Dos velocidades: el tiempo de las tres óperas y el tiempo de los usuarios

[Resumen] La forma de la fe es una forma viva que comienza desde una Urform, de acuerdo con una forma estética. El arte y la arquitectura tienen la misma capacidad virtual de ritual para crear el mundo contraintuitivo. Tenemos dos formas de transmitir fe: repetición y emoción. La repetición es la forma de ritual y la emoción es lo que las tres óperas deben tener en común. Liturgia, Arte y Arquitectura se entienden como opus. Existe una relación temporal entre la transformación vital de estas ópera y el usuario. Las formas cambian con el tiempo y deben continuar comunicándose en función de una relación positiva con los usuarios. En el contexto italiano, hay una fractura entre algunos usuarios y la realización del formulario. La fractura necesita ser reconciliada a través de la educación adecuada de fieles y líderes. Se destaca el proceso metodológico para la adaptación litúrgica de la iglesia de los padres tolentinos, en Venecia, realizada por Alberto Gianfreda.[Abstract] The form of faith is a living form, starting from a Urform, according to an aesthetics manner. Art and architecture have the same virtual capacity of ritual to create the counterintuitive world. We have two ways of transmitting faith: repetition and emotion. Repetition is the form of the ritual and emotion is what all the three opera must have in common. Liturgy, Art and Architecture are understood as opus. There is a temporal relationship between vital becoming of this three opera and the user. Forms change over time and they should continue communicating on the basis of a positive relationship with users. In the Italian context there is a fracture between some users and the making of the form. The fracture needs to be reconciled through an appropriate education of principals and worshippers. The methodological process for Alberto Gianfreda’s liturgical adaptation of Tolentini’s church in Venice is brought to attention

A partir y más allá de Matteo Ricci: Perspectivas para la inculturación del espacio litúrgico en China

Between 1500 and 1600, the Jesuit Matteo Ricci carried out a true process of inculturation of Christianity in China. Later, other actors operated according to acculturation, which is a form of colonialism. This process also occurred in the construction of churches, most of which were built in the neo-Gothic style. In 1926, Dom Gresnigt was sent to China with the aim of creating a new Sino-Christian style, backed by Bishop Costantini and the new missionary policy. However, these attempts at architectural inculturation only focused on stylistic issues. At present we must act according to an intercultural dialogue that, starting from a textual translation of the liturgical books and ritual action, can provide the architect with images of experience that are capable of being implemented as places and movements on the horizon of the sacred. Metaphors have to be found and even better affordances have to be found to increase the efficacy of ritual actions, making even the merely imaginable emotionally perceptible.Entre 1500 y 1600, el jesuita Matteo Ricci llevó a cabo un verdadero proceso de inculturación del cristianismo en China. Posteriormente, otros actores operaron según la aculturación, que es una forma de colonialismo. Este proceso también se dió en la construcción de iglesias, la mayoría de las cuales se edificaron en estilo neogótico. En 1926, dom Gresnigt fue enviado a China con el objetivo de crear un nuevo estilo chino-cristiano, respaldado por el obispo Costantini y la nueva política misionera. Sin embargo, estos intentos de inculturación arquitectónica sólo se centraron en cuestiones estilísticas. En la actualidad debemos actuar según un diálogo intercultural que, partiendo de una traducción textual de los libros litúrgicos y la acción ritual, pueda proporcionar al arquitecto imágenes de experiencia que sean capaces de implementarse como lugares y movimientos en el horizonte de lo sagrado. Hay que encontrar metáforas e incluso construir mejores affordances para aumentar la eficacia de las acciones rituales, haciendo que incluso las meramente imaginables sean emocionalmente perceptibles

Energy transformations in primary school: outcomes from a research based experimentation

Energy is a topic which appears many times in Italian curricula. The school puts a strong socioeconomical attention to protection of the environment and experts often are invited to make speeches on this topic in primary classroom. This type of approaches are those of newspapers and the common language. A vast literature has highlighted those learning difficulties linked to common sense way of looking to energy concepts and its processing (Millar R. 2005, Heron P., Michelini M. and Stefanel A., 2008). Didactic proposals on energy topic of different approaches (Kaper, W. and Goedhart, M. 2002; Hobson A. 2004) offer to the teacher the opportunity to treat this topic revisiting concepts in such a way as to help children overcome the conceptual knots (Driver R. and Warrington L. 1985; Heron et. al. 2008) that the daily context poses. In a research based experimentation the HMS (HMS - Heron et. al. 2008) approach is adopted to build the concepts of energy by means of experimental exploration, and to complete a teaching of energy based on the content offered by text book: energy form, energy production. The experimental class includes twenty three 8-year-old children of a school of Perugia, Italy. HMS educational path has been applied using Inquiry based learning strategy and monitoring learning by means of boarding diary, in(I)-out(O)- and post(P)-tests (IOP tests). Some interesting elements emerge, especially concerning transformation concept, which appears in different key-situations explored

