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Coroncina, Mignola e Piantone di Mogliano. Storia di sapori: Oli tipici tra economia e paesaggio, Caldarola 11 Novembre 2012, Atti del convegno di studi / A cura di: Berrettoni Mario, Conti Paolo, Zamponi Silvia
No full textDesign and Synthesis of New Potential Therapeutic Tools for the Treatment of CNS Diseases
No full textMost of dopaminergic agonist structures bear the 2-(3-hydroxyphenyl)ethylamine (1) pharmocophoric moiety or its bioisosteres (chapter 2).\ud
However, D2-like receptor ligands endowed with good affinity, although lacking of such a scaffold are known.\ud
In the past years, this research group developed new potential D2-like ligands based on the template structure of phenoxyethylamine (2, 3, 4, 5; chapter 2), which is known to be a good lead to build up dopaminergic ligands.\ud
Many SAR studies have reported phenolic and non-phenolic structures endowed with high dopaminergic affinity, based on the N-benzyl-2-(3-hydroxyphenoxy)ethylamine (6; chapter 2). Dopaminergic ligands bearing the same fragment embedded in more conformationally restricted skeletons are known. For instance, compound 7 (chapter 2) is reported to bind D2 receptors with high affinity and good selectivity towards alpha1-adrenergic receptors and 5-HT1A.\ud
Moreover, fragment 6 (chapter 2) can be identified in the doxantrine structure (8; chapter 2), a full D1-like agonist endowed with high affinity.\ud
Furthermore, WB-4101 (9; chapter 2), a well known adrenergic drug, bears a benzodioxanmethylamine fragment also present in compound 7 (chapter 2).\ud
Quaglia et al., reported an interesting value of D2-like receptors affinity for such a compound (pKi = 6.91), even though with a lower affinity compared to both alpha-adrenergic and 5-HT1A serotoninergic receptors. It can be observed that WB-4101 embeds the molecular doubling of phenoxyethylamine. Such a fragment might be responsible for the affinity towards dopaminergic receptors.\ud
In a deep SARs study on muscarinc, adrenergic and serotoninergic receptors, the same authors demonstrated that the 1,4-benzodioxane scaffold may positively affect the ligands affinity towards GPCRs. In the same work, the 1,4-benzodioxane nucleus of WB-4101 was substituted with the 6-pheny-1,4-dioxane scaffold leading to adrenergic and 5-HT1A ligands endowed with lower affinity values. However, the introduction of a second aromatic ring in the 6 position led to an improvement of such affinity values.\ud
Compounds 10 and 11 might also be seen as phenoxyethylamine derivatives (2; chapter) and they even share structural similarities with A68390, a selective D1-like agonist. Thus, we decided to evaluate the effect of the 6,6-diphenyl-1,4-dioxan-2-methylene scaffold as nitrogen substituent of the phenoxyethylamines. Moreover various substitution on the aromatic moiety of the phenoxyethylamine were also investigated in order to evaluate the influence on the dopamine receptors affinity of a potential hydrogen-bond acceptor. For such an aim the methoxy group was considered the most suitable.\ud
Several studies demonstrated the versatility of the imidazoline ring (chapter 3). In fact, depending on the particular kind of substituent inserted in position 2 of imidazoline nucleus, it was possible to modulate the ligand profile, both with regard to different systems (alpha2-Adrenergic Receptors, Imidazoline Binding Sites, Nicotinic and Muscarinic Receptors, MAO-A inhibitors) and inside the same system, with resultant enhanced subtype selectivity. Imidazoline compounds have not been yet explored as DA receptor ligands, but the well known prototype of I2 receptor ligands 2-(benzofuran-2-yl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole (2-BFI) behaved also as DA indirect agonist and displayed a 47 mM binding to the DA D2 receptors. Therefore, with the aim to improve the DA D2-like receptor binding affinity, novel molecules based on the 2-BFI scaffold were designed and synthesized (chapter 3). The 5 and/or 6 substituents R1-R3 were chosen among those reported to be beneficial for the binding of DA D2-like receptor agonists. Competitive binding of the new compounds at DA D2-like receptors has been evaluated on porcine striatal membranes. The affinity at I2-IBS and alpha2-ARs has also been evaluated on rat brain membranes. All values are expressed as Ki (mM) values. The most interesting compounds have also been tested for D2-like potency and intrinsic activity. Interestingly, it has been observed that the 2-BFI is able to induce a partial activation of D2-like receptor (EC50 = 37.7mM; i.a.= 0.57). The modest and conservative modifications performed on the basic structure of the lead modulated its biological profile. The introduction of one hydroxyl group in position 6 of the aromatic ring (compound 3f; chapter 3 ) slightly enhances, the D2-like profile of the lead. In addition, 3f (chapter 3) behaves as partial agonist (EC50=5.7mM, i.a.