SALGARI DAL GIORNALE AL LIBRO. SVILUPPO DELLE STRATEGIE NARRATIVE SALGARIANE (1883-1903).

2005/2006SALGARI DAL GIORNALE AL LIBRO. SVILUPPO DELLE STRATEGIE NARRATIVE SALGARIANE (1883-1903) Emilio Salgari nasce, come scrittore, sulle appendici dei giornali. Nel 1883 uscì sulle pagine della “Nuova Arena” di Verona, il romanzo Tay-See, seguito a breve distanza da La tigre della Malesia (1883) e La favorita del Mahdi (1883/84), sempre sullo stesso quotidiano. Gli strangolatori del Gange uscirà, invece, a Livorno sul “Telefono” nel 1887, e La Vergine della pagoda d’Oriente nel 1891/92 sulla “Gazzetta di Treviso”. Mentre su un settimanale, il “Novelliere Illustrato” di Torino farà la sua comparsa, nel 1896, Vita Eccentrica. Si tratta di testi rimasti per lungo tempo praticamente sconosciuti e che solo negli ultimi anni sono stati riproposti all’attenzione dei lettori e degli studiosi, apportando un notevole contributo agli ancora giovani studi su Salgari. Tutti questi romanzi usciti in appendice sono stati, più tardi, editi in volume, spesso con un titolo diverso e hanno, in varia misura, subito dei rimaneggiamenti. Nel 1887 viene pubblicato il volume della Favorita del Mahdi, nel 1895 I misteri della Jungla Nera (Gli strangolatori del Gange), nel 1896 I pirati della Malesia (La Vergine della pagoda d’oriente), nel 1897 La rosa del Dong-Giang (Tay-See), nel 1900 Le tigri di Mompracem (La tigre della Malesia) e nel 1911 I Predoni del Gran Deserto (Vita Eccentrica). Il testo delle appendici della Favorita, così come quello di Vita Eccentrica, non è, purtroppo ancora disponibile in un’edizione filologicamente accurata, ma per fortuna mi è stato possibile reperire i testi originali presso le biblioteche di Verona, Torino e Chieri. In realtà, questi sei romanzi non esauriscono il panorama delle appendici salgariane, infatti anche altri romanzi dell’autore veronese uscirono sulle pagine di vari periodici; tuttavia, in tutti gli altri casi la pubblicazione in volume segue di pochi mesi quella sul giornale o è addirittura contemporanea ad essa. Questi sei romanzi vengono quindi a costituire un corpus a sé stante, in quanto furono gli unici a essere stati inizialmente scritti solo per la pubblicazione sul giornale. In ben cinque casi su sei, infatti, le appendici risultano costituire dei testi sostanzialmente diversi da quelli che compaiono nei volumi. Nella mia tesi di dottorato, mi sono quindi proposto di esaminare il passaggio tra le appendici e i volumi analizzando le relative modificazioni. Questo lavoro viene così a costituire una visione d’insieme completa, che finora mancava, su Salgari romanziere d’appendice, in quanto raccoglie le analisi di tutti e sei i romanzi, mentre finora, anche l’opera di Fioraso la più completa in questo senso, non comprendeva Vita Eccentrica – I Predoni del Gran Deserto tra i testi esaminati. È stato, anzi, di particolare interesse il recupero e lo studio di questo testo ancora inedito e molto poco studiato fino ad ora. Il romanzo fu concepito da Salgari – caso più unico che raro per questo autore - quale seconda parte del racconto Vita eccentrica di Vincenzina Ghirardi Fabiani, apparso sullo stesso settimanale l’anno precedente, il che mi ha consentito di analizzare la strategia narrativa usata dall’autore per creare una narrazione con personaggi già caratterizzati in precedenza da altri. Nei primi sei capitoli ho voluto analizzare ognuno dei sei testi, mettendo a confronto la versione in appendice con quella in volume, a parte il caso di Vita Eccentrica dove, essendo tali differenze trascurabili, ho condotto un confronto fra il testo di Salgari e quello della Fabiani. Per ciascun romanzo ho tentato di mettere in luce le peculiarità, e le parti che mi parevano più interessanti; ho inoltre riportato le opinioni espresse dagli altri critici che se ne sono occupati, evidenziando i punti in cui le mie personali osservazioni mi portavano a mettere in discussione tali posizioni. In particolare, mi sono confrontato con le opinioni espresse negli scritti di Giuseppe Zaccaria e Roberto Fioraso. I due studiosi salgariani, pur con diverse sfumature, sono sostanzialmente convinti che ci sia stata una considerevole diminuzione degli elementi “scabrosi” e violenti, nel passaggio dalle appendici ai volumi. Tale fenomeno, cui danno il nome di attenuazione, sarebbe stato indotto dal pubblico infantile cui erano destinati i volumi, secondo Zaccaria, o dalla volontà di adeguarsi a canoni più “borghesi”, secondo Fioraso. In altre parole si afferma che l’autore abbia operato delle “censure” alla propria scrittura. Questa visione porta, come logica conseguenza, a una sostanziale svalutazione dei volumi, ritenuti meno autentici rispetto alle appendici, e afferma inoltre che, ad eccezione di una piccola parte della produzione giovanile, la grande maggioranza delle opere di Salgari sarebbe stata scritta per un pubblico infantile. L’esame dei testi mi ha, però, portato a confutare radicalmente questa teoria, ho quindi utilizzato un capitolo per esporre le conclusioni cui sono arrivato sulla narrativa salgariana e sul pubblico a cui essa era rivolta, mettendo in rilievo le parzialità e le incongruenze che mi hanno portato e respingere altri tipi di interpretazioni. In un altro capitolo, ho invece raccolto le osservazioni che ho avuto modo di fare a proposito del particolare punto di vista usato da Salgari nelle sue narrazioni, che a volte sembra avvicinarsi più a quello di uno spettatore che a quello di un narratore onnisciente. Ritenendo che le ragioni di questa caratteristica peculiare di Salgari fossero da ricercarsi nel rapporto particolarmente stretto che l’autore veronese ha intrattenuto con il mondo del teatro, ho quindi cercato di ricostruire una panoramica di tale rapporto in base ai non moltissimi documenti attualmente in nostro possesso. In due brevi capitoli finali, ho poi voluto condurre una ricognizione sulle fonti utilizzate da Salgari per attingervi le notizie che inseriva nei suoi lavori, e su alcuni testi salgariani che non mi è stato possibile reperire, pur avendo trovato cospicui indizi a conferma della loro esistenza. Spero che questo mio studio possa portare un piccolo contributo alla ricerca e al dibattito critico attorno a uno scrittore, che si è appena cominciato a studiare con gli strumenti e la serietà che sicuramente merita

