"Veniet et vobis furor". Seneca tragico e la perennit\ue0 del male.

Seneca\u2019s drama leaves up to the following development of this genre an idea of tragic, offering a representation of an impossible atonement from the evil, for men's world, for their passions, for their frameworks; the supposed discontinuity between philosophical project and tragedy keeps on arouse conflict of interpretations. And if the choice of tragedy constitutes the perfect background for the philosopher who believes that neither the "fall" or the "development" are enough to explain the complexity of all that is real? A support persuasive for this working theory comes from the evaluation of the re-writing work on the function of vengeance in Agamemnon\u2019s play, both from the reading of ben. 1, 10

Uno sguardo sul colonialismo italiano: Gli scritti di erminia dell’oro

Erminia Dell’Oro, an Italian born in Eritrea, is one of the few writers to have addressed the issue of Italian colonialism in her works from the point of view of the colonized. She describes the consequences of a domination based on racial laws, massacres and deportations. Asmara addio (Goodbye Asmara), L’abbandono (The Abandonment), Il fiore di Merara (The Flower of Merara),Vedere ogni notte le stelle (Seeing the Stars Every Night), La gola del diavolo (The Devil’s Throat) are some of her works dealing with cruel aspects of Italian colonialism, such as the “madamato”, the concubinage between Italian men and Eritrean women, and “meticciato”, children born from the concubinage, that led to the humiliation of the Eritrean woman and to the identity crisis of so many children

Association between obstructive apnea syndrome during sleep and damages to anterior labyrinth: Our experience

The obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is a chronic condition characterized by frequent episodes of collapse of the upper airways during sleep. It can be considered a multisystem disease. Among the districts involved, even the auditory system was seen to be concerned. It was enrolled a population of 20 patients after polysomnographic diagnosis of OSAS (Apnea Hypopnea Index > 10) and a control group of 28 healthy persons (Apnea Hypopnea Index < 5). Each patient has been subjected to Pure Tone Audiometry, Tympanometry, study of Acoustic Reflex, Otoacoustic Emissions and Auditory Brainstem Response. Moreover they were submitted to endoscopy of upper airway with Muller Maneuver and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). The values of ESS was 13.5 in OSAS group and 5.4 in control group. The tone audiometry is worse in all frequencies analyzed in OSAS patients, but within the normal range for both groups analyzed by 250 to 1000 Hertz. Otoacoustic emissions show a reduced reproducibility and a lower signal/ noise ratio in OSAS group (P <0.01)

Black-hole masses of type 1 AGN in the XMM-Newton bright serendipitous survey

We derive masses of the central super-massive black hole (SMBH) and accretion rates for 154 type1 AGN belonging to a well-defined X-ray-selected sample, the XMM-Newton Serendipitous Sample (XBS). To this end, we use the most recent "single-epoch" relations, based on Hbeta and MgII2798A emission lines, to derive the SMBH masses. We then use the bolometric luminosities, computed on the basis of an SED-fitting procedure, to calculate the accretion rates, both absolute and normalized to the Eddington luminosity (Eddington ratio). The selected AGNs cover a range of masses from 10^7 to 10^10 Msun with a peak around 8x10^8 Msun and a range of accretion rates from 0.01 to ~50 Msun/year (assuming an efficiency of 0.1), with a peak at ~1 Msun/year. The values of Eddington ratio range from 0.001 to ~0.5 and peak at 0.1.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

GALEX measurements of the Big Blue Bump as a tool to study bolometric corrections in AGNs

Active Galactic Nuclei emit over the entire electromagnetic spectrum with the peak of the accretion disk emission in the far-UV, a wavelength range historically difficult to investigate. We use here the GALEX (Galaxy Evolution Explorer) Near-UV and Far-UV measurements (complemented with optical data from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and XMM-Newton X-ray spectra) of a sample of 83 X-ray selected type 1 AGN extracted from the XMM-Newton Bright Serendipitous Survey to study their spectral energy distribution (SED) in the optical, Near and Far-UV and X-ray energy bands. We have constrained the luminosity of the accretion disk emission component and calculated the hard X-ray bolometric corrections for a significant sample of AGN spanning a large range in properties (z, L(x)).Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, To appear in refereed Proceedings of "X-ray Astronomy 2009: Present Status, Multi-Wavelength Approach and Future Perspectives", Bologna, Italy, September 7-11, 2009, AIP, eds. A. Comastri, M. Cappi, and L. Angelin

Botulinum toxin therapy: functional silencing of salivary disorders.

