InsubriaSPACE
Not a member yet
702 research outputs found
Sort by
Lo sviluppo rurale nel contesto pedemontano: la dimensione territoriale della 'nuova' agricoltura varesina
No full textThe thesis analyzes the role of the agricultural system in the Lombardy foothills context, in particular deepening the phenomena of growth and diversification of farms, referring to the paradigms of rural and local development. The aim of the research is to identify, starting from these peculiarities, the potential and the possible evolution of the role of agriculture in the development of the foothills territories, and in the Varese context in particular, investigating the relationship between the agricultural system and the territory, reframing the role of the territorial dimension of the economic development. Therefore, the research started with the review of the theoretical economic models that, by focusing on the territorial dimension of development, appear able to integrate new paradigms of rural development, recognizing, in the comparison between the different disciplinary approaches, the elements of convergence towards a 'territorialist' approach. The thesis then investigated the different methods of analysis of agricultural systems and rural areas and their outcomes in terms of classification of rural areas in Lombardy, comparing them with an analysis of the structural variables of the regional agricultural system. The case study in the Varese area was studied in greater depth, focusing on its specificity and in particular: deepening the dynamic aspects of change and evolution of the agricultural system, interpreting the 'return' to agriculture given by the increase of firms as a potential perspective; examining the role of multifunctionality both from the point of view of producing services related to agriculture and therefore of firm diversification, income integration and relations with other economic sectors, and with a view to producing common goods and ecosystem services, or rather considering the role of the territory in agricultural activity, but, on the contrary, the territory produced by agricultural activity; overcome the dichotomic approach between city and country, not only by identifying the peri-urban areas, but rather by recognizing the complex and integrated links between different places and landscapes that constitute, by virtue of their relationships, a single territorial system. In the end, the interpretative elements that emerged from the case study has been systematized and made it possible to recognize the possible roles of the territorial dimension in the Varese agricultural system and the potential for integrated development of the various “local farming systems
Neutrino emission from Blazars.
No full textDuring the last decade, multi-messenger astronomy has become increasingly relevant for the astrophysical community. In this context the discovery of PeV neutrinos by IceCube in 2012, in clear excess to the expected atmospheric flux at very-high energy (≳ 100 TeV ), marked the beginning of the high-energy neutrino astrophysics era. Differently from photons, neutrinos can carry information about the core of the astrophysical objects that produce them, giving us a better understanding of the internal composition of their sources. The origin of these neutrinos is still an open issue. Among the possible extragalactic neutrino sources, Blazars start to stand out.
Blazars are associated to active galactic nuclei hosting a relativistic jet oriented close to our line of sight. The presence of jets and the strong non-thermal emission up to the TeV band makes them natural accelerators of particles. In September 2017 the spatial coincidence between a neutrino event detected by IceCube, with a good angular resolution, and a blazar, TXS 0506+056, was observed for the rst time. This event is even more intriguing because of the high-state emission in γ-ray band of this blazar. During the three years of my PhD, I focused my attention on the study of blazar objects as neutrino emitters. In this thesis all my work on this topic is presented
Role of saliva, gingival crevicular fluid and oral microbiota in gastrointestinal diseases
No full textThe aim of this dissertation was the evaluation of the role of saliva, gingival crevicular fluid and oral microbiota in two gastrointestinal conditions: colorectal cancer and Helicobacter pylori gastritis.
In the first study two specific sub-gingival bacteria, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Porphyromonas gingivalis, pathogens typical of periodontal disease, were analysed in order to detect possible correlations with the tumoral changes leading to colorectal cancer development.
In particular, Fusobacterium nucleatum load was found different on the intestinal mucosa of patients with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer and adenoma, compared to the healty control group; on the other hand Phorpyromonas gingivalis, although non directly related with carcinogenesis, might promote the development of the first bacterium.
In the second study the relatioship between the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach and in the oral cavity of patients with and without gastric infection was evaluated. Data suggested that periodontal pockets could represent a favourable enviroment where the microrganism is able to replicate, slipping away from human immune system surveillance, and spread within saliva, reaching the stomach during swallowing and possibly contributing to gastric disease recrudescence.
