Abolitionism and the Logic of Martyrdom: Death as an Argument for John Brown, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Frederick Douglass

This paper looks at three significant instances of the representation of abolitionist martyrdom in nineteenth-century America to first sketch the abolitionist discourse and its varied conceptualizations of martyrdom and second question the rationale and success of this strategy for manumitting slaves. Accordingly, I start with Brown, who (with help from sympathetic northerners and the megaphone of the Associated Press) appealed to the martyrological tradition in order to transform his paramilitary failure at Harper’s Ferry into a powerful symbol of his own abolitionist righteousness over and against the state’s iniquity. Though the superficial differences between Brown and arch-sentimentalist Harriet Beecher Stowe have discouraged their comparison, a look at the logic of martyrdom reveals a similar strategy at work in both Brown’s martyrization and Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which makes death an argument for the manumission of slaves. I argue that this hugely successful novel reveals the potency of martyrological thinking in 19th-century America as it also reveals martyrdom and its logic to be the foundation of sentimentalism like Stowe’s. Finally, I look at the speeches and nonfiction of Frederick Douglass to argue that his own martyrization of John Brown is different than what we see in Brown and Stowe because it provokes change rather than validating abolitionism that already exists. To various degrees, these writers seem aware that there may be a problem in the rhetorical use of martyrdom against the putatively secular state; they consequently employ different strategies for negotiating the meaninglessness of suffering and death with the soteriological and eschatological assumptions of their day. These negotiations reveal the extent to which martyrdom could be taken seriously as a hammer of abolitionism by different authors and thus also indicate the degree to which martyrdom can be taken seriously as a political solution whatsoever. Ultimately, I want to argue that martyrdom and its logic are at best dubious when applied to secular politics precisely because it relies upon the analogy to Jesus Christ as savior, which cannot hold outside Christianity. Simply put, the death of a mortal cannot register eschatologically and, more importantly, death does not make a cogent argument for anything. Instead, martyrdom is preaching to the choir par excellance; whether the choir is Christian, abolitionist, or something else, martyrological appeals do not grow its membership, as martyrologists since early modernity have assumed

Marketing for Sustainable Tourism

The aim of the Special Issue is to discuss the main current topics concerning marketing for sustainable tourism with reference to territories (i.e., tourism destinations, protected areas, parks and/or natural sites, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, rural regions/areas, etc.) and tourism enterprises and/or organisations (i.e., destination management organisations, hospitality enterprises, restaurant enterprises, cableway companies, travel agencies, etc.). In destinations where natural resources are pull factors for tourism development, the relationships among local actors (public, private, and local community), as well as marketing choices, are essential to develop sustainable tourism products. To this end, the Special Issue encourages papers that analyse marketing strategies adopted by tourism destinations and/or tourism enterprises to avoid overtourism, to manage mass sustainable tourism (as defined by Weaver, 2000), and to encourage and promote sustainable tourism in marginal areas or in territories suffering lack of integration in the tourism offer. Special attention will be given to contributions on the best practices to manage territories and/or enterprises adopting sustainable marketing strategies

Profili hard-path e soft-path dei Turisti 4L in Italia: risultati di un'indagine sui viaggiatori del CTS.

Il presente lavoro si inserisce all'interno degli studi sul turismo sostenibile e si focalizza sull'analisi della domanda turistica nei Paesi sviluppati. Attraverso precedenti lavori, il gruppo di ricerca ha identificato il framework del "4L Tourism", una forma di turismo che sintetizza le principali motivazioni di vacanza attorno a quattro asset di attrazione (Landscape, Leisure, Learning, Limit), i quali identificano, a loro volta, specifiche modalità di organizzazione dell'offerta del prodotto turistico. Dopo avere evidenziato alcune criticità definitorie che emergono dalla letteratura sul turismo sostenibile e avere ripreso le dimensioni caratterizzanti il "4L Tourism", il paper presenta una ricerca sul campo condotta in Italia sui viaggiatori del Centro Turistico Studentesco e Giovanile (CTS). La ricerca, volutamente indirizzata su una popolazione turistica che presentava specifici caratteri in termini di comportamenti e motivazioni, ha consentito di approfondire l'importanza delle dimensioni del "4L Tourism", evidenziando anche, in coerenza con gli approcci elaborati in letteratura, la possibilità di graduare la sensibilità dei turisti nei confronti delle singole dimensioni. Ciò ha consentito di identificare due profili ("Turista 4L hard-path" e "Turista 4L soft-path") sulla base dell'intensità della motivazione e dell'importanza del singolo elemento. La ricerca ha inoltre permesso di definire un metodo per la stima della consistenza della domanda turistica che si riferisce al "4L Tourism", aspetto particolarmente rilevante stante l'esigenza di cogliere un fenomeno emergente anche in chiave di progettazione dell'offerta turistica.turismo sostenibile; 4l tourism; profilo "turista 4l hard-path"; profilo "turista 4l soft-path"; stima della domanda

