El legado de una metafísica

Una invitación a aceptar la ingerencia de informaciones sutiles tal vez de los reinos de la intuición. A manera de tejido entre el analogismo Rosiano y el autonomismo de De Chirico, presentimos la figura de la estructura profunda de Colin Rowe, aquella en que se fundamenta la fuerza que mantienen aglutinadas la geometría y sus relaciones apropiadas

Unusual Cause of Chest Pain on Radiograph

Although pneumomediastinum (PM) is a cause of chest pain, which can be diagnosed on a plain chest radiograph, emergency physicians frequently miss the diagnosis. As follows a description of findings of PM on a chest radiograph

Territory, sustainability and design : From traceability to the upgrade of production waste

Design is the discipline capable of interpreting technical, economic, social and cultural transformations, coming into close contact with the concrete dimension of the territorial context and acting on the processes of competitive enhancement of single companies and of local business systems. Starting from these premises and with the purpose of allowing the territory to absorb values such as sustainability, identity and brand recognition strategies, the envisioned change — beyond the project level — is cultural. Two research projects dedicated to the integration of good practices for sustainability in the territorial context of Veneto demonstrate how a virtuous circle can be implemented starting from the concept of dedicated tracking systems for companies up to the design for a sustainable management of waste. This positive process consists of new relationships and active exchanges of skills, bringing to light those already existing. In this way, the profound meaning of belonging to a cultural identity is integrated into the planned development of companie

Optimising the recovery and stabilisation of intact oil bodies from oilseed rape

Oil bodies (oleosomes) are sub-cellular droplets representing the main form of energy storage in oleaginous plant seeds. The release of intact oil bodies by wet milling oilseeds results in a natural emulsion (no need for additional emulsifiers) and is likely to have a lower environmental impact than conventional oilseed processing. During the aqueous recovery of oil bodies, other water-soluble seed material is solubilised and carried-over in the final product. The aims presented in this thesis were: 1. Recover intact oil bodies free from exogenous seed materials 2. Understand which the mechanisms of oil body instability during storage are 3. Stabilise the oil body material 4. Assess emulsion physicochemical stability during storage The degree to which recovered oil bodies remained intact was established by exposing the recovered crude cream to urea (9M) and measuring any changes to droplet size; no change indicates a high degree of intact oil bodies. A lipase assay was used to monitor enzyme carry-over in oil body preparations and to measure thermal process effectiveness. Chemical (hydrolysis of lipids and integral proteins) and physical (particle size and zeta potential) stability were measured during oil body storage. The correlation between thermal treatment, lipase activity, and oil body stability was tested. The use of alkaline pH solutions (>8.5) to soak and grind oilseed rapeseed were more effective against the contamination of oil body material with seed proteins/enzymes, compared with neutral pHs. Soaking and grinding seeds with a NaHCO3 solution (0.1 M, pH 9.5) yielded oil bodies with a similar composition to those prepared in urea (9 M); despite this ‘clean up’ by bicarbonate solutions, the physical stability over storage was compromised, due to the presence of hydrolytic enzymes. Heating a dispersion of oil bodies (milk or resuspended cream) for 6 minutes at 95°C significantly reduced lipolytic activity (>90% enzyme inactivation) and resulted in oil bodies that were stable physically and chemically. Using the optimized recovery protocol and thermal treatment, oil bodies retained during storage (1 month, 20 °C) a particle size (D4,3) of about 1.4 μm; as the pH was increased from 3 to 10 the zeta potential changed from around +55 mV to -65 mV (pI of 6). In terms of chemical stability, thermally treated emulsions did not show signs of either proteolytic or lipolytic activity. The oxidative stability of oil bodies was significantly improved after thermal treatment

Forces on Obstacles in Rotor Wake – A GARTEUR Action Group

The paper describes the objectives and the structure of the GARTEUR Action Group HC/AG-22 project which deals with the basic research about the forces acting on obstacles when immersed in rotor wakes. The motivation started from the observation that there was a lack of experimental databases including the evaluation of the forces on obstacles in rotor wakes; and of both numerical and experimental investigations of the rotor downwash effects at medium-to-high separation distances from the rotor, in presence or without sling load. The four research centres: CIRA (I); DLR (D); NLR (NL); ONERA (F); and three universities: NTUA (GR); Politecnico di Milano (I); University of Glasgow (UK) created a team for the promotion of activities that could contribute to fill these gaps. In particular, both numerical and experimental investigations were proposed by the team to study, primarily, the effects of the confined area geometry on a hovering helicopter rotor, and, secondarily, the downwash and its influence on the forces acting on a load, loose or slung, at low to high separation distances from the rotor disc. The following activities were planned: a) application and possible improvement of computational tools for the study of helicopter rotor wake interactions with obstacles; b) set-up and performance of four cost-effective wind tunnel test campaigns aimed at producing a valuable experimental database for the validation of the numerical methodologies applied; c) final validation of the numerical methodologies. The project started in November 2014 and has a duration of three years

Metamorfosi evolutiva della materia. Tecniche ed estetiche per inglobare e accogliere

