207 research outputs found
Teoria e prassi nell'opera di Italo Calvino. Il tema dell'amore difficile
No full textThe main topic of my research has been the role of femininity in Italo Calvino’s literary work. The theme of love has also been dealt with extensively. As Calvino seems to suggest, in our epoch love and eroticism are more and more problematic and difficult, due to unconscious fears towards sexuality, to a fierce struggle for existence and to the marginal role that love plays in the set of values. Love must be conquered by means of rigorous and personal moral discipline and knowledge capable of achieving a harmonious relationship with the others, a relationship which is often felt as inhibited by the author. The use of irony and sarcasm are used with the purpose of promoting the catharsis and inciting a more intimate relation with those profound, instinctual and natural parts of our body which are perceived as irretrievably lost. This can explain the author’s epistemological investigation on the five senses. At the base of his work there is the instructive attempt of teaching and arousing the reader’s awareness, moral strength and sensitivity so that he or she can be freed by the inhibitions, pressures and conditioning imposed by society and culture. I have emphasized the association between nature and femininity, a relation often suggested by the author when he enhances and praises the qualities of grace, force, sensuality and pragmatism which are embodied by his female characters. The progressive change in the formal choices adopted by the author in his entire work, seems to reflect, apart from the author’s inclination to stylistic versatility, the progressive deterioration of his vision of the world and the disbelief in a harmonious cohabitation among humans. Simultaneously, the weakening and impairment of the possibility of achieving authentic plenitude in the loving union are adumbrate
Multi-Body Simulation of a Helicopter Landing with Skid Landing Gear in Various Attitudes and Soil Conditions
No full textCaneva I., Lemorini C., Zampetti D. and Biaggi P. (eds). 2001. Beyond Tools - Redefining the PPN Lithic Assemblages of the Levant (Proceedings of the Third Workshop on PPN Chipped Lithic Industries, Venice, 1998).
No full textInizan Marie-Louise. Caneva I., Lemorini C., Zampetti D. and Biaggi P. (eds). 2001. Beyond Tools - Redefining the PPN Lithic Assemblages of the Levant (Proceedings of the Third Workshop on PPN Chipped Lithic Industries, Venice, 1998).. In: Paléorient, 2003, vol. 29, n°1. pp. 172-174
Role of shielding in modulating the effects of Solar Particle Events: Monte Carlo calculation of physical and “biological” dose in different organs.
No full textDistributions of absorbed dose and DNA clustered damage yields in various organs and tissues following the October 1989 solar
particle event (SPE) were calculated by coupling the FLUKA Monte Carlo transport code with two anthropomorphic phantoms (a
mathematical model and a voxel model), with the main aim of quantifying the role of the shielding features in modulating organ
doses. The phantoms, which were assumed to be in deep space, were inserted into a shielding box of variable thickness and material
and were irradiated with the proton spectra of the October 1989 event. Average numbers of DNA lesions per cell in different organs
were calculated by adopting a technique already tested in previous works, consisting of integrating into ‘‘condensed-history’’ Monte
Carlo transport codes – such as FLUKA – yields of radiobiological damage, either calculated with ‘‘event-by-event’’ track structure
simulations, or taken from experimental works available in the literature. More specifically, the yields of ‘‘Complex Lesions’’ (or
‘‘CL’’, defined and calculated as a clustered DNA damage in a previous work) per unit dose and DNA mass (CL Gy1 Da1) due to
the various beam components, including those derived from nuclear interactions with the shielding and the human body, were
integrated in FLUKA. This provided spatial distributions of CL/cell yields in different organs, as well as distributions of absorbed
doses. The contributions of primary protons and secondary hadrons were calculated separately, and the simulations were repeated
for values of Al shielding thickness ranging between 1 and 20 g/cm2. Slight differences were found between the two phantom types.
