127 research outputs found
A redescription of Tephritis zonogastra Bezzi, 1913 (Diptera: Trypetidae).
No full textDie vorliegende Arbeit enthält eine ausführliche Nachbeschreibung von Tephritis zonogastra Bezzi, ES wird vermutet, daß Bezzi\u27s Holotypus, obgleich seine Beschreibung keine Angaben über das Geschlecht enthält, ein Männchen war, so daß hiermit die Neubeschreibung des Weibchens vorgelegt werden kann.Tephritis zonogastra Bezzi is redescribed in detail. It is suggested that although Bezzi in his original description made no mention of the sex,the holotype described by him was a male. The description of the female given by the present author may, therefore, be regarded as new
Nell'officina di un reporter di fine Ottocento: gli appunti di viaggio di Edmondo De Amicis
No full textScrittura in continua oscillazione tra codice soggettivo e oggettivo, le note di viaggio
sembrano configurarsi per natura come un 'apografo' dell'esperienza. Se, poi, il loro autore si
avvicina ad esse in veste di inviato speciale, sempre in parten2a su richiesta del lettore o
dell'editore, il loro rapporto con il vissuto del viaggio è destinato ad assumere caratteri ancor più complessi e stratificati.
Da questo punto di vista, la ricerca che abbiamo condotto su alcuni dei quaderni di appunti
di Edmondo De Amicis viaggiatore e reporter sembrano fornire significative chiavi di lettura per
comprendere procedimenti e motivazioni di questo genere di testi.
Le nostre indagini si sono svolte principalmente nelle Biblioteche Civiche e Nazionali di
Venezia, Torino e Firenze dove si sono rinvenuti oltre ai riferimenti teorici, metodologici e
archivistici della tesi, numerosi autografi, prime edizioni di opere e diversi carteggi. Le visite più assidue, però, sono state compiute presso la Biblioteca Civica «Leonardo Lagorio» di Imperia che, conservando un Fondo interamente dedicato allo scrittore, si è confermato il luogo più adatto per una ricerca che mirasse ad esplorare i vari livelli di scrittura con cui l'autore ha dovuto
confrontarsi nell'elaborazione dei suoi reportages.
Dei quaderni qui selezionati per l'analisi abbiamo descritto e trascritto parzialmente Ms.
E.D.A. 18 e 20, dedicati al viaggio in Marocco (1875), Ms. E.D.A. 19 e 21 utili ad una
ricostruzione del soggiorno argentino del 1884; ad essi appare cronologicamente e strutturalmente
legato Ms. E.D.A. 26, contenente note stilate durante il viaggio in piroscafo verso il Sud
America, da cui poi De Amicis trasse le pagine de Sull'Oceano (Milano, Treves, 1889). Distinto da
essi per finalità e scrittura appare Ms. E.D.A. 3 (Note per La Carrozza di tutti), fascicolo di appunti rappresentanti una fase già successiva della scrittura di "diario", utilizzati per il romanzo-reportage La carrozza di tutti (Milano, Treves, 1899).
Tali autografi sono stati scelti tra gli altri come i più rappresentativi dei processi di
creazione e di evoluzione della scrittura di viaggio deamicisiana, letta come cartina di tornasole di alcune delle principali modalità di realizzazione del genere del reportage in un periodo, quale
l'ultimo trentennio del secolo XIX, in cui esso realizzò un rilevante sviluppo storico e letterario.
A sottolineare tale prospettiva abbiamo ritenuto opportuno allegare io appendice un catalogo dei libri di viaggio letti da De Amicis, attualmente conservati presso lo Studio De Amicis ad Imperia-Porto Maurizio, con una breve premessa sul rapporto dell'autore con le fonti.
L'esperienza si è rivelata un interessante itinerario attraverso le letture dello scrittore ligure,
nell'esplorazione delle chiose che egli usava apporre a margine, oltre che nella produzione del
genere tra la fine del XIX e gli inizi del XX secolo.
La descrizione, la datazione e la trascrizione delle carte selezionate si accompagnano nella
tesi ad un esame della genesi delle scelte stilistiche nel confronto delle note autografe con l'opera a stampa, di cui vengono riportati a pié di pagina campioni significativi e ricorrenti quando funzionali all'indagine sul testo. Tale corpo analitico è stato inserito tra una presentazione di carattere teorico-descrittivo dei quaderni di viaggio valutati nel contesto della situazione complessiva del Fondo «De Amicis» e un capitolo conclusivo di osservazioni sulla scrittura di viaggio dell'autore con riferimento al processo compositivo della sua opera narrativa e saggistica.
