La stanza di Giorgio Manganelli

L'avversione di Giorgio Manganelli nei confronti del concetto d'autore era connessa a un ideale polimorfico e cangiante dell'individualità, a una critica dell'io, inteso come struttura stabile, riconoscibile, rappresentabile. Le sue concezioni filosofiche, lo spingevano a considerare l'arte come un processo impersonale. Lo psicanalista junghiano Ernst Bernhard gli aveva insegnato che lo spazio della memoria può dilatarsi oltre l'insieme dei ricordi del singolo individuo, per comprendere differenti regimi di oggetti come ad esempio il mondo animale, vegetale e minerale. Manganelli usava la scrittura per entrare in questo lungo repertorio di variazioni. Una delle sue immagini preferite era quella dell'uomo che si trasforma in un calamaio di inchiostro e che intinge il pennino in sé medesimo per poter scrivere delle cose, quasi trasformandosi in esse.Giorgio Manganelli's aversion to the concept of the author was linked to a polymorphic and changing ideal of individuality, to a critique of the self, conceived as a stable, recognisable and representable structure. His philosophical ideas drove him to consider art as an impersonal process. Ernst Bernhardh, the Jungian psychoanalyst, had taught him that memory space can expand beyond memories of every individual, to understand different patterns of objects, for example the animal world, the plant world and the mineral world. Manganelli used writing to enter into this long repertoire of variations. One of his favourite images was that of a man transforming into an inkwell who wets the nib in himself in order to write things, thereby becoming these things

Evaluation of the Occurrence of False Aneurysms During Halal Slaughtering and Consequences on the Animal’s State of Consciousness

This study evaluated the occurrence of false aneurysms and reflexes in bovines, associated with the point along the neck where the cut was performed. The survey was carried out on a total of 1200 male beef cattle, belonging mainly to the Charolais and Limousin breeds, aged between twelve and twenty-four months. In the slaughterhouse, three operators, identified by convention as Operator C4, Operator C2, and Operator C1, performed the Halal slaughtering. Each operator carried out the slaughter of 400 animals and, on the basis of his own professional training, performed the cutting of the vessels at different points along the neck: Operator C4 between the third and fourth cervical vertebrae; Operator C2 at the level of the second cervical vertebra; and Operator C1 at the first cervical vertebra. The occurrence of false aneurysms was assessed on the basis of the different cutting site used by the three operators. Then, the evaluation of consciousness indicators, that is, rhythmic breathing and eye response, closely related to a slow bleeding process and to a delayed loss of brain function, was carried out 90 s post-bleeding. The group of cattle slaughtered by Operator C4 had a prevalence of false aneurysms of 10.25%. Conversely, the other two groups of cattle slaughtered by Operators C2 and C1 showed false aneurysm formation in 7.25% of each case. Further, 37.5% of the animals (18 for Operator C4, 17 for Operator C2, and 16 for Operator C1) with signs of consciousness 90 s after sticking were consequent to the onset of false aneurysms and, more precisely, they were owing to a late second cut of the vessel carried out by the operator, when false aneurysms occurred. The results of the research showed that the cutting point chosen by the operator is a key element in determining the onset of false aneurysms

Parietal resting-state EEG alpha source connectivity is associated with subcortical white matter lesions in HIV-positive people

Objective Parietal resting-state electroencephalographic (rsEEG) alpha (8–10 Hz) source connectivity is abnormal in HIV-positive persons. Here we tested whether this abnormality may be associated with subcortical white matter vascular lesions in the cerebral hemispheres. Methods Clinical, rsEEG, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) datasets in 38 HIV-positive persons and clinical and rsEEG datasets in 13 healthy controls were analyzed. Radiologists visually evaluated the subcortical white matter hyperintensities from T2-weighted FLAIR MRIs (i.e., Fazekas scale). In parallel, neurophysiologists estimated the eLORETA rsEEG source lagged linear connectivity from parietal cortical regions of interest. Results Compared to the HIV participants with no/negligible subcortical white matter hyperintensities, the HIV participants with mild/moderate subcortical white matter hyperintensities showed lower parietal interhemispheric rsEEG alpha lagged linear connectivity. This effect was also observed in HIV-positive persons with unimpaired cognition. This rsEEG marker allowed good discrimination (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve > 0.80) between the HIV-positive individuals with different amounts of subcortical white matter hyperintensities. Conclusions The parietal rsEEG alpha source connectivity is associated with subcortical white matter vascular lesions in HIV-positive persons, even without neurocognitive disorders. Significance Those MRI-rsEEG markers may be used to screen HIV-positive persons at risk of neurocognitive disorders

