Le insidie della cura

Nella precarietà, anche i “dati” sono precari. La mutevolezza dei riferimenti è tale che le situazioni, altamente frammentarie ed effimere, presentano sempre nuove configurazioni, emersioni ed immersioni, illuminazioni ed oscuramenti.. 1 Lo strappo rispetto al paradigma fordista, retto dal nesso di capitale e lavoro, si palesa già all'inizio degli anni Novanta, quando l'affermazione del Neoliberismo produce due trasformazioni destinate a rivoluzionare (stravolgere) il mercato del lavoro: la finanziarizzazione dell'economia; la diffusione di una precarietà strutturata e sistemica della manodopera che scardina le tutele lavoristiche concepite su base collettiva. Come ricorda Cristina Morini, i cantori della flessibilità spinta, ampiamente rappresentati al di qua e al di là dell'Atlantico, iniziano ad indicare nella womenomics il modello di competitività ed efficienza cui aspirare2. Con questo neologismo cacofonico, si sarebbe definita l'economia che fa proprie le doti, tradizionalmente femminili, della duttilità, del multi-tasking, dell'obbedienza, dell'ascolto e della propensione alla cura. Da allora in poi, il capitalismo avrebbe manifestato un insolito entusiasmo per le attività muliebri, sia per il vantaggio competitivo che consegue alle condizioni in cui il lavoro si svolge, sia per il loro carattere totalizzante che rende indistinguibili competenze e qualità individuali. Un'operazione che avrebbe dovuto mettere in sospetto quanti sostengono che l'attuale sistema di produzione rispecchi i rapporti di potere vigenti nella società patriarcale venne accolta da alcuni settori del movimento femminista come un'opportunità; questa tardiva scoperta del potenziale produttivo delle donne serba, al contrario, non poche insidie per la classe lavoratrice che, a dispetto di quanto si preconizzava alcuni anni or sono, langue in una miseria materiale e simbolica...

Le insidie della cura

Nella precarietà, anche i “dati” sono precari. La mutevolezza dei riferimenti è tale che le situazioni, altamente frammentarie ed effimere, presentano sempre nuove configurazioni, emersioni ed immersioni, illuminazioni ed oscuramenti.. 1 Lo strappo rispetto al paradigma fordista, retto dal nesso di capitale e lavoro, si palesa già all'inizio degli anni Novanta, quando l'affermazione del Neoliberismo produce due trasformazioni destinate a rivoluzionare (stravolgere) il mercato del lavoro: la finanziarizzazione dell'economia; la diffusione di una precarietà strutturata e sistemica della manodopera che scardina le tutele lavoristiche concepite su base collettiva. Come ricorda Cristina Morini, i cantori della flessibilità spinta, ampiamente rappresentati al di qua e al di là dell'Atlantico, iniziano ad indicare nella womenomics il modello di competitività ed efficienza cui aspirare2. Con questo neologismo cacofonico, si sarebbe definita l'economia che fa proprie le doti, tradizionalmente femminili, della duttilità, del multi-tasking, dell'obbedienza, dell'ascolto e della propensione alla cura. Da allora in poi, il capitalismo avrebbe manifestato un insolito entusiasmo per le attività muliebri, sia per il vantaggio competitivo che consegue alle condizioni in cui il lavoro si svolge, sia per il loro carattere totalizzante che rende indistinguibili competenze e qualità individuali. Un'operazione che avrebbe dovuto mettere in sospetto quanti sostengono che l'attuale sistema di produzione rispecchi i rapporti di potere vigenti nella società patriarcale venne accolta da alcuni settori del movimento femminista come un'opportunità; questa tardiva scoperta del potenziale produttivo delle donne serba, al contrario, non poche insidie per la classe lavoratrice che, a dispetto di quanto si preconizzava alcuni anni or sono, langue in una miseria materiale e simbolica...

