La cultura dei materiali e il lato sensoriale del progetto / The material cultures and the sensory side of the project

L’ambito della cultura dei materiali per il design, oggi, si presenta quale disciplina variegata e multiforme: tale contesto, infatti, è studiato attraverso metodi, metodologie e approcci differenti, appartenenti a scienze e saperi spesso anche distanti tra loro, quali discipline delle aree tecnico-scientifiche e discipline umanistiche. I materiali (per il progetto) sono infatti indagati principalmente da due tipi di conoscenze, la prima più tecnica e la seconda più estetico-sensoriale. L’articolo si focalizzerà su quest’ultima, porgendo particolare attenzione ai sensi del tatto, dell’udito e dell’olfatto, quali “strumenti” per il progettista per la progettazione corretta della loro user experience, della percezione, emozione e reazione che una persona prova quando si interfaccia con essi. / Today, the field of the culture of materials for design is a variegated and multi-form discipline: this context, in fact, is investigated through different methods, methodologies and approaches, belonging to sciences and knowledge that are often very distant from each other, such as disciplines of technical-scientific areas and humanities. The materials (for the project) are, in fact, investigated mainly by two types of knowledge, a more technical one and a more aesthetic-sensorial one. The article will focus on the latter, paying particular attention to the senses of touch, hearing and smell, as “tools” for the designer looking for the correct design of their user experience, perception, emotion and reaction when interfacing with them

[Correlation between results of bicycle stress test and coronaric arteriography. Study of 153 patients (author's transl)]

In 153 patients the results of bicycle stress test were compared with data obtained from coronaric arteriography. There were corresponding results from both tests in most cases. There are other discrepancies which cannot be explained by defining the stress test as "unspecific" or "not very sensitive". In fact, each time, time differences can be referred, besides method limits, to particular physio-pathological stages of the coronaric disease (collateral circulation, Prinzmetal angina) or they can be considered completely independent of the coronaric disease (myocardial disease without coronaric disease, enzymatic defects; haemoglobinic alterations, etc.). The two tests have different indications, but they can also complementary information

Lipid--lipoprotein composition in hypercholesterolemic children and their parents

In 13 hypercholesterolemic children, re-screened for serum cholesterol after a 1-year interval, hypercholesterolemia was confirmed in only 61.5% of the cases. A tentative explanation seems to be the statistical principle of regression towards the mean. The lipid--lipoprotein analysis showed that serum and LDL cholesterol concentrations in the 13 hypercholesterolemic children and their parents were significantly higher compared to controls (children and parents). At re-screening, hyper-LDL cholesterolemia was present in only 8 of the 13 children (61.5%); 4 cases exhibited hyper-HDL cholesterolemia (30.7%). The high prevalence of the parents repeating the lipoprotein abnormality and the electrophoretic pattern found in the propositi (children) confirms the familial aggregation of the hypercholesterolemic states (hyper-LDL and hyper-HDL cholesterolemia). In conclusion the results of our study stress the importance of determining the lipid--lipoprotein composition, rather then merely evaluating total serum cholesterol in order to make a correct diagnosis of the hypercholesterolemic state. It should also be emphasized that the lipoprotein disturbances and their familial aggregation may be detected early in childhood, suggesting that the familial screening for risk factors of atherosclerosis should be done at pediatric age