77 research outputs found
John Pechey (1654–1718) and the Popularization of Learned Medicine
No full textThis essay offers a corpus-based linguistic analysis of the paratexts of the works of John Pechey (1654–1718), a licentiate physician and prolificmedical author and popularizer, whose ideas and practice brought him into conflict with the Royal College of Physicians. Following the methodology of corpus-assisted discourse analysis, historical discourse analysis, and historical sociopragmatics, the essay analyses the paratextual material of Pechey’s medical publications, with the aims of (a) collecting a corpus of texts published under his name, (b) assessing his role in the popularization of learned medicine, and (c) tracing how he constructed and performed his identity both as a knowledgeable medical practitioner and as a critic of the beliefs and practices of the Royal College of Physicians
Reality is not what it seems: the journey to quantum gravity
No full textFrom the best-selling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics comes a new book about the mind-bending nature of the universe. What are time and space made of? Where does matter come from? And what exactly is reality? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know. Here he explains how our image of the world has changed throughout centuries. From Aristotle to Albert Einstein, Michael Faraday to the Higgs boson, he takes us on a wondrous journey to show us that beyond our ever-changing idea of reality is a whole new world that has yet to be discovered
General Relativity: The Essentials
No full textInternational audienceIn this short book, renowned theoretical physicist and author Carlo Rovelli gives a straightforward introduction to Einstein's General Relativity, our current theory of gravitation. Focusing on conceptual clarity, he derives all the basic results in the simplest way, taking care to explain the physical, philosophical and mathematical ideas at the heart of “the most beautiful of all scientific theories”. Some of the main applications of General Relativity are also explored, for example, black holes, gravitational waves and cosmology, and the book concludes with a brief introduction to quantum gravity. Written by an author well known for the clarity of his presentation of scientific ideas, this concise book will appeal to university students looking to improve their understanding of the principal concepts, as well as science-literate readers who are curious about the real theory of General Relativity, at a level beyond a popular science treatment
The order of time
No full textFrom the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, a concise, elegant exploration of time.Why do we remember the past and not the future? What does it mean for time to "flow"? Do we exist in time or does time exist in us? In lyric, accessible prose, Carlo Rovelli invites us to consider questions about the nature of time that continue to puzzle physicists and philosophers alike.For most readers this is unfamiliar terrain. We all experience time, but the more scientists learn about it, the more mysterious it remains. We think of it as uniform and universal, moving steadily from past to future, measured by clocks. Rovelli tears down these assumptions one by one, revealing a strange universe where at the most fundamental level time disappears. He explains how the theory of quantum gravity attempts to understand and give meaning to the resulting extreme landscape of this timeless world. Weaving together ideas from philosophy, science and literature, he suggests that our perception of the flow of time depends on our perspective, better understood starting from the structure of our brain and emotions than from the physical universe.Already a bestseller in Italy, and written with the poetic vitality that made Seven Brief Lessons on Physics so appealing, The Order of Time offers a profoundly intelligent, culturally rich, novel appreciation of the mysteries of time
Differences in global economic development and skyscrapers development: A quantitative investigation of the relationship between skyscrapers and the economic cycle
No full textBuildings taller than 200 meters have been built since 1909, and since then, over 1500 have been built. Their development has followed unique trends in different areas of the world, with sudden surges followed by down periods. The property industry is a supplier of capital goods, so demand for property is inevitably linked to the demand for investment goods in the economy as a whole. It supplies space and is affected by the economic factors that cause more or less demand. From a global perspective, we can expect skyscrapers development to follow finance to some degree, especially by clustering most projects in locations with high accessibility and low cost of capital, targeted by foreign investment and with positive expectations of financial growth. The symbolism of tall buildings has stimulated height competitions throughout the world, while their iconicity has attracted different kind of users. New technologies have allowed to reach new heights as well as making prohibitive applications feasible through research and development. As time evolves, new systems and applications are made available to reach height easier and cheaper. Over 70% of the world supply of skyscrapers have been built in the past 10 years, in an ever-growing pattern. In previous research, it has been suggested that there is a strong interrelationship between business cycles and skyscrapers development, yet this has never been measured at global level. This is the gap in existing knowledge this research addresses
Accurate Measurements of Aerosol Hygroscopic Growth Over a Wide Range in Relative Humidity
No full textThe hygroscopic properties of aerosol govern the response of aerosol particle size and composition to the relative humidity of the gas phase. The data sets in this project are accumulated from single particle measurements of hygroscopic response made at the Bristol Aerosol Research Centre. Here, we include data for the publication: Journal of Physical Chemistry A (2016) Accurate Measurements of Aerosol Hygroscopic Growth Over a Wide Range in Relative Humidity Grazia Rovelli [1,2], Rachael E.H. Miles [1], Jonathan P. Reid [1],* and Simon L. Clegg [3] 1 School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK 2 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20124 Milan, Italy 3 School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK Corresponding author: J. P. Reid ([email protected]
The return of Fomitopsis officinalis to the Italian Alps: preliminary assessment of strategies for conservation and sustainable use
No full textFomitopsis officinalis (Batsch) Bondartsev & Singer (Fomitopsidaceae, Polyporales) is a holoarctic species developing perennial basidiomata on old conifer stems and, in the Alps, strictly connected with Larix decidua. Since the first century AD it has been known as a natural medicinal product against several ailments, particularly pulmonary diseases. Similar uses have been documented among native peoples of America, the Urals and the Alps, and the fungus is still used in traditional medicine in eastern Asia.
