3,751 research outputs found
To Feel, to Understand, to Act. Sustainability on Display
No full textThis essay describes the exhibition project Sostenibilart promoted by CYLAND MediaArtLab and the Centre for Studies in Russian Art (CSAR). Starting from an analysis of what is normally described with the term ‘sustainability’, we will examine how this concept is developed by the artists identified as ambassadors of sustainability. Their reflection on the theme is also expressed through the answers to three questions posed by the Author that allow a transversal reading of the project. The text will therefore consider the ideas that emerged in this interrelated exchange. Finally, we will consider participation in contemporary art to verify the significance of the contribution of the artists-ambassadors of sustainability to stimulate in the public a reflection – and eventually action – on the issues
Technical Note: Year, season, and parity effect on weaning performance of the Carmagnola Grey Rabbit breed
Get PDFTo evaluate the main environmental factors in the productivity of Carmagnola Grey rabbits, an endangered breed indigenous to northern Italy, data collected over 8 years were analysed. Production data on the pure closed nucleus herd of the University of Turin were used. Effects of parity, season and age of weaning on the number of rabbits born alive and weaned, litter weight and individual average weight at weaning were studied. The following average performance rates over the 8 years period were determined: 8.1 live born and 7.2 weaned kits per litter and a litter weight at weaning of 7287 g or 1024 g individual weaning weight. Year and season both had a significant effect (P < 0.001) on all the traits studied as well as weaning age (P < 0.001).Lazzaroni, C.; Biagini, D.; Redaelli, V.; Luzi, F. (2012). Technical Note: Year, season, and parity effect on weaning performance of the Carmagnola Grey Rabbit breed. World Rabbit Science. 20(1):57-60. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2012.1031SWORD576020
My Boyfriend Came Back From The War: una narrazione visiva di Olia Lialina
No full textThe contribution proposes the analysis of Net Art’s world-famous masterpiece
of one of its founders: My Boyfriend Came Back from the War (1996) by Olia Lialina.
Combining black and white images and words, it evokes the encounter of two lovers who
have been separated so long by the war. With her work, Lialina shows us the potential for
interaction of the new screen – that of the computer. She experiments with a non-linear
narration, where users edit the story frames thanks to hypermedia platform, resulting in
a new relationship between author and public. Considering such operations, the paper
aims to highlight the work’s ludic connotation beside the impact of filmic narrative on
the web
Three dimensional steady-state locus for dry monodisperse granular materials: DEM numerical results and theoretical modelling
No full textIn this paper, steady-state conditions for ideal monodisperse dry granular materials are both theoretically and numerically analysed. A series of discrete element (DEM) numerical simulations have been performed on a periodic cell by imposing stress paths characterized by different Lode angles, pressures, and deviatoric strain rates. The dependence of the material response on both inertial number and loading path has been discussed in terms of void ratio, fabric, and granular temperature. DEM numerical results have been finally compared with the prediction of an already conceived model based on both kinetic and critical state theories, here suitably modified to account for three-dimensional conditions
Infrared Thermography (IRT) in nude mice : an alternative method for body temperature measurement
No full textResearchers at Milan University and Mario Negri Institute in Italy have developed an alternative method for body temperature measurement, using infrared thermography (IRT) in nude mice. At the 2010 Scand FELASA meeting, Fornasier et Al., showed that baseline recordings (5 min) of Tmax (the time after administration of a drug where maximum plasma concentration is achieved) showed an acceptable variability within the same animal with a coefficient of variability (CV%) ranging between 0.8–1.21. Tmax (39.0°C) was always located in the intrascapular region, in the area of brown adipose deposits (IBAT) which is normally involved in thermogenesis in rodents.
In another trial2,3, researchers studied stress in C57BL/6j and BALB / c mice housed in different individually ventilated cages (IVCs). To ensure the highest state of welfare of laboratory animals, they evaluated the behavioural and physiological (surface temperature) response of mice maintained in two different IVCsystems characterised by different points of air injection (cover or animal level) to determine any possible difference in the anxiety levels of the animals.
64 C57Bl6/J and 64 BALB/c 6 weeks old SPF, female mice were used; the animals were maintained at 22± 2 °C and 55± 10% RH with food and water provided ad-libitum. The animals were housed four per cage in two different IVC cages with different air inlet solutions at cover (75 ACH) or animal (50 ACH) level and observed for seven weeks.