=0.48) displays a potency comparable to that of DA. Moreover, it maintains significant I2-IBS affinity (Ki = 0.076 mM). On the contrary, the isomer 5-hydroxy substituted 3a (chapter 3), still endowed with good I2-IBS, was unable to bind at the D2-like receptors. It appears that only the maintenance of a meta relationship between the OH group with respect to the benzofuranic oxygen atom, proved to be endowed with D2 affinity. The negative influence of the 5-hydroxy substitution is also observed in the catechol derivative 3i (chapter 3) that showed strongly reduced I2 character compared to the lead, and was not able to interact with D2-like receptors. Interestingly, the N-substitution seems to impart a more decisive modulation of the biological profile to the lead. In fact, such a modification caused general decrease of the I2-affinity, with, in some cases, accompanying significant D2-like intrinsic activity enhancement. In particular, the N-benzyl derivatives behaved as a nearly D2 full agonists (3e: i.a.=0.85; 3h: i.a. = 0.82), with affinity (3e: Ki = 5.00 mM; 3h: Ki = 5.66 mM), and potency (3e: 6.3 mM; 3h: 5.8 mM; chapter 3) comparable to those of DA (Ki = 3.9 mM; EC50 = 4.8 mM). By our results it can be argued that the degree of receptor activation, is favored by the N-substitution, and might be affected by peculiar features of the pendant group (i.e. steric hindrance) and, sometimes, by the structural characteristics of the parent compound.\ud
Till today a large number of SAR studies have been developed to understand the interaction between DA receptors and their ligands (chapter 4). Such studies have led to the identification of several DA receptor ligands embedding the DA moiety. It is well known that the catechol ring plays a crucial role, especially on D1-like agonism. Nevertheless, DA agonists, bearing catechol or phenol rings, are endowed with low oral bioavailability and short effect duration. Moreover, the potential toxicity of catecholic compounds is a big concern. Thus, approaches addressed to circumvent catecholic potential toxicity are of great significance. The possibility to develop new non-catecholic DA receptor ligands represents an attractive perspective and the replacement of catechol or phenol rings with heterocycles proved to be a successfully approach. In view of the reported involvement of 4-aryl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines as a core structure of drugs endowed with different useful pharmacological applications, we designed and synthesized the novel compounds 5a-g (chaper 4), characterized by the catechol replacement on the base structure of 1 (chapter 4) with a decorated pyridyl or phenyl group. The binding affinities for DA receptors of the new compounds were evaluated. Although all the tested compounds showed D1-like and D2-like affinities lower than those of DA, observing the biological profile of compounds 5a, 5b and 5d (chapter 4), a preferential D2-like affinity turned out. Interesting suggestions also emerged from the study of the phenyl derivatives 5f-g (chapter 4). Indeed, these two non-phenolic compounds, bearing the same kind of substituent in different positions, highlighted that the proper para substitution might represent a structural feature to modulate D1-/D2-like selectivity. In conclusion, such a study suggested that properly substituted pyridine or phenyl groups might replace the catecholic group and represent useful moieties for building novel ligands endowed with preferential D1- or D2-like affinity. Thus the new chemical entities 5a-g (chapter 4) might represent starting points to develop new interesting DA ligands.\ud
The presence of Aβ-peptide containing plaques in the brain, is a hallmark of Alzheimer‘s disease (AD) (chapter 5). Several studies have suggested a pathogenic role in AD for Aβ42, the longer form of the two Aβ-peptides, which has a strongest tendency to deposit insoluble plaques in the AD brain. Aβ peptides are produced from β-Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) through the sequential cleavage by two proteases, namely β-secretase and γ-secretase. Firstly, β-secretase produces a C-terminal fragment of APP (CTFβ), then γ-secretase cleaves the CTFβ to produce Aβ peptides of different lengths.\ud
