langerhans sense the ECM nanotopography and activate a mechanotransductive pathway, which is essential for preserving long-term \u3b2-cell differentiation and function in vitro. However, human islets of Langerhans are extremely heterogeneous and their availability for research purpose is limited. Therefore, aim of the proposed research was to investigate whether mouse and human \u3b2-cell lines might sense changes innthe ECM topography and might be used as a simplified model to dissect the molecular pathways involved in mechanotransduction. Materials and methods: We used supersonic cluster beam deposition to fabricate nanostructured substrates characterized by a quantitatively controllable ECM-like nanoroughness. Mouse \u3b2TC3 and human 1.1B4 cells were seeded on these substrates and after five days in culture, the activation of the mechanotransductive pathway was verified by means of morphological (super-resolution fluorescence microscopy), functional and proteomic techniques. Results: Quantitative immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that the cell-nanotopography interaction affects the focal adhesion structures (smaller vinculin clusters), the organization of the actin cytoskeleton (shorter actin fiber) and the nuclear architecture. Functional studies revealed that nanostructured surfaces improve the \u3b2-cell mitochondrial activity and increase the glucose-stimulated Ca2+currents and insulin release. Label-free shotgun proteomics broadly confirmed the morphological and functional studies and showed the upregulation of a number of mechanosensors and transcription factors involved in \u3b2-cell differentiation in cells grown on nanostructured substrates compared to those grown on flat standard control surfaces. Conclusion: Our data reveal that mouse and human \u3b2-cell lines sense changes in extracellular mechanical forces and activate a mechanotransductive pathway. The findings from this study will be useful to clarify the link between mechanotransduction and cell fate and to successfully engineer scaffolds in order to have functional beta cells

    Environmental temperature variation affects brain protein expression and cognitive abilities in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio): A proteomic and behavioural study.

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    Water temperature is an important environmental parameter influencing the distribution and the health of fishes and it plays a central role in ectothermic animals. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of environmental temperature on the brain proteome and the behavioural responses in zebrafish, a widely used animal model for environmental "omics" studies. Adult specimens of wild-type zebrafish were kept at 18 °C, 34 °C and 26 °C (control) for 21 days. Proteomic data revealed that several proteins involved in cytoskeletal organization, mitochondrial regulation and energy metabolism are differently regulated at the extreme temperatures. In particular, the expression of proteins associated to synapses and neurotransmitter release is down-regulated at 18 °C and 34 °C. In both thermal conditions, fish exhibited a reduced interest for the novel environment and an impairment of cognitive abilities during Y-Maze behavioural tests. The observed pathways of protein expression are possibly associated to functional alterations of the synaptic transmission that may result in cognitive functions impairment at central nervous system level as those revealed by behavioural tests. This study indicates that temperature variations can elicit biochemical changes that may affect fish health and behaviour. This combined approach provides insights into mechanisms supporting thermal acclimation and plasticity in fishes. SIGNIFICANCE: Environmental temperature variation may impact on all levels of biological life. Understanding the impact of thermal variation on the nervous system and animal behaviour is of primary importance since the results obtained can be applied from the ecological to the biomedical fields

    Acute environmental temperature variation affects brain protein expression, anxiety and explorative behaviour in adult zebrafish

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    This study investigated the effect of 4-d acute thermal treatments at 18 \ub0C, 26 \ub0C (control) and 34 \ub0C on the nervous system of adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) using a multidisciplinary approach based on behavioural tests and brain proteomic analysis. The behavioural variations induced by thermal treatment were investigated using five different tests, the novel tank diving, light and dark preference, social preference, mirror biting, and Y-Maze tests, which are standard paradigms specifically tailored for zebrafish to assess their anxiety-like behaviour, boldness, social preference, aggressiveness, and explorative behaviour, respectively. Proteomic data revealed that several proteins involved in energy metabolism, messenger RNA translation, protein synthesis, folding and degradation, cytoskeleton organisation and synaptic vesiculation are regulated differently at extreme temperatures. The results showed that anxiety-like behaviours increase in zebrafish at 18 \ub0C compared to those at 26 \ub0C or 34 \ub0C, whereas anxiety-related protein signalling pathways are downregulated. Moreover, treatments at both 18 \ub0C and 34 \ub0C affect the exploratory behaviour that appears not to be modulated by past experiences, suggesting the impairment of fish cognitive abilities. This study is the continuation of our previous work on the effect of 21-d chronic treatment at the same constant temperature level and will enable the comparison of acute and chronic treatment effects on the nervous system function in adult zebrafish

    Brain Proteome and Behavioural Analysis in Wild Type, BDNF+/− and BDNF−/− Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Exposed to Two Different Temperatures

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    Experimental evidence suggests that environmental stress conditions can alter the expression of BDNF and that the expression of this neurotrophin influences behavioural responses in mammalian models. It has been recently demonstrated that exposure to 34 degrees C for 21 days alters the brain proteome and behaviour in zebrafish. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of BDNF in the nervous system of adult zebrafish under control and heat treatment conditions. For this purpose, zebrafish from three different genotypes (wild type, heterozygous BDNF+/- and knock out BDNF-/-) were kept for 21 days at 26 degrees C or 34 degrees C and then euthanized for brain molecular analyses or subjected to behavioural tests (Y-maze test, novel tank test, light and dark test, social preference test, mirror biting test) for assessing behavioural aspects such as boldness, anxiety, social preference, aggressive behaviour, interest for the novel environment and exploration. qRT-PCR analysis showed the reduction of gene expression of BDNF and its receptors after heat treatment in wild type zebrafish. Moreover, proteomic analysis and behavioural tests showed genotype- and temperature-dependent effects on brain proteome and behavioural responding. Overall, the absent expression of BDNF in KO alters (1) the brain proteome by reducing the expression of proteins involved in synapse functioning and neurotransmitter-mediated transduction; (2) the behaviour, which can be interpreted as bolder and less anxious and (3) the cellular and behavioural response to thermal treatment
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