L’irresistibile fascino dell’in-coscienza. Lo spirito del tempo tra indeterminazione, sincronicità e complessità

The irresistible charm of un-consciousness. The spirit of time between uncertainty, synchronicity and complexity. Among the classes of causes that determined the epochal transition in the first half of the twentieth century there is the birth of a new scientific spirit (G. Bachelard). For example, in the Relativity of Einstein, scientific observation is discovered inexorably connected with the observer’s point of view; according to Heisenberg, physical phenomena are strictly linked to “the game of chance”. Moreover, Freud discovers the existence of a dark area of the human mind, the unconscious, and Jung affirms the possibility, for the unconscious images that present themselves to consciousness, to coincide with an objective fact with which they have no identifiable or even “thinkable” causal link. In the postmodern era, the imaginary of complexity, which is related with many of the contemporary epistemological and scientific theories, is an expression of that “Hidden King” (G. Simmel) which gives form to social meanings and, therefore, to human life. Thus, the image of truth can only be the image of an intersubjective truth, product of a participated knowledge (F. Ferrarotti), while the image of man can only be found in that of homo complexus (E. Morin), who lives in a network of interrelations

Più reale della realtà. Dialogo sull’immaginario con Edgar Morin

I met Edgar Morin on June 9, 2005, while working on my PhD thesis, in joint supervision between the University La Sorbonne-Paris 5 and the University of Rome La Sapienza, then discussed in December 2007. The thesis concerned the imaginary methodologies in sociology between France and Italy; with other empirical studies, it included a number of in-depth interviews with privileged witnesses who had worked on social imaginary in the two countries. So I chose to interview, among others, Edgar Morin. Here, I entered some tracks translated into Italian, integrating them with specific insights on the texts cited by him in the course of the speech, that still implicitly refers his reflection

Transnational parenting and the well-being of Angolan migrant parents in Europe

Studies on the transnational family highlight the emotional difficulties of migrant parents separated from their children through international migration. This article consists of a large-scale quantitative investigation into the insights of transnational family literature by examining the well-being of transnational parents compared with that of parents who live with their children in the destination country. Furthermore, through a survey of Angolan migrant parents in both the Netherlands and Portugal, we compare the contexts of two receiving country. Our study shows transnational parents are worse off than their non-transnational counterparts in terms of four measures of well-being – health, life satisfaction, happiness, and emotional well-being. Although studies on migrant well-being tend to focus exclusively on the characteristics of the receiving countries, our findings suggest that, to understand migrant parents' well-being, a transnational perspective should also consider the existence of children in the migrant sending country. Finally, comparing the same population in two countries revealed that the receiving country effects the way in which transnational parenting is associated with migrant well-being

ANTITHROMBOTIC PROPHYLAXIS IN LAPAROSCOPIC CHOLECYSTECTOMY

Pulmonary thromboembolism is a common cause of in-hospital death. In moderate or high risk patients undergoing laparotomy, acute and long-term mortality can be effec-tively reduced with an appropriate prophylactic drug treatment, while in low-risk patients undergoing laparoscopy, the correlation between the thromboembolism risk and the pro-cedure itself, as well as potential benefits of thromboprophylaxis are, at present, unclear. Here we report the case of E., a 49-year-old woman with patent foramen ovale, consid-ered to be at low risk of thromboembolism, who experienced a sudden cardiopulmonary arrest following a laparoscopic cholecystectomy and died four days later. . The purpose of this case report is to highlight the necessity of continuing large sample studies on the correlation between laparoscopic surgery and thromboembolism in low-risk patients

International parental migration and the psychological well-being of children in Ghana, Nigeria, and Angola

When parents migrate, leaving their children in the origin country, transnational families are formed. Transnational family studies on children who are “left behind” indicate that children suffer psychologically from parental migration. Many of the factors identified as affecting children's responses to parental migration however are not considered in child psychology and family sociology studies. This study aims to bridge these areas of knowledge by quantitatively investigating the association between transnational families and children's psychological well-being. It analyzes a survey conducted in three African countries in 2010–11 (Ghana N = 2760; Angola N = 2243; Nigeria N = 2168) amongst pupils of secondary schools. The study compares children in transnational families to those living with their parents in their country of origin. Children's psychological well-being is measured through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses reveal that children in transnational families fare worse than their counterparts living with both parents but not in Ghana where living conditions mediate this relationship. This paper also looks at four characteristics of transnational families and finds that specific characteristics of transnational families and country contexts matter: (1) changing caregivers is associated with poorer well-being in all countries; (2) which parent migrates does not make a difference in Ghana, when mothers migrate and fathers are caregivers results in poorer well-being in Nigeria, and both mother's and father's migration result in worse outcomes in Angola; (3) the kin relationship of the caregiver is not associated with poorer well-being in Ghana and Nigeria but is in Angola; (4) children with parents who migrate internationally do not show different results than children whose parents migrate nationally in Ghana and Nigeria but in Angola international parental migration is associated with poorer psychological well-being. The study shows that broader characteristics in the population rather than parental migration per se are associated with decreased levels of well-being

Evaluation of Dental Surface after De-Bonding Orthodontic Bracket Bonded with a Novel Fluorescent Composite: In Vitro Comparative Study

The use of a new fluorescent composite can reduce some of the problems related to procedures of de-bonding orthodontic bracket (enamel damage, dentine lesions, and composite residuals). The aim of the presented study was to compare the effect of fluorescent and conventional non-fluorescent composite on dental surface and composite remnants by in vitro de-bonding tests. De-bonding of florescent composite (DFC) and the de-bonding of standard composite (DSC) were performed by operators on an in vitro sample of 48 teeth under UV light (360–370 nm min 20 mW/cm2). Modified ARI (Adhesive Remnant Index), scored under 5.0×/235 magnification, was used for evaluation of dental surface after the procedure, and the duration required for de-bonding was measured. Significant differences in ARI between the two groups were observed (Pearson two-tailed p = 0.006 1.4 ± 0.1 95% C.I.), and the average duration of de-bonding was 38 s (DFC) and 77 s (DSC) per tooth, respectively (Mann–Whitney test p = 0.015; 57.7 ± 19.9 95% C.I.). The use of fluorescent composite could significantly improve the quality of de-bonding by reducing the quantity of composite residuals and visible enamel damage, while reducing time needed for successful procedure performance