A spatial analysis of the XIII Italian Legislature

We present a spatial map of the Italian House during the XIII Leg-islature obtained by applying the Poole and Rosenthal methodology to roll call data. We obtain coordinates for almost all the 650 MPs that were on the House's °oor at the time, and we aggregate them according to parties. We ¯nd that voting patters generate basically a two dimensional political space. The ¯rst dimension represents loyalty to either the ruling coalition or the opposing one. The second dimension may describe differences at the constitutional level. This finding is consistent with the exceptional case of the party Northern League, which at the time did not belong to either coalition, and presented itself as a northern and anti-system party. Last, we compute the average dispersion of party coordinates along each dimension and compare them with the Rice index of cohesion, the agreement index (which takes into account abstention), and one other index we construct to account for absence from voting. We ¯nd that absence is significantly correlated with the dispersion of parties along the second dimension. We use this to motivate the importance of further analysis on the massive absence in Italian Parliament from voting sessions.

Oral History: William Iannello

Research paper devoted to the life of my grandfather, William Iannello, a second-generation Italian American. His parents came to the United States during the first decade of the 1900s from Calabria, the southernmost region of the Italian mainland

Taranto. The Convent Complex of San Domenico Maggiore. Redesigning and Museological Project.

The research, scientifically coordinated by Professor Giorgio Rocco of the Department ICAR of the Polytechnic University of Bari, starts with the analysis of the archeological findings in the area of San Domenico Convent in Taranto (Apulia, Italy), defining the different historical development stages of the city. The study focused on the analysis of the temple foundations under the Church of San Domenico. The structures, brought to light by an archeological excavation during the late 60s and early 70s, possibly date back to the period between the late 6th and the early 5th century BC. The museological project includes the choice of archeological artifacts that describe the historical and cultural context until the 5th century, following the gradual process of consolidation of the colonial polis. The archaeological collection includes finds drawn from the catalogue of the National Archeological Museum of Taranto (MARTA) and from the catalogue of the Civic Museum of History and Art of Trieste. In the exhibition design special attention is given to emphasize the visit to the temple foundation structures. 283-2 The project's challenge is to strike a balance between the convent historical spaces and the exigencies of continuity in the exhibition of the archeological artifacts. Indeed, to define the exhibition tour we have attempted, on one side, to create an itinerary that allows a suitable display of the selected objects, and on the other, the will to allow a correct understanding of historical spaces

Spider surgical system versus multiport laparoscopic surgery. Performance comparison on a surgical simulator

BACKGROUND: The rising interest towards minimally invasive surgery has led to the introduction of laparo-endoscopic single site (LESS) surgery as the natural evolution of conventional multiport laparoscopy. However, this new surgical approach is hampered with peculiar technical difficulties. The SPIDER surgical system has been developed in the attempt to overcome some of these challenges. Our study aimed to compare standard laparoscopy and SPIDER technical performance on a surgical simulator, using standardized tasks from the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS). METHODS: Twenty participants were divided into two groups based on their surgical laparoscopic experience: 10 PGY1 residents were included in the inexperienced group and 10 laparoscopists in the experienced group. Participants performed the FLS pegboard transfers task and pattern cutting task on a laparoscopic box trainer. Objective task scores and subjective questionnaire rating scales were used to compare conventional laparoscopy and SPIDER surgical system. RESULTS: Both groups performed significantly better in the FLS scores on the standard laparoscopic simulator compared to the SPIDER. Inexperienced group: Task 1 scores (median 252.5 vs. 228.5; p = 0.007); Task 2 scores (median 270.5 vs. 219.0; p = 0.005). Experienced group: Task 1 scores (median 411.5 vs. 309.5; p = 0.005); Task 2 scores (median 418.0 vs. 331.5; p = 0.007). Same aspects were highlighted for the subjective evaluations, except for the inexperienced surgeons who found both devices equivalent in terms of ease of use only in the peg transfer task. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the SPIDER is an innovative and promising device, our study proved that it is more challenging than conventional laparoscopy in a population with different degrees of surgical experience. We presume that a possible way to overcome such challenges could be the development of tailored training programs through simulation methods. This may represent an effective way to deliver training, achieve mastery and skills and prepare surgeons for their future clinical experience

