71 research outputs found
Domes as Functional Skies, in Rome
No full textWe report on three twentieth century lattice-shell domes in Rome. Two are architectural, and are among the very first such domes ever built. The third is a sculpture, and was called “geodesic” by its author, Adriano Graziotti. Unlike the many domes that characterize the skyline in Rome, for all three in this paper the spherical shape is functional rather than ritual
La lezione di Dimitris Pikionis. Paesaggio, architettura e memoria percorrendo le strade di Atene
No full textAutore di uno dei più significativi interventi del Novecento, Dimitris Pikionis (1887-1968) sperimenta ad Atene una riattivazione dei luoghi che assume il paesaggio come palinsesto e usa la dimensione corporea della percezione come strumento di progetto.
Attraverso l’analisi del Piano d’assetto per il Parco dell’Acropoli (1954-1958) il saggio indaga – con disegni originali e riferimenti iconografici – le ragioni di un progetto che è diventato un precedente imprescindibile per chiunque operi in contesti stratificati e nella dimensione del paesaggio, ponendo al centro della lettura il rapporto tra tradizione e rinnovamento, tra conoscenza e intuito come componenti di quel processo creativo che assorbe la memoria per realizzare un’architettura in grado di interpretare lo spirito del proprio tempo e, da lì, diventare un precedente consolidato dalla storia.Dimitris Pikionis (1887-1968), author of one of the most important intervention in the 20th century, experimented in Athens a reactivation
of places starting from the landscape and using perception as a design tool. Through the analysis of the Plan of layout for the Acropolis Park (1954-1958), the essay investigates – with original drawings and iconographic references – the reasons for a project that has become an essential precedent for those working in stratified contexts and in the dimension of the landscape; a project that focuses on the reading of the relationship between tradition and renewal, between knowledge and intuition as components of a creative process that draws from memory to create an architecture able of interpreting the spirit of its time and become a precedent consolidated by history
On the Hilbert function of general fat points in P1xP1
No full textWe study the bi-graded Hilbert function of ideals of general fat points with same multiplicity in P1×P1. Our first tool is the multiprojective-affine-projective method introduced by the second author in previous works with A.V. Geramita and A. Gimigliano where they solved the case of double points. In this way, we compute the Hilbert function when the smallest entry of the bi-degree is at most the multiplicity of the points. Our second tool is the differential Horace method introduced by J. Alexander and A. Hirschowitz to study the Hilbert function of sets of fat points in standard projective spaces. In this way, we compute the entire bi-graded Hilbert function in the case of triple points
Body weight at developmental age in siblings born to mothers before and after surgically induced weight loss
No full textBACKGROUND: To gain insight into the role of epigenetic factors in determining body weight in adolescence, we studied the body weight of siblings born to the same mother before and after biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) for obesity. The study was performed in a university hospital during a 20-year period.
METHODS: The siblings born before and after BPD were retrospectively rated by their mother as normal, overweight, or obese at 1, 6, and 12 years.
RESULTS: At 1 and 6 years, the body weight was rated as similar in the subsets. However, at 12 years of age, a greater percentage of those born before BPD were considered overweight (42% versus 33%) and obese (22% versus 3%; P <.009) than their counterparts born after BPD. Considering only the subjects aged 21-25 years at the study period, the body weight and body mass index in subjects born before BPD were greater (P <.02 and P <.012, respectively) than in those born after BPD (79.5 ± 16.5 kg versus 66.7 ± 11.8 kg, and 27.5 ± 3.9 kg/m(2) versus 23.4 ± 3.7 kg/m(2), respectively).
CONCLUSION: The results of the present study, in which the influences of the genetic pattern and environmental and educational factors were minimized, show that adolescents born to post-BPD mothers weigh less than their siblings born to the same mother before BPD when she was still obese. An insulin-resistant milieu during pregnancy could account for the greater body weight later in adolescence
Effects of Biliopanceratic Diversion on Type 2 Diabetes in Patients With BMI 25 to 35
No full textOBJECTIVE: Biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) resolves type 2 diabetes in near totality of morbidly obeses [BMI (body mass index) ≥35 kg/m]. However, studies of BPD effect in BMI range 25.0 to 34.9 kg/m, including about 90% of diabetic patients, are lacking.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: If BPD effects are independent of weight changes, they should be maintained in patients who, being mildly obese or overweight, will lose little or no weight after operation. Thirty type 2 diabetic patients with BMI 25 to 34.9 were submitted to BPD and monitored 12 months. Thirty-eight diabetic patients selected from a large database, kept 1 year on medical therapy, served as controls.
RESULTS: Nineteen male and 11 female. Mean age 56.4 ± 7.4 years, weight 84.8 ± 11.1 kg, BMI 30.6 ± 2.9 kg/m, waist circumference 104 ± 9.4 cm, diabetes duration 11.2 ± 6.9 years, HbA1c 9.3±1.5. Twelve patients on insulin. Fifteen (2 F) with BMI < 30 (mean: 28.1). No mortality or major adverse events occurred. BMI progressively decreased, stabilizing around 25 since the fourth month, without excessive weight loss. One year after BPD, mean HbA1c was 6.3%±0.8, with 25 patients (83%) controlled (HbA1c≤7%) on free diet, without antidiabetics, and the remaining improved. Acute insulin response to intravenous glucose had increased from 1.2 ± 2.9 to 4.2 ± 4.4 μIU/mL. Diabetes resolution correlated positively with BMI. HbA1c decreased at 1 year in the control group, along with an overall increased amount of antidiabetic therapy.
