Italian Origin Research Articles

Policy Informs Academia: A 6-Element Framework in Disaster Studies

This paper proposes a new conceptual framework to inform disaster preparedness research and to add a meaningful addition to established frameworks in DRR. The proposed framework is based on six elements: resources, procedures, context, risk, formation and information. This paper will discuss the characteristics of the framework, illustrating its origins in Italian Civil Protection and linkages to current international frameworks and UN definitions of DRR and vulnerability. The logic underlying this framework can help to better understand current challenges in disaster preparedness around the world and identify potential improvements to policy makers in terms of formation of the operators, information of the public, resources and procedures in my research on disaster preparedness. This paper argues that the framework could provide helpful insights into disaster preparedness in different cultural contexts, beyond its Italian origins. It is the hope of the authors that this framework will be tested in different cultural contexts to identify its weaknesses and strengths. Further research should also explore how to overcome or compensate the policy focus of the framework, to allow civil society to fully engage in disaster preparedness strategies.

“This Musical Peace is Worse than War:” Cultural History, Musical Banality and Political Context in the Ballet Excelsior

AbstractFrom 1847, the head of the Budapest ballet was Federico Campilli (1820–1889), an individual of Italian origin. He regarded Viennese taste as authoritative in designing the program, thereby building on the international ballet repertoire. This repertoire included romantic pieces from Western Europe, along with Campilli's own choreographies. Campilli concluded his forty-year tenure in Budapest in 1887, and Cesare Smeraldi (1845–1924) assumed his position. The imperial city served as the model for shaping the ballet program, commencing its operations with the staging of Manzotti's spectacular Excelsior, which had premiered in Vienna two years earlier. This sensational performance, focused on the rise of human civilization and the development of technology, involved hundreds of actors and was destined for success throughout Europe. It ran for 29 years in Vienna and nine years in Budapest. In this study, an exploration of the driving forces behind this ballet success story with unconventional themes is undertaken. Various aspects are examined, such as the discourse of dance and the articulation of otherness in local and global spaces. The study delves into what technophile ballet entails, how cultural history, abstract concepts, discoveries, and inventions can be narrated through ballet. The thesis also highlights the debatable aspects of the ballet's music, utilizing music reviews from Budapest and Viennese newspapers. Through these reviews, an attempt is made to map the reception history of the ballet in Vienna and Budapest. The significance of Excelsior in the political power field within Hungarian conditions is also emphasized.

Genetic diversity of a Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. germplasm collection revealed by DNA Diversity Array Technology (DArTseq).

Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. is a multipurpose crop native to the Mediterranean and middle east regions and mainly known for the hepatoprotective properties of fruit-derived silymarin. Despite growing interest in milk thistle as a versatile crop with medicinal value, its potential in agroindustry is hindered by incomplete domestication and limited genomic knowledge, impeding the development of competitive breeding programs. The present study aimed to evaluate genetic diversity in a panel of S. marianum accessions (n = 31), previously characterized for morphological and phytochemical traits, using 5,178 polymorphic DArTseq SNP markers. The genetic structure investigated using both parametric and non-parametric approaches (e.g. PCA, AWclust, Admixture), revealed three distinctive groups reflecting geographical origins. Indeed, Pop1 grouped accessions from Central Europe and UK, Pop3 consisted mainly of accessions of Italian origin, and Pop2 included accessions from different geographical areas. Interestingly, Italian genotypes showed a divergent phenotypic distribution, particularly in fruit oleic and linoleic acid content, compared to the other two groups. Genetic differentiation among the three groups, investigated by computing pairwise fixation index (FST), confirmed a greater differentiation of Pop3 compared to other subpopulations, also based on other diversity indices (e.g. private alleles, heterozygosity). Finally, 22 markers were declared as putatively under natural selection, of which seven significantly affected some important phenotypic traits such as oleic, arachidonic, behenic and linoleic acid content. These findings suggest that these markers, and overall, the seven SNP markers identified within Pop3, could be exploited in specific breeding programs, potentially aimed at diversifying the use of milk thistle. Indeed, incorporating genetic material from Pop3 haplotypes carrying the selected loci into milk thistle breeding populations might be the basis for developing milk thistle lines with higher levels of oleic, arachidonic, and behenic acids, and lower levels of linoleic acid, paving new avenues for enhancing the nutritional and agronomic characteristics of milk thistle.

