bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
TNF-alfa Gene Polymorphism Associations with Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Kalvaitis Lukas , Gedvilaite-Vaicechauskiene Greta , Kriauciuniene Loresa , Balnyte Renata , Liutkeviciene Rasa 
Published: June 2024

Background: TNF-α has a dual role in multiple sclerosis (MS), contributing to both protective and harmful effects. It activates immune cells, promotes the formation of inflammatory lesions in the central nervous system, and stimulates the production of other pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, leading to myelin destruction and neuronal damage. Our research focused on investigating the relationship between TNF-alpha (rs1800630, rs1800629, and rs361525) gene polymorphisms and MS. Methods: 250 healthy controls and 250 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients were included in the study. DNA was extracted from leucocytes from peripheral venous blood by salt precipitation. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were tested using RT–PCR. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 29.0 data analysis software. Results: The analysis revealed that the rs361525 AG genotype was significantly less frequent in the MS group compared to the control group (4.0% vs. 7.2%, p = 0.042). Sex-specific analysis showed a significant difference in genotype distribution (GG, AG, AA) among males between the MS group and the control group (97.7%, 0%, 2.3% vs. 90.6%, 9.4%, 0%, p = 0.005). For the rs1800629 polymorphism, significant results were also found. In subjects younger than 39 years, the A allele was significantly less frequent in the MS group than in the control group (8.6% vs. 15.0%, p = 0.030). The most robust model indicated that the AA genotype reduced the odds of MS by approximately 2 fold compared to the AG + GG genotype (p = 0.044), and each A allele reduced the odds of MS by approximately 2 fold (p = 0.028). The rs1800630 A allele was significantly more common in males in the MS group than in the control group (21.0% vs. 12.9%, p = 0.046). Conclusions: In conclusion, our study identifies significant associations between TNF-alpha gene variants and MS. Specifically, the rs631525 AG genotype was less common in the MS group, with notable sex-specific differences observed. The rs1800629 A allele was statistically significantly less frequent in the MS group than in the control group, and the AA genotype reduced the odds of MS occurrence by ~2 fold compared with the AG + GG genotypes. Additionally, each A allele of rs1800629 was linked to a 2-fold decreased odds of MS occurrence. In males, the rs1800630 A allele was more frequent in the MS group. These findings highlight the relevance of TNF-alpha genetic variations in MS susceptibility, suggesting potential avenues for further research and therapeutic exploration.
Updates on Antibiotic Regimens in Acute Cholecystitis
Authors: Fico Valeria , La Greca Antonio , Tropeano Giuseppe , Di Grezia Marta , Chiarello Maria Michela , Brisinda Giuseppe , Sganga Gabriele 
Published: June 2024

Acute cholecystitis is one of the most common surgical diseases, which may progress from mild to severe cases. When combined with bacteremia, the mortality rate of acute cholecystitis reaches up to 10–20%. The standard of care in patients with acute cholecystitis is early laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Percutaneous cholecystostomy or endoscopic procedures are alternative treatments in selective cases. Nevertheless, antibiotic therapy plays a key role in preventing surgical complications and limiting the systemic inflammatory response, especially in patients with moderate to severe cholecystitis. Patients with acute cholecystitis have a bile bacterial colonization rate of 35–60%. The most frequently isolated microorganisms are Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Streptococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., and Clostridium spp. Early empirical antimicrobial therapy along with source control of infection is the cornerstone for a successful treatment. In these cases, the choice of antibiotic must be made considering some factors (e.g., the severity of the clinical manifestations, the onset of the infection if acquired in hospital or in the community, the penetration of the drug into the bile, and any drug resistance). Furthermore, therapy must be modified based on bile cultures in cases of severe cholecystitis. Antibiotic stewardship is the key to the correct management of bile-related infections. It is necessary to be aware of the appropriate therapeutic scheme and its precise duration. The appropriate use of antibiotic agents is crucial and should be integrated into good clinical practice and standards of care.
Rethinking International Scholarships as Peace Interventions in the Palestinian Context of Conflict
Authors: Almassri Anas N. 
Published: June 2024