La lettura delle note ha consentito di evidenziare differenze e somiglianze strutturali dei
quaderni e delle opere e, insieme, di misurare un progressivo spostamento ideologico e narratologico
spesso corrispondente, se non talvolta coincidente, a quello rilevabile nella lettura dei testi a stampa.
Nella totalità dei casi analizzati, l'autore procede ad un'annotazione aneddotica degli eventi,
raccoglie in forma diretta exempla di conversazione ai quali appone varianti e correzioni, seleziona
accuratamente gli argomenti, il loro ordine e la loro frequenza: tale forma, che egli restituisce
nell'opera compiuta, rivela un'inclinazione crescente a preordinare il modello dell'esperienza e la
preoccupazione costante di mantenere alta l'attenzione del pubblico ricorrendo a toni conversevoli
anche alle pagine più didattico-divulgative.
Evidenziare il processo di costruzione del testo e di emissione del messaggio all'interno del
laboratorio dello scrittore, nella continua oscillazione tra scrittura intima e scrittura pubblica
imposta dalla natura stessa delle note, ci è sembrata una strada opportuna a chiarire i nodi della
ricezione dell'opera deamicisiana, a scoprire le dimensioni dell'intenzionalità ed una più nitida
considerazione del suo esito letterario anche in rapporto al pubblico dei lettori.
Si è potuto, infine, per questa via accertare come la scrittura di De Amicis risulti collocarsi
all'incrocio tra un nuovo interesse per soggetti di carattere sociale ed una nuova attenzione
stilistica e costruttiva del testo che condurrà in ambito italiano ad un rinnovamento del genere del
reportage destinato a vedere un ricco stuolo di seguaci divisi tra una scrittura sempre più incline
all'aneddoto e al frammento lirico, definita di sapore "pre-rondista", da un lato, ed una più incline al sociale, promossa dal reportage d'inchiesta, dall'altro, secondo modalità che si riveleranno fertili sin dentro e oltre il secolo XX.
L'indagine che abbiamo svolto si colloca tra filologia e analisi del testo, nell'idea che
attingere dall'unione di queste discipline possa rivelarsi criticamente proficuo nello studio di testi come quelli rappresentati dai quaderni deamicisiani. Raccolte di note e appunti preliminari,
anteriori all'esistenza dell'opera letteraria compiuta si possono, a nostro avviso, rivelare utili sia ad una lettura diacronica, nel rapporto con il testo definitivo destinato alla pubblicazione, sia ad una lettura sincronica nella considerazione autonoma della loro composizione. A tali scopi i quaderni esaminati si prestano efficacemente, anche per la natura delle opere che ne derivano, di cui tali autografi rappresentano una sorta di officina, a volte fumosa e rumorosa, nella quale, osservando strumenti e processi in atto, diventa possibile seguire la costruzione in fieri del testo.
Travel notes are a way of writing that always alternates between a subjective and an
objective code and is by nature 'apograph' of the experience. If their writer approaches them as a
reporter whose travel begins for the reader's or the editor's request then the borders of this
sort of writing show more complex characteristics.
From this point of view Edmondo De Amicis' experience as a traveller and reporter seems to offer some interesting clues for this genre.
The research about some notebooks written by De Amicis has been carried on at Florence, Turin and Venice Civic and National Libraries but mainly at the Civic Library of Imperia called «Leonardo Lagorio», where an archive entirely dedicated to the Italian writer is preserved. The Archive has been the most suitable place to inquire the different levels of writing which De Amicis had to explore creating his travel reportages.
After an exam of the history and of the validity of the autographs, we have proceeded to the analysis of some selected manuscripts of the Archive. Among the notebooks conserved at Imperia we have studied and partially transcribed Ms. E.D.A 18 and 20 dedicated to the travel to Morocco (1875) and Ms. E.D.A. 19 and 21, that deal with the travel to Argentina (1884); linked with them, another notebook, Ms. E.D.A. 26, which contains notes about the journey in a steamboat toward South America, which inspired the pages of his On the Ocean (Milan, Treves, 1889). Different for finalities and kind of writing is Ms. E.D.A. 3 (Note per La Carrozza di tutti), a series of notes representing a phase of writing that follows the 'diary book'.
