135 research outputs found
Microbiological characteristics of fresh tofu produced in small industrial scale and identification of specific spoiling microorganisms (SSO)
No full textFresh tofu is a traditional Asian soybean-derived food product which has become increasingly popular worldwide, however, little is known on its microbial ecology and the microbial groups that can cause its deterioration. In this study, the microbiological characteristics of ready-to-eat fresh tofu produced by a small company in Northern Italy were investigated to unveil the abundance and composition of the microbiota and the identity and provenance of the specific spoiling microorganisms (SSO). Culture-dependent (RAPD-PCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing) and culture-independent (PCR-DGGE) analyses were carried out on soybean lots and derived fresh tofu samples collected in different months and on two samples subjected to thermal abuse to simulate the interruption of the cold chain. Lactic acid bacteria species predominated in correctly preserved fresh tofu and bacterial species able to grow after thermal abuse mostly derived from the raw materials and belonged to heat labile species, thus suggesting that a more efficient heat treatment can increase the shelf-life of the product. Possible safety concerns could come from Streptococcus lutetientis, isolated from the artificially altered tofu, Clostridium spp. highlighted by culture-independent approach, and from Weissella confusa, but the majority of dominant bacteria identified belonged to non-pathogenic specie
Capacity assessment of uncorroded and corroded dapped‐end beams by NLFE and strut‐and‐tie based methods
No full textThe verification of dapped-end beams degraded by corrosion is a problem, especially for existing bridges in service. This paper proposes a nonlinear finite element (NLFE) modeling procedure and a simple strut-and-tie based procedure for predicting the response of dapped-end beams subjected to chloride corrosion. Firstly, the finite element modeling strategy, based on the adoption of multilayer shell elements and the PARC_CL 2.1 crack model is described. Then, the degradation effects on concrete, rebars, and steel-to-concrete interaction are defined as a function of the propagation period of corrosion. In particular, the effects of corrosion on the reinforcement are modeled by applying a reduction of tensile strength that considers for both the reduction of cross-section and the ultimate strain caused by pitting. Concrete splitting cracking due to volume expansion during rust formation is modeled by reducing the mechanical properties of concrete. Corrosion effects in steel-to-concrete interaction are modeled by applying a bond strength decay to the spring elements connecting corroded rebars-modeled with truss elements-and concrete multilayer shell elements. The proposed finite element procedure is used to study two scenarios based on different spatial distributions of corrosion-prone areas. Subsequently, a simplified analytical approach based on the strut-and-corroded tie method-called S&CT method-is proposed and compared with the finite element outcomes. Finally, the validations of the two proposed methods are presented with respect to a corroded dapped-end beam, showing that corrosion of rebars affects the resistance mechanisms of the dapped-end beam, by reducing both resistance and ductility. The proposed simplified analytical S&CT method provides conservative and safe results compared to the numerical NLFE model and to experimental data
SEISMIC ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING CIRCULAR HOLLOW RC PIERS SUBJECTED TO CORROSION THROUGH NLFEA
No full textThe capacity assessment of existing Reinforced Concrete (RC) bridges is a fundamental step to define rational intervention and retrofit strategies. Most of the Italian RC bridges date back to the second half of the last century and were therefore designed for gravity loads only or according to obsolete seismic codes, with inadequate structural detailing and poor-quality construction materials. The situation is further aggravated by aging and degradation over time, together with the limited maintenance level, which can lead to an increase in the seismic vulnerability of the infrastructure. Reinforcement corrosion is a major factor in the reduction of the seismic performance of RC bridges over time and can modify the expected failure mode of primary bridge components, such as piers. To investigate the effect of corrosion on RC piers, a non-linear finite element (NLFE) approach is presented in this work, based on the adoption of the PARC_CL 2.1 crack model, developed at the University of Parma, Italy, for RC elements subjected to cyclic loads and implemented as a user subroutine within the Abaqus FE package. Among the most remarkable features of the model stands out its capability to accurate simulate rheological phenomena, shear failures, reinforcement buckling, as well as the effects of corrosion on the structural response over time. The effectiveness of the proposed approach in the case of bridges is first proved through comparison with experimental data available in the literature on circular hollow RC piers. Finally, the model is applied to evaluate the time-varying capacity reduction of RC piers under aggressive environmental conditions, by considering the decay of the mechanical features and the role of rebars’ buckling
I rilievi per la mostra e il libro su Biagio Rossetti
No full textNel 1960 Bruno Zevi diede alle stampe il volume Biagio Rossetti architetto ferrarese. Il primo urbanista moderno europeo. Nell’opera, che conta 727 pagine, sono presenti 200 disegni di rilievo riferibili ad una parte delle architetture indagate: si tratta di 19 edifici, di cui 12 civili e 7 sacri.
