Stretta tra due Mondi. La Transnistria tra identità del passato e incertezza del futuro.

La tesi si sviluppa attorno a 6 capitoli che, ripercorrendo le peculiarità storiche, linguistiche ed economiche di Moldova e Transnistria, tenteranno di mettere in luce i contrasti salienti del rapporto tra Chişinău e Tiraspol. Il capitolo 1 si concentra sulla comparazione di alcune fonti (provenienti da est e da ovest) che hanno ricostruito la storia della Moldova della Grande Romania e della Moldavia sovietica. In tal modo sarà possibile dimostrare che la regione di interesse è stata oggetto di una manipolazione intenzionale del proprio passato asservita ai centri di potere che miravano alla supremazia del territorio. Il capitolo 2 ripercorre le fasi dell’epoca di industrializzazione della Transnistria che, a partire dagli anni ’90, si suppone abbia permesso a Tiraspol di sganciarsi de facto dal governo moldavo. Il capitolo 3 si sofferma sui motivi che spinsero la popolazione del Dnestr ad appoggiare la secessione trascinandola nel conflitto del 1992. Una volta tracciata la cornice storica lungo i capitoli 1, 2 e 3, il capitolo 4 presenterà il multiforme panorama linguistico dell’attuale Repubblica Moldova soffermandosi sul ruolo della lingua russa, scintilla della secessione transnistriana. Il capitolo 5 offre uno spunto di riflessione sull’incidenza di Mosca nella separazione moldava per mezzo di uno studio dell’economia della Transnistria. Il capitolo 6, infine, rivela che gli argomenti trattati nel corso dei 5 capitoli precedenti sono tutti tasselli imprescindibili dell’identità nazionale transnistriana e permette di muovere alcune ipotesi sui metodi attuati da Tiraspol per garantire la fedeltà nazionale della propria popolazione facendo perno sul controllo dei mass media.

"Dalla parola all’azione": traduzione dell’introduzione al catalogo di una mostra d’arte contemporanea russa

Il presente elaborato consiste in una proposta di traduzione dell’introduzione, opera dalla curatrice Saša Obuchova, al catalogo della mostra "Performans v Rossi: kartografija istorii" [La performance in Russia: una cartografia della sua storia], tenutasi al museo d’arte contemporanea Garaž di Mosca. L’elaborato consta di tre capitoli. Il primo, di carattere generale, descrive le caratteristiche del testo che si è scelto di tradurre, presenta brevemente l’autrice, la struttura del catalogo di cui tale testo fa parte e la mostra per la quale il catalogo è stato pubblicato, e dà infine qualche cenno sulla storia del museo Garaž. Il secondo, di carattere artistico, propone una riflessione sul significato della parola “performance” e una breve sintesi della storia della performance-art in Russia. Infine, nel terzo, si troverà la traduzione del testo "Ot slova k dejstvii" [Dalla parola all’azione] della curatrice della mostra Saša Obuchova, preceduta da un’introduzione al testo e alla traduzione.

"Portugal Vale A Pena" Un ritratto senza tempo del portogallo attraverso il prisma dei giornalisti

This dissertation aims at enhancing the cultural and linguistic skills in Portuguese of the author of this work, as it is a third language. This activity is carried out starting from the analysis and research of topics mentioned in a number of texts within a particular literary work, “Portugal Vale A Pena”. In this work, many Portuguese personalities express their vision on their country and state why Portugal matters. Since these texts have many cultural references, it can be assumed that such work of analysis and research can lead to better linguistic skills as well as a greater knowledge of the Portuguese culture. All of the chosen texts were originally written by journalists. This choice originates from the important service these professionals provide to the public as well as from the special role their work has played in my interpreting studies over the last couple of years. Chapter 1 explains why I chose this dissertation and who are the target users of these texts. Chapter 2 focuses on the role of journalists. A brief history of modern journalism is presented and its functions are analysed. This chapter also includes a section that examines which values make an event newsworthy. Attention is then paid to the evolution of Portuguese journalism, from Salazar's dictatorship until today. Teaching of journalism in Portuguese academia is also presented. Then, a selection of Portuguese-language media is offered. Chapter 3 focuses on some aspects of Portugal, with particular attention to its history. Finally, Chapter 4 presents a selection of texts from the original book. This part provides a biography of the authors, a translation with a comment and a presentation of some of the topics from the texts. To conclude, a glossary with words and expressions from the original text is included and their translations into Italian, Spanish and English are provided.

