117,641 research outputs found
Dimensionamento di paratie ancorate soggette a eventi sismici intensi
No full textIn questa nota sono presentate alcune considerazioni riguardanti il dimensionamento sismico delle paratie con ancoraggi a bulbo iniettato, basate sui risultati di una serie di analisi numeriche di tipo statico e dinamico. Questi risultati evidenziano che il comportamento sismico delle opere in esame è notevolmente influenzato dall’interazione fra i bulbi di ancoraggio e il terreno circostante, che risulta a sua volta interessato dal campo di accelerazioni generato dall’evento sismico. Risulta conveniente riguardare, in via semplificata, il comportamento sismico delle opere in esame come una successione di attivazioni istantanee di meccanismi plastici prodotti dalla mobilitazione della resistenza del sistema ad opera delle azioni sismiche. Per le paratie ancorate è possibile distinguere tra meccanismi plastici locali, che prevedono il raggiungimento della capacità degli ancoraggi, e meccanismi globali. Nell’articolo si mostra come il comportamento derivante dall’attivazione di meccanismi locali sia più immediatamente prevedibile e sostanzialmente da preferire; si illustrano inoltre le conseguenze di questa osservazione ai fini della progettazione delle opere di sostegno in esame
The selective D3 receptor antagonist, S33084, improves parkinsonian-like motor dysfunction but does not affect L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in 6-hydroxydopamine hemi-lesioned rats
No full textDespite evidence linking dopamine D3 receptors to the etiology of Parkinson’s disease and L-DOPAinduced
dyskinesia, the potential therapeutic utility of D3 receptor ligands remains unclear. In the
present study, we investigated whether the selective D3 receptor antagonist, S33084, affects development
and expression of abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs), a behavioural correlate of dyskinesia,
in rats hemi-lesioned with 6-hydroxydopamine and chronically treated with L-DOPA. The ability of
S33084, alone or in combination with L-DOPA, to attenuate 6-hydroxydopamine induced motor deficits
was also investigated employing a battery of behavioural tests. Acute administration of S33084
(0.64 mg/kg, s.c.) did not attenuate the induction of AIMs in dyskinetic rats upon challenge with L-DOPA
(6 mg/kg, s.c.). Moreover, S33084 (0.64 mg/kg) did not prevent the development of AIMs affecting axial,
limb and orolingual muscles when chronically administered together with L-DOPA (6 mg/kg for 21 days).
However, both acute and chronic administration of S33084 enhanced L-DOPA-induced contralateral
turning, suggesting potential antiparkinsonian properties. Furthermore, S33084 (0.01–0.64 mg/kg) dosedependently
attenuated parkinsonian disabilities, including bradykinesia, in drag and rotarod tests,
although, in these procedures, the combination of S33084 with L-DOPA did not produce synergistic
effect. It is concluded that sustained D3 receptor blockade does not blunt L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in
hemiparkinsonian rats. However, D3 receptor antagonism may be associated with antiparkinsonian
properties. The clinical relevance of these observations will be of interest to explore further
The search for continuous sources in the Virgo experiment. Full-sky incoherent step: ‘local’ and ‘grid’ test
No full textComparison of serum creatinine, uric acid, albumin and glucose in male professional endurance athletes versus healthy controls.
No full textOwing to considerable physical, endocrinological and metabolic adaptations, the analysis of biochemical data in elite and top-class athletes requires caution. With the aim to identify metabolic and biochemical adaptations to particular lifestyle conditions, such as regular and strenuous physical exercise, we measured the concentration of serum albumin, creatinine, uric acid and glucose in 80 male professional cyclists, 37 male members of the Italian national cross-country ski team and 60 male healthy sedentary controls at rest. At variance with earlier investigations, endurance athletes showed significantly decreased concentrations of serum creatinine (controls: 83.1+/-11.0 micromol/l; skiers: 78.0+/-8.4 micromol/l; p<0.05; cyclists: 73.8+/-10.4 micromol/l; p<0.01), uric acid (controls: 362+/-69 micromol/l; skiers: 331 +/-70 micromol/l; p<0.05; cyclists: 312+/-61 micromol/l; p<0.01) and glucose (controls: 5.35+/-0.54 mmol/l; skiers: 4.94+/-0.41 mmol/l; p<0.01; cyclists: 4.94+/-0.42 mmol/l; p<0.01). The concentration of serum albumin was also decreased in athletes, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (controls: 4.76+/-0.26 g/l; skiers: 4.71+/-0.22 g/l; p=0.384; cyclists: 4.68+/-0.22 g/l; p=0.393). Results of the present investigation demonstrate that values of laboratory testing lying outside conventional reference limits calculated on sedentary populations might express physiological adaptations to regular and demanding physical aerobic activity, emphasizing the need for the estimation of reliable reference limits in elite and professional athletes, to avoid equivocal interpretation of results within clinical and anti-doping contests
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Square Dancing with the Stars to Enhance Dynamic Hirschman Linkages?
No full textIn this Presidential Address, the author takes the reader on a reconnaissance of his life and time as a regional scientist. He points out scenery he found scintillating along the way, hoping that some may pick up the banner and chew on a few of the ideas for a while. He suggests a revisit to Albert O. Hirschman’s notion of key sectors and more empirical analysis related to Marcus Berliant’s and Masahisa Fujita’s notion of knowledge creation and transfer.Presidential Address, San Antonio, Texas, March 29, 2014 (53rd Meetings of the Southern Regional Science Association
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
The experimental characterization of resilient mounting elements for the prediction of the structure-borne noise on board cruise ships
No full textIn this paper, authors show the implementation to a real case of the single point method for the prediction of the structure-borne noise levels released by a resilient mounted diesel engine to the ship structures. The evaluation of the structure-borne noise is based on the source velocity levels measured at the diesel engine feet during the test run, on the resilient mounting impedance obtained by specific laboratory tests, and on the mobility levels of the diesel engine seating measured when the ship is under construction and the diesel engine not yet installed. Special emphasis is given to the experimental tests aimed to the dynamic characterization of the resilient mounting elements. The paper presents the fundamentals of the method for the dynamic characterization of resilient mounting elements (RME) through the experimental measurement of their dynamic transfer stiffness (DTS) at both low and high frequencies
Temporary coverage of a forehead defect following tumor resection with a hyaluronic acid biological dressing: a case report.
No full textCoverage of large skin defects, especially following tumor resection and in patients who are not good candidates for procedures requiring general anesthesia, may require a staged procedure. The use of dermal substitutes to cover the defect until autologous grafting can be performed has been described. Hyaluronic acid biological dressings (HABD) also have been used for the temporary coverage of partial- to full-thickness posttraumatic or postsurgical wounds. An 82-year-old man with cardiopathy presented with an 8 cm x 4 cm ulcerated squamous cell carcinoma on his forehead. Following surgical removal under local anesthesia, the 12 cm x 8 cm defect was covered with HABD, which was removed immediately before the scheduled surgical closure (21 days later). At that time, well-vascularized granulation tissue completely covered the bone and an autologous skin graft was applied. Punch biopsy results obtained 4 weeks after surgery showed dressing remnants in the dermis and confirmed the graft was totally integrated with the surrounding tissues; there was no evidence of hypertrophy or excessive scarring. In this patient, the staged procedure provided an excellent alternative to a complex surgical procedure. Use of the biological dressing required only a weekly wound and dressing assessment and the cosmetic result was good without evidence of a recurrence at the 2-year follow-up. Studies to ascertain the efficacy and effectiveness of this dressing for the temporary coverage of soft tissue defects are needed
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