Stripsody: la vocazione musicale delle strisce a fumetti.

Part I \u2013 Stripsody. La vocazione musicale delle strisce a fumetti Costruita usando i suoni dei fumetti, Stripsody di Cathy Berberian \ue8 una composizione che ci pone di fronte a interrogativi fondanti sullo statuto che essi assumono all\u2019interno di quello che, a prima vista, sembra essere un universo silente. I suoni delle strisce disegnate sono tutti dello stesso tipo? Che rapporto intrattengono con le cose sonore che li producono? \uc8 lecito eseguirli? Cosa succede quando lo facciamo? Queste ed altre le domande intorno alle quali si sviluppa questo breve eBook. Il percorso seguito coinvolge discipline quali la semiotica, la filosofia del linguaggio, la linguistica, la filosofia della musica. L\u2019intento \ue8 quello di attribuire ad un\u2019opera, spesso dimenticata, un valore che va oltre la sua forza dissacrante, per gettare una nuova luce sulla musica e sui fumetti. Part II \u2013 Berberian\u2019s Stripsody and Comics Musical Vocation Stripsody is a composition which Cathy Berberian wrote using sonic material derived from comic-strips. This opera puzzles us with many crucial questions on the role played by onomatopoeic sounds in comics\u2019 silent world. Are they all alike? What kind of relation they entertain with the objects which produce them? Do we have to perform them? And if yes what happen when we do it? These are the issues tackled in this eBook and Semiotics, Philosophy of Language, Linguistics, Philosophy of Music are some of the approaches used to investigate them. The aim will be to attribute a value to this composition that is not merely linked to its desecrating impact, and that throws a new light both on music and comix

The Renewable Energy In A Led Standalone Streetlight

This work deals with the design of a standalone streetlight provided with a solar panel and a multiple vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) along the structure. A prototype was built and is currently being tested in the Monte Dago campus of the Università Politecnica delle Marche. The ongoing focus of the project is to improve the overall efficiency and the manufacturing details for the industrialization. A battery bank allows delaying the energy delivering from the energy production, while a central process unit on board collects the data from every component in the equipment. This unit allows to monitor the day-by-day efficiency of the energy-lighting system, and to send the information wirelessly with the purpose of integrating into a smart grid-like management platform. The test site includes a meteorological mast, which can measure the weather conditions, such as wind speed and solar radiation. The wind turbines included in the streetlight have been studied from an aerodynamic point of view through an extensive experimental analysis in the wind tunnel. Moreover, the structural design of the wind rotors was carried out together with the security system including a mechanical brake, which prevents the damage of the components during high wind speed conditions. The control of the hybrid energy unit, designed to track the optimal performance, has been analyzed throughout the local wind conditions. Also, it is discussed the effectiveness of this streetlight concept in various climate situations

Evaluation of generative modeling techniques for frequency responses

During microwave design, it is of practical interest to obtain insight in the statistical variability of a device’s frequency response with respect to several sources of variation. Unfortunately, the frequency response acquisition can be particularly time-consuming or expensive. This makes uncertainty quantification unfeasible when dealing with complex networks. Generative modeling techniques that are based on machine learning can reduce the computation load by learning the underlying stochastic process from few instances of the device response and generating new ones by executing an inexpensive sampling strategy. This way, an arbitrary number of frequency responses can be obtained that are drawn from a probability distribution that resembles the original one. The use of Gaussian Process Latent Variable Models (GP-LVM) and Variational Autoencoders (VAE) as modeling algorithms will be evaluated in a generative framework. The framework includes a Vector Fitting (VF) pre-processing step which guarantees stability and reciprocity of S-matrices by converting them into a suitable rational model. Both GP-LVM and VAE are tested on the S-parameter responses of two linear multi-port network examples

