935 research outputs found
Extending working life in Finland. CEPS Working Document No. 387, 22 November 2013
No full textThis report reviews national and private initiatives to allow the elderly to continue their participation in the Finnish labour market and provides an analysis of the labour market and living conditions of seniors. We are interested in how those over 50 can be engaged in various forms of employment and lifelong learning. We find strong evidence that Finland generally provides good institutional conditions for active ageing. The quick and early ageing process was tackled by the fundamental pension reform that already prolonged retirement substantially and will probably facilitate later retirement as the attitudes concerning retirement change. On the other hand, Finland still seems to lag behind the other Nordic welfare states, has considerable problems in providing the same health conditions to low educated people in physically demanding occupations and could - – with respect to family pension in particular – invest further efforts in reforming the pension system. While many of the reforms Finland has conducted seem to be favourable and transferable to other European countries that still face the steepest phases of ageing in their societies, a reluctance towards changing attitudes that we observe in Finland, shows that organizing active ageing is a long-term project
In vitro developmental competence of horse embryos derived from oocytes with a different corona radiata cumulus-oocyte morphology
No full textThe increase in demand for in vitro produced horse embryos is fostering the development of commercial laboratories for this purpose. Nevertheless, blastocyst production after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is still not as great as desired in most of these laboratories. In relation to horse oocyte classification, both expanded and compact cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COCs) are used for in vitro embryo production. The aim of this study was to compare in vitro embryo developmental capacity of COCs from horses including those with only the corona radiata, frequently collected after aspiration procedures. Horse oocytes were collected by follicular aspiration of abattoir-derived ovaries. After classification as expanded, compact or corona radiata COCs, these were in vitro matured, fertilized by ICSI and in vitro cultured for 7.5 days. Maturation rate, cleavage rate and morula/blastocyst rates were recorded. No significant differences (P > 0.05) were detected among groups in maturation rate. Cleavage rate was less (P < 0.05) for embryos derived from oocytes with a corona radiata as compared to compact-derived embryos, but embryo development after 7.5 days of culture was similar among groups (P > 0.05). In conclusion, even if embryos derived from oocytes with corona radiata had a lesser cleavage rate after ICSI, the developmental capacity was similar to embryos derived from oocytes with a compact and expanded cumulus morphology, indicating these can be an useful source of embryos in horses
A Contestatory Intellectual
No full textReview of: Alice Jardine, At the risk of thinking. An intellectual biography of Julia Kristeva. Edited by Mari Ruti. London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2020, pp. xiii, 385
IN VITRO DEVELOPMENTAL COMPETENCE OF HORSE OOCYTES WITH DIFFERENT CUMULUS MORPHOLOGY
No full textIn vitro production of equine embryos by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is gaining interest, and both commercial and research applications have rapidly increased worldwide. Oocyte collection from excised ovaries is generally performed using one of two methods: aspiration and scraping. Aspiration has been found to give a lower recovery rate [1] and to yield oocytes largely denuded of cumulus, when compared to scraping [2]. For commercial programs, oocytes are typically recovered from live mares using transvaginal ultrasound- guided aspiration. Despite the high number of oocytes with only corona radiata (CR) collected by aspiration (in vivo or ex vivo), most studies classify horse oocytes simply as having a compact (CP) or expanded (EX) cumulus, without considering oocytes with only CR. In the only study [3] classifying horse oocytes as having CP, EX, or partial cumulus investments, no data on embryo production were available. The aim of this study was to investigate the embryo developmental ability after ICSI of horse cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) presenting only CR as compared to CP and EX COCs. Horse oocytes were collected by follicular aspiration of abattoir-derived ovaries. After classification into EX, CP or CR COCs, they