Preventing the formation or intracellular deposition of Aβ42-peptide represents a strategy to stop or slow down the progression of the AD. At this purpose, inhibition of γ-secretase has proven to be an interesting target for drug discovery. One of the first compounds which efficaciously inhibited Aβ production in animal models of AD blocking γ-secretase activity was LY411575 (chapter 5). It has been demonstrated that inhibition of γ-secretase reduce Aβ in a murine model of AD, but has potentially undesirable biological effects, most likely due to of the inhibition of Notch cleavage, a transmembrane receptor involved in regulating cell-fate decision. Thus, selective inhibition of Aβ42 production seems to be a promising alternative to the complete inhibition of γ-secretase activity. The pursuit of such a result was made possible by the surprising finding that certain non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including flurbiprofen, display preferential Aβ42-lowering activity without affecting Notch cleavage. The proposed mechanism for this activity is an allosteric modulation of γ-secretase activity, the enzyme responsible for the formation of Aβ.\ud
Starting from these data we proposed the synthesis of new LY411575 analogues (11a-f; chapter 5) that were designed to function as potential γ-secretase modulators able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier
Experimental study of crystallization kinetics and eruption dynamics in Campi Flegrei trachytic melts
No full textThe aims of this work are to estimate timescales of phlegraean eruptions and the eruptive dynamics of Campi Flegrei volcanoes through crystallization kinetic\ud
experiments.\ud
Cooling and decompression experiments have been carried out on trachytic composition melt in order to investigate crystallization kinetics of alkali feldspar and the implication for magma dynamics during the ascent towards the\ud
surface. Experiments have been conducted using Cold Seal Pressure Vessel apparatus, at pressure between 30 and 200 MPa, temperature between 750 and 860 °C, time between 7,200 and 57,600 seconds and fO2 NNO +0.8, thereby reproducing syn-eruptive conditions of the Campi Flegrei volcanoes.\ud
Alkali feldspar is the main phase present in this trachyte and its abundance can strongly vary with small changes in pressure, temperature and water content in the melt, implying appreciable variations in the textures and in the\ud
eruptive style. Texture analysis allow us to quantify the real sizes and number of alkali feldspars for each sample and consequently to calculate nucleation density, volume fraction, nucleation and growth rate of alkali feldspar. Results obtained show that these variables are strictly related to degree of undercooling(DeltaT = Tliquidus - Texperimental), time, water content in the melt, viscosity\ud
and element diffusivity.\ud
DeltaT is the driving force for crystallization and it has a strong infuence on nucleation and growth processes. In fact, generally at small DeltaT growth process dominates crystallization, whereas at large DeltaT nucleation dominates crystallization.\ud
Time also is important variable during crystallization process, because long experiment durations involve more nucleation events of alkali feldspar than short experiment durations. This is an important aspect to understand magma\ud
evolution in the magma chamber and in the conduit and to estimate growth rate (YL) and nucleation rate (Im). YL and Im of alkali feldspar are significant variables to assess the timescales of phlegraean eruptions. In fact, the\ud
magma ascent time from the magma chamber to the surface was constrained for phlegraean volcanoes, combining the growth rates (YL) estimated for alkali feldspars and the crystal size distribution (CSD) theory. The order of magnitude\ud
of alkali feldspar growth rates obtained in this study vary from 10-7 to 10-8 cm/s, implying changes in residence time into the conduit before the eruption from several hours to around two week, respectively.\ud
Water content in the melt is another important variable to study crystallization kinetics of alkali feldspar in trachytic melt. It can enhance or inhibit the nucleation and growth processes of alkali feldspar. Generally, the results obtained in this work show that low water content and high polymerization degree facilitate nucleation, whereas higher water content and lower polymerization\ud
degree enhance growth. This behavior is not appliable to all melts, indeed it is only relative to alkali feldspars and trachytic melts. It actually means that a mineral phase may have different crystallization kinetics as a\ud
function of the melt bulk composition.\ud
Partition coefficients are an important tool to understand magma evolution in a volcanic system. Therefore, in order to better understand major and trace elements partition coefficient of alkali feldspar during growth experiments, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) measurements have been carried out. Barium and strontium are strongly compatible elements in alkali feldspar and their partition coefficients are influenced by potassium content, because Ba2+ and Sr2+ can enter in the K+ site. Furthermore, combining textural data and trace elements analysis obtained in this work and other studies, it is possible to conclude that crystallization processes strongly depend on starting melt composition
