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Descrizione del comportamento reologico ed idraulico dei fenomeni di colata detritica legati ad attività torrentizia per trasporto in massa (mud-debris-flow), in ambiente mediterraneo. Applicazione al caso di studio offerto dall’evento del 6 dicembre 2004 a Villagrande Strisaili
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Macro-micro nutrients interactions: dietary fats' influence on vitamin A metabolism
Get PDFIt’s known that vitamin A (retinoids) and dietary fats are closely related nutritionally and that the ingestion of dietary fats is a major determinant in the absorption of vitamin A . This study focuses on investigating previously un-noticed mechanisms of interactions between different types of fats, with special emphasis on conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and vitamin A metabolism. Specifically we examined the effects of dietary CLA on intestinal absorption and tissue uptake of retinoids. Since the ingestion of dietary fats has the greatest impact on the absorption of vitamin A, we also investigated the effects of olive oil, sunflower oil and flaxseed oil on vitamin A intestinal absorption and we verified whether an acute administration of either of these oils might perturb assembly and secretion of chylomicrons. Our results suggest that the oils used in the experiments are able to modulate retinoids levels in the circulation and in the small intestine at different extends, probably due to a fatty acid-specific effect. Furthermore, we showed for the first time that CLA t10,c12 and CLA c9,t11 isomers, when acutely administered, are able together to enhance retinoids uptake from the liver, a rapid resecretion of the ROH-RBP complex from the liver, into the bloodstream and finally its redistribution through the periphery. Moreover, our results give also a strong suggestion of altered intestinal absorption of vitamin A, when an acute dose of either CLA isomer is given. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------E’ noto che la vitamina A (retinoidi) e i grassi provenienti dalla dieta sono fortemente correlati dal punto di vista nutrizionale e che l’ingestione dei grassi è il maggior determinante nell’assorbimento della vitamina A. In questa tesi ci siamo focalizzati sull’analisi di meccanismi di interazione poco studiati, tra diversi tipi di grassi, in particolare l’acido linoleico coniugato (CLA) e il metabolismo della vitamina A. Abbiamo esaminato gli effetti del CLA sull’assorbimento intestinale di vitamina A e sull’acquisizione dei retinoidi dai tessuti. Visto il notevole impatto dell’ingestione di grassi sull’assorbimento della vitamina A, abbiamo anche analizzato gli effetti di una somministrazione acuta di olio d’oliva, olio di girasole e olio di semi di lino sull’assorbimento intestinale della vitamina A e abbiamo verificato se potessero perturbare l’assemblamento e/o la secrezione dei chilomicroni. I nostri risultati suggeriscono che gli oli usati in questi esperimenti hanno la capacità di modulare a vari livelli le concentrazioni di retinoidi nel circolo sanguigno e nell’intestino, probabilmente a causa di un effetto acido grasso-specifico. Inoltre, abbiamo dimostrato per la prima volta che entrambi gli isomeri CLA t10,c12 e CLA c9,t11, quando vengono somministrati in maniera acuta, aumentano l’acquisizione dei retinoidi dal fegato e la rapida risecrezione del complesso ROH-RBP dal fegato nel circolo sanguigno e la sua ridistribuzione attraverso i tessuti periferici. Infine, i dati ottenuti in questo lavoro danno una forte indicazione dell’alterato assorbimento intestinale della vitamina A, dato da una dose acuta di uno o dell’altro isomero del CLA
La Sardegna nel periodo sabaudo, politica e amministrazione durante il governo del Viceré Tommaso Ercole Roero di Cortanze