MORTARS AND PLASTERS PRODUCED WITH EARTH-BASED SUSTAINABLE MIXES: A METHODOLOGY PROPOSAL FOR RECOVERY OF VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE IN ROERO, PIEDMONT (ITALY)

Abstract. The work presented is the achievement of a master degree project, developed at Politecnico di Torino. The paper aims to provide standards for the formulation and mixing of earth-based mortars, for the rehabilitation of historic buildings of the Roero area, in Piemonte region. Roero presents a large architectural heritage, consisting mainly of fired or earth bricks rural and residential buildings, which was anciently protected using lime or earth-based plasters perfectly integrated with local landscape and environment colours appearance. In recent decades (and still to present days), vernacular plasters are frequently replaced by cement-based products, resulting hardly compatible with local bearing walls materials and landscape aesthetic features. While Roero traditional buildings plasters were produced using local earth and sands coming from streams, today, aggregates extraction in watercourses proximity is not allowed, or strictly regulated by rules and regional regulations. The paper presents a classification of the characteristics of different soils from Roero area, through different types of particle distribution size analysis and diffractometric tests, and propose a method for the production of local earth-based plasters stabilized with lime, making use of earth and rocks from local excavation sites, considered in Italy as secondary raw materials or special waste. Produced plasters compressive and bending strength have been tested, while their suitability for building maintenance and restoration, as their compatibility with Roero architecture and landscape, have been verified through spectrophotometric measures

Impact of the Wiggler Coherent Synchrotron Radiation Impedance on the Beam Instability

Coherent Synchrotron Radiation (CSR) can play an important role by not only increasing the energy spread and emittance of a beam, but also leading to a potential instability. Previous studies of the CSR induced longitudinal instability were carried out for the CSR impedance due to dipole magnets. However, many storage rings include long wigglers where a large fraction of the synchrotron radiation is emitted. This includes high-luminosity factories such as DAPHNE, PEP-II, KEK-B, and CESR-C as well as the damping rings of future linear colliders. In this paper, the instability due to the CSR impedance from a wiggler is studied assuming a large wiggler parameter $K$. The primary consideration is a low frequency microwave-like instability, which arises near the pipe cut-off frequency. Detailed results are presented on the growth rate and threshold for the damping rings of several linear collider designs. Finally, the optimization of the relative fraction of damping due to the wiggler systems is discussed for the damping rings.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Clinical and biological heterogeneity in children with moderate asthma

To evaluate the relationship between inflammatory markers and severity of asthma in children, the amount of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) released by peripheral blood mononuclear cells, exhaled nitric oxide (FE NO) levels, p65 nuclear factor-kappaB subunit, and phosphorylated IkBalpha expression by peripheral blood mononuclear cells were assessed in six control subjects, 12 steroid-naives subjects with intermittent asthma, and 17 children with moderate asthma. To investigate their predictive value, biomarker levels were correlated with the number of exacerbations during a 18-month follow-up period. We found that GM-CSF release was higher in moderate and intermittent asthmatics than in control subjects, whereas IL-8 release was higher in moderate than in intermittent asthmatics and control subjects. FE NO levels were similar among study groups. In moderate asthmatics, IL-8, GM-CSF, and FE NO significantly correlated with the exacerbation numbers. Moreover, p65 and phosphorylated IkBalpha levels were greater in moderate than in intermittent asthmatics and control subjects. According to GM-CSF, IL-8, and FE NO levels, two distinct subgroups of moderate asthmatics (low and high producers) were identified. High producers experienced more exacerbations than low producers. This study shows ongoing inflammation associated with biological and clinical heterogeneity in moderate asthmatics despite regular treatment and proposes that large prospective studies confirm the importance of biomarkers to assess inflammation and asthma control in children with asthma

Analgesic effects of intravenous flunixin and intrafunicular lidocaine or their combination for castration of lambs.

