44 research outputs found
Redefining the anthology : forms and affordances in digital culture
Alors que le modèle économique de la télévision américaine, longtemps dominant, a été mis au défi de diverses manières par les changements industriels et technologiques de
ces dernières années, des formes narratives de plus en plus hétérogènes sont apparues, qui se sont
ajoutĂ©es aux structures sĂ©rielles originaires. La diversitĂ© des formes tĂ©lĂ©visuelles est devenue particulièrement Ă©vidente depuis que les paysages tĂ©lĂ©visuels nationaux et locaux ont commencĂ© Ă
s’ouvrir aux marchés étrangers situés en dehors des États-Unis, pour finalement adopter une perspective transnationale et globale. La transition vers la télévision distribuée sur Internet a joué un
rĂ´le central dans cette fragmentation formelle et la nouvelle dynamique de la diffusion en ligne a
ouvert une different perspective pour comprendre le flux mondial de contenus télévisuels, qui
reflète aujourd'hui un environnement multimédia et numérique hautement interconnecté et mis en
rĂ©seau. En effet, la multiplication des services de vidĂ©o Ă la demande oblige la sĂ©rialitĂ© Ă
s’adapter au paysage médiatique contemporain, donnant naissance à des produits audiovisuels
pouvant être transférés en ligne et présentant des spécificités de production, de distribution et de
réception. L’un des résultats de tels changements dans les séries télévisées américaines à l’aube
du XXIe siècle est la série anthologique divisée en différentes saisons avec des histoires distinctes, et pourtant liées par le ton et le style. Ma recherche se situe dans un tel contexte technologique, industriel et culturel, où le contenu télévisuel est de plus en plus fragmenté. Compte
tenu de cette fragmentation des contenus, cette thèse examine la manière dont les contenus télévisuels contemporains sont distribués, dans l'interaction entre les processus de recommandation
basés sur des algorithmes et les pratiques éditoriales plus traditionnelles. L’objectif de ce projet
est donc d’étudier la manière dont certaines structures narratives typiques de la forme de l’anthologie apparaissent dans le contexte de la sérialité de la télévision nord-américaine, à partir de
conditions spécifiques de production, de distribution et de consommation dans l’industrie des
médias. En se concentrant sur l'évolution (dimension temporelle et historique) et sur la circulation
numérique (dimension spatiale, géographique) des séries d'anthologies américaines, et en observant les particularités de leur production et de leur style, ainsi que leurs réseaux de distribution et
les modes de consommation qu'elles favorisent, cette thèse s’inscrit finalement dans une conversation plus vaste sur les études culturelles et numériques. L’objectif final est d’étudier la relation
entre les formes anthologiques, les plateformes de distribution et les modèles de consommation,
en proposant une approche comparative de l’anthologie qui soit à la fois cross-culturelle, crosshistorique, cross-genre et qui prenne en consideration les pratiques pre- et post-numériques pour
l’organisation de contenus culturels.As the longtime dominant U.S. television business model has been challenged
in various ways by industrial and technological changes in recent years, more heterogeneous narrative forms have emerged in addition to original serial structures. The diversity of televisual
forms became particularly evident since national, local television landscapes started opening up
to foreign markets outside of the U.S., finally embracing a transnational, global perspective and
tracing alternative value-chains. The transition to internet-distributed television played a pivotal
role in this formal fragmentation and new dynamics of online streaming opened up another path
for understanding the flow of television content, which today reflects a highly interconnected,
networked media and digital environment. Indeed, the proliferation of video-on-demand services
is forcing seriality to adapt to the contemporary mediascape, giving rise to audiovisual products
that can be transferred online and present specificities in production, distribution and reception.
