153 research outputs found
Effect of bombesin on glucose-induced insulin release in humans.
No full textThe effect of bombesin on basal and glucose-stimulated insulin release was studied in male healthy volunteers. Glucose was administered by oral, intravenous or intraduodenal route during saline or bombesin infusion (5 ng/kg/min for 60 min). The peptide had no significant effect on basal levels of glucose and insulin. However, during its administration, the insulin response and the expected rise in blood glucose after oral glucose load (50 g) were strongly inhibited, and the gastric emptying of liquids was significantly delayed. On the contrary, the insulin response to intravenous glucose (20 g) was significantly increased by bombesin without changes in plasma glucose levels. Finally, when glucose was infused into the duodenum, thus bypassing the stomach, the insulin response was significantly increased by the peptide. In this case, too, plasma glucose levels after glucose load were virtually identical during either bombesin or saline infusion. These data clearly demonstrate that the direct effect of bombesin on insulin release is stimulatory and suggest that the inhibitory effect observed after oral glucose is connected with the action of the peptide on gastric emptying, the delay of which slows the entry of glucose into the small bowel
Temperature monitoring of a geosynthetic-reinforced embankment in a seismic area
No full textField data on reinforced embankments are of upmost importance for improving knowledge on their long behaviour. In Valdina, Sicily,
Italy, following a landslide that involved a slope in clay soils, a reinforced embankment has been constructed. Valdina is a small
village in the Eastern Sicily that displays a high frequency of landslides since clay soils outcrop extensively. In 2006, the reinforced
embankment constructed on a clay slope was instrumented and the results of the following 2 years of reinforced embankment
monitoring are presented together with an analysis of the collected data of temperatures. The equipment installed allows the
measurement of the weather parameters (rainfall, wind, air humidity and air temperature), of the loads and deformations of the
reinforced embankment, and of the ground vibrations caused by earthquakes. To estimate the trend of deformations, temperature,
humidity and loads along the geogrids used to reinforce the structure, measurement instruments were installed within the structure at
different depths
Radiofrequency (SECCA® Procedure)
No full textMany resource materials exist for the physician or surgeon evaluating and managing
the patient with fecal incontinence. Much of the available information is
embedded in the context of an overall textbook or compendium of colorectal
surgery. There are a relatively limited amount of focused data for the practitioner
who wishes to become familiar or updated with the latest relevant diagnostic
and therapeutic information. Professor Mongardini is to be commended for
having assembled in a cogent, succinct, and imminently readable textbook all
of the abovementioned required details. He has selected 14 chapters each of
which was authored by between one and fi ve experts. This book commences
with a very surgeon-specifi c view of pelvic fl oor anatomy which I found readily
comprehensible and clinically relevant. The second chapter which I also
very much enjoyed reading is a description of physiology and physiopathology
again written from the perspective of the practicing surgeon. Studying this
chapter is an excellent prerequisite to digesting the subsequent four chapters
each of which delves into a different but important facet of evaluation.
Specifi cally, the chapters on endoanal ultrasound, magnetic resonance, anorectal
manometry, and electromyography are all very up to date, highly descriptive,
and again immediately useful in daily patient management. Reading these
four chapters allows one a comprehensive overview of the optimal available
current diagnostic tools. The remaining eight chapters describe virtually every
currently available therapeutic modality by which the practitioner can try to
assist the patient with fecal incontinence. The chapters include the gamut from
pelvic fl oor rehabilitation and radiofrequency tissue remodeling to stomas and
stem cells. In between these extremes are reviews of injectable and implantable
agents, sacral neuromodulation, the artifi cial bowel sphincter and the more
“standard” surgical therapies of sphincter repair, post anal repair, and muscle
transposition. The easy readability of the material in the textbook is further
complimented by the high-quality illustrations and photographs. It is clear that
each of the authors commands expertise in his or her respective chapter. It is
also quite apparent that Professor Mongardini edited the material to allow for
an easy narrative fl ow between chapters with minimal subject overlap but
excellent subject juxtaposition and interplay. I am very grateful to Professor Mongardini for having invited me to author this Foreword. I highly commend
this textbook to all physicians and surgeons who evaluate and/or manage
patients with fecal incontinence. This book shall certainly occupy a prominent
place in my personal library and will be enjoyed by all of my residents and
fellows.
