Teaching the Victorian Gothic Through Screen Adaptations: The Undying Power of Bram Stoker's Dracula

openIn questa tesi viene analizzata la rilevanza storica e culturale del romanzo Gotico, utilizzato come mezzo didattico da proporre agli studenti della scuola secondaria di secondo grado al fine di mettere in luce alcuni aspetti salienti dell’età Vittoriana che possano portarli ad effettuare una lettura critica e a mettere in luce eventuali vicinanze del Gotico letterario con l’età contemporanea. Il romanzo Gotico scelto per effettuare questa analisi è Dracula di Bram Stoker, per via della sua incredibile popolarità e della presenza di innumerevoli adattamenti cinematografici, i quali, nel presente studio, vengono utilizzati come strumenti per la realizzazione della didattica. Il presente lavoro di tesi si propone di sottolineare l’efficacia dell’adattamento cinematografico e/o televisivo nell’accrescere l’interesse degli studenti nei confronti del romanzo Gotico, facilitandoli nell’individuazione di temi rilevanti sia dal punto di vista storico-letterario, sia dal punto di vista sociale e permettendo quindi di svolgere delle letture critiche approfondite del testo letterario mantenendo vivo il loro interesse. Questa analisi viene introdotta da una panoramica storica dell’epoca Vittoriana, delle sue caratteristiche e contraddizioni, così come da uno studio della storia e dello sviluppo del romanzo Gotico in generale e di Dracula in particolare, così da fornire un contesto esaustivo al fine di estrapolare nel modo più efficace possibile gli elementi da proporre nel contesto didattico.In this thesis, the historical and cultural relevance of the Gothic novel is analysed. It is used as a didactic medium to be proposed to secondary school students in order to highlight some salient aspects of the Victorian age that can lead them to carry out a critical reading and highlight any proximity of the literary Gothic to the contemporary age. The Gothic novel chosen to carry out this analysis is Bram Stoker's Dracula, due to its incredible popularity and the presence of countless film adaptations. The aim of this thesis work is to emphasise the effectiveness of film and/or television adaptations in increasing students' interest in the Gothic novel, facilitating them in identifying relevant themes from both a historical-literary and a social point of view, and thus enabling them to carry out in-depth critical readings of the literary text while keeping their interest alive. This analysis is introduced by a historical overview of the Victorian era, its characteristics and contradictions, as well as a study of the history and development of the Gothic novel in general and of Dracula in particular, so as to provide an exhaustive context in order to extrapolate as effectively as possible the elements to be proposed in the didactic context

HYBRID UV-DIRECT INK WRITING OF MULTICOMPONENT GLASS

openll lavoro di tesi si è focalizzato sulla fabbricazione additiva di due tipologie di vetro multicomponente a base silice, uno drogato con cerio e l’altro con lantanio, al fine di aumentarne rispettivamente le proprietà di fotoluminescenza ed ottiche.. Miscele con diverse quantità di silice e rapporti silice/precursore sono state preparate e testate analizzandone le proprietà reologiche. Le composizioni con comportamento pseudoplastico sono state quindi selezionate e stampate utilizzando la tecnologia ibrida estrusione-fotoreticolazione. I campioni così ottenuti sono quindi stati trattati termicamente fino alla completa sinterizzazione. Temperatura e tempo di mantenimento sono stati modificati con lo scopo di trovare il trattamento, adatto per ottenere componenti trasparenti per entrambe le tipologie di vetro multicomponente. Infine, per il vetro silice-lantanio è stato analizzato l’aumento dell’indice di rifrazione mentre per quelli silice-cerio sono state condotte misure di fotoluminescenza.The thesis work focused on the additive manufacturing of two types of multicomponent silica-based glass, one doped with cerium and the other with lanthanum, in order to respectively increase the photoluminescence and optical properties. Mixtures with different amounts of silica and silica / precursor ratios were prepared and tested by analyzing their rheological properties. The compositions with pseudoplastic behavior were then selected and printed using the technology hybrid uv-direct writing. The samples thus obtained were then heat treated until they were completely sintered. Temperature and holding time have been modified in order to find the suitable treatment to obtain transparent components for both types of multi-component glass. Finally, for silica-lanthanum glass, while the increase in refractive index was analyzed, photoluminescence measurements were carried out for silica-cerium glass

Listening to Fernando Ortiz’s Latin-American Contrapunteo

Rhythms, accents, forms, harmonies and counterpoints are some of the musical geographies used to interpret Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar. Because of these features, it is possible to open up the anthropological notion of transculturation, which has been used as an integral framework within the study of Latin American identity since its first use in 1940. Through a critical approach based on listening, this paper draws attention to a series of analytical tools that can inform the lettered interpretation of culture, and, as such, critically reconsiders Ortiz’s cultural analysis within the structural boundaries of his essay

