Finding the Taste of Knowledge: The Orphan in Indigenous Epistemologies

Following the suggestions of my indigenous consultants, that to better understand their theories of knowledge one has to start from myth, I take here their myth, “The origin of education” as the starting point for analyzing the alchemical processes of embodiment in indigenous epistemologies, and I do so in dialogue with information produced through an ethnography of learning, and with other, Western, theories of cognition. The myth relates the story of the “Orphan”, a central character in the People of the Center’s moral and mythical narratives. The Orphan searches for the “taste of knowledge” through a demanding personal quest that is simultaneously a process of self-discovering and self-shaping. The quest involves experimenting with different plants and technical procedures, which are evaluated by the effects produced on the Orphan’s “physical-spiritual body”. Shunning the Cartesian distinction between the physical and the spiritual, the People of the Center’s epistemologies emphasize the poietic processes that link knowledge to the ongoing fabrication, and maintenance, of personal and collective selves, and of the world in which they live. The People of the Center make the relationship between knowledge and well-being explicit: true knowledge shows in the ideal state of generalized well-being, an issue that acquires critical significance in indigenous debates concerning the recreation of authoritative knowledge, and of authority more generally

New record of the great white shark Carcharodon carcharias from Lampedusa

This new record confirms that the Central Mediter ranean, and Sicilian coasts in particular, still represent a key area for the population of Mediterranean white sharks, but also for other shark species (Bilecenoglu et al., 2013); in fact, 43% of all white shark sightings in the Italian seas (Micarelli et al., 2011) are from this area

Husbandry of Anthias anthias under natural conditions

The fairy basslet (Anthias anthias) is a fis, with a gregary behaviour, that is found commonly at depths from 30m to 200malong the continental shelf and in caves with coralline seabed. Fifty Anthias specimens were collected by scuba divers and transferred to the Argentario Aquarium (Italy), where a special tank was prepared to host them. The anthias spent 3 days in an acclimation containerat different depths before returning to the surface. The present paper disusses the data concerning the first 24 months of their husbandry under natural conditions

Observations about surface behaviour of the great white shark Carcharodon carcharias (L.) in presence of passive preys at Dyer Island (Southafrica)

During 4 study expeditions in SouthAfrica, performed in 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005, observations about surface predatory behaviour of the Great White Shark in presence of passive preys were made. Observations were carried out by Unlimited Shark Diving boats and by cage diving around Dyer Island, about 5 miles far from Gansbaai. During the 27 observation days were identified 78 different specimens, that exhibited 8 different behaviours. The Great White Shark population observed around Dyer island shows a greater variety of behaviours than the population studied along the California coasts

Nanoparticles-cell association predicted by protein corona fingerprints

In a physiological environment (e.g., blood and interstitial fluids) nanoparticles (NPs) will bind proteins shaping a "protein corona" layer. The long-lived protein layer tightly bound to the NP surface is referred to as the hard corona (HC) and encodes information that controls NP bioactivity (e.g. cellular association, cellular signaling pathways, biodistribution, and toxicity). Decrypting this complex code has become a priority to predict the NP biological outcomes. Here, we use a library of 16 lipid NPs of varying size (Ø ≈ 100-250 nm) and surface chemistry (unmodified and PEGylated) to investigate the relationships between NP physicochemical properties (nanoparticle size, aggregation state and surface charge), protein corona fingerprints (PCFs), and NP-cell association. We found out that none of the NPs' physicochemical properties alone was exclusively able to account for association with human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa). For the entire library of NPs, a total of 436 distinct serum proteins were detected. We developed a predictive-validation modeling that provides a means of assessing the relative significance of the identified corona proteins. Interestingly, a minor fraction of the HC, which consists of only 8 PCFs were identified as main promoters of NP association with HeLa cells. Remarkably, identified PCFs have several receptors with high level of expression on the plasma membrane of HeLa cells

Nanoparticles-cell association predicted by protein corona fingerprints

In a physiological environment (e.g., blood and interstitial fluids) nanoparticles (NPs) will bind proteins shaping a "protein corona" layer. The long-lived protein layer tightly bound to the NP surface is referred to as the hard corona (HC) and encodes information that controls NP bioactivity (e.g. cellular association, cellular signaling pathways, biodistribution, and toxicity). Decrypting this complex code has become a priority to predict the NP biological outcomes. Here, we use a library of 16 lipid NPs of varying size (Ø ≈ 100-250 nm) and surface chemistry (unmodified and PEGylated) to investigate the relationships between NP physicochemical properties (nanoparticle size, aggregation state and surface charge), protein corona fingerprints (PCFs), and NP-cell association. We found out that none of the NPs' physicochemical properties alone was exclusively able to account for association with human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa). For the entire library of NPs, a total of 436 distinct serum proteins were detected. We developed a predictive-validation modeling that provides a means of assessing the relative significance of the identified corona proteins. Interestingly, a minor fraction of the HC, which consists of only 8 PCFs were identified as main promoters of NP association with HeLa cells. Remarkably, identified PCFs have several receptors with high level of expression on the plasma membrane of HeLa cells