Using nano-hydroxyapatite, like elective bio-material,\ud In periodontal regenerative therapy in dogs with periodontal disease
No full textThe unit research of Camerino executes a study on 9 dogs affected by periodontal disease (PD), of phase 2, 3 and 4, to evaluate the regenerative capacity of the nanohydroxyapatite in the periodontal tissue. The project lasts not more than 24 months. During this period the recruitment of the subjects and the record on the dental sheet relative to the periodontium conditions, supported by a radiographic and iconographic documentation, are effected. The half animals, divided in 3 homogeneous groups of 3 subjects in base on the level of the estimated PD, is subjected to a regenerative therapy of the periodontium (PD phase 2 and 3) and eventually to extraction and method by plant (PD phase 4). The dogs are subjected quarterly to clinical exams and other evaluations both instrumental (RX, TAC, RM, Echocardiography) and of laboratory (hemochrome\ud
and eventually hemoculture). The results are then analyzed with a statistical method
Application of Electrospray Deposition for Efficient and Stable Organic Photovoltaic Devices”
No full textOrganic solar cells can be processed from solution at room temperature and have been considered as an alternative photovoltaic technology, thus having been receiving considerable interest in the field of optoelectronics. Most importantly, their light weight, low cost, easy fabrication over large area and flexible devices are appealing to future\ud
organic electronics market for both economic and environmental reasons, as printing and coating technologies can be incorporated during the material process. In this\ud
work, we have investigated the application of electrospray deposition technique towards achieving high efficiency and stable organic solar cells. The main advantages of\ud
electrospray deposition (ESD) over other common deposition processes are: suitability for less soluble materials, lack of solvent evaporation effects, possibility for realizing\ud
multilayered devices and efficient usage of the materials. Among them, multilayered thin film growth is most important advantage of ESD which is difficult to achieve while\ud
using conventional solution process techniques like spin coating, dip-coating, screen printing, ink jet printing or spray coating etc, as dissolution of the bottom organic\ud
layer during the growth of top layer can not be avoided. In this systematic study, a number of issues concerning ESD have been tackled, from the optimization of the deposition parameters to eventually realizing efficient and stable organic photovoltaic devices. The first part of thesis comprised the electrical characterization of the ESD\ud
deposited sandwich structure Schottky diode using poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT) in order to optimize various electrospray parameters. The results provide a description\ud
of various charge carrier transport parameters along with the determination of field dependent hole mobility and electric field activation parameter from the fitting of the\ud
experimental I-V curves. The hole mobility was determined as 2.7x10−7cm2/Vs and the value of electric field parameter is 3.45x10−4/m0:5/V0:5 which are comparable to the literature values. A clear evidence of the deep localized states within the band gap was observed via forward and backward I-V measurements. Following this promising\ud
outcome, we first fabricated and characterized hybrid photovoltaic devices from dispersed nanoparticles (TiO2) and polymer blend solution, results of which will be\ud
presented in the next chapter. From the Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) measurements, it was found that increasing thermal annealing improves the self organization\ud
of P3HT chain in the film. However, after optimization processes such as tuning the ratio, solvent soaking and temperature annealing, efficiency of around 0.0002% was achieved. The main reason for the lower performance of the hybrid devices is due to the aggregation of the nanoparticles in the blend films, which was observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. In the following chapter, I will demonstrate the Bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic approach by replacing the electron accepting nanoparticles with [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). A number of parameters in term of thickness, donor acceptor ratio of the materials and annealing temperatures were optimized. The results show that ESD devices performed rather well at lower temperature\ud