Get PDFLa ricerca propone una metodologia di analisi innovativa che, partendo dallo studio della figura del Viceré Roero di Cortanze, arriva ad illustrare la situazione della Sardegna nella prima metà del secolo. Il Viceré, carica diplomatica, governativa e militare era il massimo rappresentante del sovrano piemontese in Sardegna e svolgeva un rilevante ruolo di mediazione politica tra il sovrano e la realtà periferica sarda (MURGIA G.,1996). L’approfondimento dell’opera e del cursus honorum del Cortanze, viceré dal 1727 al 1731, consente di scorgere il rilievo che l’isola assumeva progressivamente nei piani della casa sabauda (RICUPERATI G. 1989; TORE G. 2005), indagine che conferma che la Sardegna andava perdendo quella caratterizzazione storica di terra di confino. La ricerca si è concentrata sulla ricostruzione del contesto formativo del Viceré e l’appartenenza ad un partito di corte. Questi aspetti sono stati tratti dall’analisi di saggi pubblicati per lo più in riviste specifiche (MURA E., 2009; MERLIN P., 2005; RAVIOLA A., 2005). Essendo scarse la letteratura scientifica e le monografie sull’argomento, la ricerca è stata, pertanto, condotta tramite indagini presso l’archivio di Cagliari e di Torino poiché, gli originali, sono conservati a Cagliari, mentre i relativi protocolli a Torino, andando a completarsi vicendevolmente. (LODDO CANEPA F., 1934).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This paper aims to propose a new methodological approach which extends from the study on Roero di Cortanze, Sardinian viceroy from 1727 to 1731, to a widespread analysis of the Sardinian situation in the first half of the 18thcentury. The viceroy, a royal official with diplomatic, military and government powers was the highest representative of the Piedmontese monarch in Sardinia and acted as well as political go-between between the king and the island (MURGIA G., 1996). The research on Cortanze’ sachievements, education and public offices (cursus honorum) during that four-year period shows the growing importance of Sardiniain the plans of Savoy family (RICUPERATI G., 1989; TORE G., 2005) and confirms that the island was progressively losing its traditional labelof marginal land. The present research focuses on reconstructing the viceroy’s educational background and analyses his membershipin a court party. These two aspects were drawn from a thorough investigation into a number of essays published in specialized magazines (MURA E., 2009; MERLIN P., 2005; RAVIOLA A., 2005). Since there is a little evidence on this subject both in writings and monographs, research was carried outin the archives of Cagliari and Turin, in order to complement each other (LODDO CANEPA F., 1934)
So schlagen wir mit ganzer Wucht / Die Feinde krumm und klein. la costruzione della propaganda nel Supplementi letterari della "Tiroler Soldaten-Zeitung"
Get PDFQuesto lavoro si occupa dell’analisi dei contenuti dei ‘Supplementi Letterari’ pubblicati nel giornale per le truppe «Tiroler Soldaten-Zeitung» durante il primo conflitto mondiale nel fronte tirolese. Oltre offrire alcune coordinate generali sulla testata la tesi si occupa principalmente di analizzare i ‘Supplementi Letterari’ come un prodotto peculiare della ‘cultura di guerra’ intesa come i ‘nuovi sistemi di valore’ che la guerra stessa crea e istituzionalizza. Segni dell’interiorizzazione della cultura di guerra sono l’appropriazione dei codici della propaganda e il loro riutilizzo da parte dei lettori, fenomeno consentito grazie all’uso sapiente dei mezzi di comunicazione di massa di cui anche il nostro giornale fa parte.
Dall’analisi di testi e testimonianza fotografiche sono stati isolate le tematiche più ricorrenti finalizzate alla trasfigurazione del conflitto nell’ottica della sua accettazione, come ad esempio: la creazione d’identità di gruppo (positivo) e definizione di quella del gruppo negativo, (del nemico), il mito della guerra bianca, della morte eroica, cameratismo e virilità, il sentimento religioso inteso come speranza e accettazione e il lutto vissuto con orgoglio.
Queste rappresentazioni, intese in senso imagologico, segnarono fortemente le mentalità e la memoria collettiva.