CGG Repeat-Induced FMR1 Silencing Depends on the Expansion Size in Human iPSCs and Neurons Carrying Unmethylated Full Mutations

In fragile X syndrome (FXS), CGG repeat expansion greater than 200 triplets is believed to trigger FMR1 gene silencing and disease etiology. However, FXS siblings have been identified with more than 200 CGGs, termed unmethylated full mutation (UFM) carriers, without gene silencing and disease symptoms. Here, we show that hypomethylation of the FMR1 promoter is maintained in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from two UFM individuals. However, a subset of iPSC clones with large CGG expansions carries silenced FMR1. Furthermore, we demonstrate de novo silencing upon expansion of the CGG repeat size. FMR1 does not undergo silencing during neuronal differentiation of UFM iPSCs, and expression of large unmethylated CGG repeats has phenotypic consequences resulting in neurodegenerative features. Our data suggest that UFM individuals do not lack the cell-intrinsic ability to silence FMR1 and that inter-individual variability in the CGG repeat size required for silencing exists in the FXS population

Insegnare la Storia con le serie TV. Il medioevo visto con gli occhi de Il trono di spade

Is it really true that young students are not interested in History? The answer is yes, if History is explained in a classroom, either at school or at the university. But this does not happen when History is the theme of TV series, cartoons, videogames, movies and all the products of cultural industry. What happens is that today, in the new media era, institution keep knowledge areas completely separated among themselves and unresponsive to real world scenarios. For example the success of all those multimedia products that represent a superficial symbol of deeper conceptual schemas, reveals a rich imagery about historical storytelling and shows how this is the key of their extraordinary success.Ma è proprio vero che alle nuove generazioni non interessa la Storia? Sembrerebbe di sì quando la Storia è spiegata in aula, sia essa scolastica o universitaria. Ciò non sembra invece accadere quando la Storia è oggetto delle sempre più pervasive narrazioni prodotte dall’industria culturale attraverso serie TV, fumetti, videogame, film o addirittura romanzi. La verità è che, ancora oggi, in piena epoca dell’accesso e delle connessioni, i saperi formalizzati delle istituzioni formative continuano ad essere totalmente impermeabili e indifferenti a ciò che succede all’esterno; ad esempio in quel ribollente mondo degli attuali immaginari multimediali, di cui le serie TV ne sono l’emblema più visibile, che vede proprio nelle ri‐narrazioni della Storia uno degli strumenti del loro straordinario successo

Preference Transitivity and Symbolic Representation in Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus apella)

BACKGROUND: Can non-human animals comprehend and employ symbols? The most convincing empirical evidence comes from language-trained apes, but little is known about this ability in monkeys. Tokens can be regarded as symbols since they are inherently non-valuable objects that acquire an arbitrarily assigned value upon exchange with an experimenter. Recent evidence suggested that capuchin monkeys, which diverged from the human lineage 35 million years ago, can estimate, represent and combine token quantities. A fundamental and open question is whether monkeys can reason about symbols in ways similar to how they reason about real objects. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we examined this broad question in the context of economic choice behavior. Specifically, we assessed whether, in a symbolic context, capuchins' preferences satisfy transitivity--a fundamental trait of rational decision-making. Given three options A, B and C, transitivity holds true if A > or = B, B > or = C and A > or = C (where > or = indicates preference). In this study, we trained monkeys to exchange three types of tokens for three different foods. We then compared choices monkeys made between different types of tokens with choices monkeys made between the foods. Qualitatively, capuchins' preferences revealed by the way of tokens were similar to those measured with the actual foods. In particular, when choosing between tokens, monkeys displayed strict economic preferences and their choices satisfied transitivity. Quantitatively, however, values measured by the way of tokens differed systematically from those measured with the actual foods. In particular, for any pair of foods, the relative value of the preferred food increased when monkeys chose between the corresponding tokens. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results indicate that indeed capuchins are capable of treating tokens as symbols. However, as they do so, capuchins experience the cognitive burdens imposed by symbolic representation

