The King's Speech. La retorica dei re persiani fra Eschilo, Erodoto e Tucidide

This paper aims at collecting and investigating, from a rhetorical point of view, the speeches of the Achaemenid kings (from Cyrus to Xerxes), which are mentioned in the Greek sources, with a special focus on Herodotus' Histories. The many and heterogeneous discourses which this historian attributes to the different Persian kings (dialogues, private conversations, messages, letters and simple speech acts) are analyzed and compared, and the research seems to allow the finding of some recurrent \u2013 and probably well devised \u2013 patterns. The paper takes also into account the poetic speeches of Darius and Xerxes in Aeschylus' Persians, and the scanty evidence (a letter from Xerxes to Pausanias) transmitted by Thucydides

Il ruolo del teatro nella contesa fra Eschine e Demostene: la prospettiva diplomatica

Abstract The place of theatre in the Aeschines-Demosthenes dispute: the diplomatic perspective In all studies on the affinities and intersections, both thematic and performative, between oratory and theatre, the contrasting orations of Aeschines and Demosthenes concerning the embassies to Philip of 346 BC and the mutual accusations about the handling of negotiations hold an essential place. In this set of speeches, which includes – in addition to Aeschines’ Against Timarchus and the two orations On the False Embassy (343) – those of 330 Against Ctesiphon (Aeschines) and On the Crown (Demosthenes), the theatre and its performers are, however, represented ambiguously, if not negatively. This essay aims to highlight how this apparent paradox finds a possible solution by considering the concrete role that Athenian theatre and actors played in the difficult negotiations between Athens and Philip. The diplomatic perspective allows us to shed more light on the motivations that led the two rival orators to use theatre as a weapon to fight each other

"Discors Exercitus". Uno stereotipo dell’armata persiana nella tradizione classica

Il lavoro si propone di raccogliere e discutere le testimonianze antiche relative all'immagine letteraria dell'esercito persiano come di un discors exercitus, di una sterminata ma disorganizzata massa di armati, "orda disordinata simile a una folla minacciosa" (V.D. Hanson), composta di soldati di lingua, armamento e tattiche di combattimento assai diverse. A quest'immagine si contrappone costantemente quella, opposta, degli eserciti dei Greci e dei Macedoni, meno numerosi, ma in cui disciplina e ordine costituiscono le chiavi del successo. L'immagine stessa, e quella del confronto fra esercito persiano ed eserciti greco-macedoni sono molto comuni nelle fonti greche e latine a partire dal IV secolo a.C., ma negli autori più antichi non appare sempre usata nello stesso senso né con la stessa finalità: di contro, questa immagine ha una storia lunga e articolata, che in questo saggio si cerca di sbrogliare e di ricostruire nelle varie fasi. This paper aims at collecting and discussing the evidence concerning the literary image of the Persian army as a discors exercitus, composed by huge but badly organized "mob-like frightening hordes" (V.D. Hanson), made of soldiers of different languages, armed with a variety of weapons and trained in many different tactics: to this image is constantly opposed that of the smaller Greek and Macedonian armies, where discipline and order were the real key of their success. The image itself, and the comparison, are very popular in the Greek and Latin sources from the IVth century BC onwards, but in earlier authors they are not always used in the same sense and with the same aim: these contrasting images have instead a long and articulated history, which the author of the essay tries to disentangle and to put to the test

L’Oriente Vicino: le tradizioni sulla Lidia nello specchio di Erodoto

This paper examines the different images of Lydia and Lydians as they are depicted in Herodotus’ Histories and in the earlier Greek literary tradition, focusing especially on the double-sided portrait of this civilization which seems to stem from the historian’s narrative. It discusses the origins of this ambivalent presentation, due to many reasons, among which the different status of Lydia as an Anatolian region/ethnos and as a powerful State/nation is singled out. Archaeological data and ideological interpretations by the Greek sources are also taken into account, to help clarify the possible roots of the tradition, which made Lydia (and Lydians) a so far, so close world to their Greek neighbours

Clinical utility of urine kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) in the diagnosis of canine acute kidney injury