One of the outcomes of such changes in U.S. television series at the dawn of the twenty-first century is the anthology series divided in different seasons with separate stories, yet linked by tone
and style. My research positions itself in such a technological, industrial and cultural context,
where television content is increasingly fragmented. Given such a fragmentation, this thesis considers the ways contemporary television content is distributed in the interaction between algorithmic-driven recommendation processes and more traditional editorial practices. The aim of the
project is to investigate the way certain narrative structures typical of the anthology form emerge
in the context of U.S. television seriality, starting from specific conditions of production, distribution and consumption in the media industry. By focusing on the evolution (temporal, historical
dimension) and on the digital circulation (spatial, geographic dimension) of U.S. anthology series, and observing the peculiarities in their production and style, as well as their distributional
networks and the consumption patterns they foster, this thesis ultimately insert itself into a larger
conversation on digital-cultural studies. The final purpose is to examine the relation between anthological forms, distribution platforms and consumption models, by proposing a comparative
approach to the anthology that is at the same time cross-cultural, cross-historical, cross-genre and
accounting for both pre- and post-digital practices for cultural content organization
Tailoring of silica-based nanoporous pod by spermidine multi-activity
Ubiquitous in nature, polyamines (PAs) are a class of low-molecular aliphatic amines critically involved in cell growth, survival and differentiation. The polycation behavior is validated as a successful strategy in delivery systems to enhance oligonucleotide loading and cellular uptake. In this study, the chemical features and the functional roles of the PA spermidine are synergistically exploited in the synthesis and bioactive functionalization of SiO2-based structures. Inspired by biosilicification, the role of spermidine is assessed both as catalyst and template in a biomimetic one-pot synthesis of dense silica-based particles (SPs) and as a competitive agent in an interfacial reassembly strategy, to empty out SPs and generate spermidine-decorated hollow silica nanoporous pods (spd-SNPs). Spermidine bioactivity is then employed for targeting tumor cell over-expressed polyamine transport system (PTS) and for effective delivery of functional miRNA into melanoma cells. Spermidine decoration promotes spd-SNP cell internalization mediated by PTS and along with hollow structure enhances oligonucleotide loading. Accordingly, the functional delivery of the tumor suppressor miR-34a 3p resulted in intracellular accumulation of histone-complexed DNA fragments associated with apoptosis. Overall, the results highlight the potential of spd-SNP as a multi-agent anticancer therapy
The Niguarda MEWS, a new and refined tool to determine criticality and instability in Internal Medicine Ward and Emergency Medicine Unit
This study compares the effect of the modified early warning score (MEWS) versus a new early warning system (Niguarda MEWS) for detecting instability and criticality in hospital medical departments. A retrospective observational study was conducted in the Internal Medicine ward of Niguarda Ca' Granda Hospital in Milan between November 2013 and October 2014. MEWS and Niguarda-MEWS were gathered using: systolic blood pressure, respiratory frequency, heart rate, temperature, level of consciousness, oxygen saturation, creatinine level, hematocrit level and age. In order to determine if the patient was critical or not the MEWS criticality cut-off value chosen was 3, while in the Niguarda MEWS it was 6. The primary outcome was the correlation between the critical level of the two scores and in-hospital mortality. The secondary endpoint was the correlation between a specific disease and the two scores. In the study, 471 patients were included, using both the MEWS and the Niguarda MEWS score at admittance: 33.4% of patients turned out to be critically ill using the former, 40.98% when using the latter. Therefore, the specificity of scores was 70% for MEWS and 73% for Niguarda MEWS, the sensitivity 58% for MEWS and 63% for Niguarda MEWS, Niguarda MEWS area under the curve (AUC): 0.736, MEWS AUC: 0.670. For the secondary outcome, the new score is higher for genitourinary and respiratory diseases. Niguarda-MEWS could be an optimal tool to detect criticality and instability in order to address the patient to the right level of care
Designation of optimal reference strains representing the infant gut bifidobacterial species through a comprehensive multi-omics approach
The genomic era has resulted in the generation of a massive amount of genetic data concerning the genomic diversity of bacterial taxa. As a result, the microbiological community is increasingly looking for ways to define reference bacterial strains to perform experiments that are representative of the entire bacterial species. Despite this, there is currently no established approach allowing a reliable identification of reference strains based on a comprehensive genomic, ecological, and functional context. In the current study, we developed a comprehensive multi-omics approach that will allow the identification of the optimal reference strains using the Bifidobacterium genus as test case. Strain tracking analysis based on 1664 shotgun metagenomics datasets of healthy infant faecal samples were employed to identify bifidobacterial strains suitable for in silico and in vitro analyses. Subsequently, an ad hoc bioinformatic tool was developed to screen local strain collections for the most suitable species-representative strain alternative. The here presented approach was validated using in vitro trials followed by metagenomics and metatranscriptomics analyses. Altogether, these results demonstrated the validity of the proposed model for reference strain selection, thus allowing improved in silico and in vitro investigations both in terms of cross-laboratory reproducibility and relevance of research findings
Genetic strategies for sex-biased persistence of gut microbes across human life
Although compositional variation in the gut microbiome during human development has been extensively investigated, strain-resolved dynamic changes remain to be fully uncovered. In the current study, shotgun metagenomic sequencing data of 12,415 fecal microbiomes from healthy individuals are employed for strain-level tracking of gut microbiota members to elucidate its evolving biodiversity across the human life span. This detailed longitudinal meta-analysis reveals host sex-related persistence of strains belonging to common, maternally-inherited species, such as Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum. Comparative genome analyses, coupled with experiments including intimate interaction between microbes and human intestinal cells, show that specific bacterial glycosyl hydrolases related to host-glycan metabolism may contribute to more efficient colonization in females compared to males. These findings point to an intriguing ancient sex-specific host-microbe coevolution driving the selective persistence in women of key microbial taxa that may be vertically passed on to the next generation.We thank GenProbio Srl for the financial support of the Laboratory of
