Old anatomical models as makeshifts of measurements in medicine

In 18th century obstetrics became a special branch of medicine, with a corpus of physiological and practical knowledge sufficient to improve the outcome of childbearing. The same period also saw the emergence of new techniques and the development of instruments that would later come into widespread use, such as the forceps, as well as the first production of teaching models to provide surgery students and midwives with three-dimensional illustrations of the anatomy of the pregnant woman, the physiology of childbearing, and potential complications. Some obstetrical wax models, that can be considered makeshifts of measurements in medicine, are illustrated. They are exposed, in number of twenty-one, in the Galileo Museum of Florence and were commissioned, around 1770, by Felice Fontana, who was working on the installation of the Museum of Physics and Natural History of Florence, from the sculptor Giuseppe Ferrini and his assistant Clemente Susini. The anatomical models contributed, in a context in which the measurement was not easy to be taken in situ, to formalize medical knowledge, strictly tied, in the past, to the various communities, that had different ideas about the causes of and cures for suffering, illness and disease. As a matter of facts, instead of being based on objective parameters, medical knowledge was based often on spiritual beliefs as well as practical therapies and techniques

Low-cost electrochemical impedance spectroscopy system for corrosion monitoring of metallic antiquities and works of art

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is recognized to be a powerful and noninvasive technique to test the integrity of protective coatings on memorials, but commercial EIS systems are rather costly though versatile devices. This paper describes a low cost and portable EIS system that is based on a compact digital signal processor (DSP) board and embeds the potentiostatic function so that it can be used without requiring an external potentiostat. The software that runs on the DSP is designed to analyze the electrochemical impedance only in a reduced frequency range in order to produce a simple corrosion alert result. The device is equipped with a digital interface and can be connected to a personal computer to carry out a complete frequency analysis and perform a more complex data processing

Exposure-Tolerant Imaging Solution forCultural Heritage Monitoring

This paper describes a simple and cheap solution specifically designed for monitoring the degradation of thin coatings employed for metal protection. The proposed solution employs a commercial photocamera and a frequency-domain-based approach that is capable of highlighting the surface uniformity changes due to initial corrosion. Even though the proposed solution is specifically designed to monitor the long-time performance of protective coatings employed for the restoration of silver artifacts, it can be successfully used also for assessing the conservation state of other ancient metallic works of art. The proposed solution is made tolerant to exposure changes by using a procedure for sensor nonlinearity identification and correction, does not require a precise lighting control, and employs only free open-source software, so that its overall cost is very low and can be used also by not specifically trained operator

An Optical Sampling System for Distributed Atmospheric Particulate Matter

The atmospheric particulate matter is considered one of the most dangerous pollutants because of its effects on the climate and human health. Particulate concentration changes largely with spatial position and time, and thus, a distributed real-time monitoring would be mandatory, especially in densely populated areas. The proposed optical sampling system has a negligible cost with respect to the already available instruments and can be used for deploying a capillary particulate monitoring network thanks to its wireless capability based on the LoRa protocol. The proposed solution employs an optical method for the atmospheric particulate detection and the estimation of its concentration and size distribution. The air is sampled by a small pump which forces a known flux through a commercial glass-fiber filter, where the particulate is captured. A low-cost digital camera coupled with a multi-wavelength lighting system takes periodical photographs of the filter surface, and a small PC-on-single-board processes the acquired images in order to identify the particles and to estimate their size. The system can work unattended for a long time and transmit remotely measurement data with a typical range of few kilometers

Handheld-Impedance-Measurement System with seven-decade capability and potentiostatic function

This paper describes design and test of a new impedance-measurement system for nonlinear devices that exhibits a seven-decade range and works down to a frequency of 0.01 Hz. The system is specifically designed for electrochemical measurements, but the proposed architecture can be employed in many other fields where flexible signal generation and analysis are required. The system employs an unconventional signal generator based on two pulsewidth modulation (PWM) oscillators and an autocalibration system that allows uncertainties of less than 3% to be obtained over a range of 1 kΩ to 100 GΩ. A synchronous demodulation processing allows the noise superimposed to the low-amplitude input signals to be made negligibl

Can the fatty acids profile of Tuber aestivum - T. uncinatum species complex have chemotaxonomic value?