Clima laboral en un organismo público

El propósito de este trabajo, Clima Laboral, es conocer el ambiente de una institución, en este caso el Hospital Regional Diego Paroissien, en un momento dado. Se trata de obtener el conocimiento interno del mismo y posibilitar a los empleados canalizar sus opiniones a través de las respuestas que manifiestan en la encuesta de clima. El mero hecho de permitir expresar las opiniones en cada una de las áreas y saber que éstas van a ser tenidas en cuenta genera expectativas en los empleados, por lo que es importante tomar medidas de mejora. El motivo por el cual se realizó esta investigación de clima laboral, se debe a la influencia que éste ejerce sobre el comportamiento de los empleados. El no contar con este conocimiento puede incidir negativamente en la productividad, motivación, satisfacción en el trabajo, etc. Se hace necesario reflexionar y priorizar la calidad de vida de la gente que trabaja en las organizaciones, ya que poco aporta un empleado frustrado, o que tenga resentimiento contra su jefe o lugar de trabajo. Un clima bien estructurado y con un perfil satisfactorio puede hacer que una organización sea exitosa. Ésta será valorada por los empleados que la conforman con agrado, compromiso y satisfacción.Fil: Garbuglia, Silvia Carolina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas

From principles to practices: Open Science at Europe’s universities. 2020-2021 EUA Open Science Survey results

This report presents the outcomes of the 2020-2021 EUA Open Science Survey and provides evidencebased recommendations for institutions, researchers, research funders and policymakers on the transition towards Open Science. The 2020-2021 EUA Open Science Survey focused on the level of development of Open Science in Europe‘s universities, addressing the role of Open Science in institutions’ strategic priorities and its implementation in institutional practices. In addition, the survey transversally addressed both the established (Open Access, research data) and emerging (e.g. citizen science, open education) fields of Open Science. This survey was open to all interested European higher academic institutions from October 2020 until January 2021, having gathered a total of 272 valid responses from institutions in 36 European countries. Most of the sample are comprehensive institutions (64%), followed by specialist (e.g. medical sciences, music, art schools) and technical universities, which both represent 13% of the sample. The full anonymised dataset of the survey is available in the Open Access repository Zenodo

The Use of Both Therapeutic and Prophylactic Vaccines in the Therapy of Papillomavirus Disease

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted virus. The high-risk HPV types (i.e., HPV16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59) are considered to be the main etiological agents of genital tract cancers, such as cervical, vulvar, vaginal, penile, and anal cancers, and of a subset of head and neck cancers. Three prophylactic HPV vaccines are available that are bivalent (vs. HPV16, 18), tetravalent (vs. HPV6, 11, 16, 18), and non-avalent (vs. HPV6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33,45, 52, 58). All of these vaccines are based on recombinant DNA technology, and they are prepared from the purified L1 protein that self-assembles to form the HPV type-specific empty shells (i.e., virus-like particles). These vaccines are highly immunogenic and induce specific antibodies. Therapeutic vaccines differ from prophylactic vaccines, as they are designed to generate cell-mediated immunity against transformed cells, rather than neutralizing antibodies. Among the HPV proteins, the E6 and E7 oncoproteins are considered almost ideal as targets for immunotherapy of cervical cancer, as they are essential for the onset and evolution of malignancy and are constitutively expressed in both premalignant and invasive lesions. Several strategies have been investigated for HPV therapeutic vaccines designed to enhance CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses, including genetic vaccines (i.e., DNA/ RNA/virus/ bacterial), and protein-based, peptide-based or dendritic-cell-based vaccines. However, no vaccine has yet been licensed for therapeutic use. Several studies have suggested that administration of prophylactic vaccines immediately after surgical treatment of CIN2 cervical lesions can be considered as an adjuvant to prevent reactivation or reinfection, and other studies have described the relevance of prophylactic vaccines in the management of genital warts. This review summarizes the leading features of therapeutic vaccines, which mainly target the early oncoproteins E6 and E7, and prophylactic vaccines, which are based on the L1 capsid protein. Through an analysis of the specific immunogenic properties of these two types of vaccines, we discuss why and how prophylactic vaccines can be effective in the treatment of HPV-related lesions and relapse

Bayesian active learning for multi-objective feasible region identification in microwave devices

In microwave device and circuit design, many simulations are often needed to find a set of designs that satisfy one or multiple specifications chosen by the designer upfront: the feasible region. A novel Bayesian active learning framework is presented to accurately identify the feasible region with a low number of simulations. The technique leverages on a stochastic model to obtain an efficient and automated procedure. A suitable application example validates the proposed technique and shows its effectiveness to rapidly obtain many suitable designs

Simultaneous control of DNA and RNA processing efficiency using a nucleic acid calibration set.

PCR-based detection techniques enables reliable and sensitive nucleic acid target detection. However, quantitative determination methods often fail to control for the efficiency of nucleic acid extraction, reverse transcription, and PCR amplification. This problem is even more prominent when working with clinical samples due to target sequence loss during nucleic acid processing or the co-purification of PCR inhibitors (1,2). Handling processes are often assumed to approach 100% efficiency in the laboratory, even if practical experience shows that this efficiency can be much lower. This inability to ensure accuracy can lead to significant error in uncalibrated DNA sample quantitation. The additional need for reverse transcription of RNA may further increase the quantitative error rate, as yet another enzymatic process is involved. Nucleic acid controls have been developed based upon known sequences to calibrate either DNA or RNA handling; DNA calibrators have been used to control for the amplification of target sequences using realtime PCR methods (3–8), while RNA calibrators have been developed to test reverse transcription and amplification efficiencies (9–11). A nonpathogenic viral particle carrying a sequence for use as an external positive control of extraction and amplification has also been described (12). Unfortunately, most of the established processing controls are only suitable for limited applications (i.e., either DNA or RNA detection). Cross-contamination of biological samples or minute detection from natural sources reveals the need for completely synthetic sequences, with no homology to sequences in the nucleic acid databases. It is, therefore, beneficial to design an internal, synthetic calibration system that can control for both DNA and RNA processing steps in a single tube. This set includes both RNA and DNA targets with identical primer binding sites and, thus, primer binding efficiency, but easily distinguishable sequence characteristics, allowing for simultaneous detection, quantitation, and calibration of nucleic acid processing efficiency. A 150-bp randomly generated nucleic acid sequence was developed for use as a short control (SC). A GCrich 75-bp sequence was inserted in the middle of the 150-bp sequence to generate a 225-bp sequence, long control (LC). Besides size, the two sequences were designed to have easily distinguishable probe binding sites with a predicted product melting temperature difference of 4°C. Calibrator sequences have been published as GenBank® accession nos. EF143258 (DNA control, LC) and EF143257 (RNA control, SC). Simultaneous control of DNA and RNA processing efficiency using a nucleic acid calibration se

Hepatitis E virus in Italy: molecular analysis of travel-related and autochthonous cases

Human hepatitis E virus (HEV) is considered an emerging pathogen in industrialized countries. The aim of the present study was to contribute to the body of knowledge available on the molecular epidemiology of acute hepatitis E in Italy. Three sets of HEV-specific primers targeting the ORF1 and ORF2 were used to examine serum samples collected from acute hepatitis patients positive for anti-HEV IgG and/or IgM, between 2007 and 2010. Seventeen patients (39.5 %) tested HEV RNA-positive: 12 infections, due to genotype 1, were associated with travel to endemic areas (Bangladesh, India and Pakistan), while five infections, due to genotype 3, were presumably autochthonous. Risk factors identified in this group included exposure to raw seafood, pork liver sausages and wild boar. Results from the present study confirm that human HEV infection in Italy is caused by different genotypes, depending on whether the infection is travel-related or autochthonous

Autochthonous acute hepatitis E: treatment with sofosbuvir and ribavirin

Introduction: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging cause of autochthonous-acute-hepatitis and acute-on-chronic-liver-failure in western countries. Treatment is not routinely used, despite ribavirin has a good antiviral effect. In vitro sofosbuvir inhibits HEV replication, but clinical data are lacking. Case report: We report a case of acute-on-chronic-liver-failure due to HEV treated with sofosbuvir and ribavirin. The treatment was capable of rapidly inducing both HCV and HEV viral suppression. Conclusion: In conclusion, although more data are required before firm conclusions could be drawn, the combination of sofosbuvir and ribavirin in not immunosuppressed patients with acute hepatitis E may be able to clear HEV infection