Are the Follicular Fluid Characteristics of Recovered Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients Different From Those of Vaccinated Women Approaching in vitro Fertilization?

The aim of this pilot study is to evaluate if SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection induce observable metabolic effects in follicular fluid of women who are following in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. The possible impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on fertility and IVF outcome is considered. We have selected for this study: six women vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 infection, five recovered COVID-19 patients, and we used nine healthy women as the control group. At the time of oocytes retrieval from participants in the study, follicular fluids were collected and metabolomic analysis was performed by 1H NMR spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis to interpret the spectral data. The search for antibody positivity in the follicular fluid aspirates was also carried out, together with the western blotting analysis of some inflammatory proteins, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), and the free radical scavenger superoxide dismutase 2. Higher levels of Ala and Pro together with lower levels of lipids and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) were found in follicular fluids (FFs) of vaccinated women while lower levels of many metabolites were detected in FFs of recovered COVID patients. Expression level of TNF-α was significantly lower both in recovered COVID-19 patients and vaccinated women in comparison to healthy controls

Storia di un prologo. Edizioni e origini della Yngsta Inledningen

Il libro offre una nuova edizione critica della Yngsta Inledningen svedese, accompagnata da un’edizione sinottica della stessa e da un approfondimento di carattere storico-culturale sul periodo in cui l’opera si colloca (fine XV — inizi XVI secolo). La Yngsta Inledningen è il prologo della Yngsta Rimkrönikan ed è la riscrittura di un altro prologo di qualche anno precedente (Nya Början), a sua volta composto per sostituire il prologo originale della Erikskrönikan quando a essa fu dato un nuovo seguito. Si tratta di un documento di notevole rilevanza linguistica e culturale: grazie alle sue riscritture, il Prologo permette di osservare l’evoluzione della lingua svedese e di riflettere sulla funzione che la letteratura storiografica ha avuto nella Svezia del tempo

Emanuel Swedenborg: da uomo di scienza a uomo di religione

Questa edizione dei Quaderni offre una panoramica ampia e variegata della storia e della letteratura della Svezia, completando così un’ideale trilogia incentrata sulla Scandinavia, una delle mete predilette di Giuseppe Acerbi. Dai viaggi per mare di Vichinghi e Variaghi tra l’VIII e il IX secolo, alle vittorie militari dell’epoca della Grande Svezia nel Seicento della Guerra dei Trent’anni; dalla regina Cristina “esule” volontaria a Roma dal 1655 alla morte nel 1689, fino a Olof Palme, protagonista della politica estera internazionale della seconda metà del XX secolo, pur dalla sua posizione periferica la Svezia ha sempre interagito strettamente con il resto dell’Europa, come testimoniano, oltre che un panorama linguistico più sfaccettato di quanto comunemente si pensi, le numerose figure di autori svedesi entrati a far parte, e a buon diritto, delle letterature del mondo, dal filosofo e mistico settecentesco Emanuel Swedenborg, al genio multiforme di August Strindberg, dai premi Nobel Selma Lagerlöf, Pär Lagerkvist e Tomas Tranströmer ai talenti precocemente scomparsi di Karin Boye e Stig Dagerman, fino ai più recenti fasti del giallo scandinavo inaugurati da Stieg Larsson

Agneta Horn's Beskrifning öfwer min wandringestidh, A woman's voice from the Seventeenth Century

Agneta Horn was a Swedish noblewoman who lived in the Seventeenth Century. Her autobiography is interesting for historical, social, linguistic and\ud literary reasons, and often addresses the crucial events of the time, such as the Thirty Years’ War. The language Horn employs, especially the military\ud jargon, is rich in loanwords from Middle Low German and French, thus reflecting the changes that Swedish was undergoing in the Seventeenth Century. Apart from the linguistic and historical aspects, Horn’s autobiography is noteworthy also for its formal diversity and articulation, possibly attributable to the influences of a variety of literary genres. It is a female autobiography, a genre that was gaining popularity at the time (Queen Christina also authored her own autobiography); it is a släktbok, i.e. a collection of personal notes that recount the private and economic events of a family; it is a war diary, since Horn’s husband was in the army and she followed him during his military campaigns; it is finally a book of prayers, which are a considerable portion of the text, especially in the final section

Dalla cronaca in rima al dramma storico. Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson e la riscrittura di un’identità

This paper examines the figure of Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson in Swedish literature, from the late Middle Ages to the 20th century. Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson (1390 - 1436) was a Swedish nobleman from Dalarna County, who played a prominent role in Swedish history during the Kalmar Union. The Union ended in 1523, after a long process of decay which had started in 1434, when Engelbrekt led a revolt against the Danish king Erik of Pomerania. Engelbrekt was assassinated in 1434. Soon after his death, he was celebrated as a hero in a rhymed chronicle, which was commissioned to narrate the events of the time. The chronicle contributed to create the myth of Engelbrekt, henceforth hailed as a hero and saint. In the following centuries, the enthusiasm about Engelbrekt died down, and he was almost forgotten. His popularity revived only in the 19th century, when he was romantically celebrated as a national hero and a symbol of Swedish identity. Engelbrekt became the inspiring motif of numerous literary works, such as the pièce Engelbrekt (1901) by August Strindberg, which emphasizes the crucial role of this character for the definition of the identity of the Swedish nation

Bergtagning: la leggenda del rapimento nella montagna nelle ballate e nei racconti popolari svedesi

Il termine svedese bergtagning significa ‘rapimento nella montagna’ e indica un credo popolare la cui prima testimonianza letteraria risale a un carme scaldico del XII secolo. Secondo la leggenda, la montagna poteva magicamente catturare e chiudere al suo interno le persone che vagavano nelle foreste, tenendole prigioniere per sempre o talvolta liberandole, ma in uno stato mentale profondamente mutato. Il motivo è argomento di racconti popolari, registrati nelle campagne svedesi nel XIX secolo; ricorre anche in numerose ballate scritte nel XIX secolo ma appartenenti a un’antica tradizione orale risalente al Medioevo. Il motivo del rapimento nella montagna ha avuto una vasta eco nella cultura nordica, dal Medioevo fino ai nostri giorni; riferimenti all’anticocredo sono inoltre presenti anche in opere moderne. In questo articolo si analizza il mito così come appare in alcuni dei contesti in cui ricorre: racconti popolari e ballate medievali, e, per meglio comprenderne il radicamento nella cultura popolare, nella poesia scaldica e nelle saghe norrene.The Swedish term bergtagning means ‘abduction into the mountain’andindicates a popular belief, whose first literary evidence is in a skaldic poem dating back to the 12thcentury. According to the legend, the mountain could magically abduct people who were wandering among woods, keeping them prisoner forever or setting them free in a deeply changed state of mind. This motif is the subject of many oral folk tales, recorded in rural areas of Sweden during the 19thcentury, and it also recurs in several ballads written in the 19thbut belonging to ancient oral traditions that date back to the Middle Ages. The bergtagning motif is deeply rooted in the popular culture; references and allusions to ancient lore occur in numerous literary works even in modern times. This article aims to analyse how the phenomenon is described in some of the contexts in which it occurs: folk tales and medieval ballads, and, in order to understand its roots in popular culture, in Norse sagas and skaldic poetry