1,721,062 research outputs found
Victimisation and Masculinity in the Polarisation of Misogynist Incel Discourse: Bending van Dijk’s Ideological Square (1998)
No full textIn recent years, the incel community – a portmanteau of involuntary celibate, indicating young men who are unable to have a romantic or sexual relationship despite their efforts – has interested discourse studies scholars for their highly discriminatory discourses against minority groups (Prażmo, 2020). A close-knitted community, in their forums incels have developed a distinctive language characterized by neologisms and extensive identity construction strategies (Waśniewska, 2020). By framing their condition as a discrimination based on a supposed genetic inferiority making them unworthy of accessing sex, incels position their social group in opposition to most of society and, above all, to women. Discourse is polarized using an ‘us vs them’ rhetoric that would appear at first sight to fit in with van Dijk’s (1998) ideological square, which has long provided a solid framework for investigating in-group/out-group discourse dynamics. But while the ‘us vs them’ rhetoric conventionally pitches a positive ‘us’ versus a negative ‘them’, Scotto di Carlo (2023) points out that incels seem to breach this pattern. However, I argue that, rather than breaching it, incels make a peculiar use of the ideological square by bending it through narratives of victimization and weaponized subordinate masculinity (Halpin, 2022). Using critical discourse analysis (van Dijk, 1995; 2015; Lazar, 2005; Baxter, 2018) on a corpus of incel forum posts (collected from incel.is and incel.net) this paper aims to investigate how this rhetorical strategy allows them to reproduce harmful representations of women and enforce misogynist discourse practices typical of patriarchal societies
Finding the right narrative for innovation-driven urban regeneration projects: a challenge we have in MIND
No full textThe research project will be developed as a critical discourse analysis of institutional and popular discourses concerning urban regeneration. The analysis of urban regeneration as a linguistic, social, and communicative phenomenon will have to take into account the plurality of stakeholders that are involved, the variety of issues embedded in urban development (e.g., sustainability, mobility, accessibility) , and the local specificity of such projects. Therefore, this research will draw comparisons between discourses concerning urban regeneration projects in Milan and those of other European cities in order to find similarities and differences that will allow to identify best practices in the field on an institutional level. At the same time, a focus on popular discourse will seek to evaluate how this institutional communication is received by those people who are more or less directly affected by such projects. Studying the different stances that institutions and the public assume in regard to urban regeneration projects through critical discourse analysis will conceivably shed light on the multiple meanings of the term urban regeneration and its many synonyms – most notably, in which cases urban regeneration is perceived as gentrification in discourse. In particular, this research will investigate as a case study the Milan Innovation District (MIND), a multi-purpose area on the outskirts of Milan formerly built to host the 2015 World Exposition which is now being renovated to accommodate healthcare centers, co-working spaces, private companies, start-ups, scientific labs, and several departments of the University of Milan, as well as shops, services and residential buildings for its future users
Metaphors in policy discourse about urban development
No full textMetaphors have long been recognised a key role in conceptualising space (Nientied, 2016), particularly in the case of cities, which have been shown to be especially prone to extremely varied metaphorical representations (Gerber and Patterson, 2014). The choice of metaphor(s) through which cities are represented has a framing effect (Entman, 1993) on discourses on and around the city, constraining the way the urban environment – and its related challenges – is interpreted and understood, including envisaged solutions to such challenges. As texts offering solutions to perceived urban problems, policy documents concerning urban development can be considered privileged loci for the investigation of metaphors of the city and their attendant discourses. In recent years, discourse analytical approaches to policy analysis have been gaining traction, with a growing awareness of the meaning creation involved in policy design (Colebatch, 2006; Marston, 2004 and above all Bacchi, 2009). We argue that such meaning creation rests on and reproduces recurrent city-related tropes. In this presentation, we analyse a corpus of EU documents related to various aspects of urban planning with a view to identifying underlying metaphors of the city whose pervasive deployment informs policy framing. To do so, we adopt a top-down metaphor-detection approach based on existing repertoires of metaphors of the city which we combine with a corpus-based approach aimed at identifying additional lexical features that can be argued to be indexically linked to recurrent metaphorical constructs. We argue that through Critical Metaphor Analysis (Charteris-Black 2004) it is possible to achieve an understanding of the metaphorical framing of urban policies that can shed light on the ideological underpinnings of such policies, thereby potentially fostering a more productive debate on the future of European cities
Color-tuning of Firefly Luciferase Bioluminescence by Modification of Enzyme and Substrate Structure: New Opportunities for Optical Imaging