The Tacuinum Sanitatis

The article concerns an Arab physician whose works were among those translated into Latin in the early medieval period -- Ibn Butlan, an eleventh-century Christian physician from Baghdad, who compiled the Taqwim al-Sihha (Tables of Health). This is a a tabular compilation of 280 items which was translated and published in several editions, mostly of Italian origin. These versions – nearly all known as the Tacuinum Sanitatis – became quite popular in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The reason for its popularity is a matter still subject to debate. The original Arabic version includes no images; however, this was not the case in the Latin versions of the late Middle Ages. Each entry included a detailed illustration. The article compares the Arabic and Latin manuscripts for the purposes of examining two key differences and to discuss what they show us about the two cultures that generated and used them.

Categorie discrete e percezioni continue: per un lessico delle nuove migrazioni

This article investigates 20 qualitative interviews collected with new migrants of Italian origins settled in Toronto (Ontario) and in London (UK). The aim of the study is to identify the identity markers used by migrants to express their feeling of belonging to Italy and to Canada/UK and to position themselves into two different categories, ex­pat and migrants. According to previous quantitative studies, these two labels refer to two different patterns of immigration: expat in fact in­cludes contemporary skilled and temporary migrations, while migrant deals with unskilled migrations. So, the study of identity markers used in qualitative interviews is crucial in order to investigate how migrants position themselves in the host Country. The results provide evidence of a deep distinction of two different groups of speakers: the first one is composed of those Italians who con­sider themselves as expats and this is evident since they report in their interviews all those identity markers discussed in the literature as typical of this kind of migration (level of education, social status, use of English). The second one is, instead, composed of those Italians who consider themselves as migrants using those markers already reported in the bibli­ography for migrants (and not for expats, such as the poor use of English, the low level of education and the temporary job).

Marketing Failure Case Study — Dolce & Gabbana as an Example

In November 2018, Dolce & Gabbana took to social media to warm up for its fashion week in Shanghai by releasing a controversial video in which Dolce & Gabbana models had extreme difficulty eating Italian food — pizza, cannoli, etc — with chopsticks while the video’s narration used a disgusting tone to explain. The video was released to widespread attention and controversy, as it was deemed to be disrespectful of traditional Chinese culture and racist, causing a huge reaction in China, where Dolce & Gabbana cancelled a fashion show scheduled for Wednesday following a boycott by celebrities and social media users, while retail websites around the country such as Jingdong and Alibaba took down Dolce & Gabbana’s products. On top of this, the situation has been further complicated by negative comments about China by Dolce & Gabbana’s designer Stefano Gabbana, which have been widely circulated online. Pressured by the situation, Dolce & Gabbana apologised and claimed that its accounts had been hacked in an attempt to save the Chinese market with this action, but it did not produce any positive trends. Dolce & Gabbana is a luxury brand of Italian origin, which is widely popular worldwide for its unique designs and baroque Mediterranean style, which is different from other luxury brands. It entered the Chinese market in 2005 and in 2018, it has 44 shops in China alone, while major e-commerce websites sell it. In its financial report for mid-2017-2018, it showed a turnover of €1.3 billion (Glyn Atwal et al.).

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato infecting sheep in Italy.

Cystic Echinococcosis (CE), caused by the larval form of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato, is a neglected zoonosis still threatening public health worldwide. In Italy different epidemiological scenarios were reported depending on the geographical area and associated socio-economic activities. Although in northern Italy the occurrence of E. granulosus is considered sporadic, in the southern regions and, particularly in Sardinia, CE prevalence reaches high levels. We analysed CE cysts collected from infected sheep from various areas of mainland Italy and the Sardinia island, with the main objective to investigate intergenotypic and intragenotypic variations at national level. CE cysts were collected from slaughtered sheep following post mortem inspection at local abattoirs. Total genomic DNA was extracted and amplification and sequencing of the partial mitochondrial genes nad5 and cox1 were performed. A Bayesian phylogenetic tree was estimated on a nad5 dataset (n=260) composed of E. granulosus samples from this study (n=126) and all the nad5 haplotypes available in GenBank (n=134). In addition, haplotype network, diversity and neutrality analysis were performed on nad5 and cox1 sequences of Italian origin obtained in this study. E. granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.) was found to be the only Echinococcus species infecting sheep in Italy, mainly represented by G1 genotype (76%) and, to a lower extent, by G3 genotype (24%). Phylogenetic analyses revealed 40 nad5 and 33 cox 1 haplotypes, and the presence of two founder haplotypes, belonging to G1 and G3 genotype, showing 100% similarity with DNA sequences from different geographic regions. The lack of geographical segregation, high haplotype and low nucleotide diversity coupled with significant negative values of Tajima's D and Fu's Fs observed in this study indicated high genetic variation and demographic expansion of E. granulosus s.s. in Italy.