Combined endophytic inoculants enhance nickel phytoextraction from serpentine soil in the hyperaccumulator Noccaea caerulescens

This study assesses the effects of specific bacterial endophytes on the phytoextraction capacity of the Ni-hyperaccumulator Noccaea caerulescens, spontaneously growing in a serpentine soil environment. Five metal-tolerant endophytes had already been selected for their high Ni tolerance (6 mM) and plant growth promoting ability. Here we demonstrate that individual bacterial inoculation is ineffective in enhancing Ni translocation and growth of N. caerulescens in serpentine soil, except for specific strains Ncr-1 and Ncr-8, belonging to the Arthrobacter and Microbacterium genera, which showed the highest indole acetic acid production and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid-deaminase activity. Ncr-1 and Ncr-8 co-inoculation was even more efficient in promoting plant growth, soil Ni removal, and translocation of Ni, together with that of Fe, Co, and Cu. Bacteria of both strains densely colonized the root surfaces and intercellular spaces of leaf epidermal tissue. These two bacterial strains also turned out to stimulate root length, shoot biomass, and Ni uptake in Arabidopsis thaliana grown in MS agar medium supplemented with Ni. It is concluded that adaptation of N. caerulescens in highly Ni-contaminated serpentine soil can be enhanced by an integrated community of bacterial endophytes rather than by single strains; of the former, Arthrobacter and Microbacterium may be useful candidates for future phytoremediation trials in multiple metal-contaminated sites, with possible extension to non-hyperaccumulator plants

