Heroes in dark times. Saints and officials tackling disaster (16th-17th centuries)

In the accounts of disaster of the early modern period, it seemed as though the heroes were missing, replaced by the anthropomorphic rage of the natural elements. Nevertheless, it did sometimes happen that singular figures emerged from the blurry mass of the people and their dramatic anecdotes, and sprang into action to address the emergency. Sometimes they were saints, sometimes local institutions: the former were invoked to mediate with heaven to placate divine anger through miracles, and the latter to manage the catastrophe and provide aid and relief. The chapters in this volume reflect on this composite phenomenon of salvific actions, especially when they assumed the character of heroic gestures suspended between reality and fiction, human and divine, ordinary and extraordinary

The role of the rehabilitation in subjects with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy: a narrative review

Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder due to the deposition of abnormal proteins in neurons of the basal ganglia that limit motor ability producing disability and reduced quality of life. So far, no pharmacologic therapy has been developed and the treatment remains symptomatic. The aim of the present study was to investigate systematically literature, and to determine the types and effects of rehabilitative interventions. A search of all studies was conducted in MEDLINE/PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL and EMBASE. Twelve studies were individuated including 6 case reports, 3 case series, one case control, one quasi-RT crossover study and one RCT, with 88 patients investigated overall. Rehabilitative interventions varied in type, number, frequency and duration of sessions. The most commonly used clinical measures were Progressive Supranuclear Palsy-Rating Scale (PSP-RS) and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Physical exercises were the main rehabilitative strategy but were associated with other interventions and rehabilitative devices, in particular treadmill and robot-assisted gait training. All studies showed an improvement of balance and gait impairment with a reduction of falls after rehabilitation treatment. Due to poor methodological quality and the variability of rehabilitative approach with different and variable strategies, there was no evidence of the effectiveness of a specific rehabilitation intervention in PSP. Despite this finding, rehabilitation might improve balance and gait, thereby reducing falls in PSP subjects

Site effects due to the presence of cavity near the cliffs

The paper reports a numerical evaluation of seismic site effects from an underground cavity in Sant’Agata de’ Goti, a typical medieval town of south Italy, perched on a tuff ridge. The cavity, located along the edge of Martorano ridge and interconnected to the historical center, was analyzed with the 2D FLAC code. A dynamic analysis was carried out with seven spectrum compatible accelerograms according to Italian code. In order to distinguish the site effects, the analysis was done with and without the cavity. From comparison of the two cases, expressed by maximum acceleration on the ground surface, it was observed that the presence of the cavity leads to higher acceleration towards the edge of the cliff with respect to a 1D analysis and to simplified procedures according to the Italian National code

Analysis of Catania Flash Flood Case Study by Using Combined Microwave and Infrared Technique

Abstract In this paper, the analysis of an extreme convective event atypical for the winter season, which occurred on 21 February 2013 on the east coast of Sicily and caused a flash flood over Catania, is presented. In just 1 h, more than 50 mm of precipitation was recorded, but it was not forecast by numerical weather prediction (NWP) models and, consequently, no severe weather warnings were sent to the population. The case study proposed is first examined with respect to the synoptic situation and then analyzed by means of two algorithms based on satellite observations: the Cloud Mask Coupling of Statistical and Physical Methods (MACSP) and the Precipitation Evolving Technique (PET), developed at the National Research Council of Italy. Both of the algorithms show their ability in the near-real-time monitoring of convective cell formation and their rapid evolution. As quantitative precipitation forecasts by NWP could fail, especially for atypical convective events like in Catania, tools like MACSP and PET shall be adopted by civil protection centers to monitor the real-time evolution of deep convection events in aid to the severe weather warning service

Biotechnological synthesis of succinic acid by actinobacillus succinogenes by exploitation of lignocellulosic biomass

Succinic acid is increasingly used in pharmaceutical industries, for the production of additives in food industries, in agriculture and in refinery processes as a precursor of many chemical compounds among which the most important is the succinate salt. It is also used as an ion chelator and surfactant, and for the biochemicals production. Currently, succinic acid is mainly produced through chemical petroleum-based processes, usually from n-butane using maleic anhydride. However, the use of petrochemical feedstocks raises serious environmental problems, due to the higher values of temperature and pressure required. The biotechnological production of succinic acid by microbial conversion of lignocellulosic biomass is attracting growing interest due to the environmental and economic advantages offered. This research is focused on the exploitation of Arundo donax (Giant reed) as a source of lignocellulosic biomass. Arundo donax is a perennial crop particularly suitable for energy production, as it offers high yields per hectare, even in partially fertile or polluted soils, not used for agriculture. Hydrolyzate of Arundo donax will be used as growth media for the Actinobacillus succinogenes 130Z, a bacterium typically found in the bovine rumen, that is recognized as one of the most promising for the biotechnological production of succinic acid, as it is able to produce higher concentrations of succinic acid. The experimental analysis is carried out to optimize the production of succinic acid taking into account the effect of the most critical parameters of the process (microbial biomass, pH, reducing sugars, volatile fatty acids, and succinic acid). Tests have shown that in 48h the sugars are completely biodegraded with a total production of bio-succinic acid of 5.9 g for 9.1 g of reducing sugars, an hourly production 0.12 g h-1 with a yield equal to 65%