Skin and eye lenses were found to receive larger doses with respect to internal organs; however, shielding was more effective for skin
and lenses. Secondary particles arising from nuclear interactions were found to have a minor role, although their relative contribution
was found to be larger for the Complex Lesions than for the absorbed dose, due to their higher LET and thus higher
biological effectiveness
Flash visual evoked potentials in diurnal birds of prey
No full textThe objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility of Flash Visual Evoked Potentials (FVEPs) testing in birds of prey in a clinical setting and to describe the protocol and the baseline data for normal vision in this species. FVEP recordings were obtained from 6 normal adult birds of prey: n. 2 Harris’s Hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus), n. 1 Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus), n. 2 Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) and n. 1 Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug). Before carrying out VEP tests, all animals underwent neurologic and ophthalmic routine examination. Waveforms were analysed to identify reproducible peaks from random variation of baseline. At least three positive and negative peaks were highlighted in all tracks with elevated repeatability. Measurements consisted of the absolute and relative latencies of these peaks (P1, N1, P2, N2, P3, and N3) and their peak-to-peak amplitudes. Both the peak latency and wave morphology achieved from normal animals were similar to those obtained previously in other animal species. This test can be easily and safely performed in a clinical setting in birds of prey and could be useful for an objective assessment of visual function
Development of the FLUKA Monte Carlo code and of its scientific and technological applications
No full textThe basic features of the FLUKA Monte Carlo code are reviewed, giving some detail about the modeling of hadronic interactions. At present, also in the framework of an INFN project, FLUKA is being adopted for different applications in the field of radiobiology. Some of them are here briefly described. The main issues concerning the future developments of the code and of the general
FLUKA project are also presented
Abnormal carbohydrate metabolism during pregnancy : association with endothelial dysfunction.
No full textOBJECTIVE:To evaluate whether abnormal endothelial function, a common finding in premenopausal women with type 2 diabetes, is present in early states of diabetes during pregnancy, such as impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:
Brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) (endothelium-dependent) and nitrate-induced dilatation (NID) (endothelium-independent) were measured in 23 pregnant subjects with carbohydrate abnormalities (10 IGT, 13 GDM) and in 15 pregnant control subjects during the third trimester of gestation. High-resolution vascular ultrasonography was used to perform these investigations. A fasting lipid panel was obtained, and glucose and insulin values in response to a 100-g oral glucose load were also measured.
RESULTS:
FMD was significantly reduced in both groups of women with abnormal carbohydrate metabolism compared with control subjects (7.6 +/- 1.1% in the IGT group and 4.1 +/- 0.9% in the GDM group vs. 10.9 +/- 1.1% in control subjects, P < 0.04 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Significant difference in FMD was also observed between IGT and GDM groups (P < 0.04). NID was comparable in the three groups. Among all subjects, FMD showed a strong independent negative correlation with glycemic area (r=-0.60, P < 0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS:
Endothelial dysfunction, an early marker of macrovascular disease, is present in pregnancies complicated by IGT and GDM. This alteration, which seems to be directly related to glycemic levels, could explain, at least in part, the increased risk for concurrent hypertensive disorders during pregnancy in these women
Stochastic aspects and uncertainties in the prechemical and chemical stages of electron tracks in liquid water: A quantitative analysis based on Monte Carlo simulations.
No full textA new physical module for the biophysical simulation code PARTRAC has recently been developed, based on newly derived electron inelastic-scattering cross-sections in liquid water. In the present work, two modules of PARTRAC describing the production, diffusion and interaction of chemical species were developed with the specific purpose of quantifying the role of the uncertainties in the parameters controlling the early stages of liquid water radiolysis. A set of values for such parameters was identified, and time-dependent yields and frequency distributions of chemical species produced by electrons of different energies were calculated. The calculated yields were in good agreement with available data and simulations, thus confirming the reliability of the code. As the primary-electron energy decreases down to 1 keV, the *OH decay kinetics were found to get faster, reflecting variations in the spatial distribution of the initial energy depositions. In agreement with analogous works, an opposite trend was found for energies of a few hundred eV, due to the very small number of species involved. The spreading effects shown at long times by *OH frequency distributions following 1 keV irradiation were found to be essentially due to stochastic aspects of the chemical stage, whereas for 1 MeV tracks the physical and pre-chemical stages also were found to play a significant role. Relevant differences in the calculated e(aq) -yields were found by coupling the physics of PARTRAC with descriptions of the pre-chemical and chemical stages adopted in different models. This indicates a strict interrelation of the various stages, and thus a strong dependence of the parameter values on the assumptions made for the preceding and subsequent stages of the process. Although equally acceptable results can be obtained starting from different assumptions, it is necessary to keep control of such uncertainties, since they can significantly influence the modeling of radical attack on DNA and, more generally, radiobiological damage estimation. This study confirms the need for new, independently derived data on specific steps of water radiolysis, to be included in comprehensive biophysical simulation codes
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