Veicoli di vita e veicoli di morte in "Georges" di Alexandre Dumas

The brothers Georges and Jacques, light-skinned mulattos and main characters of Dumas’s novel "Georges", have very different points of view about the impact race has on their lives. Georges is more idealistic and tries to act against racial prejudice and to defeat it by conquering the love of a white woman and by heading the slaves’ revolt in Saint-Maurice. His brother Jacques is less romantic and more pragmatic, and decides to embark on the pirate ship Calypso first, and then to take part in the slave trade. His passion for the life at sea and for sailing will lead him to die with his ship because he completely identifies with it and cannot even imagine to leave it and save his life. "Georges" has much in common with "Paul and Virginie", a sentimental novel written by Bernardin de Saint Pierre at the end of the 17th Century and equally set in Saint-Maurice: both are divided in three parts (the island, the sea and the French mainland) and both give a great importance to the symbolic value of the journey, although this symbol is quite ambiguous in Dumas. The negated utopia, the ambiguity of vessels’ roles, the distinction and the opposition between legal and clandestine ships – all this elements demonstrate that the adoption of a ‘roman marin’ is a literary choice made in order to represent the racial confrontation in an alternative way

Le tour de la France par deux enfants

Ilustración: "Child driving a toycar". State Library of QueenslandNella letteratura ottocentesca per l’infanzia rientrano i cosiddetti “romans scolaires”, che in Francia hanno segnato l’esigenza “democratica” di alfabetizzazione delle classi popolari. Questo genere di testi, sfruttando lo schema del “tour”, cioè del viaggio come esperienza formativa, coniugano l’invenzione, quindi il piacere della lettura, con il disegno pedagogico. Tuttavia, Le tour de France par deux enfants di G. Bruno è qualcosa di più significativo: rappresenta il tentativo di riappropriazione da parte dei due bambini dello spazio francese, mutilato dell’Alsazia e della Lorena in seguito alla guerra franco-prussiana del 1870, attraverso un confronto continuo con la memoria dei luoghi e dei tempi che fornisce le basi dell’unità nazionale.Au XIXème siècle ce qu’on appelle les “romans scolaires”, qui en France ont marqué l’exigence “démocratique” d’alphabétisation des classes populaires, font partie de la littérature pour l’enfance. Ce genre de textes, exploitant le schéma du “tour”, c’est-à-dire du voyage comme expérience de formation, unissent l’invention, donc le plaisir de la lecture, au projet pédagogique. Toutefois, Le tour de France par deux enfants de G. Bruno est bien plus significatif: il représente la tentative de réappropriation de la part de deux enfants de l’espace français, mutilé après la guerre franco-prussienne de 1870 de l’Alsace et de la Lorraine, moyennant un dialogue continu avec la mémoire des lieux et des temps fournissant dans la diversité régionale les bases de l’unité nationale

"La lira e la spada"

"Hôtel de Ville", HeyRockerLungo e complesso, il rapporto di Chateaubriand con Napoleone non finirà nemmeno con la morte dell’Imperatore, come si può vedere nei Mémoires d’outre-tombe, dove lo scrittore racconta la propria vita e dove mette in evidenza l’origine del suo conflitto con Napoleone, vale a dire la richiesta, puntualmente disattesa, di un ruolo politico come intellettuale. Una simile delusione spiega la violenza del De Buonaparte aux Bourbons, un pamphlet scritto da Chateaubriand proprio alla vigilia della I prima abdicazione di Napoleone.Le rapport long et complexe de Chateaubriand avec Napoléon ne finira pas même avec la mort de l’Empereur, comme l’on peut bien le voir dans les Mémoires d’outre-tombe , où l’écrivain raconte sa vie et où il met en évidence l’origine de son différend avec Napoléon, c’est-à-dire sa requete, toujours deçue, d’un rôle politique comme intellectuel. Une pareille deception justifie la violence du De Buonaparte aux Bourbons , un pamphlet , écrit par Chateaubriand juste avant la I abdication de Napoléon

Robotic-assisted surgery for excision of an enlarged prostatic utricle

INTRODUCTION: Prostatic utricle is a rare malformation arising from incomplete regression of the Mullerian ducts. Diagnosis is easily made but management may be challenging. The minimally invasive approach has so far been considered the gold standard for surgical treatment. Many endoscopic and surgical procedures have been described for removal, but to date only few cases of robot-assisted procedures have been mentioned in the literature and there are no reports of redos. PRESENTATION OF THE CASE: We report the case of a giant prostatic utricle cyst successfully treated with robotic-assisted surgery two years after an unsuccessful first attempt at laparoscopic excision. No relapse was found at one year follow up. DISCUSSION: We were able to excise a retro-vescical structure in spite of adhesions caused by the previous surgery and the very large size of the diverticulum thanks to the high magnification and 3-D visualization available in robotic assisted laparoscopy. CONCLUSION: Robot assisted laparoscopy should be considered an advantageous technique for the treatment of prostatic utricle

Epiploic appendagitis and omental infarction as rare causes of acute abdominal pain in children

Omental infarction and epiploic appendagitis are rare causes of acute abdominal pain in the pediatric population. Radiological evaluation is necessary to establish a specific diagnosis and to differentiate appendicitis from these conditions as they can be often managed conservatively without surgical intervention

The ULK3 Kinase Is Critical for Convergent Control of Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Activation by CSL and GLI.

