L’ampliamento come occasione di recupero della memoria e dell’identità

Presentiamo il progetto di ampliamento di un cimitero isolato di una cittadina della Sicilia occidentale in quanto esemplificativo del modo di affrontare il progetto dell’“addizione”. L’ampliamento si confronta con un ancora leggibile caratteristico impianto ottocentesco. Pur introducendo caratteri necessariamente innovativi, l’architettura progettata cerca di risolvere il difficile rapporto tra il nuovo impianto ed il vecchio cimitero dalla speciale forma a “campana”, in un sito in forte pendenza, a monte dell’abitato. Il recupero del luogo della memoria collettiva, depositata nel segno di un recinto chiuso, viene pensato attraverso l’intermediazione di uno spazio che cerca di mantenere, recuperandola e rafforzandola, l’identità dei luoghi, alterati negli ultimi anni da interventi incontrollati, restituendo la memoria stessa alla città

3_D modeling using TLS and GPR techniques to characterize above and below-ground wood distribution in pyroclastic deposits along the Blanco River (Chilean Patagonia)

To date, the study of in-stream wood in rivers has been focused mainly on quantifying wood pieces deposited above the ground. However, in some particular river systems, the presence of buried dead wood can also represent an important component of wood recruitment and budgeting dynamics. This is the case of the Blanco River (Southern Chile) severely affected by the eruption of Chait\ue9n Volcano occurred between 2008 and 2009. The high pyroclastic sediment deposition and transport affected the channel and the adjacent forest, burying wood logs and standing trees. The aim of this contribution is to assess the presence and distribution of wood in two study areas (483 m2 and 1989 m2, respectively) located along the lower streambank of the Blanco River, and covered by thick pyroclastic deposition up to 5 m. The study areas were surveyed using two different devices, a Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) and a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). The first was used to scan the above surface achieving a high point cloud density ( 48 2000 points m-2) which allowed us to identify and measure the wood volume. The second, was used to characterize the internal morphology of the volcanic deposits and to detect the presence and spatial distribution of buried wood up to a depth of 4 m. Preliminary results have demonstrated differences in the numerousness and volume of above wood between the two study areas. In the first one, there were 43 wood elements, 33 standing trees and 10 logs, with a total volume of 2.96 m3 (109.47 m3 km-1), whereas the second one was characterized by the presence of just 7 standing trees and 11 wood pieces, for a total amount of 0.77 m3 (7.73 m3 km-1). The dimensions of the wood elements vary greatly according to the typology, standing trees show the higher median values in diameter and length (0.15 m and 2.91 m, respectively), whereas the wood logs were smaller (0.06 m and 1.12 m, respectively). The low dimensions of deposited wood can be probably connected to their origin, suggesting that these elements were generated by toppling and breaking of surrounding dead trees. Results obtained with the GPR confirm the ability of this instrument to localize the presence and distribution of buried wood. From the 3- D analysis it was possible to assess the spatial distribution and to estimate, as first approach, the volume of the buried wood which represents approximately 0.04% of the entire volcanic deposit. Further analysis will focus on additional GPR calibration with different wood sizes for a more accurate estimation of the volume. The knowledge of the overall wood amount stored in a fluvial system that can be remobilized over time, represent an essential factor to ensure better forest and river management actions

Slow breathing and hypoxic challenge: cardiorespiratory consequences and their central neural substrates

Controlled slow breathing (at 6/min, a rate frequently adopted during yoga practice) can benefit cardiovascular function, including responses to hypoxia. We tested the neural substrates of cardiorespiratory control in humans during volitional controlled breathing and hypoxic challenge using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty healthy volunteers were scanned during paced (slow and normal rate) breathing and during spontaneous breathing of normoxic and hypoxic (13% inspired O2) air. Cardiovascular and respiratory measures were acquired concurrently, including beat-to-beat blood pressure from a subset of participants (N = 7). Slow breathing was associated with increased tidal ventilatory volume. Induced hypoxia raised heart rate and suppressed heart rate variability. Within the brain, slow breathing activated dorsal pons, periaqueductal grey matter, cerebellum, hypothalamus, thalamus and lateral and anterior insular cortices. Blocks of hypoxia activated mid pons, bilateral amygdalae, anterior insular and occipitotemporal cortices. Interaction between slow breathing and hypoxia was expressed in ventral striatal and frontal polar activity. Across conditions, within brainstem, dorsal medullary and pontine activity correlated with tidal volume and inversely with heart rate. Activity in rostroventral medulla correlated with beat-to-beat blood pressure and heart rate variability. Widespread insula and striatal activity tracked decreases in heart rate, while subregions of insular cortex correlated with momentary increases in tidal volume. Our findings define slow breathing effects on central and cardiovascular responses to hypoxic challenge. They highlight the recruitment of discrete brainstem nuclei to cardiorespiratory control, and the engagement of corticostriatal circuitry in support of physiological responses that accompany breathing regulation during hypoxic challenge

