An interactive aural approach to improvised poetry in ottava rima in central Italy

This dissertation deals with a practice of poetic duelling (contrasto) which has been documented in Italy since the 14th century. This tradition of sung improvised poetry is based on a stanza in Italian literature called ottava rima and is now practiced in central Italy. This research has been conducted within the IRiMaS project directed by Michael Clarke aiming at developing an interactive software to 1 facilitate the engagement of researchers and performers in the study of music as sound. This is why this dissertation is accompanied by six software packages which are part of the research conducted during my PhD.Chapter 1 of this dissertation deals with the examination of previous literature, with the historical relevance of improvised poetry in ottava rima and with a detailed descriptions of places and contexts in which it is practiced now. In particular, section 1.5 is dedicated to the fieldwork research done during my PhD, on which this dissertation is based.Chapter 2 contains the analyses of a series of performances which were chosen as case studies. A general distinction is made between a traditional manner of singing improvised poetry, regional and individual singing styles and occasional “vocal gestures” depending on the context of singing, and on the emotional involvement of the poets. Particular attention is paid to the ethics of thecontrasto poetico and to the relationship between melodic contours, the sequence of accents of the hendecasyllable, and breath. The Tiaals projects deal with the 2 case studies considered in this chapter.Chapter 3 deals with the idea of dono di natura (“gift of nature”), used by the poets to explain their art of improvising poetry by singing. It has been developed taking into consideration the writings of two Italian poets, Andrea Zanzotto and Mario Luzi, in order to connect the improvisers’ idea of nature to questions about orality, nature and landscape emerging in the Italian 20th century poetry.As a result of the new approaches taken in this research, new insights are provided into the history of the contrasto poetico, into the process of oral composition by singing, and finally into the social and ethical relevance of this practice

L'improvvisatore in genre scenes by foreign and Italian artists in the 19th Century

EnThe famous Italian improviser Maria Maddalena Morelli, known as Corilla Olimpica, inspired Madame de Staël’s Corinne ou l’Italie, and other literary works focusing on the figure of the improviser, like Hans Cristian Andersen’s The Improvisatore or Life in Italy. These novels combine travel experiences with the celebration of Italian improvisers, some of them were famous all over Europe. A tradition of extemporaneus poetry existed also as a kind of folk music, not only to sing poems in ottava rima like Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso and Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata, but also to improvise duels on various topics.In the 19th century some genre paintings and engravings depict the improvvisatori from the foreigners’ point of view (ex. Charles Yriarte’s Improvvisatore), while popular drawings and engravings, like Bartolomeo Pinelli’s, allow the spread of the Italian counterpart of the cliché of the improviser. This paper compares these two figurative approaches, by putting images in relationship with travel accounts, novels and musical sources, as well as with the tradition of improvised poetry attested in the Italian peninsula by the ethomusicological research.ItLa famosa improvvisatrice italiana Maria Maddalena Morelli, nota come Corilla Olimpica, ispirò Corinne ou l’Italie di Madame de Staël e altre opere letterarie dedicate alla figura dell’improvvisatore, come The Improvisatore or Life in Italy di Hans Cristian Andersen. Questi romanzi combinavano le esperienze di viaggio con la celebrazione degli improvvisatori italiani, alcuni dei quali famosi in tutta Europa. La tradizione della poesia estemporanea esisteva anche nell’ambito della musica popolare, non solo come canto dei poemi in ottava rima, come l’Orlando Furioso di Ariosto o la Gerusalemme Liberata di Tasso, ma anche sotto forma di improvvisazione di contrasti su vari temi.Nel XIX secolo, alcuni dipinti e incisioni illustrano gli improvvisatori dal punto di vista del viaggiatore straniero (ad esempio l’Improvvisatore di Charles Yriarte); mentre disegni e stampe popolari, come quelli di Bartolomeo Pinelli, diffondono laversione italiana del cliché dell’improvvisatore. Questa ricerca mette a confronto due approcci figurativi, mettendo le immagini in relazione sia con resoconti di viaggio, romanzi e fonti musicali, sia anche con la tradizione dell’improvvisazione poetica attestata nella penisola italiana dalla ricerca etnomusicologica

A case study of soil reinforcement with the Lime-Cement columns method: Dalvägen road, Stockholm

