Постсекулярность и цифровой антиклерикализм в Рунете [Post-Secularity and Digital Anti-Clericalism on Runet]

This article deals with the phenomenon of “digital anti-clericalism” in the Russian-speaking sphere of the Internet (Runet). In the context of post-secularism the claims of Russian clerical and bureaucratic elites to the ideological monopoly in the political and social life face a strong resistance from the champions of religious pluralism and preservation of a secular state. Presented here is a detailed analysis of the topics and the stylistic features of different types of anti-clerical Internet communication – a variety of political folklore (memes, demotivators, photoshopped pictures). Also traced is the connection between the modern anti-clericalism on Runet and the late Soviet counter-culture. Suggested for the first time is a classification of anticlerical and atheist websites that constitute a vital part of the Russian blogosphere.

Different approaches to identify markers for meat quality and production traits in pigs: analysis of the transcriptome in post mortem skeletal muscle and investigation of candidate genes

Due to the growing attention of consumers towards their food, improvement of quality of animal products has become one of the main focus of research. To this aim, the application of modern molecular genetics approaches has been proved extremely useful and effective. This innovative drive includes all livestock species productions, including pork. The Italian pig breeding industry is unique because needs heavy pigs slaughtered at about 160 kg for the production of high quality processed products. For this reason, it requires precise meat quality and carcass characteristics. Two aspects have been considered in this thesis: the application of the transcriptome analysis in post mortem pig muscles as a possible method to evaluate meat quality parameters related to the pre mortem status of the animals, including health, nutrition, welfare, and with potential applications for product traceability (chapters 3 and 4); the study of candidate genes for obesity related traits in order to identify markers associated with fatness in pigs that could be applied to improve carcass quality (chapters 5, 6, and 7). Chapter three addresses the first issue from a methodological point of view. When we considered this issue, it was not obvious that post mortem skeletal muscle could be useful for transcriptomic analysis. Therefore we demonstrated that the quality of RNA extracted from skeletal muscle of pigs sampled at different post mortem intervals (20 minutes, 2 hours, 6 hours, and 24 hours) is good for downstream applications. Degradation occurred starting from 48 h post mortem even if at this time it is still possible to use some RNA products. In the fourth chapter, in order to demonstrate the potential use of RNA obtained up to 24 hours post mortem, we present the results of RNA analysis with the Affymetrix microarray platform that made it possible to assess the level of expression of more of 24000 mRNAs. We did not identify any significant differences between the different post mortem times suggesting that this technique could be applied to retrieve information coming from the transcriptome of skeletal muscle samples not collected just after slaughtering. This study represents the first contribution of this kind applied to pork. In the fifth chapter, we investigated as candidate for fat deposition the TBC1D1 [TBC1 (tre-2/USP6, BUB2, cdc16) gene. This gene is involved in mechanisms regulating energy homeostasis in skeletal muscle and is associated with predisposition to obesity in humans. By resequencing a fragment of the TBC1D1 gene we identified three synonymous mutations localized in exon 2 (g.40A>G, g.151C>T, and g.172T>C) and 2 polymorphisms localized in intron 2 (g.219G>A and g.252G>A). One of these polymorphisms (g.219G>A) was genotyped by high resolution melting (HRM) analysis and PCR-RFLP. Moreover, this gene sequence was mapped by radiation hybrid analysis on porcine chromosome 8. The association study was conducted in 756 performance tested pigs of Italian Large White and Italian Duroc breeds. Significant results were obtained for lean meat content, back fat thickness, visible intermuscular fat and ham weight. In chapter six, a second candidate gene (tribbles homolog 3, TRIB3) is analyzed in a study of association with carcass and meat quality traits. The TRIB3 gene is involved in energy metabolism of skeletal muscle and plays a role as suppressor of adipocyte differentiation. We identified two polymorphisms in the first coding exon of the porcine TRIB3 gene, one is a synonymous SNP (c.132T> C), a second is a missense mutation (c.146C> T, p.P49L). The two polymorphisms appear to be in complete linkage disequilibrium between and within breeds. The in silico analysis of the p.P49L substitution suggests that it might have a functional effect. The association study in about 650 pigs indicates that this marker is associated with back fat thickness in Italian Large White and Italian Duroc breeds in two different experimental designs. This polymorphisms is also associated with lactate content of muscle semimembranosus in Italian Large White pigs. Expression analysis indicated that this gene is transcribed in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue as well as in other tissues. In the seventh chapter, we reported the genotyping results for of 677 SNPs in extreme divergent groups of pigs chosen according to the extreme estimated breeding values for back fat thickness. SNPs were identified by resequencing, literature mining and in silico database mining. analysis, data reported in the literature of 60 candidates genes for obesity. Genotyping was carried out using the GoldenGate (Illumina) platform. Of the analyzed SNPs more that 300 were polymorphic in the genotyped population and had minor allele frequency (MAF) >0.05. Of these SNPs, 65 were associated (P<0.10) with back fat thickness. One of the most significant gene marker was the same TBC1D1 SNPs reported in chapter 5, confirming the role of this gene in fat deposition in pig. These results could be important to better define the pig as a model for human obesity other than for marker assisted selection to improve carcass characteristics.