(below 130 0C) even better than the conventional spin coated sample with the same thickness and donor-acceptor ratio. At the optimum temperature of 1250C, the maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) was 1.4 % for the spin coated samples, while ESD samples have higher PCE of 1.6 %. Further enhancement the PCE to 2.17% was observed in case of multilayered devices in which the active layer (P3HT:PCBM\ud
blend) is sandwiched between the very thin stacking layers of P3HT and PCBM.\ud
In the last part of the thesis, I focused on realizing the inverted OPV device architectures using ESD technique, where we replaced unstable hole transport layer poly(3,4-\ud
ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with polystyrene sulfonic acid (PEDOT:PSS) and Al metal contacts with TiOx/ZnO as electron extracting layers and MoO3/Ag as hole collecting contacts respectively. Long term stability and performance were compared to the direct architecture of OPV devices. The TiOx based inverted solar cell shows the maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.30% from trilayer devices comparing to the PCE of 0.82% from single layer of the same materials at annealing temperature of 1100C for 10 minutes. Further improvement in device efficiency of inverted\ud
OPVs was demonstrated by employing ZnO electron collecting layers instead of TiOx which has better transparency and higher mobility. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.48% from the trilayer based OPV comparing to PCE of 0.83%\ud
from the single layer device at thermal annealing of 1200C was achieved. The stability of the inverted structure devices were tested under ambient condition with continuous\ud
illumination which shows much better device performance in longer time duration as compare to direct structure devices.\ud
In summary, application of ESD deposition for organic solar cells with different device configurations was systematically studied in this thesis and promising high efficiency and stability were obtained, even comparing to the common deposition method. This places the technique in a front position as an alternative method for organic thin film growth and device fabrication
Fault Diagnosis Techniques for Linear Sampled Data Systems and a Class of Nonlinear Systems
Get PDFThis thesis deals with the fault diagnosis design problem both for dynamical continuous time systems whose output signal are affected by fixed point quantization,\ud
referred as sampled-data systems, and for two different applications whose dynamics are inherent high nonlinear: a remotely operated underwater vehicle and a scramjet-powered hypersonic vehicle.\ud
Robustness is a crucial issue. In sampled-data systems, full decoupling of disturbance terms from faulty signals becomes more difficult after discretization.\ud
In nonlinear processes, due to hard nonlinearity or the inefficiency of linearization, the “classical” linear fault detection and isolation and fault tolerant control methods may not be applied.\ud
Some observer-based fault detection and fault tolerant control techniques are studied throughout the thesis, and the effectiveness of such methods are validated with simulations. The most challenging trade-off is to increase sensitivity to faults and robustness to other unknown inputs, like disturbances. Broadly speaking, fault detection filters are designed in order to generate analytical diagnosis functions, called residuals, which should be independent with respect to the system operating state and should be decoupled from disturbances. Decisions on the occurrence of a possible fault are therefore taken on the basis such residual signals
Resistance against the Mafia: A Civic Struggle to Defy an Uncontestable Power
Get PDFThis study is based on participant observation of a protest against the Mafia that occurred in Rome on 26 September 2009. First, this essay offers an analysis by using symbols and their meanings, which are illustrated through the 'pyramid of social protest'. Second, the framing and process of the protest are analysed. Two new concepts are presented: the culture of lawfulness frame and the implicit contested process. Third, this essay shows that defying the Mafia begins with individual motivation but ends with the collective motivation behind the decision to be an activist. This decision includes ethically oriented reasons rather than being based on a materialistically calculated reasoning. Finally, the struggle of anti-Mafia movement illuminates cultural anthropology through its desire for a progressive society in which strong symbolic interactionism among the activists play an important role
Passages metrocorporei: il corpo come dispositivo tecnologico in una estetica della transizione.
