Mwangolé: angolan music of resistance as memorial archive and poetic code

This article aims to highlight some elements of the poetics of resistance developed in Angolan music between the 1950s and the 1970s of the last century, stressing the link between poetry and music in the light of the sociopolitical context. The article includes the lyrics of a few songs in kimbundu previously not available in Portuguese, whose rhetorical and linguistic characteristics reveal topics and structures that influenced Angolan music to the present days. Furthermore, it aims to stress the role of music in the location of culture (BHABHA) and especially in the passage from colonial to post-colonial society and in the process of definition of Angolan national identity.O artigo pretende trazer à superfície alguns elementos da poética da música de intervenção angolana entre os anos 1950-1970, sublinhando a ligação entre poesia e produção musical no período em análise, à luz do respetivo contexto sociopolítico. Apresentam-se aqui alguns textos de músicas em kimbundu que nunca tinham circulado em português, cujas caraterísticas linguísticas e retóricas revelam temas e estruturas que influenciaram a evolução da música angolana até os dias de hoje. Sublinha-se ainda o papel da música de intervenção enquanto principal Lugar de cultura (BHABHA) no processo de passagem da sociedade colonial ao contexto pós-colonial e na definição identitária da nação angolana

Do ritual ao palco: o processo de transcrição, ensino e encenação das danças folclóricas afro-cubanas

O projeto pretende analisar a metodologia de ensino das danças religiosas de origem Africana em Cuba: estudar a introdução das danças de origem negra na formação da identidade cultural cubana e o desenvolvimento formal das danças na passagem do ritual ao palco. A investigação concentra-se sobre as danças rituais ensinadas nas instituições nacionais, que se tornaram o instrumento principal pela valorização da cultura Africana e pela sua integração na cultura cubana. Este estudo relata a formação destas na época da revolução, como instrumento de coesão social e do levantamento das danças e músicas tradicionais de origem Africana começado na época anterior à revolução, e depois por esta reforçado em todo o território cubano. A pesquisa quer também relatar o complexo quadro cultural de Cuba antes e depois da revolução, para esclarecer como a dança constitua, neste contexto, um espelho da situação sociopolítica do país e de que forma a esta se ligue às correntes artísticas de maior importância ao nível mundial. O trabalho baseia-se em material recolhido durante um período de investigação em Cuba, nas instituições de ensino e em contacto com as companhias folclóricas de maior relevo.The project’s aim is to analyse the pedagogy used to teach Afrocuban religious dances in Cuba, analyse the origins of the methodology and its specific characteristics. One of the main points of this study is also the one of revealing the importance of the performance of Afrocuban artistic heritage in the creation of a national identity and social cohesion in the country, as well as the role of the revolutionary educational programs in this process. The study’s main focus is the program of the national cultural institutions, which have been the main instrument for the artistic and cultural development of the country, but we also consider the previous field and anthropological researches that prepared the massive interest for the folkloric studies in the sixties. This research wants to show the complexity of the socio-cultural situation in Cuba before and after the Revolution, and how dance represents a mirror of this complexity, and, actually, in which way it ties up to the artistic world’s major movements. This work is based on a fieldwork developed in Cuba, in the teaching institutions and in contact with the most important folkloric dance companies

Medical vs Surgical Abortion. Overview of European Legislation and Health Care Practice

Aim: Abortifacient drugs such as Ru-486, mifepristone, used in combination with a prostaglandin analogue (misoprostol) for the purpose of achieving medical abortion, have given rise to major legal, ethical and moral quandaries, which legislators all over Europe have striven to overcome by reconciling the reproductive rights of women with those of dissenting medical personnel. Methods: International literature from the seventies to July 2020 has been reviewed from Pubmed database, Google Scholar and Scopus, drawing upon American, Italian and international sources (an ethically acceptable solution can only be achieved through an over-haul of the laws currently in effect). Results: The unresolved rift between the reproductive will of women and medical professionals claim to conscientious refusal to treat, i.e., refusal to perform abortions or to prescribe abortifacient medicine, in such overwhelming numbers in Italy and elsewhere, has given rise to the impossibility of many women to terminate their pregnancies as they had chosen to. As a matter of fact, in 2018, only 64.9% of Italian public hospitals were able to guarantee access to abortion services. Hence, 35% of Italian facilities fail to meet the standards as set by law 194/78. Conclusion: The Authors have aimed to shed light on how medical abortion is to be preferred over a surgical one, and how major European countries have dealt with such an extremely thorny issue that has polarized the public opinion and scientific community members alike