were in vitro matured for 26 h in DMEM-F12 supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS), 50 ng/ml epidermal growth factor, 100 ng/ml insulin-like growth factor 1, 0.1 IU/mL pFSH-LH (Pluset). At the end of the maturation period oocytes were denuded and classified as mature, immature or degenerate. MII oocytes were fertilized by piezo-drill ICSI using frozen-thawed semen from the same stallion, and in vitro cultured in SOF medium for 7.5 days. Culture medium was refreshed every 3 days and on day 6 of culture 5% FBS was added. At day 7.5 of in vitro culture, embryos were stained with 1 μg/mL bisbenzimide fluorescent dye (Hoechst 33342) to assess the number of nuclei and classify them. Maturation rate, cleavage rate and morula/blastocyst rates were recorded; data were statistically analysed using a Chi Square test (IBM SPSS Statistics 23) and significance was assessed for P<0.05. The experiment included 14 replicates. A total of 611 oocytes were used. Overall maturation rate was 60.2%. MII, immature and degenerate oocyte rates were not statistically different (P>0.05) among different COC morphologies (MII 61.7% vs. 57.6% vs. 59.3% for EX, CP and CR COCs respectively). Cleavage rate was lower (P<0.05) for CR (42.1%) compared to CP (55.6%) but not significantly different from EX (54.3%), while morula/blastocyst development after 7.5 days of culture was similar (P>0.05) among groups (12.0% vs. 8.9% vs. 14.7% of injected oocytes for EX, CP and CR COCs respectively). In conclusion, even if CR COCs show a lower cleavage rate after ICSI, their developmental ability is similar to CP and EX COCs, demonstrating that they can be used as a useful source of embryos in the horse
Il principio ekphrastico nel quadro proetico di Saša Sokolov
No full textLe opere di Saša Sokolov, dal successo de La scuola degli sciocchi (1976) all'ultimo esperimento ‘proetico’, passato piuttosto in sordina, Triptich (2011), sviluppano, ognuna a suo modo, la particolare linea poetica perseguita dall’autore. Sokolov, puntando a fare un'arte di pura lingua, una izjaščaja slovesnost', nella sua produzione ha continuativamente eroso il sjužet, lasciando davanti al lettore un magma indefinito di voci di narratori del tutto inaffidabili, immerse in atmosfere sospese. Tutta la narrazione sokoloviana si muove così per fermi immagine, fotogrammi, quadri, scattati, smontati e ricomposti, secondo la stessa tecnica cinematografica del montaggio di Sergej Ejzenštejn.
La presente analisi intende sottolineare come anche il principio ekphrastico, impiegato nel secondo romanzo di Sokolov, Meždu sobakoj i volkom (1980) in relazione all'opera di Pieter Bruegel il Vecchio, risponda a tale poetica, accrescendo la pluridimensionalità del romanzo, già di per sé composito e caratterizzato da un generale senso di indeterminatezza. L'importanza funzionale della componente ekphrastica nel testo è doppiamente sottolineata dal titolo stesso di alcune sezioni dell'opera, Kartinki s vystavki (Quadri da una mostra). L'edizione «OGI» del 2014 è stata inoltre finemente accompagnata da illustrazioni artistiche realizzate da Galja Popova, che a loro volta giocano sul testo e ripropongono la complessità del quadro ‘proetico’ sokoloviano. L'ekphrasis, infine, assieme al principio di meta-scrittura, continuamente suggerito nei testi di Sokolov, approfondisce i livelli narrativi, universalizza la narrazione, e, non da ultimo, distrugge ogni pretesa tradizionale di suspension of disbelief
“but I am also influenced by no such thing”-The Radical Pietist and Theological Author Johanna Eleonora Petersen
No full textJohanna Eleonora von und zu Merlau, verheiratete Petersen, von jeher tief gläubig, veränderte die religiöse Welt des 17. Jahrhunderts. Sie bekannte sich zur Bewegung des Pietismus und vertrat radikale Ansichten, nicht nur im privaten Kreis, sondern als anerkannte und heftig kritisierte theologische Autorin. Ihrem Werk ist eine Studie gewidmet, in der neue Forschungsergebnisse vorgestellt und Leben und Werk dieser bedeutenden Autorin in zeitgenössische Diskurse eingebunden werden.The deeply devout Johanna Eleonora Petersen, whose maiden name was „von und zu Merlau,” changed the religious world of the seventeenth century. She avowed herself to Pietism and held radical views, not only in private but also as an acknowledged and sharply criticized theological author. This study attends to her work. It presents new research results and weaves the life and work of this important author into contemporary discourses
La notion de défectuosité du produit dans les jurisprudences des pays européens
