La proposta progettuale di Andrea Palladio per il completamento della Basilica di San Petronio: ricostruzione della facciata esistente attraverso il rilievo fotogrammetrico e sua ultimazione tramite metodi digitali

Obiettivo di questo elaborato di tesi è l’analisi e la ricostruzione con metodi digitali di uno dei progetti che Andrea Palladio realizza attorno al 1572 per il completamento della facciata della Basilica di San Petronio a partire da un rilievo fotogrammetrico e da una restituzione dell’intero corpus dei disegni conservati al museo di San Petronio. Il lavoro si iscrive nella ormai lunga serie dei tentativi fatti per trasformare i piatti schemi del disegno in una forma tridimensionale costruibile, al pari di molti altri tra cui quelli di James Ackermann e Scott Schiamberg per il disegno conservato alla Worcester College Library ad Oxford. Il metodo con cui è stato portato avanti lo studio segue due strade principali.In una prima fase, la realizzazione del rilievo fotogrammetrico ha permesso di prendere conoscenza e consapevolezza della facciata odierna, permettendo di contestualizzare il progetto di Palladio. La fase successiva è stata invece riservata alla restituzione bidimensionale dei disegni ottenuta ricalcando l’originale, regolarizzando le parti più approssimate e completando quelle mancanti. Attraverso questo metodo tradizionale, affiancato dall’analisi e confronto con la produzione scritta palladiana, è stato possibile risolvere una prima serie di ambiguità acquisendo un risultato conforme alla semantica dell’architetto veneto. Ottenuti i disegni definitivi, è stato selezionato un progetto su cui approfondire l’analisi attraverso l’applicazione di tecniche di modellazione 3D. Il disegno, inventariato con il numero 64 (sezione D-D), è caratterizzato dal mantenimento quasi integrale della fascia inferiore della facciata, già realizzata al tempo del progetto. Il processo di digitalizzazione ha permesso di dare interpretazione in tre dimensioni al pensiero palladiano, risolvendo le criticità scaturite con l’aggiunta della terza grandezza. Nella fase finale sono state sfruttate le potenzialità del rendering per calarlo più concretamente nella realtà odierna

Geometria dell’anello di distribuzione e materiale utilizzato

La qualità chimica e microbiologica delle acque di dialisi è un requisito fondamentale per la biocompatibilità del trattamento emodialitico. Numerosi lavori in letteratura mostrano infatti come la composizione del liquido di dialisi rappresenti uno dei fattori responsabili dello stato microinfiammatorio cronico del paziente emodializzato con importanti conseguenze cliniche Al fine di garantire al paziente un trattamento dialitico con elevati standard di qualità e sicurezza si dovrebbe giungere oggi alla produzione di un dialisato che si definisce ultrapuro (carica batterica <0.1 UFC/ml e concentrazione endotossinica <0.03 UI/ml). Questo ha particolare importanza nelle metodiche “on-line” che consentono l’autoproduzione del liquido di sostituzione durante i trattamenti convettivi

Sofosbuvir-based therapy cures hepatitis C virus infection after prior treatment failures in a patient with concurrent lymphoma

We report on the first well-tolerated and successful use of sofosbuvir-based therapy in a patient in whom chronic infection with hepatitis C had preceded the development of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The patient had previously failed numerous attempts to clear the hepatitis C virus with traditional antiviral schedules. We demonstrate that sofosbuvir-based therapy resulted in cure of hepatitis C in a patient who had relapsed during combination therapy with an NS5A inhibitor, an NS3 protease inhibitor and ribavirin, as well as treatment failures to multiple courses of interferon-based therapy. This report also suggests that eradication of hepatitis C virus may result in the short-term prevention of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma relapse. The findings from our case require further validation in future cohorts of patients

The Role of Nuclear Receptors in the Pathophysiology, Natural Course, and Drug Treatment of NAFLD in Humans.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) describes steatosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis with or without fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, namely the entire alcohol-like spectrum of liver disease though observed in the nonalcoholic, dysmetabolic, individual free of competing causes of liver disease. NAFLD, which is a major public health issue, exhibits intrahepatic triglyceride storage giving rise to lipotoxicity. Nuclear receptors (NRs) are transcriptional factors which, activated by ligands, are master regulators of metabolism and also have intricate connections with circadian control accounting for cyclical patterns in the metabolic fate of nutrients. Several transcription factors, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors, liver X receptors, farnesoid X receptors, and their molecular cascades, finely regulate energetic fluxes and metabolic pathways. Dysregulation of such pathways is heavily implicated in those metabolic derangements characterizing insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome and in the histogenesis of progressive NAFLD forms. We review the role of selected NRs in NAFLD pathogenesis. Secondly, we analyze the role of NRs in the natural history of human NAFLD. Next, we discuss the results observed in humans following administration of drug agonists or antagonists of the NRs pathogenically involved in NAFLD. Finally, general principles of treatment and lines of research in human NAFLD are briefly examined

Fatty liver is associated with an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease-Evidence from three different disease models: NAFLD, HCV and HIV

