Moravia in Africa

Though his fiction is deeply linked to Rome and Italy, we cannot understand the cultural figure of Alberto Moravia (1907-1990), if we do not consider his experience as a traveller. In particular, there is no other Italian or European writer of his generation, who had such a tight connection with Africa, which Moravia used to visit almost every year from 1963 until 1987. He wrote three books on this continent. «I would have to go to Africa twenty, thirty years before: instead I went very late in my life, when I was fifty. I do not know why I didn’t. I regret it. For me, Africa is the most beautiful thing in the world». This paper reconstructs the reasons and the stages that brought Moravia to Africa in detail, it also focuses on his travels as a European citizen, who  starts his journey from the coasts to the “heart of the black continent", sometimes following  the footsteps of his favorite Africanist writers, such as Conrad, Rimbaud, Gide, Hemingway and Céline, but always pursuing his own question, looking for his own Africa, which is indeed connected to his deepest self. The movement to Africa has changed the Roman writer, as his last novels clearly show, that whereby include Africa becomes one of their major themes.Anche se la sua narrativa è profondamente legata a Roma e all’Italia, difficilmente è possibile capire l’opera di Alberto Moravia (1907-1990) senza considerare la sua straordinaria esperienza di viaggiatore nel mondo. In particolare, nessun altro scrittore italiano ed europeo della sua generazione ebbe un legame tanto stretto con l’Africa, dove tornò quasi ogni anno dal 1963 fino alla fine degli anni 80 e a cui dedicò tre libri. «Fu la rivelazione della terra in cui avrei dovuto andare prima: invece ci sono andato molto tardi nella vita. Avevo ormai cinquant'anni. Avrei dovuto andarci venti, trent'anni prima. Non l'ho fatto, non so perché. Lo rimpiango. Per me l'Africa è la cosa più bella che esista al mondo». L’intervento ricostruisce approfonditamente le ragioni e le tappe che condussero lo scrittore in Africa, lo segue nei suoi viaggi di europeo che si spinge verso il cuore dell’Africa, sulle orme talora di altri scrittori africanisti (Conrad, Rimbaud, Gide, Hemingway, Céline), ma sempre spinto da un suo personale interrogativo, fino a una sua peculiare “scoperta”, che in fondo riguarda se stesso. Lo scrittore che ha lasciato Roma e si è messo in movimento, torna trasformato dall’incontro con un continente che è l’altra dimensione dell’Europa. La sua stessa opera narrativa, negli ultimi romanzi, si apre eccezionalmente all’Africa

Brasile 1960: Gli anni della svolta per Alberto Moravia

Alberto Moravia chega ao Brasil no verão de 1960 para presidir o congresso do PEN Club. Havia recém-concluído La noia, seu décimo primeiro romance, aquele que mais diretamente se liga à inspiração originária da obra de estreia, Gli indifferenti (1929), e que assinala uma decisiva virada em seu percurso artístico, intelectual e humano. O ensaio reconstrói aquele momento da vida e da obra do escritor de cinquenta anos, no qual se resume e se conclui uma pesquisa decenal e se abre uma nova fase. Repercorrendo os artigos escritos para Il Corriere della Sera e a resenha a Quarto de despejo de Carolina de Jesus, são focalizadas a origem e a aguda reflexão de Moravia sobre o Brasil daqueles anos (Brasília, Bahia, Rio), entre passado e futuro. A experiência do Brasil, para o escritor, que naqueles anos seguintes tentará novas estradas no campo intelectual e literário, e novas metas nas suas viagens, sempre mais orientados, na companhia de Dacia Maraini e de Pier Paolo Pasolini, em direção ao Terceiro Mundo e à África

Biofilm growth on orthopedic implantable materials: static or dynamic condition what is the most appropriate methodological tools to study device-related infections?

Aim Study of biofilm growth under static and dynamic conditions to evaluate the most suitable orthopedic materials on the prevention of device-related infections. Method Biofilms of Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 35984) icaA and icaD genes positive and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (DSM 939) were generated under static and dynamic conditions, adding the bacterial inocula on titanium, carbon, polycarbonate and carbon-peek coupons housed in flat bottom test tubes or in the CDC Biofilm Reactor (CBR) system respectively. Biofilm growth was evaluated by MTT assay after 48 hours. Results Results of dynamic model showed a better capacity of S.epidermidis to grow with a rotation between 120-60 rpm on each tested materials (Mann-Whitney test, p-value < 0,05) than P.aeruginosa. Titanium was thematerial on which the bacterial strains adhered less, whereas carbon and polycarbonate allowed greatest adherence of P.aeruginosa (Mann-Whitney test, p-value < 0,05). Results of static model showed that both species grew on each materials without distinction (Kruskal-Wallis test, p-value 0,95). S.epidermidis growth was better also under static condition. Conclusions the static model was not able to evaluate the different adhesion capacity of the strains to the materials, confirming the dynamic model is the most suitable tool for the study of orthopedic materials on the prevention of device-related infections. This research was funded by the University of Pisa, PRA 2017_18 Projec

A Low Rivaroxaban Plasma Level May Indicate Anticoagulation Undertreatment

Few reports have been published on the correlation between plasma concentrations of rivaroxaban and clinical outcome in patients who have experienced venous thromboembolism. This article describes the case of a 44-year-old woman who experienced deep vein thrombosis during anticoagulation therapy with rivaroxaban, with evidence of repeated low plasma levels of the drug. We postulate that the determination of plasma rivaroxaban anti-Xa activity can be useful in the evaluation of anticoagulation therapy in selected cases

Adoption of Improved Reprocessing Decreased Microbiological Non-Compliance for Bronchoscopes

