15 research outputs found
Stem cell therapy as one of temporary measures for management of heart failure and pulmonary hypertension in children
No full textFavourable results of experimental studies on animals and several conditions in adult population indicate that bone marrow derived progenitor stem cell (BMPSC) transplantation may play a crucial role. Nevertheless, little is known about possible implementation of the BMPSC transplantation in children, dilated cardiomyopathy and pulmonary hypertension in particular. An increasing understanding of the nature and processes of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and pulmonary arterial hypertension in children, as well as the limited treatment options have led our research towards the use of stem cell transplantation in the management of these patients. We performed intramyocardial BMPSC transplantation in 6 patients (4 months to 17 years) with dilated cardiomyopathy. All patients underwent complete detailed examination before and after the procedure. All patients demonstrated an increase in LVEF and degree of shortening of the left ventricular diameter between end-diastole and end-systole after the procedure. A decreased concentration of natriuretic peptide or LVDd on 2D and 3D echocardiography was observed in 5 and 3 of the 6 patients respectively. Intrapulmonary BMPSC transplantation was performed in two patients (9 and 15 years old) with severe pulmonary hypertension due to uncorrected large ventricular septal defects. Both patients showed improvement in lungs’ vascularization. No serious periprocedural side effects were observed. If applied wisely, the stem cell therapy appears to be a safe and effective way for stabilization of critically ill patients with both severe pulmonary hypertension and idiopathic cardiomyopathy
Stem cell therapy as one of temporary measures for management of heart failure and pulmonary hypertension in children
No full textFavourable results of experimental studies on animals and several conditions in adult population indicate that bone marrow derived progenitor stem cell (BMPSC) transplantation may play a crucial role. Nevertheless, little is known about possible implementation of the BMPSC transplantation in children, dilated cardiomyopathy and pulmonary hypertension in particular. An increasing understanding of the nature and processes of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and pulmonary arterial hypertension in children, as well as the limited treatment options have led our research towards the use of stem cell transplantation in the management of these patients. We performed intramyocardial BMPSC transplantation in 6 patients (4 months to 17 years) with dilated cardiomyopathy. All patients underwent complete detailed examination before and after the procedure. All patients demonstrated an increase in LVEF and degree of shortening of the left ventricular diameter between end-diastole and end-systole after the procedure. A decreased concentration of natriuretic peptide or LVDd on 2D and 3D echocardiography was observed in 5 and 3 of the 6 patients respectively. Intrapulmonary BMPSC transplantation was performed in two patients (9 and 15 years old) with severe pulmonary hypertension due to uncorrected large ventricular septal defects. Both patients showed improvement in lungs’ vascularization. No serious periprocedural side effects were observed. If applied wisely, the stem cell therapy appears to be a safe and effective way for stabilization of critically ill patients with both severe pulmonary hypertension and idiopathic cardiomyopathy.</p
Comparison of Solar and Other Influences on Long-term Climate
No full textExamples are shown of climate variability, and unforced climate fluctuations are discussed, as evidenced in both model simulations and observations. Then the author compares different global climate forcings, a comparison which by itself has significant implications. Finally, the author discusses a new climate simulation for the 1980s and 1990s which incorporates the principal known global climate forcings. The results indicate a likelihood of rapid global warming in the early 1990s
ARCHIVES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION CONCERNING HISTORY OF THE MOSCOW INSTITUTE OF NATIONAL ECONOMY
No full textOn the basis of source analysis of archive documents the author studies work of the Moscow Plekhanov Institute of National Economy during the most difficult period of institution history and history of Russian higher education in general, i. e. the pre-war time from mid- late- 1930s of the 20th century. He raises the question of the faculty and employees functioning as well as the institution management, its directors M. I. Lacis, A. K. Abolin, A. V. Morozov. The author points out the necessity to highlight contribution of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics academics to the process of establishing and developing the Russian state system, public, political and cultural life of the country at various stages of its history
The Porosity of the Purgatory: Tools for an alternative development of East Naples