International education scholarships can be significant interventions at times of conflict and peace. Extant research in International Relations and in International Education begins to demonstrate this significance but predominantly in neo-liberal terms of human capital import, North-facing cosmopolitanism, and Western-style democratization and global (economic) integration. This is valuable framing, but it misses more complex political effects of scholarships as conflict and peace interventions. This paper presents empirical evidence illuminating the need for a broader ontology in researching the potential contribution of scholarships to peace. The paper draws on qualitative data collected from 32 Palestinian scholarship alumni and alumnae, sampling a national group nowhere to be found in scholarly or policy works dealing with international education and conflict/peace. Developed through a critical realist thematic analysis of the collected data, the experiential findings reported here show strong perceived gains in the research participants’ critical reflexivization and domestic and global (re)socialization of their sense of national identity and awareness. An interdisciplinary discussion of these gains demonstrates that scholarships may represent deep and significant advocacy and capacity-building interventions in the contexts of conflict, with these interventions spanning the humanitarian, development, and, to a lesser extent, political spheres. The discussion is concluded with a reflection on the methodological-conceptual challenge these findings outline to framing international education impacts in only neo-liberal terms. Overall, this paper contributes a timely Global South perspective to inform critical thought and practice of international scholarships for Palestinians and other conflict-affected groups/nations.
Variable Determinism in Social Applications: Translating Science to Society
Authors: Evers Kathinka 
Published: June 2024

The debate over whether the belief in possessing a “ free will” can be maintained in the light of modern science, in particular neuroscience, has often been presented as a choice between two extremes. On the one hand, we have the conception of strict determinism excluding free will ; on the other hand, we have a conception of freedom of choice excluding determinism. Neither position, I claim, is scientifically realistic. The introduction in neuroscience of “ variable determinism” suggests that we can be simultaneously determined and “ free”. The important questions before us rather concern how to understand this balance and how to structure our societies accordingly. In this article, I focus on the doxastic and normative questions about the possible role of free will in our belief systems and social structures and on the role of neuroscience in challenging, or supporting, different positions. In line with a previously developed theoretical framework, I argue that the variability theorem, if correct, may offer empirical support for the compatibility of free will and causality, thus allowing for a rational belief in free will understood as a non-zero capacity to influence the causal processes of states and behaviour. So long as there is contingency in the causal relations (i. e. determinism including variability), there may be a fundamental dimension of voluntary influence in our choices. This measure of variability and control is sufficient to safeguard the possibility of “ free will” under these particular aspects, leaving open the extent of the freedom that we actually possess.
De facto, our capacity for choice is strongly influenced by a variety of causal mechanisms and antecedent events over which we in reality have no or very limited influence : our natural, social and cultural environments all shape us. This variable determinism is also important to understand in terms of social applications, and the aim of this article is to translate this aspect of science and philosophy to society. In that endeavour, we need to be aware both of the freedom bestowed us by the variable determinism revealed by neuroscience and philosophy, and of the limits of this freedom. Understanding of this balance and its broader contexts should become more deeply integrated not only into our general world-views but also into our social structures shaping our legal and educational systems, child-care and moral upbringing favouring tolerance and respect of human rights.
"Il avait retrouvé le secret de Pygmalion" : Girodet, Canova e l'illusione della vita
Authors: Savettieri Chiara 
Published: June 2024

Chiara Savettieri, "Il avait retrouvé le secret de Pygmalion" : Girodet, Canova and the illusion of life ;
This paper intends to highlight the relationship between the French painter Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson and the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova. The works by Girodet in which one can distinguish connections with the sculptor are the Endymion and Pygmalion and Galatea. In the former, one can observe various similarities with the aesthetics of Canova : these are particularly recognizable in the staging of the light in order to reproduce the smooth texture of flesh and in a conception of beauty particular to Winckelmann, which, by its "indeterminate" nature, appears androgynous and ephebic. Following the wishes of its patron, that is to say Sommariva, the Pygmalion was to constitute a tribute to Canova who was able to breathe life and the illusion of movement to his marble statues. In this painting, it is possible to distinguish precisely both the similarity but also the contrast with the sculptor. On the one hand, Girodet, like Canova, believes that art is composed of a significant intellectual element, which bathes the works in a cool sheen, far removed from the fervent spontaneity of Canova's marble statues. However, if one looks closer, it appears that this intellectualism stems from a deep mise en abyme of the values on which the neoclassical aesthetics was based : a crisis that appears extremely clearly in the numerous texts written by the painter throughout his life.
Transformations et pouvoirs de l'effigie pendant la Contre-Réforme : le portrait funéraire au XVIIe siècle (Rome, Paris)
Authors: Mazel-Nguyen Claire 
Published: June 2024

