Palimpsest Metaphor: Figures and Spaces of the Contemporary Project

What are the consequences of the use of the palimpsest metaphor on the construction of the contemporary project? The metaphor casts criticism on the modern project and opens to the long-term (longue durée). The investigation of territorial rationalities brings to the fore these temporal dimensions and the organizational structures of space. Understanding territorial rationalities is inescapable to define the basis of any exploration of the future of territorial, urban-rural configurations. The metaphor of the palimpsest alludes to the meeting/clash between different times, endless modifications and transformations. Until the use of the support is not so serious as to question its very existence, directions, dynamics and, at times, fortuitous encounters interweave on its shriveled skin; forms of power and violence are measured there, which, in turn, will generate new conflicts. “Unintentional monuments” are places where this intensity of pure overlapping disconnected intentions become monumental and the substance of a project, revealing, celebrating and exposing their landscapes, as episodes of collective human and environmental history. The palimpsest as a figure in the contemporary project is not only a criticism of the modern space, but the expression of a change of direction in the design activity, of its social role and of the theories intended to support it: Design space in the second degree

Extreme cities and bad places

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Molecular Research of Endometrial Pathophysiology

The endometrium has been the subject of intense research in a variety of clinical settings, because of its importance in the reproductive process and its role in women’s health. In the past 15 years, significant efforts have been invested in defining the molecular phenotype of the receptive phase endometrium as well as of various endometrial pathologies. Although this has generated a wealth of information on the molecular landscape of human endometrium, there is a need to complement this information in light of the novel methodologies and innovative technical approaches. The focus of this International Journal of Molecular Sciences Special Issue is on molecular and cellular mechanisms of endometrium and endometrium-related disorders. The progress made in the molecular actions of steroids, in the metabolism of steroids and intracrinology, in endometrial intracellular pathways, in stem cells biology, as well as in the molecular alterations underlying endometrium-related pathologies has been the focus of the reviews and papers included

The ICSI procedure from past to future: a systematic review of the more controversial aspects

Background: ICSI is currently the most commonly used assisted reproductive technology, accounting for 70-80%of the cycles performed. This extensive use, even excessive, is partly due to the high level of standardization reached by the procedure. There are, however, some aspects that deserve attention and can still be ameliorated. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the results of available publications dealing with the management of specific situations during ICSI in order to support embryologists in trying to offer the best laboratory individualized treatment. Methods: This systematic review is based on material obtained by searching PUBMED between January 1996 and March 2015. We included peer-reviewed, English-language journal articles that have evaluated ICSI outcomes in the case of (i) immature oocytes, (ii) oocyte degeneration, (iii) timing of the various phases, (iv) polar body position during injection, (v) zona-free oocytes, (vi) fertilization deficiency, (vii) round-headed sperm, (viii) immotile sperm and (ix) semen samples with high DNA fragmentation. Results: More than 1770 articles were obtained, from which only 90 were specifically related to the issues developed for female gametes and 55 for the issues developed for male gametes. The studies selected for this review were organized in order to provide a guide to overcome roadblocks. According to these studies, the injection of rescue metaphase I oocytes should be discouraged due to poor clinical outcomes and a high aneuploidy rates; laser-assisted ICSI represents an efficient method to solve the high oocyte degeneration rate; the optimal ICSI timing and the best polar body position during the injection have not been clarified; injected zona-free oocytes, if handled carefully, can develop up to blastocyst stage and implant; efficient options can be offered to patients who suffered fertilization failure in previous conventional ICSI cycles. Most controversial and inconclusive are data on the best method to select a viable spermatozoa when only immotile spermatozoa are available for ICSI and, to date, there is no reliable approach to completely filter out spermatozoa with fragmented DNA from an ejaculate. However, most of the studies do not report essential clinical outcomes, such as live birth, miscarriage and fetal abnormality rate, which are essential to establish the safety of a procedure. Conclusions: This review provides the current knowledge on some controversial technical aspects of the ICSI procedures in order to improve its efficacy in specific contexts. Notwithstanding that embryologists might benefit from the approaches presented herein in order to improve ICSI outcomes, this area of expertise still demands a greater number of well-designed studies, especially in order to solve open issues about the safety of these procedures

The Modern Project: A Research Hypothesis

The project of the industrial modern city comprises many heterogeneous paths and stories, in particular those regarding the CIAM (Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne) Functional City. They all come together in a discourse that links the architectural form to positive urban and social transformations. Such a discourse was interpreted from two different perspectives: The first hypothesized the need for political change starting from the collectivization of land ownership as stressed in the declaration of CIAM at La Sarraz in 1928, whereas the second theorised the capacity of new architecture to improve living conditions irrespective of the political context as supported by Le Corbusier. Starting from these premises, the present commentary proposes a fresh perspective on the functional city project, where the research on the minimization of effort contributed to a different definition of work from the Marxist one and in the modern sense. Therefore, the design and the space of the Existenzminimum blatantly contributes to the construction of a new routine, inspired by minimum effort, with the creation of a new effort–relaxation–rest rhythm and repetition