La presente tesi ha come oggetto lo studio delle "colonne calce-cemento", una tecnica nata in Svezia alla fine degli anni ’70 e che ha trovato progressivamente un largo impiego soprattutto nei Paesi Scandinavi, Olanda e Giappone. Essa è utilizzata per migliorare le caratteristiche meccaniche di terreni a grana fine, aventi proprietà molto scadenti, e si possono utilizzare fino a profondità medio-elevate (circa a 30m). La tesi, frutto di un tirocinio di 4 mesi presso uno studio di progettazione di Stoccolma, mira a presentare un’applicazione del metodo, evidenziando le ragioni che hanno portato alla scelta di questa tecnica come metodo di rinforzo, ma anche analizzando gli effetti del miglioramento che si possono ottenere in termini di maggior stabilità meccanica e diminuzione dei cedimenti. Comprende una parte teorica di introduzione al metodo delle colonne calce-cemento, con particolare attenzione alle prescrizioni riportate nella normativa svedese, e una parte pratica con la descrizione dell’area di studio, dell’intervento, i calcoli e le analisi dei cedimenti e della stabilità. L’area di studio è situata in una zona di residenza estiva fuori Stoccolma che prevede di essere trasformata in zona residenziale permanente, dove quindi si prevede di intervenire con un potenziamento del sistema viario che richiede la costruzione di alcuni rilevati stradali e scavi sotto falda. Il terreno presente è composto da terreni argillosi e organici con caratteristiche e spessori variabili da sezione a sezione. A tale proposito, per facilitare l’esecuzione dei calcoli, il tracciato stradale è stato diviso in 4 tronchi aventi stratigrafia abbastanza omogenea, in termini di spessore dell’argilla, di valore di resistenza al taglio e di parametri di deformazione. I cedimenti sono stati calcolati mediante il metodo edometrico, a partire dai parametri deformativi ricavati su alcuni campioni indisturbati di terreno con la prova CRS: è stata eseguita anche un’analisi di sensibilità volta ad individuare i parametri che più influenzano i cedimenti e la loro possibile variabilità in funzione dell’eterogeneità del suolo. Per completare l’esame del progetto sono state eseguite alcune analisi di stabilità con il metodo dell’equilibrio limite evidenziando come in condizioni naturali i terreni non garantiscano la stabilità degli scavi. Nell’ultimo capitolo si esaminano i vantaggi tecnici ed economici che inducono a utilizzare la stabilizzazione calce-cemento e si effettua una valutazione dei cedimento ottenibile con il trattamento. Infine, le analisi di stabilità dopo l’intervento sono state svolte cambiando i valori della resistenza al taglio fino a individuare i valori minimi necessari al fine di avere una situazione di completa sicurezza, e da questi è stato possibile calcolare l’interasse tra le colonne necessario per ottenere l’effetto di rinforzo desiderato. Il lavoro termina con alcune conclusioni atte ad evidenziare il notevole miglioramento nel comportamento del terreno.ope

On the evolution of the entropy and pressure profiles in X-ray luminous galaxy clusters at z > 0.4

Galaxy clusters are the most recent products of hierarchical accretion over cosmological scales. The gas accreted from the cosmic field is thermalized inside the cluster halo. Gas entropy and pressure are expected to have a self-similar behaviour with their radial distribution following a power law and a generalized Navarro-Frenk-White profile, respectively. This has been shown also in many different hydrodynamical simulations. We derive the spatially-resolved thermodynamical properties of 47 X-ray galaxy clusters observed with Chandra in the redshift range 0.4 < z < 1.2, the largest sample investigated so far in this redshift range with X-rays spectroscopy, with a particular care in reconstructing the gas entropy and pressure radial profiles. We search for deviation from the self-similar behaviour and look for possible evolution with redshift. The entropy and pressure profiles lie very close to the baseline prediction from gravitational structure formation. We show that these profiles deviate from the baseline prediction as function of redshift, in particular at z > 0.75, where, in the central regions, we observe higher values of the entropy (by a factor of 2.2) and systematically lower estimates (by a factor of 2.5) of the pressure. The effective polytropic index, which retains informations about the thermal distribution of the gas, shows a slight linear positive evolution with the redshift and the concentration of the dark matter distribution. A prevalence of non-cool-core, disturbed systems, as we observe at higher redshifts, can explain such behaviours.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication by A&