Allo Spedale del Bigallo. Dall’orto alla cucina, dall’accoglienza al paesaggio, dalle “camere con vista” ai percorsi esperienziali, verso un nuovo modello ospitale per il Contado Fiorentino

This article tells the story of a monument and a landscape, the adventures lived by both and their repeated re-discoveries by a group of people delegated for their restoration. After deep surveys and participated meetings, after many periods of works and long staying in that place, that group decided that it wasn’t satisfactory to restore the monument, but it was needed to make it live again, in our contemporaneous time, as it was a living being. Moreover, this article proposes a suggestion: the “farm-hotel”, an innovative instrument to promote sustainable tourism, starting from the historical country to the cities

Measuring the shape. Performance evaluation of a photogrammetry improvement applied to the Neanderthal skull Saccopastore 1

Several digital technologies are nowadays developed and applied to the study of the human fossil record. Here, we present a low-cost hardware implementation of the digital acquisition via photogrammetry, applied to a specimen of paleoanthropological interest: the Neanderthal skull Saccopastore 1. Such implementation has the purpose to semi-automatize the procedures of digital acquisition, by the introduction of an automatically rotating platform users can easily build on their own with minimum costs. We provide all the technical specifications, mostly based on the Arduino UNO™ microcontroller technology, and evaluate the performance and the resolution of the acquisition by comparing it with the CT-scan of the same specimen through the calculation of their shape differences. In our opinion, the replication of the automatic rotating platform, described in this work, may contribute to the improvement of the digital acquisition processes and may represent, in addition, a useful and affordable tool for both research and dissemination

Soberanía alimentaria y otras soberanías: el valor de los bienes comunes

If the realization of the right to food depends to a large degree on food sovereignty, as it has been recently recognized, this article argues that there is an intimate relationship between food sovereignty, territorial sovereignty, and the right to the commons. Through an ethnographic approach to the role of food in non-dualistic socio-natural constructions the article questions the economicist conceptualization of common goods as resources, and it proposes to see “communities” and “resources” as part of a process of simultaneous construction, and therefore inseparable. Dialoguing with indigenous theorizations of the concept of sovereignty, the article seeks to expand the notion of food sovereignty by which to contribute to a pluralist notion of the right to food.Si la realización del derecho a la alimentación depende en gran medida de la soberanía alimentaria, como ha sido recientemente reconocido, este artículo plantea que existe una relación íntima entre soberanía alimentaria, soberanía territorial y derecho a los bienes comunes. Mediante un estudio etnográfico del papel de la comida en construcciones socionaturales no dualistas, el artículo cuestiona la conceptualización economicista de los bienes comunes como recursos y propone ver “comunidades” y “recursos” como parte de un proceso de construcción simultánea, y por lo tanto inseparables. En diálogo con teorizaciones indígenas del concepto de soberanía, el texto busca expandir el concepto de soberanía alimentaria con el cual contribuir a una noción plural del derecho a la alimentación

The neurohormonal induction of the release of oocytes and sperm from Pecten maximus

In order to induce in vitro maturation of Pecten maximus oocytes, experiments were carried out using different concentrations of the serotonin and dopamine agonists TFMPP, 8-OHDPAT, quinpirole and bromocriptine. The greatest germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) occurred using TFMPP. Metaphasic blocks were rarely observed. Oocytes treated with TFMPP at 10 super(-3) and 5x10 super(-4) M could be fertilized at low levels. The maximum fertilization rate recorded was 23%. A second series of experiments was conducted to determine the effects of serotonin, dopamine, the agonists cited above and PGE sub(2) on the release of oocytes and sperm from P. maximus. These inducers were injected into both the male and female parts of the gonads and spermiation was systematically tested approximately 20 minutes following injection. No oocyte release was recorded, except after one injection of 8-OHDPAT at 5x10 super(-4) M; the effect of 8-OHDPAT on the release of oocytes was nevertheless insignificant