Per una genealogia del sicuritarismo. Note preliminari

Tenendo sullo sfondo il sicuritarismo del tempo presente, il testo schizza la premessa concettuale di una genealogia della sicurezza nella modernità. Dopo aver mostrato la nascita del concetto di sicurezza nel laboratorio della rappresentanza moderna, o se si vuole del patto tramite cui lo stato si impegna a garantire gli individui contro l’incertezza e il rischio, viene affrontato il modo in cui il pensiero moderno ha principalmente concepito il rapporto tra governo della popolazione e difesa del popolo. Biopolitiche della popolazione e politiche della paura vengono così definite come dispositivi sicuritari che contribuiscono con costanza ad oliare gli ingranaggi della macchina governamentale modern

Bucare il cliché. Immagine-tempo, “fede”, immanenza nell’analitica dell’immagine di Gilles deleuze

I due movimenti dei quali si compone il presente testo indagano alcuni aspetti dell’incontro della filosofia politica di Gilles Deleuze con il cinema. Più specificatamente quelli che hanno permesso al filosofo di articolare un’ “ontologia dell’attualità” capace di gettare uno sguardo critico sulle potenti nervature mediatiche delle contemporanee società di controllo

Bucare il cliché. Immagine-tempo, “fede”, immanenza nell’analitica dell’immagine di Gilles deleuze

I due movimenti dei quali si compone il presente testo indagano alcuni aspetti dell’incontro della filosofia politica di Gilles Deleuze con il cinema. Più specificatamente quelli che hanno permesso al filosofo di articolare un’ “ontologia dell’attualità” capace di gettare uno sguardo critico sulle potenti nervature mediatiche delle contemporanee società di controllo

A Neoliberal in Paris. Walter Lippmann and the Ordoliberals

This paper examines the relationship between The Good Society by Walter Lippmann and the ordoliberal ideals. The first part analyses the core elements of a new liberalism – centered on the axiomatic theory of the competition to which the subjects and their jobs must be aligned by the representative government. The second part shows how this approach used by Lippman is in the background of the Colloque Walter Lippmann, that took place in Paris in 1938, and that is often considered as the moment in which the neoliberal discourse emerged. Eventually, the third part focuses on the idea of the neoliberal government of society and on the meaning of the Liberalism Agenda developed during the works of the aforementioned Colloque

Populism and Neoliberalism. Notes on the Morphology of a ‘Perverse Alliance’

This article reflects on the commonalities of contemporary right-wing populism and neoliberalism. It thereby focuses on how neoliberalism has undone the ontological basis of the modern sovereign people and how this process has generated the conditions for the possibility of neo-populism, which thus appears as the obscene reverse of neoliberalism. Populism and neoliberalism form a ‘perverse alliance’ that leads them to fight the same battle, albeit in different forms, against material equality. Populism fights this battle with two privileged instruments: a ‘war of values’ that deflects interest from the conflict against socio-economic inequality and a ‘war on migrants’ that amplifies xeno-populism while nevertheless sharing with neoliberalism the processes of the hierarchisation of citizenship and social order.

Decisionismo neoliberale e democrazia del comune nella riflessione di Pierre Dardot e Christian Laval

ItQuesto testo analizza la critica della demo-fobia neoliberale nel pensiero di Pierre Dardot e Christian Laval. Per i due autori, nel neoliberalismo è all'opera un decisionismo intrinsecamente antidemocratico che sacrifica la democrazia sull'altare della "costituzione economica". Criticando la logica della rappresentanza, Dardot e Laval oppongono alla non-democrazia neoliberale una "democrazia del comune". Per questa democrazia la sovranità popolare esiste solo in atto, quando cioè un popolo si soggettiva come attore della sovranità.EnThis text analyzes the critique of neoliberal demo-phobia in the thought of Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval. For the two authors, an inherently anti-democratic decisionism is at work in neoliberalism that sacrifices democracy on the altar of the "economic constitution". Criticizing the logic of representation, to neoliberal non-democracy Dardot and Laval oppose a "democracy of the commons". For this democracy, popular sovereignty exists only in act, that is, when a people subjectivizes itself as an actor of sovereignty

optimization of the sandblasting process for a better electrodeposition of copper thin films on aluminum substrate by feedforward neural network

