25 research outputs found
Le forme del gesto. Corporeità e dispositivi tecnologici
No full textThis intervention notably offers an opportunity to reflect upon the various means and modalities adopted by artists and researchers to inscribe the mediated body and its manifestations within the spectrum of current artistic production. This inquiry adopts a multimodal, three-stranded methodological approach (in particular physiology and philosophy), which reveals – as with a prism – and re-interprets existing theoretical perspectives concerning the status of corporeality within contemporary performing arts and performance integrating technology. From this central axis, the impact of technology in the body-based arts and, specifically, relationships between the body and technology that imply intermodality, will be examined. One example might be the analysis of practices which generate «sound bodies», whereby the electronic sound of the scene is an acoustic material, but also, the body becomes a medium for the production of sound.
Pitozzi firstly considers a range of contemporary experimentation which demonstrates a new understanding of multimodality: from the organic dimension of the body seen onstage in the works of artists such as Myriam Gourfink/Kasper T. Toeplitz, Ginette Laurin/Martin Messier, Angelin Preljocaj/Granula Synthesis or Isabelle Van Grimde and Hiroaki Umeda. This proposal further questions existing understandings of performative presence and other effects of presence through an analysis of multisensory devices and scenographies which produce sensory destabilization, while also examining the consequences of synesthesia in empathic relationships they develop between performers and spectators
Immagini sonore. La scena contemporanea e le sue forme
No full textIn this essay the author, after an overview of the elements of contemporary sound
and music composition, introduces and discusses the notion of “sound image” ex- trapolating it from a dramaturgical tendency found in the works of Romeo Castel- lucci, Teatro delle Albe, Shiro Takatani, etc. In their works the sound is thought as an element that orients the logic of scenic composition, acting in a latent way on the attention of the spectator, re-organizing his listening modalities
Il miglioramento delle funzioni esecutive in soggetti con adhd attraverso l’attività motoria
No full textLo studio riassume gli esiti di un lavoro di ricerca-azione interdisciplinare durato cinque anni con bambini e adolescenti con adhd, che ha coinvolto complessivamente circa un centinaio di soggetti, alcuni dei quali sono stati monitorati nel corso del loro sviluppo. I risultati della ricerca e le evidenze raccolte dalla letteratura mostrano in modo promettente i benefici dell’attività motoria, sia da un punto di vista genetico e per lo sviluppo delle funzioni esecutive, sia per la riduzione della sintomatologia che per la crescita complessiva della persona. L’articolo si completa con una rassegna degli sport adatti ai diversi bisogni di bambini, ragazzi ed adolescenti con disturbi del neurosviluppo
B.Motion. Spazio di riflessione fuori e dentro le arti performative
No full textRicognizione di temi legati ai performance studies in relazione alla nozione di territorio, confine, visione, performatività. La metodologia adottata per questo volume è trasversale
Effetti protettivi di un olio extravergine di oliva ricco di antiossidanti fenolici in un modello murino di invecchiamento
No full textLo scopo di questo studio è stato quello di valutare gli effetti dei fenoli dell'olio di oliva sull'invecchiamento cerebrale in un modello murino di invecchiamento fisiologico. Topi C57Bl/6J sono stati nutriti dall'età di 10 fino a 24 mesi con una dieta contenente una percentuale di MUFA pari a quella associata con la dieta mediterranea (10%). I MUFA erano forniti da olio extravergine di oliva ricco di fenoli antiossidanti (dose finale di fenoli totali per animale: 6 mg/kg). Il gruppo di animali di controllo è stato nutrito con la stessa dieta contenente lo stesso olio, deprivato dei fenoli con una procedura estrattiva. Un ulteriore gruppo di controllo è stato nutrito con la dieta a base di olio povero di fenoli, ma addizionata di resveratrolo (dose finale 24 mg/kg), un composto le cui proprietà anti-aging sono state ripetutamente riportate nel topo C57Bl/6. All'inizio dello studio, dopo 6 mesi di trattamento e alla fine dell'esperimento tutti gli animali sono stati sottoposti a una batteria di test comportamentali per valutare la funzioni cognitive e motorie. Per correlare i dati comportamentali con eventuali modifiche biochimiche cerebrali, alcuni parametri di stress ossidativo e infiammazione sono stati misurati in distinte aree cerebrali (corteccia, cervelletto, ippocampo, striato). I risultati mostrano che il cervelletto e la corteccia cerebrale sono le aree in cui è possibile misurare incrementi dei livelli di stress ossidativo e infiammazione in associazione con l'invecchiamento. Mostrano inoltre che il trattamento con l'olio ad alto contenuto di fenoli, ma non quello con resveratrolo, reverte queste alterazioni, migliora la memoria contestuale di evitamento passivo (step-down test), ma non quella spaziale (Morris water maze), e previene il deterioramento indotto dall'età nella coordinazione motoria misurata con il test del rotarod
Chronic Resveratrol Treatment Ameliorates Cell Adhesion and Mitigates the Inflammatory Phenotype in Senescent Human Fibroblasts
No full textWe evaluated the effect of resveratrol on the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) and on adhesion-related processes in cultured human MRC5 fibroblasts. Presenescent cultures were chronically treated with or without 5 μM resveratrol. The development of SASP in MRC5 fibroblasts approaching senescence was significantly attenuated by resveratrol treatment, which reduced both gene expression and release of proinflammatory cytokines. Although to a lesser extent, 1 μM resveratrol proved to be effective on cytokine gene expression. Cell spreading capacity and plating efficiency were strikingly increased and accompanied by recovery of type I collagen expression to presenescent levels. As p16(INK4a) protein expression was not significantly modified, and based on our previous data, we propose that resveratrol does not affect fibroblast replicative senescence, but improves tissue maintenance and repair during normal cellular aging. Considering these low concentrations proved effective in vitro, translation of these data to human research on inflammation-related pathologies can be envisaged
