Il Rinascimento degli acquedotti

Dopo il buio Medio Evo rifiorirono le arti nel Rinascimento. Anche sotto terra, negli acquedotti, si verificò qualcosa di analogo ma è ben poco noto. Ora si presentano qui quattro esempi di importanti acquedotti creati nell’Evo Moderno per alimentare castelli e ville della regione Lazio. L’acquedotto che conduce l’acqua dal fiume Aniene alle fontane del giardino della Villa d’Este a Tivoli fu compiuto nella seconda metà del XVI secolo e consentì la realizzazione di uno dei più famosi parchi “all’italiana”, tuttora aperto e frequentato da migliaia di visitatori. L’Acqua Farnesiana è un acquedotto creato alla fine del XVI secolo per alimentare la villa e il palazzo dei Farnese a Caprarola, nasce da un capofonte ipogeo in comune di Canepina, è lungo circa 9 km, con lunghi tratti scavati nella roccia. L’acquedotto del castello Ruspoli di Vignanello presenta un percorso ipogeo sottostante l’antico abitato, è lungo circa 2 km e fu creato dalla contessa Ottavia Orsini all’inizio del XVII secolo. L’acquedotto Aldobrandini fu realizzato tra il 1603 e il 1605, in parte riutilizzando le captazioni e i condotti dell’antica Aqua Julia, con un condotto di almeno 9,5 km; esso alimentava i giochi d’acque della villa Belvedere degli Aldobrandini e in parte anche altre ville, una mola e l’Abbazia di S. Nilo a Grottaferrata. È tuttora in piena efficienza.The fall of the Roman Empire brought into a rapid drop the population of the main towns; many crashes followed as well as the discontinuance of the extraordinary network of aqueducts that supported the survival in many conurbations. The resumption of the way of life after the twelfth. century fostered the revival of the fine arts and the architecture: the Renaissance was born. Somewhat similar took place in the undergrounds, where drinking waters flow in the ducts. A few examples of important aqueducts that were set up in the Modern Era are presented: they provided drinking water to castles and magnificent country houses. The aqueduct that takes the waters from river Aniene to the fountains of the Villa d’Este garden in Tivoli has been achieved in the second half of the 16th century, following the instructions of Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este: one of the most famous “italian” gardens was attained; the fountains are still perfectly effective and enjoy thousands visitors every year. “Acqua Farnesiana” is an aqueduct set up towards the end of the 16th century, 9 km ca. long; it sucks up water from an hypogean source in Canepina (VT) commune and, through a few underground tunnels, it feeds the Farnese palace, villa and gardens in Caprarola. The Ruspoli aqueduct flows through an hypogean tunnel below the ancient built-up area of Vignanello (VT) and is nearly 2 km long. It was set up by countess Ottavia Orsini at the beginning of the 17th century, in order to supply the “Italian garden” below her castle. The Aldobrandini aqueduct was achieved from 1603 to 1605 on Pope’s Clemente VII will, in a large part by the recovery of the underground springs and ducts created by the Romans for the ancient aqueduct Aqua Julia and by adding a shorter tunnel leading straight to the Villa Belvedere in Frascati (RM). The aqueduct is on the whole 9,5 km long; it was feeding the “Italian garden” just above the Villa, but in part supported other country houses too, near Frascati, the Saint Nilo Abbey in Grottaferrata plus some public fountains. This aqueduct is still perfectly working

Years of life that could be saved from prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) causes premature death and loss of life expectancy worldwide. Its primary and secondary prevention can result in a significant number of years of life saved. AIM: To assess how many years of life are lost after HCC diagnosis. METHODS: Data from 5346 patients with first HCC diagnosis were used to estimate lifespan and number of years of life lost after tumour onset, using a semi-parametric extrapolation having as reference an age-, sex- and year-of-onset-matched population derived from national life tables. RESULTS: Between 1986 and 2014, HCC lead to an average of 11.5 years-of-life lost for each patient. The youngest age-quartile group (18-61 years) had the highest number of years-of-life lost, representing approximately 41% of the overall benefit obtainable from prevention. Advancements in HCC management have progressively reduced the number of years-of-life lost from 12.6 years in 1986-1999, to 10.7 in 2000-2006 and 7.4 years in 2007-2014. Currently, an HCC diagnosis when a single tumour <2 cm results in 3.7 years-of-life lost while the diagnosis when a single tumour 65 2 cm or 2/3 nodules still within the Milan criteria, results in 5.0 years-of-life lost, representing the loss of only approximately 5.5% and 7.2%, respectively, of the entire lifespan from birth. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence results in the loss of a considerable number of years-of-life, especially for younger patients. In recent years, the increased possibility of effectively treating this tumour has improved life expectancy, thus reducing years-of-life lost

Il carsismo a Sonnino (Lt-Lazio): esplorazioni ipogee e prime valutazioni del sistema idrogeologico profondo