Abstract The influence of a proper surface preparation is essential for a better adhesion of copper thin films on aluminum substrate. In this work, the surface properties of the aluminum substrate have been modified through sandblasting process, in order to influence the quality of electroplating. To evaluate the correct adhesion of the thin film to the substrate non-destructive measurements of diffusivity by infrared thermography have been made. A combining of a feedforward artificial neural network (FFANN) and an external optimized algorithm (EOA) is proposed to optimize the substrate surface preparation process. A FFANN model is developed to map the complex non-linear relationship between the surface process conditions of the substrate and the thermal diffusivity of the electroplated sample. A good performance of the FFANN model is achieved. An EOA is used for the optimization of the sandblasting process conditions, in order to maximize the adhesion of the thin film to the substrate

Benjamin, Foucault em confronto com Marx

Este texto examina a maneira como Benjamin e Foucault, a partir da leitura de diferentes páginas do primeiro livro de O Capital, trataram de modo diverso (mas complementar) o problema da sujeição dos vivos à moderna relação de capital. Tendo como pano de fundo as páginas clássicas em que Marx conduz o leitor ao "laboratório secreto da produção", em La societé punitive e em Surveiller et punir, Foucault investiga genealogicamente a constituição do sujeito produtivo e os processos de "acumulação dos corpos" necessários à "acumulação do capital". Ao reler as conhecidas passagens marxistas sobre o fetichismo das mercadorias, em Baudelaire e Passagenwerk, Benjamin reconstrói, ao contrário, uma arqueologia do moderno que analisa a maneira em que as mercadorias, com sua fantasmagoria e suas promessas de felicidade, visam imprimir a relação do capital na subjetividade individual e coletiva

Current and future distribution of a parasite with complex life cycle under global change scenarios: Echinococcus multilocularis in Europe

Global change is expected to have complex effects on the distribution and transmission patterns of zoonotic parasites. Modelling habitat suitability for parasites with complex life cycles is essential to further our understanding of how disease systems respond to environmental changes, and to make spatial predictions of their future distributions. However, the limited availability of high quality occurrence data with high spatial resolution often constrains these investigations. Using 449 reliable occurrence records for Echinococcus multilocularis from across Europe published over the last 35 years, we modelled habitat suitability for this parasite, the aetiological agent of alveolar echinococcosis, in order to describe its environmental niche, predict its current and future distribution under three global change scenarios, and quantify the probability of occurrence for each European country. Using a machine learning approach, we developed large-scale (25 × 25 km) species distribution models based on seven sets of predictors, each set representing a distinct biological hypothesis supported by current knowledge of the autecology of the parasite. The best-supported hypothesis included climatic, orographic and land-use/land-cover variables such as the temperature of the coldest quarter, forest cover, urban cover and the precipitation seasonality. Future projections suggested the appearance of highly suitable areas for E. multilocularis towards northern latitudes and in the whole Alpine region under all scenarios, while decreases in habitat suitability were predicted for central Europe. Our spatially explicit predictions of habitat suitability shed light on the complex responses of parasites to ongoing global change

Estetrol modulates endothelial nitric oxide synthesis in human endothelial cells

Estetrol (E4) is a natural human estrogen that is present at high concentrations during pregnancy. E4 has been reported to act as an endogenous estrogen receptor modulator, exerting estrogenic actions on the endometrium or the central nervous system but presenting antagonistic effects on the breast. Due to these characteristics, E4 is currently being developed for a number of clinical applications, including contraception and menopausal hormone therapy. Endothelial nitric oxide (NO) is a key player for vascular function and disease during pregnancy and throughout aging in women. Endothelial NO is an established target of estrogens that enhance its formation in human endothelial cells. We here addressed the effects of E4 on the activity and expression of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). E4 stimulated the activation of eNOS and NO secretion in HUVEC. E4 was significantly less effective compared to E2, and a peculiar concentration-dependent effect was found, with higher amounts of E4 being less effective than lower concentrations. When E2 was combined with E4, an interesting pattern was noted. E4 antagonized NO synthesis induced by pregnancy-like E2 concentrations. However, E4 did not impede the modest induction of NO synthesis associated with postmenopausal-like E2 levels. These results support the hypothesis that E4 may be a regulator of NO synthesis in endothelial cells and raise questions on its peculiar signaling in this context. Our results may be useful to interpret the role of E4 during human pregnancy and possibly to help develop this interesting steroid for clinical use