Neuroscienze e utilizzazione militare delle tecniche di potenziamento umano

To swim like dolphins, to climb like geckoes, to run like leopards, to only sleep two hours like giraffes, to fast like Alaskan sled dogs do. The number of research projects, developed by private and public institutions, for the military use of neurosciences, biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, robotics and all the other emerging technologies is on the rise. Faced with a systematic and overall change in human identity, what kind of society can we expect? In designing super-soldiers will we get better citizens

Il "dovere di essere": cristianesimo e libertà.

La moral no es, para Cotta, la opción subjetiva por un determinado modelo de vida; ni siquiera un conjunto estable de preceptos: es la dimensión teórica que está en la base de la tensión entre essere e dover essere. Es la capacidad de trasformar el essere en dovere di essere, o sea, en deber mantener abierta la posibilidad relacional. Es la capacidad de advertir esta tensión como duda, como error, como descubrimiento de los limites del propio essere en la perspectiva del dovere di essere, de la búsqueda del otro. Esta visión de la moral refleja, a juicio de Cotta, las raices cristianas del pensamiento liberal y reconduce al "realismo" de San Agustin, que, a traves de la reflexión sobre los límites de la naturaleza humana, rechaza cualquier forma de teocracia y de estatolatría, cualquier pretensión de encontrar lo absoluto sobre la tierra y en la historia

El universo del sujeto y la universalidad de los derechos

La forma en la que el hombre crea su propia imagen y la proyecta en el mundo modela un marco antropológico que determina el diálogo con otras culturas. En la cultura occidental, la teoría del sujeto, basada en el "cogiro ergo sum", convierte al "yo" en una unidad absoluta y definida. Estas cualidades dificultan su traslación a otras culturas donde el "yo" tiene diversas graduaciones y el peso de la relación con los otros es de la máxima importancia. Para superar esta diferencia el autor sugiere reconsiderar el concepto clásico de identidad personal puesto que ello posibilita una antropología estática y dinámica, un concepto, a su vez, más cercano a la universalidad de los derechos

Semantic Brokering of Multimedia Contents for Smart Delivery of Ubiquitous Services in Pervasive Environments

With the proliferation of modern mobile devices having the capability to interact each other and with the environment in a transparent manner, there is an increase in the development of those applications that are specifically designed for pervasive and ubiquitous environments. Those applications are able to provide a service of interest for the user that depends on context information, such as the user's position, his preferences, the capability of the device and its available resources. Services have to respond in a rational way in many different situations choosing the actions with the best expected result by the user, so making environment not only more connected and efficient, but smarter. Here we present a semantic framework that provides the technology for the development of intelligent, context aware services and their delivery in pervasive and ubiquitous environments

Impacts of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on nutrient uptake, N2 fixation, N transfer, and growth in a wheat/faba bean intercropping system

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can play a key role in natural and agricultural ecosystems affecting plant nutrition, soil biological activity and modifying the availability of nutrients by plants. This research aimed at expanding the knowledge of the role played by AMF in the uptake of macro- and micronutrients and N transfer (using a 15 N stem-labelling method) in a faba bean/wheat intercropping system. It also investigates the role of AMF in biological N fixation (using the natural isotopic abundance method) in faba bean grown in pure stand and in mixture. Finally, it examines the role of AMF in driving competition and facilitation between faba bean and wheat. Durum wheat and faba bean were grown in pots (five pots per treatment) as sole crops or in mixture in the presence or absence of AMF. Root colonisation by AMF was greater in faba bean than in wheat and increased when species were mixed compared to pure stand (particularly for faba bean). Mycorrhizal symbiosis positively influenced root biomass, specific root length, and root density and increased the uptake of P, Fe, and Zn in wheat (both in pure stand and in mixture) but not in faba bean. Furthermore, AMF symbiosis increased the percentage of N derived from the atmosphere in the total N biomass of faba bean grown in mixture (+20%) but not in pure stand. Nitrogen transfer from faba bean to wheat was low (2.5–3.0 mg pot -1 ); inoculation with AMF increased N transfer by 20%. Overall, in terms of above- and belowground growth and uptake of nutrients, mycorrhization favoured the stronger competitor in the mixture (wheat) without negatively affecting the companion species (faba bean). Results of this study confirm the role of AMF in driving biological interactions among neighbouring plants. and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Effects of harvesting methods on seed yield and quality of Scorpiurs muricatus L..

