Dpp e progetto di recupero funzionale e statico del Palazzo Ficini ad Orentano - Comune di Castelfranco di Sotto (PI)

La tesi riguarda il trasferimento della Biblioteca Comunale Decentrata delle Frazioni e del Polo Preistorico dell’Esposizione Comunale di Archeologia del Territorio, attualmente situati ad Orentano nei Locali del Vecchio Teatro, verso l’immobile ex-Palazzo Ficini, del quale l’Amministrazione Comunale di Castelfranco di Sotto (Pisa) ipotizza l’acquisto. La committenza si prefigge inoltre di diversificare i servizi culturali comunali, con la realizzazione di una biblioteca, un informagiovani, locali espositivi e spazi per riunioni. La tesi si propone di: • analizzare lo stato di fatto, comprese le vicende storiche di Orentano, poco note, e dell’ex-Palazzo Ficini, finora mai indagate, ed i servizi culturali attualmente presenti; • analizzare la consistenza attuale del Palazzo dal punto di vista della sicurezza strutturale ai fini della sua verifica, necessaria in seguito al cambio di destinazione d’uso, secondo l’ordinanza n° 3274 del 2003 con successive modifiche ed integrazioni; • progettare la nuova sistemazione dell’ex-Palazzo Ficini; • analizzare il progetto dal punto di vista della sicurezza strutturale, con la proposta degli interventi necessari all’adeguamento

The westward drift of the lithosphere. A tidal ratchet?

Is the westerly rotation of the lithosphere an ephemeral accidental recent phenomenon or is it a stable process of Earth’s geodynamics? The reason why the tidal drag has been questioned as the mechanism determining the lithospheric shift relative to the underlying mantle is the apparent too high viscosity of the asthenosphere. However, plate boundaries asymmetries are a robust indication of the ‘westerly’ decoupling of the entire Earth’s outer lithospheric shell and new studies support lower viscosities in the low-velocity layer (LVZ) atop the asthenosphere. Since the solid Earth tide oscillation is longer in one side relative to the other due to the contemporaneous Moon’s revolution, we demonstrate that a non-linear rheological behavior is expected in the lithosphere mantle interplay. This may provide a sort of ratchet favoring lowering of the LVZ viscosity under shear, allowing decoupling in the LVZ and triggering the westerly motion of the lithosphere relative to the mantle

Synthesis of 2-iodoynamides and regioselective [2+2] cycloadditions with ketene

The first synthesis of 2-iodoynamides is described as well as the first [2+2] cycloadditions of ketene with iodo alkynes.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM 28273)Boehringer Ingelheim PharmaceuticalsMerck Research Laboratorie

Synthesis of pyrrolizines by intramolecular capture of 1,4-dipolar intermediates in reactions of enamines with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate

Solvent polarity and reaction temperature strongly influence the reactions of dimethyl acetylenedicar-boxylate (DMAD) with 1-pyrrolidinyl enamines of acyclic and cyclic ketones. Whereas DMAD and 1-[1-phenyl-2-(phenylthio)ethenyl]pyrrolidine (3) give only a mixture of the isomeric 1,3-butadienes (5) in apolar solvents, in methanol the main product is the pyrrolizine 7, together with 5. Again in methanol, DMAD reacts at 0-5° with 8, 9 and 10 to give exclusively 1:1 adducts, the pyrrolizines 11,12 and 13, respectively, whereas at −50° 8 and 9 give 1:2 (enamine : DMAD) adducts, the pyrrolizines 14 and 15, respectively; a single crystal X-ray analysis of 14 gave the structure of the 1:2 adducts. In the same solvent methyl propiolate and 8 give only the linear Michael adduct 17. The enamine-ketone 18 reacts with DMAD in propylene carbonate at 0–5° to give, via (2 + 2)-cycloaddition and ring expansion, 19, and the linear Michael adduct 20. The mechanism of (2 + 2)-cycloaddition and pyrrolizine formation is discussed in terms of a common tied-ion pair intermediate formed in the first, rate-determining step, followed by a second solvent-dependent step

Long-range electron transfer in structurally engineered pentaammineruthenium (histidine-62) cytochrome c