Ex-post Liability Rules in Modern Patent Law

This doctoral thesis examines the use of liability rules to protect patent entitlements, focusing on a specific type of rule named ex-post since it is applied and designed ex-post by a court or an agency. The research starts from the premise that patents are defined by the legal and economic scholarship as exclusive rights but nevertheless, under certain circumstances there are economic as well as other compelling reasons to transform the exclusiveness of patent rights into a right to receive compensation.

L’espace urbain indien dans la littérature européenne au XXème siecle. Pour une perspective post-orientaliste.

L'affermarsi della teoria della « imaginative geography » di Edward Saïd (Orientalism, 1978), nell'arco degli ultimi trent'anni, ha imposto un orientamento prettamente sociopolitico, gramsciano e foucaultiano alla critica del testo, proponendo un'unica soluzione interpretativa per un corpus eterogeneo di testi (scientifici e artistici, antichi e moderni) accomunati dal fatto di « rappresentare l'Oriente ». La costruzione europea dello spazio orientale, dice Saïd, non rappresenta solo un misconoscimento dell'Altro, ma una sua rappresentazione tendenziosa e finalizzata a sostenere la macchina dell'imperialismo occidentale. In particolare, la rappresentazione « femminilizzata » della geografia orientale (come luogo dell'exploit del maschio bianco) preparebbe e accompagnerebbe l'impresa di assoggettamento politico e di sfruttamento economico dei paesi ad Est dell'Europa. Se Orientalism ha conosciuto fortune alterne dall'anno della sua apparizione, negli ultimi anni una vera e propria corrente anti-saidiana ha preso forza, soprattutto in ambito francese. Attraverso l'analisi di circa trenta opere francesi, belga, inglesi e italiane del Novecento, questa tesi cerca di visualizzare i limiti teorici della prospettiva saidiana rivolgendosi a un esame della rappresentazione dello spazio urbano indiano nella letteratura europea contemporanea. Nello specifico, uno studio delle nuove strutture e dei nuovi modelli della femminilizzazione dello spazio orientale indiano cercherà di completare – superandolo in direzione di un « post-orientalismo » – il riduzionismo della prospettiva saidiana.

The evolution of modern Hebrew literature : 1850-1912

by Abraham Solomon Waldstein

Post-Empire Imaginaries? Anglophone Literature, History, and the Demise of Empires

Empires as political entities may be a thing of the past, but as a concept, empire is alive and kicking. From heritage tourism and costume dramas to theories of the imperial idea(l): empire sells. Post-Empire Imaginaries? Anglophone Literature, History, and the Demise of Empires presents innovative scholarship on the lives and legacies of empires in diverse media such as literature, film, advertising, and the visual arts. Though rooted in real space and history, the post-empire and its twin, the post-imperial, emerge as ungraspable ideational constructs. The volume convincingly establishes empire as welcoming resistance and affirmation, introducing post-empire imaginaries as figurations that connect the archives and repertoires of colonial nostalgia, postcolonial critique, post-imperial dreaming.

