Vaser Body Contouring Achieving a More Defined Shape

The art of body shaping has changed in the last decade, with the new philosophy of superficial sculpturing and fat removal and fat adding in combination. Vaser ultrasound device allows a superficial undermining of the skin all over the body; deeper fat removal allows precise contouring. Fat harvesting with new device allows harvesting and concentrating high-quality fat, which is added in zones to enhance curvature and balance of body shape

A quantum particle in a box with moving walls

We analyze the non-relativistic problem of a quantum particle that bounces back and forth between two moving walls. We recast this problem into the equivalent one of a quantum particle in a fixed box whose dynamics is governed by an appropriate time-dependent Schroedinger operator.Comment: 12 pages, 0 figure

Il dominio spagnolo nel regno di Napoli (secoli XVI-XVII). Istituzioni, economia e cultura di una storia antimoderna

ItIl ritardo del Mezzogiorno e dell'Italia in generale nello sviluppo della coesione sociale, del senso e del sentimento dello Stato, ha origini remote. Lo scopo di questo contributo è di dimostrare che la dominazione spagnola unita alla mancanza di coesione tra i ceti sociali del regno di Napoli e alla presenza di una Chiesa controriformata determinarono alcuni dei ritardi economici, amministrativi, politici e psicologici del nostro Paese in rapporto alle monarchie di altri Stati europei. La corona spagnola adottò una politica di centralizzazione del potere nella capitale, mentre lasciò il controllo amministrativo e giudiziario dei territori e delle popolazioni provinciali al baronaggio. L'aristocrazia napoletana fu esautorata e privata di navi e armi, con conseguenti effetti disastrosi per l'economia e la difesa del territorio, abbandonato agli attacchi e alle razzie delle navi barbaresche. Il controllo dei principali tribunali del Regno e, quindi, il potere politico, giuridico-amministrativo e finanziario, fu affidato a un gruppo di tecnici del diritto. Le liti giudiziarie e la ricerca dell'impiego pubblico ebbero un notevole sviluppo; mentre i capitali furono distratti dal commercio verso l'acquisto di quote del debito pubblico attraverso il sistema dell'appalto della riscossione delle tasse, molto più remunerativo di qualunque impresa commerciale.EnThe delay of Mezzogiorno and of Italy in the development of social cohesion, sense and feeling of the State, has remote origins. The purpose of this contribution is to demonstrate that the Spanish domination combined with the lack of cohesion between the social classes of the kingdom of Naples and the presence of a counter-Reformed Church determined some of the economic delays, administrative, political and psychological of our country in relation to the monarchies of other European states. The Spanish crown adopted a policy of centralizing power in the capital, while it left administrative and judicial control of the territories and provincial populations to the baronage. The Neapolitan aristocracy was overturned and deprived of ships and weapons, with consequent disastrous effects on the economy and the defense of the territory, abandoned to the attacks and raids of the Barbary ships. The control of the main courts of the Kingdom and, therefore, the political, legal-administrative and financial power, was entrusted to a group of jurists. Judicial disputes and the search for public employment developed considerably; while capital was distracted by trade towards the purchase of public debt shares through the system of the procurement of tax collection, much more profitable than any commercial enterprise

Obblighi di protezione dell’ambiente nel- le aree oltre la giurisdizione nazionale

Le aree che si trovano al di là dellagiurisdizione nazionale sono oggetto di un obbligogenerale di tutela ambientale da parte degli Stati.Tale norma è stata formulata nell’ultima parte delPrincipio 21 della Dichiarazione di Stoccolma del 1972,come poi ribadito nel Principio 2 della Dichiarazionedi Rio de Janeiro del 1992. La Corte internazionaledi giustizia ne ha affermato l’appartenenza al dirittointernazionale generale, pur in presenza di una prassiinternazionale sporadica. Negli ultimi anni, però, lanorma sembra aver trovato nuova vitalità nella prassidegli Stati, con particolare riferimento alla protezionedella biodiversità marina nelle aree che si trovano aldi là della giurisdizione nazionale

Evolving Trends in the Management of Acute Appendicitis During COVID-19 Waves: The ACIE Appy II Study

Background In 2020, ACIE Appy study showed that COVID-19 pandemic heavily affected the management of patients with acute appendicitis (AA) worldwide, with an increased rate of non-operative management (NOM) strategies and a trend toward open surgery due to concern of virus transmission by laparoscopy and controversial recommendations on this issue. The aim of this study was to survey again the same group of surgeons to assess if any difference in management attitudes of AA had occurred in the later stages of the outbreak. Methods From August 15 to September 30, 2021, an online questionnaire was sent to all 709 participants of the ACIE Appy study. The questionnaire included questions on personal protective equipment (PPE), local policies and screening for SARS-CoV-2 infection, NOM, surgical approach and disease presentations in 2021. The results were compared with the results from the previous study. Results A total of 476 answers were collected (response rate 67.1%). Screening policies were significatively improved with most patients screened regardless of symptoms (89.5% vs. 37.4%) with PCR and antigenic test as the preferred test (74.1% vs. 26.3%). More patients tested positive before surgery and commercial systems were the preferred ones to filter smoke plumes during laparoscopy. Laparoscopic appendicectomy was the first option in the treatment of AA, with a declined use of NOM. Conclusion Management of AA has improved in the last waves of pandemic. Increased evidence regarding SARS-COV-2 infection along with a timely healthcare systems response has been translated into tailored attitudes and a better care for patients with AA worldwide

Development and characterization of novel PBI/SGO composites as possible proton exchange membranes filling the “conductivity gap”

The research for non-fluorinated polymeric electrolytes able to operate at temperatures of 80–120 °C, the so-called “conductivity gap”, is becoming central. Within this frame, the present work discusses the investigation of innovative self-assembling polybenzimidazole/sulfonated graphene oxide (PBI/SGO) composite membranes. A set of five samples, characterized by never-explored PBI-to-SGO mass ratios between 3:1 and 1:3, is studied through surface and cross-sectional SEM, XRD, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, and TGA. The experimental outcomes reveal the reciprocal compatibility between PBI and SGO, whose main features appear to be evenly distributed within the composites. Water immersion tests demonstrate the excellent interplay between the membranes and the aqueous environment. EIS experiments, performed with the in-plane and through-plane configurations, disclose the improvement of the proton transfer ability (σ) in both directions. At 120 °C, PBI/SGO 1:2 achieves the highest in-plane σ of 0.113 S cm−1, while PBI/SGO 1:3 shows the best through-plane σ of 0.025 S cm−1. The preference toward planar proton migration is confirmed by the computation of the anisotropy factor, which is attenuated to ≈0.5 with the aid of temperature. Based on these findings, the composites with large SGO content seem to possess great potential as alternative non-fluorinated proton exchange membranes

Statistical mechanics of the Cluster-Ising model

We study a Hamiltonian system describing a three-spin-1/2 cluster-like interaction competing with an Ising-like anti-ferromagnetic interaction. We compute free energy, spin correlation functions and entanglement both in the ground and in thermal states. The model undergoes a quantum phase transition between an Ising phase with a nonvanishing magnetization and a cluster phase characterized by a string order. Any two-spin entanglement is found to vanish in both quantum phases because of a nontrivial correlation pattern. Neverthless, the residual multipartite entanglement is maximal in the cluster phase and dependent on the magnetization in the Ising phase. We study the block entropy at the critical point and calculate the central charge of the system, showing that the criticality of the system is beyond the Ising universality class.Comment: To be published in Physical Review