La semiotica tra scienza e filosofia. Una duplicità epistemologica strategica

La semiotica ha una posizione epistemologica complessa e delicata: ascritta al novero delle scienze del linguaggio, o talora alle scienze dell'informazione e della comunicazione, emerge spesso come una disciplina con accenti o pretese filosofiche, anche se per alcuni dovrebbe limitarsi a un ruolo ancillare, offrendosi come puro apporto metodologico per altre discipline. I contributi “sproporzionati” della semiotica – debordanti nei temi e troppo sofisticati e gergali nelle argomentazioni – possono suggerire l’idea di rinunciare infine all'istituzionalizzazione di una disciplina autonoma; d'altra parte, si ritiene che il compito di prendere in considerazione tutti i linguaggi e i loro usi intrecciati sarebbe di per sé eccessivo. Questa rinuncia favorirebbe il riconoscimento del semiotico come dominio antropologico delle mediazioni simboliche, un dominio che può essere affrontato da diverse prospettive disciplinari classiche, o almeno da quelle che sono in grado di specificare meglio il loro oggetto e i limiti delle loro pertinenze descrittive. In questo contributo, cerchiamo di proporre alcuni argomenti per muoversi in una direzione opposta, al fine di riaffermare il progetto della semiotica come disciplina sui generis che cerca di articolare la filosofia e la scienza da una specifica angolatura, quella per cui una critica semiotica del pensiero dovrebbe articolarsi con un pensiero critico delle mediazioni.Semiotics has a complex and delicate epistemological position: ascribed to the ranks of the language sciences, or sometimes to the information and communication sciences, it often emerges as a discipline with philosophical accents or pretensions, even though for some it should limit itself to an ancillary role, offering itself as a pure methodological contribution to other disciplines. The “disproportionate” contributions of semiotics - overflowing in its themes and overly sophisticated and jargonistic in its argumentations - may suggest the idea of finally renouncing the institutionalization of an autonomous discipline; on the other hand, it is believed that the task of considering all languages and their intertwined uses would be excessive in itself. This renunciation would favor the recognition of the semiotic as an anthropological domain of symbolic mediations, a domain that can be approached from different classical disciplinary perspectives, or at least from those that are better able to specify their object and the limits of their descriptive pertinences. In this contribution, we seek to propose some arguments for moving in an opposite direction, in order to reaffirm the project of semiotics as a sui generis discipline that seeks to articulate philosophy and science from a specific angle, that by which a semiotic critique of thought should articulate with a critical thinking of mediations

La semiotica tra scienza e filosofia. Una duplicità epistemologica strategica

La semiotica ha una posizione epistemologica complessa e delicata: ascritta al novero delle scienze del linguaggio, o talora alle scienze dell'informazione e della comunicazione, emerge spesso come una disciplina con accenti o pretese filosofiche, anche se per alcuni dovrebbe limitarsi a un ruolo ancillare, offrendosi come puro apporto metodologico per altre discipline. I contributi “sproporzionati” della semiotica – debordanti nei temi e troppo sofisticati e gergali nelle argomentazioni – possono suggerire l’idea di rinunciare infine all'istituzionalizzazione di una disciplina autonoma; d'altra parte, si ritiene che il compito di prendere in considerazione tutti i linguaggi e i loro usi intrecciati sarebbe di per sé eccessivo. Questa rinuncia favorirebbe il riconoscimento del semiotico come dominio antropologico delle mediazioni simboliche, un dominio che può essere affrontato da diverse prospettive disciplinari classiche, o almeno da quelle che sono in grado di specificare meglio il loro oggetto e i limiti delle loro pertinenze descrittive. In questo contributo, cerchiamo di proporre alcuni argomenti per muoversi in una direzione opposta, al fine di riaffermare il progetto della semiotica come disciplina sui generis che cerca di articolare la filosofia e la scienza da una specifica angolatura, quella per cui una critica semiotica del pensiero dovrebbe articolarsi con un pensiero critico delle mediazioni.Semiotics has a complex and delicate epistemological position: ascribed to the ranks of the language sciences, or sometimes to the information and communication sciences, it often emerges as a discipline with philosophical accents or pretensions, even though for some it should limit itself to an ancillary role, offering itself as a pure methodological contribution to other disciplines. The “disproportionate” contributions of semiotics - overflowing in its themes and overly sophisticated and jargonistic in its argumentations - may suggest the idea of finally renouncing the institutionalization of an autonomous discipline; on the other hand, it is believed that the task of considering all languages and their intertwined uses would be excessive in itself. This renunciation would favor the recognition of the semiotic as an anthropological domain of symbolic mediations, a domain that can be approached from different classical disciplinary perspectives, or at least from those that are better able to specify their object and the limits of their descriptive pertinences. In this contribution, we seek to propose some arguments for moving in an opposite direction, in order to reaffirm the project of semiotics as a sui generis discipline that seeks to articulate philosophy and science from a specific angle, that by which a semiotic critique of thought should articulate with a critical thinking of mediations