Screening of Bioactivity in Extracts from Different Varieties of Lettuce

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) belongs to Asteraceae family and is a widely grown and a popularly consumed vegetable worldwide cause leafy vegetables are common items in a well-balanced diet. Lettuce is low in calories, fat and sodium. It is a good source of fiber, iron, folate, vitamin C and various bioactive compounds. Lettuce is consumed in salad mixes and, as its consumption is increasing, is becoming one of most 'healthy' food. Moreover, since lettuce is generally eaten raw, more nutrients and bioactive compounds are retained compared to other vegetables that are cooked or processed, avoiding in this way the degradation of the thermolabile phytochemicals with potential nutraceutical interest. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown anti-inflammatory, cholesterol-lowering, anti-diabetic, and antioxidant activities attributed to the bioactive compounds in lettuce. The healthy properties are attributed to a large supply of antioxidant compounds mainly polyphenols. As they act as free radical scavengers, both these secondary plant metabolites are fundamental to counter oxidative stress, inflammation, cancer, diabetes, age-related neurodegeneration and cardiovascular disease. Further, various studies have investigated the effects of the polyphenolic compounds present in green lettuce, in reducing oxidative and anti-inflammatory stresses. This work aims to assess polyphenolic content, as well as related antioxidant capacity of 16 lettuce types, belonging to butterhead (var. capitata) and crisphead (var. crispa) varieties, in order to know their potential correlation between phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Results have shown lattuce an interesting and cheap source of antioxidant phenolics useful to functionalise various products

Biocompounds recovery from Spirulina by conventional and ohmic heating methodologies: chemical and biological properties

Extracting the totality of bio-compounds with industrial interest from Cyanobacterium is often prevented by the intrinsic rigidity of its cell wall. In this sense, the present study focuses on evaluating the influence thermal batch extraction (conventional extraction technologies) and ohmic heating (OH) assisted extraction (considered a greener alternative technology) in blue green microalgae Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina) cell disruption for bioactive fractions recovery. The proximal composition of Spirulina was initially determined. The maximum protein content (i.e., CPhycocyanin), total carbohydrates (TC) and total phenolic compounds (TPC) extracted in water at different times (30-120 min) and temperatures (30-51 ºC) was quantified after the conventional and OH- assisted extraction. The freeze-thawing process was used as control. The antioxidant activity (i.e., FRAP and DPPH assays) of the obtained extracts was assessed. Results showed that with the freeze-thawing process, traditionally used for the recovery of bio- compounds from Spirulina, the concentration of C-phycocyanin was approx. 42 mg/g of Spirulina, 26 mgGlcE/g Spirulina of TC and 9 mgGAE/g Spirulina of TPC. Using OH-assisted extraction, the maximum of C-Phycocyanin content obtained was 45 mg/g of Spirulina (obtained at 37 ºC, 30 min), the maximum carbohydrates content was 40 mgGlcE/g Spirulina and the maximum TPC was 10 mgGAE/g Spirulina. On the other hand, using conventional thermal treatment it can be observed that, under the same conditions, the bioactive compounds recovery decreased to 35 mg/g, 20 mgGlcE/g Spirulina for C-phycocyanin concentration and TC (p<0.05), respectively. The concentration in phenolic compounds is not so affected, but even so the ohmic heating potentiates the extraction of these secondary metabolites. The antioxidant activity of the extracts there was not different between conventional treatments andOH. Thus, the results indicated that OH is a good alternative to conventional methods aiming at the extraction of intracellular components with a decrease in processing time and energy costs associated with the extraction process, which together with an easy upscale make OH an interesting methodology for use in the industrial production of microalgae colorants and bioactive supplements.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Three Cases of Long-Lasting Tumor Control with Erlotinib after Progression with Gefitinib in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

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Combined IASI-NG and MWS observations for the retrieval of cloud liquid and ice water path: a deep learning artificial intelligence approach

A neural network (NN) approach is proposed to combine future infrared (IASI-NG) and microwave (MWS) observations to retrieve cloud liquid and ice water path. The methodology is applied to simulated IASI-NG and MWS observations in the period January–October 2019. IASI-NG and MWS observations are simulated globally at synoptic hours (00:00, 06:00, 12:00, 18:00 UTC) and on a regular spatial grid (0.125° × 0.125°) from ECMWF 5-generation reanalysis (ERA5). The state-of-the-art σ-IASI and RTTOV radiative transfer codes are used to simulate IASI-NG and MWS observations, respectively, from the earth's state vector given by ERA5. A principal component analysis of the simulated IASI-NG observations is performed. Accordingly, a NN is developed to retrieve cloud liquid and ice water path from a combination of 24 MWS channels and 30 IASI-NG PCs. Validation indicates that this combination results in liquid and ice water path retrievals with overall accuracy of 1.85 10 −2 kg/m 2 and 1.18 10 −2 kg/m 2 , respectively, and 0.97 correlation with respect to reference values. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) for CLWP results in about 30% of the mean value (5.91 10 −2 kg/m 2 ) and 22% of the variability (1-sigma). Similarly, the RMSE for CIWP results in about 41% of the mean value (2.91 10 −2 kg/m 2 ) and 22% of the variability. Two more NN are developed, retrieving cloud liquid and ice water path from microwave observations only (24 MWS channels) and infrared observations only (30 IASI-NG PCs), demonstrating quantitatively the advantage of using the combination of infrared and microwave observations with respect to either one alone