1,431 research outputs found
Per la priorità di Antonio Meucci nell’invenzione del telefono
No full textNell'Aprile del 2008 ricorre il bicentenario della nascita di Antonio Meucci (Firenze, 13 Aprile 1808 - New York, 18 Ottobre 1889), universalmente riconosciuto come l'inventore del telefono ed uno dei grandi personaggi che hanno contribuito a rappresentare creatività e scienza fiorentine. La Facoltà di Ingegneria dell'Università degli Studi di Firenze ha preso l'iniziativa di celebrare la ricorrenza chiedendo ed ottenendo dal Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali la costituzione di un Comitato Nazionale
Nonthermal light-induced atom desorption: main features and dynamics
No full textThe study of the very complicated atom-surface interaction in presence of light had an increasing momentum during these last few years. A new field has been opened by a recent experiment made by Gozzini et al.,1 where a new and interesting effect, consisting in a huge sodium desorption when a silane coated cell is illuminated at room temperature, has been observed. Similar results, still in silane coated cells, have also been obtained by Meucci et al.2 with rubidium and cesium. The effect, shortly indicated hereafter as LIAD (light-induced atom desorption), is totally different from the other processes produced by very intense laser pulses, where the main effect produced by light is a thermal one
Falcioni L, Gallotta MC, Baldari C, Cardinali L, Campanella M, Ferrari D, Guidetti L, Meucci M. Influence of training status on cardiac and vascular functioning in young recreational and competitive male rowers. Frontiers in Pediatrics, section Pediatric Cardiology
No full textIntroduction: The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of training
status on cardiovascular function in young male recreational and competitive
rowers.
Methods: Ejection duration in percentage to the heart rate period (ED%),
subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR), augmentation index at 75 bpm (AIx75) and
carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) of competitive rowers (CR) (age
17.6 ± 4.1 years), recreational rowers (RR) (age 16.7 ± 2.70 years) and athletes
practicing other recreational sports (ORS) (age 15.3 ± 1.4 years) were assessed.
Results: ED% was lower in CR compared to ORS (31.9 ± 3.9% vs. 38.4 ± 4.8%; p =
0.026) and cf-PWV was higher in CR compared to ORS (5.5 ± 1.0 m/s vs. 4.7 ±
0.5 m/s; p = 0.032). SEVR was higher in CR compared to RR and ORS (165.8 ±
33.7% vs. 127.4 ± 30.4% and 128.3 ± 27.8%; p = 0.022) and AIx75 was lower in CR
compared to RR and ORS (−15.7 ± 8.6% vs. 1.2 ± 9.9% and 1.5 ± 9.1; p = 0.001).
Discussion: Healthy, young competitive male rowers reported higher myocardial
performance and better cardiovascular health than recreational athletes.
Interpretations of cf-PWV in competitive rowers should be performed alongside
other cardiovascular indicators
“Ragazzi difficili?”. Il contributo di Gian Paolo Meucci tra politica, diritto e educazione
No full textIl mio contributo intende mettere in luce l’impegno teorico e operativo di Gian Paolo Meucci, Presidente del Tribunale minorile di Firenze tra il 1966 e il 1986. Il magistrato fiorentino ha proposto una visione della giustizia proiettata nel futuro, contribuendo a segnare un momento di forte rottura rispetto al passato e a rinnovare in maniera radicale il diritto mi-norile in Italia
The role of conditional conservatism on acquirers’ stock prices around M&A announcement
No full textPurpose: This study investigates the relationship between conditional conservatism and the market reaction of firms’ stock prices in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) operations.
Design/methodology/approach: Leveraging a sample of 224 U.S. listed companies and event study methodology, as well as regression models, this study analyses 735 M&A deals from 2010 to 2018.
Findings: We find that conditional conservatism is positively associated with cumu- lative abnormal returns of acquiring firms post-M&A announcement; moreover, one of the drivers of this result is the information asymmetry channel. Additional analy- sis also shows that while acquirers with high conditional conservatism experience a positive reaction to M&A announcements, there is no significant reaction for acquir- ers with low conditional conservatism.