These autographs have been chosen because they better represent how De Amicis created and developed his travel reportages, and are a significant example of reportage techniques, a genre that reached an important literary and historical development in the last thirty years of 19th century.
It has also been useful, to stress this perspective, to enclose in the Appendix a catalogue of
travel books kept in the personal library of the author, today at Centro Polivalente at Porto
Maurizio-Imperia, with a short introduction about the relationship between the Italian writer and
his sources. The experience has been an useful journey through the writer's readings, through the
notes he used to write on their margins and through the production of travel books between the
end of 19th century and the 20th century.
The description and the dates of the hand-written and printed works and the transcription of the selected papers go together with an analysis of the stylistic and linguistic choices and their evolution, through a comparison of the notes with the printed work. At the bottom of the page are registered some significant and recurring examples from the volume. This analytical part has been inserted between a theoretical and descriptive part about the notebooks of the archive and a conclusive chapter about the author's travel writing techniques in the context of his entire literary production.
The reading of the notes has shown structure differences and similarities with the printed works and how their stylistic and ideological evolution often corresponds and sometimes coincides.
In the examples registered, the author usually retells the events in an anecdotal way he rarely prefers to describe them ; he reports in the direct form some conversations, that he often corrects on the pages of the manuscripts; he carefully selects the subjects, their order and frequency, revealing an inclination to prearranged patterns of experience. The anecdotes and the reporting of direct speeches allow him to avoid the tendency to write an 'essay', and to maintain high the reader's attention, keeping talkative tones also in didactic pages.
The analysis of text structuring and of emission of the message in the writer's workshop, that alternates between intimate and public writing imposed by the nature of the notes, helped to enlighten the keys of the reception of De Amicis' production, to discover its intentions, and to
consider the literary results also referring to the editorial market and the readers.
De Amicis's writing lies between a new interest in social subjects and a new stylistic and structural attention to the text which will have some important consequences in renovating the
reportage technique in the Italian literature. In the 20th century the genre will develop on one side to the anecdote and the lyrical fragment and on the other to the social enquiry.
The research shifts between philology and text analysis, with the persuasion that an interdisciplinary study could be efficacious for this kind of texts. Notes and journals that precede
the printed work appear a diachronically and synchronically productive reading, establishing a
relationship between notes and the accomplished text on one side and an autonomous reading of
the handwriting on the other. For this aim the selected texts reveal proceedings, instruments and
the birth of the work
Alteration of beta-cell constitutive NO synthase activity is involved in the abnormal insulin response to arginine in a new rat model of type 2 diabetes.
Get PDFWe have previously obtained a new type 2 diabetic syndrome in adult rats given streptozotocin and nicotinamide, characterized by reduced beta-cell mass, partially preserved insulin response to glucose and tolbutamide and excessive responsiveness to arginine. We have also established that the neuronal isoform of constitutive NO synthase (nNOS) is expressed in beta-cells and modulates insulin secretion. In this study, we explored the kinetics of glucose- and arginine-stimulated insulin release in perifused isolated islets as well as the effect of N-omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a NOS inhibitor, to get insight into the possible mechanisms responsible for the arginine hypersensitivity observed in vitro in this and other models of type 2 diabetes. A reduced first phase and a blunted second phase of insulin secretion were observed upon glucose stimulation of diabetic islets, confirming previous data in the isolated perfused rat pancreas. Exposure of diabetic islets to 10 mM arginine, in the presence of 2.8 mM glucose, elicited a remarkable monophasic increment in insulin release, which peaked at 639 +/- 31 pg/islet/min as compared