Recensioni

Recension

Una escucha al Contrapunteo latinoamericano de Fernando Ortiz

Rhythms, accents, forms, harmonies and counterpoints are some of the musical geographies used to interpret Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar. Because of these features, it is possible to open up the anthropological notion of transculturation, which has been used as an integral framework within the study of Latin American identity since its first use in 1940. Through a critical approach based on listening, this paper draws attention to a series of analytical tools that can inform the lettered interpretation of culture, and, as such, critically reconsiders Ortiz’s cultural analysis within the structural boundaries of his essay.Ritmos, acentos, formas, armonías y contrapuntos son algunas de las geografías musicales con las que se interpreta el Contrapunteo cubano del tabaco y el azúcar. Gracias a ellas, es posible abrir la noción antropológica de transculturación con la cual se ha desarrollado el estudio de la identidad latinoamericana desde la década de 1940. Al llamar la atención alrededor de una postura analítica basada en la escucha, este artículo invita a reflexionar sobre una serie de herramientas con las que se busca concienciar lo letrado e identificar, en los límites que demarcan la estructura del ensayo de Ortiz, un replanteamiento crítico para el análisis de la cultura

PODER Y DESHUMANIZACIÓN DEL SUJETO EN EL APANDO DE JOSÉ REVUELTAS

Crítica literari

Auto-assemblaggio di nano-sistemi catalitici a base di peptidi e nanoparticelle d'oro.

The catalytic efficiency, mechanistic pathways, and structural complexity displayed by enzymes make them a tremendous source of inspiration for chemists involved in catalyst development[1, 2]. Nature has evolved enzymes as large multi-kilodalton complex structures in which even units that are remote from the actual active site may profoundly affect the activity of the enzyme[3]. The much lower complexity of artificial enzyme mimics may be an important reason for their typical modest performances with respect to enzymes. This awareness has led to an interest in catalysts based on multivalent scaffolds, such as dendrimers[4], micelles[5], and nanoparticles[6], with the idea of increasing the structural complexity of the synthetic system. A key challenge is straightforward access to synthetic catalysts that can match up to the size and complexity of enzymes. The necessity for multistep synthesis can be overcome by relying on self-assembly for the formation of the multivalent structure. In particular, the self-assembly of catalytic monolayers on the surface of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to give gold monolayer-protected clusters (AuMPCs) is emerging as an attractive strategy[7, 8]. Nonetheless, although they rely on self-assembly, the composition of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au NPs is typically still of rather low complexity[9]. Varying the surface composition by thiol clustering is a very difficult approach because this does not give a full control over the final composition, requires purification of each single NP system, and suffers from issues related to the characterization of mixed SAMs both in terms of composition and morphology. As a consequence, enormous efforts should be done to purify the different species coming from the synthesis. For that reason, in the recent years a new approach emerged by using nanoparticles not as direct tools, but as scaffolds to bind secondary molecules on. Rotello and coworkers were the first to realize this pioneering idea showing the attractiveness of cationic Au MPCs as a construction element for the development of innovative biosensors[10]. Inspired by those contributions, Prins et al. recently started to study the formation of heterofunctionalized multivalent structures relying on the self-assembly of small anionic peptides on the surface of Au MPCs[11, 12]. The results showed that it is possible to control the peptide surface composition simply exploiting the different affinities for the cationic monolayer. As a consequence, the low complexity of the surface can be overcome. This concept has been further developed during the PhD-project[13]. Based on the self-assembly of oligo-anions on a cationic surface, we went beyond the simple surface composition control and developed a true supramolecular nanoenzymatic system. It is composed by two fundamental elements: 1. Gold nanoparticles functionalized by alkyl thiols featuring a Trimethylammonium group in the Ω-position (8-Trimethylammonium octylthiol NR4+-AuNPs) thus generating a cationic surface; 2. Anionic oligopeptides that bind the nanoparticles’ surface. These feature a C-terminal tail with three Aspartic acid residues; an N-terminal tail composed by a variable number of Histidines (H0-H3); a central Tryptophane residue linking the two edges (Ac-HnWDDD-OH). The four negative charges coming from the C-terminal tail give an efficient binding, while Histidine and Tryptophane allow, respectively, catalysis and signal output for peptide concentration and binding measurements. Both of these constitutional elements are inefficient catalysts by themselves. Only when the peptides self-assemble on the cationic surface an active system is formed, which is able to accelerate the hydrolysis of N-CBz-(D)Phe-ONP by two orders of magnitude over the background. Importantly, the multivalent surface plays a crucial role in tuning the catalytic activity. The surface not only brings the substrate and catalyst in close proximity but also generates a microenvironment with an enhanced local pH that further activates the catalytic peptide. Given the supramolecular nature of the whole system and considering what has been written about the fine regulation of the surface composition, this system is highly adjustable simply by modulating the concentration of the constitutional elements that self-assemble on the surface. Once we obtained the lead system we started to investigate the intrinsic features that characterized it like the importance of the chemical structure of the substrate, the peptide catalyst and the cationic surface. The sequence of the peptide catalyst is very important for the efficiency of the catalytic system. Mutations on the H1 sequence (Ac-HWDDD-OH) altering its order and length showed that Triptophane has a subsidiary role in binding and its position should be next to the C-terminal tail. Histidine should occupy the N-terminal position because the presence of other residues in such position would reduce the catalytic efficiency of the Imidazole residue. If the sequence is extended by insertion of a Glycine residue between the Tryptophane and the C-terminal tail, we still observe a lower hydolysis rate, but not so drastic as the one observed by flipping the N-terminal sequence (steric hinderance). Like a natural enzyme, this system has specific requirements for the substrate that undergoes hydrolysis. SAR studies have been performed on substrate analogs with different Nα-protecting groups and side chains. The results showed that large and hydrophobic substrates have a higher affinity for the nanoparticles and are hydrolyzed faster. This is presumably due to interactions between those hydrophobic surfaces and the hydrophobic part of the monolayer. The aromatic substrates are favoured respect to the alkyl ones which emerges from the comparison between the kobs of N-CBz-Leu-ONP and N-CBz-(L)Trp-ONP: the latter is hydrolyzed much faster. The Nα-protecting group seems to have a crucial role in the substrate stabilization: diminishing its dimensions, thus diminishing hydrophobicity, results in a fast, spontaneous hydrolysis in simple buffer. A significant effort was made to improve the catalytic performances of the system through a supramolecular approach. In particular a hybrid system was prepared by self-assembling peptide H2 (Ac-HHWDDD-OH) and a library of non-catalytic peptides contemporarily on the monolayer surface (Ac-XXWDDD-OH, where XX are Leu, Phe, Ser and Arg in 42 possible combinations). The idea was that the second peptides would modulate the catalytic efficiency of the system. The results did not match the expectations which is presumably due to the fact that those peptides did not compensate the loss of the pH effect with additional interactions. Mutations on the H1 sequence (Ac-HWDDD-OH) by inserting identical flanking residues beside Histidine (Ac-XHXWDDD-OH) were studied with the scope of generating enantioselectivity. Although the variety of the flanking residues was large, (Leu, Phe, Ser, Tyr) no substrate enatioselectivity was observed. Despite this we had some experimental evidences that suggested that some enantioselectivity could be obtained by exploiting the binding of the substrate on the nanoparticles surface

