Continuity and change in Italian discourse on migration: A focus on mainstream television documentaries

LBK

Language and sexuality: euphemism, dysphemism and discourse in Italian comedies

L

Femminicidio e violenza di genere nella stampa on-line: un'analisi quantitativa

Il contributo analizza la rappresentazione del femminicidio e della violenza di genere nel panorama informativo italiano online. La violenza di genere rappresenta un tema ampiamente dibattuto nel discorso pubblico contemporaneo e gli studi recenti dimostrano che la sua trattazione presenta ancora diversi problemi e può essere affetta da letture semplicistiche e stereotipate. Il contributo presenta un’analisi condotta attraverso metodi quantitativi, partendo da un ampio corpus di testi giornalistici raccolti in rete (corpus Timestamped JSI) tra il 2014 e il 2022. L’uso di un vasto corpus di fonti, assai differenti tra loro, ha lo scopo di osservare in modo più attento il discorso pubblico contemporaneo, mettendo in luce la pluralità di visioni presenti nello spazio mediatico. A partire dalle parole chiave, dall’analisi delle collocazioni e delle linee di concordanza sono stati individuati sia fatti discorsivi in continuità con le analisi precedenti sia elementi innovativi che allargano la visione e l’interpretazione del fenomeno

Il femminicidio nella stampa italiana: un’indagine linguistica

The perception of femicide and violence against women has known a constant evolution in recent years; both mass media and political and social actors tried to raise awareness on the issue. According to Diana Russell’s definition (the killing of females by males because they are females), femicide has to be considered as a social and political fact and not just as ordinary crimes: it represents extreme manifestations of male dominance over female. Our aim is to analyse how these facts are represented every day in the Italian press. In our thesis we collected and analysed articles from the online edition of four of the most important national newspapers in Italy (Corriere della Sera, la Repubblica, Il Fatto Quotidiano and Libero) and from two Sardinian local newspapers (L’Unione Sarda and La Nuova Sardegna). The time span goes from January 2010 to May 2015. We will examine how the characters are depicted in the texts, what are the reasons behind the facts, and how violence itself is described, together with other linguistic aspects related to the headlines, to the use of direct speech and quotes from the protagonists of the events

Teorema: una parabola tra film e romanzo

L

Dense nanocrystalline W alloys: Enhancement of hardness and thermal stability by Al addition

Nanocrystalline W100-xAlx (x up to 20 at.%) powders obtained by mechanical alloying have been consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). Alloying W with Al significantly improves the sinterability, allowing the fabrication of dense samples. The consolidation process keeps the nanocrystalline microstructure substantially unaffected, which contributes to the hardness of the final W-Al alloys. The room-temperature nano-and micro-hardness of dense W80Al20 alloy sintered at 1100 degrees C are as high as 18 and 14 GPa, respectively. These values are significantly higher than those previously reported for pure coarse-or submicron-grained W and may be ultimately ascribed to the grain boundary segregation of Al

In vitro synergistic anti-prion effect of cholesterol ester modulators in combination with chlorpromazine and quinacrine

Abstract Our studies on the role of cholesterol in prion infection/replication showed that brains and peripheral cells of sheep susceptible-to or suffering-from Scrapie were characterized by an altered cholesterol homeostasis, and that drugs affecting cholesterol ester pool were endowed with selective anti-prion activity in N2a cell lines infected with the 22L and RML prion strains. In these prion-infected N2a cell lines, we now report increased anti-prion activity of dual-drug combinations consisting of cholesterol ester modulators associated with prion inhibitors. Synergism was obtained with the cholesterol ester modulators everolimus, pioglitazone, progesterone, and verapamil associated with the anti-prion chlorpromazine, and with everolimus and pioglitazone associated with the anti-prion quinacrine. In addition, comparative lipid analyses in prion-infected vs. uninfected N2a cells, demonstrated a derangement of type and distribution of cholesterol ester, free cholesterol, and triglyceride pools in the infected cells. Single-drug treatments differently affected synthesis of the various lipid forms, whereas combined drug treatments appeared to restore a lipid profile similar to that of the untreated-uninfected cells. We conclude that the anti-prion synergistic effects of cholesterol ester modulators associated with the cholesterol-interfering anti-prion drugs chlorpromazine and quinacrine may arise from the ability of combined drugs to re-establish lipid homeostasis in the prion-infected cells. Overall, these data suggest that inhibition of prion replication can be readily potentiated by combinatorial drug treatments and that steps of cholesterol/cholesterol ester metabolism may represent suitable targets

Tidal notches in Mediterranean Sea: a comprehensive analysis

Recent works (Evelpidou et al., 2012) suggest that the modern tidal notch is disappearing worldwide due sea level rise over the last century. In order to assess this hypothesis, we measured modern tidal notches in several of sites along the Mediterranean coasts. We report observations on tidal notches cut along carbonate coasts from 73 sites from Italy, France, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Malta and Spain, plus additional observations carried outside the Mediterranean. At each site, we measured notch width and depth, and we described the characteristics of the biological rim at the base of the notch. We correlated these parameters with wave energy, tide gauge datasets and rock lithology. Our results suggest that, considering \u2018the development of tidal notches the consequence of midlittoral bioerosion\u2019 (as done in Evelpidou et al., 2012) is a simplification that can lead to misleading results, such as stating that notches are disappearing. Important roles in notch formation can be also played by wave action, rate of karst dissolution, salt weathering and wetting and drying cycles. Of course notch formation can be augmented and favoured also by bioerosion which can, in particular cases, be the main process of notch formation and development. Our dataset shows that notches are carved by an ensemble rather than by a single process, both today and in the past, and that it is difficult, if not impossible, to disentangle them and establish which one is prevailing. We therefore show that tidal notches are still forming, challenging the hypothesis that sea level rise has drowned them

Altered cholesterol ester cycle in ex vivo skin fibroblasts from Alzheimer patients

Recent studies in both animal and cell models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) indicated that sub-cellular cholesterol distribution seems to regulate amyloid-beta (A[beta]) generation in the brain. In particular, cholesterol-esters (CE), rather than total cholesterol levels, appear directly correlated with A[beta] production. Here we observed that, similarly to brain cells, skin fibroblasts obtained from AD patients produce and accumulate more CE than skin fibroblasts from age-matched healthy controls do. AD fibroblasts also exhibited a 2 fold increase in the expression of ACAT1, in addition to lower levels of SREBP2, nCEH, Caveolin-1 and ABCA1 mRNA levels, all of which are involved in the CE cycle. HMGCoA-reductase and LDL-receptor mRNAs levels did not show statistically significant changes in AD, compared to non-AD, cells. Furthermore, although APP mRNA did not significantly vary, neprilysin (NEP), the most important enzyme in the proteolysis of A[beta], was expressed at very low levels in skin fibroblasts of sporadic AD patients. Our results contribute to the concept that AD may be the consequence of a basic and systemic defect in the CE cycle. Moreover, our results identify new possible targets for the diagnosis, prevention, and cure or, at least, amelioration of the symptoms of AD