Musei e video d'artista. Teorie e prassi museologiche e museografiche per l'arte elettronica

Il presente lavoro nasce dalla constatazione di alcune lacune che il sistema dell’arte e degli studi accademici di impronta storico artistica in Italia conservano nei confronti delle arti elettroniche, ad ormai circa mezzo secolo dalle prime manifestazioni artistiche che si servirono del video. Tali lacune si riflettono nell’impostazione che oggi viene data alle raccolte d’arte contemporanea nel nostro Paese: il video d’artista è una presenza rara nei musei, in chiaro contrasto con quelle che, invece, sono le reali tendenze dell’arte di oggi, visibili a qualsiasi fiera, nelle gallerie e, soprattutto, nei musei europei. Nella prima parte della dissertazione si tenta di offrire una panoramica sintetica ma allo stesso tempo il più possibile esaustiva delle forme d’espressione che, in modo più o meno pertinente, convivono sotto la denominazione, non del tutto corretta, ma comunque funzionale, di videoarte. Quindi vengono analizzati i modi della fruizione dell’arte elettronica, in relazione alle sue varie forme (multipli, videoinstallazioni, net art...) e la storia espositiva del video, con particolare riguardo alla situazione italiana. Qui si prendono in esame archivi, musei, festival e i luoghi immateriali dell’arte elettronica (televisione,Internet, ecc). La seconda parte è suddivisa in due sezioni. In una si cerca di mettere in evidenza quelli che sembrano essere i momenti di maggiore vitalità nel dibattito museografico, sviluppatosi prevalentemente all’Estero, ma anche in Italia, seppure in occasione di festival e rassegne, in merito alle condizioni ideali di presentazione della videoarte, con riferimento alle esperienze più significative nel panorama europeo. Successivamente, una sezione più strettamente tecnica è dedicata alle problematiche inerenti la conservazione ed il restauro del video, sia analogico sia digitale. Qui si tenta fondere i risultati degli studi condotti presso istituzioni estere –soprattutto statunitensi e nordeuropee- e le ricerche svolte in campo audio e cinematografico in Italia, senza dimenticare un costante riferimento ai principi cardine della nostra lunga tradizione nel settore del restauro, al fine di elaborare una sintesi teorica, confortata dalla testimonianza del recupero, ancora in corso, dell'archivio di art/tapes/22. Infine uno spazio è dedicato alle questioni relative alla catalogazione del video d’artista nei musei e alla recente legislazione sul deposito legale. Nella terza parte si affrontano le tematiche inerenti il collezionismo italiano di video d’artista. Dopo una rassegna di alcune delle esperienze più significative del collezionismo di videoarte in Europa, un cenno alla storia del collezionismo italiano degli anni Settanta (art/tapes/22, Centro Video Arte di Palazzo dei Diamanti, Videoteca Giaccari) precede l’analisi di alcuni casi specifici dell’attuale contesto nazionale, volta a verificare la presenza del video d’artista nel tessuto museale nazionale, nel tentativo di individuare i caratteri fondamentali delle modalità di raccolta e valorizzazione delle opere. Il primo caso è costituito dalla Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Torino, che, pur con diversi limiti rappresenta, stando a quanto risulta da questa ricerca, il primo e meglio strutturato esempio di collezionismo di videoarte all’interno di un museo d’arte contemporanea italiano. Solo in altri due musei è stata rilevata la presenza di raccolte organiche ed aperte al pubblico: il Museo d’Arte Contemporanea del Castello di Rivoli ed il Macro di Roma. Il confronto della videoteca della GAM torinese con questi è sembrato utile al fine di delineare un quadro delle caratteristiche prevalenti del collezionismo pubblico italiano nei confronti delle opere realizzate con i cosiddetti nuovi media. Un ultimo argomento di studio riguarda invece i musei che sfruttano i più innovativi risultati delle ricerche nel campo dell’arte elettronica interattiva con l’obiettivo di far interagire il visitatore con le storie narrate dall’esposizione. Partendo, da un lato, dalle impostazioni teoriche degli studi dedicati alla didattica museale che si serve di strumenti audiovisivi, dall’altro dalle ricerche tecnologiche ed estetiche insieme di Studio Azzurro, il gruppo artistico che ha per primo realizzato "ambienti sensibili", si passa poi all’analisi di due musei che hanno adottato allestimenti multimediali di tipo artistico, scegliendo volutamente, per metterli a confronto, due casi molto diversi tra loro: un museo permanente ma senza collezione, dedicato a tematiche della storia contemporanea, il Museo Diffuso della Resistenza, della Deportazione, della Guerra, dei Diritti e della Libertà di Torino -realizzato dallo studio N!03, al quale è dedicato un breve paragrafo di approfondimento- ed una mostra, temporanea ma con un’esposizione di reperti medievali, “Vivere il Medioevo”, tenutasi recentemente a Parma

