A Pedagogical Discussion Concerning the Gravitational Energy Radiated by Keplerian Systems

We first discuss the use of dimensional arguments (and of the quadrupolar emission hypothesis) in the derivation of the gravitational power radiated on a circular orbit. Then, we show how to simply obtain the instantaneous power radiated on a general Keplerian orbit by approximating it locally by a circle. This allows recovering with a good precision, in the case of an ellipse, the highly non trivial dependence on the eccentricity of the average power given by general relativity. The whole approach is understandable by undergraduate students.Comment: A simpler method has been used in the calculations, which requires now only standard knowledge (the radius of curvature is defined by the normal acceleration). Two figures have been added. Concerning the dimensional analysis, the comparison with electromagnetism has been detaile

TOWARDS A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR CIVIC PARTICIPATION THROUGH THE COMMONS IN EU CITIES: THE CONTRIBUTION OF HORIZONTAL SUBSIDIARITY IN ITALIAN CITIES.

Grazie al pionieristico Regolamento sui beni comuni adottato dalla città di Bologna nel 2014, il principio di sussidiarietà orizzontale (articolo 118, IV della Costituzione Italiana) ha iniziato a trovare applicazione pratica, rivelando così il suo potenziale nel sostenere iniziative di partecipazione civica attraverso i beni comuni (CPC) sulla base di un ruolo promozionale e collaborativo delle autorità pubbliche locali. Tutto ciò, di fatto, fornisce ulteriori strumenti di partecipazione alle persone al di là dei tradizionali canali rappresentativi, contribuendo così alla legittimazione democratica. Alla luce della sua diffusione anche in altre 280 città italiane, l'obiettivo di questa ricerca di dottorato è studiare questo fenomeno in atto nel contesto italiano in una più ampia prospettiva di diritto pubblico europeo. La tesi, infatti, si pone l’obiettivo di comprendere se questo tipo di partecipazione civica rivolta a realizzare azioni concrete possa trovare sostegno anche in altre città dell'Unione Europea (UE), soprattutto tenendo conto delle sfide emergenti poste alle autorità pubbliche locali da molte iniziative sui beni comuni. Radicata all'interno del dibattito sulla partecipazione civica nella democrazia locale in UE, la tesi affronta questo tema attraverso la lente dei principi costituzionali europei, ovvero i principi appartenenti ai due ordinamenti giuridici dell'UE e del Consiglio d'Europa, comuni a tutte le città dell'UE. La domanda di ricerca (RQ) a cui questa tesi risponde è quindi la seguente: "Nel contesto della partecipazione civica alla democrazia locale in UE, in che modo il caso delle città italiane che sostengono i beni comuni contribuisce a ricavare una cornice teorica europea generale anche per le altre città dell'UE che affrontano la sfida dei beni comuni?". La metodologia utilizzata si basa principalmente sul tradizionale metodo giuridico, arricchito da ulteriori contributi interdisciplinari utili per comprendere meglio alcuni concetti chiave (democrazia, partecipazione, beni comuni). Per rispondere alla RQ, la tesi è strutturata in tre parti. La Parte I (Capitoli 1,2,3) fa il punto sulla democrazia all'interno dell'UE, indagando l'attuale stato dell'arte e i limiti dei principi costituzionali europei di partecipazione, sussidiarietà e autogoverno locale nello spazio giuridico europeo, e riconosce il ruolo crescente delle città come soggetti giuridici autonomi. La Parte II (Capitoli 4 e 5) analizza il caso italiano, esaminando prima il principio italiano di sussidiarietà orizzontale, e in seguito la sua attuazione attraverso il modello organizzativo dell'Amministrazione condivisa dei beni comuni. La Parte III (Capitoli 6 e 7) – dopo una panoramica generale del complesso quadro del dibattito e delle pratiche sui beni comuni nell'UE – giunge infine al cuore e alla conclusione della ricerca rispondendo alla RQ generale. Il risultato principale della ricerca è che, sulla base di quanto emerge dal caso delle città italiane, i quattro principi costituzionali europei di sussidiarietà, partecipazione, autonomia locale e solidarietà possono essere considerati come punti di riferimento per tracciare un quadro teorico europeo preliminare su cui anche altre città dell'UE potrebbero basarsi per affrontare la sfida dei beni comuni. Una menzione speciale è stata data alla soft law dell'UE per il suo contributo su questioni relative alle città che potrebbero essere utili anche per la sfida dei beni comuni. Oltre a questi quattro principi, è stato dimostrato che la significativa e stimolante innovazione del caso italiano risiede nella sua capacità di istituire un modello organizzativo radicato nella Costituzione per la governance dei beni comuni (Amministrazione condivisa). Nel complesso, la lezione che si può trarre dalla ricerca è che, basandosi su questi quattro principi costituzionali europei, anche altre città dell'UE potrebbero sperimentare i propri modelli organizzativi per sostenere la CPC. Possiamo concludere affermando che la ricerca è rilevante non solo per aver inquadrato il caso italiano in una più ampia prospettiva di diritto pubblico europeo, ma anche per altri motivi: a) perché presenta uno studio approfondito del caso italiano di Amministrazione condivisa dei beni comuni per un pubblico non italofono; b) contribuisce alla crescente letteratura sulle città come oggetto di studio autonomo in una prospettiva di diritto pubblico europeo; c) i suoi risultati contribuiscono a gettare nuova luce sulla potenziale applicazione sul campo dei principi costituzionali europei di partecipazione, sussidiarietà, autonomia locale, solidarietà; d) fornisce una panoramica generale di ciò che sta accadendo nell'UE in materia di beni comuni; e) trae alcune conclusioni preliminari che indicano il ruolo chiave delle città nella sperimentazione di forme innovative di partecipazione civica; f) porta nel dibattito accademico le pratiche concrete dei cittadini che si stanno verificando nelle città italiane. Nel complesso, la ricerca contribuisce ad una più ampia comprensione della trasformazione della democrazia nell'UE