In the end, a total number of 212 patients were recruited in this experimental work and each study contributed to better understand the relevant role of oral microbiota in gastrointestinal diseases and the importance of a proper oral hygene mantainance in order to reduce the risk of developing dangerous extra-oral illnesses
Correlazione tra markers infiammatori e trattamento con antipsicotici atipici in pazienti affetti da disturbo bipolare
No full textThe main aim of this study was to give evidences that the drugs used in the treatment of BD patients can have anti-inflammatory properties. We have longitudinally investigated in 50 BD patients the clinical outcome during six week of treatment and the effects of the drug on inflammatory markers such as CRP and ERS. In addition, in 15 patients, on the basis of the recent data of literature showing a typical anti-inflammatory pattern of quetiapine, we have additionally investigated their ability to affects plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines. A cohort of 50 BD patients were consecutively enrolled at the psychiatric unit of the Cantonal Clinic (Ticino, CH). All patients were visited three times: at each visit, all the subjects were evaluated both for clinical conditions by using clinical psychopathological scales and for biochemical parameters with complete blood formula and PRC and ERS levels. In the subgroup of 15 patients enrolled from October 2017 to May 2018 (same inclusion and exclusion criteria), we have additionally evaluated plasma levels of IL-6 and IFN-γ, and IL-10. We found a significant reduction only for CRP. In the group of 15 patients, the levels of IL-6 were dramatically reduced at all visit time and reached the statistical values for the Δ T2-T0. A direct correlation was found between clinical response and CRP plasma levels after 6 weeks of treatment. The main finding of the present study is that, antipsychotic drugs, in addition to the ability to improve clinical outcome in BP patients, are also able to profoundly affect inflammatory markers
Numerical methods for all-speed flows in fluid-dynamics and non-linear elasticity
No full textIn this thesis we are concerned with the numerical simulation of compressible materials flows, including gases, liquids and elastic solids. These materials are described by a monolithic Eulerian model of conservation laws, closed by an hyperelastic state law that includes the different behaviours of the considered materials. A novel implicit relaxation scheme to solve compressible flows at all speeds is proposed, with Mach numbers ranging from very small to the order of unity. The scheme is general and has the same formulation for all the considered materials, since a direct dependence on the state law is avoided via the relaxation. It is based on a fully implicit time discretization, easily implemented thanks to the linearity of the transport operator in the relaxation system. The spatial discretization is obtained by a combination of upwind and centered schemes in order to recover the correct numerical viscosity in different Mach regimes. The scheme is validated with one and two dimensional simulations of fluid flows and of deformations of compressible solids. We exploit the domain discretization through Cartesian grids, allowing for massively parallel computations (HPC) that drastically reduce the computational times on 2D test cases. Moreover, the scheme is adapted to the resolution on adaptive grids based on quadtrees, implementing adaptive mesh refinement techinques. The last part of the thesis is devoted to the numerical simulation of heterogeneous multi-material flows. A novel sharp interface method is proposed, with the derivation of implicit equilibrium conditions. The aim of the implicit framework is the solution of weakly compressible and low Mach flows, thus the proposed multi-material conditions are coupled with the implicit relaxation scheme that is solved in the bulk of the flow.
Dans cette thèse on s’intéresse à la simulation numérique d’écoulements des matériaux compressibles, voir fluides et solides élastiques. Les matériaux considérés sont décrits avec un modèle monolithique eulérian, fermé avec une loi d’état hyperélastique qui considère les différents comportéments des matériaux. On propose un nouveau schéma de relaxation qui résout les écoulements compressibles dans des différents régimes, avec des nombres de Mach très petits jusqu’à l’ordre 1. Le schéma a une formulation générale qui est la même pour tous le matériaux considérés, parce que il ne dépend pas directement de la loi d’état. Il se base sur une discrétization complétement implicite, facile à implémenter grâce à la linearité de l’opérateur de transport du système de relaxation. La discrétization en éspace est donnée par la combinaison de flux upwind et centrés, pour retrouver la correcte viscosité numérique dans les différents régimes. L’utilisation de mailles cartésiennes pour les cas 2D s’adapte bien à une parallélisation massive, qui permet de réduire drastiquement le temps de calcul. De plus, le schéma a été adapté pour la résolution sur des mailles quadtree, pour implémenter l’adaptivité de la maille avec des critères entropiques. La dernière partie de la thèse concerne la simulation numérique d’écoulements multi-matériaux. On a proposé une nouvelle méthode d’interface “sharp”, en dérivant les conditions d’équilibre en implicite. L’objectif est la résolution d’interfaces physiques dans des régimes faiblement compressibles et avec un nombre de Mach faible, donc les conditions multi-matériaux sont couplées au schéma implicite de relaxation
Adolescent Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol exposure differently affects histone modifications in the brain of female and male rats
No full textDespite the increasing evidence of a possible interaction between adolescent Cannabis abuse and the subsequent development of psychiatric disorders, Cannabis remains the illicit drug most abused by adolescents.