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This work deals with the analysis of the contents of the ‘Literary Supplements’ published in the troop’s newspapers «Tiroler Soldaten-Zeitung» during the First World War in the Tyrolean front. Besides giving some general information about the newspaper the doctoral thesis deals mainly with the analysis of these ‘Supplements‘ seen as a peculiar result of ‚war culture‘ which is the ‘new value systems‘ that war creates and institutionalizes. Signs of the internalization of ‚war culture‘ are the appropriation of propaganda codes and their reuse by the readers, this is allowed thanks to the wise use of media.
From the analysis of text and pictures, the most recurring themes with the aim of the transformation of the conflict in the view of ist acceptance have been isolated such as: the creation of a positive identity group and the definition of a negative one (the enemy’s one), the myth of the White War, the myth oft he Eroic Death, fellowship and virility, the religious feeling seen as hopeness and acceptance and the mourning lived with pride.
These representations, understood in an imagological meaning, marked strongly mentalities and the mass memory
Studio delle associazioni a cisti di dinoflagellati e sporomorfi di alcune successioni marine mioceniche della Sardegna e della Calabria
Get PDFThe Miocene Epoch (from 23.03 to 5.33 Ma) is largely documented in Sardinia and in Calabria through fossiliferous sedimentary and volcanic sequences that resulted from tectonic, magmatic and sedimentary processes in these regions.
The geodynamic processes related to the evolution of the Mediterranean area in the Tertiary comprise ocean opening and closure (Ligurian basin and Tyrrhenian basin), development of collision margins and thrust and fold belts with opposite vergences, rise of a volcanic arc and progressive migration of the subduction margin (Calabrian-Peloritan Arc), opening of back-arc basins (Algerian and Liguro-Provencal basins, Alboran Sea) and co-presence of both extensional and compressional features related to the same geodynamic setting.
A close relationship between the Sardinian-Corsican block, the Northern Apennines and the Calabrian-Peloritan block, all characterized by typical European palaeo-margin sequences, is accepted by many authors. It appears that published models often lack accurate biostratigraphic control for the reconstruction of the relationships of the two terranes (Sardinian-Corsican and Calabrian-Peloritan blocks) with the Northern Apennines (e. g., Principi & Treves, 1984; Rosenbaum & Lister, 2004; Scandone, 1979).
This thesis represents an investigation of organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst assemblages with the aim to increase the amount and improve the quality of biostratigraphic data available from the Sardinia and the Calabria Miocene deposits. This will serve to better correlate the two basins and give a contribution to the geodynamic reconstruction of the Central-western Mediterranean basin evolution.
We want to propose a correlative scheme of the successions, through recognition of bio-events calibrated at the Western Mediterranean basin scale, and to investigate the paleoenvironmental features of the two areas during the Miocene. This study has been carried out within the activities of the multidisciplinary Italian National Research Project (PRIN) “Analysis of stratigraphic, palaentological and structural features of the Hercynian basement and the Tertiary cover in Sardinia and Calabria, as a contribution to the geodynamic reconstruction of the Central-western Mediterranean basin”. In this thesis new biostratigraphic and paleoecological data from the Miocene of Sardinia and Calabria are reported.Six outcrop sections and two boreholes were investigated in Sardinia: three sections from the Marmilla region in central-southern Sardinia (Ales, Villanovafranca-Gesico, Barumini), one from the Campidan region (Sestu quarry) in southern Sardinia, one from Logudoro region (Florinas) in northern Sardinia and one from the Sinis Peninsula in western Sardinia. The two boreholes were drilled in the Logudoro region (Bonorva), northern Sardinia.
Seven outcrop section were investigated in Calabria: four from the Serre Massif (Valle dello Stilaro dx, Stilo-Stignano, Valle dello Stilaro sx, Prachi) and two from the Aspromonte Massif (Bovalino, Madonna del Carmine), in the southern sector of the Calabrian-Peloritan Arc; one from the Sila Massif (Caloveto) in the northern sector of the Calabrian-Peloritan Arc.