Amazonian deforestation: Regional and global issues

How does the deforestation of Amazonia affect global and regional climates? What are the roles of these changes on Amazonian ecosystems? We have concluded that the relation between Regional Climate Changes (RCC) and Global Climate Change (GCC) is directly associated with anthropogenic activities and therefore sensitive to social, economical and political interventions. The RCCs are caused by actions within the realm of the Brazilian sociopolitical scenario, and prone to changes through the implementation of public policies regulating the sustained use of the renewable resources. The GCCs belong to an international arena, and are caused by the high emission rates of green house gases by the developed countries. The effects of the RCCs could be abated if the developed countries would endeavor to reduce the present emission levels as documented in IPCC meetings and collaborate in the implementation of a regulation to curb the carbon emissions, in accordance to the Kyoto protocol

Innovative Strategies for Drug Delivery to the Ocular Posterior Segment

Innovative and new drug delivery systems (DDSs) have recently been developed to vehicle treatments and drugs to the ocular posterior segment and the retina. New formulations and technological developments, such as nanotechnology, novel matrices, and non-traditional treatment strategies, open new perspectives in this field. The aim of this mini-review is to highlight promising strategies reported in the current literature based on innovative routes to overcome the anatomical and physiological barriers of the vitreoretinal structures. The paper also describes the challenges in finding appropriate and pertinent treatments that provide safety and efficacy and the problems related to patient compliance, acceptability, effectiveness, and sustained drug delivery. The clinical application of these experimental approaches can help pave the way for standardizing the use of DDSs in developing enhanced treatment strategies and personalized therapeutic options for ocular pathologies

How and when of eyelid reconstruction using autologous transplantation

Reconstructive surgery of the eyelid after tumor excision, trauma or other causes can be challenging, especially due to the complexities of the anatomic structures and to the necessity of both functional and aesthetic successful outcomes. The aim of this minireview was to investigate the use of tissue transplantation in eyelid reconstruction. Surgical procedures are various, based on the use of both flaps, pedicled or free, and grafts, in order to guarantee adequate tissue reconstruction and blood supply, which are necessary for correct healing. Common techniques normally include the use of local tissues, combining non-vascularized grafts with a vascularized flap for the two lamellae repair, to attempt a reconstruction similar to the original anatomy. When defects are too wide, vast, deep, and complex or when no adjacent healthy tissues are available, distant area tissues need to be recruited as free flaps or grafts and paired with mucosal layer reconstruction. With regards to the anterior lamella, full thickness skin grafts are commonly preferred. With regards to the reconstruction of posterior lamella, there are different graft options, which include conjunctival or tarsoconjunctival, mucosal or palatal or cartilaginous grafts usually combined with local flaps. Free flap transplantation, normally reserved for rare select cases, include the use of the radial forearm and anterolateral flaps combined with mucosal grafts, which are surgical options currently reported in the literature