We have previously demonstrated that female rats chronically treated during adolescence with increasing doses of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, develop a depressive/psychotic-like phenotype in adulthood. Interestingly, only chronic adolescent exposure to THC, but not adult exposure, led to this complex phenotype, suggesting that adolescence may represent a more vulnerable period for the adverse effect of THC. However, the neurobiology of this vulnerability is not still clear.
Considering the important role assumed by epigenetics in the etiopathogenesis of psychiatric disorders, the main goal of this thesis is to extend our knowledge on the impact of adolescent THC exposure on histone modifications occurring in other brain areas involved in the different aspects of the depressive/psychotic-like phenotype described in our animals. Specifically, we considered the Hippocampus for its involvement in cognition, the Nucleus Accumbens for its role in the reward circuit, and the Amygdala for its relevance in the emotional behaviour. To investigate the existence of age-specificity of THC effects, we performed the same analysis also after adult THC treatment. To investigate sex-dependency of THC response, we also checked THC response in adolescent male animals.
First of all, adolescent (PND 35-45) and adult (PND 75-85) female Sprague-Dawley rats were treated twice a day with increasing intraperitoneal (ip) doses of THC: 2.5 mg/kg, 5 mg/kg, and 10 mg/kg or with its vehicle. Two, 24 and 48 hours after the end of the treatment, the brain areas of interest were collected and. Histone modifications associated with both transcriptional repression (H3K9 di- and tri-methylation, H3K27 trimethylation) and activation (H3K9 and H3K14 acetylation) were evaluated.
Chronic THC exposure affected histone modifications in the brain of female rats in a region- and age-specific manner. Indeed, THC acted on different targets depending on the considered brain areas and, remarkably, the adolescent brain was generally more sensitive to THC exposure compared to the adult one. Specifically, in the Hippocampus of adolescent rats, THC induced a reduction of H3K14ac levels 2 hours after the end of the treatment. This was followed by a significant increase in di- and tri-methylation of H3K9 at 24 hours. Regarding the Nucleus Accumbens, H3K9me3 was significantly increased 2 hours after the end of the treatment. This enhancement was maintained 24 hours later, and it was paralleled by a significant increase in H3K9me2 and H3K14ac levels. On the contrary, at 48h, H3K9me3 levels, as well as H3K9me2 and H3K14ac levels were significantly reduced. In the Amygdala, THC administration induced a significant increase in H3K9me2 levels 2 hours after the end of the treatment. Twenty-four hours later, while this alteration returned to control values, H3K9me3 levels were significantly enhanced.
Adult female rats exposed to chronic THC showed a different pattern of histone alterations. In the Hippocampus and Nucleus Accumbens, H3K14 acetylation levels were significantly increased, respectively, 2 and 24 hours after the end of the treatment. Intriguingly, a more complex picture is present in the adult Amygdala, in which a significant decrease in H3K9me2 and H3K27me3 were induced immediately after the cease of the treatment. Twenty-four hours later H3K9ac was significantly reduced, and at 48 hours, H3K14ac levels were significantly decreased.
As a whole, the investigation performed in female rats suggests that in the adolescent brain THC induced a primary effect represented by changes leading to transcriptional repression, whereas the primary effect induced by adult THC exposure led to transcriptional activation. Interestingly, only in the adolescent brain, the primary effect was followed by a homeostatic response to counterbalance the THC-induced repressive effect, except in the amygdala. The presence of a more complex response in the adolescent brain may be part of the mechanisms that make the adolescent brain vulnerable to THC adverse effects.
The second aim of this thesis was to extend our knowledge on the impact of adolescent THC exposure on histone modifications occurring in different brain areas of male rats. To this aim, adolescent (PND 35-45) male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with the same protocol previously described for females and we conducted the same analysis in the Prefrontal Cortex, Hippocampus and Nucleus Accumbens.
Chronic THC exposure affected histone modifications in the brain of male rats in a region- specific manner. Surprisingly, in the Prefrontal cortex and Hippocampus, we did not found any histone alterations at any intervals of time, and only in the Nucleus Accumbens we found significant alterations in H3K9me3 levels. Specifically, H3K9me3 was decreased immediately after the end of the treatment and then increased 24h later.
Further studies are needed to clarify the epigenetic landscape in the brain of male rats and how it could account for the development of the psychotic-like phenotype described in these animals.