América Latina y su educación superior ante la globalización

En su primera parte, el artículo se propone una aproximación a la situación actual del continente latinoamericano: luego de repasarlos procesos de integración económica regional producidos desde la década de los cincuenta, enumera elementos positivos y negativos que se observan en su realidad presente. Aborda a renglón seguido el fenómeno de la globalización en sus dimensiones económica, tecnológica, cultural, político-ideológica y físico ambiental. Con este contexto formula el objetivo de incrementar la justicia y la calidad de vida de las sociedades latinoamericanas por la vía de aumentar su calidad humana, orientada y animada por nuevos valores de solidaridad. En la segunda parte, el trabajo enfoca la problemática de la  educación. Describe el proceso seguido por la educación superior en el continente, constata el fracaso de las aspiraciones que relacionaban su crecimiento con el desarrollo social y enumera algunos de sus principales problemas actuales. Finalmente formula los retos pendientes para las universidades latinoamericanas, en especial las católicas, que pueden resumirse, a nivel de misión, en globalizarla transmisión de ciertos valores y derechos básicos

Pierluigi Basso Bossali 'Instancias intencionales y atribuciones de subjetividad. Interposición, resistencia y ambición del sujeto' in Tópicos del Seminario, Nº 41, Puebla, México, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, p. 9-55, 1665-1200

peer reviewe

Lactate as a marker of energy failure in critically ill patients: hypothesis

Lactate measurement in the critically ill has been traditionally used to stratify patients with poor outcome. However, plasma lactate levels are the result of a finely tuned interplay of factors that affect the balance between its production and its clearance. When the oxygen supply does not match its consumption, organisms such as man who are forced to produce ATP for their integrity adapt in many different ways up to the point when energy failure occurs. Lactate, being part of the adaptive response, may then be used to assess the severity of the supply/demand imbalance. In such a scenario, the time to intervention becomes relevant: early and effective treatment may allow the cell to revert to a normal state, as long as the oxygen machinery (i.e. mithocondria) is intact. Conversely, once the mithocondria are deranged, energy failure occurs even in the presence of normoxia. The lactate increase in critically ill patients may therefore be viewed as an early marker of a potentially reversible state

Influence of gravitational sympathetic stimulation on the surgical plethysmographic index

Surgical Plethysmographic Index (SPI), calculated from pulse photo-plethysmographic amplitude oscillations, has been proposed as a tool to measure nociception anti-nociception balance during general anesthesia, but it is affected by several confounding factor that alter the autonomic nervous system (ANS) modulation. We hypothesized that SPI may be mainly affected by sympathetic stimulation independently from nociception. We studied the effects of two sympathetic stimuli on SPI, delivered through passive head-up tilt at 45 and 90 degrees angles, in nine awake healthy adults. The sympathetic modulation was assessed by means of heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Mean (SD) SPI significantly increased from baseline to 45 degrees [from 38.6 (13.7) to 60.8 (7.6), p<0.001)] and to 90 degrees angle tilt [82.3 (5.4), p<0.001]. The electrocardiographic mean R-to-R interval significantly shortened during both passive tilts, whereas systolic arterial pressure did not change during the study protocol. HRV changed significantly during the study protocol towards a predominance of sympathetic modulation during passive tilt. Gravitational sympathetic stimulation at two increasing angles, in absence of any painful stimuli, affects SPI in awake healthy volunteers. SPI seems to reflect the sympathetic outflow directed to peripheral vessels

Effectiveness and safety of the angiotensin II antagonist irbesartan in children with chronic kidney diseases

