Lo Schema è il Logos

Il concetto di schema attraversa tutto o quasi tutto quel che possiamo ricostruire della cultura occidentale, al punto che non riusciremmo ad avere memoria di quel che è stato senza la continuità del modello schematico, che è stato in grado di colonizzare, come segmento semantico funzionale alla comunicazione, tutti gli ambiti e le forme dell’espressione. Per molti versi, per esempio, tutta l’opposizione tra Platone e Aristotele è riconducibile alla diversa idea che essi ne hanno, seppure ambedue lo intendano in senso squisitamente geometrico, una concezione che non appare comunque prima del V secolo, con il Timeo..

Il disegno, il General Intellect e la città: per una rilettura del Vasari

Starting from a reinterpretation of 16th Century “teoriche” focusing on the notion of “disegno”, the article examines the use of this terms in Giorgio Vasari’s work. For the author of Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori (1550 and 1568), drawing (“disegno”) corresponds to a form of “cognitive-instrumental rationality” that does not answer to a declared aim, but that is nonetheless able to construct the «space that the rationalization of images of the world in the West opens up for a modernization of society» (Habermas, 1986). The comparison between the two editions of the Vite (Torrentini, 1550 and Giunti, 1568) shows a fundamental change in paradigm: in the first edition every artist acquires exemplary value as an individual; whereas in the second edition the distinctive trait lies not in individual artists but rather in Florentine artistic canon, intended as universal and objective. In this shift, disegno becomes an explicitly intellectual device that allows to transfer the qualities of individuals to a collective intellect

Il Rumore Lontano

Il 20 febbraio 1898, la popolazione svizzera approvò con 386’634 voti favorevoli e 182’718 contrari la «Legge federale sull’acquisto e la gestione di ferrovie per conto della Confederazione e l’organizzazione amministrativa delle Ferrovie Federali Svizzere». Il Capodanno del 1901, alle ore 2.00, alla stazione di Berna si festeggiò l’arrivo del primo treno proveniente da Zurigo–Aarau–Olten, che poi proseguì per Losanna–Ginevra. A questa rivoluzione se ne aggiunge un’altra. Nel 1914 l’ingegnere inglese Richard Trevithick presenta in pubblico il primo prototipo di locomotiva per il trasporto ferroviario. Da quel giorno il treno veloce si è diffuso in tutto il mondo ed è diventato il primo vero e proprio veicolo di trasporto di massa. Ha rappresentato inoltre un punto di svolta per l’evoluzione industriale delle nazioni del novecento, arrivando a rivestire un ruolo centrale nella struttura politica, economica e sociale delle nazioni. L’invenzione della locomotiva ha aperto quindi una nuova era della storia dell’umanità rendendo accessibile il trasporto di merci e persone su brevi e lunghe distanze e cambiando per sempre la percezione dello spazio e del tempo. Grazie al treno il mondo non è stato più lo stesso. In un paio di secoli la locomotiva e in generale il treno con tutte le connotazioni che porta con sé (il viaggio, il fischio, il classico rumore,…) è diventato parte dell’immaginario collettivo e, nelle sue molteplici variazioni e sviluppi tecnologici, un soundmark geografico ovvero un segno identitario. In Svizzera, ed in particolare in Canton Ticino il territorio oggetto di questo studio, la complessa orografia ha sviluppato un’ingegneria ferroviaria storicamente all’avanguardia in ambito internazionale

Características agronômicas e tecnológicas dos grãos de cultivares de feijão do grupo comercial preto na safra de inverno

Beans are one of the foods more produced in all nationwide, with intense search for productive cultivars, adapted to local cultivation and with good culinary characteristics. The aim of this work was to evaluate the cultivars performance of the black commercial group bean, with regard to agronomic and technological characteristics in the winter season in Jaboticabal, SP. The experiment was conducted in a split plot design with three replications, and the used of the cultivars: IAC Una, Diamante Negro, Ônix, BRS Campeiro, BRS Grafite, BRS Supremo, BRS Valente, IPR Graúna, IPR 88 Uirapuru and FT Nobre. Among the yielding components, there were significant differences just the mass per 100 grains. Stood out in the yield the BRS Campeiro, Diamante Negro and IAC Una with values of 3,971, 3,755 and 3,667 kg ha-1, respectively. The IPR Graúna showed lowest cooking time, 20 minutes, positioning themselves as medium susceptibility cooking time. The cultivars showed satisfactory performance in the relation of hydration, obtaining values above 2.0 and a maximum grains hydration time, ranging between 9 hours 15 minutes and 10 hours 58 minutes.O feijão é um dos alimentos mais produzidos em todo o território nacional, sendo intensa a busca por cultivares produtivas, adaptadas ao local de cultivo e com boas características culinárias. O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho de cultivares de feijão do grupo comercial preto, quanto às características agronômicas e tecnológicas na safra de inverno em Jaboticabal, SP. O experimento foi instalado usando delineamento de blocos casualizados com três repetições, sendo os tratamentos as cultivares: IAC Una, Diamante Negro, Ônix, BRS Campeiro, BRS Grafi te, BRS Supremo, BRS Valente, IPR Graúna, IPR 88 Uirapuru e FT Nobre. Dentre os componentes da produção, houve diferenças significativas somente para a massa de 100 grãos. Destacaram-se, quanto à produtividade de grãos, as cultivares BRS Campeiro, Diamante Negro e IAC Una com valores de 3.971, 3.755 e 3.667 kg ha-1, respectivamente. A cultivar IPR Graúna apresentou o menor tempo para o cozimento, 20 minutos, enquadrando-se como suscetibilidade média a cocção. As cultivares apresentaram desempenho satisfatório quanto a relação de hidratação, obtendo valores acima de 2,0 e tempo para a máxima hidratação dos grãos, variando entre 9h15min e 10h58min

Fractional Skin Harvesting: Autologous Skin Grafting without Donor-site Morbidity

Background: Conventional autologous skin grafts are associated with significant donor-site morbidity. This study was conducted to determine feasibility, safety, and efficacy of a new strategy for skin grafting based on harvesting small columns of full-thickness skin with minimal donor-site morbidity. Methods: The swine model was used for this study. Hundreds of full-thickness columns of skin tissue (~700 µm diameter) were harvested using a custom-made harvesting device, and then applied directly to excisional skin wounds. Healing in donor and graft sites was evaluated over 3 months by digital photographic measurement of wound size and blinded, computer-aided evaluation of histological features and compared with control wounds that healed by secondary intention or with conventional split-thickness skin grafts (STSG). Results: After harvesting hundreds of skin columns, the donor sites healed rapidly without scarring. These sites reepithelialized within days and were grossly and histologically indistinguishable from normal skin within 7 weeks. By contrast, STSG donor sites required 2 weeks for reepithelialization and retained scar-like characteristics in epidermal and dermal architecture throughout the experiment. Wounds grafted with skin columns resulted in accelerated reepithelialization compared with ungrafted wounds while avoiding the “fish-net” patterning caused by STSG. Conclusion: Full-thickness columns of skin can be harvested in large quantities with negligible long-term donor-site morbidity, and these columns can be applied directly to skin wounds to enhance wound healing

Neem Oil Used as a "Complex Mixture" to Improve In Vitro Shoot Proliferation in Olive

Shoots of the olive cultivar Moraiolo were previously cultured in aseptic conditions on Olive Medium (OM), with the addition of 4 mg·L−1 of zeatin, 30 g·L−1 of sucrose, and 7 g·L−1 of agar. Then, 1-cm long uninodal explants with two leaves and two axillary buds were excised from the proliferated masses and placed on the same proliferation medium enriched with four concentrations of neem oil (0—control, 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mL·L−1), added before sterilization. The addition of 0.1 mL·L−1 of neem oil to the medium gave an improvement in shoot regeneration. More vigorous shoots (longer proliferated shoots) were obtained along with a higher number of nodes (multiplication rate). Overall, there was a significant increase in the total fresh and dry proliferated weights. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing a strong and beneficial effect of neem oil, used as a "complex mixture," on in vitro plant regeneration

On the Constancy of the Photon Index of X-ray spectra of 4U~1728-34 through all spectral states