Father figure: Study of the age progression process from old pictures and its value in forensic sciences

The application of age progression to the search for missing persons demonstrates its usefulness in being able to reconstruct the aged face based on the current age of a person who has been missing for many years. Age progression takes into account facial physiognomic elements and their changes over time. Based on these premises, the present study aims to investigate the evolution of somatic features, from childhood to adulthood, of one of the authors' father using photos at different ages of him.Sixteen photos were collected depicting an individual of Italian origin between the age of 1 and 72. The photos were processed in Adobe© Photoshop software to graphically highlight the shape development of individual physiognomic elements. The shape of the face, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, and cheeks were analysed in detail using a morphological approach. The ageing processes that occurred in this case were discussed on the basis of the literature.The present study demonstrates the in-depth analysis of the dynamics of facial growth in a single case. Nonetheless, aging is different for each individual, so further studies are necessary to observe facial development on as many subjects as possible.

Multiple transitions in the works of Susan Caperna Lloyd

This article aims to analyse Susan Caperna Lloyd's literary output, emphasizing the writer's multiple transitions. No Pictures in My Grave, her 1992 travel memoir, followed by The Crucifixion of Lucy Reyes (2017) and Dance It Up (2023) – both currently in manuscript form – will serve as the primary objects of investigation. As will be shown, the exploration of her cultural roots as an American of Italian origin is just the starting point for a more complex quest, which leads her to uncover powerful feminine icons and ancestral mothers, who provide her with alternative models of femininity. In her latest work, Caperna Lloyd also delves deeper into the intricate transition between life and death, discovering that these states are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary.

Shaping of the Main Areas of Use of Words of Italian Origin

Shaping of the Main Areas of Use of Words of Italian Origin

Surviving Hebrew Accounts From the European Genizah. The Earliest Ledger of a Jewish Pawnshop in Italy

This study presents an original manuscript of the European Genizah containing the earliest account book of a Jewish moneylender in Italy. This document, which dates back to the early fifteenth century, sheds new light on the economic history of the Jews, credit issues in north Italy, Jewish–Christian economic relations and material culture through references to pawned objects, as well as the history of accounting practices. Its paper leaves were dismembered and reused to bind a different book of Italian origin. As with thousands of other fragments found in bindings across Europe, the recycling of codices paradoxically assured their survival. The sheets of the ledger were discovered, detached and conserved when the manuscript was restored at the end of the nineteenth century.

Dôre Michelut: Voicing One’s Linguistic and Existential Hybridity Through Multilingual Writing and Self-Translating

This article investigates the practice of self-translation in the context of migration by examining the literary production of Dôre Michelut, a Canadian author of Italian origins. It specifically illustrates how Michelut’s writing and translating are rooted in her migrant experience and operate as instruments through which the author can voice her hybrid identity and bridge Italian and Canadian worlds. Michelut’s experience of living in-between multiple linguistic and cultural spaces is recreated on the written page, which becomes the site where these multiple spaces are connected and interwoven. The act of writing and translating are thus interrelated in a continuous process of creation that leads to the production of a “hybrid text” and to the enactment of a “hybrid process.” In the first case, hybridity emerges through multilingual writing. In the second case, it is articulated around a specific form of self-translation that is in-between writing and translating.