Originality/value: Our main results provide evidence that a high conditional con- servatism limits the reduction of acquiring firms’ stock prices post-announcement of M&A. Our additional analyses show that low conditional conservatism does not ex- ert a significant negative impact on acquiring firms’ stock prices post-announcement of M&A, as would be expected.
Practical implications: This paper may be useful for both investors and practition- ers since it offers interesting insights on how to deal with accounting policies and benefit from M&A transactions. Indeed, if they are informed on how conditional conservatism exerts a role on stock prices, they are less likely to engage in value- destroying M&A transactions. In addition, our results may interest standard setters interested in the role of the conservatism principle under the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
Laparoscopic total mesorectal excision for ultralow rectal cancer with transanal intersphincteric dissection as a first step: a single-surgeon experience
No full textLaparoscopic intersphincteric resection (ISR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiation is helpful in the management of patients with low rectal cancer. With the advent of this technique, the need for performance of abdominoperineal resection seems to have decreased in patients with very low rectal tumors. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of laparoscopic ISR preceded by transanal rectal dissection low rectal cancer. Between December 2009 and June 2011, we performed laparoscopic ISR for 30 patients with very low rectal cancer. Patients received preoperative concurrent chemoradiation (5 days a week for 5 weeks). The surgical procedure was performed 6 weeks after radiotherapy and included total mesorectal excision, ISR, transanal coloanal anastomosis with coloplasty and loop ileostomy. Clinical data of 30 patients were analyzed retrospectively. Thirty patients (21 men, nine women) had a median age of 65 years (range, 37 to 75 years), a median body weight of 67 kg (range, 43 to 96 kg), and body mass index of 24 kg/m(2) (range, 19 to 33 kg/m(2)). The distance of the tumor from the anal verge was 5 cm (range, 2 to 11 cm). The operative time was from 240 to 360 minutes, and estimated blood loss was 100 to 520 mL. There were no conversions and no postoperative mortality. This procedure is feasible and has favorable short-term results for radical treatment of very low rectal disease while preserving anal function
Are there immunologically treatable motor neuron diseases?
No full textSeveral studies have addressed the issue of a possible immunological involvement in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or motor neuron disease (MND), particularly when the disease was associated with cancer, lymphoma or other monoclonal gammopathies or with the presence of serum antibodies to neural antigens. The hypothesis of the existence of immunologically treatable MND was reinforced by the occasional report of MND patients responding to immune or cytostatic therapies and by the identification among those with a purely lower motor neuron syndrome (LMNS) of a motor neuropathy, presently known as multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN), which almost invariably responded to immune therapies. These observations have led to several attempts to treat patients with MND or LMNS, either idiopathic or associated with the above mentioned conditions, with a number of immune or cytostatic therapies. The aim of this review is to verify whether the available data provide enough evidence to support the concept of dysimmune MND and to justify the use in these patients of potentially harmful immune cytostatic therapies
An innovative neutron spectrometer for soil moisture measurements
No full textSoil moisture is a crucial variable in evaluating soil properties and its interaction with the atmosphere, yet none of the techniques currently employed is fully adequate for evaluating the water content in soil over an area of hectares and depth of tens of centimeters. In recent times, it has been shown how the water content over this volume can be accurately assessed measuring changes in the epithermal flux of cosmic neutrons, which is extremely sensitive to the moderation caused by hydrogen. The instruments employed for neutron flux measurements are usually neutron counters, covered with moderator coatings for enhancing their sensitivity in the epithermal energy range. On the other hand, the worldwide shortage of 3He caused a considerable increase in the costs associated with the manufacturing of proportional counters based on this gas, which were widely employed for their great sensitivity and noise rejection capability. In this work, we developed a 3He-free neutron spectrometer for performing these measurements, which detects neutrons in the energy range from 0.01 ev to 1 GeV. The reconstruction of the energy spectrum allows a more accurate evaluation of the epithermal neutron flux and provides other information which improves the quality of soil moisture measurements. Irradiations performed with neutron sources of 241Am and AmBe allowed to evaluate the spectrometric capability of the instrument, whereas the measurements of cosmic neutrons were employed to assess its sensitivity to cosmic radiation. The sensitivity of the instrument is slightly less than the one of the neutron counters currently employed, yet the access to the spectrometric information should provide greater accuracy in the epithermal flux measurements
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