1,721,515 research outputs found
The Crisis in Italy. Anthropological Insights on Changes of Work, Enterprise and Life Horizons
No full textSoggetti, processi produttivi e spazi agrari: una etnografia della produzione agricola nella pampa santafesina
Full text linkLa ricerca dal titolo “Soggetti, processi produttivi e spazi agrari: una etnografia della produzione agricola nella pampa santafesina” si concentra, in una prima battuta, sull’analisi dei processi storici e tecnologici attraverso i quali un’area a bassissima densità antropica e dedita all’allevamento si convertì in pochi decenni in un’area ad agricoltura intensiva, destinata all’agro-esportazione, e sull’individuazione del ruolo storico ricoperto dall’immigrazione europea, soprattutto italiana, nella colonizzazione e nell’espansione agricola dell’area; in seconda istanza, più approfonditamente, l’analisi è orientata al nuovo spazio rurale contemporaneo con il fine di ripensare antropologicamente le categorie classiche dei soggetti agrari santafesini (es.: possidenti, affittuari, salariati) in funzione della nascita di nuovi attori (es.: rentiers), delle nuove strategie di produzione e di organizzazione del lavoro (es.: contratistas) e di nuove monocolture (es.: espansione sojera). Nell’indagine, tutti gli aspetti citati hanno nella dimensione sociale la propria cornice di senso, con il fine di indagare le nuove emergenti configurazioni identitarie e culturali (es.: continuità, adattamenti e trasformazioni dei chacareros), le nuovi visioni della campagna e le nuove posizioni in relazione alla terra, ponendo attenzione anche alla dimensione patrimoniale e alle dinamiche di relazione e di riproduzione comunitaria, attraverso la ricostruzione delle trasformazioni storiche nella proprietà della terra e del ruolo ricoperto da piccoli e medi produttori nello scenario agricolo dell’area.
Il rurale si configura quindi come uno spazio polisemico anche extra-agricolo, perché è sia luogo di lavoro di persone che vivono in città, sia residenza di lavoratori che non si occupano di agricoltura, sia territorio dove si producono beni e servizi che non sono solo di origine agricola. I centri popolati hanno oramai tagliato le mediazioni classiche con la città, si sono fatti città agrarie o agro-città per l’appunto (Albadelejo, 2004). La campagna è urbanizzata, i pueblos sono urbanizados (Gras, 2012) ma il campo continua a muovere, «el campo mueve todo» nelle narrative locali e nella percezione urbana.
Rileggendo la tradizione di studi antropologici sul mondo contadino e delle farms, studi di antropologia economica e studi sociologici sull’agricoltura, e attraverso le metodologie tipiche della ricerca antropologica, come l’osservazione partecipante, un’immersione prolungata e multisituata nel contesto etnografico attraverso più missioni, lo shadowing, o la realizzazione di interviste aperte ad individui e gruppi, si è indagata la nuova configurazione rurale della pampa santafesina nel passaggio dall’agricoltura familiare ai modelli di agrobusiness contemporaneo. La persistenza, le trasformazioni e le continuità della prima, trovano nuova ragione nel paesaggio verso la seconda, generando una moltiplicazione dei destini e degli attori in gioco che, a voler considerare l’altissima omogeneità tecnologica e produttiva, risulta maggiormente sorprendente.
Si è cercato altresì di individuare, a partire dalle riflessioni che hanno seguito la liberalizzazione della soia transgenica in Argentina (1996), quale fosse la nuova relazione tra i produttori, la risorsa terra e il rurale come spazio geografico e culturale, nella scalarità sfumata tra agricoltura contadina, imprenditoriale e capitalista
ALTERAZIONI DEL METABOLISMO DEGLI ACIDI GRASSI E LORO SUPPLEMENTAZIONE NELLA FIBROSI CISTICA
Full text linkBackground. Abnormalities of fatty acid (FA) turnover associated with low levels of linoleic (LA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acid are observed in plasma and tissues of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, possibly due to alterations in basal lipid metabolism.
Objective. To study in CF and non CF cell lines the metabolism of n-6 and n-3 FA and to elucidate mechanisms possibly responsible of the altered FA status in CF, focusing on FA desaturase enzymes. In addition cell lines are treated with LA-BSA and DHA-BSA complexes in order to investigate whether these FA may affect processes modulating the severity of complications in CF patients.
Methods. 16HBE14o- cells (a human bronchial epithelial cell line) were used, with CF phenotype (16HBE14o-AS3) and without CF phenotype (16HBE14o-S1). The two cell lines were incubated with EMEM without FBS for 24h, for the analysis of total FA profile by GC and of the expression of FA desaturases by Real-time PCR. In addition cells were incubated with [1-14C] linoleic or alpha-linolenic acid (-LNA) (1Ci/plate), respectively precursors of n-6 and n-3 FA, for the analysis of labelled FA in total lipids and their incorporation into different lipid classes by HPLC coupled with a radiodetector. Cells are also treated with increasing concentrations of LA-BSA and DHA-BSA complexes and the incorporation of FA in total lipids and the expression of the desaturases were assessed.
Results. CF cells show low levels of LA, -LNA and DHA in comparison with control cells. Both [1-14C] LA and -LNA total conversion are increased in CF cells versus controls, associated to enhanced 6 and 5 desaturase activities. This is due to a higher desaturase expression in CF versus control cells. The incorporation of [1-14C] LA and -LNA in phospholipids in CF cells is increased while it is lower in triglycerides and cholesterol esters than in control cells. CF cells treated with increasing concentration of LA-BSA complex have low levels of LA in comparison with control cells at any concentration used and show a higher total conversion associated to a higher desaturase expression. In contrast, when cells are treated with increasing concentration of DHA-BSA complex, at the highest concentration used CF cells have lower level of DHA than control cells and desaturase expression is lower in CF cells than in controls.
Conclusion. The metabolism of [1-14C] LA and -LNA to their derivatives is higher in CF cells than in controls, with enhanced formation of arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acid respectively. This is associated to a higher desaturase activity in CF than in control cells, due to a higher desaturase expression. Supplementation with DHA could be a safe and effective treatment to reduce the severity of complications in CF patients, since DHA is the substrate for the synthesis of D-series resolvins, compactins and maresins, compounds with an anti-inflammatory action
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
The Global Enterprise from a Peripherical Perspective: The Crisis and Its Meanings in Two Generations of Metalworkers in the Case of FCA-SATA in Melfi, Basilicata
No full textVariations 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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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