Remodeling of calcium handling in skeletal muscle through PGC-1?: impact on force, fatigability, and fiber type

Regular endurance exercise remodels skeletal muscle, largely through the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α). PGC-1α promotes fiber type switching and resistance to fatigue. Intracellular calcium levels might play a role in both adaptive phenomena, yet a role for PGC-1α in the adaptation of calcium handling in skeletal muscle remains unknown. Using mice with transgenic overexpression of PGC-1α, we now investigated the effect of PGC-1α on calcium handling in skeletal muscle. We demonstrate that PGC-1α induces a quantitative reduction in calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum by diminishing the expression of calcium-releasing molecules. Concomitantly, maximal muscle force is reduced in vivo and ex vivo. In addition, PGC-1α overexpression delays calcium clearance from the myoplasm by interfering with multiple mechanisms involved in calcium removal, leading to higher myoplasmic calcium levels following contraction. During prolonged muscle activity, the delayed calcium clearance might facilitate force production in mice overexpressing PGC-1α. Our results reveal a novel role of PGC-1α in altering the contractile properties of skeletal muscle by modulating calcium handling. Importantly, our findings indicate PGC-1α to be both down- as well as upstream of calcium signaling in this tissue. Overall, our findings suggest that in the adaptation to chronic exercise, PGC-1α reduces maximal force, increases resistance to fatigue, and drives fiber type switching partly through remodeling of calcium transients, in addition to promoting slow-type myofibrillar protein expression and adequate energy supply.

Quality in emergency departments: a study on 3,285,440 admissions

INTRODUCTION: A multi-centre study has been conducted, during 2005, by means of a questionnaire posted on the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine (SIMEU) web page. Our intention was to carry out an organisational and functional analysis of Italian Emergency Departments (ED) in order to pick out some macro-indicators of the activities performed. Participation was good, in that 69 ED (3,285,440 admissions to emergency services) responded to the questionnaire. METHODS: The study was based on 18 questions: 3 regarding the personnel of the ED, 2 regarding organisational and functional aspects, 5 on the activity of the ED, 7 on triage and 1 on the assessment of the quality perceived by the users of the ED. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The replies revealed that 91.30% of the ED were equipped with data-processing software, which, in 96.83% of cases, tracked the entire itinerary of the patient. About 48,000 patients/year used the ED: 76.72% were discharged and 18.31% were hospitalised. Observation Units were active in 81.16% of the ED examined. Triage programmes were in place in 92.75% of ED: in 75.81% of these, triage was performed throughout the entire itinerary of the patient; in 16.13% it was performed only symptom-based, and in 8.06% only on-call. Of the patients arriving at the ED, 24.19% were assigned a non-urgent triage code, 60.01% a urgent code, 14.30% a emergent code and 1.49% a life-threatening code. Waiting times were: 52.39 min for non-urgent patients, 40.26 min for urgent, 12.08 for emergent, and 1.19 for life-threatening patients.

Mechanical constraints imposed by 3D cellular geometry and arrangement modulate growth patterns in the Arabidopsis embryo

Morphogenesis occurs in 3D space over time and is guided by coordinated gene expression programs. Here we use postembryonic development in Arabidopsis plants to investigate the genetic control of growth. We demonstrate that gene expression driving the production of the growth-stimulating hormone gibberellic acid and downstream growth factors is first induced within the radicle tip of the embryo. The center of cell expansion is, however, spatially displaced from the center of gene expression. Because the rapidly growing cells have very different geometry from that of those at the tip, we hypothesized that mechanical factors may contribute to this growth displacement. To this end we developed 3D finite-element method models of growing custom-designed digital embryos at cellular resolution. We used this framework to conceptualize how cell size, shape, and topology influence tissue growth and to explore the interplay of geometrical and genetic inputs into growth distribution. Our simulations showed that mechanical constraints are sufficient to explain the disconnect between the experimentally observed spatiotemporal patterns of gene expression and early postembryonic growth. The center of cell expansion is the position where genetic and mechanical facilitators of growth converge. We have thus uncovered a mechanism whereby 3D cellular geometry helps direct where genetically specified growth takes place.

Measuring the mechanical properties of plant cells by combining micro-indentation with osmotic treatments

Growth in plants results from the interaction between genetic and signalling networks and the mechanical properties of cells and tissues. There has been a recent resurgence in research directed at understanding the mechanical aspects of growth, and their feedback on genetic regulation. This has been driven in part by the development of new micro-indentation techniques to measure the mechanical properties of plant cells in vivo. However, the interpretation of indentation experiments remains a challenge, since the force measures results from a combination of turgor pressure, cell wall stiffness, and cell and indenter geometry. In order to interpret the measurements, an accurate mechanical model of the experiment is required. Here, we used a plant cell system with a simple geometry, Nicotiana tabacum Bright Yellow-2 (BY-2) cells, to examine the sensitivity of micro-indentation to a variety of mechanical and experimental parameters. Using a finite-element mechanical model, we found that, for indentations of a few microns on turgid cells, the measurements were mostly sensitive to turgor pressure and the radius of the cell, and not to the exact indenter shape or elastic properties of the cell wall. By complementing indentation experiments with osmotic experiments to measure the elastic strain in turgid cells, we could fit the model to both turgor pressure and cell wall elasticity. This allowed us to interpret apparent stiffness values in terms of meaningful physical parameters that are relevant for morphogenesis.