Get PDFThe aim of my research is to re-categorize aesthetics in relation to trans-media and digital flows, analyzing artworks from a different perspective in a “post-digital” context and re-examining the relationship between science and art.\ud
Artists have begun to tackle the concepts, the tools, and the contexts of scientific and technological research: the results of their works are provocative and intriguing. I have identified, and studied extensively, those artists who have been working combining both scientific and technological approach, and so I outlined new perspectives in the art fields, in order to explain the complexity of the world following a trans-disciplinary method. The starting point of my research is Walter Benjamin’s concept of “chef d'oeuvre”, that is to say his Parisian Passages. This unfinished work, that kept the German philosopher occupied for thirteen years, from 1927 until his death in 1940, is a patchwork of quotations, fragments and thoughts jotted down with a work-in-progress conception, which has been thought to build the physiognomic construction of a dialectic image of history “in an halting condition”. In the first phase of my research, I used Benjamin’s Passages as a metaphor to draw a body geography, tracing the imprint of the body placed in an image that “floats” in an undefined space. The image offered redefines body condition and the feelings it produces in relation to the world through the use of new technologies. I identify this new condition, undertaken by body, introducing a neologism: the ‘metro-body’. This expression allows me to reconfigure and hypothesize a different level and a different meaning of corporeality. When our body is connected to technological devices, i.e. to Web, the 'intentional arc' mentioned by Merleau Ponty expands; it remains (potentially) in tension, almost on the line break. When we enter in connection with Web, the shape and the image of our body perception are “embedded”, reacting to the presence of our body with a corporeal-feedback. The corporeal-feedback consists of a complex, distinct, decomposed and hybrid image. It is at this stage of re-configuration that the condition of the metro-body comes into existence. It works as a filter between our Leib (lived body), that interacts in connection with Web and our bodies, which are virtually embodied in multiple functional identities marked with distinctive passwords and nicknames (avatar). Art has long questioned its status in relation to modern technologies, taking to understand the importance of this new and varied corporeal dimensions: from Ballard’s sci-fi literature, to Cronenberg’s films; from Artaud’s Body without Organs (CSO), to all the various forms of Body Art; from Orlan’s aesthetic and bio-politic practices, to Sterlac’s contamination between flesh and technology, up to Jaron Lanier’s virtual reality. Artists have investigated the meaning of this new existential dimension, adopting plural and innovative means and elaborating meta-narratives of bodies and changing identities. Aesthetics, considered as the science of sensory knowledge, must take into account and analyze this new social and artistic reality. In order to do that successfully, aesthetics must also be contaminated with anthropology, psychology, semiotics and natural sciences, placing itself in a trans-disciplinarity context. Within this new conception, aesthetics is no longer considered as a delimited area, but moves through bodies floating in a the displaced territory made of humankind connections. Therefore, the aim of my research should be considered as twofold. On the one hand I started my investigation dealing with what might be considered the lower part of this issue, i.e. the ways in which the “re-shaping” / “re-covering” of the aesthetic field come off. Current aesthetics might be redefined as an aesthetic touch-screen. A thorough evaluation/consideration of this composed term has led philosophers to “touch” their discipline and its tools in relation to body, intended as a container of symbolic