Consensus-based care recommendations for adults with myotonic dystrophy type 1

Purpose of review Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a severe, progressive genetic disease that affects between 1 in 3,000 and 8,000 individuals globally. No evidence-based guideline exists to inform the care of these patients, and most do not have access to multidisciplinary care centers staffed by experienced professionals, creating a clinical care deficit. Recent findings The Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation (MDF) recruited 66 international clinicians experienced in DM1 patient care to develop consensus-based care recommendations. MDF created a 2-step methodology for the project using elements of the Single Text Procedure and the Nominal Group Technique. The process generated a 4-page Quick Reference Guide and a comprehensive, 55-page document that provides clinical care recommendations for 19 discrete body systems and/or care considerations. Summary The resulting recommendations are intended to help standardize and elevate care for this patient population and reduce variability in clinical trial and study environments. Described as “one of the more variable diseases found in medicine,” myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is an autosomal dominant, triplet-repeat expansion disorder that affects somewhere between 1:3,000 and 1:8,000 individuals worldwide.1 There is a modest association between increased repeat expansion and disease severity, as evidenced by the average age of onset and overall morbidity of the condition. An expansion of over 35 repeats typically indicates an unstable and expanding mutation. An expansion of 50 repeats or higher is consistent with a diagnosis of DM1. DM1 is a multisystem and heterogeneous disease characterized by distal weakness, atrophy, and myotonia, as well as symptoms in the heart, brain, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine, and respiratory systems. Symptoms may occur at any age. The severity of the condition varies widely among affected individuals, even among members of the same family. Comprehensive evidence-based guidelines do not currently exist to guide the treatment of DM1 patients. As a result, the international patient community reports varied levels of care and care quality, and difficulty accessing care adequate to manage their symptoms, unless they have access to multidisciplinary neuromuscular clinics. Consensus-based care recommendations can help standardize and improve the quality of care received by DM1 patients and assist clinicians who may not be familiar with the significant variability, range of symptoms, and severity of the disease. Care recommendations can also improve the landscape for clinical trial success by eliminating some of the inconsistencies in patient care to allow more accurate understanding of the benefit of potential therapies

Clinical features and outcomes of elderly hospitalised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure or both

Background and objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF) mutually increase the risk of being present in the same patient, especially if older. Whether or not this coexistence may be associated with a worse prognosis is debated. Therefore, employing data derived from the REPOSI register, we evaluated the clinical features and outcomes in a population of elderly patients admitted to internal medicine wards and having COPD, HF or COPD + HF. Methods: We measured socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics, severity and prevalence of comorbidities, clinical and laboratory features during hospitalization, mood disorders, functional independence, drug prescriptions and discharge destination. The primary study outcome was the risk of death. Results: We considered 2,343 elderly hospitalized patients (median age 81 years), of whom 1,154 (49%) had COPD, 813 (35%) HF, and 376 (16%) COPD + HF. Patients with COPD + HF had different characteristics than those with COPD or HF, such as a higher prevalence of previous hospitalizations, comorbidities (especially chronic kidney disease), higher respiratory rate at admission and number of prescribed drugs. Patients with COPD + HF (hazard ratio HR 1.74, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.16-2.61) and patients with dementia (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.06-2.90) had a higher risk of death at one year. The Kaplan-Meier curves showed a higher mortality risk in the group of patients with COPD + HF for all causes (p = 0.010), respiratory causes (p = 0.006), cardiovascular causes (p = 0.046) and respiratory plus cardiovascular causes (p = 0.009). Conclusion: In this real-life cohort of hospitalized elderly patients, the coexistence of COPD and HF significantly worsened prognosis at one year. This finding may help to better define the care needs of this population

La stanza di Giorgio Manganelli

L'avversione di Giorgio Manganelli nei confronti del concetto d'autore era connessa a un ideale polimorfico e cangiante dell'individualità, a una critica dell'io, inteso come struttura stabile, riconoscibile, rappresentabile. Le sue concezioni filosofiche, lo spingevano a considerare l'arte come un processo impersonale. Lo psicanalista junghiano Ernst Bernhard gli aveva insegnato che lo spazio della memoria può dilatarsi oltre l'insieme dei ricordi del singolo individuo, per comprendere differenti regimi di oggetti come ad esempio il mondo animale, vegetale e minerale. Manganelli usava la scrittura per entrare in questo lungo repertorio di variazioni. Una delle sue immagini preferite era quella dell'uomo che si trasforma in un calamaio di inchiostro e che intinge il pennino in sé medesimo per poter scrivere delle cose, quasi trasformandosi in esse.Giorgio Manganelli's aversion to the concept of the author was linked to a polymorphic and changing ideal of individuality, to a critique of the self, conceived as a stable, recognisable and representable structure. His philosophical ideas drove him to consider art as an impersonal process. Ernst Bernhardh, the Jungian psychoanalyst, had taught him that memory space can expand beyond memories of every individual, to understand different patterns of objects, for example the animal world, the plant world and the mineral world. Manganelli used writing to enter into this long repertoire of variations. One of his favourite images was that of a man transforming into an inkwell who wets the nib in himself in order to write things, thereby becoming these things