A contaminant transport model for wetlands accounting for distinct residence time bimodality

Vegetation plays a major role in controlling the fate of contaminants in natural and constructed wetlands. Estimating the efficiency of contaminant removal of a wetland requires separate knowledge of the residence time statistics in the main flow channels, where the flow velocity is relatively higher, and in the more densely vegetated zones, where the velocity is smaller and most of the biochemical transformations occur. A conceptual wetland characterized by a main flow channel (MFC) and lateral vegetated zones (LVZs) is modeled here using a two-dimensional depth-averaged hydrodynamic and advection\u2013dispersion model. The effect of vegetation is described as a flow resistance represented in the hydrodynamic model as a function of the stem density. Simulations are performed for a given flow discharge and for increasing values of the ratio between the vegetation density in the LVZs and in the MFC. Residence time distributions (RTDs) of a nonreactive tracer are derived from numerical simulations of the solute breakthrough curves (BTCs) resulting from a continuous concentration input. Results show that increasing vegetation densities produce an increasingly pronounced bimodality of the RTDs. At longer times, the RTDs decrease exponentially, with different timescales depending on the stem density ratio and other system parameters. The overall residence time distribution can be decomposed into a first component associated with the relatively fast transport in the MFC, and a second component associated with the slower transport in the LVZs. The weight of each temporal component is related to the exchange flux at the MFC-LVZ interface. A one-dimensional transport model is proposed that is capable to reproduce the RTDs predicted by the depth-averaged model, and the relationship between model and system parameters is investigated using a combination of direct and inverse modeling approaches

Aprendendo a ouvir as mulheres kawaiwete-kaiabi: um breve relato etnográfico

O presente texto se trata de um relato etnográfico a respeito das narrativas e das perspectivas das mulheres kawaiwete-kaiabi sobre as maneiras cotidianas de fazer se roça. Tendo como objetivo evidenciar a importância de uma abordagem antropológica do cotidiano, como bem advogou a antropóloga Joanna Overing, buscarei destacar os elementos etnográficos que anunciam que a prática diária da roça não se trata apenas de uma atividade de subsistência, mas de um espaço no qual as mulheres kawaiwete-kaiabi se fazem, elaboram, inventam, criam e potencializam seus modos de se relacionar entre si, com o coletivo e com os seres.    Palavras-chave: Cotidiano; Mulheres indígenas; Kawaiwete-Kaiabi