Between 10g and 15g of sediment were processed for palynological preparations, using cold HCl (10% and 30%) and HF (40%). The residue was sieved at 15 μm using a nylon mesh, mixed with glycerine, and mounted on microscope slides. At least 200 dinoflagellate cysts were counted for each sample analysed and slides were also checked for rarely occurring taxa. Dinoflagellate cyst taxa nomenclature generally follows Fensome & Williams (2004). The time-scale of Gradstein et al. (2004) is used throughout.
The dinoflagellate cysts assemblages have been studied quantitatively and biostratigraphic events have been recognized, allowing comparisons with previously studied successions in other Mediterranean areas (e. g., Langhe region in Northwest Italy; Marche region in Central Italy) (e. g., Powell, 1986a, b; Biffi and Manum, 1988; Brinkhuis et al., 1992; Zevenboom, 1995; ENI internal report, 2001).
A total of 102 dinoflagellate cyst taxa have been recognized, which include biostratigraphical markers as Exochosphaeridium insigne, Cordosphaeridium cantharellus, Cousteaudinium aubryae, Cerebrocysta poulsenii, Labyrinthodinium truncatum, Unipontidinium aquaeductum, Achomosphaera andalousiensis. They provide supplementary information on the age of Miocene sediments from Sardinia and Calabria. This is the first ever through study on Sardinia and Calabria Miocene sequences which uses dinoflagellate cysts as tools.
Paleoenvironmental interpretations based on dinoflagellate cysts provide interesting insights. The relationships between cysts and their paleoenvironmental indications have been investigated since the 1970s (e. g., Downie et al., 1971; Wall et al., 1977; Harland, 1983). Because many Miocene dinoflagellate cysts are still found in present-day sediment samples results obtained from dinocyst assemblage studies of recent sediments (Marret & Zonneveld, 2003 and others) can be used to interpret the Miocene record in terms of paleoenvironmental reconstructions. The dominating dinocyst group found in the Sardinia samples (Spiniferites spp.) is known to be characteristic of neritic environments (Brinkhuis, 1994; Wilpshaar & Leereveld, 1994). Moreover, the great abundance of pollen and terrestrial plant debris found in the same samples suggests that the depositional environment in the Ales, Barumini, Villanovafranca-Gesico sections must have not been far from the coast. In the Florinas section the dinocyst assemblages indicate a nearshore, inner-shelf paleoenvironment (15-20 m water depth). The assemblages of Sestu and Capo San Marco sections display greater dinocyst species diversity. The abundance and species diversity of Spiniferites spp., associated with oceanic taxa such as Impagidinium spp. and Nematosphaeropsis spp. may suggest the establishment of open neritic conditions. The Calabria sections (Valle dello Stilaro dx, Stilo-Stignano, Madonna del Carmine) represent inner neritic facies overlain by open neritic to bathyal and oligotrophic facies (Valle dello Stilaro sx section). In general, the dinocyst assemblages of the Calabrian sections represent a great diversity of palaeoenvironments ranging from continental or transitional (freshwater/brackish water) to bathyal during the Middle and Late Miocene.
The Sardinia sections investigated here cover almost entirely the Miocene from the Aquitanian with a probable extension to the uppermost Oligocene (NP25 biozone) to the lower part of Messinian. The biostratigraphic interval best represented extends from NN1 to NN2 Nannoplancton biozones (Aquitanian-early Burdigalian). The equivalent of NN7-NN10 Nannoplancton zones (early-middle Tortonian) is not represented in the studied material.
The Calabria sections of this study represent almost entirely the Miocene record, from the Aquitanian to the lower Messinian. The interval equivalent to nannofossil zones NN1-NN3 (Aquitanian-middle Burdigalian) is particularly well represented.