No full textLuciferase from Photinus pyralis (PpyLuc) has been extensively investigated and knowledge about mechanism of light emission of bioluminescent insects is mainly due to the studies related to structure and function of this enzyme. PpyLuc is, at present, the preferred enzyme for applications in optical molecular imaging because of favourable characteristics of the emitted yellow-green light (λmax 560 nm). Red and far-red emissions from a firefly luciferase could greatly improve the detection in small animal imaging, considerably reducing tissue attenuation of emitted light. Several bioluminescent insects, such as click beetle and railroad worm, possess luciferases that use the same substrates as PpyLuc but are able to emit red light. Results of researches aimed to shift light emission of PpyLuc towards the red emission by modification of the structure of the enzyme or that of the substrate have been here reviewed. The three-dimensional structure of PpyLuc has been solved in the absence of substrates or inhibitors, and, therefore, luciferin binding-site residues have been suggested by modeling studies or by means of site-directed mutagenesis. A few residues randomly distributed over the primary structure of firefly luciferases are known to affect bioluminescence colors and their substitution has resulted in red mutants. Chemical modifications of the substrate are limited in number and a few ATP and luciferin analogues have been proven to be able to shift light emission from yellow-green to red
D-Luciferin, derivatives and analogues : synthesis and in vitro/in vivo luciferase-catalyzed bioluminescent activity
No full textD-luciferin is the natural substrate of all luciferases that catalyze the production of light in bioluminescent insects. The present review covers the synthesis of D-luciferin and derivatives or analogues that are substrates or inhibitors of the luciferase from the American firefly Photinus pyralis, the enzyme more frequently used in techniques of in vitro and optical imaging
Synthesis of analogues and derivatives of luciferin for imaging techniques
No full textThe advent of genetic engineering has considerably affected the field of drug discovery and within this field of research, a good success has been the generation of a transgenic (ERE-Luc) mouse that has been transfected with a luciferase reporter gene. Under the control of activated estrogen receptors, this mouse encodes the enzyme luciferase, whose activity can be detected by chemiluminescent methods. The enzyme luciferase is able to catalyze the oxidative decarboxylation of D-luciferin with production of photons.
The PhD project was aimed to the synthesis of compounds that should be characterized by a high affinity towards luciferase and could be used to monitor the expression of the enzyme utilizing different imaging techniques (BLI, MRI, PET).
We have addressed our project towards the synthesis of substituted 2-cyano-6-hydroxybenzothiazole that could lead to differently substituted D-luciferin analogues and derivatives for BLI, MRI, or PET imaging.
MRI and PET rely on the introduction of fluorine in the molecule (19F for MRI and 18F for PET).
We have also realized a new, more versatile approach that could be applied to the synthesis of variously substituted luciferins. The overall approach starts from 1,4-benzoquinone and could be extended to the synthesis of variously substituted 1,4-benzoquinones.Yields of D-luciferin are in the range of 27-32% that are higher than existing methods and the use of toxic or poisonous reagents is avoided
Biofilm-forming ability and virulence factors of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius from canine pyoderma
Full text linkStaphylococcus pseudintermedius (SP) has been associated with high antibiotic-resistance rates (e.g. methicillin) in European countries [1,3]. This condition could be also related to the ability to produce biofilm [2]. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of methicillin-resistant SP strains and determine their ability to produce biofilm and some crucial virulence factors.Forty-two SP strains, previously determined as multi drug resistant (MDR) by the disk diffusion method using a panel of 17 antimicrobial agents, were selected from our collection and tested phenotypically for the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of methicillin and genotypically for the presence of mecA and blaZ genes. The ability to produce biofilm was assessed phenotypically by two different assays: the Congo Red Agar plates (CRA) and the Microtitre Plate test (MtP) and genetically by the amplification of icaA and icaD genes. Three virulence factors genes coding for bicomponent leukocidin and enterotoxins (luk-I, seC, se-int) were searched.Twenty-three strains revealed a value of MIC for the methicillin greater than 128 µg/mL. The 83% were mecA-positive and 86% resulted blaZ-positive; all the strains positive for mecA were also positive for blaZ. All SP strains resulted biofilm-producers by MtP assay and classified as weakly producers (4.7%), moderate producers (47.6 %) and strongly producers (47.6 %). In contrast, only 35.7% of all strains were considered biofilm-producers by CRA method. The amplification of icaA and icaD gene occurred respectively in 66.6% and 97.6%; only one strain was negative for both genes. Almost all strains were positive for luk-I (95%), seC (74%) and se-int (84%).Our data reveal the pathogenicity potential of SP strains from dogs, suggesting that they could be considered zoonotic potential agents and confirming other previous studies [3-5]. Moreover could be observed a clear linkage between antibiotic-resistance and ability to produce biofilm
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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