Abstract Objective: To analyse the effectiveness of intrafunicular lidocaine and intravenous flunixin for reducing pain and signs of stress in lambs undergoing surgical castration. Design: Randomised controlled trial. Setting: One university teaching hospital in Italy. Participants: 30 healthy male lambs, 9-12 weeks old. Intervention: Allocation to five groups: a control group (C), undergoing general anaesthesia but not castration; a surgery group (S), undergoing orchiectomy without analgesic treatment; a surgery-lidocaine group (SL), undergoing orchiectomy and receiving intrafunicular 2 per cent lidocaine solution; a surgery-flunixin group (SF), undergoing orchiectomy and receiving intravenous flunixin; a surgery-flunixin-lidocaine group (SFL), undergoing orchiectomy and receiving both intrafunicular lidocaine and intravenous flunixin. Main outcome measures: Nociception and stress were assessed through intraoperative indicators, serum cortisol concentration, glycaemia, behaviour, immune response and clinical evaluation of the heart rate (HR), respiratory rate and rectal temperature after surgery. Results: Groups S and SL showed increased values of intraoperative HR, mean arterial pressure and postoperative cortisol concentration. In group SFL, cortisol values were similar to those of group C. No other difference could be detected. Conclusions: The combination of intravenous flunixin and intrafunicular lidocaine reduced the pain and discomfort of lambs castrated under general anaesthesia. Intrafunicular lidocaine alone did not prevent pain or discomfort associated with castration

Synergistic effects of fluticasone propionate and salmeterol on in vitro T-cell activation and apoptosis in asthma

In asthma T cells are characterized by an increased activation state and by reduced apoptosis

How different husbandry conditions influence hind-gut microbiome, cortisol level and behaviour in lambs?

The gut microbiota\u2013brain axis is a bidirectional pathway through which the brain regulates the activity of the gut and vice versa. The intestinal microbiota was proven to influence and be influenced by stressrelated responses caused by management conditions. The aim of this work was to evaluate whether different husbandry conditions in lambs influenced gut microbiome (composition and diversity), cortisol level and behaviour. Fifteen Sarda breed lambs, aged 6 months, were randomly assigned to three groups of 5 animals each: Isolation (tactile and visual isolation; 3 h/day for 8 weeks); Enriched (in group in a outdoor grassy pen with a new enrichment each week; 3 h/day for 8 weeks); Control (habitual farm environment). Every week, 2 video-recordings of 1-hour each were collected respectively during and after each treatment, and analysed using a scan sampling technique (60 scans per video). Every two weeks hair was collected from the right shoulder using a shave and re-shave method. Cortisol concentration was measured by means of an ELISA test conducted on hair samples and expressed as pg/ml. At week 8 faecal material was collected directly from the rectal ampulla and immediately frozen at 1220\ub0C until DNA extraction was performed using a QIAmp DNA Stool kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). DNA quality and quantity were assessed using a NanoDrop ND-1000 spectrophotometer (NanoDrop Technologies, Wilmington, DE, USA). The microbiota of enriched animals was clearly different from the other two groups and showed lower within group variability. During treatment, only isolated sheep showed escape attempts (23% of scans during the first week) and freezing (58% of scans during the first week). In the home pen, after treatment, lambs did not show any stress-related behaviour. After one month of treatment, hair cortisol increased only in the isolated group. In conclusion, differences in microbiome could be related to the different stimulating enrichment and addition of grass on the diet. Although, from a behavioural point of view, sheep apparently habituated to the isolation, increase in cortisol levels could be related to experiencing a stressful situation

Scoring pleurisy in slaughtered pigs using convolutional neural networks

Diseases of the respiratory system are known to negatively impact the profitability of the pig industry, worldwide. Considering the relatively short lifespan of pigs, lesions can be still evident at slaughter, where they can be usefully recorded and scored. Therefore, the slaughterhouse represents a key check-point to assess the health status of pigs, providing unique and valuable feedback to the farm, as well as an important source of data for epidemiological studies. Although relevant, scoring lesions in slaughtered pigs represents a very time-consuming and costly activity, thus making difficult their systematic recording. The present study has been carried out to train a convolutional neural network-based system to automatically score pleurisy in slaughtered pigs. The automation of such a process would be extremely helpful to enable a systematic examination of all slaughtered livestock. Overall, our data indicate that the proposed system is well able to differentiate half carcasses affected with pleurisy from healthy ones, with an overall accuracy of 85.5%. The system was better able to recognize severely affected half carcasses as compared with those showing less severe lesions. The training of convolutional neural networks to identify and score pneumonia, on the one hand, and the achievement of trials in large capacity slaughterhouses, on the other, represent the natural pursuance of the present study. As a result, convolutional neural network-based technologies could provide a fast and cheap tool to systematically record lesions in slaughtered pigs, thus supplying an enormous amount of useful data to all stakeholders in the pig industry