No full textAmong the many cities that lost their status of capital with the Italian unification, Naples is the one that struggled the most to reconcile with its past. With the cholera outbreak of 1874 the criticalities of centuries of uncontrolled urban development under foreign kings rose to the fore of the public opinion of the Kingdom of Italy. Yet, for the following decades until nowadays, institutions and politicians failed in providing an integrated vision for the city that could give it a new inclusive identity. Instead, lack of dialogue, path dependency among stakeholders and scarce involvement of communities served the interests of a weak entrepreneurial class and extremized the social problems of the old capital. King Ferdinando II and Francesco II of Bourbon, the last royals of Naples, saw in the geographical position of the South of Italy the protection of their power: as they liked to say, the peninsula was confining with the salty water of the Mediterranean Sea toward south and the Holy water of the Vatican state up north (Astarita, 2006). This image not only reflected the attitude of the monarchs in international affairs, but it also reveals the two major constraints that have hampered the Neapolitan urban development: a problematic relationship with the sea and the unwillingness to open to a diverse liberal society. What had grown in between these two limits, was what Walter Benjamin and Asja Lacis would have referred to as the Porous city (Benjamin, Lacis, 1925). When the two visited Naples in 1925 found an obstinately antimodern city where the people had the same consistence of the stone that constituted its walls and that, in its rejection of dichotomies, was a distant alternative to the rational northern European cities which the authors were so used to. According to their description, the urban environment of the Parthenopean city was extremely promiscuous: families from different social extractions used to share the same ancient buildings and attend the same squares, where a crowded market poured into the street in a continuous swarm of praises and trades, that could only be broken open by the sudden passage of a religious procession. Since then, this image lived a life of its own, having a profound impact on the imaginary of urbanists and planners across the world and reoccurring in different forms in the speeches and texts of researchers over the last seventy years. Most notably, the Italian duo Bernardo Secchi and Paola Viganò reinterpreted this concept in their work for the city of Antwerp in 2009 (Secchi, Viganò, 2009). The two urbanists, in fact, would later explain how the theme of porosity does not only concern the material quality of the buildings but rather more the different ways through which different city users appropriate the space. As such, porosity allows for diversity in the urban environment maximizing social and economic interaction (Tallen, 2008), thus enabling kinship network, the system of formal and informal relationships that make up a community to be active and thriving.But what is left of the porosity of Naples? Since the end of the XIX century, having by then lost the role of capital, the city had to go under a much-needed process of reinvention and even if originally Naples had to be a maritime city, the foreign rulers, especially during the two centuries before the Italian unification, never developed the full potentiality of the port (Di Mauro, 2006). Under the new regime instead, the Neapolitan elite class rediscovered the sea in its potential for the industrial development. Following logic of economic efficiency and rationality led to new patterns of expansion and consumption of land (Ascher, 2001) and the insalubrious territories, once considered the limit to urban expansion, became the desirable location for the new Industrial city. The old walls of the city where gradually demolished and the city began its expansion towards east in the Borgo Loreto, the marshy delta of the Sebeto river and the, at the time separate, town of San Giovanni a Teduccio. These Bad lands (Secchi, 2006) were necessary for the current socio-economical functioning of the city, not only, because they hosted the construction of warehouses and fabrics, but especially, because they accommodated the rural immigrants that would have constituted the human capital of the new economy. For many, these transitional cities have been constituting the access to the urban social network and economy and they retained this function even when the deindustrialization took over the initial motivation of their existence. The lack of access to facilities, poor housing conditions, low property value and population decline transformed these lands into enclaves for the low-income classes and those who are excluded by the society (Grahame Shane, 2005). Conversely, the Neapolitan upper and middle classes steadily fled the historical centre to pursue a new lifestyle on the hills up west and restructured the city to serve their interests. Nowadays Naples has partially lost its porosity and presents many visible and invisible barriers, whether are they segregating infrastructures, low quality urban and housing environment, monofunctional districts, differences in the social status and political representation. Since the 70s attempt to convert the city’s economy to the tertiary sector, Naples’ development has been driven by the alleged will of answering to the many crises of the city without ultimately being successful (Galasso, 1987). This is, in some measure, due to the fact that the city’s institutions are still partially tied to their conception of the “Holy water” that manifests itself in a in a scarce attitude towards change that results in institutional inertia (De Martino, 2020). Emblematic in these regards are the not fulfilled promises of the at the time just elected new mayor of the city Luigi de Magistris toward the Islamic community in Eastern Naples. This rapidly growing community had been promised in 2011 the construction of the first Mosque of city and an Islamic cemetery. Only after 10 years, at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, in August 2020, the municipality granted the concession for the use of a land to bury the dead (il Mattino, 2020). The genealogy of the Eastern Naples returns the image of a bad land that has never been given the proper tools for development and whose communities have never been involved in the decision making. Nowadays as then, it is a Purgatory, a city of perennial transition, of goods and people: the established Neapolitan population that aspires to move to other parts of the city or the immigrants arriving from overseas.In this work, I explore how can the study of the porosity of the urban environment set the bases for a community-based design approach. After having delved into the study of the context of the East Coast of Naples, I focus on the Case Nuove and Mercato del Ferro areas, the first districts to be built outside the former walls of the city in the old Borgo Loreto, and their relationship with the Mercato, the historical neighbourhood grown behind the city walls. The two are institutionally one administrative entity and share an increasing lack of porosity that manifests itself in visible and invisible barriers, problematic social issues, and low quality of the urban environment. Taking this case as example, I will define a design process and stakeholders engagement strategy through which to answer the question: Through what means can Eastern Naples provide a spatially just alternative for its citizens?European Master in Urbanism (EMU