The connection between signaling pathways activating cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) remains to be determined. Metabolic alterations linked to autophagy have also been implicated in CAF activation. CSL/RBPJ, a transcriptional repressor that mediates Notch signaling, suppresses the gene expression program(s), leading to stromal senescence and CAF activation. Deregulated GLI signaling can also contribute to CAF conversion. Here, we report that compromised CSL function depends on GLI activation for conversion of human dermal fibroblasts into CAFs, separately from cellular senescence. Decreased CSL upregulates the expression of the ULK3 kinase, which binds and activates GLI2. Increased ULK3 also induces autophagy, which is unlinked from GLI and CAF activation. ULK3 upregulation occurs in the CAFs of several tumor types, and ULK3 silencing suppresses the tumor-enhancing properties of these cells. Thus, ULK3 links two key signaling pathways involved in CAF conversion and is an attractive target for stroma-focused anti-cancer intervention

Portal Hypertension in Childhood Bilateral Wilms' Tumor Survivor: An Excellent Indication for TIPS

Introduction. Increased pressure in portal venous system is relatively a rare complication after chemoradiotherapy for Wilms' tumor (WT). In paediatric population, feasibility and efficacy of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) in portal hypertension nonresponsive to medical or endoscopic treatment have been recently advocated. We report a case of TIPS positioning in a 15-year-old girl with portal hypertension as a long-term sequel of multimodality therapy in bilateral WT. Case Report. Two-year-old girl was diagnosed for bilateral WT. Right nephrectomy with left heminephrectomy and chemoradiotherapy were performed. At 7 years of age, the first gastrointestinal bleeding appeared, followed by another episode two years later, both were treated successfully with beta-blockers. At 15 years of age, severe unresponsive life-threatening gastroesophageal bleeding without hepatosplenomegaly was managed by TIPS. Reduction of the portosystemic pressure gradient was obtained. Conclusion. TIPS positioning for portal hypertension in long-term tumors' sequel is feasible and could be considered as an additional indication in paediatric patients

Acute Acalculous Cholecystitis Due to a Primary Epstein Barr Virus Infection in a Pediatric Patient

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is estimated to infect more than 98% of adults worldwide and is one of the most common human viruses. Acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) of the gallbladder is an atypical complication of infectious mononucleosis caused by EBV. Conservative management has been described in the context of AAC caused by EBV. A surgical approach must be considered in the case of acute complications such as perforation or gallbladder gangrene. We present the case of a 10-year-old female patient with AAC due to infectious mononucleosis syndrome caused by primary EBV infection

Asexual reproduction and strobilation of Sanderia malayensis (Scyphozoa, Pelagiidae) in relation to temperature: experimental evidence and implications

Sanderia malayensis is a scyphozoan species present in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, ranging from the Suez Canal to Japan. Although this jellyfish is commonly kept in aquariums around the world, there is a knowledge gap regarding its biology and ecology, especially at the polyp stage. In this study, we tested the asexual reproductive activity of S.malayensis at Three different temperatures: 10, 15 and 20 \ub0C. Results showed significant increases of polyps at 15 \ub0C and 20 \ub0C, and a minimum at 10\ub0C, corresponding with daily budding rates of 6.61\ub1 0.92%, 5.85 \ub1 2.36% and 0.66\ub10.24%, respectively. Moreover, a second experiment was carried out to report about the ability of S. malayensis to prey on Aurelia solida at ephyra stage. Unidirectional predation of S. malayensis ephyrae on A. solida and an absence of inverse predation was observed. These results could give new insights on the potential fitness and survival of this species if it will ever invade the Mediterranean Sea

The ULK3 kinase is a determinant of keratinocyte self-renewal and tumorigenesis targeting the arginine methylome.

Epigenetic mechanisms oversee epidermal homeostasis and oncogenesis. The identification of kinases controlling these processes has direct therapeutic implications. We show that ULK3 is a nuclear kinase with elevated expression levels in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) arising in multiple body sites, including skin and Head/Neck. ULK3 loss by gene silencing or deletion reduces proliferation and clonogenicity of human keratinocytes and SCC-derived cells and affects transcription impinging on stem cell-related and metabolism programs. Mechanistically, ULK3 directly binds and regulates the activity of two histone arginine methyltransferases, PRMT1 and PRMT5 (PRMT1/5), with ULK3 loss compromising PRMT1/5 chromatin association to specific genes and overall methylation of histone H4, a shared target of these enzymes. These findings are of translational significance, as downmodulating ULK3 by RNA interference or locked antisense nucleic acids (LNAs) blunts the proliferation and tumorigenic potential of SCC cells and promotes differentiation in two orthotopic models of skin cancer