This species is now known to contain antibiotic and antiviral molecules (mostly chlorinated coumarines and agaricinic acid) particularly efficient against the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, Gram-negative bacteria, Herpes virus, H5N1, H3N2, Poxviridae and Orthopox virus. By the start of the 20th century, F. officinalis had attracted the interest of the pharmaceutical industry in Europe, and this induced unsustainable harvesting which almost led the species to extinction, and which continues today. In addition to restrictions preventing harvesting in natural reserves and parks, F. officinalis has been included in red lists by at least 6 European countries. Based on population decline and habitat loss, it has been proposed for the global red listing with, respectively, endangered or vulnerable status [http://iucn.ekoo.se]. Fomitopsis officinalis and its habitat have been successfully protected
22 * presenting author; [L] lecture; [P] poster
in Switzerland [www.wsl.ch/notice_champignons]. Together with small local reservoirs, this is likely to play a major role in restoring populations beyond Swiss borders.
Our present work aimed to generate preliminary maps of fruiting individuals, to isolate mycelium into pure culture, and to characterize the species both morphologically and at a molecular level. Basidiomata were sampled from Graian, Pennine, Lepontine and Retic Italian Alps (mostly in protected areas) and identified by morphological characters. Mycelium was characterized morphologically, isolated into pure culture and subsequently processed through molecular analysis to confirm the identification. All 20 isolates were confirmed to be F. officinalis. Almost all analysed cultures had roduced chlamydospores and/or conidia within a few weeks on 2% MEA (Biokar Diagnostic) despite slow growth; brown pigmentation on the reverse was often present. We confirmed that the species is related to old stems of L. decidua, where F. officinalis provokes a very slow brown rot; only living trees were found to host basidiomata.
Despite excessive and unregulated harvest, F. officinalis has survived in small reservoirs which are now restoring populations in Alpine valleys, more so close to Swiss borders, probably as a consequence of the protection status there in force. Habitat conservation (old larches) is critically important. This species represents a resource for Alpine areas, but its slow growth and the limited basidiomatal production means harvesting of wild specimens should be abandoned, and cultivation strategies and sustainable use of mycelium should be explored as an alternative to using basidiomata
<i>...this is not a house...</i>
No full text1 x Book, 1x necklace and 1x brooch and installation All entitled: ...this is not a house... (2023)Research into memory structures, temporality and meaning-making through an emergent and rhizomatic lens with particular reference to the New Materialism of Karen Barad and Martin Hidegger (key contexts: Barad, Hedgger, Golding, Brown, Bennet, Rovelli Delueze and Guattari)These pieces of jewellery by J. Boyd were showed at the following exhibition project ‘Is Jewellery-Making Research? Jewellery as a form of art, social and cultural impact’ curated by Roberta Bernabei at Martin Hall Gallery, Loughborough University, 12-24 January 2024.© the author, shared with permission</p
Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, vol. 88: Robusti - Roverella
No full textDal 2012 il sottoscritto (L Bianconi) fa parte del Comitato di direzione scientifica del "Dizionario biografico degli Italiani", per il quale cura le voci relative alla musica e alla danza (compositori, esecutori, librettisti, impresari, editori, ecc.). Il vol. 88 comprende le seguenti voci, che sono state tutte assoggettate a rigorosa verifica sulle fonti e in svariati casi (contrassegnati da un asterisco) sottoposte a incisive revisioni e finanche radicali rifacimenti effettuati dal sottoscritto, o da lui tradotte in italiano (due asterischi); in due casi si tratta di voci di pugno dello scrivente (†):
Giuseppe Antonio Rocca, Lodovico Rocca, Dattilo Roccia e famiglia, Giovita Rodiani, *Rocco Rodio, Luigi Rognoni, *Rognoni Taegiofamiglia, Ulderico Rolandi, Alessandro Rolla, Paolo Antonio Rolli, *Felice Romani, Pietro Romani, Fausto Romitelli, Gino Roncaglia (in: Aurelio Roncaglia), Giorgio Ronconi, Luca Ronconi, Luigi Ronga, Raffaello Rontani, Giuseppina Ronzi De Begnis, **Cipriano de Rore, †John Rosselli, Renzo Rossellini, Stefano Rossetto, Carlo Alberto Rossi, Francesco Rossi, Gaetano Rossi, †Giacomo Rossi, Luigi Felice Rossi, Giovanni Rossi, *Lauro Rossi, Nicola Rossi Lemeni, *Lemme Rossi, *Luigi Rossi, Mario Rossi, Michelangelo Rossi, *Salomone Rossi, *Gioachino Rossini, Nino Rota, Nunzio Rotondo, Giuseppe Rovani, Pietro Rovelli
- …