meanings that interact and mingle with and through mechanisms of connection and hybridization with digital devices and their applications. On the other hand, I try to analyze how this new, contaminated and floating, aesthetics, is capable to illuminate a new multi-identity. In this perspective the idea of metro-body acquires an actual meaning, i.e. it anticipates new corporeal re-configurations. First of all, in order to help their emersion, I take into account the results of the investigations made by some important philosophers, such as Husserl’s corporeal distinctions, Merleau Ponty's phenomenological revision of flesh, Deleuze’s rhizomatous approach towards body and his fascination with viande. As a second step of my research, I investigate the approaches undertaken by scholars and performance artists who have interpreted and reflected on the contemporary condition of body: from the performers operating in the field of digital art, to those operating in the field of new media art; from McLuhan’s Gutenberg Galaxy, to Derrick de Kerckhove’s Brainframes; from Gregory Bateson’s ecology of the mind, to David Le Breton’s anthropology of pain, up to the prosthetic applications recently used in the medical field (from “the fastest thing on no legs”, Oscar Pistorius, to Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, the bionic eye realized by the University of Santa Cruz in California). In this final phase of my research I try to suggest some practical examples of the metro-body concept. In order to achieve my aim, I observe and implement an ethnographic research on digital arts as well as on performing actions, reflecting on the use of body in relation to technology. I take into account the various international festivals of contemporary art and, at the same time, I try to study and give some examples of prosthetic, or plant application, in medicine, where technology and medicine are combined in a new medical anthropology. Contemporary society is facing the challenge of complexity and in this panorama the metro-body concept functions as a filter of a new bodily condition, placed between the reality and the virtual space. At the same time, aesthetics is going to participate actively, in a trans-disciplinary way, to a new form of narrative (cross-media-narrative). Therefore, we could say that a new form of trans-aesthetics (aesthetics-of-transition) is possible; it floats through hybrid bodies in a digital world. Rethinking the body is the main aim of my project.\ud
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Passages metrocorporei. Il corpo come dispositivo tecnologico in una estetica della transizione\ud
La mia ricerca si orienta nel tentativo di ricategorizzazione estetica in relazione ai flussi transmediali e digitali, ripensando l’opera d’arte da una diversa prospettiva. Come punto di partenza prenderò in considerazione il “chef d’oeuvre” di Walter Benjamin: I “Passages” di Parigi. Questo lavoro incompiuto che tenne il filosofo tedesco occupato per tredici anni, dal 1927 fino alla sua fuga verso la morte nel 1940, si presenta come un montaggio di citazioni, tracce e pensieri frammentari in divenire, alla ricerca di erigere nel tempo ritrovato, una costruzione fisiognomica di un’immagine dialettica della storia “in condizione di arresto”. Nella prima fase di ricerca, scomoderò Walter Benjamin, utilizzando l’opera I “Passages” di Parigi, come metafora per tracciare un’impronta che ricalchi una geografica del corpo collocato in un’immagine che “fluttua” in uno spazio non definito. L’immagine offerta ricalcolerà la condizione corporea e il sentire in relazione con il mondo, attraverso l’utilizzo delle nuove tecnologie. Questa nuova condizione che il corpo assume, proverò a chiamarla metrocorpo. Questo termine mi permetterà di riconfigurare e stabilire un diverso grado di corporeità e un differente significato. Nel momento in cui il nostro corpo si connette al dispositivo tecnologico o inserito in uno spazio virtuale, l’“arco intenzionale” di cui parla Merleau-Ponty si