New insights into the cytotoxic effects of Thymus vulgaris essential oil on the human triple-negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231

Essential oils (EOs) are natural products that have gained wide interest due to their biological activities and anticancer properties through various mechanisms. The present study aimed to test the cytotoxicity of Thymus vulgaris L. (thyme) EO of Italian origin, rich in thymol (49.6%) and p-cymene (18.8%), towards the triple-negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 and to investigate the biochemical mechanisms underlying its antitumor activity. Thyme EO reduced cancer cell viability in a dose-dependent manner after 24 h treatment, with an IC50 value equal to 75.1 ± 15.2 μg/ml; simultaneously, the inhibition of cancer cell migration and colony formation capacity was evidenced. Thyme EO antiproliferative effects were related to the induction of apoptosis as demonstrated by the increased expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax, cleaved caspase-3, phospho-p53, and SMAC/Diablo and by the reduction of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2, cIAP-1, cIAP-2, HIF-1α, survivin, and XIAP. Thyme EO administration led to the early formation of intracellular ROS, followed by the increment of MDA as an index of lipid peroxidation and by the decreased expression of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and PON2. The upregulation of Nrf2 mRNA expression and the strong induction of HO-1 sustained the activation of the Nrf2 pathway by thyme EO. These data showed that the EO from Thymus vulgaris L. might inhibit the malignant phenotype of MDA-MB-231, thus suggesting potential benefits against human triple-negative breast cancer.

The Middle of the Distance

In the perception of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin and in scholarly discourse on it, the legend associated with the tales of the Knights of the Grail prevails. But the romantic element in opera had a political and even revolutionary meaning for Wagner. The historical layer of the operatic action in Lohengrin draws on the Deeds of the Saxons by Widukind of Corvey and recounts the birth of the Yrst Germanic parish, united by Henry the Fowler, the “Father of the Fatherland” — and the Yrst Germanic emperor. The Romantic generation of German revolutionaries — Wagner's peers and associates — excavated the ancient history of Germany and German mythology from old manuscripts and established it in the minds of the aedgling nation. Lohengrin was the Yrst German opera to give artistic life to the revolutionary and patriotic ideas of the German Renaissance. The peculiarity of the opera lies in the interplay of the original Wagnerian principles of composition with operatic forms of Italian origin. The composer would later cite Johann Sebastian Bach as the ideal example of the “Germanic” in his ludicrous French wig and his fundamentally Italian style. By combining the rhetorical principle directly derived from Bach's music with a variety of German melodic sources from chorales to Romantic songs, Wagner had fully mastered his musical language. This article examines the compositional symmetries, supports, and arches that build the integral structure, new duet forms, and other Yndings that had a continuation in operas aber Lohengrin, as well as the main feature of this work: the combination of lyricism and tragedy, history and myth, which opens the way to countless interpretations of meaning on the modern opera stage.

Osobennosti prepodavaniya vokal'noj muzyki XX v. v Rossii

This article examines the basic features of vocal music teaching in Russia in the 20th century from the point of view of the history of music. It is possible to identify the peculiarities of vocal teaching in Russia, the influence of Italian origin on its formation, the development of technology and methods of teaching.

The Effect of X-irradiation on the Shelf Life and Proximate Composition of Some Varieties of Tomatoes Commonly Grown in Benue State, Nigeria

Tomato production is a source of income to most rural producers in developing countries like Nigeria. Despite the numerous benefits from this crop, challenges of postharvest losses occasioned by lack of preservation techniques and storage facilities are making its production unprofitable in most developing countries in Africa. This research investigated the effect of X-Irradiation on the shelf life and proximate composition of some varieties of tomatoes commonly grown in Benue State. Five samples each of fully ripe Plum (Lycopersicon esculentum L.-Oval-shaped tomato of Italian origin), Juliet (Lycopersicon esculentum L.-1999 All American Selection Winner), Better Boy (Lycopersicon esculentum L. of USA origin), Giulietta F1 (Lycopersicon esculentum L. – a hybrid from France) and Cherry (Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme) tomatoes were collected from an experimental farm in Wannune, kilometer 54, Makurdi-Gboko road and exposed to X-irradiation doses of 0.10 mGy, 0.30 mGy, 0.61 mGy, 1.06 mGy and 1.67 mGy using the X-ray machine (Model: 1.2UG13GN) located at Musafaha Imaging Centre Makurdi, Benue State. Results of the investigation revealed that 0.30 mGy and 0.61 mGy are adequate for extension of shelf life of Plum tomatoes by 7 days; 0.30 mGy was effective in extension of shelf life of Juliet and Better Boy tomatoes by 5 and 6 days respectively while 0.61 mGy also proved adequate for extension of shelf life of Giulietta F1 and Cherry tomatoes by 6 and 7 days respectively. Proximate analysis of X-irradiated tomatoes showed no significant changes in the ash, moisture, fat, fibre and carbohydrate contents of all varieties of tomatoes considered (P˃0.05) except the protein contents of Juliet, Better Boy and Giulietta F1 that were significantly affected (P˂0.05). X-irradiation doses in the range of 0.30 mGy – 0.61 mGy are effective for extension of shelf life of tomatoes commonly grown in Benue State.

