Lunghezza del paragrafo
Poiché lo scopo della suddivisione di un testo in paragrafi è aiutare il lettore a seguire il filo dell’argomentazione, non vi è un limite di lunghezza fisso. In linea di massima, i paragrafi sono più lunghi nell’Introduzione e nella Discussione e più brevi e semplici in Materiali e Metodi e nella sezione dei Risultati. Un testo suddiviso in una moltitudine di paragrafi brevi ha come conseguenza un’eccessiva frammentazione del discorso e induce il lettore a ritenere che i concetti non siano stati sviluppati in modo completo.
3a. The glycylcycline family of antibiotics, which act to inhibit protein synthesis at the level of the bacterial ribosome, are being evaluated in phase 3 trials for the treatment of patients with serious infections.
Tigecycline is a novel, first-class glycylcycline with expanded broad-spectrum in vitro activity against bacteria commonly recovered from patients with intra-abdominal infections. Notably, the spectrum of activity of tigecycline includes aerobic and facultative gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and anaerobic bacteria.
Because of its distinct mechanism of action, tigecycline is active in vitro against both susceptible bacteria and multidrug-resistant bacteria. These characteristics suggest that tigecycline is a promising agent for the treatment of intra-abdominal infections, especially in the current era of antibiotic resistance.
In questo esempio, la suddivisione del discorso in blocchi non sembra seguire una logica definita. La frase iniziale, che così come è scritta costituisce un paragrafo a sé, si limita ad affermare un fatto senza far seguire dettagli, spiegazioni o dati che aiuterebbero il lettore ad apprezzare il valore dell’informazione. L’unità di testo successiva introduce il fulcro del discorso – l’antibiotico tigeciclina – ma si esaurisce prima di averne completato la descrizione. L’ultimo blocco di testo riprende il filo dell’argomentazione ma introduce un elemento di ambiguità: la frase finale fa un riferimento alle caratteristiche (al plurale) dell’antibiotico in questione, ma l’unica caratteristica che viene elencata è il meccanismo d’azione. L’ambiguità viene risolta ristrutturando i paragrafi:
3b. The glycylcycline family of antibiotics, which act to inhibit protein synthesis at the level of the bacterial ribosome, are being evaluated in phase 3 trials for the treatment of patients with serious infections. [introduzione] Tigecycline is a novel, first-class glycylcycline with expanded broad-spectrum in vitro activity against bacteria commonly recovered from patients with intra-abdominal infections. Notably, the spectrum of activity of tigecycline includes aerobic and facultative gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and anaerobic bacteria. Because of its distinct mechanism of action, tigecycline is active in vitro against both susceptible bacteria and multidrug-resistant bacteria [svolgimento]. These characteristics suggest that tigecycline is a promising agent for the treatment of intra-abdominal infections, especially in the current era of antibiotic resistance [conclusione].
All’opposto, scrivere paragrafi troppo lunghi nuoce alla scorrevolezza e rende più difficile per il lettore identificare chiaramente i punti principali.
4a. Probiotic therapy is gaining more attention as an alternative approach to conventional antibiotic therapy, especially because of emerging multi-resistant pathogens. Efficacy of probiotics against pathogenic bacteria was well documented in many scientific reports. However, the variety of pathogens and the limited spectrum of specific activity of existing probiotic bacteria raise the question about improvement of probiotics. The recent advances in genetic engineering can be used to modify probiotic cultures both to strengthen their existing activity and to create new strains with the desired properties, so as to influence the mechanism of action of probiotics. Bacillus bacteria are genetically well studied and used as a model for cloning of different pro- and eukaryotic genes. Recombinant Bacillus strains are known as commercial producers of biologically active compounds such as enzymes, antibiotics, etc. Bacilli do not colonize mucous membranes permanently, so the amount of these bacteria and recombinant protein can be controlled by the different doses and schemes of administration. Additionally, this reduces the possibility of gene transfer or any adverse effects related to such transfer.
Nell’esempio sopra, i punti affrontati sono due: l’attuale terapia probiotica con annesse limitazioni e l’uso dei bacilli a tale scopo. Entrambi questi punti meritano di essere sviluppati in un paragrafo autonomo, avendo cura di aggiungere nel secondo paragrafo una frase introduttiva:
4b. Probiotic therapy is gaining more attention as an alternative approach to conventional antibiotic therapy, especially because of emerging multi-resistant pathogens. Efficacy of probiotics against pathogenic bacteria was well documented in many scientific reports. However, the variety of pathogens and the limited spectrum of specific activity of existing probiotic bacteria raise the question about improvement of probiotics. The recent advances in genetic engineering can be used to modify probiotic cultures both to strengthen their existing activity and to create new strains with the desired properties, so as to influence the mechanism of action of probiotics.
Bacillus bacteria are a promising system for developing new recombinant probiotics. They are genetically well studied and used as a model for cloning of different pro- and eukaryotic genes. Recombinant Bacillus strains are known as commercial producers of biologically active compounds such as enzymes, antibiotics, etc. Bacilli do not colonize mucous membranes permanently, so the amount of these bacteria and recombinant protein can be controlled by the different doses and schemes of administration. Additionally, this reduces the possibility of gene transfer or any adverse effects related to such transfer.
Occorre tenere presente che nel decidere se un blocco di testo è eccessivamente lungo entrano in gioco anche elementi metatestuali come la disposizione dello scritto nella pagina. Un paragrafo di lunghezza tutto sommato accettabile in un documento Word può arrivare ad occupare anche un’intera colonna nel tipico formato delle riviste scientifiche.
Riferimenti:
Zannini, Piero, Maruotti, Rocco Antonnio, Ulrych, Margherita, L’articolo medico-scientifico in inglese, UTET, 1991