Pub Date : 2018-12-11DOI: 10.4081/incontri.2018.423
M. Massimini
We normally assess consciousness in other individuals based on their ability to interact with the surrounding environment. A the same time, we all know very well that consciousness can be generated entirely within the brain, even in the absence of any interaction with the external world; this happens almost every night when we dream. Because of this fundamental discrepancy, the presence of consciousness may go undetected in brain-injured patients who emerge from coma but remain unresponsive. Developing a reliable, objective measure of the capacity for consciousness is one of the grand challenges for medical science. A challenge that we need to take on and face successfully for the sake of all the patients who survive coma through intensive care medicine. Besides, we may one day have to face the question of whether future artificial intelligence is just a useful zombie or a somehow conscious entity. According to a recently formulated theory, consciousness depends on a special kind of complexity in physical systems, on a unique balance between unity and diversity. Today, empirical measures inspired by this theory can help us in detecting a covert capacity for consciousness in patients who are otherwise completely isolated from the external world. Will they help us, one day, to understand how can a few pounds of jelly matter host the universe of a dream?
{"title":"COMPLESSITÀ E COSCIENZA: DALLA TEORIA AL LETTO DEL PAZIENTE","authors":"M. Massimini","doi":"10.4081/incontri.2018.423","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/incontri.2018.423","url":null,"abstract":"We normally assess consciousness in other individuals based on their ability to interact with the surrounding environment. A the same time, we all know very well that consciousness can be generated entirely within the brain, even in the absence of any interaction with the external world; this happens almost every night when we dream. Because of this fundamental discrepancy, the presence of consciousness may go undetected in brain-injured patients who emerge from coma but remain unresponsive. Developing a reliable, objective measure of the capacity for consciousness is one of the grand challenges for medical science. A challenge that we need to take on and face successfully for the sake of all the patients who survive coma through intensive care medicine. Besides, we may one day have to face the question of whether future artificial intelligence is just a useful zombie or a somehow conscious entity. According to a recently formulated theory, consciousness depends on a special kind of complexity in physical systems, on a unique balance between unity and diversity. Today, empirical measures inspired by this theory can help us in detecting a covert capacity for consciousness in patients who are otherwise completely isolated from the external world. Will they help us, one day, to understand how can a few pounds of jelly matter host the universe of a dream?","PeriodicalId":119535,"journal":{"name":"Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Incontri di Studio","volume":"61 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121360329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-12-11DOI: 10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.424
M. Ceroni
It is evident to everyone, even to non-professionals, that human consciousness raises a major problem in Science and therefore in Neuroscience. So much so that today we try in every way to eliminate consciousness as pure epiphenomenon or to completely reduce it to the brain. The article specifies first the scientific method and discusses the possible limits of applicability to the field of consciousness. Then tries to show the elusive nature every definition of human consciousness has. Finally, it recalls a quote from the monumental work of Prof. Savoldi on “La Coscienza”, a fundamental passage that clarifies beyond ambiguity, with the help of Pascal, the only cognitive modality (comprehension) that allows one to approach the conscience and which can not be the experimental method.
{"title":"PERCHÉ È COSÌ DIFFICILE PER LA SCIENZA AFFRONTARE IL TEMA DELLA COSCIENZA E DEI SUOI RAPPORTI COL CERVELLO?","authors":"M. Ceroni","doi":"10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.424","url":null,"abstract":"It is evident to everyone, even to non-professionals, that human consciousness raises a major problem in Science and therefore in Neuroscience. So much so that today we try in every way to eliminate consciousness as pure epiphenomenon or to completely reduce it to the brain. The article specifies first the scientific method and discusses the possible limits of applicability to the field of consciousness. Then tries to show the elusive nature every definition of human consciousness has. Finally, it recalls a quote from the monumental work of Prof. Savoldi on “La Coscienza”, a fundamental passage that clarifies beyond ambiguity, with the help of Pascal, the only cognitive modality (comprehension) that allows one to approach the conscience and which can not be the experimental method.","PeriodicalId":119535,"journal":{"name":"Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Incontri di Studio","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116118599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-12-11DOI: 10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.421
Paolo Mazzarello
On January 14, 2016, Faustino Savoldi, a member of the Istituto Lombardo and one of the protagonists of the Pavia and Italian neurological sciences in the second half of the twentieth century was missing. Born in Brescia on July 4, 1930, after his high school studies in his hometown, he enrolled in the medical faculty of Pavia in 1949 where he took the first steps of his scientific career, graduating in 1955, under the guidance of Carlo Berlucchi. Probably influenced by the master he turned to the electrophysiological study of the nervous system and soon became one of the pioneers of experimental electroencephalography. The research sectors he sponsored were those related to clinical and experimental epilepsy, to the pathogenesis of vertigo, to language disorders, to the taxonomic nosography of headaches, to physiological and pathological neuroendocrine mechanisms, to cerebrovascular diseases. A scholar with vast interests, he published important essays for the critical interpretation of various neuropsychiatric topics, also evaluated from a philosophical perspective. At the same time his university career flourished culminating with the chair of Neurology at the University of Pavia and the scientific direction of the Neurological Institute Casimiro Mondino until 1989. In the last years, after retirement, Savoldi had dedicated himself to a titanic enterprise, to write a treatise on the problem of consciousness, which came to an end in 2013. The present essay outlines his scientific and human figure.