Botulinum toxin (BTX) is a neurotoxic protein produced by Clostridium botulinum, an anaerobic bacterium. BTX therapy is a safe and effective treatment when used for functional silencing of the salivary glands in disorders such as sialoceles and salivary fistulas that may have a post-traumatic or post-operative origin. BTX injections can be considered in sialoceles and salivary fistulas after the failure of or together with conservative treatments (e.g. antibiotics, pressure dressings, or serial aspirations). BTX treatment has a promising role in chronic sialadenitis. BTX therapy is highly successful in the treatment of gustatory sweating (Frey\u2019s syndrome), and could be considered the gold standard treatment for this neurological disorder

Social Cohesion and Cultural Expressions: The Case of the Sacred Textiles in the Armenian Orthodox Churches of Istanbul

Prologue The social and cultural history of Armenians is long; indeed one cannot fully appreciate its parameters without deeper investigation. This paper reports on a segment of Armenian history— the sacred historical textiles housed in the Armenian Orthodox Churches of Istanbul, Turkey. These artifacts had never before been studied, although a select few objects produced in Istanbul have been published in books devoted to the Armenian collections in Jerusalem, Etchmiadzin (Armenia), and the Sis collection from Anatolia currently in Beirut, Lebanon. Illuminated manuscripts receive the greatest attention among the historical Armenian religious artifacts, followed by stone, metal and wooden objects. Magnificent textiles exist in the aforementioned museum collections but have not been studied in as great a detail as in this endeavor. A book on the material, Splender and Pageantry: Textile Treasures from the Armenian Orthodox Churches of Istanbul (Marchese & Breu), is under contract to be published by fall of 2009. A second book on non-textile objects, Treasures of Faith: Sacred Relics and Artifacts from the Armenian Orthodox Churches of Istanbul (Marchese & Breu) is nearing completion. In 2002 we presented a paper at TSA on the miniature tradition in the textile collections. This paper expands on that work, as we have been studying the collections steadily for over 10 years. The research involved content analysis and ethnographic methodologies in working within the Armenian community in Istanbul

Expressions in Silk: Embroidered Miniatures on Historic Textiles from the Armenian Apostolic Churches of Istanbul

Introduction The assessment of Armenian embroidery offered by Kouymjian in his publication The Arts of Armenia is reflected in a collection of textile objects housed in the treasuries of the 33 Armenian Apostolic Churches and the Patriarchate (the official residence of the Patriarch) in Istanbul, Turkey. The textiles, many donated by devout members of the Church community, are still used in celebrations of the Divine Liturgy. The collections contain examples of the brilliant splendor associated with religious celebration, the depth of piety of the lay community, especially women, and a sense of attachment to the historical and cultural traditions of Christianity. From baptism and the beginning of life to the last rites in death, cloth played an important role in the domestic and religious culture of Armenian life. The religious textiles in the collections are a visible reflection of high artistic achievement attained by household-based and professional needle artists who labored in an effort to produce spectacular images in cloth and thread. They stand as a rich expression of individual talent and deep spiritual conviction. Colophons or inscriptions found on many of the pieces indicate that their makers or contributors hoped for salvation and honor by successive generations through donations of the textiles to the Divine Liturgy. In addition, the textiles augment the formality and static nature of the physical structure of the church by providing a mobile art that connects the lay community to the living context of the Divine Liturgy. The churches were the physical anchors of the Armenian community. Their material culture visibly projected social cohesion, pride and an emotional attachment to the core of beliefs that defined Armenian Christianity. Background Armenians. The Armenian Apostolic Churches of Istanbul were extremely important in maintaining the social identity and cultural heritage of the Armenian population of the city from the late medieval to the modern period. By the end of the sixteenth century, ( Armenians were part of a minority non-Muslim population that outnumbered Muslims. / By the end of the nineteenth century, Istanbul\u27s Armenian population was between 17 and 22 percent of the total population of the city (Karpat 1985, 95-106; Kouymjian 1997, 26; Sanjian 1965, 34). At this time 55 apostolic churches existed in the city (Tuglaci 1991). During the Ottoman Empire Armenians held high positions among the Ottoman authorities, as regional administrators and diplomats as well as accomplished artists and artisans (Barsoumian 1982, 171 ff; Tuglaci 1991; Davison 1982, 327)

Determinants associated with obesity and physical activity in the public and private schools of the city of palermo

Introduction: Obesity is a medical condition associated with premature death and it is a risk factor for many chronic diseases. In this context, performing a regular physical activity promotes a healthy lifestyle, with significant health benefits. The aim of the study was to investigate behaviors that increase the risk of obesity and the determinants that encourage physical activity among adolescents. Materials and methods: The HBSC (Health Behavior in School-aged Children) questionnaire was administered to students in Palermo's private and public schools. For the sampling of public schools the protocol of the HBSC Surveillance System was followed; for the private ones it was opportunistic. Results: Private school students are more likely to exercise more than 3 days per week (OR 1.58) and are more likely to exercise more than 2 times a week (OR 2.08). Obese students in private schools in Palermo are more likely to perform physical activity for less than 3 days a week (OR 3.52) and a higher risk of not having breakfast (OR 10.11) and a snack between main meals (OR 3.82) every day. For all the schools examined, it emerged that obese subjects are more likely not to consume fruit (OR 3.13), to stay more than 6 hours a day in front of PCs and video games (OR 3.24) and more than 2 hours a day in front of TV (OR 3.79). Male students are more likely to perform physical activity for more than 3 days per week (OR 1.48) and intense physical activity at least 2 times per week (OR 1.76) Conclusions: It is necessary to intervene early with training on school and family in order to promote correct and responsible food choices and increase the level of physical activity among students. Therefore prevention interventions must be an integral part of coherent strategies based on tests of agreed effectiveness in order to minimize the risk linked to the development of diseases