The transformations and the power of the effigy during the Counter-Reformation : funerary portraiture in the seventeenth century (Rome, Paris)
The 1620s to 1640s in Rome, and 1650s in Paris, were the setting of a profound change in sculpted portraiture, which attempted representations "così al vivo". The funerary context of many of these portraits leads one to consider this artistic development in relation with the profound change in pastoral practices surrounding death and salvation during the Counter-Reformation. Where portraiture had once depicted the deceased in anticipation as time stood still, it now captured the living image of his devotion. Where it once solicited the prayers of the living, it now exhibited the perfect devotion of the deceased and led the faithful towards imitation. This artistic development therefore also contributed to an expansion of the power of images, to a problematic shift in their status.
Un ensemble de copies de dessins d'après l'Antique de Poussin
Authors: Rosenberg Pierre 
Published: June 2024

Un insieme di copie di disegni da l'antico di Poussin.
Poussin ha disegnato poco: si tratta per lo più di disegni preparatori (382 numeri nel corpus di Pierre Rosenberg e Louis-Antoine Prat pubblicato nel 1994) per le sue composizioni pittoriche o di copie dall'Antico. La scoperta d'un gruppo di disegni, costituito non da copie d'antichità ma da copie di copie dall'Antico, chiarisce il metodo di Poussin e ci informa sull'importanza che egli conferiva all'Antichità. Queste copie non sono mai realizzate davanti alle opere, ma da un numero modesto di testi illustrati antichi. L'autore studia due insiemi di copie da Poussin ; il più importante è conservato in una collezione privata, mentre l'altro si trova a Roma nel Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe. Questi due gruppi completano le ricerche intraprese nel corpus pubblicato nel 1994.
Il collezionismo della famiglia Santacroce nella Roma del XVII secolo. I disegni
Authors: Pazzini Claudia 
Published: June 2024

The collecting of the Santacroce family : the drawings
In Barberini court circles emerges, in the 1630s, a peculiar patron and collector, still relatively unknown to scholars : Cardinal Antonio Santacroce. During his time at the legation in Bologna and Urbino, from 1631 to 1639, the cardinal came in contact with the extremely active local artistic milieu, thanks to which he developed a specific taste that would steer his choices as a collector. Archival documents bear witness to a significant collection of paintings, while all evidence of the numerous drawing albums owned by Santacroce has been lost. The precious comments on the drawings of this amateur of Roman art recorded in the works of Pierre-Jean Mariette enable us to determine the distinctive features that led to the identification of the cardinal's drawings, today scattered in various public and private collections. Among the drawings found are numerous sheets by the hand of Raphael, Polidoro da Caravaggio, Primaticcio and the Carracci.
Appunti sul paesaggio nell'arte elettronica
Authors: Bordini Silvia 
Published: June 2024

Notes on landscape in electronic art
The transformations of the vision of nature as landscape, undergone in contemporary art of the past years, are here examined. Particular attention is granted to the displacement of artistic practice, from painting to other forms of representational means, languages and experiments. From the 1960s onwards in fact, art was no longer conceived in pictorial terms but developed the concept of a work of art as a relationship, as a place for perceptive and dynamic experimentation in space and time, as well as an experience linked to the behaviors of the artist and the beholder. In this context, this essay focuses on landscape in electronic art, encompassing video, video installations, net art and interactive environments, and discusses the main historical and critical analyses of these works. Particular attention is given to references in interpretations of new media to traditional themes in landscape painting.
Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) et la scène artistique parisienne, une réception équivoque
Authors: Lagrange Marion 
Published: June 2024

Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) and the Parisian artistic scene : an ambiguous reception.
By the early 1870s, Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931), an Italian-born painter active in Paris, was very popular in the exclusive world of dealers and collectors - both Parisian and foreign - thanks to his genre scenes placed within Rococo or Empire settings. A shift occurred in the 1880s, both in the choice of subject matter as well as in his desire to take part in public exhibitions. From then on, his fame would rest on the success of his female portraits. Forsaking the vast Salon des Artistes français, Boldini asserted his will to control the way his works were displayed and circulated. Art critics seemed baffled, rejecting references to a "peinture mondaine" in favor of allusions to "fin de siècle" painting. Even as the Italian painter exercised complete control over his career (to the point of even monitoring his legacy), his art, as well as his persona, remained shrouded in mystery in the eyes of contemporary art critics and painters.
Bizzarri componimenti e straordinarie invenzioni : la Danaé de Tintoret, une peinture comique
Authors: Alberti Francesca 
Published: June 2024

Bizzari componimenti e straordinarie invenzioni : Tintorettos Danae, ein Bild mit komödienhaftem Charakter.
In der giuntina-Ausgabe der Viten leitet Vasari seine Bemerkungen zu Tintoretto ein, indem er den extravaganten und unkonventionellen Charakter seiner Kompositionen unterstreicht. Dieser Artikel bietet eine detaillierte ikonografische Analyse der Danae aus dem musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. Indem er sich von den ikonografischen und literarischen Quellen entfernt, wandelt Tintoretto diese mythologische Szene in eine belustigende Darstellung der käuflichen Liebe um. Durch den Vergleich mit der neuerdings als bildliche Posse gedeuteten Leda und der Schwan sowie mit der zeitgenössischen Literatur können die Mittel ergründet werden, die der Künstler einsetzt, um ein Bild mit komödienhaftem Charakter zu schaffen. Auch wenn die Historiographie auch heute noch dazu neigt, die Malerei mit komödienhaftem Charakter in den niederen Gattungen des Grotesken und der Karikatur zu belassen, besitzt Tintorettos Danae einen unbestreitbar komödienhaften Charakter. Ihr burlesker Erzählgehalt verbirgt sich hinter einem metaphorischen und kodifizierten visuellen Wortschatz, der ein gelehrtes Publikum voraussetzt. Das Werk war mit Sicherheit für ein Mitglied der studiosa gioventù bestimmt, die der Maler auch amüsierte, indem er motti faceti - scherzhafte und geistreiche Witze - für die in Venedig um die Mitte des Jahrhunderts aufgeführten Komödien erfand.
Catalogue, titre, étiquette : la présentation écrite des tableaux dans les expositions de peinture au XVIIIe siècle
Authors: Hénin Emmanuelle 
Published: June 2024

Emmanuelle Hénin. Catalogo, titolo, etichetta : la presentazione scritta dei dipinti nelle esposizioni di pittura del Settecento ;
Nel corso del Settecento, lo sviluppo di musei ed esposizioni temporanee in tutta Europa genera una vasta riflessione, non solo sulla presentazione fisica dei quadri ma anche sulla loro presentazione scritta. Il Salon parigino, come pure le esposizioni italiane (in particolare quelle dell’Accademia del Disegno a Firenze), costituisce per i contemporanei l’occasione di interrogarsi sulla redazione di un catalogo, sull’apposizione di etichette e sul concepimento dei titoli da dare alle opere. Strumenti pedagogici tuttora fondamentali per il museo moderno.
Le Kairos de Girolamo da Carpi ou la fusion imagée des traditions grecques et latines
Authors: De Halleux Elisa 
Published: June 2024

Der Kairos des Girolamo da Carpi oder die bildliche Zusammenführung der griechischen und römischen Tradition ;
Ein im Auftrag von Herkules II., des Herzogs von Ferrara, entstandenes Gemälde von Girolamo da Carpi stellt Das Glück und die Bube dar in Gestalt eines jungen Mannes, der sich auf einer Kugel über einem Felsen im Gleichgewicht hält, und einer jungen Frau zu seiner Seite. Auch wenn die Figur des Glücks die traditionellen Attribute des griechischen Kairos besitzt, erinnert sie ebenfalls an Dürers Fortuna und zeichnet sich durch einen Anflug von Weiblichkeit aus, der sie den weiblichen Darstellungen der Fortuna-Occasio annähert. Die Analyse der plastischen Entstehung dieser Figur beleuchtet den Proze des Entwurfs einer Allegorie in einem Kontext, der wegen seiner extremen Verfeinerung und seiner Kenntnis der antiken Muster und des philosophischen Denkens, insbesondere von Machiavel, bekannt ist. Die sexuelle Zweideutigkeit des Kairos könnte auf die Unentschiedenheit des Verlaufs des menschlichen Lebens anspielen und spiegelte derart eine bestimmte Weltanschauung wider, dies am Prozess ihrer Entstehung teilnehmend. Dieses Bild legt Zeugnis davon ab, wie sich das Bildliche gleichzeitig, aber auch in gewisser Weise unabhängig vom Geschriebenen definiert.
Le Annunciazioni di Ludovico in prospettiva. Riflessioni in margine al ricercare del Carracci maggiore
Authors: Folesani Giovanna Perini 
Published: June 2024