Fatty liver, which frequently coexists with necroinflammatory and fibrotic changes, may occur in the setting of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and chronic infections due to either hepatitis C virus (HCV) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). These three pathologic conditions are associated with an increased prevalence and incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). In this multidisciplinary clinical review, we aim to discuss the ever-expanding wealth of clinical and epidemiological evidence supporting a key role of fatty liver in the development of T2D and CVD in patients with NAFLD and in those with HCV or HIV infections. For each of these three common diseases, the epidemiological features, pathophysiologic mechanisms and clinical implications of the presence of fatty liver in predicting the risk of incident T2D and CVD are examined in depth. Collectively, the data discussed in this updated review, which follows an innovative comparative approach, further reinforce the conclusion that the presence of fatty/inflamed/fibrotic liver might be a shared important determinant for the development of T2D and CVD in patients with NAFLD, HCV or HIV. This review may also open new avenues in the clinical and research arenas and paves the way for the planning of future, well-designed prospective and intervention studies

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and aging: epidemiology to management

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is common in the elderly, in whom it carries a more substantial burden of hepatic (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma) and extra-hepatic manifestations and complications (cardiovascular disease, extrahepatic neoplasms) than in younger age groups. Therefore, proper identification and management of this condition is a major task for clinical geriatricians and geriatric hepatologists. In this paper, the epidemiology and pathophysiology of this condition are reviewed, and a full discussion of the link between NAFLD and the aspects that are peculiar to elderly individuals is provided; these aspects include frailty, multimorbidity, polypharmacy and dementia. The proper treatment strategy will have to consider the peculiarities of geriatric patients, so a multidisciplinary approach is mandatory. Non-pharmacological treatment (diet and physical exercise) has to be tailored individually considering the physical limitations of most elderly people and the need for an adequate caloric supply. Similarly, the choice of drug treatment must carefully balance the benefits and risks in terms of adverse events and pharmacological interactions in the common context of both multiple health conditions and polypharmacy. In conclusion, further epidemiological and pathophysiological insight is warranted. More accurate understanding of the molecular mechanisms of geriatric NAFLD will help in identifying the most appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic approach for individual elderly patients

"Not all forms of NAFLD were created equal". Do metabolic syndrome-related NAFLD and PNPLA3-related NAFLD exert a variable impact on the risk of early carotid atherosclerosis?

On this background of evidence, the results of the study by Di Costanzo et al. [8] provide further support to the view that the aetiology of NAFLD is multifactorial and this disease may be caused by common genetic variants. One of these, the PNPLA-3 variant, is associated with higher liver fat content and increased risk of NASH, but is not systematically associated with insulin resistance and MetS traits [4,5]. This study adds a further critical piece of information by suggesting that the MetS-related NAFLD and the PNPLA3-related NAFLD may differentially affect the risk of subclinical atherosclerosis and perhaps of clinical CVD [8]. However, it does not detract from the notion that NAFLD, especially NASH with varying degrees of fibrosis, may directly contribute to the development and progression of CVD [2,3,9], because genetic NAFLD is a subtly different disease and less than 15% of European patients with NAFLD have the PNPLA3 GG genotype [4,5]. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the few observational studies that have assessed the association between the PNPLA3 rs738409 gene polymorphism and risk of atherosclerosis have provided conflicting results (as summarized in Table 1

Do Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Fetuin-A Play Different Roles in Symptomatic Coronary Artery Disease and Peripheral Arterial Disease?

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is strongly associated with both atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Fetuin-A. However, the association of Fetuin-A with atherosclerosis is more controversial. We hypothesized that the pathogenic interplay of NAFLD, Fetuin-A and atherosclerosis varies based on arterial site. Accordingly, we aimed to assess NAFLD prevalence, Fetuin-A values and their relationship with symptomatic atherosclerosis occurring in different localizations: coronary artery disease (CAD) vs. peripheral arterial disease (PAD)

Plasma exchange in acute and chronic hyperviscosity syndrome: a rheological approach and guidelines study

Therapeutic plasma exchange is an extra-corporeal technique able to remove from blood macromolecules and/or replace deficient plasma factors. It is the treatment of choice in hyperviscosity syndrome, due to the presence of quantitatively or qualitatively abnormal plasma proteins such as paraproteins. In spite of a general consensus on the indications to therapeutic plasma exchange in hyperviscosity syndrome, data or guide lines about the criteria to plan the treatment are still lacking. We studied the rheological effect of plasma exchange in 20 patients with plasma hyperviscosity aiming to give data useful for a rational planning of the treatment. Moreover, we verified the clinical applicability of the estimation of plasma viscosity by means of Kawai's equation. Plasma exchange decreases plasma viscosity about 20-30% for session. Only one session is required to normalize plasma viscosity when it is 2.2 till to 6 mPas. A fourth session is useless, especially if the inter-session interval is < 15 days. By means of a polynomial equation, knowing basal-plasma viscosity and the disease of a patient, we can calculate the decrease of viscosity obtainable by each session of plasma exchange then the number of session required to normalize the viscosity. Kawai's equation is able to evaluate plasma viscosity in healthy volunteers, but it is not clinically reliable in paraproteinemias. [Pubmed] [Scholar] [EndNote] [BibTex