Research based discussions on optics with teachers to integrate professional development with everyday school work

Within the Italian project on innovation in teaching/learning IDIFO4, research based labs for in-service teacher professional development was carried out. In the rich environment of 20 kindergarten, primary and low secondary school teachers, the discussion of content knowledge (CK) was integrated with activities on simple experiments proposed in examples of coherent paths, according to Experiential Teacher Education Model (ETEM). Activities were focused on the analysis and the discussion of tested educational paths both on conceptual change, subject matter content and educational plans. Action oriented contents and methods emerge as teaching/learning proposals based on research on children learning processes, where they melt in coherent paths as an outcome of the experienced modules of formative intervention. Optics lab offers an example of this kind of integration between educational research and teacher professional development

Circulating cathepsin K and cystatin C in patients with cancer related bone disease: Clinical and therapeutic implications

The clinical significance of serum cathepsin K and cystatin C was assessed in patients with breast cancer (BCa) or prostate cancer (PCa) with confined disease (M0) or bone metastasis (BM). Cathepsin K and cystatin C circulating levels were determined by ELISAs in 63 cancer patients, in 35 patients with nonmalignant diseases and in 42 healthy blood donors (control group). In BCa patients, cathepsin K serum levels were sig- nificantly lower than in sex matched control group (HS; p ¼ 0.0008) or in patients with primary osteoporosis (OP; p ¼ 0.0009). On the contrary, cystatin C levels were significantly higher in BCa patients than in HS ( p ¼ 0.0001) or OP ( p ¼ 0.017). In PCa patients, cathepsin K concen- trations did not significantly differ from those measured in sex matched HS or in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Conversely, cystatin C was more elevated in cancer patients than in controls ( p ¼ 0.0001) or BPH patients ( p ¼ 0.0078). Furthermore, in PCa patients, a pos- itive correlation was observed between cystatin C and cathepsin K (rS ¼ 0.34; p ¼ 0.047). No further relationship was highlighted between these molecules and the clinicobiological parameters of BCa or PCa progression including the number of bone lesions. Moreover, ROC curve analysis showed a poor diagnostic performance of cathepsin K and cystatin C in the detection of BM patients. Interestingly, the administration of zole- dronic acid (ZA), a bisphosphonate derivative endowed with a potent antiosteoclastic activity, induced in BM patients a marked increase of cathepsin K and cystatin C serum levels compared to baseline values. However, this phenomenon was statistically significant only in the PCa group. In conclusion Cystatin C and cathepsin K may be regarded as possible markers to monitor the therapeutic response to bisphosphonate treatments. Nevertheless, their clinical value as specific gauges of skeletal metastasis remains questionable

Cathepsin L in metastatic bone disease: therapeutic implications

Cathepsin L is a lysosomal cysteine proteinase primarily devoted to the metabolic turnover of intracellular proteins. However, accumulating evidence suggests this endopeptidase may be also implicated in the regulation of other important biological functions including bone resorption in normal and pathological conditions. These findings support the concept that cathepsin L, in concert with other proteolytic enzymes involved in bone remodelling processes, may contribute to facilitate bone metastasis formation. In support of this hypothesis, recent studies indicate that cathepsin L may foster this process by triggering multiple mechanisms which, in part, differ from those of the major cysteine proteinase of osteoclast, namely cathepsin K. Therefore, cathepsin L may be regarded as an additional target in the treatment of patients with metastatic bone disease. This review discusses the clinical and therapeutic implications related to these findings

Activin A circulating levels in patients with bone metastasis from breast or prostate cancer

Recent studies have highlighted that Activin A, a member of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, may be involved in the regulation of osteoblastic activity and in osteoclast differentiation. Therefore, we have investigated the clinical significance of its circulating levels in patients with bone metastasis. Activin A serum concentrations were determined, by a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit, in 72 patients with breast cancer (BC) or prostatic cancer (PC) with (BM+) or without (BM-) bone metastases, in 15 female patients with age-related osteoporosis (OP), in 20 patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and in 48 registered healthy blood donors (HS) of both sex (25 female and 23 male). Activin A serum concentrations were significantly increased in BC or PC patients as compared to OP (P < 0.0001) or BPH (P = 0.045), respectively, or to sex matched HS (P < 0.0001). Additionally, these levels resulted more elevated in PC patients as compared to BC patients (P = 0.032). Interestingly, Activin A was significantly higher in BM+ patients than in BM- patients (BC, P = 0.047; PC, P = 0.016). In BC patients, a significant correlation was observed only between Activin A and number of bone metastases (P = 0.0065) while, in PC patients, Activin A levels were strongly correlated with the Gleason score (P = 0.011) or PSA levels (P = 0.0001) and, to a lessen extent, with the number of bone metastases (P = 0.056). Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis showed a fair diagnostic accuracy of Activin A to discriminate between BM+ and BM- patients (BC: AUC = 0.71 +/- 0.09, P = 0.03; PC: AUC = 0.73 +/- 0.081, P = 0.005). These findings indicate that Activin A may be implicated in the pathogenesis of bone metastasis. Therefore, this cytokine may be considered a novel potential target for a more selective therapeutic approach in the treatment of skeletal metastasis and may be also useful as additional biochemical marker of metastatic bone disease