to 49 +/- 18 pg/islet/min in control islets (P << 0.01). The addition of L-NAME to control islets markedly enhanced the insulin response to arginine, as expected from the documented inhibitory effect exerted by nNOS activity in normal beta-cells, whereas it did not further modify the insulin secretion in diabetic islets, thus implying the occurrence of a defective nNOS activity in these islets. A reduced expression of nNOS mRNA was found in the majority but not in all diabetic islet preparations and therefore cannot totally account for the absence of L-NAME effect, that might also be ascribed to post-transcriptional mechanisms impairing nNOS catalytic activity. In conclusion, our results provide for the first time evidence that functional abnormalities of type 2 experimental diabetes, such as the insulin hyper-responsiveness to arginine, could be due to an impairment of nNOS expression and/or activity in beta-cell
Standardized bilateral thoracic ultrasound image comparison as a tool for the diagnosis of pneumothorax: a pilot exploratory study
No full textAim: Pneumothorax is a potentially life-threatening condition whose diagnosis can be challenging. Ultrasound chest examination is generally fast and user-friendly, but in non-expert hands or with uncooperative patients, it may still be difficult and time-consuming. Adding another tool to support the suspicion of pneumothorax might be useful, potentially enhancing the diagnostic accuracy of standard ultrasound chest examination. We evaluated the feasibility of standardized bilateral ultrasound image comparison as a potential new tool for pneumothorax diagnosis. Materials and methods: We enrolled 60 subjects (30 with pneumothorax and 30 controls) and collected bilateral ultrasound images of their chests (each image contained one frame from the left lung and one from the right lung). Ten physicians (eight blinded to diagnosis) divided into five groups according to expertise evaluated the images for potential grayscale differences and/or horizontal artifacts between the two frames. All images were then analyzed with image analysis software for grayscale pixel assessment (one sub-analysis for the entire area under the pleural line, one for a 100-pixel-wide rectangle under the pleural line). Results: All clinicians achieved good results in terms of diagnostic accuracy and inter-operator reliability, even those unexperienced in ultrasound. Mean, range, and median grayscale pixel ratio between the pneumothorax side and the healthy side in a single patient proved to be the most reliable parameters, reaching excellent sensitivity and specificity. Combining these parameters proved to be an excellent diagnostic tool (ROC area under curve = 1.00, p-value = 0.02). Conclusions: Standardized bilateral thoracic ultrasound image comparison may be a potential new tool for the diagnosis of pneumothorax
Alteration of beta-cell constitutive NO synthase is involved in the abnormal insulin response to arginine in a new rat model of type 2 diabetes
No full textTreatment of emphysema: procedure planning and follow-up by HRCT
No full textLearning objectives
To review surgical or bronchoscopic treatment for severe emphysema. To describe preoperative characterization of emphysema by HRCT and to define the specific abnormalities that guide the choice of optimal procedure. To show the regular morphological changes that follow the procedures and to describe the complications as detected by chest x-ray and HRCT.
Background
COPD is characterized by incompletely reversible expiratory airflow obstruction, and its severity is rated according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) classification, which defines four stages of disease, according to the post-bronchodilator airflow limitation. HRCT allows the categorization of COPD patients into subtypes that are distinguished accordingly to different structural and functional alterations [1].
Findings and procedure details
1. Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) The surgical removal of emphysematous tissue has the purpose of revert ventilation in residual healthy parenchyma [2], specifically in patients suffering from upper-lobes predominant emphysema (Fig. 1); therefore, the pre-operative assessment of emphysema through visual scoring or by quantitative analysis of CT images is needed; the latter precisely calculates the percentage of emphysematous tissue, thus guiding the correct strategy [3].
Conclusion
Radiologists should be familiar with HRCT imaging aspects related to this noninvasive treatment option for pulmonary emphysema, which are being increasingly performed in referral centers
Clinotaenia angusticeps Bezzi 1923, comb.nov.
