Boschini e il restauro, fra tutela e mercato

Il contributo individua sulla base degli scritti boschiniani le posizioni tenute dall'autore rispetto al problema della tutela e del restauro delle opere d'arte nella Venezia del Seicento, al contempo evidenziando le distinzioni correnti fra il concetto di restauro come recupero e restauro commerciale e facendo emergere diverse figure di artisti a vario titolo coinvolte nella questione

Con ogni \uabtipografica accuratezza\ubb: note attorno al ritratto di Giovambattista Spolverini nell\u2019edizione Giuliari della "Coltivazione del riso"

L\u2019uscita nel 1796 presso la tipografia Giuliari della terza edizione della "Coltivazione del riso" di Giovambattista Spolverini coincide con l\u2019avvio di un risarcimento delle fortune del poema che procede di pari passo con la divulgazione dell\u2019effigie del marchese, il cui ritratto disegnato da Agostino Ugolini e inciso da Andrea de\u2019 Bernardis ornava l\u2019antiporta del volume. L\u2019immagine era stata desunta da un prototipo pittorico posseduto dalla figlia dell\u2019autore, la cui acquisizione e circolazione appaiono regolate da meccanismi di familiarit\ue0 inequivocabilmente riconducibili all\u2019esistenza di circuiti dinastici e sodali determinanti rispetto all\u2019organizzazione del mercato dell\u2019arte scaligero. D\u2019altro canto, le sue numerose derivazioni, fra cui le incisioni del Rados (1818) e di Musitelli (1824), appaiono emblematiche del fin quui sfuggito protrarsi nell\u2019Ottocento dell\u2019apprezzamento postumo di cui godr\ue0 lo Spolverini, la cui immagine finir\ue0 per essere assunta di diritto entro imprese celebrative di altissimo rilievo, quali il \u201cPanteon veneto\u201d allestito in Palazzo Ducale a Venezia e la successiva Protomoteca veronese

"Santa Francesca Romana e l\u2019angelo": storia e conservazione della pala di Guercino in Santa Maria in Organo a Verona

Il saggio ripercorre le vicende che portarono gli olivetani della chiesa veronese di Santa Maria in Organo ad acquisire la pala del Guercino con "Santa Francesca Romana e l'angelo", inquadrando la medesima nel contesto pi\uf9 generale della produzione del centese e al contempo approfondendo le implicazioni iconografiche del dipinto. Sulla base di documentazione inedita il contributo ripercorre inoltre le complesse vicende conservative della tela, con particolare attenzione agli interventi ottocenteschi, riconsiderati anche attraverso una campagna di indagini non invasive appositamente effettuata e di cui nel medesimo volume d\ue0 conto il saggio di Paola Arton

Governing through security? Institutional discourse, practices, and policies in the metropolitan city of Milan

In our paper, we aim at pointing out the way the most relevant institutional actors currently define the security agenda for the Milanese metropolitan area, which kind of goals they try to pursue, upon which instruments and resources they can rely, which division of labour and forms of cooperation they try to putting into practices. We draw from an analyses of both official documents by the main public institutions involved in the governance of security in Milan and semi-structured interviews to all the members of the Comitato provinciale per l’ordine pubblico e la sicurezza – a board that gather the president of the province, the mayor of the province capital (plus mayors of other cities and towns of the province who can be involved on an ad hoc basis), the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Prefetto), the District Attorney and the chiefs of all the national police forces – as well as to politicians, civil servants and commissioners of the local police of the city of Milan. We illustrate how discourses and practices of in/security have contributed to the construction of the city as place exposed to a multiplicity of risks that local authorities and police forces are expected to manage. Furthermore, we highlight how the diffusion and legitimization of an ‘ideology of safety’ has turned the demand to live in safe communities into an attempt to legitimize exclusionary practices insofar as discourses on security were strictly interconnected with discourses on cultural identity and, focusing on both the (imagined) community repertoire and the us/them opposition, ended up legitimizing a racialized urban governance of inclusion and exclusion. Finally, we try to show that a recent attempt, by the new centre-left government, to modify such an approach is generating ambiguous and controversial results and is paradoxically promoting an even stronger securitization of urban policies, spaces and life through more democratically oriented governmental practices

A cyanobacterial LPS antagonist prevents endotoxin shock and blocks sustained TLR4 stimulation required for cytokine expression

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) function as primary sensors that elicit coordinated innate immune defenses through recognition of microbial products and induction of immune and proinflammatory genes. Here we report the identification and biological characterization of a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-like molecule extracted from the cyanobacterium Oscillatoria Planktothrix FP1 (cyanobacterial product [CyP]) that is not stimulatory per se but acts as a potent and selective antagonist of bacterial LPS. CyP binds to MD-2 and efficiently competes with LPS for binding to the TLR4–MD-2 receptor complex. The addition of CyP together with LPS completely inhibited both MyD88- and TRIF-dependent pathways and suppressed the whole LPS-induced gene transcription program in human dendritic cells (DCs). CyP protected mice from endotoxin shock in spite of a lower capacity to inhibit LPS stimulation of mouse DCs. Interestingly, the delayed addition of CyP to DCs responding to LPS strongly inhibited signaling and cytokine production by immediate down-regulation of inflammatory cytokine mRNAs while not affecting other aspects of DC maturation, such as expression of major histocompatibility complex molecules, costimulatory molecules, and CCR7. Collectively, these results indicate that CyP is a potent competitive inhibitor of LPS in vitro and in vivo and reveal the requirement of sustained TLR4 stimulation for induction of cytokine genes in human DCs