In chiusura al volume Zevi sintetizza gli eventi che resero possibile la realizzazione prima della famosa mostra Identità di Biagio Rossetti, inaugurata il 28 giugno 1956 nel Ridotto del Teatro Comunale e, quattro anni dopo, dell’imponente libro, indicando i nomi di coloro che collaborarono all’iniziativa. L’autore cita la prof. Luisa Balboni sindaco di Ferrara, e l’assessore alle BB. AA. Mario Roffi che nel 1955 si rivolsero all’allora preside dell’Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia, Giuseppe Samonà per celebrare il 440° anniversario della morte di Rossetti. Zevi afferma che «[...] gli studenti ed io accettammo con entusiasmo di ordinare una mostra: dedicai il mio corso al maestro ferrarese, mentre gli allievi del primo anno rilevarono vari monumenti, e quelli del secondo, con la guida del mio assistente dott. Giuseppe Mazzariol, svolsero indagini documentate in una serie di tesine.» Questo scritto propone alcune riflessioni sul ruolo del rilievo nella vicenda editoriale zeviana e nei suoi esiti.In 1960, Bruno Zevi published the book Biagio Rossetti architetto ferrarese. Il primo urbanista moderno europeo. In the 727 page long work, there are 200 survey drawings, some of which refer to the investigated architectures: these are 19 buildings (twelve non-religious and seven religious).
At the end of the publication, Zevi summarizes the events that made the realization of the book possible before the famous exhibition Identità di Biagio Rossetti, inaugurated on June 28 1956 in the Ridotto of the Municipal Theater. Four years later, the imposing book indicated the names of those who collaborated in the initiative. The author quotes prof. Luisa Balboni, mayor of Ferrara, and the assessore BB. AA. Mario Roffi, who in 1955 contacted the then dean of the University Institute of Architecture in Venice, Giuseppe Samonà to celebrate the 440th anniversary of Rossetti's death. Zevi says "[...] the students and I enthusiastically accepted to organize an exhibition: I dedicated my course to the celebrated Ferrara architect, the first-year students surveyed various monuments, while those of the second year carried out documented investigations in a series of papers with the guidance of my assistant Dr Giuseppe Mazzariol."
This paper offers some reflections on the survey's role in Zevy’s work and its outcomes
Money, politics and a future for the international financial system
No full textIn developing the architecture for a financial system, the challenge is to combine deregulation and safety nets against systemic failure with effective prudential regulation and oversight. The author analyzes three approaches to choosing an adequate regulatory framework for a financial system. a) Those most worried about panic and herd behavior tend to favor relatively extensive controls on financial institutions'activities, including controls on interest rates and on the volume and direction of lending. b) Those most concerned about moral hazard advocate abolishing controls and safety nets, seeing the solution is stronger market discipline and reduced powers and discretion for regulators. c) Mainstream opinion advocates a mix of measures, to both strengthen market discipline and improve regulatory oversight. The approach a county opts for depends on 1) which monetary and exchange rate regime it chooses, 2) whether it is more concerned about moral hazard or about panic and herd behavior, and 3) how the politics of reform shape its solutions. The author suggests a scenario for development of the global financial system over the next two or three decades that assumes that the final outcome will resemble the market solution - not because that is the optimal policy choice but because of how political weakness will interact with advances in settlement technology. In the author's scenario, the world moves toward a monetary system in which fixed exchange rate systems or de facto currency competition limit the power of central banks. This limits options for discretionary and open-ended liquidity support to help deal with systemic financial crises. The costs of inflexible exchange rates are moderated by new types of wage contracts, using units of account that are correlated with the shocks a particular industry or kind of contract faces -- thus maintaining the positive aspects of monetary systems with flexible nominal exchange rates. Mistrust in monetary authorities and the emergence of private settlements lead to a return of asset-backed money as the means of payment. The disciplines on financial systems come to resemble somewhat those of historical"free banking"systems, with financial institutions requiring high levels of equity and payments systems protected only by limited, fully funded safety nets.Banks&Banking Reform,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Financial Intermediation,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Macroeconomic Management,Financial Intermediation,Financial Economics
Structural Assessment of Corroded Dapped-end Beams
No full textMany existing concrete bridges with typical cantilever static schemes and with dapped-end suffer deterioration problems due to reinforcement corrosion and concrete degradation. Indeed, such infrastructures have usually reached or are going to reach the end of their service lives, and have been designed with outdated standards, where the durability problems were not considered. Moreover, the design loads used in the past are obsolete, not merely related to the design procedures, but also for increasing magnitudes of traffic and truck weights. In this context, the evolution of degradation of the reinforcement and concrete due to corrosion is particularly relevant, especially concerning the failure modes of the dapped-end beam. In recent decades, some catastrophic events related to the collapse of bridges with dapped-end beams highlighted how these elements are a critical part of such infrastructures. For this reason, their state of conservation must be analysed and evaluated carefully, especially in cases where reinforcement corrosion is present.