Adipose Stem Cells in Modern-Day Ophthalmology

Stem cells (SCs) have evolved as an interesting and viable factor in ophthalmologic patient care in the past decades. SCs have been classified as either embryonic, mesenchymal, tissue-specific, or induced pluripotent cells. Multiple novel management techniques and clinical trials have been established to date. While available publications are predominantly animal-model-based, significant material is derived from human studies and case-selected scenarios. This possibility of explanting cells from viable tissue to regenerate/repair damaged tissue points to an exciting future of therapeutic options in all fields of medicine, and ophthalmology is surely not left out. Adipose tissue obtained from lipo-aspirates has been shown to produce mesenchymal SCs that are potentially useful in different body parts, including the oculo-visual system. An overview of the anatomy, physiology, and extraction process for adipose-tissue-derived stem cells (ADSC) is important for better understanding the potential therapeutic benefits. This review examines published data on ADSCs in immune-modulatory, therapeutic, and regenerative treatments. We also look at the future of ADSC applications for ophthalmic patient care. The adverse effects of this relatively novel therapy are also discussed

Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (NA-AION): A Comprehensive Overview

Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION) represents one of the most important causes of blindness or severely impaired vision in middle-aged and elderly people. Unilateral optic disc edema and abrupt, painless vision loss are its defining features. It is commonly assumed that NA-AION is caused by an ischemic infarction of the optic nerve head, and, although the exact pathogenesis is still unknown, several risk factors and comorbidities associated with its development have been found. NA-AION occurs generally in patients older than 50 years who have small optic discs and vasculopathy risk factors. Even though numerous treatment options have been proposed, no available effective medical or surgical therapy or prophylactic measure for NA-AION currently exists. The purpose of present-day therapeutic strategies is therefore to identify and possibly control any underlying modifiable risk factors, aiming to prevent the development of new NA-AION episodes in the affected and fellow eye. A thorough assessment of NAION, including its history, epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, risk factors, associated comorbidities, clinical findings, diagnostic tests, treatment choices, prognosis, and future research, is the goal of this work

On the observability of the neutrino charge radius

It is shown that the probe-independent charge radius of the neutrino is a physical observable; as such, it may be extracted from experiment, at least in principle. This is accomplished by expressing a set of experimental neutrino-electron cross-sections in terms of the finite charge radius and two additional gauge- and renormalization-group-invariant quantities, corresponding to the electroweak effective charge and mixing angle.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure; a typo in Eq.1 corrected, some comments adde

Recent Developments in Gene Therapy for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Review

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex and multifactorial disease and a leading cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly population. The anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy has revolutionized the management and prognosis of neovascular AMD (nAMD) and is currently the standard of care for this disease. However, patients are required to receive repeated injections, imposing substantial social and economic burdens. The implementation of gene therapy methods to achieve sustained delivery of various therapeutic proteins holds the promise of a single treatment that could ameliorate the treatment challenges associated with chronic intravitreal therapy, and potentially improve visual outcomes. Several early-phase trials are currently underway, evaluating the safety and efficacy of gene therapy for nAMD; however, areas of controversy persist, including the therapeutic target, route of administration, and potential safety issues. In this review, we assess the evolution of gene therapy for nAMD and summarize several preclinical and early-stage clinical trials, exploring challenges and future directions

Self-Lensing Models of the LMC

All of the proposed explanations for the microlensing events observed towards the LMC have difficulties. One of these proposed explanations, LMC self-lensing, which invokes ordinary LMC stars as the long sought-after lenses, has recently gained considerable popularity as a possible solution to the microlensing conundrum. In this paper, we carefully examine the set of LMC self-lensing models. In particular, we review the pertinent observations made of the LMC, and show how these observations place limits on such self-lensing models. We find that, given current observational constraints, no purely LMC disk models are capable of producing optical depths as large as that reported in the MACHO collaboration 2-year analysis. Besides pure disk, we also consider alternate geometries, and present a framework which encompasses the previous studies of LMC self-lensing. We discuss which model parameters need to be pushed in order for such models to succeed. For example, like previous workers, we find that an LMC halo geometry may be able to explain the observed events. However, since all known LMC tracer stellar populations exhibit disk-like kinematics, such models will have difficulty being reconciled with observations. For SMC self-lensing, we find predicted optical depths differing from previous results, but more than sufficient to explain all observed SMC microlensing. In contrast, for the LMC we find a self-lensing optical depth contribution between 0.47e-8 and 7.84e-8, with 2.44e-8 being the value for the set of LMC parameters most consistent with current observations.Comment: 20 pages, Latex, 14 figures, submitted to Ap