We Are Not GIL

Cultural practices and events are an occasion to reflect on the space they come to occupy and inhabit\u2014even if temporarily. As it is often the case in Rome, the architecture becomes an overwhelming element to deal with. This year the new location granted by the Region to the performative art festival Short Theatre was the rationalist building of the ExGil\u2014literally former Fascist Youth. After its restoration and reopening the space was renamed as WeGil by the Regione Lazio administration, and is currently used as polyvalent cultural space and venue for exhibitions, arts and culture. Luigi Moretti\u2019s building was inaugurated in 1937, as the space for the fascist organization Giovent\uf9 Italiana del Littorio, and used as such until the end of WWII. This cohabitation couldn\u2019t but trigger a reflection about the building itself and the city at large, their symbols and history. The artistic production of today has the power\u2014and duty\u2014of reshaping and resignifying the matter of collective memory, through its contemporary theories, influences and gestures. Indeed, the considerations that came about necessarily tackled the colonial fascist past of Italian history and geography inasmuch as their tendency to remain incomplete, often laboriously countered by feminist decolonial artistic and educational practices. This issue unfolds through their collective intervention (We) are not Gil, Ilenia Caleo, Isabella Pinto, Federica Giardini and Serena Fiorletta attempt to \u201ccomplete\u201d the historical traces embedded in the ExGil building

Video didattico sull’uso interattivo del TAM-3

This booklet accompanies a video that shows how students discuss about the answers they gave to a metalinguistic test they were previously administered on individual grounds. A tutor leads the interactions between the participants in view of enhancing their awareness of structural features of language and meanings. The booklet describes the nature and the function of the video, presents the transcripts of the interactions, and highlights the turning points of the taking consciousness processes

Video didattico sull’uso interattivo del TAM-2

This booklet is an educational resource that accompanies a video where children discuss about the possible answers to a metalinguistic test, under the guidance of an adult. The booklet describes the nature and the function of the video and reports the transcripts of the interactions between children and the tutor of the focus group. Some turning points are highlighted during these interactions, where the participants evolve towards more advanced levels of metalinguistic awareness. Teachers and educators can draw on these commented interactions for creating favourable conditions to enhance metalinguistic awareness in classroom activities

Structuring wicked problems in transdisciplinary research using the Social-Ecological Systems framework: an application to the montado system, Alentejo, Portugal

The aspiration to establish an effective dialogue between science and society has inspired some ground breaking examples of transdisciplinarity (TD). The core idea of TD is that different academic disciplines work jointly with practitioners to solve common problems. The first step of TD implies a contextualization that requires holistic and systemic thinking. To achieve this contextualization, we applied the Social–Ecological Systems (SES) framework with the aim of developing TD to deal with the recorded decline in area and tree density of the montado land-use system located in the Alentejo region, Portugal. The study was based both on a literature review and on the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected in a number of research projects on the montado. The results show that the lack of consensus regarding the system boundaries, the diverse range of mental models, and the disconnection between policymaking and system singularities are some of the conditions that can hinder TD efforts. The framework allowed the identification of knowledge gaps that limit the understanding of the problem complexity to be dealt with by a TD research process. There is a need to gain a better understanding of the governance system, and to characterize the different types of agro-silvo-pastoral combinations that can be designated as montado. With this detailed understanding, a tailored TD process can be designed. This work argues for the active use of the SES framework in TD in environmental management. Future research could focus on the framework’s utility in developing tools to assess and monitor transdisciplinary research

Mechanisms of action of polyhexamethylene biguanide-based biocides against non-enveloped virus

Human viral pathogens place a serious threat on the healthcare system. Adequate and efficient disinfection procedures minimise the incidence of surface contamination and viral disease transmission. Biocide type, environmental conditions and viral characteristics e.g. presence of envelope influence the disinfection effectiveness. Thus, understanding the mechanisms of virucidal action is essential for improving disinfection efficacy. PHMB has a wide range of antimicrobial activities, but its action against viruses has been mostly tested on enveloped viruses, which appeared to be inactivated. This project aimed at understanding the mechanisms of action of two PHMB-based biocides, VANTOCIL TG and COSMOCILIMCQ, against non-enveloped viruses including the bacteriophages MS2 and F116 used as model viruses, and the human Adenovirus type5. Biocides were tested in a suspension test at different conditions. Hydrophobicity tests, SDS-PAGE, DNA analysis, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy were performed. Suspension tests at 20 °C showed that PHMBs at 800 ppm reduced MS2 and Ad5 by 90. Higher reduction was achieved against Fl 16 99. Times of exposure did not increase the activity, whereas temperature had a great effect. At 30 °C 99.99 of MS2 was inactivated after 10 min the efficacy against Ad5 was also enhanced, but to minor extent. Despite a modest activity, PHMB interacted with the viral capsid producing damage which was very specific against Ad5. Viral aggregation played a key role in limiting virucidal efficacy of PHMB, especially concerning MS2. It is likely that the observed capsid damage caused the inactivation. However, the hypothesis of domain formation by PHMB and thus the inhibition of the virus-host interaction cannot be ruled out. The mechanism of binding PHMB molecules to the viruses was highly cooperative and occurred through first electrostatic and then hydrophobic forces. Concluding, it is the first time that PHMB-based biocides were shown to interact with viral capsid resulting in virucidal activity against non-enveloped viruses. However, such activity is reduced by formation of viral aggregates. Results supported also the use of MS2 as a surrogate of human RNA non-enveloped viruses

