Seismic and Fire Assessment and Upgrading Process for Historical Buildings: The Case Study of Palazzo Colonna in Caggiano

The assessment and retrofit of existing masonry structures with historical and cultural value in highly seismic zones are challenging issues in earthquake engineering. In fact, the historic and recent earthquakes have shown the problem of the seismic vulnerability of existing masonry constructions. A historical masonry palace located in Caggiano (Salerno, Italy) is used herein as a case study, showing the vulnerability assessment and the seismic upgrading process. The case study building has a masonry structural type at the first two floors while there is a third floor realized in reinforced concrete and a fourth floor realized with a wood structure. The building was characterized by a remarkable seismic vulnerability and needed seismic upgrading operations. After the vulnerability assessment process, some design suggestions are proposed for the seismic upgrading of the building. The structure before and after the upgrading operations has been checked through nonlinear static and dynamic analyses. Then, coherently with the "Sismabonus" approach, the attribution of the seismic risk class, performed through numerical analyses, is founded on two parameters, namely, the expected annual mean losses (PAM), related to economic factors, and the Life Safety Index (IS-V), related to the structure seismic safety. Finally, the overcoming of the different classes of risk is shown and compared with the amount of the retrofit operations, their costs, and the impact on the existing space. Moreover, fire assessment has been investigated. In fact, in many cases, the buildings such as the case study structure are intended for public activities such as museums, so specific fire requirements, like fire resistance, are necessary. This topic became relevant especially if the structure is equipped with particular structural retrofit interventions which can be altered and modified in case of a fire. The paper presents the results of advanced thermomechanical analyses on the historical masonry palace under investigation. Since the case study building has a masonry structural type at the first two floors while there is a third floor realized in reinforced concrete, the fire analyses were conducted on the third and fourth floors, which may be more vulnerable to fire

A Novel White Laccase from Pleurotus ostreatus

Abstract Two laccase isoenzymes (POXA1 and POXA2) produced by Pleurotus ostreatus were purified and fully characterized. POXA1 and POXA2 are monomeric glycoproteins with 3 and 9% carbohydrate content, molecular masses of about 61 and 67 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, of about 54 and 59 kDa by gel filtration in native conditions, and of 61 kDa by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (only for POXA1) and pI values of 6.7 and 4.0, respectively. The N terminus and three tryptic peptides of POXA1 have been sequenced, revealing clear homology with laccases from other microorganisms, whereas POXA2 showed a blocked N terminus. The stability of POXA2 as a function of temperature was particularly low, whereas POXA1 showed remarkable high stability with respect to both pH and temperature. Both enzymes oxidize syringaldazine and ABTS (2, 2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) together with a variety of different substituted phenols and aromatic amines with the concomitant reduction of oxygen, but POXA1 is unable to oxidize guaiacol. Both enzymes were strongly inhibited by sodium azide and thioglycolic acid but not by EDTA. UV/visible absorption spectra, atomic adsorption, and polarographic data indicated the presence of 4 copper atoms/mol of POXA2 but only one copper, two zinc, and one iron atoms were found/mol of POXA1. The neutral pI and the anomalous metal content of POXA1 laccase render this enzyme unique in its structural characteristics. The lack of typical absorbance at 600 nm allows its classification as a "white" laccase

Three-Dimensional Measurement of the Helicity-Dependent Forces on a Mie Particle.

Recently, it was shown that a Mie particle in an evanescent field ought to experience optical forces that depend on the helicity of the totally internally reflected beam. As yet, a direct measurement of such helicity-dependent forces has been elusive, as the widely differing force magnitudes in the three spatial dimensions place stringent demands on a measurement's sensitivity and range. In this study, we report the simultaneous measurement of all components of this polarization-dependent optical force by using a 3D force spectroscopy technique with femtonewton sensitivity. The vector force fields are compared quantitatively with our theoretical calculations as the polarization state of the incident light is varied and show excellent agreement. By plotting the 3D motion of the Mie particle in response to the switched force field, we offer visual evidence of the effect of spin momentum on the Poynting vector of an evanescent optical field