Daily consumption of a high-phenol extra-virgin olive oil reduces oxidative DNA damage in postmenopausal women
No full textExtra-virgin olive oils (EVOO), high in phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties, could be partly responsible for the lower mortality and incidence of cancer and CVD in the Mediterranean region. The present study aims to measure oxidative DNA damage in healthy human subjects consuming olive oils with different concentrations of natural phenols. A randomised cross-over trial of high-phenol EVOO (high-EVOO; 592 mg total phenols/kg) v. low-phenol EVOO (low-EVOO; 147 mg/kg) was conducted in ten postmenopausal women in Florence. Subjects were asked to substitute all types of fat and oils habitually consumed with the study oil (50 g/d) for 8 weeks in each period. Oxidative DNA damage was measured by the comet assay in peripheral blood lymphocytes, collected at each visit during the study period. Urine samples over 24 h were collected to measure the excretion of the olive oil phenols. The average of the four measurements of oxidative DNA damage during treatment with high-EVOO was 30 % lower than the average during the low-EVOO treatment (P=0.02). Urinary excretion of hydroxytyrosol and its metabolite homovanillyl alcohol were significantly increased in subjects consuming high-EVOO. Despite the small sample size, the present study showed a reduction of DNA damage by consumption of an EVOO rich in phenols, particularly hydroxytyrosol
Association between Atmospheric Ozone Levels and Damage to Human Nasal Mucosa in Florence, Italy
No full textWe evaluated the effects of urban air pollutants on human nasal mucosa over an 8-month period on 102 subjects living in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. A group of subjects living in a city with a lower level of pollution (Sassari, Sardinia, Italy) was also analyzed. Nasal mucosa cells were harvested by brushing, a noninvasive procedure. Half of the cells were used for genotoxicity studies using the alkaline comet assay, and half for morphological studies. The levels of DNA damage in the nasal mucosa were considerably higher (+73%) in the subjects living in Florence than in Sassari. High levels of atmospheric ozone in Florence air correlated with DNA damage, and to the prevalence of inflammatory pathologies of the upper respiratory tract, although the ozone concentrations were below the Italian recommended attention level. Furthermore, higher levels of DNA damage were correlated with a dysfunction in the ability to maintain a normal epithelial cell structure. These data suggest an association between ozone air levels and damage in the upper respiratory tract. It remains unclear whether ozone itself or other associated pollutants are responsible for the observed alterations
Daily consumption of a high-phenol extra-virgin olive oil reduces oxidative DNA damage in postmenopausal women
No full textExtra-virgin olive oils (EVOO), high in phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties, could be partly responsible for the lower mortality and
incidence of cancer and CVD in the Mediterranean region. The present study aims to measure oxidative DNA damage in healthy human subjects
consuming olive oils with different concentrations of natural phenols. A randomised cross-over trial of high-phenol EVOO (high-EVOO; 592 mg
total phenols/kg) v. low-phenol EVOO (low-EVOO; 147 mg/kg) was conducted in ten postmenopausal women in Florence. Subjects were asked to
substitute all types of fat and oils habitually consumed with the study oil (50 g/d) for 8 weeks in each period. Oxidative DNA damage was
measured by the comet assay in peripheral blood lymphocytes, collected at each visit during the study period. Urine samples over 24 h were collected
to measure the excretion of the olive oil phenols. The average of the four measurements of oxidative DNA damage during treatment with
high-EVOO was 30% lower than the average during the low-EVOO treatment (P1⁄40·02). Urinary excretion of hydroxytyrosol and its metabolite
homovanillyl alcohol were significantly increased in subjects consuming high-EVOO. Despite the small sample size, the present study showed
a reduction of DNA damage by consumption of an EVOO rich in phenols, particularly hydroxytyrosol
Loss of tyrosinase activity confers increased skin tumor susceptibility in mice
No full textThe tyrosinase (Tyr) gene encodes the enzyme tyrosinase that catalyses the conversion of L-tyrosine into DOPA (3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine)-quinone. The albino mutation abrogates functional activity of tyrosinase resulting in deficiency of melanin pigment production in skin and retina. Tyr maps to a region in the central position of Chromosome 7 that contains a skin tumor-modifier locus. We rescued the albino mutation in transgenic mice to assess a possible role of Tyr gene in two-stage skin carcinogenesis. Transgenic expression of the functional Tyr(Cys) allele in albino mice (Tyr(Ser)) caused a reduction in skin papilloma multiplicity, in four independent experiments and at three dose levels of DMBA (9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene). In vitro mechanistic studies demonstrated that transfection of the Tyr(Cys) allele in a human squamous cell carcinoma cell line (NCI-H520) increases tyrosinase enzyme activity and confers resistance to hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative DNA damage. These results provide direct evidence that the Tyr gene can act as a skin cancer-modifier gene, whose mechanism of action may involve modulation of oxidative DNA damage