Steven D. Wexner, MD, PhD (Hon), FACS, FRCS, FRCS (Ed)
Chairman, Department of Colorectal Disease
Director, Digestive Disease Center
Cleveland Clinic
Florida, US
Debris flows susceptibility zoning: an approach applied to a study area
No full textLandslide susceptibility analysis allows drawing the susceptibility maps of anarea, where the predicted areas involved by rapid landslides are drafted. The paper shows the susceptibility zoning of debris flows performed in an area in the Province of Reggio Calabria (Italy), regularly and historically involved by rapid flow-like landslide events.In particular, the source areas of landslides have been predicted using an empirical/heuristic method based on observed phenomena and on geological/geomorphological setting of the area (detailed and validated in field thematic maps). Then, propagation phase of debris flows has been analysed by advanced methods (numerical model) to assess the path, the travel distance and velocity of flowing mass. The obtained results represent a preliminary level of zoning of the area, developed on the base of nowadays available data, on which more sophisticated studies can be developed
Memoria di Lavoro e Funzione Narrativa in un campione di adolescenti con e senza esperienze traumatiche
No full textRole of pH on stability and mechanical properties of gelatin films. Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers.
No full textThe effect of the film-forming solution pH on the triple-helix content, thermal stability, and mechanical properties of gelatin films was investigated. The films were prepared from solutions at different pHs of type A pigskin gelatin, and the mechanical characteristics were determined. At pHs higher than 9 and lower than 5, Young’s modulus, E, and the stress at break, σb, of the films decreased significantly. Cross-linking with genipin reduced deformation at break, εb, and increased Young’s modulus. The intensity of the 1.1-nm X-ray diffraction reflection and the denaturation enthalpy decreased at these pHs, indicating that the triple helix reduced. Preliminary in vitro tests on the cross-linked samples indicated good cell proliferation and viability
Preliminary results on the mercury content in Citharus linguatula (L:) in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea
No full textThe concentrations of Hg in superficial marine sediments and in muscle tissue of speciments of Citharus linguatula L. were determined in several zones of the northern Tyrrhenian sea.
The average content of the metal found in the organism studied is very high and increases with the length of the specimens, displaying a different trend in the various zones.
Additionally, an inverse relation was observed between Hg concentrations in C. linguatula and the metal content in the sediments of the studied zones. Consideration is given to the dangers of frequent consumption of this fish and to further research to understand the relation between the concentration of Hg in C. linguatula and in its environment
Hydrogenated amorphous silicon multi-SOI waveguide modulator with low voltage-length product
No full textElectrically induced phase modulation is characterized for the first time in a waveguide-integrated Fabry-Perot resonating cavity based both on an index- and conductivity- high-contrast amorphous silicon/amorphous silicon carbide (a-Si:H/a-SiC:H) multistack. The device consists of a single mode a-Si:H rib waveguide containing three insulating thin layers of a-SiC:H embedded within the core thickness. The effective refractive index change, Δn eff, at the wavelength of λ=1.55 μm is achieved through the application of an electric field across the stack which induces carrier accumulation at all the a-Si:H/a-SiC:H interfaces, resulting in turn in a high interaction between the optical beam and the accumulation layers. This configuration allows to obtain a V π×L π product of about 5.9 V cm, not far from what observed in high performing electro-optical modulators in crystalline silicon
Il nuovo giardino naturale. Ibridazioni a piccola scala
No full textLa ricerca affronta il tema del giardino come strumento sensibile di mediazione tra l'immagine e il significato della natura e il progetto del paesaggio. Si vuole tracciare un percorso critico partendo da un assioma che afferma una dualità nel rapportarsi al paesaggio, da una parte la globalizzazione dei mercati e la standardizzazione dei comportamenti e dall'altra lo svilupparsi di azioni di ricerca di naturalità.
In questo contesto, occorre chiedersi cosa vuol dire oggi "naturale"? In che modo la coesistenza di questo duplice atteggiamento verso il paesaggio abbia influenzato l'idea di natura presente nel progetto di paesaggio? Qual è stato il ruolo del giardino "naturale" nella costruzione di una tale idea? Esistono una definizione e un'immagine di natura in cui la cultura contemporanea si riconosce? Quale potrebbe essere il ruolo del giardino nel futuro
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