Vulnerabilità sismica e miglioramento di un edificio ospedaliero in c.a.

Lo scopo della presente tesi è l'analisi di vulnerabilità sismica e l'elaborazione di un progetto di miglioramento per un edificio ospedaliero. La costruzione oggetto di studio è uno degli edifici che compongono la struttura dell'Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova di Reggio Emilia. Questo elaborato di tesi si articola in 8 capitoli. Nel primo capitolo si ha una descrizione del rischio sismico espresso come il prodotto fra la pericolosità sismica, il rischio sismico e l’esposizione. Nel secondo capitolo si descriveranno le prescrizioni imposte dalle attuali normative alle costruzioni in zona sismica, soffermandosi sugli aspetti innovativi delle nuove norme tecniche. Nel terzo capitolo si procederà con una descrizione dell’iter procedurale previsto dalla normativa per la valutazione della vulnerabilità sismica degli edifici esistenti, distinguendo le possibili tipologie di analisi e le relative verifiche da svolgere. Nel quarto capitolo si descriverà la struttura oggetto di analisi seguendo i criteri indicati al capitolo precedente. Nel quinto capitolo si descriverà il modello realizzato sul software ProSap e si effettuerà un’analisi di vulnerabilità per valutare il livello di sicurezza della struttura tramite il software. Nel sesto capitolo si descriverà un secondo modello, realizzato per confronto sul software Sap2000; dopo aver verificato che i due modelli sono congruenti, si andranno ad effettuare manualmente le verifiche svolte in precedenza da ProSap, in modo da avere pieno controllo dei risultati dell’analisi. Nel settimo capitolo si descriveranno le diverse tecniche di rinforzo per gli edifici in c.a. permesse dalla normativa vigente, in particolare si analizzeranno le differenze fra interventi che agiscono modificando il comportamento globale della struttura e interventi di rinforzo locale. Nel ottavo capitolo si descriverà nel dettaglio il progetto dell’intervento di miglioramento per tutti gli elementi non verificati per il fissato livello di azione sismica

7D BIM FOR SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT IN DESIGN PROCESSES: A CASE STUDY OF DESIGN OF ALTERNATIVES IN SEVERE CLIMATE AND HEAVY USE CONDITIONS

Introduction: The emerging of energy and environmental thread has fostered a new cultural design approach to Sustainable Architecture that aims to conceive and implement buildings with a low environmental impact. In this context the role of Building Information Modelling (BIM), as a support tool for sustainable integrated design, acquires great relevance. The purpose of this study is to investigate BIM potential in both addressing preliminary design choices and supporting complex analysis during the advanced design phase, within the whole sustainable design process. A technological rail building is assumed as a case study: the Operation Control Centre for the new Oman Railway, whose preliminary project was elaborated by the Italian engineering society Italferr s.p.a. Methods: The BIM approach is used to identify possible problems and deficiencies in the preliminary project, which may represent a good basis for a next design improvements proposal. The next phase consists in investigating and experimenting BIM tools potential in supporting the Conceptual Design, by using Autodesk® Revit® and IES VE® software suites, for the modelling and the energy analysis of different conceptual design solutions. Once the optimal building shape is established, the study focuses on the evaluation of sustainability effects brought by the structural building component, in particular for what concerns its materials environmental impact. Results and discussion: The analysis of the preliminary project shows the potential of BIM in the control of many performance parameters of a building in the design phase, revealing all the design problems associated to the lack of an integral multi-disciplinary approach during the initial phases of the process. The possibility of looking into a series of solutions in a quick and in-depth manner permits an accurate assessment of the most adequate form for a building based on the place in which it is set, thus joining current technological design methods to traditional bio-climatic methods, reinstating the strong and inevitable link between site and building

Le esternalità dell'agricoltura: un primo approccio alle problematiche della valutazione a scala locale

Working Paper ; n.128/1999- Indice #2- Introduzione #3- Verso un nuovo modello di intervento pubblico in agricoltura #4- Attività agricola ed esternalità #6- La valutazione delle esternalità #10- Elementi per una valutazione delle esternalità agricole a livello regionale #19- Conclusioni #2