If we consider the paleoenvironments as reconstructed by dinocyst assemblages, and the possible relationships between the Sardinia and the Calabria basins, we conclude that there is a great similarity between the Stilo-Capo d‘Orlando Fm. in Calabria and the earliest Miocene formations in the southern-central part of Sardinia (Ales Marls Fm. and Marmilla Fm.) during the Aquitanian-Early Burdigalian interval
Analisi delle criticità nel processo edilizio per le opere pubbliche e strumenti per la loro gestione
Get PDFType I Interferon-induced neuronal damage: a study of the cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating interferon neurotoxicity
Get PDFType I interferons (IFNs) are known to cause neuropsychiatric side effects, including
cognitive and mood disturbances, through mechanisms still not completely defined.
To gain more information about type I IFN neurotoxicity, I investigated whether these
cytokines could act directly on neuronal cells and regulate intracellular signaling
pathways involved in cell death. In primary cultures of mouse cortical neurons acute
exposure to IFN-β induces a marked tyrosine phosphorylation of signal transducer
and activator of transcription (STAT) 1 and 3, whereas long-term exposure to the
cytokine increased the number of neuronal cells displaying an increased labeling for
cleaved caspase 3. In human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, used as a neuronal cell
model, type I IFNs rapidly stimulated the tyrosine phosphorylation of Janus kinase
(JAK) and STAT1, STAT3 and STAT5 and this response was antagonized by
blockade of type I IFN receptor. Prolonged exposure to IFN-β induced apoptotic cell
death accompanied by cytochrome C release, cleavage of caspase-9, -7, -3 and
poly-(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP), DNA fragmentation and p38 mitogenactivated
protein kinase (p38 MAPK) phosphorylation. JAK inhibition reduced IFN-β-
stimulated Tyk2 and STAT1 phosphorylation, STAT1 transcriptional activity, induction
of double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR), caspase cleavage and p38
MAPK phosphorylation. PKR induction was associated with enhanced PKR activity
and chemical inhibition of PKR reduced IFN-stimulated caspase activation.
Moreover, long-term IFN-β treatment led to down-regulation of phosphatidylinositol 3-
kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling and IFN-β-induced apoptosis was
attenuated in cells expressing constitutively active Akt. The proapoptotic effect of
IFNs was markedly attenuated by pharmacological blockade of either glycogen
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synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) or p38 MAPK. In retinoic acid-differentiated SH-SY5Y
cells, treatment with IFN-β inhibited BDNF-induced regulation of Akt and GSK-3β,
activation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2),
phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase, and neuritogenesis. Thus, type I IFNs can
directly impair neuronal survival by regulating multiple mechanisms, including
activation of the canonical JAK-STAT signaling and the ancillary p38 MAPK pathway
and down-regulation of the PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 signaling systems. The final
outcome of these molecular events is the activation of the apoptotic program and
impaired neuronal differentiation in response to neurotrophic stimuli. It is proposed
that these actions directed on neuronal cells may contribute to the neuropsychiatric
disturbances elicited by these cytokines
Time evolution and distribution analysis of software bugs from a complex network perspective
Get PDFSuccessful software systems are constantly under development. Since they have to be updated when new features are introduced, bug are fixed and the system is kept up to date, they require a continuous maintenance. Among these activities the bug fixing is one of themost relevant, because it is determinant for software quality.
Unfortunately, software houses have limited time and developers to address all these issues before the product delivery. For this reason, an efficient allocation of these resources is required to obtain the quality required by the market.
The keyword for a correct management of software product process is measure. As De-Marco states “you cannot control what you cannot measure”, and this thesis is mainly devoted to this aspect. This dissertation bears with software measures related to bug proneness and distribution analysis of software bugs. The aim is to describe the bug occurrence phenomena, identify useful metrics related to software bugs proneness and finally to characterize how bug population is distributed and evolve, discussing also the model able to explain this evolution. Studying the relationship between code evolution and bug distribution or bug-proneness, we foresee which software structure will come out. Thus, this research provides information and guidelines tomanagers, helping them to plan, schedule activities and allocate resources, during software development