Romanzi di guerra nel Novecento italiano. Comisso, Malaparte, Viganò

Questo lavoro ha preso in esame le opere di tre autori della letteratura italiana novecentesca che si sono dedicati alla trattazione del tema bellico. Giovanni Comisso in "Giorni di guerra" ci dà un’immagine di un sé giovane e spensierato il quale, arruolatosi volontario durante la Prima guerra mondiale, vive e affronta con ingenuo entusiasmo questo periodo. Di tutt’altro sapore è "La pelle" di Curzio Malaparte, tanto per periodo storico, poiché ci troviamo all’altezza della Seconda guerra mondiale, quanto per carattere narrativo. Lo sguardo dello scrittore osserva con lucidità il degrado al quale il popolo di Napoli è giunto a seguito dei molti anni di guerra e dello sbarco degli alleati. A questo fine si impegna in descrizioni che a volte appaiono esagerate e ai limiti della credibilità, ma che hanno lo scopo di dar prova del suo sdegno di fronte a certe realtà. "L’Agnese va a morire" di Renata Viganò si incentra sul periodo della Resistenza e della lotta partigiana durante la Seconda guerra mondiale nelle valli di Comacchio e della Romagna. La narrazione è affrontata dal punto di vista di un’anziana contadina, Agnese, ponendo così in risalto l’importante ruolo che le donne svolsero nella lotta contro i nazi-fascisti. Leggendo e studiando queste opere mi sono persuasa del grande valore che potrebbero avere anche in sede didattica, dal momento che propongono diverse angolazioni dalle quali poter affrontare la tematica bellica nella sua trasformazione, da un’ottica di soli combattenti a quella del coinvolgimento dei civili e al ruolo assunto gradualmente dalle donne, in parallelo al modificarsi della società nella prima metà del secolo

Abundance and biodiversity of soil arthropods in one conventional and two organic fields of maize in stockless arable systems

Soil arthropod community was evaluated, in three different farming systems in Central Italy, in the context of a long-term experimental stockless arable system (MOLTE). The soil arthropodofauna was recorded in two organic agrosystems of different age (16-year old organic, named OldO; 6-year young organic, named YngO) and in one conventional (Co), at a fixed time on maize. Arthropods, extracted by Berlese-Tullgren funnels, were counted and identified at order or suborder taxonomic level. In the three maize fields, the farming system affected both abundance and biodiversity of arthropods. The arthropod density ranged from about 20,000 individuals/m2 in OldO to about 45,000 in YngO. The number of oribatid mites was higher in Co than in OldO, while YngO showed the highest density of collembolans. The mite/collembolan ratio was the highest in Co (6.43), the lowest in YngO (1.95). Both biodiversity indices adopted – V, synthetic index of degree of diversity change of ecological systems and QBS, index of biological soil quality – showed the highest values for YngO. On the whole, differences in the arthropod community were higher in the YngO-OldO comparison than in OldO-Co. The soil arthropod community tended to be characterized by lower density of specimens and lower number of taxa in the OldO organic system than in the YngO

Fifty Hertz electromagnetic field exposure stimulates secretion of β-amyloid peptide in cultured human neuroglioma

Recent epidemiological studies raise the possibility that individuals with occupational exposure to low frequency (50-60 Hz) electromagnetic fields (LF-EMF), are at increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the mechanisms through which LF-EMF may affect AD pathology are unknown. We here tested the hypothesis that the exposure to LF-EMF may affect amyloidogenic processes. We examined the effect of exposure to 3.1 mT 50 Hz LF-EMF on Abeta secretion in H4 neuroglioma cells stably overexpressing human mutant amyloid precursor protein. We found that overnight exposure to LF-EMF induces a significant increase of amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) secretion, including the isoform Abeta 1-42, without affecting cell survival. These findings show for the first time that exposure to LF-EMF stimulates Abeta secretion in vitro, thus alluding to a potential link between LF-EMF exposure and APP processing in the brain

Degradation of EEG microstates patterns in subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment: Early biomarkers along the Alzheimer's Disease continuum?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathological changes may begin up to decades earlier than the appearance of the first symptoms of cognitive decline. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) could be the first pre-clinical sign of possible AD, which might be followed by mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the initial stage of clinical cognitive decline. However, the neural correlates of these prodromic stages are not completely clear yet. Recent studies suggest that EEG analysis tools characterizing the cortical activity as a whole, such as microstates and cortical regions connectivity, might support a characterization of SCD and MCI conditions. Here we test this approach by performing a broad set of analyses to identify the prominent EEG markers differentiating SCD (n = 57), MCI (n = 46) and healthy control subjects (HC, n = 19). We found that the salient differences were in the temporal structure of the microstates patterns, with MCI being associated with less complex sequences due to the altered transition probability, frequency and duration of canonic microstate C. Spectral content of EEG, network connectivity, and spatial arrangement of microstates were instead largely similar in the three groups. Interestingly, comparing properties of EEG microstates in different cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers profiles, we found that canonic microstate C displayed significant differences in topography in AD-like profile. These results show that the progression of dementia might be associated with a degradation of the cortical organization captured by microstates analysis, and that this leads to altered transitions between cortical states. Overall, our approach paves the way for the use of non-invasive EEG recordings in the identification of possible biomarkers of progression to AD from its prodromal states

Performance of grain legume crops in organic farms of central Italy

In the 2005-2006 growing season, eight varieties of faba bean, pea and lupin were compared in two organic farms, located in two regions of Central Italy (Tuscany and Marche), to evaluate their adaptation to local environment and agronomic performance in terms of grain yield and competitive ability against weeds. Pea showed a higher grain production than faba bean and lupin, which were negatively effected by the environmental conditions during winter 2005 and spring 2006. Time of seeding seems to be very important for the competitive ability against weed of the different varieties. In Tuscany the lupin Italian variety Multitalia, the only one Italian variety, obtained interesting performance in terms of grain yield and weed competition, although the spring seeding

Effect of green manure on weeds and soil fertility in two organic experimental agroecosystems of different ages. Results from 2 years.

In order to acquire more information about green manure practices in the Mediterranean environment, green-manure crops from two seasons (2003/2004 and 2004/2005) were compared and evaluated in two agroecosystems (“Old Organic” and “Young Organic”) of the Montepaldi Long Term Organic Experiment in Tuscany. Data collection included green manure crop (biomass, weeds competition capacity, N and C content), weed biodiversity on maize, and soil fertility characteristics over three periods (in October before sowing the green manure, in April before the incorporation of the green-manure in the soil, and in September at the maize harvest). The different green manure species produced no significant effects on the weeds and N% and C% in the soil. Weeds characteristics (weed species and Shannon Index) showed statistically significant differences among the two agroecosystems, even though the initial condition of the two soils were similar