EXtra moenia_intra urbem

Il progetto, pur confermando la struttura dell'impianto del cardo e del decumano, orienta le tracce delle nuove edificazioni all'interno dell'area dell'Expo secondo l'eco dei tracciati geometrici dei quartieri limitrofi. Tali scelte, se da un lato consentono di utilizzare l'avanzato sistema infrastrutturale preesistente, dall'altro superano quella condizione di atopia tipica dell'esposizione temporanea, restituendo al luogo una dimensione urbana leggibile nella dialettica che si istituisce tra l'autonomia del nuovo impianto e l'eteronomia delle relazioni con gli ambiti adiacenti. La lunga, irrisolta prospettiva del decumano trova invece, nella proposta progettuale, una doppia conclusione: una collina artificiale, sorta di sferoide lenticolare, contenente al suo interno il campus; due alti e solitari edifici. La prima conclusione è un'architettura del suolo che consente di moltiplicare i punti di vista "in quota" verso l'Expo e all'esterno. Nel contempo aggiunge una domesticità al campus grazie allo scavo di corti a cielo aperto; veri e propri elementi di relazione tra il suolo sopraelevato e la quota originaria.The project confirms the settlement of the cardo and decumano and arranges new buildings in the Expo area according to the echo of the geometric traces of the neighborhoods around. These choices allow the re-use of the advanced pre-existing infrastructure system, overcoming the atopic condition typical of temporary exposure. The proposal wants to give to the place an urban dimension resulting from the dialectic between the autonomy of the new settlement and the heteronomy of the relationships with the surrounding areas. The long, unresolved perspective of the decumano has a new double conclusion: an artificial hill, a sort of lenticular sphere that contains the campus; two high and isolated buildings. The first conclusion is a soil architecture that allows multiplying the points of view from a high level towards the Expo and the territory. At the same time it adds to the campus a domestic atmosphere thanks to the excavation of open-air courts that are elements of relationship between the new ground and the original level

Performance analysis of a common-rail Diesel engine fuelled with different blends of waste cooking oil and gasoil

An experimental campaign was performed to study the behavior of a common-rail Diesel engine in automotive configuration when it is fuelled with blends of Diesel fuel (DF) and waste cooking oil (WCO). In particular the tested fuels are: B20 blend, composed of 20% WCO and 80% DF; B50, composed of 50% WCO and 50% DF; WCO 100% and 100% DF. In order to fuel the engine with fuel having a similar viscosity, this quantity, together with density, has been meas-ured at temperature ranging from rom to about 80 °C. According to these measurements, before fuelling the engine B20 was heated up to 35 °C and B50 to 75 °C. An in-house software was developed to acquire the data elaborated by the electronic control unit. Results show the trend in torque and global efficiency at different gas pedal position (gpp) and different engine speed. The experiments show that larger discrepancies are measured at smaller gpp values, while at larger ones dif-ferences become smaller. A similar trend is noticed for engine global efficiency

Erectile dysfunction and its management in patients with diabetes mellitus

Diabetes can be described as a syndrome of multiple closely related conditions induced by a chronic state of hyperglycaemia resulting from defective insulin secretion, insulin action or both. Chronic complications associated with diabetes (including neuropathy, vascular disease, nephropathy and retinopathy) are common, and of these, erectile dysfunction (ED) deserves special attention. ED and its correlation with cardiovascular disease require careful evaluation and appropriate treatment. PDE5 inhibitors (PDE5is) are an important tool for the treatment of ED, with new drugs coming onto the market since the late 90s. This review offers an overview of PDE5is and their use in treating ED in diabetes. We underline the differences between different types of PDE5i, focusing on available doses, duration of action, T ½, side effects and selectivity profiles in relation to patients with diabetes. We also discuss the link between diabetes and ED in presence of various associated cofactors (obesity, hypertension and its pharmacological treatments, atherosclerosis, hyperhomocysteinaemia, neuropathy, nephropathy, hypogonadism and depression). Finally a number of past and ongoing clinical trials on the use of PDE5is in patients with diabetes are presented to offer an overview of the appropriate treatment of ED in this condition

Diabetic kidney disease. new clinical and therapeutic issues. Joint position statement of the Italian Diabetes Society and the Italian Society of Nephrology on "the natural history of diabetic kidney disease and treatment of hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes and impaired renal function"

Recent epidemiological studies have disclosed heterogeneity in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). In addition to the classical albuminuric phenotype, two new phenotypes have emerged, i.e., “nonalbuminuric renal impairment” and “progressive renal decline”, suggesting that DKD progression toward end-stage kidney disease in diabetic patients may occur through two distinct pathways heralded by a progressive increase in albuminuria and decline in renal function independent of albuminuria, respectively. Besides the natural history of DKD, also the management of hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes and reduced renal function has profoundly changed in the last two decades. New anti-hyperglycemic drugs have become available for treatment of these individuals and the lowest estimated glomerular filtration rate safety thresholds for some of the old agents have been reconsidered. This joint document of the Italian Diabetes Society (SID) and the Italian Society of Nephrology (SIN) reviews the natural history of DKD in the light of the recent epidemiological literature and provides updated recommendations on anti-hyperglycemic treatment with non-insulin agents in DKD patients

Higgs at LHC

An overview of recent theoretical results on the Higgs boson and its discovery strategy at ATLAS and CMS will be presented, focusing on the main Higgs analysis effective with low integrated luminosity (less than 30 fb^-1).Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, talk given at: V Workshop Italiano sulla fisica p-p ad LHC, Perugia, Italy, 30 Jan. - 2 Feb. 200

design and performance assessment of building counter walls integrating moisture buffering active devices

Abstract The use of building materials with high moisture buffering capacity is a well-recognized strategy to moderate the variation of indoor moisture loads. Many researchers investigated the ability and potential of finishing materials and furniture for the reduction of the amplitudes of indoor relative humidity by characterising their Moisture Buffering Value. Nevertheless, the recent and widespread building practice, which is increasingly trying to reduce the air permeability and thermal transmittance of the envelope, is likely to even worsening indoor humidity conditions, with consequences for durability of materials and inhabitants' comfort and health. Very performing materials are then needed to act as buffering and quickly dampen high moisture loads. This paper proposes the design of a building internal counter wall equipped with an "active" moisture buffering device. This is able to measure the indoor relative humidity and consequently increase the adsorbing capacity of a porous material through an air-flow. Experimental activities were carried out on different prototypes with the combination of granular Sepiolite with two different pore structures and nonwoven fabrics. The devices effectiveness in terms of MBV has been dynamically tested in a climate chamber according to the DTU Nordtest method. Different "activation" times against several humidity levels were set in order to assess the best solution in different scenarios

Utilizing enoxaparin in the management of STEMI

The use of enoxaparin in conjunction with thrombolysis in ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI), has been recently investigated in several clinical trials. In 8 published open-label studies including about 10,000 patients, in which enoxaparin was compared to either placebo or unfractionated heparin (UFH), a general superiority of enoxaparin on both reinfarction/recurrent angina and patency of the infarct-related artery, was observed. Overall, bleeding rate with enoxaparin was higher than with placebo and comparable to UFH, with the exception of one study where pre-hospital administration induced a doubled incidence of intracranial bleeding in patients older than 75 years. In a recent double-blind, randomized, mega-trial including over 20,000 patients, the superior efficacy on in-hospital and 30-day adverse cardiac events (namely reinfarction), and comparable safety on intracranial bleedings of enoxaparin compared to UFH, was definitively proven