Milk Bioactive Compounds and Gut Microbiota Modulation: The Role of Whey Proteins and Milk Oligosaccharides

A strong correlation between the occurrence of various pathological conditions and intestinal dysbiosis is supported by a range of strong evidence. Vice versa, many pathologies have been shown, in turn, to be responsible for alterations in the gut microbiota, a condition that can worsen illness outcomes and response to therapies. For these reasons, great efforts have been made, and studies are still ongoing, to elucidate the mechanisms underlying gut microbiota alterations and to search for pharmacologic or other strategies that can effectively restore the gut microbiota. In this narrative review, we examined the most signifiant literature on the role of some milk bioactive compounds, such as milk oligosaccharides and whey proteins, in modulating the composition of the gut microbiota and the underlying mechanisms of action, with the aim of investigating the impact of the microbiota changes mediated by these milk bioactive molecules on human health, and their potential use as therapeutics to treat or adjuvate the treatment of gut dysbiosis and associated pathologies

Implication of Sodium Hypochlorite as a Sanitizer in Ready-to-Eat Salad Processing and Advantages of the Use of Alternative Rapid Bacterial Detection Methods

The use of disinfection agents in the washing processing of ready-to-eat (RTE) vegetables, especially sodium hypochlorite, is a common industrial practice performed to enhance microbiological quality. However, some studies have reported a restart of bacterial growth and a substantial increase in bacterial load during early storage associated with the use of disinfection agents, which might represent a risk for consumers. We evaluated the effect of sodium hypochlorite on bacterial growth trends during the shelf-life in Lactuca sativa, simulating the industrial procedures for RTE vegetable packaging. Immediately after sodium hypochlorite treatment, an effective abatement of the bacterial load was observed, followed by a restart of growth throughout storage. After 5 days, the bacterial load was close to that reached by the control samples, indicating that the net increase in bacterial load was significantly higher in the treated samples. This might be ascribed to the reduction in competitive microflora and/or to the induction of adaptive responses by resting bacteria, which might select disinfectant-resistant bacteria. These findings elicit some concerns about the actual duration of the shelf-life; products might decrease their microbiological quality earlier during storage, pointing out the need to better clarify the impact of sodium hypochlorite as a sanitizer to closer consider its use in RTE vegetable processing. Furthermore, due to the importance of the rapid estimation of bacterial load and the early detection of foodborne pathogens throughout the food chain, the accuracy of the rapid bacteria detection method, the Micro Biological Survey (MBS), and its effectiveness for microbiological analyses of RTE vegetables were evaluated

Trimethylamine N-Oxide (TMAO) Impairs Purinergic Induced Intracellular Calcium Increase and Nitric Oxide Release in Endothelial Cells

Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a diet derived compound directly introduced through foodstuff, or endogenously synthesized from its precursors, primarily choline, L-carnitine, and ergothioneine. New evidence outlines high TMAO plasma concentrations in patients with overt cardiovascular disease, but its direct role in pathological development is still controversial. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the role of TMAO in affecting key intracellular factors involved in endothelial dysfunction development, such as reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial health, calcium balance, and nitric oxide release using bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAE-1). Cell viability and oxidative stress indicators were monitored after acute and prolonged TMAO treatment. The role of TMAO in interfering with the physiological purinergic vasodilatory mechanism after ATP stimulation was defined through measurements of the rise of intracellular calcium, nitric oxide release, and eNOS phosphorylation at Ser1179 (eNOSSer1179). TMAO was not cytotoxic for BAE-1 and it did not induce the rise of reactive oxygen species and impairment of mitochondrial membrane potential, either in the basal condition or in the presence of a stressor. In contrast, TMAO modified the purinergic response affecting intracellular ATP-induced calcium increase, nitric oxide release, and eNOSSer1179. Results obtained suggest a possible implication of TMAO in impairing the endothelial-dependent vasodilatory mechanism