They found significant differences in anxiety-related behaviour between strain and housing systems. These results suggest that, in addition to influencing mouse choice4, different IVC housing systems can influence mouse behaviour, with mice of both strains, exhibiting more anxiety-related behaviour when housing in cage systems where the air entry is at “animal” level at 50 ACH.
The same Milan University team2 showed the use of IRT analysis in immunodeficient mice’s nest (Figures 1 and 2). Through the use of IRT, they evaluated the temperature of the nest during the cage change, showing a decrease of about 3°C, as shown in Figure 3. The thermographic technique ensured a strict SPF status and limited operator intervention and invasiveness, improving animal welfare.
CONCLUSION
InfraRed thermography is a non-invasive method to monitor the health status of laboratory animals. In the future, the thermographic technique could be optimised in order to detect temperature of the animals in the least invasive way possible. This technique has to be further investigated to determine the correlation between superficial (as measured by thermography) and internal body temperatures in different species and in different physiological conditions.
REFERENCES
Fornasier M., Redaelli V., Tarantino A., Luzi F., Verga M. “Infrared Thermography (IRT) in nude mice: alternative method for body temperature measurement. SCAND FELASA 2010, Helsinki, June 14-17 2010.
Freschi M. Thermographic analysis of immunodeficient mice’s nest. Degree Thesis Diss (2012). Medicine Veterinary Faculty. Università di Milano. Italy.
Burman O., Buccarello L., Redaelli V., Cervo L. The effect of two different Individually Ventilated Cages systems on anxiety-related behavior and welfare in two strains of laboratory mouse. 12nd FELASA SECAL Congress, Barcelona, 10-13 June 2013.
Baumans, V., Schlingmann, F., Vonck, M., Van Lith, H.A., 2002. Individually ventilated cages: Beneficial for mice and man? Contemporary Topics 41, 13–19
DEM numerical tests on dry granular specimens: the role of strain rate under evolving/unsteady conditions
No full textIn this paper, the mechanical behaviour of an ideal dry granular material under both evolving and steady conditions has been studied. Triaxial loading both constant volume and constant pressure Discrete Element (DEM) tests on periodic cells have been performed. The role played by strain rate, void ratio and imposed pressure has been analysed. The aim of the paper is to obtain a numerical data set, at present totally absent in the literature, useful for the definition of constitutive relationships capable of reproducing phase transitions (from solid-to-fluid and vice versa) taking place in granular materials. The novelty of the data set obtained derives also from the type of loading tests performed, referred as heating, cooling and cyclic, in which different strain rate histories are imposed, inspired to what locally occurs in flowing granular masses, accelerating and decelerating according to the slope inclination. The numerical results are interpreted by considering state variables (granular temperature and fabric) and the energies evolution (elastic and kinetic fluctuating) to put in evidence phase transition processes. Again, this interpretation of the results is fundamental to conceive upscaled constitutive relationships based on thermodynamic theories. The numerical results have allowed to highlight the role of the strain acceleration/deceleration, and the evolution of the directional properties of the microstructure even in the collisional regime (never described up to now). Cooling constant volume tests results provide a description, not available in the literature, of the evolving response of the material under pure collisional conditions
Influence of steel fibers on durability properties of UHPFRC
No full textUltra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is a high-strength cementitious material whose composition can be designed to achieve given properties in the fresh and hardened state. Thanks to the low water/binder ratio (around 0.2) and to the presence of mineral additions, it is characterized by a low porosity which is often taken as a guarantee of intrinsic - almost unlimited - durability. However, the number of researches on the long-term behavior of this type of material is relatively limited, in particular with respect to the corrosion behavior of steel and to the role of steel fibers on concrete durability. This note presents the results of a research aimed at studying the influence of fibers on durability properties. Besides tests for the characterization at fresh and hardened state, durability-related parameters such as electrical resistivity, resistance to chloride penetration, absorption rate and water absorption are investigated. The results show that higher amount of fibers increased the porosity of fibers-concrete interfacial zone and therefore large fibers content negatively influences the parameters related to durability. However, the investigated parameters indicate higher performances with respect to ordinary concretes even in UHPFRC with large fiber content, except for electrical resistivity
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