Les Annonciations de Ludovico en perspective. Réflexions en marge du mode de composition de l'aîné des Carracci.
L'essai propose une lecture originale de l'oeuvre de Ludovico Carracci, et de son parcours artistique, comme promoteur et moteur de la dite «Réforme des Carracci» : il s'appuie en effet sur l'analyse des constructions perspectives (entre autres) de ses essais les plus significatifs sur le thème iconographique de l'Annonciation, exécutés entre 1583 et 1619. Il s'agit de suggérer, en particulier, l'importance de la contribution des études de son oncle Carlo, quasiment inconnu, aux connaissances perspectives et mathématiques, mais aussi musicales et architecturales de Ludovico et de son cousin Agostino, desquelles dérive l'enseignement de vulgarisation, plus accessible, du plus jeune Annibale, destiné à être diffusé au-delà de Bologne, à Rome, et dans le monde.
Une peinture de Pisanello à Naples ? Hypothèse pour la Vierge à l’Enfant avec saint Antoine et saint Georges
Authors: Barreto Joana 
Published: June 2024

<i>Ein Gemälde Pisanellos in Neapel ? Eine Hypothese
zur Maria mit Kind und den HI</i>. Antonius und Georg Während seines Aufenthaltes in Neapel brachte Pisanello die Porträtmalerei und zur gleichen Zeit die Propaganda für Alfons V. von Aragon zu einem neuen Aufschwung. Der König gab ihm Medaillen, Entwürfe zu Goldschmiedearbeiten und Bombarden sowie ephemäre Dekorationen in Auftrag. Dem König nahestehend nahm Pisanello also eine zentrale Stellung in der neapolitanischen Kunstproduktion dieser Zeit ein. Insofern ist es erstaunlich, dass kein einziges Gemälde aus dieser Zeit erhalten ist. Unserer Ansicht nach handelt es sich bei dem hier untersuchten Gemälde um einen privaten Auftrag von Alfons V. mit Bezug auf ein sehr wichtiges Ereignis in seinem Leben, die Eroberung des Königreichs von Neapel am 22. Juni 1442. Die Komposition sowie die au er gewöhnliche Ikonographie dieser kleinen Tafel haben die Spezialisten dazu bewogen, ihre Bedeutung im Hinblick auf verschiedene Auftragsumstände aufzuklären zu versuchen. Jedoch vermag allein die neapolitanische Hypothese die räumliche Verteilung der dargestellten drei Figuren (Maria mit dem Kind, der HI. Antonius und der HI. Georg) verständlich zu machen, die ihren Sinn finden in Bezug auf die Andachtsformen des Königs von Neapel im Kontext der Übernahme des Königreiches, die dem König auf wunderbare Weise durch eine Erscheinung der Muttergottes angekündigt worden war.
“Pensare il falso” : un percorso critico-bibliografico
Authors: Andreoli Ilaria 
Published: June 2024

Thinking the Fake : a Critical-Bibliographic Survey,
In recent years falsification of works of art, in relation with questions of material and conceptual authenticity, sparked a growing interest among scholars, art market operators and academics as well as in the general press. The fake and its parent notions of copy, authenticity, originality and reproducibility of works of art are essential not only to the study of artistic practice and its reception but the history of art and of aesthetics. Using a selection of major publications in the field, the essay proposes a bibliographic survey that presents the different methods and concepts with which fakes in art have been approached by scholars.