Scorpiurus muricatus L. is an annual legume, widely distributed in Mediterranean pastures, that is appreciated by farmers for its productivity, forage quality, and palatability. It is characterised by long flowering and ripening periods and by pod shedding. These characteristics cause high seed losses, which could reduce its seed harvest efficiency in terms of seed yield and quality. In this study, we investigated the effects on seed yield and quality of different harvesting methods (windrowing at different times with subsequent combining was compared with direct combining). Our results show that direct combining when the pods were fully ripened reduced pod losses compared with swathing methods, producing the highest yield of seed actually harvested. However, in this study, the unique climatic conditions during the pod development stage (extremely high temperatures) accelerated the ripening process, presumably limiting pod shedding

A diagnostic trap for the dermatopathologist: granulomatous reactions from cutaneous microimplants for cosmetic purposes.

We present a case of late granulomatous reactions from silicone that first appeared in a site different from that of the injection causing an incorrect diagnosis of liposarcoma in the beginning. The histological picture was a cystic-macrophagic granuloma in both the injection site (upper lip) and the migrating site (paranasal regions). We think that the foreign body has undergone an antigravity migration from the upper lip to the right paranasal region. To our knowledge, such a phenomenon has not been yet reported in literature

Histological findings in direct inguinal hernia : Investigating the histological changes of the herniated groin looking forward to ascertain the pathogenesis of hernia disease.

Abstract BACKGROUND: The study is focused on recognizing the histological changes of the structures close to and around the hernia opening in patients having direct inguinal hernia. METHODS: In 15 patients with primary bilateral direct inguinal hernia who underwent a Stoppa open posterior inguinal hernia repair, tissue specimens from the abdominal wall surrounding a direct hernia border were excised for histological examination. These findings in patients with direct inguinal hernia were compared with tissue specimens excised from the fossa inguinalis media of cadavers without hernia. RESULTS: Significant degenerative modifications such as fibrohyaline degeneration and fatty substitution of the muscle fibers were seen in the biopsy samples. Inflammatory infiltration with lympho-histiocitary elements, artery sub-occlusion and vascular congestion were also constantly identified. Noteworthy injuries of the nervous structures such as edema, degenerative fibrosis and atrophy were also detected. No comparable tissue damage was witnessed in the control samples. CONCLUSION: Presence of inflammatory infiltration, vascular damage and regressive nerve lesions, as well as fibrohyaline degeneration and fatty dystrophy of the muscle fibers are the features seen within the examined structures surrounding the direct hernia opening. These findings could represent a reason for a structural and functional weakening of the inguinal region. Consequently, the described results lead the authors to depict these changes as a plausible cause of direct inguinal hernia protrusion

Earthquake-triggered landslide susceptibility in Italy by means of Artificial Neural Network

The use of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approaches has gained a significant role over the last decade in the field of predicting the distribution of effects triggered by natural forcing, this being particularly relevant for the development of adequate risk mitigation strategies. Among the most critical features of these approaches, there are the accurate geolocation of the available data as well as their numerosity and spatial distribution. The use of an ANN has never been tested at a national scale in Italy, especially in estimating earthquake-triggered landslides susceptibility. The CEDIT catalogue, the most up-to-date national inventory of earthquake-induced ground effects, was adopted to evaluate the efficiency of an ANN to explain the distribution of landslides over the Italian territory. An ex-post evaluation of the ANN-based susceptibility model was also performed, using a sub-dataset of historical data with lower geolocation precision. The ANN training highly performed in terms of spatial prediction, by partitioning the Italian landscape into slope units. The obtained results returned a distribution of potentially unstable slope units with maximum concentrations primarily distributed in the central Apennines and secondarily in the southern and northern Apennines. Moreover, the Alpine sector clearly appeared to be divided into two areas, a western one with relatively low susceptibility to earthquake-triggered landslides and the eastern sector with higher susceptibility. Our work clearly demonstrates that if funds for risk mitigation were allocated only on the basis of rainfall-induced landslide distribution, large areas highly susceptible to earthquake-triggered landslides would be completely ignored by mitigation plans.</p