Maltese as a merger of two worlds: A cross-language approach to phonotactic classification.

Maltese is a prime example of a language that emerged through extensive language contact, joining the two linguistic worlds of Semitic and Italo-Romance languages. Previous studies have shown this shared origin on the basis of hands-on comparative methods. However, such approaches may be biased by the researchers perspective and the selected material. To avoid this bias, we employed a naive computational method that classifies words on the basis of their phonotactics. Specifically, we trained a simple two-layer neural network on Tunisian and Italian nouns, i.e. the languages that Maltese emerged from. We used the trained network to classify Maltese nouns based on their phonotactic characteristics as either of Tunisian or of Italian origin. Overall, the network is capable of correctly classifying Maltese nouns as belonging to either of the original languages. Moreover, we find that the classification depends on whether a noun has a sound or broken plural. By manipulating the segment identity in the training input, we found that consonants are more important for the classification of Maltese nouns than vowels. While our results replicate previous comparative studies, they also demonstrate that a more fine grained classification of a language's origin can be based on individual words and morphological classes.

Alfonso Palanza (1851–1899): a late nineteenth-century Italian botanist and his herbaria

During his years in Naples, Alfonso Palanza (1851–1899) devoted himself to the study of the flora of Abruzzo and Naples and to the arrangement of his “Erbario Generale”. After moving to Apulia, he created the “Flora della Terra di Bari” herbarium. The “Erbario Generale” consists of approximately 7,000 specimens of both Italian and continental European origin, the latter from the mathematician Magnus Gustaf Mittag-Leffler (1846–1927). The “Flora della Terra di Bari” herbarium consists of 3,000 specimens from central Apulia. The excellent state of preservation of the specimens and the unique nature of those within the “Flora della Terra di Bari” herbarium clearly suggest that their floristic, taxonomic and nomenclatural study could provide a detailed picture of the floristic biodiversity of Apulia during the period when they were collected.

Quality of strawberries of Italian origin grown in the mountainous region of Rio Grande do Sul

Studies that evaluate the quality of the strawberry fruit, depending on the different genetic materials and places of cultivation, are still scarce in Brazil. The objective of this work was to evaluate the quality of fruits of advanced genotypes of strawberry with Italian genetics, in the municipality of Farroupilha, belonging to the Serrana region of Rio Grande do Sul. The experimental design was in randomized blocks, with four replications and 10 plants per plot, in two production cycles, containing 21 treatments in the 2018/2019 cycle and 23 treatments in the 2019/2020 cycle. The variables were quantified: fresh mass of commercial fruits (g fruit-1); luminosity and chroma of the epidermis; hue angle; pulp firmness (g); titratable acidity content (g 100g-1 of citric acid); soluble solids content (°Brix) and soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio (SS/AT). Among the genotypes evaluated, the genotypes FRF PIR 075.08, ITA 10.128.09, and FRF FC 104.01, have superior fruit quality, showing greater potential to become recommended cultivars for cultivation in the Serrana region of Rio Grande do Sul, together with the cultivar pircinque.

The Value of Craft Beer Styles: Evidence from the Italian Market.

This study aims to estimate the market value, or implicit prices, associated with the main craft beer attributes (e.g., beer style, organic, gluten-free, and package-related features) and support producers in detecting the more profitable marketing strategies. For this purpose, we conducted an empirical analysis employing sales data of craft beers from the Italian online market, and we estimated a hedonic price model via ordinary least squares. Results show that the type of package and cup only has moderate effects on price. Furthermore, a moderate premium price is found for gluten-free craft beers, while craft beers with organic labels and Italian origin do not benefit from the higher price. Instead, the beer style adopted strongly affected the product price: the highest premium prices were detected for Barleywine (+49.9%) and Italian Grape Ale (+39.6%) beer styles. Furthermore, relevant premium prices, higher than +25%, were estimated for other beer styles such as Sour, Fruit Beer, and Stout. Results suggest that artisanal breweries can effectively differentiate their product according to the beer style. To the best of our knowledge, the current study offers the first empirical evidence on how beer styles as well as other product characteristics affect the market price of craft beer by using secondary data.