A narrative review of alternative transmission routes of COVID 19: what we know so far,

The Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemics, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2, represent an unprecedented public health challenge. Beside person-to-person contagion via airborne droplets and aerosol, which is the main SARSCoV-2’s route of transmission, alternative modes, including transmission via fomites, food and food packaging, have been investigated for their potential impact on SARS-CoV-2 diffsion. In this context, several studies have demonstrated the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and, in some cases, of infectious particles on exposed fomites, food and water samples, confiming their possible role as sources of contamination and transmission. Indeed, fomite-to-human transmission has been demonstrated in a few cases where person-to-person transmission had been excluded. In addition, recent studies supported the possibility of acquiring COVID-19 through the fecal-oro route; the occurrence of COVID-19 gastrointestinal infections, in the absence of respiratory symptoms, also opens the intriguing possibility that these cases could be directly related to the ingestion of contaminated food and water. Overall, most of the studies considered these alternative routes of transmission of low epidemiological relevance; however, it should be considered that they could play an important role, or even be prevalent, in settings characterized by diffrent environmental and socio-economic conditions. In this review, we discuss the most recent fidings regarding SARS-CoV-2 alternative transmission routes, with the aim to disclose what is known about their impact on COVID-19 spread and to stimulate research in this field, which could potentially have a great impact, especially in lowresource contexts

Lactic Fermentation of Cereal Flour: Feasibility Tests on Rice, Oat and Wheat

Background and objective: Consumers show increasing interests in probiotic foods and lactic acid fermentations. Cereal flour, can be a good fermentable substrate due to its prebiotic nature; from which, synbiotic products can be prepared. The aim of the current study was to investigate if three various cereal flours rice, oat and wheat would be good potentially functional foods.Material and methods: Fermentation tests were carried out on rice, oat and wheat flours, using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 and 1.5-L fermenter with 1-L working volume. After 24 h, microbial growth, pH value, lactic acid production and starch consumption were assessed.Results and conclusion: In all three flours, pH reduction was seen; particularly in rice flour. The highest Lactobacillus growth and lactic acid production were achieved at the end of rice fermentation. The greatest starch consumption was reported at the end of rice fermentation. In conclusion, lactic fermentation of cereals as potentially functional foods was possible for the three flours. However, the best result belonged to rice flour.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The impact of intraoperative “Nerve Monitoring” in a tertiary referral center for thyroid and parathyroid surgery

The most fearsome complication in thyroid surgery is the temporary or definitive recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) on postoperative outcomes after thyroid and parathyroid surgery. From October 2014 to February 2016, a total of 80 consecutive patients, with high risk of RLN injuries, underwent thyroid and parathyroid surgery. They were divided in two groups (IONM group and control group), depending on whether neuromonitoring was used or not. We used the Nerve Integrity Monitoring System (NIM)-Response 3.0 (R) (Medtronic Xomed (R)). The operation time (p=0.014). and the length of hospital stay (LOS) (p=0.14) were shorter in the IONM group. Overall mean follow-up was 96.7 +/- 14.3 months. The rate of transient RLN palsy was 2.6% in IONM group and 2.5% in the control group (p=not significant). Only one case of definitive RLN injury was reported in control group. No differences were reported between the two groups in terms of temporary or definitive RLN injury. Routine use of IOMN increases the surgery cost, but overall, it leads to long-term cost savings thanks to the reduction of both operating times (106.3 +/- 38.7 vs 128.1 +/- 39.3, p: 0.01) and LOS (3.2 +/- 1.5 vs 3.7 +/- 1.5 days, p=0.14). Anatomical visualization of RLN remains the gold standard in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. Nevertheless, IONM is proved to be a valid help without the ambition to replace surgeon's experience