Background: In the past few decades, the inadequate reprocessing of bronchoscopes has been associated with several serious outbreaks caused by multidrug-resistant microorganisms. In this study we evaluated the improvement in the quality of reprocessing in a Bronchoscopy Unit (BU), after the introduction of a new procedure. Methods: In 2019, observational and clinical audits were conducted in the BU. After the introduction of an improved procedure in 2020, a microbiological surveillance plan was implemented in 2021. Results: In 2019, 13 of 22 bronchoscopes (59%) resulted as non-compliant, 18% as high concern organisms (HCO) and 36.4% as high microbial count (>= 100 CFU/all channels) and HCO. The most frequent microorganisms were Staphylococcus aureus (38.5%) and NDM-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (15.4%). The bronchoscopes were stored inside their transport cases, which in some cases were found to be contaminated by the same strains isolated on the bronchoscopes (Enterobacter gergoviae and Vibrio alginolyticus). In 2021, all 31 bronchoscopes were sampled at least three times and 13/99 (13.1%) resulted as non-compliant, mostly K. pneumoniae (4.04%). Contamination level increases weakly in bronchoscopes in use for more than 14 years (R = 0.32). Conclusions: The adoption of an improved reprocessing procedure decreased the non-compliance of bronchoscopes, increasing the quality of the process and patient safety

New investigations on the 32S(3He,d)33Cl reaction at 9.6 MeV bombarding energy

The 32S(3He,d)33Cl one-proton transfer reaction is a powerful tool to investigate the spectroscopy of low-lying states in the proton-rich 33Cl nucleus. However, the extraction of firm differential cross-section data at various angles to benchmark and constrain theoretical models is made challenging by the presence of competitive reactions on target contaminants. In this paper we report on arecent measurement using a new generation hodoscope of silicon detectors, capable to detect and identify emitted deuterons down to energies of the order of 2 MeV. The high angular segmentation of our hodoscope combined with a suitable target to control possible contaminants, allowed to unambiguously disentangle the contribution of various states in 33Cl, in particular the 2.352 MeV state lying just few tens of keV above the proton separation energy

Óbitos por Anemia Nutricional no Brasil entre os anos de 2016 a 2020

Objetivo: Definir o perfil dos óbitos por região devido a anemia nutricional. Método:  Estudo observacional do tipo ecológico descritivo, realizado a partir do levantamento de dados do banco de dados secundários do Departamento de Informática do Sistema único de Saúde (DATASUS). Sem necessidade de submissão ao Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa (CEP) por se tratar de um estudo epidemiológico. Por meio do DATASUS, acessou-se a plataforma TabNet, selecionando Estatísticas Vitais, mortalidade desde 1996 pela CID-10, mortalidade geral e, em seguida abrangência geográfica, Brasil por Região e Unidade da Federação. Aplicou-se os filtros: óbitos por ocorrência, no período de 2016 a 2020, faixa etária, sexo e, além disso, o Grupo CID-10, sendo selecionada anemias nutricionais. Resultados: Dados coletados no DATASUS referente a mortalidade por anemia nutricional entre 2016 e 2020 demonstram que segundo a faixa etária, os mais afetados são aqueles que possuem mais de 80 anos (49%) seguido daqueles que possuem de 50 a 79 anos (39%). Em relação a região brasileira, encontra-se a região Sudeste com quase 40% seguido da região Nordeste (36%). Por outro lado, quando comparou-se o sexo não houve diferença significativa, masculino (51%) e feminino (49%). Conclusão: O maior índice de mortalidade relacionada à anemia nutricional ocorreu na população idosa, residentes da região Nordeste, com idade superior a 80 anos. Foi observado, ainda, que a ocorrência de tal patologia está principalmente associada aos aspectos socioeconômicos das regiões brasileiras

Burden-driven feedback control of gene expression

Cells use feedback regulation to ensure robust growth despite fluctuating demands for resources and differing environmental conditions. However, the expression of foreign proteins from engineered constructs is an unnatural burden that cells are not adapted for. Here we combined RNA-seq with an in vivo assay to identify the major transcriptional changes that occur in Escherichia coli when inducible synthetic constructs are expressed. We observed that native promoters related to the heat-shock response activated expression rapidly in response to synthetic expression, regardless of the construct. Using these promoters, we built a dCas9-based feedback-regulation system that automatically adjusts the expression of a synthetic construct in response to burden. Cells equipped with this general-use controller maintained their capacity for native gene expression to ensure robust growth and thus outperformed unregulated cells in terms of protein yield in batch production. This engineered feedback is to our knowledge the first example of a universal, burden-based biomolecular control system and is modular, tunable and portable

Study of the 32S(3He,d)33Cl one-proton transfer reaction with a new generation hodoscope

Abstract The 32S(3He,d)33Cl one-proton transfer reaction is a powerful tool to investigate the spectroscopy of low-lying states in the proton-rich 33Cl nucleus. However, the extraction of firm differential cross-section data at various angles, against which benchmarking theoretical models to correctly constrain the spectroscopy of 33Cl, is made challenging by the presence of competitive reaction products contaminating the detected energy spectra. We have recently measured the 32S(3He,d)33Cl reaction at 9.8 MeV incident energy by using a new generation hodoscope of silicon detectors, capable to detect and identify emitted deuterons down to energies of the order of 2 MeV. The high angular segmentation of our hodoscope allowed to unambiguously disentangle the contribution of one-proton transfer reactions in the ground state of 33Cl and in its 0.810 MeV, 2.352 MeV, 2.685 MeV, 2.846 MeV excited states from contaminant deuteron-emitting reactions. These data will be crucial to help to constrain Jπ and spectroscopic factor C 2 Sp values of low-lying 33Cl states, still ambiguous in the literature. The present status of the analysis is discussed in the paper