Post-flood poetic actions. The case of La Marca del Agua

El presente trabajo se inscribe en el proyecto de investigación «Arte de acción en La Plata en el siglo XXI. Registro y análisis de intervenciones artísticas efímeras», que se lleva a cabo desde el año 2010 en el marco del Programa de Incentivos de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) y que tiene como objetivo relevar todas las acciones y las intervenciones artísticas de la ciudad efectuadas desde el 2001 hasta el 2013. Dicho proyecto se radicó en el Instituto de Historia del Arte Argentino y Americano (IHAAA), Facultad de Bellas Artes (FBA). Proponemos abordar las acciones de La marca del agua, grupo surgido luego de la inundación del 2 de abril de 2013 en la ciudad de La Plata. En nuestro análisis, tenemos como objetivo dar cuenta de cómo a través de sus acciones directas (en cuanto a acción y a comunicación), ocupa y construye espacios en la ciudad, tanto en términos territoriales efímeros como en términos políticos.This work is part of the research project «Art of Action in La Plata in the 21th Century. Record and Analysis of Ephemeral Artistic Interventions», which has been carried out since 2010 under the Incentive Program UNLP and aims to analyze all actions and artistic interventions in the city made from 2001 to 2013. This project was developed in the IHAAA, FBA. We will analyze the actions of La Marca del Agua, a group that emerged after the flood of April 2, 2013 in La Plata. Our analysis seeks to explain how, through its direct actions (both in action and communication), the group occupies and builds the city, territorially and politically.Facultad de Bellas Arte

Post-flood poetic actions. The case of La Marca del Agua

El presente trabajo se inscribe en el proyecto de investigación «Arte de acción en La Plata en el siglo XXI. Registro y análisis de intervenciones artísticas efímeras», que se lleva a cabo desde el año 2010 en el marco del Programa de Incentivos de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) y que tiene como objetivo relevar todas las acciones y las intervenciones artísticas de la ciudad efectuadas desde el 2001 hasta el 2013. Dicho proyecto se radicó en el Instituto de Historia del Arte Argentino y Americano (IHAAA), Facultad de Bellas Artes (FBA). Proponemos abordar las acciones de La marca del agua, grupo surgido luego de la inundación del 2 de abril de 2013 en la ciudad de La Plata. En nuestro análisis, tenemos como objetivo dar cuenta de cómo a través de sus acciones directas (en cuanto a acción y a comunicación), ocupa y construye espacios en la ciudad, tanto en términos territoriales efímeros como en términos políticos.This work is part of the research project «Art of Action in La Plata in the 21th Century. Record and Analysis of Ephemeral Artistic Interventions», which has been carried out since 2010 under the Incentive Program UNLP and aims to analyze all actions and artistic interventions in the city made from 2001 to 2013. This project was developed in the IHAAA, FBA. We will analyze the actions of La Marca del Agua, a group that emerged after the flood of April 2, 2013 in La Plata. Our analysis seeks to explain how, through its direct actions (both in action and communication), the group occupies and builds the city, territorially and politically.Facultad de Bellas Arte

Post-flood poetic actions. The case of La Marca del Agua

El presente trabajo se inscribe en el proyecto de investigación «Arte de acción en La Plata en el siglo XXI. Registro y análisis de intervenciones artísticas efímeras», que se lleva a cabo desde el año 2010 en el marco del Programa de Incentivos de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) y que tiene como objetivo relevar todas las acciones y las intervenciones artísticas de la ciudad efectuadas desde el 2001 hasta el 2013. Dicho proyecto se radicó en el Instituto de Historia del Arte Argentino y Americano (IHAAA), Facultad de Bellas Artes (FBA). Proponemos abordar las acciones de La marca del agua, grupo surgido luego de la inundación del 2 de abril de 2013 en la ciudad de La Plata. En nuestro análisis, tenemos como objetivo dar cuenta de cómo a través de sus acciones directas (en cuanto a acción y a comunicación), ocupa y construye espacios en la ciudad, tanto en términos territoriales efímeros como en términos políticos.This work is part of the research project «Art of Action in La Plata in the 21th Century. Record and Analysis of Ephemeral Artistic Interventions», which has been carried out since 2010 under the Incentive Program UNLP and aims to analyze all actions and artistic interventions in the city made from 2001 to 2013. This project was developed in the IHAAA, FBA. We will analyze the actions of La Marca del Agua, a group that emerged after the flood of April 2, 2013 in La Plata. Our analysis seeks to explain how, through its direct actions (both in action and communication), the group occupies and builds the city, territorially and politically.Facultad de Bellas Arte

The extremo-?±-carbonic anhydrase from the thermophilic bacterium Sulfurihydrogenibium azorense is highly inhibited by sulfonamides

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The first activation study of a bacterial carbonic anhydrase (CA). The thermostable ?±-CA from Sulfurihydrogenibium yellowstonense YO3AOP1 is highly activated by amino acids and amines

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