41 research outputs found
Deriving predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) for emerging contaminants in the river Po, Italy, using three approaches: Assessment factor, species sensitivity distribution and AQUATOX ecosystem modelling
No full text
An ecosystem model of the lower Po river for use in ecological risk assessment of xenobiotics
No full textEvaluation of the perceived colour difference under different lighting for museum applications
No full textThe role of lighting in museums has a fundamental importance. Light influences the perception of colours and space in the collections on display, therefore, any type of lighting must be adequately analysed to confirm the suitability and undistorted colour rendering of the illuminated objects. A two-stage perceptual test was carried out for this purpose. Initially, the participants were asked to evaluate the illuminants according to criteria such as: the brilliance of the colours, the degree of pleasantness of the lighting and the degree of overall satisfaction of the setting. Subsequently, the efficiency of different illuminants for the identification of colour differences between two objects was tested. The results obtained were then compared with the most commonly used colour rendering and colour difference indicators in order to determine their potential and limits
LIFE VIMINE - an integrated approach to the sustainable conservation of intertidal salt marshes in the lagoon of Venice
No full textGestational diabetes affects platelet behaviour through modified oxidative radical metabolism.
No full textAIMS:
Patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus show altered platelet function including decreased nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity and increased peroxynitrite production. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a clinical condition which is ideal for evaluating short-term effects of impaired glucose metabolism, ruling out the possibility that the platelet abnormalities are a consequence of diabetic complications. The aim of the present work was to study NO metabolism in platelets from pregnant women with GDM. The production of peroxides was also studied as it is strongly involved in peroxynitrite formation.
METHODS:
Platelet NOS activity and peroxynitrite production, levels of hydroperoxides and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in platelet membranes in the basal state and after in vitro peroxidative stress with phenylhydrazine were determined in 40 pregnant women with GDM, 40 healthy pregnant women (pregnant controls) of comparable age and gestational age, and 15 healthy non-pregnant women (controls).
RESULTS:
NOS activity was significantly increased in both groups of pregnant women compared with non-pregnant ones, and in GDM women compared with pregnant controls. Production of peroxynitrite was higher in GDM women than in pregnant controls, who also had significantly reduced production compared with non-pregnant women. Basal levels of peroxidation of the platelet membranes evaluated either by hydroperoxide content and TBARS levels or the susceptibility to peroxidation were increased in GDM patients in comparison with both control groups.
CONCLUSIONS:
We have shown a modification in platelet NO and peroxynitrite production and an increase in platelet indicators of oxidative stress in GDM women compared with healthy pregnant women which might be at the basis of a cellular dysfunction
Venice workshop and Amsterdam installation
No full textREcall is a research project funded by EC Culture 2007-13 Programme (n. 2012 - 0927 / 001 - 001 CU7 COOP7) focused on the possible roles Museography can play when dealing with Difficult Heritage such as the ones coming from conflicts and wars. REcall wishes to envision new ways to the handling of Painful Places & Stories going beyond any traditional approach: there is the need to shift from the ‘simply’ commemoration attitude to more active involvement and participation of people in/with Places & Stories, through design strategies of ‘re-appropriation’ (www.recall-project.polimi.it).
The contribution is focused on two research-by-design experiments curated by the author
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO PREVENT THE EROSION OF SALT MARSHES IN THE LAGOON OF VENICE
No full textThe loss of coastal habitats is a widespread problem in Europe. To
protect the intertidal salt marshes of the lagoon of Venice from the
erosion due to natural and human causes which is diffusely and intensely
impacting them, the European Commission has funded the demonstrative
project LIFE VIMINE. LIFE VIMINE aims to protect the most interior,
hard-to-access salt marshes in the northern lagoon of Venice through an
integrated approach, whose core is the prevention of erosion through
numerous, small but spatially-diffuse soil-bioengineering protections
works, mainly placed through semi-manual labour and with low impact on
the environment and the landscape. The effectiveness of protection works
in the long term is ensured through routine, temporally-continuous and
spatially-diffuse actions of monitoring and maintenance. This method
contrasts the common approach to managing hydraulic risk and erosion in
Italy which is based on large, one-off and irreversible protection
actions. The sustainability of the LIFE VIMINE approach is ensured by
the participatory involvement of stakeholders and the recognition that
protecting salt marshes means defending the benefits they provide to
society through their ecological functions, as well as protecting the
jobs linked to the existence or conservation of this habitat
Sialic acid content in erythrocyte membranes from pregnant women affected by gestational diabetes
No full textSize estimation of Web applications through Web CMF Object
No full textThis work outlines a new methodology for estimating the size of Web applications developed with a Content Management Framework (CMF). The reason for proposing – through this work – a new methodology for size estimation is the realization of the inadequacy of the RWO method, which we had recently developed, in estimating the effort of the latest Web applications. The size metric used in the RWO method was found not to be well suited for Web applications developed through a CMF. In this work, we present the new key elements for analysis and planning, needed to define every important step in developing a Web application through a CMF. Using those elements, it is possible to obtain the size of such an application. We also present the experimental validation performed on a 7- project dataset, provided by an Italian software company