Background: Studies in adults with chronic kidney diseases demonstrate that the orally available angiotensin II antagonist irbesartan reduces arterial pressure and pathological proteinuria, mostly with an excellent tolerability profile. Little information is available on irbesartan in childhood. Methods: A total of 44 pediatric outpatients with chronic kidney disease (27 male and 17, aged 3.7 to 18 years, median 10 years) were given irbesartan once a day during 18 weeks for arterial hypertension (N = 23), proteinuria (N = 8), or both (N = 13). Results: In patients with hypertension, the use of irbesartan 4.1 (3.1-5.3) mg/kg body weight daily (median and interquartile range) was associated with a decrease (P < .005) in arterial pressure by 17 (13-22)/10 (7-12) mm Hg. In patients with overt proteinuria the urinary protein excretion decreased (P < .01) during treatment with irbesartan (2.9 [2.0-4.8] mg/kg body weight) by 52 (0-75) mg/[m2 × h]), whereas plasma albumin increased (P < .05) by 4 (1-5) g/L. The frequency of abdominal pain, constipation, cough, diarrhea, dizziness, edema, fatigue, headache, insomnia, myalgia, orthostasis, and rash was similar before and with irbesartan. Plasma sodium slightly decreased, whereas plasma potassium increased, with irbesartan (P < .01). Conclusions: In pediatric patients with chronic kidney diseases, irbesartan given once a day for 18 weeks significantly reduces arterial pressure and proteinuria, with an excellent tolerability and side effect profile. Am J Hypertens 2002;15:1057-1063 © 2002 American Journal of Hypertension, Lt

Viral shedding in children infected by pandemic A/H1N1/2009 influenza virus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to investigate viral shedding in otherwise healthy children with pandemic A/H1N1/2009 influenza in order to define how long children with pandemic A/H1N1/2009 influenza shed the virus, and also plan adequate measures to control the spread of the disease within households.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>In 74 otherwise healthy children with pandemic A/H1N1/2009 influenza, nasopharyngeal swabs were taken for virus detection upon hospital admission and every two days until negative. The nasopharyngeal swabs of all of the children were positive for pandemic A/H1N1/2009 influenza virus in the first three days after the onset of infection, and only 21.6% and 13.5% remained positive after respectively 11 and 15 days. No child was positive after more than 15 days. Viral load also decreased over time, and was not associated with patient age or the risk of pneumonia. Those who shed the virus for ≥ 9 days were not at any increased risk of suffering from more severe disease in comparison with those who shed the virus for a shorter time, but their households experienced a significantly higher number of influenza-like illness during the two weeks after the onset of the initial disease (72.3% <it>vs </it>41.4%; p < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Regardless of their age, healthy children can shed pandemic A/H1N1/2009 influenza virus for up to two weeks after illness onset, and the households of the children who shed the virus for ≥ 9 days suffered a higher number of influenza-like illness in the two weeks following the onset of the first disease. This could suggest that when a completely unknown influenza virus is circulating, isolation period of infected children has to be longer than the 7 days recommended for the infections due to seasonal influenza viruses.</p

Renal vein obstruction and orthostatic proteinuria: a review

Objectives. The cause of orthostatic proteinuria is not clear but may often relate to obstruction of the left renal vein in the fork between the aorta and the superior mesenteric artery (= renal nutcracker). However, reports dealing with proteinuria only marginally refer to this possible cause of orthostatic proteinuria. We analysed the corresponding literature. Results. Five reports addressed the frequency of renal nutcracker in 229 subjects with orthostatic proteinuria. Their age ranged between 5.2 and 17years (female-to-male ratio: 0.96:1.00). Imaging studies demonstrated renal nutcracker in 156 (68%) subjects. Renal nutcracker was also demonstrated in 9 anecdotal reports for a total of 53 subjects with postural proteinuria. Very recently, 13 Italian subjects with orthostatic proteinuria associated with renal nutcracker were reassessed 6years after the initial diagnosis: in nine subjects, both orthostatic proteinuria and renal nutcracker had disappeared; in three, both orthostatic proteinuria and renal nutcracker had persisted; and in one, orthostatic proteinuria had persisted unassociated with renal nutcracker. Conclusions. These data provide substantial support for renal nutcracker as a common cause of orthostatic proteinuri