CONCLUSIONS: BPD improves or resolves diabetes in BMI 25 to 35 without causing excessive weight loss, its action being on insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function. The strikingly different response between morbidly obese and low BMI patients might depend on different beta-cell defect. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00996294
Adrenal activity and anxiety-like behavior in fur-chewing chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera)
No full textDue to its complexity, in combination with a lack of scientific reports, fur-chewing became one of the most challenging behavioral problems common to captive chinchillas. In the last years, the hypothesis that fur-chewing is an abnormal repetitive behavior and that stress plays a role in its development and performance has arisen. Here, we investigated whether a relationship existed between the expression and intensity of fur-chewing behavior, elevated urinary cortisol excretion and anxiety-related behaviors. Specifically, we evaluated the following parameters in behaviorally normal and fur-chewing animals of both sexes: 1) mean concentrations of urinary cortisol metabolites and 2) anxiety-like behavior in an elevated plus-maze test. Urinary cortisol metabolites were higher only in females that expressed the most severe form of the fur-chewing behavior (P ≤ 0.05). Likewise, only fur-chewing females exhibited increased (P ≤ 0.05) anxiety-like behaviors associated with the elevated plus-maze test. Overall, these data provided additional evidence to support the concept that fur-chewing is a manifestation of physiological stress in chinchilla, and that a female sex bias exists in the development of this abnormal behavior.Fil: Ponzio, Marina Flavia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Monfort, Steven L.. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Busso, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Carlini, Valeria Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Ruiz, Ruben Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Fiol, Marta Haydee. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; Argentin
Il tesoro di Colle Iano nel contesto monetario del Trecento
No full textIl testo considera il tesoro di Colle Iano nel quadro della circolazione monetaria del tempo e delle fonti scritte. In particolare viene esaminato il ruolo dei carlini-gigliati napoletani, monete preminenti nel complesso allo stato attuale, negli usi monetali dello Stato della Chiesa.This paper describes the Colle Iano Hoard in terms of its place in the monetary circulation of its time and in the written sources.
In particular, the author examines the role of the Neapolitan carlini gigliati (to date the most numerous type of coin found in the hoard) in the Papal State
The Relationship Between Third-Codon Position Nucleotide Content, Codon Bias, mRNA Secondary Structure and Gene Expression in the Drosophilid Alcohol Dehydrogenase Genes Adh and Adhr
No full textThe transcriptomes of cave and surface populations of Gammarus minus (Crustacea: Amphipoda) provide evidence for positive selection on cave downregulated transcripts
No full textGammarus minus, a freshwater amphipod living in the cave and surface streams in the eastern
USA, is an excellent model for investigating evolutionary adaptation to the subterranean
environment. RNA-Seq was conducted on one pair of morphologically distinct sister populations
inhabiting surface and cave habitats to identify genes that were differentially expressed
in the two populations, as well as to compare levels and patterns of genetic variation within
and between populations. Of the 104,630 transcripts identified in the transcriptome assembly,
57% had higher average levels of expression in the cave population. After Benjamini-
Hochberg correction for multiple tests, 1517 and 551 transcripts were significantly upregulated
or downregulated, respectively, in the cave population, indicating an almost three-fold
enrichment of cave-upregulated genes. The average level of nucleotide diversity across all
transcripts was significantly lower in the cave population. Within the cave population, where
the average nucleotide diversity of cave-downregulated transcripts was 75% that of the
cave-upregulated transcripts, a highly significant difference, whereas within the spring population
the nucleotide diversities of cave-downregulated and cave-upregulated transcripts
was virtually identical. Three lines of evidence suggest that the reduced variation in cave
downregulated transcripts is due to positive selection in the cave population: 1) the average
neutrality index of cave-downregulated genes was < 1, consistent with positive selection,
and significantly less than that of cave-upregulated genes; 2) Tajima's D was positively correlated
with the cave:surface expression ratio, and 3) cave-downregulated transcripts were
significantly more likely to be highly diverged from their surface homologs than cave-upregulated
transcripts. Five transcripts had fixed premature termination codons in the cave population.
The expression patterns and sequence variation in one such transcript, encoding the
DNA repair protein photolyase, were examined in more detail and provide the first evidence
for the relaxation of functional constraint in this light-dependent protein in a subterranean
population
The Brachistochrone Problem: From Euler to Quantum
No full textIn this thesis I take a look at various aspects of the brachistochrone problem. In the first half I consider the classical brachistochrone problem, without friction, after which I generalize to also consider drag; friction proportional to the squared speed. I do this numerically, with the shooting method, and following some papers, which Euler wrote. Then I will look at how Euler's results compare to modern results and discuss how they are different. In the second half I consider the quantum brachistochrone problem, following a paper by A. Carlini, and afterwards I look at a related problem, where there is not enough time to change an electron spin between two predetermined states. This problem has been numerically solved in an example
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