SerpinB3 and Yap Interplay Increases Myc Oncogenic Activity

SerpinB3 has been recently described as an early marker of liver carcinogenesis, but the potential mechanistic role of this serpin in tumor development is still poorly understood. Overexpression of Myc often correlates with more aggressive tumour forms, supporting its involvement in carcinogenesis. Yes-associated protein (Yap), the main effector of the Hippo pathway, is a central regulator of proliferation and it has been found up-regulated in hepatocellular carcinomas. The study has been designed to investigate and characterize the interplay and functional modulation of Myc by SerpinB3 in liver cancer. Results from this study indicate that Myc was up-regulated by SerpinB3 through calpain and Hippo-dependent molecular mechanisms in transgenic mice and hepatoma cells overexpressing human SerpinB3, and also in human hepatocellular carcinomas. Human recombinant SerpinB3 was capable to inhibit the activity of Calpain in vitro, likely reducing its ability to cleave Myc in its non oncogenic Myc-nick cytoplasmic form. SerpinB3 indirectly increased the transcription of Myc through the induction of Yap pathway. These findings provide for the first time evidence that SerpinB3 can improve the production of Myc through direct and indirect mechanisms that include the inhibition of generation of its cytoplasmic form and the activation of Yap pathway

Radiation therapy for oligometastatic oropharyngeal cancer

At presentation, isolated metastasis from oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma is rare. Liver is a relatively uncommon first site of failure, especially in the absence of other distant metastases, particularly without diagnosis of lung metastases. We report on a case of HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma with synchronous liver metastasis treated with radiation therapy. This condition, defined as "oligometastatic state," describes a subset of patients with limited volume metastatic disease in whom favorable outcomes were reported with the use of local ablative therapies on both the primary tumor and metastatic sites. As a definitive treatment, we offered the patient, ineligible for other therapeutic approaches, exclusive radiation treatment on the head and neck region and a stereotactic ablative approach targeted to the liver metastasis

Fabrication of three terminal devices by ElectroSpray deposition of graphene nanoribbons

Electrospray deposition (ESD) in ambient conditions has been used to deposit graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) dispersed in liquid phase on different types of substrates, including ones suitable for electrical transport. The deposition process was controlled and optimized by using Raman spectroscopy, Scanning Probe Microscopies and Scanning Electron Microscopy. When deposited on graphitic electrodes, GNRs were used as semi-conducting channel in three terminal devices showing gate tunability of the electrical current. These results suggest that ESD technique can be used as an effective tool to deposit chemically synthesized GNRs onto substrates of interest for technological applications

TITLE: Looking for surface faulting ancestors of the L’Aquila April 6, 2009 event: preliminary paleoseismological data and seismic hazard implications

The occurrence of the Mw 6.3, April 6, 2009 earthquake has highlighted how critical is the knowledge of the location and of the characteristics of the active faults in a seismic region. This is true not only as a contribution to the seismic hazard assessment but also for the local planning of residential areas, plants and infrastructures. The 2009 earthquake occurred on the Paganica normal fault (PF hereinafter) and produced 3 km-long, maximum 0.1 m-high surface rupture along its central section, and secondary slip along nearby tectonic structures. The PF consists of a prominent morphologic scarp formed by the tectonic juxtaposition of Pliocene-middle Pleistocene and late Pleistocene alluvial deposits, and by lower scarps in late Pleistocene-Holocene deposits. The fault, NW-SE striking and SW dipping, runs for a total length of about 20 km along the NE side of the Aterno River valley, a graben-type basin bounded by marked antithetic faults. The limited extent and the small throw of the 2009 surface ruptures, when compared to the size of the Paganica long-term fault scarp, suggest that the PF probably experienced larger Magnitude earthquakes than the 2009 seismic event. Thus, although the April 6, 2009 earthquake and associated surface faulting caused loss of lives and major damage, we believe that this event does not fully characterize the seismic hazard of the area. Therefore, a campaign of paleoseismological investigations is underway with the aim of defining the Max Magnitude, the average rate of displacement and the frequency of seismic events on the PF and on the nearby faults. An amazing “coseismic” trench, caved by the overpressure produced by the broken pipe of an aqueduct, provided the exposure of a 30-m wide fault zone of the PF. We show the preliminary results from the analysis of this site, as well as from other sites along the PF. In addition, we also present preliminary paleoseismological data from the antithetic Fossa fault. A major finding at this early stage of our field campaign is the recognition of large displacements (0.5 to 1 m) associated to individual events affecting deposits of Holocene age based on radiocarbon dating and pottery content