16S rDNA Profiling to Reveal the Influence of Seed-Applied Biostimulants on the Rhizosphere of Young Maize Plants

In an open field trial on two agricultural soils in NW Italy, the impact of two seed-applied biostimulants on the rhizosphere bacterial community of young maize plants was evaluated. The 16S rDNA profiling was carried out on control and treated plant rhizosphere samples collected at the 4-leaf stage and on bulk soil. In both soils, the rhizospheres were significantly enriched in Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteriodetes, while the abundances of Acidobacteria, Cloroflexi and Gemmatimonadetes decreased compared with bulk soil. Among the culturable bacteria genera that showed an increase by both biostimulants, most are known to be beneficial for nutrient uptake, such as Opitutus, Chryseolinea, Terrimonas, Rhodovastum, Cohnella, Pseudoduganella and the species Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans; others are known to be involved in root growth, such as Niastella, Labrys, Chloroflexia and Thermomonas; or in plant defence, such as Ohtaekwangia, Quadrisphaera, Turneriella, and Actinoallomurus. Both biostimulants were also found to stimulate gen. Nannocystis, a potential biocompetitive agent against aflatoxigenic Aspergillus moulds. Under controlled conditions, both biostimulants enhanced the shoot and root biomass at the 4\u20135 leaf stage. We conclude that the biostimulants do not decrease the biodiversity of the microbial community rhizosphere of young maize plants, but stimulate rare bacterial taxa, some involved in plant growth and pathogen resistance, a result that may have implications in improving crop management

Pasta-making properties of the new durum wheat variety biensur suitable for the northern mediterranean environment

Industrial pasta is commonly made from mixtures of semolina from different durum wheat varieties, and there is a very low market presence of mono-varietal pasta from local, short supply chains. In this work, dough rheological properties and pasta quality traits of the new durum wheat cv. Biensur, which has a high HMW/LMW-GS ratio, were evaluated with a view to developing short-chain, mono-varietal pasta production in NE Italy. Chemical and sensory analyses on short-cut pasta, viz. tubetti, made with semolina from cv. Biensur at two drying temperatures revealed that it has good technological characteristics and stability, excellent cooking and sensory properties, and is comparable to the high-quality commercial reference cv. Aureo. We conclude that Biensur provides farmers and traders with new market opportunities and offers improvements to the environmental and economic sustainability of the durum wheat chain

Editorial: Analyzing the Relationship Between Dietary Patterns, Health Outcomes, and Individual Food Choices

none2openVisioli, Francesco; Sofi, FrancescoVisioli, Francesco; Sofi, Francesc

Dietary advice to cardiovascular patients. A brief update for physicians.

It is important, in our opinion, to provide physicians with a brief update of scientifically-sound evidence in preventive nutrition, to be employed in their everyday practice, since the latest scientific and clinical advances in this area are generally not well known. Here, we review the most recent evidence in support of an optimal cardio-protective diet, and we identify the need to focus mainly on protective food which should be part of such diet, rather than on nutrients with negative effects to be limited (salt, saturated fats, simple sugars). We conclude that, to favor patient compliance, it is also necessary to underscore indications on the topics for which there is convincing and coherent literature, leaving other less-explored aspects to individual preferences

Effects of field inoculation with VAM and bacteria consortia on root growth and nutrients uptake in common wheat