Fertility preservation in gynaecologic cancers

Due to substantial improvement in the diagnosis and treatment of gynaecologic cancers, a better understanding of patient care needs to be revised. We reviewed the literature related to fertility preservation strategies in gynaecological cancer and discussed current general management approaches. New technical modalities and patients’ own desire for motherhood should be integral and paramount in the clinical evaluation to significantly contribute to preserving fertility in those women diagnosed with gynaecologic cancers during the reproductive years

Contributions of Iberian Silvo-Pastoral Landscapes to the Well-Being of Contemporary Society

Assessments of society’s perceptions of rangeland systems offer insights into the motivations, cultural beliefs, and values that can support landscape conservation and the everyday decisions of landowners. Silvo-pastoral landscapes, the grazed oak woodlands known as montado in Portugal and dehesa in Spain, are the main rangelands of southwestern Iberia. At the interface of complex interactions between natural processes and human activities, they have potential to deliver multiple services at the ecosystem level. However, the actual rendering of their potential to the well-being of contemporary society has not been comprehensively documented. This paper aims to enrich research perspectives and identify benefits and challenging aspects of silvo-pastoral landscapes through the lens of society well-being. An integrated socioecological perspective is used to examine one case study in Portugal and one in Spain. To better understand their context, montado and dehesa are assessed relative to other landscape types in the studied areas. A qualitative approach assesses tangible but also intangible aspects. The interviewed stakeholders include members of rural communities, public authorities, land managers, and researchers. Results reveal similar benefits and challenges in montado and dehesa. Interviewees considered them to have numerous sociocultural and environmental benefits. These were mainly regulatory services but also intangible benefits such as cultural identity, aesthetic qualities, and local knowledge. Nevertheless, a rendering of their full potential to society well-being has numerous challenges. These systems were believed to struggle economically, due to the low prices for the goods produced and a high dependence on subsidies. Their environmental vulnerability was also highlighted. Critical challenges for future research and policy interventions are identified for both case studies. Moreover, we encourage the wider application of approaches to rangelands focusing on well-being, as they provide a complement to ecological and economic perspectives that can improve understanding of social-ecological systems

Does the natural "microcosm" created by Tuber aestivum affect soil microarthropods? A new hypothesis based on Collembola in truffle culture

microarthropods play an important role in fungi dispersion, but little is still known about the interaction between truffle and soil microarthropods. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of the truffle Tuber aestivum to modify soil biogeochemistry (i.e. create a zone of scarce vegetation around the host plant, called a burn or brûlé) and to highlight the effects of the brûlé on the soil fauna community. We compared soil microarthropod communities found in the soil inside versus outside the T. aestivum brûlé with the chemistry of soil collected inside versus outside the brûlé. The study was carried out in three Mediterranean areas, two in Italy and one in Spain. The results confirmed the ability of T. aestivum to modify soil biogeochemistry in the brûlé: pH was higher and total organic carbon tended to be lower inside the brûlé compared to outside. Soil fauna communities showed some interesting differences. Some groups, such as Symphyla and Pauropoda, adapted well to the soil; some Collembolan families, and biodiversity and soil quality indices were generally higher outside the brûlé. Folsomia sp. showed higher abundance in the soil of the brûlé compared to outside. The results suggest that some Collembola groups may be attracted by the fungal metabolites produced by T. aestivum, while other Collembola and other microarthropods may find an unfavourable environment in the soil of the brûlé. The next steps will be to confirm this hypothesis and to extend the study to other keys groups such as nematodes and earthworms and to link fluctuations of soil communities with the biological phases of truffle growth

Performance of the diamond active target prototype for the PADME experiment at the DAΦ\PhiNE BTF

The PADME experiment at the DA$\Phi$NE Beam-Test Facility (BTF) is designed to search for the gauge boson of a new $\rm U(1)$ interaction in the process e$^+$e$^-\rightarrow\gamma$+$\rm A'$, using the intense positron beam hitting a light target. The $\rm A'$, usually referred as dark photon, is assumed to decay into invisible particles of a secluded sector and it can be observed by searching for an anomalous peak in the spectrum of the missing mass measured in events with a single photon in the final state. The measurement requires the determination of the 4-momentum of the recoil photon, performed by a homogeneous, highly segmented BGO crystals calorimeter. A significant improvement of the missing mass resolution is possible using an active target capable to determine the average position of the positron bunch with a resolution of less than 1 mm. This report presents the performance of a real size $\rm (2x2 cm^2)$ PADME active target made of a thin (50 $\mu$m) diamond sensor, with graphitic strips produced via laser irradiation on both sides. The measurements are based on data collected in a beam test at the BTF in November 2015.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure