2,662 research outputs found
Bargaining over Beauty: The Economics of Contracts in Renaissance Art Markets
We study contracting practices in the market for paintings in Renaissance Italy. Building on insights from the economic analysis of contracts and qualitative analysis of primary sources, we first show that transaction costs threatened the relationship between buyer—the patron—and seller—the painter. We empirically investigate the channels through which transaction costs influenced contracting practices using a novel data set measuring the content and structure of 90 commission documents from the later 13th to the early 16th century. We find strong evidence that patrons used formal contracts to mitigate painters’ opportunism but little evidence that artists’ age-related reputation for honest dealing had a systematic effect on contracting practices
Urbanization drivers differentially affect ground arthropod assemblages in the city of Turin (NW-Italy)
Hydrological intermittency drives diversity decline and functional homogenization in benthic diatom communities
Senior Recital:Cassandra E. Stevens, Flute Patricia Foltz, Piano
Kemp Recital Hall Sunday Afternoon April 6, 1997 1:00 p.m
Supraseasonal drought in an Alpine river: Effects on benthic primary production and diatom community
Over the last decades, the ongoing global climate change, combined with consequent increasing water demand for human needs, is causing recurrent droughts in previously perennial streams. These phenomena have been dramatically increasing their extent, with significant repercussions on the entire food web. Consequences of water scarcity are particularly remarkable in mountain streams, where the frequency of droughts is increasing at a rate that does not allow species to adapt. In the present research, we monitored benthic diatom communities within an intermittent Alpine river (Pellice River; North-Western Italy) during the three key phases of its hydrological cycle: i) stable flow ii) lentification iii) rewetting of the riverbed after a supraseasonal drought lasting five months. We tested the response of diatom communities in terms of compositional, structural and functional metrics (primary production, species composition, ecological guilds, life forms and eco-morphological groups) hypothesising both taxonomic and functional changes during the different steps of this hydrological cycle. Significant changes in benthic chlorophyll a occurred in the three hydrological phases. In particular, the relative proportion of the chlorophyll a of the three main autotrophic groups inhabiting the periphyton (namely diatoms, cyanobacteria and green algae) resulted as a reliable metric for the evaluation of the hydrological disturbance. Diatom chlorophyll a significantly decreased during both lentification and drought. The three phases were significantly characterized by different species and functional groups. During the stable flow the low profile (i.e., species of short stature, adapted to high current velocities and low nutrients concentrations) was the most representative guild and Achnanthidium pyrenaicum was the most abundant species; this phase was also characterized by the presence of stalked taxa. We observed a significant decrease of high profile species (i.e., species of tall stature, adapted to high nutrients concentrations and low current velocities) during the lentification phase, which was characterized by taxa belonging to the genera Navicula, Nitzschia and Ulnaria. During the rewetting, small and medium sized high profile diatoms as well as motile ones (i.e., fast moving species) characterized the assemblages. Our results showed that the complete recovery of diatom communities took at least 70 days after water return. The rapid and widespread extension of droughts in the Alpine area will have severe consequences on the river biota, also favouring the spread of invasive taxa. For this reason, outlining patterns of diatom response to droughts and detecting reliable metrics for the evaluation of this specific impact is very urgent and important
Environmental enrichment extends photoreceptor survival and visual function in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa
Slow, progressive rod degeneration followed by cone death leading to blindness is the pathological signature of all forms of
human retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Therapeutic schemes based on intraocular delivery of neuroprotective agents prolong the
lifetime of photoreceptors and have reached the stage of clinical trial. The success of these approaches depends upon
optimization of chronic supply and appropriate combination of factors. Environmental enrichment (EE), a novel
neuroprotective strategy based on enhanced motor, sensory and social stimulation, has already been shown to exert
beneficial effects in animal models of various disorders of the CNS, including Alzheimer and Huntington disease. Here we
report the results of prolonged exposure of rd10 mice, a mutant strain undergoing progressive photoreceptor degeneration
mimicking human RP, to such an enriched environment from birth. By means of microscopy of retinal tissue,
electrophysiological recordings, visual behaviour assessment and molecular analysis, we show that EE considerably
preserves retinal morphology and physiology as well as visual perception over time in rd10 mutant mice. We find that
protective effects of EE are accompanied by increased expression of retinal mRNAs for CNTF and mTOR, both factors known
as instrumental to photoreceptor survival. Compared to other rescue approaches used in similar animal models, EE is highly
effective, minimally invasive and results into a long-lasting retinal protection. These results open novel perspectives of
research pointing to environmental strategies as useful tools to extend photoreceptor survival
Faculty & Guest Recital:John E. Borg, Viola Paul W. Borg, Piano
Kemp Recital Hall Tuesday Evening September 9, 1997 8:00 p.m
Senior Recital: Richard E. Falls Jr., Euphonium; Nancy Pounds, Piano; April 7, 2010
Kemp Recital HallApril 7, 2010Wednesday Evening6:00 p.m
Faculty Recital Series:John E. Borg, Viola Paul W. Borg, Piano
Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday Evening February 10, 2004 8:00p.m
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