1,100 research outputs found
La triade dell'essere in Giovanni Scoto Eriugena
No full textIn John Scottus Eriugena’s Periphyseon, one can find several references of the essentia – virtus – operatio triad; an analysis of those mentions shows that it has a basic (but often hidden) function in his metaphysical doctrine. The triad appears to be the fundamental ontological structure of the whole cosmos, eternal and unalterable in the Divine Word, but, at the same time, in constant flux in the Creation. However, since the triad is not found in God, it can only be considered metaphorically in Him. Eriugena uses the triad’s theory in his anthropology to explain the soul’s motions, in his knowledge theory to clarify the essence of the number, and in the doctrine of the reditus, disclosing how everything will return to God, even in its preserved, specific nature
D. H. Lawrence and Cultural Medition
No full text“Translation” is a concept that can be applied to proper translation as
well as to travel writing. Indeed, Lawrence can be defined a cultural mediator
between English readers and the Italian culture, both for his experience as
traveller – an experience which reverberates in his travel writings and in many of
his works – and as translator. Italy is the place where Lawrence lived the longest
and his growing competence with the Italian language made him decidd to translate some of
Giovanni Verga’s novels and stories, a difficult challenge as Verga’s
texts were not simply in Italian but in a language imbued with regional
connotations and which, even though it was not proper Sicilian dialect, tended to
reproduce the rhythm and syntax of the language spoken in Sicily at the time
Verga lived. In his very few general comments on translation, Lawrence rejects
the idea of simply adopting another dialect of the target language and suggests
that the translator has to try and invent words and images which retain the
flavour of the specific local region of the original text. In his dual role of traveller
and translator Lawrence acted as cultural mediator between English readers and
the Italian culture, making Italy and Italian literature known to English readers;
at the same time Italy inspired many of Lawrence’s writings and helped him define his world view
The Kyoto Protocol and the European Energy Policy
No full textDuring the lead up to and assessment of the Copenhagen Climate Conference in November 2009, the effects of the celebrated Kyoto Protocol were often overlooked. Although the aims of the Kyoto Protocol can be relegated to the dustbin of history, the targets set out in the agreement allowed Europe to put itself in a dominant position. Not only did the Kyoto Protocol force Europe to invest heavily in green technologies, but in addition it led to the creation of a European energy policy with the aim of reducing Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels which can be seen, from a strategic point of view, as an undesirable dependence on sources abroad
Identity, Performance and Ritual in The Lost Girl
No full textThe Lost Girl, published in 1920, can be considered a transitional novel, in so far as it foreshadows Lawrence’s American experience, making of Italy “a stepping-stone to the New World”. The novel, that Lawrence thought would contribute to women’s cause more than the suffrage itself, is the story of Alvina Houghton’s quest for self-discovery from the industrial Midlands to the small Italian village of Pescocalascio. The aim of the essay is to analyse the role that the Natcha-Kee-Tawaras, an itinerant mock Red Indian troupe, play in the development of her female identity. Though depicted in somewhat ambiguous and grotesque terms - as ambiguous and grotesque are the performers themselves, who repeatedly blur the boundaries between art and life - their Wild West show allows the young woman to get in touch with her innermost drives and desires. The performance, therefore, holds up a mirror to Alvina, revealing her the truth about herself, as Victor Turner would say, and encouraging her to dismiss her socially imposed female role. In the novel Lawrence contrasts the film, which appeals to the spectator’s eye, with “the marvellous movements of the live human body”, which, on the contrary, elicit Alvina’s partecipative response, a corporeal reaction where “motion and commotion converge”. Surprisingly, by comparing the cinema, the most mimetic of all arts in “the age of mechanical reproduction”, with the dancing performance of the Natcha-Kee-Tawara troupe, Lawrence seems to evoke the long lost mimetic faculty of producing similarities, that, according to Benjamin, was dance’s oldest function
Idiopathic benign paroxysmal vertigo in children, a migraine precursor.
No full textOBJECTIVES: We describe the case of a young girl in whom transient deafness occurred when her core body temperature rose. METHODS: The patient was referred for a series of audiological and neurologic evaluations performed over time in both afebrile and febrile states, as well as after a stress test (with a treadmill) in which the body temperature rise simulated the febrile state. RESULTS: The patient was found to have a temporary bilateral hearing loss, but had normal distortion product otoacoustic emissions. Moreover, auditory brain stem responses revealed the absence of neural synchrony when her core body temperature increased. CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with a temperature-dependent auditory neuropathy, a rare condition in which patients show normal outer hair cell function and abnormal neural function of the eighth cranial nerve. The symptom is reminiscent of Uhthoff's phenomenon, which is described as transient visual loss and is usually observed in multiple sclerosis. This case of temperature-dependent auditory neuropathy is noteworthy because it sheds light on a disorder of which there have been few reports in the literature. We discuss its similarity to Uhthoff's phenomenon
Le trasformazioni strutturali dell’agricoltura meridionale: dallo sviluppo agricolo allo sviluppo territoriale
No full textOvercoming the natural excitation assumption: a strategy to deal with colouration and time/space correlation in output-only modal analysis
No full textOperational-modal-analysis-based processing of no-next engineering applications datasets: A generalized power spectral density modal model formulation
No full textOperational Modal Analysis, OMA, even referred to as Output-only Modal Analysis, as opposed to the Input-Output technique, is a powerful technique used to identify the dynamic properties of a vibration system in steady working conditions. Starting from the only measured output signals, OMA allows achieving the estimation of resonance frequencies, damping ratios, and modes, i.e. the modal parameters. The main drawback of OMA approach consists in the NExT assumptions of uncorrelated white noises excitations. These hypotheses, in fact, are violated in all those cases in which the exerted environmental loads cannot be described as white noises, as in the cases of systems having rotating parts (machine tools, engines or wind turbines) or characterized by speed and/or time correlated inputs (road and rail vehicles). In this paper, we derive an OMA formulation not based on the NExT assumptions but incorporating the relationship between outputs, inputs, and modal parameters in a suitable way. Specifically, the proposed OMA technique requires some knowledge about the inputs acting on the system and, thus, it is applicable to systems for which something about the inputs is somehow known. We show the existence of a modal model of the output Power Spectral Densities, PSDs, which contain the dependence not only by the modal parameters, but also by the input PSDs. This model is referred to as the generalized PSD modal model. Examples of the usage of this approach are illustrated in the case of the identification of a lumped parameter system in the presence of both stochastic and harmonic excitations and in that of the rigid body modes of a road/railway vehicle from numerical data
Genes and sex hormones interaction in neurodevelopmental disorders
No full textThe prevalence, age of onset and symptomatology of many neurodevelopmental disorders strongly differ between genders. This review examines sex biases in human neurodevelopmental disorders and in validated animal models. A focus is made on disorders of well-established genetic origin, such as Rett syndrome, CDKL5-associated disorders, Fragile X and Down syndrome. Autism is also addressed, given its paradigmatic role as a sex-biased neurodevelopmental disorder. Reviewed literature confirms that a complex interaction between genetic factors and sex hormones may underlie the differential susceptibility of genders and may impact the severity of symptoms in most of the analyzed neurodevelopmental disorders. Even though further studies addressing the advantages and disadvantages conferred by biological sex in this class of disorders are needed to disentangle the underlying mechanisms, present findings suggest that modulation of sex steroid-related pathways may represent an innovative approach for these diseases. Much effort is now expected to unravel the potential therapeutic efficacy of drugs targeting sex hormones-related signaling pathways in neurodevelopmental disorders of well-established genetic origin
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