Road Tunnels Operation: Effectiveness of Emergency Teams as a Risk Mitigation Measure

Managing a major event in a road tunnel requires more resources than an open-air event. In the case of fire, the confined environment of road tunnels can represent a critical situation for both users and rescuers. The safety level of a tunnel can be estimated by using dedicated risk models that consider, on the one hand, the traffic (type, quantity and distribution) of a tunnel and, on the other hand, the structural and plant safety measures. According to the European Directive, road tunnel managers can adopt additional safety measures aimed at increasing the level of safety for users exposed to the consequences of an accidental event. One of these measures is the rapid intervention of emergency teams located in the proximity of the tunnel. These teams use pick-up and scooter vehicles properly equipped to cope with a fire event and have detailed knowledge of the specific tunnel system. A further advantage of the emergency teams is the possibility of supporting the evacuation of tunnel users by providing indications on emergency exits, bypasses and safe places considering the evolution of the specific event. In this perspective, the present research contributes to the evaluation of the emergency teams’ effectiveness. Thus, the emergency team was included as a safety measure within a risk analysis model for road tunnels developed by the authors in previous works. After an analysis of the technical and scientific literature, we focused on 15 interventions carried out on some highway tunnels in Italy between the year 2019 and the year 2021. The intervention times of the teams were analyzed using data provided by Strada dei Parchi S.p.A., a company that manages 14 highway tunnels in Italy. These 14 tunnels range in length from 589 m to 10,121 m and are subject to the European Directive. The observed intervention times of the emergency teams range between 2 min and 10 min with an average value of 5.9 min. Such a short intervention time is possible because emergency teams are in the proximity of the different tunnels. Because of the short intervention time and the training of the personnel, all the fires were properly managed by the teams. Furthermore, considering the results of the scientific literature and the data presented in this work, it was possible to estimate and validate an effectiveness value (higher than 90%) of the emergency teams to be used within the risk analysis model developed by the authors and which can also be used in other risk analysis models

A note on the St. John Co-Cathedral marble tombstones : the artisans, foreign and Maltese

The aim of this brief study is to modestly review the documentation principally in the notarial archives concerning the tombstones, mainly in the period 1678 to 1819 and the marble craftsmen, local and foreign, who executed their masterpieces so expertly.peer-reviewe

Assembly and functional analysis of an S/MAR based episome with the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene

Improving the efficacy of gene therapy vectors is still an important goal toward the development of safe and efficient gene therapy treatments. S/MAR (scaffold/matrix attached region)-based vectors are maintained extra-chromosomally in numerous cell types, which is similar to viral-based vectors. Additionally, when established as an episome, they show a very high mitotic stability. In the present study we tested the idea that addition of an S/MAR element to a CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) expression vector, may allow the establishment of a CFTR episome in bronchial epithelial cells. Starting from the observation that the S/MAR vector pEPI-EGFP (enhanced green fluorescence protein) is maintained as an episome in human bronchial epithelial cells, we assembled the CFTR vector pBQ-S/MAR. This vector, transfected in bronchial epithelial cells with mutated CFTR, supported long term wt CFTR expression and activity, which in turn positively impacted on the assembly of tight junctions in polarized epithelial cells. Additionally, the recovery of intact pBQ-S/MAR, but not the parental vector lacking the S/MAR element, from transfected cells after extensive proliferation, strongly suggested that pBQ-S/MAR was established as an episome. These results add a new element, the S/MAR, that can be considered to improve the persistence and safety of gene therapy vectors for cystic fibrosis pulmonary disease