No full text<i>Clinotaenia angusticeps</i> (Bezzi, 1923) comb.nov. <p> <i>Carpophthoromyia angusticeps</i> Bezzi, 1923: 525.</p> <p> <i>Carpophthoromyia angusticeps</i> Bezzi, 1924: 97. Preocc. Bezzi 1923.</p> <p> Study of the female holotype in the collection of the MNHN, showed that this species does not belong to <i>Carpophthoromyia</i>. Despite the vague resemblance of wing banding with some representatives of <i>Carpophthoromyia</i>, it lacks the other characteristic features such as the white flattened scutellum (swollen and completely black in <i>C</i>. <i>angusticeps</i>), transverse bands on mesonotum (shining black­brown with dispersed black setulae in <i>C. angusticeps</i>) and the rounded or slightly flattened female aculeus (very broad and blade like in <i>C. angusticeps</i>). Especially the shape of the aculeus tip indicated that this is a gastrozonine. It fits within the generic concept of <i>Clinotaenia</i> as described by Hancock (1999) to which also <i>C. superba</i> (Bezzi) was recently transferred from <i>Carpophthoromyia</i> by the same author (Hancock, 1999). It differs from the latter by the shape of the female aculeus (trilobed in <i>superba</i>, pointed in <i>angusticeps</i>) and the base of the wing being completely brown (hyaline with brown patches in <i>superba</i>). Study of unidentified material that was previously sorted to <i>Carpophthoromyia</i> revealed two male specimens that are identical with the female holotype.</p> <p>Material examined</p> <p>Holotype Ψ: CHAD, Dar Banda, Ndellé, 1904, A. Chevalier, Mission Chari­Tchad (MNHN).</p> <p>Other material examined:</p> <p>BURUNDI: 1ɗ, Rumonge, April 1948, « sur plage sablonneuse et broussailles près du Lac », F. François (KBIN). CONGO (D.R.): 1ɗ, Parc National de Garamba, Mt Embe, 19.IV.1952, H. De Saeger 3341 (KMMA).</p> <p>Distribution</p> <p>Burundi, Chad, Congo (D.R.).</p>Published as part of <i>Meyer, Marc De, 2006, Systematic revision of the fruit fly genus Carpophthoromyia Austen (Diptera, Tephritidae), pp. 1-48 in Zootaxa 1235</i> on pages 36-37, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/172780">10.5281/zenodo.172780</a>
Premorbid vulnerability and disease severity impact on Long-COVID cognitive impairment
No full textBackground Cognitive deficits have been increasingly reported as possible long-term manifestations after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Aims In this study we aimed at evaluating the factors associated with cognitive deficits 6 months after hospitalization for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods One hundred and six patients, discharged from a pneumology COVID-19 unit between March 1 and May 30 2020, accepted to be evaluated at 6 months according to an extensive neurological protocol, including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Results Abnormal MoCA scores at 6 months follow-up were associated with higher pre-hospitalization National Health System (NHS) score (Duca et al. in Emerg Med Pract 22:1-2, 2020) (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.05-1.6; p = 0.029) and more severe pulmonary disease expressed by the Brescia-COVID Respiratory Severity Scale (Duca et al. in Emerg Med Pract 22:1-2, 2020) (BCRSS > 1OR 4.73; 95% CI 1.53-14.63; p = 0.003) during the acute phase of the disease. Discussion This longitudinal study showed that the severity of COVID-19, indicated by BCRSS, and a complex score given by age and premorbid medical conditions, expressed by NHS, play a major role in modulating the long-term cognitive consequences of COVID-19 disease. Conclusions These findings indicate that the association of age and premorbid factors might identify people at risk for long-term neurological consequences of COVID-19 disease, thus deserving longer and proper follow-up
Additive effect on pulmonary function and disability of intensive pulmonary rehabilitation following bronchoscopy lung volume reduction (BLVR) for severe emphysema
No full textBackground: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is mandatory before bronchoscopy lung volume reduction (BLVR); there is scant information about its efficacy post-BLVR. We retrospectively evaluated pulmonary function (PF) and disability in patients pre/post-BLVR and its additive effect on an intensive PR program post-BLVR vs matched non-BLVR controls. We analyzed changes within BLVR patients according to presence or not of atelectasis.Methods: We compared PF and exercise tolerance (6-min walk test, 6MWT) in 39 BLVR patients (FEV1% pred. 28.9 +/- 1.5; RV % pred. 236.1 +/- 7.7) pre-/post-BLVR, and vs. 32 controls (FEV1 % pred. 32.7 +/- 1.5; RV% pred. 217.8 +/- 8.3) before and after PR.Results: BLVR patients showed a greater improvement than controls in PF (difference between groups: 3.8 for FEV1% pred., p = 0.043; -20.5 for RV % pred., p = 0.02) and 6MWT response rate (12/39 vs. 1/39 subjects, p = 0.003). Both groups further improved significantly 6MWT after PR without a significant difference between groups. Atelectasis after BLVR mainly accounted for the improvement in FEV1% pred, RV% pred. and 6MWT compared to both BLVR without atelectasis and controls.Conclusion: BLVR improves PF (particularly RV) and exercise tolerance, patients with lobar exclusion being the best improvers. PR following BLVR yields a further improvement in exercise tolerance in both (atelectasis and non-atelectasis) subgroups
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