Post-biblical Hebrew literature : an anthology

by B. Halper

Radiocarbon dating of modern peat profiles: Pre- and post-bomb C-14 variations in the construction of age-depth models

We present studies of 9 modern (up to 400-yr-old) peat sections from Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Finland. Precise radiocarbon dating of modern samples is possible due to the large bomb peak of atmospheric 14C concentration in 1963 and the following rapid decline in the 14C level. All the analyzed 14C profiles appeared concordant with the shape of the bomb peak of atmospheric 14C concentration, integrated over some time interval with a length specific to the peat section. In the peat layers covered by the bomb peak, calendar ages of individual peat samples could be determined almost immediately, with an accuracy of 23 yr. In the pre-bomb sections, the calendar ages of individual dated samples are determined in the form of multi-modal probability distributions of about 300 yr wide (about AD 16501950). However, simultaneous use of the post-bomb and pre-bomb 14C dates, and lithological information, enabled the rejection of most modes of probability distributions in the pre-bomb section. In effect, precise age-depth models of the post-bomb sections have been extended back in time, into the wiggly part of the 14C calibration curve.

Regulation of the cardiac Na+ channel NaV1.5 by post-translational modifications.

The cardiac voltage-gated Na(+) channel, Na(V)1.5, is responsible for the upstroke of the action potential in cardiomyocytes and for efficient propagation of the electrical impulse in the myocardium. Even subtle alterations of Na(V)1.5 function, as caused by mutations in its gene SCN5A, may lead to many different arrhythmic phenotypes in carrier patients. In addition, acquired malfunctions of Na(V)1.5 that are secondary to cardiac disorders such as heart failure and cardiomyopathies, may also play significant roles in arrhythmogenesis. While it is clear that the regulation of Na(V)1.5 protein expression and function tightly depends on genetic mechanisms, recent studies have demonstrated that Na(V)1.5 is the target of various post-translational modifications that are pivotal not only in physiological conditions, but also in disease. In this review, we examine the recent literature demonstrating glycosylation, phosphorylation by Protein Kinases A and C, Ca(2+)/Calmodulin-dependent protein Kinase II, Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase, Serum- and Glucocorticoid-inducible Kinases, Fyn and Adenosine Monophosphate-activated Protein Kinase, methylation, acetylation, redox modifications, and ubiquitylation of Na(V)1.5. Modern and sensitive mass spectrometry approaches, applied directly to channel proteins that were purified from native cardiac tissues, have enabled the determination of the precise location of post-translational modification sites, thus providing essential information for understanding the mechanistic details of these regulations. The current challenge is first, to understand the roles of these modifications on the expression and the function of Na(V)1.5, and second, to further identify other chemical modifications. It is postulated that the diversity of phenotypes observed with Na(V)1.5-dependent disorders may partially arise from the complex post-translational modifications of channel protein components.

The modern study of literature; an introduction to literary theory and interpretation by Richard Green Moulton ...

Introduction: Dominant ideas of modern study: unity, induction, evolution.--book I. Literary morphology: varieties of literature and their underlying principles.--book II. The field and scope of literary study.--book III. Literary evolution as reflected in the history of world literature.--book IV. Literary criticism: the traditional confusion and the modern reconstruction.--book V. Literature as a mode of philosophy.--book VI. Literature as a mode of art. Conclusion: the traditional and the modern study of literature. Syllabus. Works of the author. General index. Seventh impression, June, 1928

Modern English literature; a selection of the best known works circulated, with which is embodied a guide to popular works of fiction.

Mode of access: Internet.