Helium abundance (and H0H_0) in X-COP galaxy clusters

We present the constraints on the helium abundance in 12 X-ray luminous galaxy clusters that have been mapped in their X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) signals out to $R_{200}$ for the XMM-Newton Cluster Outskirts Project (X-COP). The unprecedented precision available for the estimate of $H_0$ allows us to investigate how much the reconstructed X-ray and SZ signals are consistent with the expected ratio $x$ between helium and proton densities of 0.08-0.1. We find that a $H_0$ around 70 km/s/Mpc is preferred from our measurements, with lower values of $H_0$ as requested from the Planck collaboration (67 km/s/Mpc) requiring a 34% higher value of $x$. On the other hand, higher values of $H_0$, as obtained by measurements in the local universe, impose $x$, from the primordial nucleosynthesis calculations and current solar abundances, reduced by 37--44\%.Comment: 7 pages. To appear as proceedings article for the XMM-Newton Workshop "Astrophysics of Hot Plasma in Extended X-ray Sources" held at European Space Astronomy Centre, Madrid, Spain, on 12-14 June 201

The Physics of Galaxy Cluster Outskirts

As the largest virialized structures in the universe, galaxy clusters continue to grow and accrete matter from the cosmic web. Due to the low gas density in the outskirts of clusters, measurements are very challenging, requiring extremely sensitive telescopes across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Observations using X-rays, the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect, and weak lensing and galaxy distributions from the optical band, have over the last decade helped to unravel this exciting new frontier of cluster astrophysics, where the infall and virialization of matter takes place. Here, we review the current state of the art in our observational and theoretical understanding of cluster outskirts, and discuss future prospects for exploration using newly planned and proposed observatories.Comment: 56 pages. Review paper. Published in Space Science Review

Monica FERRANDO : Il regno errante. L’Arcadia come paradigma politico

Le livre de Monica Ferrando traite notamment de la dimension « politique » de la musique, dans le sens que lui attribuait l’Antiquité (période dont traite cet ouvrage) : celui de la réglementation de la vie collective. Il nous donne ainsi à réfléchir à la relation entre musique et société, si importante pour notre discipline, bien que d’une manière indirecte car il ne s’agit pas à proprement parler d’un livre d’ethnomusicologie. Selon la pensée courante, c’est la « cité » (polis) d’Athènes qu..

THE INTERACTION BETWEEN MUTANT PRION PROTEIN AND GLUTAMATE RECEPTORS: A NOVEL MECHANISM FOR NEURONAL DYSFUNCTION IN GENETIC PRION DISEASES

Genetic prion diseases are rare, invariably fatal neurodegenerative disorders linked to mutations in the PRNP gene encoding the prion protein (PrP). PRNP mutations favor the conformational conversion of PrP into a pathogenic, misfolded isoform that accumulates in the central nervous system of affected individuals and kills neurons through an unknown mechanism. Evidence is emerging that neuronal loss in inherited prion diseases is preceded and possibly caused by synaptic dysfunctions. However, the ultimate link between synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration is yet to be found. We previously demonstrated that mutant PrP is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum where it interacts with the \u3b12-\u3b41 subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels. This impairs the correct delivery of the channel complex to the cell surface, impacting synaptic transmission. Nevertheless, this phenomenon alone does not account for neurodegeneration. It has been shown that PrPC engages functional interactions with other proteins that are important for synaptic function, such as glutamate receptors. Here, we aimed to explore whether intracellular retention of mutant PrP affected also the trafficking of glutamate receptors, thereby producing adverse effects on neuronal function and survival. We found that mutant PrP impairs the membrane delivery of specific AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits, resulting in postsynaptic structural alterations and impaired basal glutamatergic transmission and synaptic plasticity. Moreover, retention of the GluA2 subunit of AMPA receptor results in exposure of GluA2-lacking, calcium-permeable AMPA receptors, leading to increased calcium permeability and enhanced sensitivity to excitotoxic cell death. Interestingly, distinct PrP mutations interact differently with glutamate receptors, altering their localization and function in different ways. Our findings identify a new pathological mechanism for genetic prion diseases and may lead to novel therapeutic approaches for such incurable conditions

Mapping of the intra-cluster medium out to the virial radius

In this thesis, I study the thermodynamic properties of the intracluster medium out to the virial radius, making use of a unique combination of dedicated XMM-Newton exposures and Planck maps, thus exploiting the capabilities of multi-wavelength observations, to constrain at an unprecedented level the thermodynamic properties in a complete sample of galaxy clusters. I will explore in detail their self-similar properties, their radial dependence, and their implication. This work provides an important legacy value for any future studies of galaxy cluster until the next generation of X-ray telescopes comes along

Variazioni della composizione isotopica del carbonio in basalti della Camp.

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