ItAi piedi dell’abitato di Sonnino (Latina),nei monti Ausoni,si apre il Catàuso,inghiottitoio che raccoglie le acque di due torrenti al termine di una valle cieca.Gli scriventi hanno ripreso le esplorazioni di cavità sotterranee,tra le quali una &#64257;nora sconosciuta,che supera il chilometro di sviluppo.Sono state eseguite osservazioni sulle morfologie epicarsiche e si è impostato lo studio per accertare il percorso delle acque carsiche.La presenza di importanti faglie suggerisce un de &#64258;usso verso sorgenti poste a N-NE anziché un collegamento diretto al &#64257;ume Amaseno verso NW.La presente relazione comprende i rilevamenti topogra&#64257;ci ipogei ed epigei, una analisi morfologica delle cavità e i primi risultati sulle ricerche idrogeologiche,avviate nel 2004 e tuttora in corso.EnNear Sonnino,in the Southern Latium (Central Italy),the sinkhole Catàuso,which opens at 206 m above the sea level,collects the waters from two streams.The whole system is located in the core of Ausoni Mountains,a massif belonging to the “anti-Apennines ”chain which borders the Tyrrhenian Sea and which is almost completely formed by upper Cretaceous limestone,deeply and abundantly karstic. The sinkhole,already represented on maps since the XVIII century,has been explored only in the years 1928-1957.Its in-depth study is still unachieved,the scanty speleological publications are nearly limited to its description and the &#64257;nal water delivery is ascribed without any empirical testing.Following some reports of new caves discoveries in the surroundings,we started to investigate the whole area.The geological 1:100.000 map (40 years old)indicates,upstream of the sinkhole,a plain covered by quaternary deposits of terra rossa mixed with pyroclastites:yet we have noticed that the surface is scattered with small limestones outcrops everywhere,many shaped as chicots or rock-cities

Analysis of the <i>AIRE</i> Gene Promoter in Patients Affected by Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndromes

Autoimmune polyglandular syndromes (APS) are classified into four main categories, APS1–APS4. APS1 is caused by AIRE gene loss of function mutations, while the genetic background of the other APS remains to be clarified. Here, we investigated the potential association between AIRE gene promoter Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and susceptibility to APS. We sequenced the AIRE gene promoter of 74 APS patients, also analyzing their clinical and autoantibody profile, and we further conducted molecular modeling studies on the identified SNPs. Overall, we found 6 SNPs (-230Y, -655R, -261M, -380S, -191M, -402S) of the AIRE promoter in patients’ DNA. Interestingly, folding free energy calculations highlighted that all identified SNPs, except for -261M, modify the stability of the nucleic acid structure. A rather similar percentage of APS3 and APS4 patients had polymorphisms in the AIRE promoter. Conversely, there was no association between APS2 and AIRE promoter polymorphisms. Further AIRE promoter SNPs were found in 4 out of 5 patients with APS1 clinical diagnosis that did not harbor AIRE loss of function mutations. We hypothesize that AIRE promoter polymorphisms could contribute to APS predisposition, although this should be validated through genetic screening in larger patient cohorts and in vitro and in vivo functional studies

Impedance plethysmography system with inertial measurement units for motion artefact reduction: Application to continuous breath activity monitoring

This paper presents an impedance plethysmography system suitable to perform a continuous monitoring of human breath activity. The problem of motion artifact is mitigated through the use of a correction technique exploiting an additional inertial sensor able to detect movements of the arms of the subject under test. The correction algorithm is based on a simple correlation technique and only requires a very brief training at the beginning of the acquisition session, with the monitored subject performing random movements in apnea condition. Application of the proposed system to a healthy adult volunteer demonstrates the potentiality of the correction algorithm, which, thanks to its extreme simplicity and low computational cost, is a suitable candidate for implementation in a low-cost and portable monitoring system

Bidirectional barbed suture for posterior musculofascial reconstruction and knotless vesicourethral anastomosis during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy

The aim of the work is to describe an original technique of posterior muscle-fascial reconstruction (PMFR) during Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP)

Copper perturbation in 2 monozygotic twins discordant for degree of cognitive impairment

Background: Recent evidence indicates that peripheral tissue markers can provide information regarding changes affecting cellular metabolism in Alzheimer disease (AD). We previously reported that serum copper levels can discriminate subjects with AD from normal control subjects (with 60% sensitivity and 95% specificity) and from patients with vascular dementia (with 63% sensitivity and 85% specificity). Objective: To study the correlation between AD and serum levels of transition metals and markers of peripheral oxidative stress. Design: Case study. Setting: General hospital inpatient wards and outpatient clinics. Patients: A pair of elderly monozygotic female twins discordant for AD. Main Outcome Measures: Biochemical analyses of peripheral-blood transition metals and indicators of oxidative stress and neurologic and neuropsychological assessments of clinical status for presence of cognitive impairment and AD. Results: Serum copper and total peroxide levels were both 44% higher in the twin with greater cognitive impairment and a diagnosis of AD. Conclusions: The cases reported support the hypothesis of a major involvement of copper and oxidative abnormalities in AD

[Foreign bodies in urinary bladder: a clinical case]

A pencil in the urinary bladder is an unusual problem for urologists. We present a case in a 44-year-old female with an eyeliner pencil self-introduced into the urethra