Fatty acid (FA) profiles are considered as chemotaxonomic markers to define groups of various taxonomic ranks in bacteria, yeasts, and fungi. Tuber aestivum is one of the most common European truffles that has environmental and economic values. While genetic studies suggest that T. aestivum Vittad. and T. uncinatum Chatin are synonymous, there is still debate over whether this is a species complex. In this work, we evaluate the differences in the total and individual FAs content of T. aestivum and T. uncinatum morphotypes, and T. melanosporum n-hexane extracts. The higher amounts of total linoleic acid and total oleic acid are found in T. uncinatum and characterize it from the T. aestivum. The composition of FA profiles of T. uncinatum-T. aestivum were distinguished by the presence of free palmitoleic acid (a chemotaxonomic marker) in T. uncinatum and absent in T. aestivum. Cluster analysis indicated that there were two groups for the FA profiles of the Tuber spp. hexanic extract: T. aestivum extract and T. uncinatum and T. melanosporum extracts. Our results indicate that T. aestivum and T. uncinatum have to be considered as two different taxa within the T. aestivum species complex

Mineralogical and chemical characterization of surface orange layers on the limestone of the Monastery of Batalha, Central Portugal

Samples of orange surface patinas found on the limestone balustr ade and sculpture s of the Batalha Monastery in Portugal, have been investigated by X ray micro diffract ometry (µ XRD) and Low Vacuum Scanning Electron M icroscop y coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectromet ry (LV SEM + EDS) EDS). Aim of the study was to assess whether the orange layers have been intentionally applied or were resulting from stone weathering Preliminary results suggest that the orange layer on the surface is mainly consisted of gypsum and hematite with halite and weddellite as minor compon ents This discovery implies the possibility that such orange patina s were applied intentionally instead of having been formed naturally by decay . A comparison was made between this patina and the “scialbatura ”, a protective coating often applied by conservators on limestones and marbles in monuments

Body temperature measurement from the 17th century to the present days

One of the first measurements in the health sector was probably the body temperature, whose increase, the so-called fever, was related to an illness condition. A fever develops as the body’s natural way of reacting to and fighting infection. Attempts to standardized temperature measurements were developed in the 17 th century when physicians started to think of measuring this parameter and to develop new devices for assessing the body temperature. This scientific field has its origins in the works by Florentine scientists in the 1600s, meanwhile the development of today’s thermometers and temperature scales began in the early 18th century. This paper describes an invention of the Grand Duke Ferdinand II de’ Medici on display in the Galileo Museum in Florence, the clinical frog thermometer,tied to the wrist or the arm of the patient with the head of the frog facing upward. The performances of this device based on the Galilean thermometer principles, are compared with today’s mercury and infrared thermometers

Surface orange patinas on the limestone of the Batalha Monastery (Portugal): characterization and decay patterns

Samples of orange patinas found on a limestone window tracery and an ornament of the Batalha Monastery have been investigated by X-ray micro-diffractometry (μ-XRD) and low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectrometry (LV-SEM + EDS). The aim of the study was to determine the composition of the layered patinas, assess whether they have been intentionally applied or naturally formed, and study their degradation patterns. Preliminary results revealed that the orange patinas on the window tracery and the ornament showed different compositions and appearance, suggesting distinct formation pathways. Orange patinas on the ornament, which are now showing decay and delamination patterns, mainly consisted of gypsum with hematite as a minor component, implying the possibility of an intentional application of a mixture of ochre and lime as tint plaster. Orange patinas on the window tracery show, instead, the presence of Ca-oxalates, abundant weddellite, and minor whewellite, with minor hematite suggesting the yellowish/orange color as being due to Ca-oxalate patinas imbedding soil dust airborne particles. Such patina was possibly formed naturally either by the chemical attack due to atmospheric air pollutants from traffic exhausts emissions or by bacterial activity. No delamination was observed on the window tracery sample with granular decohesion as the major decay phenomenon. A comparison was made between this patina and the so-called scialbatura, a surface yellowish coating often found by conservators on limestone and marble in ancient monuments in the Mediterranean region