{"title":"FAUSTINO SAVOLDI: L’UOMO, L’AMICO, LO STUDIOSO","authors":"Paolo Mazzarello","doi":"10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.421","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.421","url":null,"abstract":"On January 14, 2016, Faustino Savoldi, a member of the Istituto Lombardo and one of the protagonists of the Pavia and Italian neurological sciences in the second half of the twentieth century was missing. Born in Brescia on July 4, 1930, after his high school studies in his hometown, he enrolled in the medical faculty of Pavia in 1949 where he took the first steps of his scientific career, graduating in 1955, under the guidance of Carlo Berlucchi. Probably influenced by the master he turned to the electrophysiological study of the nervous system and soon became one of the pioneers of experimental electroencephalography. The research sectors he sponsored were those related to clinical and experimental epilepsy, to the pathogenesis of vertigo, to language disorders, to the taxonomic nosography of headaches, to physiological and pathological neuroendocrine mechanisms, to cerebrovascular diseases. A scholar with vast interests, he published important essays for the critical interpretation of various neuropsychiatric topics, also evaluated from a philosophical perspective. At the same time his university career flourished culminating with the chair of Neurology at the University of Pavia and the scientific direction of the Neurological Institute Casimiro Mondino until 1989. In the last years, after retirement, Savoldi had dedicated himself to a titanic enterprise, to write a treatise on the problem of consciousness, which came to an end in 2013. The present essay outlines his scientific and human figure.","PeriodicalId":119535,"journal":{"name":"Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Incontri di Studio","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124542751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-12-11DOI: 10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.429
Vittorino Andreoli
Psychiatry is considered to be part of the Sciences de l’Homme (Human Sciences) which, in the meaning attributed to them by Jean Piaget, unite the disciplines that have the whole person as their “object”. Schematically, they include the body, the personality and the relational, or social, environment. The late Faustino Savoldi is an example of a neurologist who dealt with both the phenomenological and the psychoanalytic views. His great work, La coscienza (“The Conscience”), indeed provides an integrated view of neurology and psychiatry, as well as both together with the phenomenological vision. This is a synthesis which is a necessary catalyst to ensure that madness is integrated as a human science, understood as the great framework that holds together man and the world.
{"title":"LA FOLLIA DENTRO L’UMANESIMO","authors":"Vittorino Andreoli","doi":"10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.429","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.429","url":null,"abstract":"Psychiatry is considered to be part of the Sciences de l’Homme (Human Sciences) which, in the meaning attributed to them by Jean Piaget, unite the disciplines that have the whole person as their “object”. Schematically, they include the body, the personality and the relational, or social, environment. The late Faustino Savoldi is an example of a neurologist who dealt with both the phenomenological and the psychoanalytic views. His great work, La coscienza (“The Conscience”), indeed provides an integrated view of neurology and psychiatry, as well as both together with the phenomenological vision. This is a synthesis which is a necessary catalyst to ensure that madness is integrated as a human science, understood as the great framework that holds together man and the world.","PeriodicalId":119535,"journal":{"name":"Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Incontri di Studio","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128408144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-12-11DOI: 10.4081/incontri.2018.428
L. Vanzago
The reflection on the notion of consciousness that Faustino Savoldi has carried out for many years, and whose greatest result is the work La coscienza, published in 2013, had continued after this publication. In personal conversations with him, we had come to the idea that the problem of consciousness and the question of the relationship between mind and body should be addressed in the light of a meditation on the concept of life. Unfortunately there was no time to complete this work. This essay tries to outline some theoretical assumptions to continue in any case along the direction glimpsed by Savoldi, and to bring forward his intellectual legacy.