Molecular dynamics recipes for genome research

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation allows one to predict the time evolution of a system of interacting particles. It is widely used in physics, chemistry and biology to address specific questions about the structural properties and dynamical mechanisms of model systems. MD earned a great success in genome research, as it proved to be beneficial in sorting pathogenic from neutral genomic mutations. Considering their computational requirements, simulations are commonly performed on HPC computing devices, which are generally expensive and hard to administer. However, variables like the software tool used for modeling and simulation or the size of the molecule under investigation might make one hardware type or configuration more advantageous than another or even make the commodity hardware definitely suitable for MD studies. This work aims to shed lights on this aspect

RhythmicDB: A Database of Predicted Multi-Frequency Rhythmic Transcripts

The physiology and behavior of living organisms are featured by time-related variations driven by molecular clockworks that arose during evolution stochastically and heterogeneously. Over the years, several high-throughput experiments were performed to evaluate time-dependent gene expression in different cell types across several species and experimental conditions. Here, these were retrieved, manually curated, and analyzed by two software packages, BioCycle and MetaCycle, to infer circadian or ultradian transcripts across different species. These transcripts were stored in RhythmicDB and made publically available

Controlled Release of Ibuprofen from Polymeric Nanoparticles

Smart polymeric systems are required that are able to release a therapeutic drug with controlled delivery. Herein we investigated the pH triggered release of ibuprofen from a polymeric nanoparticle system prepared using ring-opening metathesis polymerisation. The co-polymerisation of ibuprofen and poly(ethylene)glycol monomers followed by self-assembly produced a nanoparticle system that was shown to be stable at neutral pH but releases ibuprofen in alkaline condition

A Multi-Layered Study on Harmonic Oscillations in Mammalian Genomics and Proteomics

Cellular, organ, and whole animal physiology show temporal variation predominantly featuring 24-h (circadian) periodicity. Time-course mRNA gene expression profiling in mouse liver showed two subsets of genes oscillating at the second (12-h) and third (8-h) harmonic of the prime (24-h) frequency. The aim of our study was to identify specific genomic, proteomic, and functional properties of ultradian and circadian subsets. We found hallmarks of the three oscillating gene subsets, including different (i) functional annotation, (ii) proteomic and electrochemical features, and (iii) transcription factor binding motifs in upstream regions of 8-h and 12-h oscillating genes that seemingly allow the link of the ultradian gene sets to a known circadian network. Our multifaceted bioinformatics analysis of circadian and ultradian genes suggests that the different rhythmicity of gene expression impacts physiological outcomes and may be related to transcriptional, translational and post-translational dynamics, as well as to phylogenetic and evolutionary components

Architecture-controlled release of ibuprofen from polymeric nanoparticles

Smart polymeric systems are required that are able to release a therapeutic drug with control over timing and location of delivery. Herein we have investigated the architecture-controlled and pH-triggered release of ibuprofen from a polymeric nanoparticle system prepared using ring-opening metathesis polymerisation. The co-polymerisation of norbornene-derived ibuprofen (NB-Ibu) and poly(ethylene glycol) (NB-PEG) monomers produced polymers with block and random sequence architectures. Self-assembly into nanoparticle systems and release of ibuprofen only under basic conditions was shown to be controlled by polymer sequence

Main-duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the pancreas: a case report

Three distinct entities among non-inflammatory cystic lesions of the pancreas have been defined: intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), serous cystic neoplasm (SCN) and mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN). IPMN is characterized by intraductal papillary growth and thick mucus secretion: its incidence has dramatically increased since its initial description. These lesions probably can progress towards invasive carcinoma. IPMNs are symptomatic in most cases: the typical presentation is a recurrent acute pancreatitis, without evident cause, of low or moderate severity. The diagnosis is usually based upon the imaging (CT/cholangio-MRI) demonstrating a pancreatic cystic mass, involving a dilated main duct, eventually associated to some filling defects, or a normal Wirsung duct communicating with the cyst lesion. Surgical treatment is generally indicated for main duct IPMN and branch duct IPMN with suspected malignancy (tumour size ≥ 30 mm, mural nodules, dilated main pancreatic duct, or positive cytology) or prominent symptoms. Herein we present a case of IPMN of the main duct which occurred with abdominal and back pain associated with weight loss. After the diagnosis, she successfully underwent surgery and is now in a follow-up program