We present an analysis of the spectral properties observed in X-rays from Neutron Star X-ray binary 4U~1728-34 during transitions between the low and the high luminosity states when electron temperature kT_e of the Compton cloud monotonically decreases from 15 to 2.5 keV. We analyze the transition episodes from this source observed with BeppoSAX and RXTE. We find that the X-ray broad-band energy spectra of 4U~1728-34 during all spectral states can be modeled by a combination of a thermal (black body-like) component, a Comptonized component (which we herein denote COMPTB) and a Gaussian component. Spectral analysis using this model evidences that the photon power-law index Gamma is almost constant (Gamma=1.99+/-0.02) when kT_e changes from 15 to 2.5 keV during these spectral transitions. We explain this quasi-stability of the index by the model in which the spectrum is dominated by the strong thermal Comptonized component formed in the transition layer (TL) between the accretion disk and neutron star surface. The index quasi-stability takes place when the energy release in the TL is much higher than the flux coming to the TL from the accretion disk. This intrinsic property of neutron star is fundamentally different from that in black hole binary sources for which the index monotonically increases during spectral transition from the low state to high state and saturates at high values of mass accretion rate.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, 4 Tables to be published in the Astrophysical Journal, August 10, 2011, v. 73

Euclid preparation. XVIII. The NISP photometric system

Euclid will be the first space mission to survey most of the extragalactic sky in the 0.95-2.02 $\mu$m range, to a 5$\sigma$ point-source median depth of 24.4 AB mag. This unique photometric data set will find wide use beyond Euclid's core science. In this paper, we present accurate computations of the Euclid Y_E, J_E and H_E passbands used by the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP), and the associated photometric system. We pay particular attention to passband variations in the field of view, accounting among others for spatially variable filter transmission, and variations of the angle of incidence on the filter substrate using optical ray tracing. The response curves' cut-on and cut-off wavelengths - and their variation in the field of view - are determined with 0.8 nm accuracy, essential for the photometric redshift accuracy required by Euclid. After computing the photometric zeropoints in the AB mag system, we present linear transformations from and to common ground-based near-infrared photometric systems, for normal stars, red and brown dwarfs, and galaxies separately. A Python tool to compute accurate magnitudes for arbitrary passbands and spectral energy distributions is provided. We discuss various factors from space weathering to material outgassing that may slowly alter Euclid's spectral response. At the absolute flux scale, the Euclid in-flight calibration program connects the NISP photometric system to Hubble Space Telescope spectrophotometric white dwarf standards; at the relative flux scale, the chromatic evolution of the response is tracked at the milli-mag level. In this way, we establish an accurate photometric system that is fully controlled throughout Euclid's lifetime.Comment: 33 pages, 25 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Euclid preparation XVIII. The NISP photometric system

Euclid will be the first space mission to survey most of the extragalactic sky in the 0.95–2.02 µm range, to a 5 σ point-source median depth of 24.4 AB mag. This unique photometric dataset will find wide use beyond Euclid’s core science. In this paper, we present accurate computations of the Euclid YE, JE, and HE passbands used by the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP), and the associated photometric system. We pay particular attention to passband variations in the field of view, accounting for, among other factors, spatially variable filter transmission and variations in the angle of incidence on the filter substrate using optical ray tracing. The response curves’ cut-on and cut-off wavelengths – and their variation in the field of view – are determined with ∼0.8 nm accuracy, essential for the photometric redshift accuracy required by Euclid. After computing the photometric zero points in the AB mag system, we present linear transformations from and to common ground-based near-infrared photometric systems, for normal stars, red and brown dwarfs, and galaxies separately. A Python tool to compute accurate magnitudes for arbitrary passbands and spectral energy distributions is provided. We discuss various factors, from space weathering to material outgassing, that may slowly alter Euclid’s spectral response. At the absolute flux scale, the Euclid in-flight calibration program connects the NISP photometric system to Hubble Space Telescope spectrophotometric white dwarf standards; at the relative flux scale, the chromatic evolution of the response is tracked at the milli-mag level. In this way, we establish an accurate photometric system that is fully controlled throughout Euclid’s lifetime