No full textThis work analyses the notion of defective product originally developed by US Courts, then ambiguously defined by the European directive n. 374 of 1985 and differently interpreted and applied by the respective domestic Courts. In particular, some European jurisdictions apply the risk / utility test introduced by the US Courts for design defects cases, although this test is not mentioned by the European Directive. The author, having highlighted the inconsistences of the risk / utility test, proposes an alternative model of classification of defective products according to the elements actually used by judges in order to allocate the liability, as emerging from the text of their decisions. This classification leads to held the manufacturer strictly liable not only for manufacturing defects, but also for those design defects which he was aware of (as in some cases of defective vaccine).Cette étude examine la notion de défectuosité du produit initialement élaborée par les Cours américaines, définie de manière ambigüe par le législateur européen avec la directive n° 374 de 1985, puis différemment interprétée et appliquée par les Cours respectives des pays membres. Notamment certains systèmes juridiques européens appliquent le risk/ utility test élaboré par les Cours américaines pour les cas de défaut de conception du produit, bien que ce test ne soit pas mentionné par la directive européenne. L’auteur, après avoir mis en évidence les incongruences du risk/ utility test, propose un modèle alternatif de classification des cas de produits défectueux sur la base des critères d’imputation de la responsabilité qui sont concrètement utilisés par les juges et tels qu’imagés dans les textes de leurs décisions. Cette reconstruction amène à imputer au fabricant une responsabilité objective non seulement pour les cas de défaut de production, mais aussi pour les cas de défaut de conception dont il était averti (tel que certain cas de vaccin défectueux).Rajneri Karageorgevitch Eleonora. La notion de défectuosité du produit dans les jurisprudences des pays européens. In: Revue internationale de droit comparé. Vol. 67 N°1,2015. pp. 185-205
(S)Confinamenti. Sui rapporti fra letteratura e arti figurative in area slava
No full textLa necessità di un allargamento degli orizzonti analitici della slavistica è stato già spunto di riflessione per un articolo di Gian Piero Piretto («eSamizdat», 2007, n. 3), nel quale si rilevava l’importanza di un approccio analitico fondato in misura maggiore sull’interdisciplinarietà e sulla comparatistica.
In un altro ambito, lo stesso semiologo Paolo Fabbri richiamava l’attenzione sull’importanza di uno sguardo che fosse semiotico, ossia capace di posarsi in egual modo su una società, su un testo o su un’immagine.
Riprendendo tali spunti, per il secondo numero della collana “Tema & Variazioni” – concepito come una monografia collettiva di giovani ricercatori in diverse aree della slavistica (russistica, ucrainistica, boemistica) –, si è inteso (ri)partire dai molteplici rapporti intersemiotici che interessano la scrittura letteraria e le arti figurative (pittura, grafica, architettura), sia nel senso di una contaminazione di modelli e forme espressive, ovvero dell’uso ́mutante ́ dei segni linguistici e visivi, sia nell'ottica di un conflitto di rappresentazioni
Triorchidism: genetic and imaging evaluation in an adult male
No full textWe report the results of imaging and
cytogenetic studies in a case of tri- orchidism in a 54 years old male without any associated
anomaly.
A scrotal ultrasonography revealed the presence of two testes within the left hemiscrotum with complete septa- tion and echotexture and vascular flow pattern similar to the vascular flow of the normal right testis.
There was no focal abnormal echogenicity suggesting malignancy. Scrotal MRI confirmed two soft-tissue structures in the left hemiscrotum with normal signal intensity at T1w and T2w images. Both testes had a tunica albuginea with low-signal intensity.
Cytogenetic analysis resulted in normal male karyotype 46XY. Array-CGH analysis detected the presence of two interstitial rearrangements: a ~120 Kb deletion of chro- mosome 1 and a ~140 Kb deletion of chromosome 16. Currently there are little details on the functions of both genes
Il recupero delle plastiche in mare
No full textLa ricerca indaga sulle filiere esistenti e
implementabili di recupero delle plastiche in
mare e sul riutilizzo di esse come materia
prima seconda nell’ottica un modello di
economia circolare. Si stima che nei mari ci
siano fino a 150 t. di plastica. Le cifre
lasciano intuire quanto sia fondamentale il
recupero e il riciclo del materiale,
parallelamente alla riduzione della sua
produzione e alla ricerca di soluzioni
alternativ
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