COVID-19 Incidence and Vaccine Effectiveness in University Staff, 1 March 2020–2 April 2022

Background: University workers undergo intense social interactions due to the frequent contact with students and colleagues and lectures in crowdy conditions. The aim of our study was to assess the incidence of COVID-19 infection and vaccine effectiveness in a cohort of workers of the University of Trieste from 1 March 2020 (start of the pandemic) through 2 April 2022. Methods: The University of Trieste implemented a number of public health policies to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 on the campus, including prompt contact tracing, the enhanced ventilation of all premises, fomites disinfection and the mandatory use of face masks indoors. In compliance with the surveillance protocol of the local public health department, university personnel were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on a nasopharyngeal swab on demand, in the event of symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or for contact tracing, following close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case. The incidence rates of SARS-CoV-2 infections were estimated as the number of cases by the number of person-days (p-d) at risk. The multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression model was employed to investigate the risk of primary COVID-19 infection, adjusting for a number of potential confounders and expressing the risk as the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among the university staff was lower than that of healthcare workers (HCWs) of the same area. Compared to unvaccinated colleagues (6.55 × 10,000 p-d), the raw incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was higher among university workers immunized with one (7.22 × 10,000 p-d) or two (7.48 × 10,000 p-d) doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, decreasing in those receiving the booster (1.98 × 1000 p-d). The risk of infection increased only in postgraduate medical trainees (aHR = 2.16; 95% CI: 1.04; 4.48), though this was limited to the Omicron transmission period. After the implementation of the national vaccination campaign against COVID-19, workers immunized with the booster were less likely than unvaccinated workers to be infected by SARS-CoV-2 both before (aHR = 0.10; 95% CI: 0.06; 0.16) and after (aHR = 0.37; 95% CI: 0.27; 0.52) the Omicron transmission period. The vaccine effectiveness of the booster was 90% (=(1−0.10) × 100) before versus 63% (=(1−0.37) × 100) during the Omicron wave, without a significant difference between homologous (three doses of m-RNA vaccines) and heterologous (first two doses of Vaxzevria followed by a third dose of m-RNA vaccine) immunization. Conclusions: The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the university staff was lower than that of HCWs of ASUGI, likely because the testing-on-demand schedule inevitably missed asymptomatic infections. Therefore, the observed significantly protective effect of the booster dose in university personnel referred to symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. The infection prevention and control policies implemented by the University of Trieste managed to equalize the biological risk between the administrative and teaching staff

Marcel Proust em busca da arte

Antologia crítica que inclui: ensaios originais sobre a obra de Marcel Proust, textos críticos inéditos em Portugal, bem como partes de textos literários do autor.«Les beaux livres sont écrits dans une sorte de langue étrangère»: assim Marcel Proust conclui o Contre Sainte-Beuve. Se ele se lançou na aventura de La Recherche, foi para tentar reencontrar a língua «perdida» do seu eu antigo, que apenas podia ser alcançada ao ser traduzida para essa “língua estrangeira” que é sempre a arte. É o que se tenta comprovar pelos ensaios críticos elegidos muito especialmente para esta antologia, pela sua originalidade e acuidade na leitura da obra proustiana.FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

COVID-19 susceptibility and vaccination coverage for measles, rubella and mumps in students and healthcare workers in Trieste hospitals (NE Italy)

Background: Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines have been suggested as preventive measures to protect subjects from the worst sequelae of COVID-19 infection because neutralizing antibodies can cross-react with other viruses. Aim: To verify COVID-19 infection in MMR vaccinated and non-vaccinated healthcare workers and medical students in Trieste Hospitals. Results: Nurse aids resulted in significantly more infections than structured physicians (OR 1.80; 95% CI 1.14-2.80) while students resulted in less infections (OR, 0.66; 95% CI 0.43-1.01). The presence of an MMR vaccination was inversely associated with COVID-19 (OR, 0.77; 95% CI 0.61-0.96) but only in univariate analysis. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, MMR vaccination lost statistical significance (OR, 0.86; 95%CI 0.62-1.20). On 13 HCWs hospitalized for COVID-19, 11 resulted not vaccinated for MMR. Discussion: Our study found a mild, non-significant reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infections in workers vaccinated with MMR

Primary SARS-CoV-2 Infections, Re-infections and Vaccine Effectiveness during the Omicron Transmission Period in Healthcare Workers of Trieste and Gorizia (Northeast Italy), 1 December 2021-31 May 2022