I CORPORA E IL LORO SFRUTTAMENTO IN DIDATTICA

Nell’ambito dell’insegnamento dell’italiano a stranieri, lo sfruttamento dei corpora sembra ancora lontano dall’aver preso piede, sia a livello di impiego indiretto (progettazione di materiali di riferimento o produzione di materiali didattici) sia a livello di impiego diretto (da parte degli insegnanti o degli studenti). Questo intervento cerca di fornire un inquadramento teorico il più possibile esaustivo per poter introdurre al concetto di corpora e alle relative possibilità di sfruttamento chi ancora non conosca questo ambito e le possibilità che offre; in particolare, si vuole sollecitare l’impiego dei corpora in ambito di insegnamento/apprendimento. Si chiarirà il concetto di corpus trattandone le caratteristiche principali e facendo qualche accenno alla sua costruzione; si offrirà quindi una panoramica su tipi di corpora e tecniche e possibilità di impiego, per poi focalizzarsi specificamente sul loro sfruttamento nell’ambito dell’insegnamento/apprendimento e infine fare qualche riflessione su vantaggi e problematiche connesse.     Corpora and their use in the classroom   In the field of Italian L2 teaching, using corpora directly (by students and teachers) or indirectly (in designing teaching or reference materials) is still infrequent. This paper tries to offer a complete theoretical framework to introduce the concept of corpora and ways of using it for those who are not familiar with this field; in particular, we wish to promote the use of corpora in teaching/learning. The concept of corpus will be clarified by defining its principal characteristics and explaining how it is constructed. We will offer a panorama of types of corpora and techniques and possible uses for them, and then focus on their use in teaching/learning, pointing out the advantages and the disadvantages

Endometriosis of the ureteral stump: An entity with severe manifestations

A 50-year-old woman on continuous oral estroprogestin therapy and with a history of endometriosis presented with gross hematuria and right reno-ureteral colic pain. Fifteen years before she had undergone total nephrectomy for loss of function of her right kidney due to an ureteral endometriotic nodule resulting in ureteral obstruction. The ureter had not been removed. For the following 15 years-period she had not manifested symptoms or signs of endometriosis. Although imaging investigations allowed to suspect endometriosis of the ureteral stump, urothelial cancer or carcinoma arising in endometriosis nodule could not be excluded. A laparoscopic hysterosalpingo- oophorectomy with the residual ureteral stump removal was performed. Some endometriotic implants on the ureteral stump wall were histologically detected. Proximal ureterectomy should be recommended in patients affected by ureteral endometriosis with a non-functioning kidney since long-term severe complications could derive from the residual stump. A continuous estroprogestin therapy does not totally prevent these complications

Wine, spirits, and beer intake and endometriosis risk among infertile women: results from a case control study

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Extraction of antibacterial active compounds from dry leaves of African plants of the Combretaceae family

The dry leaves of two African plants of the Combretaceae family, furnished by the botanist of the St. Jean de Dieu hospital of Tangueita (Benin, central Africa),were extracted with a sequence of 5 solvents with increasing polarity (from cyclohexane to water).The raw materials, obtained from these extractions following solvent evaporations, were tested for antibiotic activity against gram negative and gram positive bacterial strains. According to the results of a modified Kirby-Bauer test, no promising effect was obtained against Gram negative bacteria while interesting dose-effect activities were observed against Gram positive strains. In particular, from G. senegalensis active compounds were found in the low polarity extract (dichloromethane) which, at a concentration of 800 μg/disk (13 mm diameter disk), resulted in a grow inhibition crown of 4.7 mm and 2.6 mm on Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus MSSA, respectively. An higher amount of the aqueous extract (4760 μg/disk) also produced a good result as 5.7 mm and 5.0 mm crowns were observed. The extracts from C. micranthum showed an inhibiting effect in the more polar extracts (i.e. from ethanol and water) which gave 1 mm of grow inhibition crown on both strains at a concentration of 1000 μg/disk. The most promising extract from each plant was partially purified and then tested on some clinical relevant bacterial strains: S. aureus MRSA, Clostridium difficile, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Corynebacterium striatum, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Haemophylus influenzae, Escherichia coli, obtaining a good killing effects on the Gram positive bacteria of the panel