O futuro entre catástrofe e progresso em walter benjamin
No full textIn this article, we will make incursions into Walter Benjamin's more political texts, seeking to analyze the relationship between the past and the future and how the appreciation of the latter, from an Enlightenment inspiration, ended up resulting for Benjamin in an unstoppable myth of progress and infinite perfectibility human. We will show, as according to our author, this “progressive” idea ended up seducing everyone, from right to left, with “catastrophic” implications for the oppressed class. From an analysis of the "Angel of history" of the Theses, we will outline Benjamin's "unofficial Marxism" not only emphasizing his strong Jewish matrix, but also through his relationship with Asja Lacis and Bertold Brecht, his attack on social German democracy and its recourse to the utopian socialism of Auguste Blanqui.Neste artigo faremos incursões nos textos mais políticos de Walter Benjamin, procurando analisar com mais detalhes a visão pessoal do materialismo histórico do filósofo alemão. Veremos como a problemática relação entre passado e futuro em Benjamin, através de uma inspiração iluminista que sobrestima este último, conduz a um mito imparável do progresso e da infinita perfeição humana e como essa ideia “progressiva” acabou seduzindo as direitas e esquerdas, com implicações catastróficas. Neste artigo nos referiremos não apenas a Marx, mas também a figuras aparentemente muito distantes, como Blanqui e Rosenzweig.
Modern Theatre in Russia Tradition Building and Transmission Processes (Book Review)
No full textThis book is about the history of Russian theater tradition and practice, and consists of six chapters. In the first chapter, Introduction, the writer gives a brief sketch of Russian theater tradition in the 19th century and how this tradition was transmitted to the 20th century, and explains what cultural transmission means. Aquilina introduces his methods and the outlines of his study. He states that he will examine Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Smyshlaev, Kerzhentsev and the Proletkultists to analyze the tradition and transmission of theater culture in Russia, paying particular attention to the sources of these writers that are not translated into English, such as Stanislavsky’s book Collected Works, Smyshlaev’s book on acting theory, Kerzhentsev’s book Theater and Revolution and The Creative Theater, and the Proletkult’s compilation of works from the workers’ clubs. In the second chapter, Stanislavky: Renewing tradition through transmission, the author states that Stanislavsky contributed to the renewal of the Russian theater tradition and transmitted it to the 20th century with his assertions on tradition building when he himself was going through a major transformation. The author analyzes Stanislavsky’s letter written to the French playwright and drama critic, Lucien Besnard in 1897 and his speeches in Volume 6 of his Collected Works. Aquilina introduces new terms such as Scenic Transmission (looking at visual and photographic materials of the performances to get staging ideas) and Rehearsal Transmission (looking at techniques that performers could detach from the rehearsal and apply to diverse performances). For Scenic Transmission, the author examines the relationship between Stanislavsky and the German actor Ludwig Barnay. In this chapter, the author also talks about the First Studio that made a contribution to Stanislavsky’s experimentation in acting technique and Stanislavky’s conception of studio culture, and the hierarchies between the actor, director and playwright. In chapter three, Aquilina discusses the idea of misinterpreting theater practice and tries to find an answer to the question of how the application of cultural transmission theories serve the study of theater and performance without it becoming an end in itself. The author works on Valentin Smyshlaev’s acting manual Theory to Process Stage Performance which was based on Stanislavsky’s ideas that were misinterpreted by Smyshlaev. The author also used Smyshlaev’s diary that is not well-known outside of Russia. In chapter four, the author discusses the amateur theater of the workers born during the Russian Revolution, and the historiography, periodization and reliability of the sources. He also talks about the transmission issue of amateur and proletarian theater in post-revolutionary Russia. He discusses the historiographical difficulties raised by amateur performances, some transmission issues that appeared from the scene, the spaces the where the workers gathered to perform theatrical activities, the standards of amateur theaters, collective creation and independent action, and the incongruity between the Proletkult and amateur theater. In chapter five, Aquilina discusses the transmission bias issue, Meyerhold’s methods he used to study part theater traditions, his laboratorial practice at the Borodin Studio and how much it shared with 21st century Practice as Research, and the internationalism of his theater. The author also explores newspapers published in the West which include articles about Meyerhold and his work. In chapter six, the author discusses the status of women in early Soviet Russia, their lives and the restrictions on them. Particular attention is given to female artists, such as the Latvian-born Asja Lacis to show their contributions to theatrical experimentation. Aquilina’s introductory book gives a comprehensive analysis of modern Russian theater, and provides critical analyses of tradition and the transmission process. It is a valuable resource for academicians, researchers and students who study the history of the Russian theater