Probiogenomics. Part of this research is conducted using the High-
Performance Computing (HPC) facility of the University of Parma. This
research has financially been supported by the Programme “FIL-Quota
Incentivante” of University of Parma and co-sponsored by Fondazione
Cariparma”. D.v.S. is a member of APC Microbiome Ireland funded by
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), through the Irish Government’s
National Development Plan (Grant no. SFI/12/RC/2273-P1 and SFI/12/RC/
2273-P2). G.T. has been supported by “Fondazione Cariparma” in the
framework of the project entitled “Parma Microbiota”. LMV has been
supported by by “Programma Operativo Nazionale 2014–2020 of the
Italian Ministry of University and Research. The funding from Project
AGL2017-83653R (Spanish “Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
(MCIU)”, “Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)” and FEDER)
is also acknowledged
Insight from an Italian Delphi Consensus on EVAR feasibility outside the instruction for use: the SAFE EVAR Study
BACKGROUND: The SAfety and FEasibility of standard EVAR outside the instruction for use (SAFE-EVAR) Study was designed to define the attitude of Italian vascular surgeons towards the use of standard endovascular repair (EVAR) for infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) outside the instruction for use (IFU) through a Delphi consensus endorsed by the Italian Society of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery (Societa Italiana di Chirurgia Vascolare ed Endovascolare - SICVE). METHODS: A questionnaire consisting of 26 statements was developed, validated by an 18 -member Advisory Board, and then sent to 600 Italian vascular surgeons. The Delphi process was structured in three subsequent rounds which took place between April and June 2023. In the first two rounds, respondents could indicate one of the following five degrees of agreement: 1) strongly agree; 2) partially agree; 3) neither agree nor disagree; 4) partially disagree; 5) strongly disagree; while in the third round only three different choices were proposed: 1) agree; 2) neither agree nor disagree; 3) disagree. We considered the consensus reached when >70% of respondents agreed on one of the options. After the conclusion of each round, a report describing the percentage distribution of the answers was sent to all the participants. RESULTS: Two -hundred -forty-four (40.6%) Italian Vascular Surgeons agreed to participate the first round of the Delphi Consensus; the second and the third rounds of the Delphi collected 230 responders (94.3% of the first -round responders). Four statements (15.4%) reached a consensus in the first rounds. Among the 22 remaining statements, one more consensus (3.8%) was achieved in the second round. Finally, seven more statements (26.9%) reached a consensus in the simplified last round. Globally, a consensus was reached for almost half of the proposed statements (46.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The relatively low consensus rate obtained in this Delphi seems to confirm the discrepancy between Guideline recommendations and daily clinical practice. The data collected could represent the source for a possible guidelines' revision and the proposal of specific Good Practice Points in all those aspects with only little evidence available
An Introduction to Network Visualization for Television Studies: Models and Practical Applications
With the advent of open-source digital tools, abstract models have been consistently adopted in humanistic research and they have proven to be useful for many purposes: for predictive and descriptive analysis using quantitative or qualitative models, for database management, as in the case of relational models, and for modeling cultural dynamics (Gabor 2008). Among others, television scholars embraced such a trend in cultural analytics and digital humanities, by notably adopting modeling practices for assessing viewers behaviors (Wonneberger 2009) or for measuring qualitative variations in narrative ecosystems (Pescatore, Rocchi 2018). Drawing upon this digital turn, the following paper aims to discuss the advantages, challenges and limits of adopting visual models for the analysis of large corpora in television studies. Examples of data visualization will be notably shown here, in application to a sample database of anthology TV series extracted through the Wikidata Query Service. A visual model available on the platform RAWGraph will be proposed as a means to identify flows of production and distribution, by looking at the country of origin and at the industrial players involved in the formation of such a network. More than on actual modeling, we will therefore focus on model usage for academic research
Maps, Distant Reading and the Internet Movie Database: New Approaches for the Analysis of Large-Scale Datasets in Television Studies
The presence of large-scale data sets, made available thanks to information technology, fostered in the past few years a new scholarly interest for the use of computational methods to extract, visualize and observe data in the Humanities. Scholars from various disciplines work on new models of analysis to detect and understand major patterns in cultural production, circulation and reception, following the lead, among others, of Lev Manovich\u2019s cultural analytics. The aim is to use existing raw information in order to develop new questions and offer more answers about today\u2019s digital landscape. Starting from these premises, and witnessing the current digitisation of television production, distribution, and reception, in this paper we ask what digital approaches based on big data can bring to the study of television series and their movements in the global mediascape
Crossing Eras: Exploring Nostalgic Reconfigurations in Media Franchises
Over the past few years, as television began to build a more solid history, televisual products have been affected by a nostalgic wave that lead to the revival of several old time favorite franchises. Such a trend is one of the consequences of a wider technological environment, where television content is more and more interconnected and somehow serialized, not only through space, whether fictional, virtual or real, but also through time, in a continuous dialogue between media of the past and media of the present. This reticular mechanism, which involves processes of recycling and remediation among others, contributed to consolidate a preexisting association between the domain of media and forms of nostalgia. While nostalgia doesn\u2019t appear as a new paradigm in contemporary history, since it has been affecting human societies starting from their ancient years, the emergence of digital media indeed created alternative premises for triggering nostalgic practices in cultural industries worldwide. Being easily accessible in libraries online, always available, mediated nostalgia turns a self-generated state of longing into an externally prompted condition, which responds to technological changes, socio-cultural dynamics and commercial parameters. As a multifaceted concept, it carries several meanings and implications, ranging from an economical to a cultural understanding of the production of storytelling practices. This chapter investigates the concept of mediated nostalgia in the digital age, by analyzing its role in contemporary television seriality, as well as its effects on textual forms and narrative structures, and on the industry that surrounds them