espande; esso rimane in tensione (in potenza), quasi sulla linea della rottura. Nel momento di immersione in un ambiente virtuale, la nostra percezione del corpo, lo schema corporeo e l’immagine corporea si “incorporano” restituendo così al nostro corpo un feedback (ritorno corporeo), che si compone di un’immagine complessa, diversa, scomposta e ibrida. Proprio in questa fase di riconfigurazione nasce la condizione del metrocorpo. Esso funziona come filtro-immagine tra il nostro corpo che inserito in uno spazio virtuale riconfigura la sua realtà corporea. L’arte ha da tempo rimesso in discussione il suo statuto in rapporto con la tecnologia e allo stesso tempo ha compreso la pregnanza di questa nuova e molteplice dimensione corporea. Dalla letteratura sci-fi di Ballard, al cinema di Cronenberg, dal Corpo senza Organi (CsO) di Artaud attualizzato da Deleuze, alla Body Art, dalle pratiche estetiche bio-politiche attuate da Orlan, alle contaminazioni tecnologiche della carne di Stelarc, fino alla realtà virtuale di Jaron Lanier; gli artisti hanno indagato, con mezzi plurali e inediti, il significato di questa nuova dimensione esistenziale, costruendo meta-narrazioni del corpo e identità mutanti. L’estetica, in quanto scienza della conoscenza sensibile, deve tener conto di questa nuova realtà sociale e artistica, e per analizzarla, deve anch’essa contaminarsi con l’utilizzo dell’antropologia, della psicologia, della semiotica e delle scienze naturali. La nuova estetica non possiede più uno spazio delimitato, ma si muove attraverso corpi che fluttuano nei piani de-territorializzati di un’umanità in connessione. Lo scopo del mio lavoro di ricerca è duplice. Da un lato indagherò a fondo le modalità con cui avviene questo “rimodellamento” della disciplina che veste un nuovo abito. L’attuale travestimento dell‘estetica potrebbe richiedere l’utilizzo del touch-screen. Quest’ultimo termine conduce il filosofo a “toccare” la disciplina e i suoi strumenti in relazione al corpo, in quanto contenitore di significati simbolici che interagiscono e si contaminano con e attraverso i meccanismi di connessione e ibridazione con la macchina digitale e le sue applicazioni. Dall’altro lato della ricerca, invece, tenterò di analizzare in che modo questa neo-estetica, contaminata e fluttuante, riesca ad illuminare una nuova multi-identità. L’immagine del metrocorpo, a questo punto, si è dotata di un possibile senso, prefigurando nuove riconfigurazioni corporee. Per far questo, mi servirò prima di tutto delle ricerche di alcuni filosofi, come delle distinzioni corporee di Husserl, fino alla revisione fenomenologica della carne di Merleau-Ponty, per poi attraversare l’impostazione rizomatica dell’organismo e la fascinazione della viande in Deleuze. Come seconda modalità d’indagine, impegnerò i teorici e gli artisti performativi che hanno riflettuto e interpretato la condizione del corpo contemporaneo, dai performer del digital art a quelli dei new media art. In questa ultima fase di ricerca proverò a fornire alcuni esempi concreti per finalizzare il concetto di metrocorpo. Per far questo, tenterò di osservare e applicare una ricerca etnografica sia sulle arti digitali che sulle azioni performative, che riflettano sull’uso del corpo in rapporto alla tecnologia. Analizzerò prima di tutto i diversi Festival d’arte contemporanea sia a livello nazionale che internazionale, allo stesso tempo, tenterò di studiare e fornire qualche esempio di applicazione protesica o impiantistica nel settore medico, dove la tecnologia e medicina si completano per una nuova antropologia medica. La contemporaneità a questo punto gioca la sfida della complessità, mentre il metrocorpo filtra una nuova condizione corporea tra lo spazio reale e quello virtuale e l’estetica si trova a partecipare attivamente e trans-disciplinarmente ad una nuova narrazione. Una nuova estetica della transizione (transestetica) verso il digitale è possibile, essa fluttua attraverso corpi ibridi in uno spazio digitale.\ud
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