Kinetics of doublet formation in bi-component magnetic suspensions: the role of the magnetic permeability anisotropy
No full textInternational audienceMicron-sized particles (microbeads) dispersed in a suspension of magnetic nanoparticles, i.e. ferrofluids, can be assembled into different type of structures upon application of an external magnetic field. This paper is devoted to theoretical modeling of a relative motion of a pair of microbeads (either soft ferromagnetic or diamagnetic) in the ferrofluid under the action of applied uniform magnetic field which induces magnetic moments in the microbeads making them attracting to each other. The model is based on a point dipole approximation for the magnetic interactions between microbeads mediated by the ferrofluid, however the ferrofluid is considered to possess an anisotropic magnetic permeability thanks to field-induced structuring of its * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected] 2 nanoparticles. The model is tested against experimental results and shows generally better agreement with experiments than the model considering isotropic magnetic permeability of ferrofluids. The results could be useful for understanding kinetics of aggregation of microbeads suspended in a ferrofluid. From a broader perspective, the present study is believed to contribute to a general understanding of particle behaviors in anisotropic media
Poétique du paysage dans L’Anté-peuple et La Vie et demie de Sony Labou Tansi
No full textLa forêt tropicale et le fleuve Congo ont façonné profondément la géographie mentale de Sony Labou Tansi. Fasciné par l’expérience des limites naturelles que constituent la furie des cataractes et les lacis de la végétation, il s’est désigné comme un « homme de la forêt » dont l’écriture tente de capter la puissance de ces sites naturels. Loin de donner lieu à d’amples tableaux descriptifs, La Vie et demie et L’Anté-peuple proposent des fragments paysagers élaborés sur un mode suggestif, où tous les sens entrent en jeu. Cette construction discursive dévoile les rouages d’une machine romanesque qui les utilise comme de véritables acteurs. Structurant la fiction, la géographie est modelée pour épouser l’imaginaire de l’auteur. Comment Sony Labou Tansi construit-il ces paysages ? En quoi ces modes de construction constituent-ils une voie de recherche pour appréhender les complexités de son écriture ?The rainforest and the Congo River profoundly shaped the mental geography of Sony Labou Tansi. Fascinated by the natural geography of their furious cataracts and maze of trees, he has often called himself a « man of the forest », whose writing tries to capture the power of these natural sites. Far from giving rise to long descriptive passages, Life and a Half and The Antipeople offer fragments of landscape which are evoked in a suggestive mode, and where all senses come into play. This discursive construction reveals the workings of a fictional machine that uses them as real actors in the novel. Structuring fiction, geography is shaped to fit the imagination of the author. How are these landscapes created ? How do they help us to understand the complexity of the author’s writing
Reducing Multisensor Satellite Monthly Mean Aerosol Optical Depth Uncertainty: 1. Objective Assessment of Current AERONET Locations
No full textVarious space-based sensors have been designed and corresponding algorithms developed to retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD), the very basic aerosol optical property, yet considerable disagreement still exists across these different satellite data sets. Surface-based observations aim to provide ground truth for validating satellite data; hence, their deployment locations should preferably contain as much spatial information as possible, i.e., high spatial representativeness. Using a novel Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF)- based approach, we objectively evaluate the spatial representativeness of current Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sites. Multisensor monthly mean AOD data sets from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer, Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor, Ozone Monitoring Instrument, and Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from a Lidar are combined into a 605-member ensemble, and AERONET data are considered as the observations to be assimilated into this ensemble using the EnKF. The assessment is made by comparing the analysis error variance (that has been constrained by ground-based measurements), with the background error variance (based on satellite data alone). Results show that the total uncertainty is reduced by approximately 27% on average and could reach above 50% over certain places. The uncertainty reduction pattern also has distinct seasonal patterns, corresponding to the spatial distribution of seasonally varying aerosol types, such as dust in the spring for Northern Hemisphere and biomass burning in the fall for Southern Hemisphere. Dust and biomass burning sites have the highest spatial representativeness, rural and oceanic sites can also represent moderate spatial information, whereas the representativeness of urban sites is relatively localized. A spatial score ranging from 1 to 3 is assigned to each AERONET site based on the uncertainty reduction, indicating its representativeness level