COMT Val158Met polymorphism and socioeconomic status interact to predict attention deficit/hyperactivity problems in children aged 10–14

The functional Val158Met COMT polymorphism appears to affect a host of behaviours mediated by the pre-frontal cortex, and has been found associated to the risk for disruptive behaviours including ADHD. Parental socioeconomic status (SES) has also been reported as a predictor for the same childhood disorders. In a general population sample of 575 Italian pre-adolescents aged 10–14, we examined the association of the functional Val158Met COMT polymorphism and SES—both as linear and interactive effects—with oppositional defiant problems, conduct problems, and attention deficit/hyperactivity problems, as defined by the newly established Child Behaviour Check-List/6-18 DSM oriented scales. Multivariate- and subsequent univariate-analysis of covariance showed a significant association of COMT × SES interaction with CBCL 6/18 DOS attention deficit/hyperactivity problems (p = 0.004), and revealed higher scores among those children with Val/Val COMT genotype who belonged to low-SES families. We also found a significant association of SES with attention deficit/hyperactivity problems and conduct problems DOS (p = 0.04 and 0.01, respectively). Our data are consistent with a bulk of recent literature suggesting a role of environmental factors in moderating the contribution of specific genetic polymorphisms to human variability in ADHD. While future investigations will refine and better clarify which specific environmental and genetic mechanisms are at work in influencing the individual risk to ADHD in pre-adolescence, these data may contribute to identify/prevent the risk for ADHD problems in childhood

Latent classes of emotional and behavioural problems in epidemiological and referred samples and their relations to DSM-IV diagnoses

Researchers\u2019 interest have recently moved toward the identification of recurrent psychopathological profiles characterized by concurrent elevations on different behavioural and emotional traits. This new strategy turned to be useful in terms of diagnosis and outcome prediction. We used a person-centred statistical approach to examine whether different groups could be identified in a referred sample and in a general-population sample of children and adolescents, and we investigated their relation to DSM-IV diagnoses. A latent class analysis (LCA) was performed on the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) syndrome scales of the referred sample (N = 1225), of the general-population sample (N = 3418), and of the total sample. Models estimating 1-class through 5-class solutions were compared and agreement in the classification of subjects was evaluated. Chi square analyses, a logistic regression, and a multinomial logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the relations between classes and diagnoses. In the two samples and in the total sample, the best-fitting models were 4-class solutions. The identified classes were Internalizing Problems (15.68%), Severe Dysregulated (7.82%), Attention/Hyperactivity (10.19%), and Low Problems (66.32%). Subsequent analyses indicated a significant relationship between diagnoses and classes as well as a main association between the severe dysregulated class and comorbidity. Our data suggested the presence of four different psychopathological profiles related to different outcomes in terms of psychopathological diagnoses. In particular, our results underline the presence of a profile characterized by severe emotional and behavioural dysregulation that is mostly associated with the presence of multiple diagnosis

Hand rehabilitation with sonification techniques in the subacute stage of stroke

After a stroke event, most survivors suffer from arm paresis, poor motor control and other disabilities that make activities of daily living difficult, severely affecting quality of life and personal independence. This randomized controlled trial aimed at evaluating the efficacy of a music-based sonification approach on upper limbs motor functions, quality of life and pain perceived during rehabilitation. The study involved 65 subacute stroke individuals during inpatient rehabilitation allocated into 2 groups which underwent usual care dayweek) respectively of standard upper extremity motor rehabilitation or upper extremity treatment with sonification techniques. The Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity Scale, Box and Block Test and the Modified Ashworth Scale were used to perform motor assessment and the McGill Quality of Life-it and the Numerical Pain Rating Scale to assess quality of life and pain. The assessment was performed at baseline, after 2weeks, at the end of treatment and at follow-up (1month after the end of treatment). Total scores of the Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity Scale (primary outcome measure) and hand and wrist sub scores, manual dexterity scores of the affected and unaffected limb in the Box and Block Test, pain scores of the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (secondary outcomes measures) significantly improved in the sonification group compared to the standard of care group (time*group interaction<0.05). Our findings suggest that music-based sonification sessions can be considered an effective standardized intervention for the upper limb in subacute stroke rehabilitation

Robot-assisted upper limb training for patients with multiple sclerosis: an evidence-based review of clinical applications and effectiveness

Upper extremities limitation is a common functional impairment in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS). Novel technological devices are increasingly used in neurorehabilitation to support motor function improvement and the quantitative assessment of motor performance during training in patients with neurological diseases. In this review, we systematically report the evidence on clinical applications and robotic-assisted arm training (RAT) in functional recovery in PwMS. PubMed/MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) databases were systematically searched from inception to March 2021. The 10-item PEDro scale assessed the study quality for the RCT, and the AMSTAR-2 was used to assess the quality of the systematic review. The 5-item Oxford CEBM scale was used to rate the level of evidence. A total of 10 studies (161 subjects) were included. The selected studies included one systematic review, four RCTs, one randomized crossover, and four case series. The RCTs were scored as high-quality studies, while the systematic review was determined to be of low quality. Shoulder range of motion, handgrip strength, and proximal arm impairment improved after RAT. Manual dexterity, arm function, and use in daily life also ameliorated arm function. The high clinical heterogeneity of treatment programs and the variety of robot devices affects the generalizability of the study results; therefore, we emphasize the need to standardize the intervention type in future studies that evaluate the role of robotic-assisted training in PwMS. Robot-assisted treatment seems safe and useful to increase manual dexterity and the quality of movement execution in PwMS with moderate to severe disability. Additional studies with an adequate sample size and methodological rigour are warranted to drive definite conclusion