However, it is possible to conclude that Cannabis abuse during adolescence could impair the brain network functionality acting through a mechanism involving histone modifications that is characterized by sex-specificity
Semantics for Homotopy Type Theory
No full textThe main aim of my PhD thesis is to define a semantics for Homotopy type theory based on elementary categorical tools. This led us to extend the study of this system in other directions: we proved a Normalisation theorem, and defined a generic syntax. All those results are obtained for a subset of the whole Homotopy type theory, which we called 1-HoTT theories.
A 1-HoTT theory is composed by Martin-Löf type theory with generic inductive types, the axioms of function extensionality and univalence, truncation and generic 1-higher inductive types, which are a subset of the higher inductive types in which the higher constructor of a type T is limited to the type =T .
For those theories we obtained some proof theoretic results; the main one is a Normalisation theorem, following Girard's reducibility candidates technique.
The semantics is sound and complete, with the completeness result following from the existence of a canonical model, which is also classifying.
Our conjecture is that our proof theory and semantics can be extended to every single higher inductive type. The dissertation shows that a very large amount of higher inductive types can be analysed inside our framework: what prevents to extend the results is the lack of a systematic treatment of the syntax of the higher inductive types, which is still an open issue in Homotopy type theory
Sustainability in passenger transport: the relevance of punctuality in rail and modal choice in commuting
No full textThe overall purpose of this PhD research is the analysis of the sustainable passenger mobility, both on long and short-distance trips. Mobility plays a central role in the social system and it is a key driving force for socio-economic, global and local development, but it produces also negative externalities on the territory. The thesis has the aim to explain the main elements of sustainable mobility from a theoretical point of view and, successively, to apply these concepts to two empirical cases with the use of Italian real data. These empirical analyses can help in underling the importance of sustainable mobility and of the efforts to improve it, influencing the transport modal choices of the commuter journeys. The first case regards the most sustainable mode of transport for medium-long distance trips, the train, and particularly the problem of delay that strongly affects the performance of the train, influencing the modal choices of commuters. The analysis is based on data collected in the period 2013-2016 on the railway line from Milano to Genoa. The second case concerns medium-short trips, focusing on the issue of home-work commuting of a medium Italian university located in two different cities (Varese and Como) in the north of Italy. The data come from a survey performed in November 2017. Finally, the last chapter draws some conclusions and mentions some upcoming evolutions of mobility that could give a strong contribution in achieving sustainability
Enhancing data privacy and security related process through machine learning
No full textIn this thesis, we exploit the advantages of Machine learning (ML) in the domains of data security and data privacy. ML is one of the most exciting technologies being developed in the world today.
The major advantages of ML technology are its prediction capability and its ability to reduce the need for human activities to perform tasks. These benefits motivated us to exploit ML to improve users' data privacy and security. Firstly, we use ML technology to try to predict the best privacy settings for users, since ML has a strong prediction ability and the average user might find it difficult to properly set up privacy settings due to a lack of knowledge and subsequent lack of decision-making abilities regarding the privacy of their data. Besides, since the ML approach has the potential to considerably cut down on manual efforts by humans, our second task in this thesis is to exploit ML technology to redesign security mechanisms of social media environments that rely on human participation for providing such services. In particular, we use ML to train spam filters for identifying and removing violent, insulting, aggressive, and harassing content creators (a.k.a. spammers) from a social media platform. It helps to solve violent and aggressive issues that have been growing on social media environments. The experimental results show that our proposals are efficient and effective
Research on a bright light source: optics, technology and effects on humans
No full textThere are countless reasons why the Sun is essential: one of these is daylight. This light, that comprises both the component diffused by the atmosphere and the transmitted one, is the reference for a naturally lit scene, also being the main synchronizer of our circadian rhythms.
I carried out my research in the framework of two European projects (COELUX and SKYCOAT), coordinated by the University of Insubria, which were related to the reconstruction of natural light indoors.
In such a context, in collaboration with the consortium partners but mainly with the spin off CoeLux Srl, my research dealt with the bright light source used to artificially recreate the sun, regarding the optical design, the technological implementation and the effects produced on humans.
The approach is interdisciplinary, involving different branches of science as well as technology, psychology and business perspectives. These aspects were analyzed, insofar as relevant, in order to design, optimize, and realize the prototypes.
The actions that were carried out and are reported in this work comprise: the definition of the requirements for creating a valid light source, a review of the state of the art related to the areas of interest, the development of a solution meeting all the requirements and the characterization and testing of the prototypes.
The LED-based light projector that includes the results of this work perfectly suits the CoeLux technology and is a cornerstone in the study of effects on humans