I silenzi dell’autobiografia italoamericana

Questo intervento verte sull’interpretazione del vuoto nell’autobiografia, non solo nel contenuto, ma anche nello stile. Le fonti primarie sono un corpus di 58 scritture autobiografiche di emigranti italiani negli Stati Uniti, emigranti di prima generazione, alcuni rimpatriati, altri trapiantati in America. La maggior parte di essi è “gente comune.” Contrapponendo questi lavori (molti dei quali inediti esempi di scrittura popolare) all’autobiografia propriamente americana (modellata sull’esempio di Benjamin Franklyn), propongo un’interpretazione del loro “non detto”. Primo, le stesse autobiografie si pongono come significativa rottura di un silenzio per uomini e donne scomparsi nelle pagine della Storia e diventati numeri su un biglietto d’imbarco. Questo squarcio nel silenzio non è però un urlo, quanto una narrazione sottovoce. E’ un’espressione del tutto originale e non proprio americana di un particolare ethos retorico, quello che chiamerò dell’individualità quieta

Revisiting "Southern" Sprawl : Urban Growth, Socio-Spatial Structure and the Influence of Local Economic Contexts

Given its unpredictable nature, urban sprawl in the Mediterranean region is considered an intriguing (and intricate) socioeconomic issue.Since the 1970s, urban dispersion advanced rapidly in southern Europe-irrespective of a city's size and morphology-withurbanization rates growing faster than population. A comparison between the metropolitan areas of Barcelona, Rome and Athens reveals how sprawl has occurred in different ways in the three cities, highlighting peculiar relationships between urbanization, land-use and economic structures. Sharing common drivers of change related to population dynamics, socio-spatial structure and deregulated urban expansion, sprawl has adapted to the local economic, cultural and environmental context. Barcelona shows a dispersion pattern towards a more spatially-balanced morphology, with expanding sub-centres distributed around the central city, Rome appears to be mostly scattered around the historical city with fragmentedGiven its unpredictable nature, urban sprawl in the Mediterranean region is considered an intriguing (and intricate) socioeconomic issue. Since the 1970s, urban dispersion advanced rapidly in southern Europe-irrespective of a city's size and morphology-with urbanization rates growing faster than population. A comparison between the metropolitan areas of Barcelona, Rome and Athens reveals how sprawl has occurred in different ways in the three cities, highlighting peculiar relationships between urbanization, land-use and economic structures. Sharing common drivers of change related to population dynamics, socio-spatial structure and deregulated urban expansion, sprawl has adapted to the local economic, cultural and environmental context. Barcelona shows a dispersion pattern towards a more spatially-balanced morphology, with expanding sub-centres distributed around the central city, Rome appears to be mostly scattered around the historical city with fragmente

The potentialities of a multidisciplinary approach to façade design since early design phases

In the urban environments, façades can be conceived as public infrastructures, able to enhance not only indoor conditions, but also outdoor ones. The application of sound absorbing cladding materials has emerged as a valid design strategy to mitigate environmental noise. However, effective design solutions should simultaneously encompass different performance domains, to prevent other relevant aspects to be overlooked and potentially cause undesired effects. A broad understanding of the performance of the design alternatives during the design process is therefore essential to make performance-aware choices and achieve effective solutions in overall terms. In this study, multi-domain simulation tools are used to shed some light on the often-overlooked potential of the selection on façade cladding materials. Different material options with different sound absorbing and albedo properties were applied to the façades of two sample street canyons, in order to understand the impacts of the material choices on the environmental noise levels and outdoor thermal comfort. The results highlight that mean Sound Pressure Level (SPL) reductions up to 4 dB were found with the application of sound absorbing claddings, while high-albedo façades exacerbate the thermal stress perceived by pedestrians, with mean increases in Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) of about 2.53.5 °C

A New Approach to Land-Use Structure. Patch Perimeter Metrics as a Spatial Analysis Tool

This work introduces a new class of landscape metrics characterizing basic features of patch perimeters. Specific computation on patch perimeters was carried out on fine-grained land-use maps with the aim to characterize spatial patterns of neighbor patches, evidencing contact points and perimeter length between two (or more) land-use types. A detailed set of class and landscape metrics were derived from such analysis. This approach is complementary to classical landscape metrics and proved to be particularly useful to characterize complex, fragmented landscapes profiling metropolitan regions based on integrated evaluations of their structural (landscape) and functional (land-use) organization. A multivariate analysis was run to characterize distinctive spatial patterns of the selected metrics in four metropolitan regions of southern Europe reflecting different morphological configurations (Barcelona: compact, polycentric; Lisbon: dispersed, mono-centric; Rome: dispersed, polycentric; and Athens: compact, mono-centric). Perimeter metrics assumed different values for each investigated land-use type, with peculiar characteristics associated to each city. Land-use types assessing residential, discontinuous urban patches were associated to particularly high values of perimeter metrics, possibly indicating patch fragmentation, spatially-associated distribution of land-use types and landscape complexity. Multivariate analysis indicates substantial differences among cities, reflecting the range of morphological configurations described above (from compact mono-centric to dispersed polycentric) and suggesting that urban expansion is accompanied with multiple modifications in the use of the surrounding non-urban land. The computational approach proposed in this study and based on spatially-explicit metrics of landscape configuration and proximity may reflect latent changes in local socio-spatial structures. Our results demonstrate that scattered urban expansion determines a polarization in suburban areas with highly fragmented and more homogeneous landscapes, respectively, associated with mixed cropland and forest systems

