2,992 research outputs found
From Judith Butler to Ranjana Khanna: looking back onto Simone de Beauvoir
No full textThe crucial importance of Simone de Beauvoir's theoretical approach to the question of 'femininity' over the last decades, has been well expressed by Judith Butler's distinction between 'sex' and 'gender'. Yet, de Beauvoir's thinking needs to be fully contextualized in the anti-colonial readings offered by her intellectual environment, as theorist Ranjana Khanna has recently shown in her latest works, where she links psychoanalysis to colonialism
Ethics of ambiguity and the formation of the subject in contemporary society
No full textIl saggio è una riflessione sull'idea dell'etica dell'ambiguità elaborata dalla filosa francese Simone de Beauvoir. Obiettivo del saggio è analizzare la rilevanza dell'etica dell'ambiguità per la formazione del soggetto.The essay is a reflection on simone de Beauvoir's idea of ethics of ambiguity to verify its relevance to the formation of subjectivity in contemporary society
SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION OF SUGAR-BASED ALIPHATIC AND AROMATIC FATTY ACID ESTERS AS ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIBIOFILM AGENTS
No full textFood pathogens are responsible of significant economic losses in food industry each year and cause various
human diseases.1 Indeed, a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated new
cases of food-related illness in the United States at around 50 million, resulting approximately in 3,000 deaths
and 130,000 hospitalizations every year.2
Some of the common disinfection practices in food industry, such as chemical-based and irradiation, are very
effective. However, they are frequently expensive, dangerous and risky for the human health and the
environment. In addition, these approaches may have no effect against bacteria organized in biofilm, a wellknown
tridimensional structure that confers to bacteria more resistance to environmental stresses as well as
to antimicrobial treatments. Other practices, such as the use of common food preservatives (e.g. maleic acid
or potassium sorbate), are now proving to be unsafe and toxic. Recently, the use of natural products in
combating foodborne bacterial and fungal pathogens has become a trend. However, the antimicrobial
activities of most natural products are too low to enable their practical use. In short, there is still a great need
for effective antimicrobial food additives that are generally regarded as safe (GRAS) by Food and Drug
Administration.
In this contest and as a part of our research interests,3-5 we report enzymatic and chemical synthetic
procedures applied to obtain sugar-fatty acid esters, and based on the esterification of three different sugars
(monosaccharides glucose and mannose, and disaccharide lactose) with aliphatic (C8-C16 saturated fatty
acids) or aromatic (phenylacetic, biphenylacetic, triphenylacetic and p-phenylbenzoic) acids. These
compounds have been characterized and tested in order to determine their minimum inhibitory
concentration (MIC) values against different Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungi.
Secondarily, the most promising compounds of the series were also tested to evaluate both their antibiofilm
activity at different time of development (24 and 48 h, 5 days) of representative food-borne pathogens and
biocompatibility profile. The obtained data reveals an elevated percentage of biofilm formation inhibition up
to 5 days (> 90% in some cases) and at MICs values no toxicity on Caco-2 cell line.
Overall, the analyzed sugar-based surfactants could be considered possible biocompatible and safe
preservatives for food and other industrial applications
6'-O-Lactose Ester Surfactants as an Innovative Opportunity in the Pharmaceutical Field: From Synthetic Methods to Biological Applications
No full textGlycolipid surfactants are biocompatible and biodegradable compounds characterized by potential applications in various sectors including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agriculture, and food production. A specific overview regarding synthetic methodologies and properties of 6'-lactose-based surfactants is presented herein, particularly all the synthetic approaches to this class of lactose esters, such as enzymatic and traditional organic syntheses. Moreover, detailed descriptions of physicochemical data and biocompatibility properties of these molecules, that is, surface tension, critical micelle concentration, emulsifying ability, foaming, particle size distribution, biocompatibility, and safety, are described. Biological applications with a focus on permeability enhancing, antimicrobial activity, and antibiofilm properties of 6'-lactose-based esters are also reported
Rozpor ako východisko, láska ako smer u Simone Weilovej (Contradiction as base, Love as direction in writings of Simone Weil)
No full textArticle is explaining contradiction and love, Simone Weil‘s essential terms of hermeneutics of human Being. It introduces close relation of these terms with her understanding of God as well as with her overall concept of religion. Author also mentions Simone Weil‘s inspirations with philosophical and spiritual concepts of the East
“I beg you to tell me what has become of Djamila”: The Political Mobilization of Simone de Beauvoir’s Readers During the Boupacha Affair
No full textBy Sophia Millman This is a condensed version of a Masters thesis dedicated to the political mobilization of Simone de Beauvoir’s readers. The citations from the letters were translated from French by the author. *** On June 2, 1960, the French government ordered all copies of the daily Algiers edition of Le Monde seized and destroyed to suppress the publication of Simone de Beauvoir’s article “Pour Djamila Boupacha.” Beauvoir, a self-professed “woman of letters”, not “of action[1]”, and one ..
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