This study investigated the effects of a commercial biofertilizer containing the mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis and the diazotrophic N-fixing bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii on root and shoot growth, yield, and nutrient uptake in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in order to improve the sustainable cultivation of this widespread crop. The trials were carried out in controlled conditions (rhizoboxes) and in open fields over two years to investigate the interaction between inoculation and three doses of nitrogen fertilization (160, 120 and 80 kg ha1) in a silty-loam soil of the Po Plain (NE Italy). In rhizoboxes, efficient root colonization by R. irregularis was observed at 50 days after sowing with seed inoculation, together with improved root tip density and branching (+~30% vs. controls), while the effects of post-emergence inoculation by soil and foliar spraying were not observable at plant sampling. In the open, field spraying at end tillering significantly increased the volumetric root length density (RLD, +22% vs. controls) and root area density (+18%) after about two months (flowering stage) in both years under medium and high N fertilization doses, but not at the lowest N dose. In absence of inoculation, RLD progressively decreased with increased N doses. Inoculation had a negligible effect on grain yield and N uptake, which followed a typical N dose-response model, while straw Zn, P, and K concentrations were seldom improved. It is concluded that medium-high N fertilization doses are required to achieve the target yield and standards of quality (protein contents) in wheat cultivation, while the use of this mixed VAM-PGPR biofertilizer appears to be a sustainable mean for minimizing the adverse effects of chemical N fertilizers on root expansion and for improving the uptake of low-mobility nutrients, which has potentially relevant environmental benefits

Variations in yield and gluten proteins in durum wheat varieties under late-season foliar versus soil application of nitrogen fertilizer in a northern Mediterranean environment

BACKGROUND: With the increasing demand for high-quality foodstuffs and concern for environmental sustainability, late-season nitrogen (N) foliar fertilization of common wheat is now an important and widespread practice. This study investigated the effects of late-season foliar versus soil N fertilization on yield and protein content of four varieties of durum wheat, Aureo, Ariosto, Biensur and Liberdur, in a three-year field trial in northern Italy. RESULTS: Variations in low-molecular-weight glutenins (LMW-GS), high-molecular-weight glutenins (HMW-GS) and gliadins were assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). It was found that N applied to the canopy did not improve protein rate compared with N application to the soil (general mean 138mg g 121), but moderately increased productivity in the high-yielding varieties Liberdur and Biensur (three-year means 7.23 vs 7.13 and 7.53 vs 7.09 t ha 121 respectively). Technological quality was mainly related to variety choice, Aureo and Ariosto having higher protein rates and glutenin/gliadin ratios. Also found was a strong \u2018variety 7 N application method\u2019 interaction in the proportions of protein subunits within each class, particularly LMW-GS and gliadins. A promising result was the higher N uptake efficiency, although as apparent balance, combined with higher HMW/LMW-GS ratio in var. Biensur. CONCLUSION: Late-season foliar N fertilization allows N fertilizer saving, potentially providing environmental benefits in the rainy climate of the northern Mediterranean area, and also leads to variety-dependent up-regulation of essential LMW-GS and gliadins. Variety choice is a key factor in obtaining high technological quality, although it is currently associated with modest grain yield. This study provides evidence of high quality in the specific high-yielding variety Biensur, suggesting its potential as a mono-varietal semolina for pasta production

Is Site-Specific Pasta a Prospective Asset for a Short Supply Chain?

In the 2011\u20132012 season, variable-rate nitrogen (N) fertilization was applied two times during durum wheat vegetative growth in three field areas which diered in soil fertility in northern Italy. The quality traits of the mono-varietal pasta obtained from each management zone were assessed in view of site-specific pasta production for a short supply chain. To this purpose, semolina from cv. Biensur obtained from management zones with dierent fertility treated with N at variable rate was tested in comparison with a commercial reference (cv. Aureo) to produce short-cut pasta. Biensur semolina demonstrated to have technological characteristics positively correlated with the low-fertility zones treated with high N doses (200 and 200+15 kg/ha) and, to a lesser extent, with the high-soil-fertility zones (130 and 130 + 15 kg/ha of N). The lower quality parameters were obtained for pasta produced with wheat from medium-fertility zones, independently of the N dose applied. The derived pasta obtained from the low-fertility zones treated with high N doses had cooking and sensory properties comparable to those of pasta obtained using the reference cv. Aureo. These results are explained by the higher amounts of gluten proteins and by a higher glutenin/gliadin ratio in semolina, which are indicators of technological quality. Overall, the results indicate that segregation of the grain at harvest led to the production of semolina with higher protein content and, hence, to a higher pasta quality. Therefore, site-specific pasta could be a potential asset for a short supply chain, aiming to improve traceability and environmental and economic sustainabilit