Comparación a campo de distintos cultivares de olivo (Olea europaea L.) como hospedadores de Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday)

La mosca blanca del fresno, Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday) , es una especie polífaga invasiva que causa graves daños en sus hospedadores, entre ellos el olivo (Olea europaea L.). El uso del hospedador por parte de S. phillyreae fue observado en tres cultivares de olivo (Arauco, Arbequina y Aloreña) en el norte de la provincia de La Rioja (Argentina) durante 2007 y 2008. De cada cultivar se muestrearon seis plantas infestadas y de cada planta se tomaron ocho hojas. De cada hoja se registró la abundancia de adultos y estados inmaduros de la mosca blanca que fueron comparadas entre los cultivares mediante modelos lineales generales y mixtos. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron diferencias significativas entre las densidades de adultos y ninfas de S. phillyreae en los distintos cultivares de olivo analizados. Dichos resultados indican que este insecto realiza un uso diferente de los cultivares de olivo, siendo Arauco y Arbequina las variedades hospedadoras más utilizadas en la zona de estudio.

Curva de degradación a campo de clorpirifos en cultivo de tomate y su persistencia luego del lavado y pelado doméstico

Las normativas legales sobre residuos de plaguicidas son cada vez más exigentes a nivel mundial. Con frecuencia hay una reducción significativa en el Límite Máximo de Residuos (LMR) y en casos severos la prohibición de su uso. La estrategia de control fitosanitario debe tener en cuenta los niveles de residuos que quedan en la fruta que llega al consumidor y la cinética de disipación que disminuye los riesgos toxicológicos y comerciales. El clorpirifos es un insecticida organofosforado, liposoluble, cuyo modo de acción es por contacto, ingestión o inhalación. Es utilizado por la mayoría de los productores, para el control de diversas plagas debido a que es económico y efectivo. En cultivos de tomate es utilizado para controlar a Tuta absoluta la “polilla del tomate", debido a su importancia en relación a los daños ocasionados en el cultivo (CITEF, 1977) y a Bemisia tabaci la “mosca blanca", por su incidencia durante todo el año y su agresividad como plaga de los cultivos hortícolas especialmente solanáceas, obliga a realizar una gran cantidad de pulverizaciones para mantenerla por debajo de los umbrales de daño económico. Tiene una amplia distribución y un gran impacto en los cinturones hortícolas de casi todo el país (SYNGENTA, 2011). Dicho plaguicida es muy tóxico o moderadamente tóxico para aves y humanos, según las formulaciones disponibles en el mercado, muy tóxico para abejas y extremadamente tóxico para peces (CASAFE, 2011). La legislación argentina establece un LMR de 0.5 mg/Kg. para fruto de tomate entero y un periodo de carencia (plazo de seguridad entre última aplicación y cosecha del producto) de 21 días (SENASA, 2010). La finalidad del trabajo es ofrecer al sector agrícola información sólida que le permita predecir la concentración de clorpirifos desde el momento de la aplicación y así evitar excesos de residuos en los frutos para consumo o comercialización.

Actitudes de la mujer ante el embarazo

The authors investigate the correlations between the acceptance and refusal attitudes in regard to pregnancy and absence o presence of distocic factors during childbirth. In order to evaluate it, they apply a projective test visual stimulation which tries to show the woman's atiudes in regard o pregnancy in several vital situations, trying to test its correlations with the pregnancy and childbirth caracteristics.

Tutores voluntarios en lecto-escritura : Un proyecto para ayudar a prevenir la repetición de escolares de 3 er. año de la EGB

Fil: Carbajo, María Rosa. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación; Argentina.

Tutores voluntarios en lecto-escritura : Un proyecto para ayudar a prevenir la repetición de escolares de 3 er. año de la EGB

Fil: Carbajo, María Rosa. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación; Argentina.

Actitudes de la mujer ante el embarazo

The authors investigate the correlations between the acceptance and refusal attitudes in regard to pregnancy and absence o presence of distocic factors during childbirth. In order to evaluate it, they apply a projective test visual stimulation which tries to show the woman's atiudes in regard o pregnancy in several vital situations, trying to test its correlations with the pregnancy and childbirth caracteristics.

Actitudes de la mujer ante el embarazo

The authors investigate the correlations between the acceptance and refusal attitudes in regard to pregnancy and absence o presence of distocic factors during childbirth. In order to evaluate it, they apply a projective test visual stimulation which tries to show the woman's atiudes in regard o pregnancy in several vital situations, trying to test its correlations with the pregnancy and childbirth caracteristics.