In many biological processes, long-range electron transfer (ET) plays a key role. When the three-dimensional structures of proteins are accurately known, use of modified proteins and protein-protein complexes provides an experimental approach to study ET rates between two metal centers. For Ru(His)- modified proteins, the introduction of histidine residues at any desired surface location by site-directed mutagenesis opens the way for systematic investigations of ET pathways

Horizontal mantle flow controls subduction dynamics

It is generally accepted that subduction is driven by downgoing-plate negative buoyancy. Yet plate age –the main control on buoyancy– exhibits little correlation with most of the present-day subduction velocities and slab dips. “West”-directed subduction zones are on average steeper (~65°) than “East”-directed (~27°). Also, a “westerly”-directed net rotation of the lithosphere relative to the mantle has been detected in the hotspot reference frame. Thus, the existence of an “easterly”-directed horizontal mantle wind could explain this subduction asymmetry, favouring steepening or lifting of slab dip angles. Here we test this hypothesis using high-resolution two-dimensional numerical thermomechanical models of oceanic plate subduction interacting with a mantle flow. Results show that when subduction polarity is opposite to that of the mantle flow, the descending slab dips subvertically and the hinge retreats, thus leading to the development of a back-arc basin. In contrast, concordance between mantle flow and subduction polarity results in shallow dipping subduction, hinge advance and pronounced topography of the overriding plate, regardless of their age-dependent negative buoyancy. Our results are consistent with seismicity data and tomographic images of subduction zones. Thus, our models may explain why subduction asymmetry is a common feature of convergent margins on Earth

Leon Battista Alberti and the Concept of Lineament

A core idea in the architectural theory of Leon Battista Alberti, as expressed in the De re aedificatoria, is the distinction between “lineament,” the line in the mind of the architect, and “matter,” the material presence of the building. This distinction plays a key role in architectural design throughout the history of Western architecture. As Le Corbusier would say in the twentieth century, “architecture is a product of the mind.” The distinction between mind and matter can be found in Vitruvius, in the distinction between “that which signifies and that which is signified”; at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, between disegno interno and disegno esterno; or in Peter Eisenman’s distinction between deep aspect and surface aspect in architecture, to name just three examples. There are passages in the De amore of Marsilio Ficino where it seems clear that he is referring to his mentor’s concept of lineament. Lines cannot be called bodies, for example, and beauty can only be a property of matter through arrangement, proportion, and aspect (shape and color), which are products of thought, in the Neoplatonic tradition, as in the idea of beauty described by Plotinus, which can be found in Alberti’s concept of beauty or concinnitas. Plotinus distinguished the shape of the matter of a statue from the shape of the statue in the mind of the artist. I would like to suggest that Alberti knew the Enneads of Plotinus, perhaps as a result of a meeting with Gemistos Plethon and Nicholas of Cusa at the Academy of Palestrina, and through the translation of the Enneads by Marius Victorinus. Alberti’s concept of lineament is a Neoplatonic concept, and it plays an important role in architectural theory. Neoplatonism can also be found in Alberti’s proportioning systems in his architecture, as Ficino called Alberti a “Platonic mathematician.” These propositions have never been advanced, that I know of, and they are fundamental to an understanding of architectural theory

Network-analysis-guided synthesis of weisaconitine D and liljestrandinine.

General strategies for the chemical synthesis of organic compounds, especially of architecturally complex natural products, are not easily identified. Here we present a method to establish a strategy for such syntheses, which uses network analysis. This approach has led to the identification of a versatile synthetic intermediate that facilitated syntheses of the diterpenoid alkaloids weisaconitine D and liljestrandinine, and the core of gomandonine. We also developed a web-based graphing program that allows network analysis to be easily performed on molecules with complex frameworks. The diterpenoid alkaloids comprise some of the most architecturally complex and functional-group-dense secondary metabolites isolated. Consequently, they present a substantial challenge for chemical synthesis. The synthesis approach described here is a notable departure from other single-target-focused strategies adopted for the syntheses of related structures. Specifically, it affords not only the targeted natural products, but also intermediates and derivatives in the three families of diterpenoid alkaloids (C-18, C-19 and C-20), and so provides a unified synthetic strategy for these natural products. This work validates the utility of network analysis as a starting point for identifying strategies for the syntheses of architecturally complex secondary metabolites