Signal processing by opto-optical interactions between self-localized and free propagating beams in liquid crystals

The reorientational nonlinearity of nematic liquid crystals enables a self-localized spatial soliton and its waveguide to be deflected or destroyed by a control beam propagating across the cell. We demonstrate a simple all-optical readdressing scheme by exploiting the lens-like perturbation induced by an external beam on both a nematicon and a co-polarized guided signal of different wavelength. Angular steering as large as 2.2 degrees was obtained for control powers as low as 32mW in the near infrared

Faking and Conspiring about COVID-19: A Discursive Approach

In the more general climate of post-truth - a social trend reflecting a disregard for reliable ways of knowing what is true, mostly acted through massive use of misinformation and rhetoric calling for emotions - an alarming “infodemic” accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting healthy attitudes and behaviors and further lessening trust in science, institutions, and traditional media. Its two main representative items, fake and conspiracy news, have been widely analyzed in psycho-social research, even if scholars mostly acknowledged the cognitive and social dimensions of those items and devoted less attention to their discursive construction. In addition, these works did not directly compare and differentiate fake and conspiracy pathways. In order to address this gap and promote a wider understanding of these matters, a qualitative investigation of an Italian sample of 112 fake and conspiracy news articles, mostly spread during the first two COVID-19 “waves” (from March 2020 to January 2021) was realized. Our sample gathered news specifically coming from social media posts, representing easy and fast channels for viral content diffusion. We analyzed the selected texts by means of Diatextual Analysis and Discursive Action Model models, aimed to (a) offer “in depth” fine-grained analysis of the psycholinguistic and argumentative features of fake and conspiracy news, and (b) differentiate them in line with the classical Aristotle’s rhetoric stances of logos, ethos, and pathos, thus bridging traditional and current lines of thinking. Even though they may share common roots set in the post-truth climate, fake and conspiracy news engage in different rhetoric patterns since they present different enjeu and construct specific epistemic pathways. Implications for health- and digital-literacy are debated

Visualization techniques to disclose the link between managers’ remuneration and organisation’s performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the managers’ remunerations and the company’s performance and to propose a visualization technique so that this link can be better understood by stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents an analysis of the compulsory and voluntary disclosure in a sample of Italian listed companies. Content analysis method is used to identify the state of the environmental and social disclosure in the reports. Findings – It is argued that information on managers’ remunerations and company’s performance is actually provided in the available disclosure, but it is spread over several documents and this makes the understanding of the link quite difficult to stakeholders, especially to the non-expert ones

Seasonal Phenology of Reptiles in a Mediterranean Environment (“Castel di Guido” Natural Park, Northern Latium, Italy)

The present work reports the seasonal phenology of the reptiles of the "Castel di Guido" Natural Park near Rome (Northern Latium, Italy). During field observations, between September 2014 and July 2016, transects were carried out along the ecotones of the park, in order to describe the period of seasonal activity of the reptiles present. The area is characterized by Mediterranean mesothermal climate. In the Mediterranean area, reptiles have a broader annual activity range than other European regions, greatly reducing winter latency. Reptile activities start very early, in some case it is possible to observe the snake Hierophis viridiflavus and lizards, such as Podarcis muralis and Podarcis siculus, in thermoregulation activity in the middle of winter. The mild climate that is recorded on average in autumn favors the activity in the period between September and December; Zamenis longissimus is observed regularly in October. Testudo hermanni mates regularly in autumn and it is active until the first decade of December. The research shows that during the winter period reptiles can be observed in activity; for some species, Chalcides chalcides, Podarcis sp., Hierophis viridiflavus, this seems to be a remarkable datum that broad considerably the annual phenology reported in the literature

Dermoscopy and methyl aminolevulinate: A study for detection and evaluation of field cancerization

Actinic keratosis (AK) is a keratinocyte intraepidermal neoplasia UV light – induced that frequently appears in sun-exposed areas of the skin. Although historically AK was de fi ned as “ precancerous ” , actually it is considered as the earliest stage of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in situ. Since AKs can progress into invasive SCC, their treatment isrecommended. AKsrarely developasa singlelesion;usually multiplelesions commonly affect anen- tire area of chronically actinic damaged skin. This has led to the concept of “ fi eld cancerization ” , an area chroni- cally sun-exposed that surrounds peripherally visible lesions, in which are individualized subclinical alterations. One of the main principles endpoint in the management of AKs is the evaluation and the treatment of fi eld cancerization. In this view, in order to detect and quantify fi eld cancerization, we employed a method based on the topical application of methyl aminolevulinate (MAL) and the detection of the fl uorescence emitted by its metabolite Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX); then, considering the extension and the intensity of measured fl uores- cence, we create a score of fi eld cancerization. The results show that patients underwent to daylight PDT had a reduction of total score, from T0 to T2. Whereas in the group untreated we observed a stability of total score or a slightly worse. So, the method and the score used allows to evaluate with a good approximation the dimension of fi eld cancerization and show the modi fi cation of it after treatment