1,799 research outputs found
Chiara Lubich, Meditazioni: letteratura come relazione
No full textChiara Lubich (1920–2008), although the author of 32 books published in 26 countries (178 editions, 3.2 million copies), is better known for her social engagement, as reflected in numerous awards. She began to be regarded as a literary author only in the early 2000s, and primarily from a linguistic rather than literary perspective. This article focuses on her book Meditazioni (Meditations), reconstructs its genesis by tracing the writing process from the late 1950s to her death and the 2021 critical edition, and offers a literary analysis. This reveals Lubich as a forerunner of a new conception of literature: literature as relationship – not only between author and reader, but also among subject, inspiration, and the editorial process
THE COMBINATION OF L-THYROXINE AND 3-IODOTHYRONAMINE ENHANCES HIPPOCAMPAL NEUROGENESIS IN A MURINE MODEL OF HYPOTHYROIDISM
No full textAdult‐onset hypothyroidism is associated with cognitive perturbations, depression and anxiety, pointing to an underlying disruption of hippocampal plasticity. Symptoms usually remit after L‐thyroxine (L‐T4) replacement. However, about 5‐10% of hypothyroid patients do not achieve satisfactory functional levels. Tissue levels of TH metabolites, such as 3‐iodothyronamine (T1AM), are also decreased in hypothyroidism, and remain low after L‐T4 replacement. As T1AM has pro‐learning effects, we hypothesize that its reduced availability may impact neurocognition and related neurobiological alterations. We sought to assess the impact of alternative replacement therapies on hippocampal neurogenesis in a pharmacologically induced hypothyroidism model.
Six‐week‐old C57BL/6J male mice (n = 12) were given Methimazole and Potassium Perchlorate (0,20 mg/g/die and 0,30 mg/g/die) in drinking water for 49 days while the control littermates (n = 3) received water. At day 21, mice were implanted with subcutaneous ALZET® osmotic pumps delivering replacement treatments for 28 days. Animals were divided in 5 groups: euthyroid (n = 3); hypothyroid (n = 3); LT4 (n = 3); LT4&T1AM (n = 8); T1AM (n = 3). To assess neurogenesis in the sub granular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus, we performed immunofluorescence for specific markers, such as Ki67 for cell proliferation and doublecortin (DCX) for newborn neuroblasts and immature neurons. Images were captured using a Leica confocal microscope (SP8) and analysis was performed using Fiji. The number of DCX+ cells obtained from 4 coronal sections (‐1.82 mm to ‐2.36 mm from bregma, 180 μm interval) was summed to obtain a single estimate per mouse.
A 49‐day period of adult‐onset hypothyroidism induced a reduction of around 20% in the number of DCX+ newly generated cells. L‐T4 replacement restored the number of DCX+ cells (116% of euthyroid), which was further increased by the combination of L‐T4 and T1AM (137% of euthyroid), while T1AM did not show any effect per se. One‐way ANOVA revealed a global significant effect among the 5 groups (F (4, 10) = 3.97, p = 0.03).
These results, as long as preliminary, suggest that T1AM, alongside canonical TH, modulates adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Future studies should elucidate whether L‐T4&T1AM combination may improve hypothyroid patients' cognitive dysfunctions and prevent the neurodegenerative consequences of hypothyroidism
Chiara Lubich: A Saint for a New Global Unity
No full textIn this article the author offers an introduction to the life, thought, and impact of Chiara Lubich. He begins with a brief biographical overview and draws attention to some important features of her spiritual teaching: Jesus in the midst, Jesus Forsaken, Mary Desolate, the four nights. He draws attention to the Economy of Communion and as an expression of this spirituality in the world of business and economics, and to the figure of Chiara Luce Badano, a young adherent to the Spirituality of Unity who has been recognized as an example of how this spirituality can lead to holiness of life. The author’s judgment is that Chiara Lubich is “a saint of dialogue.
Manifesto per il museo post-etnografico
No full textThe author signes a poetic manifesto for the future of ethnographic museums, beyond colonial representational stereotypes and methodologies
Il museo come metodo. E tu, che cosa vedi?
No full textThe chapter reflects upon the current achievements, at international scale, in reference to the education of the adolescents in the museum context. Drawing upon the experience of the "Che cosa vedi?" project, developed by the author herself at the Museo del Novecento, Milan, the chapter explores the scientific horizons, the best practices and the educational methodologies more suit for working with teenagers, such as peer education and debating. "Che cosa vedi?" was focused of the work of 4 prominent Italian artists of the XX century (Lucio Fontana, Toti Scialoja, Luciano Fabro and Mario Merz)
From Canvas to Music: Mathematics as a Tool for the Composition of Jackson Time
No full textThe creation of ``Jackson time'' is a project which involves a composer, Davide Amodio, and
a mathematician, Chiara de Fabritiis.
Our common aim was to to ``translate'' a painting by Jackson Pollock, Summertime n. 9,
into a piece of music, making use of different mathematical tools to detect the quantities needed for the
composition. We were inspired by the idea that the painting itself contained some kind of inner--music,
due to the fact that Pollock's moves during the dripping on the canvas had a sort of rhythm, indeed they were often
described by witnesses as a dance.
This paper describes the mathematical background, in particular it illustrates both the analysis
of the painting which was carried out by the two of us and the choice of the mathematical techniques applied to
compute the parameters needed for the composition, which is due to the author. The reader will find a more detailed
report on the composition itself in Davide Amodio's contribution
L'edilizia popolare e ordinaria in Francia: un patrimonio da valorizzare. Il Progetto AMuLoP
No full textThe author describes the practices, methodologies and outcomes of a museum project located in the Northern area of Paris and aimed at representing the life of the working class in the aftermath of the Second World War up to the present, with a focus on immigration
Chiara Lubich and the Transformation of Relationships: A Response to “Chiara Lubich and Gender Sociology”
No full textDi Nicola’s essay offers an interesting view of Chiara Lubich’s charism of unity from the perspective of one of society’s main problems: the wound in the relationships between men and women. The violation of the human rights of women, women’s lack of access to political and economic power, and gender discrimination are examples of this wound. The author sheds light on the significance of Lubich’s contribution to this central aspect
Topic-comment structure and the interpretation of null subjects in modern Chinese
No full textBased on original data collected through an acceptability experiment, the present work aims to show that, in a radical null subject (NS) language like Mandarin Chinese, a NS is interpreted as co-referent to an Aboutness-Shift Topic (A-Topic), as in consistent and partial null subject languages, like Italian and Finnish respectively (cf. Frascarelli 2007, 2018). Nevertheless, the data regarding acceptability of NSs in different syntactic contexts shows specificities for Mandarin Chinese, which must be explained and integrated in the theory for a comprehensive account. Furthermore, the analysis of central and adverbial clauses show that A-Topics in Mandarin Chinese are derived by A’-movement from their subject position in the T-domain to the split-CP area. Moreover, based on the data collected through an original oral production experiment, it is shown that different types of Topics (namely, A-Topic, C(ontrastive)-Topic and G(iven)-Topic) show specific discourse-related intonational contours, even in a tone language like Chinese. Finally, two Hierarchies will be proposed, namely Topic Hierarchy, according to which an A-Topic precedes both a C- and a G-Topic, and an Acceptability Hierarchy, based on the structural constraints that affect interpretation (namely, ambiguity, locality and topic shift)
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