Tra i principi orientati al design per la sostenibilità, le tecniche di separazione e disassemblaggio di componenti materiche vengono promosse alla base del riciclo e del recupero di risorse. Si tratta tuttavia di tecniche che, seppur consolidate, non risultano essere le strategie anti-scarto più feconde e non riescono da sole a consentire il raggiungimento di una società che tende verso rifiuti zero. Allo stesso tempo assistiamo alla formazione di plastiglomerati, aggregati materici simili alle rocce ma formati da rifiuti di plastica fusi, mescolati a sedimenti, frammenti di lava vulcanica e detriti organici che ben esemplificano la trasformazione della natura stessa nell’era antropocenica. Negli ultimi anni proprio tali conformazioni hanno ispirato diverse sperimentazioni da parte di artisti e designer basate sull’applicazione di tecniche capaci di rispondere alla natura incorporante di tali neomateriali, intesi qui come aggregazioni ibride. Attraverso l’analisi di un caso studio, l’obiettivo del contributo è di proporre una riflessione per lo sviluppo di ricerche orientate a individuare tecniche guidate dalle capacità e dall’efficacia della natura di inglobare e accogliere, che probabilmente devono necessariamente affiancare quelle di separazione e disassemblaggio, a vantaggio di una in-formazione di neomateriali orientati alla riconoscibilità di una estetica dello scarto

Minimization of product defects by the means of implementing correct test pyramid in the software development process

Article attempts to present one of the solutions towards the problem of flawed and delayed product development. The history behind current most popular product development methodology (waterfall methodology) is traced, as well the problems that this methodology presents such as calendar risks or high employee turnover rate. The methodology that was created to solve those issues is gaining a lot of popularity now, because it offers much more agile way of delivering a software product by splitting the whole development process into manageable iterations. Customer can change the requirements and adapt the product to the market changes from iteration to iteration. However, this new methodology (agile methodology) presents some serious problems as well. This article concentrates tackles the main issue - insurance of the product quality with each iteration. The solution that is presented by the article revolves around creating and maintaining a correct test pyramid, with the specific description of all the layers of the pyramid. A small study was conducted on a sample project, where it was calculated, that test pyramid allowed to decrease the amount of defects by 25 %

Effectiveness of an innovative sensory approach to improve children’s nutritional choices

A case-control study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the Edueat® Method, through experiential workshops focused on the use of all 5 senses. In two different primary schools in the same city, questionnaires were administered in two months with a follow-up one year later. Participants: 119 children (age 8.2–9.0) chosen randomly; control group 66 (55.5%). Seven lessons of 2 h each were held in the schools by experts of the Edueat® method and seven extra lessons by the teachers. The main outcome measures were the children’s changes in their approach and attitude towards their eating habits. The answers were grouped with factor analysis and summarized through scores. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted in order to identify the relationships between scores and treatment over time. At the end of treatment, the intervention group showed a significant appreciation towards healthy foods (+4.15 vs. −0.05, p = 0.02) and a greater capacity in identifying foods which are very good for the health (+15.6 vs. +14.4, p = 0.02). In conclusion, the Edueat® method was found to be particularly promising in transmitting knowledge of those foods which are healthy. Greater involvement of teachers and parents is crucial

The effect of monovalent (Na+, K+) and divalent (Ca2+, Mg2+) cations on rapeseed oleosome (oil body) extraction and stability at pH 7

Oleosomes are storage vehicles of TAGs in plant seeds. They are protected with a phospholipid-protein monolayer and extracted with alkaline aqueous media; however, pH adjustment intensifies the extraction process. Therefore the aim of this work was to investigate the extraction mechanism of rapeseed oleosomes at pH 7 and at the presence of monovalent and divalent cations (Na+, K+, Mg2+, and Ca+2). The oleosome yield at pH 9.5 was 64 wt%, while the yield at pH 7 with H2O was just 43 wt%. The presence of cations at pH 7, significantly enhanced the yield, with K+ giving the highest yield (64 wt%). The cations affected the oleosome interface and their interactions. The presence of monovalent cations resulted in aggregation and minor coalescence, while divalent cations resulted in extensive coalescence. These results help to understand the interactions of oleosomes in their native matrix and design simple extraction processes at neutral conditions

Economic impact of remote monitoring on ordinary follow-up of implantable cardioverter defibrillators as compared with conventional in-hospital visits: a single-center prospective and randomized study

Few data are available on actual follow-up costs of remote monitoring (RM) of implantable defibrillators (ICD). Our study aimed at assessing current direct costs of 1-year ICD follow-up based on RM compared with conventional quarterly in-hospital follow-ups. Methods and results Patients (N=233) with indications for ICD were consecutively recruited and randomized at implant to be followed up for 1 year with standard quarterly inhospital visits or by RM with one in-hospital visit at 12 months, unless additional in-hospital visits were required due to specific patient conditions or RM alarms. Costs were calculated distinguishing between provider and patient costs, excluding RM device and service cost. The frequency of scheduled in-hospital visits was lower in the RM group than in the control arm. Follow-up required 47 min per patient/year in the RM arm versus 86 min in the control arm (p=0.03) for involved physicians, generating cost estimates for the provider of USD 45 and USD 83 per patient/- year, respectively. Costs for nurses were comparable. Overall, the costs associated with RM and standard follow-up were USD 103±27 and 154±21 per patient/year, respectively (p=0.01). RM was cost-saving for the patients: USD 97±121 per patient/year in the RM group versus 287± 160 per patient/year (p=0.0001). Conclusion The time spent by the hospital staff was significantly reduced in the RM group. If the costs for the device and service are not charged to patients or the provider, patients could save about USD 190 per patient/year while the hospital could save USD 51 per patient/year