Over the years, various experimental techniques and analytical methods have been developed for studying dapped-end beams, and current standards provide well-tested tools for the design of these elements, such as the strut-and-tie method. However, the evaluation of existing dapped-end beams presents a separate issue. Due to both their shape and their location in areas that are difficult to access for regular and special inspections, these elements are highly susceptible to significant degradation and corrosion. Assessing the load-bearing capacity of dapped-end beams affected by corrosion is a current and relevant topic. The uncertainties related to reinforcement corrosion and the difficulty of accurately determining the structural degradation make this assessment extremely challenging. Current standards have only recently begun focusing on the development of reliable tools for evaluating existing structures, with limited progress specifically regarding dapped-end beams. In the literature, there are still relatively few studies addressing the issue of residual life assessment for dapped-end beams, particularly concerning corrosion-related aspects, highlighting the lack of a unified or standardized procedure for this type of analysis.
In this context, the present study aims to contribute to a correct methodological and engineering approach for evaluating the resistance of existing corroded dapped-end beams. Specifically, the problem of chloride-induced corrosion in dapped-end beams is analysed. The research aims to propose both numerical and analytical methods for assessing the residual structural capacity of corroded and non-corroded dapped-end beams, by adopting nonlinear finite element techniques and a simplified strut-and-tie model for corroded elements. The capacity of corroded dapped-ends is evaluated by considering several corrosion effects, such as mechanical properties decay of steel rebars and concrete as well as deterioration of bond-slip behaviour between steel and concrete. The proposed models have been validated both with and without corrosion using the latest experimental tests. Both the numerical modelling techniques and the analytical method have proven to be adequate and reasonably accurate for assessing the residual capacity of corroded dapped-end beams
Seismic fragility curves assessment of corroded RC bridges
No full textThe Italian infrastructure network of roads and bridges is one of the most complex in the world, due to the orography of the territory. Italy is strongly interested by seismic and hydrogeological hazards and, in addition, degradation and obsolescence phenomena are common on infrastructures approaching the end of their nominal life. Furthermore, these infrastructures are subjected to continuous traffic load increase over time. In 2020, the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) published the Guidelines for risk classification and management, safety assessment, and monitoring of existing bridges, as an attempt to unify the multiple procedures of inspection, monitoring, and maintenance of infrastructures. An important phase of the risk classification regards the analysis of the typical defects that may occur on structural elements of reinforced concrete and prestressed reinforced concrete bridges. Among them, various studies on the deterioration of the structural elements of these types of bridges have been conducted both in Italy and abroad, highlighting that one of the most widespread defects is the corrosion of reinforcement. The corrosion process evolves over time, leading to a reduction of the rebar cross-section that in turn is reflected into a decrease in the deformation capacity and strength of steel. In the most advanced stages of the process, concrete cover spalling may also take place, with a consequent reduction of the confinement action exerted on longitudinal rebars, and a possible risk of rebar buckling. In this work a typological case study bridge in marine environment is created according to gravity loads design. The seismic assessment of the bridge structural elements, caused by the design seismic action, is first shown, with reference to the initial uncorroded situation. Then, the seismic assessment is repeated for different time periods, by taking into account the effects of corrosion, which depend on the assumed corrosion rate. Finally, an interesting comparison in terms of fragility curves is proposed between the safety condition of the infrastructure expected in both cases, with or without the consideration of the corrosion of the reinforcement
The hidden author: an interpretation of Petronius' Satyricon
No full textThe Satyricon of Petronius, a comic novel written in the first century A.D., is famous today primarily for its amazing banquet tale, "Trimalchio's Feast." But this episode is only one part of the larger picture of life during Nero's rule presented in the work. In this accessible discussion of Petronius's masterful use of parody, Gian Biagio Conte offers an interpretation of the Satyricon as a whole. He combines the scholarly precision of close reading with a significant, original theoretical model.At the heart of his interpretation, Conte reveals the technique of the "hidden author" that Petronius employs at the expense of his characters, in particular the teller of the story, Enclopius. By remaining hidden outside the narrative, Petronius invites the reader to smile at the folies de grandeur that occur in a culture of scholars and declaimers. Yet as Conte shows, behind the parody and inexhaustible humor of the Satyricon lies an unexpectedly serious lament. For those familiar with the Satyricon, as well as for new readers, Conte's book will be a reliable, enjoyable guide to the wonders the Satyricon contains
La cura dei folli nel Progetto di Stabilimento per alienati proposto da Biagio Gioacchino Miraglia
No full textThe essay is a study of the evolution of the mental institutions legislation after the Italy Unification. The author highlights the problems that Italy had to face regarding the adjustment of institutional arrangements in the healthcare, which urgently needed legislation to make uniform the mental institutions management and organization. Alienists were pressing for a primary and active role in the debate on the mental institutions legislation. Among these was certainly Biagio Gioacchino Miraglia who proposed in South Italy an important project
Il culto di San Biagio a Taranta Peligna dal passato all'epoca di internet
No full textTaranta Peligna is a village that is located in the mountainous region of Abruzzo (Italy). The current population, decimated by emigration, it has about 343 inhabitants. The author studies the religious traditions of the community, in particular those related to the feast (1-3 february) and cult of San Biagio. Currently, the feast has lost some characteristics of the past, has been re-functionalized, has acquired new values, meanings and helps to preserve the cultural identity of Taranta Peligna
- …