Follistatin as potential therapeutic target in prostate cancer

Follistatin is a single-chain glycosylated protein whose primary function consists in binding and neutralizing some members of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily such as activin and bone morphogenic proteins. Emerging evidence indicates that this molecule may also play a role in the malignant progression of several human tumors including prostate cancer. In particular, recent findings suggest that, in this tumor, follistatin may also contribute to the formation of bone metastasis through multiple mechanisms, some of which are not related to its specific activin or bone morphogenic proteins’ inhibitory activity. This review provides insight into the most recent advances in understanding the role of follistatin in the prostate cancer progression and discusses the clinical and therapeutic implications related to these findings

Effects of zoledronic acid on proteinase plasma levels in patients with bone metastases.

Background: The effects of the bisphosphonate derivative zoledronic acid (ZA) on the > circulating levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), matrix metallo-proteinases-9 > (MMP-9), cathepsin B (Cath B) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) in > patients with bone metastasis (BMTS) and the possible correlation with the symptomatic > response induced by this drug in these patients were evaluated. Patients and Methods: > Proteinase levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the > plasma of 30 patients with painful bone metastases from breast or prostate cancer > undergoing multiple treatment with ZA (4 mg i.v., every 4 weeks). Healthy subjects > (HS) of both genders (12 female and 30 male) served as the control group. The > symptomatic response to ZA was assessed by the visual analog scale score (VAS). > Results: The median MMP-2 and MMP-9 pretreatment levels were more elevated in BMTS as > compared to HS (p¡Ü0.0001). Conversely, uPA levels were lower in BMTS p=0.0033; no > significant difference was observed for Cath B. ZA administration was associated with > a symptomatic response (VAS score¡Ü4) in 25/30 patients (83.3%) (p<0.0001). This > phenomenon paralleled a decrease of Cath B and MMP-2 plasma concentrations from > baseline values on week 12 (p=0.05). A similar trend, although not statistically > significant, was also noted for MMP-9 and uPA. However, no direct relationship was > observed between the analgesic effect induced by ZA and changes in the circulating > levels of these enzymes. Conclusion: These data show that ZA administration may > provide relief from bone pain in patients with diffuse skeletal metastases and confirm > a possible implication of cysteine proteinases and matrix metalloproteinases in bone > metastasis formation, but not in the pathogenesis of metastatic bone pain

Prognostic significance of DNA ploidy, S-phase fraction, and tissue levels of aspartic, cysteine, and serine proteases in operable gastric carcinoma

A consecutive series of 63 untreated patients undergoing surgical resection for stage I-IV gastric adenocarcinomas (GCs) has been prospectively studied. Our purpose was to analyze the predictive relevance of DNA ploidy, S-phase fraction (SPF), and tissue levels of lysosomal proteinases cathepsin D (CD), cathepsin B (CB), cathepsin L (CL), and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and that of the intracellular cysteine proteinase inhibitor stefin A on clinical outcome. All of the patients taking part in this study were followed up for a median of 73 months. DNA aneuploidy was present in 71% of the cases (45/63), whereas 9% of these (4/45) showed multiclonality. Both DNA ploidy and SPF were associated with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage and node status, whereas only DNA ploidy was related to depth of invasion. CB, CL, uPA, but not CD, levels were significantly higher in GC as compared to paired normal mucosa, whereas stefin A levels were lower in tumor tissues. CB levels were significantly associated with TNM stage, nodal status, histological grade, and DNA ploidy. At univariate analysis, only node involvement, advanced TNM stage, DNA aneuploidy, and high SPF proved to be significantly related to quicker relapse and to shorter overall survival, whereas depth of invasion was related only to survival. With multivariate analysis, only high SPF (>15.2%) was related to risk of relapse (RR = 8.50), whereas high SPF and DNA aneuploidy were independently related to risk of death (RR = 1.88 and 2.09, respectively). Our preliminary prospective study has identified SPF and DNA ploidy as important biological indicators for predicting the outcome of patients with GC