Maternal love as nurturing. Devices, myths and ideologies

Maternal love is one of the myths founding ideologies about motherhood. Ideologies about motherhood change over time depending on the social and economic system of which they are devices. \u201cIntensive motherhood\u201d, the ideology that has appeared since the eighties, creates the figure of the good mother as responsible for the healthy mental and physical development of their children. Specularly to this figure emerges mother blame, a discursive device around mothers considered responsible for disorders and deviant behaviour and conduct of their children. In this paper, we analyse how in an individualised and neo-liberal society, mother blame finds a privileged operating territory in food. Nourishment, which has always been considered one of the cornerstones of maternal love, in food modernity, characterised by gastro-anomie indeed takes on very relevant meanings

Long-term effects of sport on segmental body composition: a study in adult and elderly subjects.

Research investigating the effects of sport in the elderly has demonstrated that physical exercise contributes to maintain muscle mass and to contrast the increase of fat mass. However, the effects of long-term sport on body composition, in particular on segmental body composition, and the effect of different sports have been less investigated. The objective of this research was to study the long-term effects of physical exercise on physiological and psychological well-being in the elderly. For this purpose, a first section of the thesis concerned methodological aspects related to body composition assessment: 1) the comparison of specific bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (specific BIVA) with reference techniques; 2) the association between specific BIVA and self-perceived body image; 3) the comparison of results among widely used impedance devices. Different samples and techniques were used for each objective. 1) 202 athletes (139 men and 63 women; 20.6 ± 5.1 years of age) for the total body composition study, and 50 young active students (25 men and 25 women; 24.3 ± 4.6 y) for the study on segmental body composition. DXA was used as the criterion method to assess fat-free mass (FFM), fat-mass (FM), and %FM; dilution techniques were used to assess total body water (TBW) and extracellular water (ECW), respectively. 2) 632 young adults (238 men and 394 women; 22.8 ± 2.3 y) and 162 middle-aged and elderly adults (96 men and 66 women; 61.4 ± 7.6 y). The Williamson’s figure scale was used to evaluate current body size. 3) 31 adults (8 men and 23 women; 39.8 ± 14.2 y). Three different bioimpedance devices. Specific BIVA showed to be accurate in the assessment of %FM and ECW/ICW ratio. The segmental approach showed a good agreement with DXA too. The analysis of the relationship between current body image and body composition showed that young and elderly normal weight individuals of both sexes recognise themselves correctly, and consider their silhouettes mainly associated with %FM. The comparison among bioimpedance devices showed systematic differences in the measure of reactance. The bias was amended by a correction factor. Following these results, the second section of the thesis investigated total and segmental body composition, muscle strength, morphological and functional symmetry, degree of depression and body image perception in middle aged and elderly individuals. A sample of 106 active subjects (72 men and 34 women; 60.9 ± 7.5 y), involved in three different sports (Tennis, Tai Chi, Running), and a sample of 105 age-matched controls (49 men, 56 women) were considered. The results showed that active individuals had better nutritional status with respect to the controls, lower values of %FM and higher muscle mass in the total body, in the arms and, particularly, in the trunk. Runners and tennis players showed lower values of %FM and higher values of muscle mass than Tai Chi subjects, both at the total and the segmental level. Tennis players exhibited the highest values of muscle mass in the total body, and runners in the trunk. Active subjects as a total and in each sport separately were more symmetrical than controls. Finally, the active sample exhibited better body image satisfaction and psychological well-being than controls. In summary, specific BIVA demonstrated to be a suitable tool for monitoring total and segmental body composition changes. The long-term practice of sport positively influences total and segmental body composition, with more accentuated effects among runners and tennis players than Tai Chi subjects. Active men and women were less affected by the age-related process of %FM increase, muscle mass and strength reduction, are more symmetrical and hence are further away from the emergence of sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, risk of falls and frailty. They were also more satisfied about their body image. All this concurs to maintain health and mental well-being and promotes successful ageing

Carbon-based antiviral nanomaterials: graphene, C-dots, and fullerenes. A perspective

The appearance of new and lethal viruses and their potential threat urgently requires innovative antiviral systems

Il lavoro in biblioteca? Non è mai una questione di «ordinaria amministrazione». Conversazione con Anna Maria Giorgetti Vichi