. Nutritional characteristics and quality of eggs from laying hens fed on a diet supplemented with chestnut tannin extract (Castanea sativa Miller)

1. The trial was performed with 80 laying hens belonging to two Tuscan autochthonous breeds: 40 birds of the Mugellese breed (MU) and 40 of the White Leghorn breed (WL). 2. The animals were allotted to 4 groups of 20 hens each: two groups were fed on a commercial diet and worked as the control groups (MUC and WLC); the other two groups received the same diet, integrated with 2 g of chestnut tannin extract per kg of diet (MUT and WLT). 3. A sample of 70 eggs were randomly collected and analysed for cholesterol content, fatty acid profile, weight, thickness of shell and colour of yolk. 4. Physical parameters, including yolk colour, and indices of egg quality were not affected by the treatments. 5. The concentration of unsaturated fatty acids increased whereas cholesterol was significantly decreased: -17% in WLT and -9% in MUT. Dietary supplementation with chestnut tannin extract resulted in a modification of lipid composition, toward a more healthy quality of eggs

The semi-synthetic peptide Lin-SB056-1 in combination with EDTA exerts strong antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity against pseudomonas aeruginosa in conditions mimicking cystic fibrosis sputum

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major cause of chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The ability of the bacterium to form biofilms and the presence of a thick and stagnant mucus in the airways of CF patients largely contribute to antibiotic therapy failure and demand for new antimicrobial agents able to act in the CF environment. The present study investigated the anti-P. aeruginosa activity of lin-SB056-1, a recently described semi-synthetic antimicrobial peptide, used alone and in combination with the cation chelator ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Bactericidal assays were carried out in standard culture conditions and in an artificial sputum medium (ASM) closely resembling the CF environment. Peptideâ\u80\u99s structure and interaction with large unilamellar vesicles in media with different ionic strengths were also investigated through infrared spectroscopy. Lin-SB056-1 demonstrated fast and strong bactericidal activity against both mucoid and non-mucoid strains of P. aeruginosa in planktonic form and, in combination with EDTA, caused significant reduction of the biomass of P. aeruginosa mature biofilms. In ASM, the peptide/EDTA combination exerted a strong bactericidal effect and inhibited the formation of biofilm-like structures of P. aeruginosa. Overall, the results obtained highlight the potential of the lin-SB056-1/EDTA combination for the treatment of P. aeruginosa lung infections in CF patients

Demographic transitions and socioeconomic development in Italy, 1862-2009 : a brief overview

The present study investigates long-term population dynamics in Italy, 1862-2009, in light of Demographic Transitions (DTs). Under the assumption that DTs are multidimensional processes of change involving several aspects, including population structure and dynamics, an exploratory analysis was carried out in this study to verify temporal coherency of 15 indicators in Italy, identifying homogeneous time periods with distinct demographic characteristics. Indicators' trends were identified using a multivariate statistical approach. The results of this study allow empirical testing of the assumption of temporal coherence between different aspects of a long-term DT, distinguishing distinctive population dynamics and the differential impact on population structure over two centuries. After a relatively long period of demographic stability, the time window encompassing the two World Wars-approximately between 1921 and 1951-was identified as a primary turning point of population dynamics in Italy; a second turning point was estimated at the beginning of the 1970s. These time intervals may represent conditions of dynamic equilibrium between demographic and socioeconomic contexts, highlighting latent system transitions. The study concludes by outlining the importance of a more effective integration of demographic transition theories into a broader sustainability framework, and implementing a diachronic analysis of political, economic, and social forces associated with population dynamics in both advanced economies and emerging countries

Fallow land, recession and socio-demographic local contexts : recent dynamics in a mediterranean urban fringe

Urban settlements have globally expanded into rural land. Being influenced by complex socio-environmental dynamics and sometimes acting as a reserve of economic value, fallow land has characterized rural areas in a distinctive way over the last decades. The present work debates on the role of fallow land as a component of Mediterranean peri-urban landscapes, considering together different aspects from environmental/agronomic and regional science perspectives. An empirical analysis of the latent relationship between spatial distribution of fallow land, agricultural landscape (land-use, territorial, and topographic characteristics), and urban sprawl was carried out in a representative Mediterranean case study (Athens, Greece) evidencing the possible linkage between urban growth/containment, conservation of rural biodiversity/local traditions, and fallow land (intended as a candidate source of buildable land) in fringe districts. Urban growth at the local scale was contrasted with the spatial distribution of fallow land under sequential expansions and recessions of the regional economic system. Conservation of marginal rural land in fringe districts-including fallow land-is a necessary target of any sustainable land management strategy in metropolitan contexts experiencing rapid socioeconomic transformation

Attività biologica e studi di docking di derivati bis-ammidici dell'acido 5,6- diidrossiindolo-2-carbossilico come inibitori dell'enzima HIV-1 integrasi

In un precedente studio, nel tentativo di identificare nuovi inibitori dell'HIV-1 integrasi, è stata da noi considerata la modifica strutturale dell'estere feniletilico dell'acido caffeico I (CAPE), il primo prodotto naturale inibitore dell'IN identificato, incorporando il legame vinilico del CAPE all'interno di una struttura rigida costituita dall'anello pirrolico. In questa comunicazione, a completamento dello studio svolto, noi presentiamo i dati relativi all'attività  inibitoria enzimatica per i derivati IIIe-i, lo studio SAR per tutti i derivati ed uno studio di docking nel sito attivo dell'HIV-1 IN eseguito al fine di investigare le possibili interazioni tra i ligandi e gli a.a. del sito catalitico