{"title":"METAMORFOSI DELL’ANIMA. CORPO, VITA E COSCIENZA","authors":"L. Vanzago","doi":"10.4081/incontri.2018.428","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/incontri.2018.428","url":null,"abstract":"The reflection on the notion of consciousness that Faustino Savoldi has carried out for many years, and whose greatest result is the work La coscienza, published in 2013, had continued after this publication. In personal conversations with him, we had come to the idea that the problem of consciousness and the question of the relationship between mind and body should be addressed in the light of a meditation on the concept of life. Unfortunately there was no time to complete this work. This essay tries to outline some theoretical assumptions to continue in any case along the direction glimpsed by Savoldi, and to bring forward his intellectual legacy.","PeriodicalId":119535,"journal":{"name":"Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Incontri di Studio","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126821741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-11-23DOI: 10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.434
S. Modina, C. Bernardi, E. Trevisi, G. Pastorelli, Mauro Di Giancamillo
The growing demand for real-time monitoring of food products has encouraged the use of rapid, accurate and non-destructive techniques, which are able to guarantee safe and high quality products on the market. In recent years, industries have invested in image diagnostic techniques (IDT), such as spectral and hyperspectral imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). These techniques are frequently used to evaluate the structure and microstructure of meat and fish products, and/or to monitor the changes that occur during their processing and ripening. Recently IDT have been successfully applied to the evaluation of cured meats of the Italian tradition. With our research we visualize the marbling of both fresh and frozen bovine cuts of meat intended for the production of “Bresaola” by CT in parallel with histological and biochemical analyses. CT allowed selecting in a quick non-destructive way the “leanest” cuts of meat, to be used for the production of good quality Bresaola and to optimize the processing times. Similar analyses have been applied to Parma ham and “Nero di Parma” to characterize the two dry-cured hams on the basis of the quali-quantitative levels of adipose tissue infiltrates. Finally, by IDT we identified big fishes when marketed as slices. Using MRI we demonstrated that it is possible to distinguish the swordfish (Xiphias gladius) from the mako shark (Isurus oxyrhincus) slices, by the position of Vogt muscle: this allows to reduce the sales of low quality commercial products (mako shark), instead of high quality ones (swordfish), to protect consumers and limit commercial frauds.
{"title":"BIO-IMAGING IN OUR KITCHENS: TO THE DISCOVERY OF PRODUCTS OF ANIMAL ORIGIN","authors":"S. Modina, C. Bernardi, E. Trevisi, G. Pastorelli, Mauro Di Giancamillo","doi":"10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.434","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.434","url":null,"abstract":"The growing demand for real-time monitoring of food products has encouraged the use of rapid, accurate and non-destructive techniques, which are able to guarantee safe and high quality products on the market. In recent years, industries have invested in image diagnostic techniques (IDT), such as spectral and hyperspectral imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). These techniques are frequently used to evaluate the structure and microstructure of meat and fish products, and/or to monitor the changes that occur during their processing and ripening. Recently IDT have been successfully applied to the evaluation of cured meats of the Italian tradition. With our research we visualize the marbling of both fresh and frozen bovine cuts of meat intended for the production of “Bresaola” by CT in parallel with histological and biochemical analyses. CT allowed selecting in a quick non-destructive way the “leanest” cuts of meat, to be used for the production of good quality Bresaola and to optimize the processing times. Similar analyses have been applied to Parma ham and “Nero di Parma” to characterize the two dry-cured hams on the basis of the quali-quantitative levels of adipose tissue infiltrates. Finally, by IDT we identified big fishes when marketed as slices. Using MRI we demonstrated that it is possible to distinguish the swordfish (Xiphias gladius) from the mako shark (Isurus oxyrhincus) slices, by the position of Vogt muscle: this allows to reduce the sales of low quality commercial products (mako shark), instead of high quality ones (swordfish), to protect consumers and limit commercial frauds.","PeriodicalId":119535,"journal":{"name":"Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Incontri di Studio","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126126493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-11-23DOI: 10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.436
B. Cisterna, F. Boschi, A. C. Croce, R. Podda, Serena Zanzoni, D. Degl'Innocenti, P. Bernardi, M. Costanzo, P. Marzola, Covi Viviana, Tabaracci Gabriele, M. Malatesta
Optical Imaging (OI) is an emerging field developed in recent years which can be a very versatile, fast and non-invasive approach for the acquisition of images of small (few centimetres) sized samples, such as layers of cells (in vitro), small animals (in vivo), animal organs (ex vivo) and innovative materials. OI was primarily developed for biomedical applications to study the progression of some pathologies and to assess the efficacy of new pharmaceutical compounds. Here we applied the OI technique to a completely new field: the study of food optical properties. In this case we exploited the optical properties of endogenous molecules, which are generally considered responsible of a background noise affecting the investigation. Here we used this sort of “noise”, named autofluorescence, to obtain information on the drying of Corvinone grapes employed for Amarone wine production. OI can provide interesting information and, inserted in a multimodal approach, it may be a real support to other techniques in the description of a biological phenomenon.