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of urine KIM-1 and urine GGT for the detection of naturally-occurring AKI, compared to healthy control dogs, dogs with stable chronic kidney disease (CKD), and dogs with lower urinary tract disorders (LUTD). The study included AKI grade 1 (n = 21), AKI grade 2 to 5 (n = 11), stable CKD (n = 11), LUTD (n = 15), and healthy dogs (n = 37). Urine KIM-1 (ng/mg) and GGT (U/l) were normalized to urine creatinine (uCr). Statistically significant difference in KIM/uCr (p = 0.0007) and GGT/uCr (p < 0.0001) was found among the study groups. Area under the curve (AUC) for KIM-1/uCr and GGT/uCr as predictors of AKI was 0.81 and 0.91 respectively. Values of KIM-1/uCr of 0.73 ng/mg and of GGT/uCr of 54.33 showed the best combination of sensitivity and specificity (75% and 75.6%; 85.7% and 89.1% respectively). A significant positive correlation (p < 0.0001) between KIM-1/uCr and GGT/uCr was found. Both urine KIM-1/uCr and GGT/uCr seemed to be potentially good markers for the diagnosis of AKI. Dogs with AKI showed significantly higher levels of urine KIM-1/uCr and urine GGT/uCr, compared with healthy dogs. Caution should be used in the evaluation of elevated urine KIM-1/uCr and GGT/uCr in dogs with pre-existing CKD and/or LUTD. Urine KIM-1/uCr and GGT/uCr might have a significant clinical utility, as complementary test, particularly in diagnosis early, non-azotemic stages of AKI

Evaluation of the Factors Affecting the Disintegration under a Composting Process of Poly(lactic acid)/Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PLA/PHB) Blends

The overall migration behavior and the disintegration under composting conditions of films based on plasticized poly(lactic acid)/poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PLA-PHB) blends were studied, with the main aim of determining the feasibility of their application as biodegradable food packaging materials. The role of composition in the disintegration process was evaluated by monitoring the changes in physical and thermal properties that originated during the degradation process. PLA and PHB were blended in two weight ratios with 15 wt% of tributyrin, using a Haake mixer and then compression molded into ~150 µm films. We found that the migration level of all of the studied blends was below check intended meaning retained in non-polar simulants, while only plasticized blends could withstand the contact with polar solvents. The disintegration of all of the materials in compost at 58 ◦C was completed within 42 days; the plasticized PHB underwent the fastest degradation, taking only 14 days. The presence of the TB plasticizer speeded up the degradation process. Different degradation mechanisms were identified for PLA and PHB. To evaluate the annealing effect separately from bacteria degradation, the influence of temperature on materials in the absence of a compost environment was also studied. With the increasing time of degradation in compost, both melting temperature and maximum degradation temperature progressively decreased, while the crystallinity degree increased, indicating that the samples were definitely degrading and that the amorphous regions were preferentially eroded by bacteria.Fil: Iglesias Montes, Magdalena Luz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Soccio, Michelina. Università di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Luzi, Francesca. Università di Perugia; ItaliaFil: Puglia, Debora. Università di Perugia; ItaliaFil: Gazzano, Massimo. National Research Council; ItaliaFil: Lotti, Nadia. Università di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Manfredi, Liliana Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Cyras, Viviana Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; Argentin

The correlation between play behavior, serum cortisol and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in welfare assessment of dairy calves within the first month of life

Welfare assessment of dairy calves is commonly conducted through the observation of their behavior and the analysis of physiological parameters. Despite the large number of studies on this topic, there is a lack of research on the possible correlation between the physiological parameters and behavior at basal level in dairy calves. For this reason, the present study aimed to investigate the possible correlations between serum cortisol, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (N/L) and locomotor play behavior in 21 Friesian dairy calves within their first month of life. Every week, an arena test after blood collection was performed. A significant positive correlation between serum cortisol levels and N/L (rrm = 0.381; 95% CI = 0.083, 0.617; p = 0.012) and a negative correlation between time spent running and N/L (rrm = −0.351; 95% CI = −0.575, −0.077; p = 0.012) were found. On the contrary, no significant correlation between time spent running and cortisol levels was detected. Cortisol levels and N/L were higher in the newborn and had a constant decrease until reaching a stable value after the 24th day of life. These findings suggest a better predictivity of N/L, compared to serum cortisol, on locomotor play behavior

Synthesis and Photovoltaic Properties of Regioregular Head-to-Head Substituted Thiophene Hexadecamers

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