Simulazione del traffico nell'area del nuovo ospedale "S.Luca" di Lucca per verifiche di sicurezza e tecniche di controllo

L'obiettivo di questo elaborato è lo studio del traffico nell’area del nuovo ospedale “S. Luca” di Lucca con il software di microsimulazione AIMSUN, per la soluzione di problemi di traffico e di sicurezza stradale segnalati dall’amministrazione locale. Per la rete è stata analizzata la situazione attuale, costruito, calibrato e validato il relativo modello AIMSUN. Sono stati poi implementati degli scenari di progetto che sono stati confrontati con lo scenario attuale. Nella seconda parte della tesi è stato modificato il progetto attuale della rotatoria che si trova tra Via Alighieri e Via Romana, spesso luogo di incidenti ed è stata fatta un’analisi di sicurezza surrogata con il software SSAM, confrontando lo stato attuale con lo stato di progetto

FILOSOFÍA Y ESCRITURA EN EL PLATÓN DE LEO STRAUSS

Lo que Leo Strauss define como «filosofía política clásica» parece coincidir con la cuestión planteada por la propia filosofía de su relación con la comunidad política, pensada como el «lugar» original de la reflexión sobre las relaciones humanas. En virtud del problema que determina su investigación, la «filosofía política clásica» se caracteriza por una relación directa con la vida política1. De esta premisa podría concluirse que el «objeto» de la filosofía política, al menos tal y como parecen entenderla Sócrates, Platón y Aristóteles, sería el propio filósofo como miembro de una comunidad política o, menor dicho, el problema de la acción del filósofo en esa comunidad. Habría que advertir, además, que la reflexión straussiana sobre el pensamiento político se concentra específicamente en la obra de Platón. La figura del filósofo que proponen los Diálogos es la de Sócrates; por esta razón, podría decirse que, para Strauss, el problema de la filosofía política de Platón equivale al «problema de Sócrates». Según este presupuesto, el tratamiento straussiano del pensamiento de Platón está estrechamente ligado a la identificación precisa de la «figura de Sócrates»

Exploring the Perceptions of Bariatric Surgery for Adolescents Living with Severe Obesity

The purpose of this thesis is to provide insights into the treatment and management of youth living with severe obesity within Quebec through the perspective of key stakeholders with a focus on the decision-making process for adolescent bariatric surgery. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with pediatricians (n=8), bariatric surgeons (n=5), healthcare administrators (n=4), and adolescents contemplating bariatric surgery (n=7). Adolescents also produced body map collages following the interview. This art-based method involves youth outlining their perceived body shape on a piece of paper (16”x20”) and using drawings and/or magazine images to represent their embodied experience with weight management. Interview results were transcribed and analysed inductively to identify emerging themes. Body maps were analysed using collage in conceptualization which resulted in the creation of an analytical collage by grouping related images from the body maps. Results are presented as five papers: (1) findings from a pilot study examining the feasibility of using body-map storytelling with adolescents; (2) the perceptions of pediatricians on obesity as a disease and the practice implications; (3) the perceptions of pediatricians on adolescent bariatric surgery; (4) the factors adolescents consider when deciding on bariatric surgery; and (5) a multi-stakeholder perspective on bariatric surgery for adolescents living with severe obesity. There was a generally positive perception regarding bariatric surgery for adolescents with medically urgent needs across all four stakeholder groups. There were also points of divergence regarding pre-requisites for the surgery, and which factors are considered in the decision to refer, finance, or undergo the procedure. Comparison of the stakeholders demonstrated that the acceptability of bariatric surgery was inherent to a healthcare context that offered no other alternative to primary care management for adolescents struggling with weight. Thus the pathway to bariatric surgery was perceived as skipping some key steps in the care pathway. Interestingly, a group of pediatricians and adolescents did not view obesity as a disease. Implications from this study include the need for improved availability of behavioural interventions with a team of weight management experts to address the gap between primary care counseling and tertiary care surgical intervention

Ideal, Defective, and Gold--Promoted Rutile TiO2(110) Surfaces: Structures, Energies, Dynamics, and Thermodynamics from PBE+U

Extensive first principles calculations are carried out to investigate gold-promoted TiO2(110) surfaces in terms of structure optimizations, electronic structure analyses, ab initio thermodynamics calculations of surface phase diagrams, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. All computations rely on density functional theory in the generalized gradient approximation (PBE) and account for on-site Coulomb interactions via inclusion of a Hubbard correction, PBE+U, where U is computed from linear response theory. This approach is validated by investigating the interaction between TiO2(110) surfaces and typical probe species (H, H2O, CO). Relaxed structures and binding energies are compared to both data from the literature and plain PBE results. The main focus of the study is on the properties of gold-promoted titania surfaces and their interactions with CO. Both PBE+U and PBE optimized structures of Au adatoms adsorbed on stoichiometric and reduced TiO2 surfaces are computed, along with their electronic structure. The charge rearrangement induced by the adsorbates at the metal/oxide contact are also analyzed and discussed. By performing PBE+U ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, it is demonstrated that the diffusion of Au adatoms on the stoichiometric surface is highly anisotropic. The metal atoms migrate either along the top of the bridging oxygen rows, or around the area between these rows, from one bridging position to the next along the [001] direction. Approximate ab initio thermodynamics predicts that under O-rich conditions, structures obtained by substituting a Ti5c atom with an Au atom are thermodynamically stable over a wide range of temperatures and pressures.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Soft-switching modular multilevel converters for efficient grid integration of renewable sources

The Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) concept is a modern energy conversion structure that stands out for a number of interesting features that opens wide application chances in Power Systems, for example for efficient grid integration of renewable sources. In these high-voltage, high-power application fields, a high efficiency is mandatory. In this regard, an interesting and promising development opportunity could be to make soft-switching the elementary converters of the submodules (cells), half H-bridges or full H-bridges, obtaining at the same time the advantage of increasing the switching frequency. The ARCP or the AQRDCL soft-switching topologies appear adequate for this purpose. This paper is dedicated to examining these development possibilities