{"title":"IMAGING TECHNIQUES FOR THE EVALUATION OF GRAPES IN WITHERING FOR AMARONE WINE PRODUCTION","authors":"B. Cisterna, F. Boschi, A. C. Croce, R. Podda, Serena Zanzoni, D. Degl'Innocenti, P. Bernardi, M. Costanzo, P. Marzola, Covi Viviana, Tabaracci Gabriele, M. Malatesta","doi":"10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/INCONTRI.2018.436","url":null,"abstract":"Optical Imaging (OI) is an emerging field developed in recent years which can be a very versatile, fast and non-invasive approach for the acquisition of images of small (few centimetres) sized samples, such as layers of cells (in vitro), small animals (in vivo), animal organs (ex vivo) and innovative materials. OI was primarily developed for biomedical applications to study the progression of some pathologies and to assess the efficacy of new pharmaceutical compounds. Here we applied the OI technique to a completely new field: the study of food optical properties. In this case we exploited the optical properties of endogenous molecules, which are generally considered responsible of a background noise affecting the investigation. Here we used this sort of “noise”, named autofluorescence, to obtain information on the drying of Corvinone grapes employed for Amarone wine production. OI can provide interesting information and, inserted in a multimodal approach, it may be a real support to other techniques in the description of a biological phenomenon.","PeriodicalId":119535,"journal":{"name":"Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Incontri di Studio","volume":"299 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132617163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-11-23DOI: 10.4081/incontri.2018.435
P. Ninfali, A. Panato, F. Bortolotti, L. Valentini, P. Gobbi
This review focuses on the combination of optical microscopy (OM) and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (ESEM-EDS) in the anatomical and functional characterization of the cereal caryopsis in order to drive the technology of transformation as well as to save the nutrients in the flours and their derived products. With OM, we analyzed caryopsis sections stained with Azan Trichrome, Periodic Acid Shiff (PAS) and Toluidine blue staining. These techniques allowed the characterization of the aleuronic layers with their protein globoids and starch granules of variable dimensions in the endosperm. Fluorescence OM allowed to evidence phenolic compounds and soluble fibers, in particolar the β-glucan of oat and barley, with the aid of the dye Calcoflour white. ESEM-EDS does not require fixation or embedding of the samples, and the structures are visualized under natural conditions. By means of ESEM-EDS, we localized protein globoids, the germ with the depleted layer (which connects the germ to the endosperm) and the starch granules with their qualitative elemental composition. Referring to nutrition, microscopic analysis highlights the higher bioaccessibility of einkorn wheat starch granules during digestion. At the technological level, barley and oat are more suitable than einkorn for pearling and malting, due to their thicker and more robust cell walls.
{"title":"MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUES FOR INVESTIGATING NUTRICIONAL PROPERTIES OF CEREALS AND THEIR TRANSFORMATION INTO FOODSTUFFS","authors":"P. Ninfali, A. Panato, F. Bortolotti, L. Valentini, P. Gobbi","doi":"10.4081/incontri.2018.435","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/incontri.2018.435","url":null,"abstract":"This review focuses on the combination of optical microscopy (OM) and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (ESEM-EDS) in the anatomical and functional characterization of the cereal caryopsis in order to drive the technology of transformation as well as to save the nutrients in the flours and their derived products. With OM, we analyzed caryopsis sections stained with Azan Trichrome, Periodic Acid Shiff (PAS) and Toluidine blue staining. These techniques allowed the characterization of the aleuronic layers with their protein globoids and starch granules of variable dimensions in the endosperm. Fluorescence OM allowed to evidence phenolic compounds and soluble fibers, in particolar the β-glucan of oat and barley, with the aid of the dye Calcoflour white. ESEM-EDS does not require fixation or embedding of the samples, and the structures are visualized under natural conditions. By means of ESEM-EDS, we localized protein globoids, the germ with the depleted layer (which connects the germ to the endosperm) and the starch granules with their qualitative elemental composition. Referring to nutrition, microscopic analysis highlights the higher bioaccessibility of einkorn wheat starch granules during digestion. At the technological level, barley and oat are more suitable than einkorn for pearling and malting, due to their thicker and more robust cell walls.","PeriodicalId":119535,"journal":{"name":"Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Incontri di Studio","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129739594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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