Objective: To evaluate the incidence of primary and recurrent COVID-19 infections in healthcare workers (HCWs) routinely screened for SARS-CoV-2 by nasopharyngeal swabs during the Omicron wave. Design: Dynamic Cohort study of HCWs (N = 7723) of the University Health Agency Giuliano Isontina (ASUGI), covering health services of the provinces of Trieste and Gorizia (Northeast Italy). Cox proportional hazard model was employed to estimate the risk of primary as well as recurrent SARS-CoV-2 infection from 1 December 2021 through 31 May 2022, adjusting for a number of confounding factors. Results: By 1 December 2021, 46.8% HCWs of ASUGI had received the booster, 37.2% were immunized only with two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, 6.0% only with one dose and 10.0% were unvaccinated. During 1 March 2020-31 May 2022, 3571 primary against 406 SARS-CoV-2 recurrent infections were counted among HCWs of ASUGI, 59.7% (=2130/3571) versus 95.1% (=386/406) of which occurring from 1 December 2021 through 31 May 2022, respectively. All HCWs infected by SARS-CoV-2 during 1 December 2021 through 31 May 2022 presented mild flu-like disease. Compared to staff working in administrative services, the risk of primary as well as recurrent SARS-CoV-2 infection increased in HCWs with patient-facing clinical tasks (especially nurses and other categories of HCWs) and in all clinical wards but COVID-19 units and community health services. Regardless of the number of swab tests performed during the study period, primary infections were less likely in HCWs immunized with one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. By contrast, the risk of SARS-CoV-2 re-infection was significantly lower in HCWs immunized with three doses (aHR = 0.58; 95%CI: 0.41; 0.80). During the study period, vaccine effectiveness (VE = 1-aHR) of the booster dose declined to 42% against re-infections, vanishing against primary SARS-CoV-2 infections. Conclusions: Though generally mild, SARS-CoV-2 infections and re-infections surged during the Omicron transmission period. Compared to unvaccinated colleagues, the risk of primary SARS-CoV-2 infection was significantly lower in HCWs immunized just with one dose of COVID-19 vaccines. By Italian law, HCWs immunized only with one dose were either suspended or re-assigned to job tasks not entailing patient facing contact; hence, while sharing the same biological risk of unvaccinated colleagues, they arguably had a higher level of protection against COVID-19 infection. By contrast, SARS-CoV-2 re-infections were less likely in HCWs vaccinated with three doses, suggesting that hybrid humoral immunity by vaccination combined with natural infection provided a higher level of protection than vaccination only. In this stage of the pandemic, where SARS-CoV-2 is more infectious yet much less pathogenic, health protection measures in healthcare premises at higher biological risk seem the rational approach to control the transmission of the virus

Rehabilitation strategies for low anterior resection syndrome. A systematic review

Objective. To summarize the evidence in the literature about rehabilitative treatments that reduce low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) symptoms in patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer.Methods. We have search in PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health and Scopus databases. Studies selected were limited to those including only patient undergone low rectal resection with sphincter preservation and with pre-post assessment with a LARS score. Five articles fit the criteria.Results. The percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation demonstrated moderate results and sacral nerve stimulation was found to be the best treatment with greater symptom improvement. Only one study considered sexual and urinary problems in the outcomes assessment.Conclusions. In clinical practice patients should evaluate with the LARS and other score for evaluation of urinary and sexual problems. Future research must be implemented with higher quality studies to identify the least invasive and most effective treatment/s.

CXCL12/SDF-1 from perisynaptic Schwann cells promotes regeneration of injured motor axonterminals

The neuromuscular junction has retained through evolution the capacity to regenerate after damage, but little is known on the inter-cellular signals involved in its functional recovery from trauma, autoimmune attacks, or neurotoxins. We report here that CXCL12, also abbreviated as stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), is produced specifically by perisynaptic Schwann cells following motor axon terminal degeneration induced by -latrotoxin. CXCL12 acts via binding to the neuronal CXCR4 receptor. A CXCL12-neutralizing antibody or a specific CXCR4 inhibitor strongly delays recovery from motor neuron degeneration invivo. Recombinant CXCL12 invivo accelerates neurotransmission rescue upon damage and very effectively stimulates the axon growth of spinal cord motor neurons invitro. These findings indicate that the CXCL12-CXCR4 axis plays an important role in the regeneration of the neuromuscular junction after motor axon injury. The present results have important implications in the effort to find therapeutics and protocols to improve recovery of function after different forms of motor axon terminal damage