Il testo rappresenta la stesura in forma di intervista dei principali temi affrontati in una conversazione con Anna Maria Giorgetti Vichi, che è stata bibliotecaria, ispettrice centrale, direttrice della biblioteca Angelica e delle due biblioteche nazionali centrali di Firenze e di Roma. L’articolo, dopo la formazione e le fasi iniziali della sua carriera, ripercorre le tappe principali del suo lungo percorso professionale a cominciare dalla direzione alla biblioteca Angelica, cui seguirà nel 1970 la nomina a direttrice della BNCF – in un momento particolarmente delicato della biblioteca, ancora impegnata nel recupero dopo l’alluvione del 1966 e le dimissioni di Emanuele Casamassima che l’aveva salvata nell’emergenza. Degli anni fiorentini vengono approfondite questioni ancora dibattute come lo stile di gestione della Biblioteca, le relazioni con il personale e i sindacati, le idee sulla conservazione e la distanza rispetto alle tecniche di restauro sperimentate a Firenze dopo l’alluvione del 1966, i rapporti con il Ministero e con la città. In conclusione si ricorda il ritorno da ispettrice a Roma alla fine del mandato in BNCF e l’ultimo impegno come direttrice della BNCR. Il contributo è corredato da una nota biografica e dalla bibliografia degli scritti.The paper originates from an interview with Anna Maria Giorgetti Vichi, former librarian, ministerial supervisor, and director of the Angelica library and of the two National central libraries of Florence (BNCF) and Rome (BNCR). It recollects the main stages of her professional life from the successful experience at the Angelica library and the following role of director of BNCF in critical circumstances – when the library was still recovering after the flood of 1966. A few controversial issues concerning the Florentine years – such as her management style, her relationships with staff and unions, her ideas about conservation and preservation of library materials etc. – are discussed and clarified. The contribution is accompanied by a biographical and bibliographical note

Certified accuracy of rainfall data as a standard requirement in scientific investigations

International audienceThis paper elaborates on the rationale behind the proposed standard limits for the accuracy of rainfall intensity measurements obtained from tipping-bucket and other types of rain gauges. Indeed, based on experimental results obtained in the course of international instrument Intercomparison initiatives and specific laboratory tests, it is shown here that the accuracy of operational rain gauges can be reduced to the limits of ±1% after proper calibration and correction. This figure is proposed as a standard accuracy requirement for the use of rain data in scientific investigations. This limit is also proposed as the reference accuracy for operational rain gauge networks in order to comply with quality assurance systems in meteorological observations

Wearing a veil. Gender and generations in post revolution tunisia

The subject of essay is the decision to wear a veil on the part of some young Tunisian women. After having reconstructed how the research process in Tunisia developed, and how this experience is considered in the broader path developed by the visual sociology laboratory, one will therefore deal with the veil as a practice of resistance and subjectification. In the Tunisian post-revolution, the female body represents a territory of symbolic struggle between generations that move in the tension among modernity and tradition

Hydroxylated boron nitride materials: from structures to functional applications

Abstract Functionalization of boron nitride (BN) materials with hydroxyls has attracted great attention to accomplish better performances at micro- and nanoscale. BN surface hydroxylation, in fact, induces a change in properties and allows expanding the fields of application. In this review, we have summarized the state-of-the-art in developing hydroxylated bulk and nanoscale BN materials. The different synthesis routes to develop hydroxyl BN have been critically discussed. What emerges is the great variety of possible strategies to achieve BN hydroxylation, which, in turn, represents one of the most suitable methods to improve the solubility of BN nanomaterials. The improved stability of BN solutions creates conditions for producing high-quality nanocomposites. Furthermore, new interesting optical and electronic properties may arise from the functionalization by OH groups as displayed by a wide range of both theoretical and experimental studies. After the presentation of the most significant systems and methodologies, we question of future perspective and important trends of the next generation BN materials as well as the possible areas of advanced research. Graphical abstract Hydroxyl functionalization of boron nitride materials is a key method to control and enhance the properties and design new functional applications

Consumo di lusso e construal level theory. L'identificazione di attributi, benefici e valori tramite la tecnica del laddering.

Gli obiettivi di questo elaborato sono essenzialmente due: la generazione, tramite la tecnica del laddering, delle catene mezzi-fini che il consumatore associa all'acquisto di un particolare prodotto ossia un borsone da viaggio di un famoso brand del lusso, e lo sviluppo di un insieme di parole da associare al concetto di brand lifestyle e a quello di brand non lifestyle. Si ritiene infatti che esista una connessione tra la distanza psicologica, focus della construal level teory e il lifestyle positioning. Il conseguimento di tali obiettivi ha portato ad avvalerci di alcune tecniche di ricerca qualitativa, tra le quali: le interviste one to one, il focus group e il test di Zaltman