Maurizio Tosi (1944–2017)

Obituary for Maurizio Tosi the friend, the colleague, the scholar inextricably linked. Complex and contradictory his life, in which existential aspects have always mixed with academic, professional and political ones. His friendship, often awkward, but always loyal, has been an essential reference point for many of us, and for the colleagues of all the Universities where he taught, including Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale"

Development of a Male Turbo-Prop Unmanned Aerial Vehiche for Civil Application

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) increasingly are seen as the next step in aircraft evolution with the potential to replace manned aircraft over a broad range of civilian roles. Industry, who recognise the cost effectiveness of UAV, is keen to grasp this potential and the technology is rapidly developing with numerous projects currently in operation of development throughout Europe and worldwide. In response to this needs University of Naples has developed a MALE configuration TurboProp engined using innovative structural and aerodynamic solutions. Regarding the structural aspect the extensive use of composite materials led to the definition of a weight efficient vehicle capable to carry on up to 500 kg of payloads covering a wide range of medium altitude missions. With reference to aerodynamic solution, an Eppler modified profile, numerically optimized, has been adopted for its efficiency that has granted long endurance and, coupled with the power provided by the chosen engine (PT6A – 67 B), high performance. The aeroelastic assessment has revealed that no critical phenomena occur in the flight envelope. Once defined the aerodynamic and structural aspects, an analysis of reliability and safety has been performed aimed to evaluate MTBL (Mean Time Between Loss) and MTBCF (Mean Time Between Critical Failure) features

Bladder Sparing Approaches for Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancers.

OPINION STATEMENT: Organ preservation has been increasingly utilised in the management of muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Multiple bladder preservation options exist, although the approach of maximal TURBT performed along with chemoradiation is the most favoured. Phase III trials have shown superiority of chemoradiotherapy compared to radiotherapy alone. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy gives local control outcomes comparable to those of radical surgery, but seemingly more superior when considering quality of life. Bladder-preserving techniques represent an alternative for patients who are unfit for cystectomy or decline major surgical intervention; however, these patients will need lifelong rigorous surveillance. It is important to emphasise to the patients opting for organ preservation the need for lifelong bladder surveillance as risk of recurrence remains even years after radical chemoradiotherapy treatment. No randomised control trials have yet directly compared radical cystectomy with bladder-preserving chemoradiation, leaving the age-old question of superiority of one modality over another unanswered. Radical cystectomy and chemoradiation, however, must be seen as complimentary treatments rather than competing treatments. Meticulous patient selection is vital in treatment modality selection with the success of recent trials within the field of bladder preservation only being possible through this application of meticulous selection criteria compared to previous decades. A multidisciplinary approach with radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, and urologists is needed to closely monitor patients who undergo bladder preservation in order to optimise outcomes

Practical methods for incorporating summary time-to-event data into meta-analysis

Background: In systematic reviews and meta-analyses, time-to-event outcomes are most appropriately analysed using hazard ratios (HRs). In the absence of individual patient data (IPD), methods are available to obtain HRs and/or associated statistics by carefully manipulating published or other summary data. Awareness and adoption of these methods is somewhat limited, perhaps because they are published in the statistical literature using statistical notation.Methods: This paper aims to 'translate' the methods for estimating a HR and associated statistics from published time-to-event-analyses into less statistical and more practical guidance and provide a corresponding, easy-to-use calculations spreadsheet, to facilitate the computational aspects.Results: A wider audience should be able to understand published time-to-event data in individual trial reports and use it more appropriately in meta-analysis. When faced with particular circumstances, readers can refer to the relevant sections of the paper. The spreadsheet can be used to assist them in carrying out the calculations.Conclusion: The methods cannot circumvent the potential biases associated with relying on published data for systematic reviews and meta-analysis. However, this practical guide should improve the quality of the analysis and subsequent interpretation of systematic reviews and meta-analyses that include time-to-event outcomes

PASTORI ERRANTI DELL'ASIA, POPOLI, STORIA E ARCHEOLOGIA NELLE STEPPE DEI KIRGHISI

The volume published in the occasion of an Exhibition with the title "Pastori erranti dell'Asia, Popoli, Storia ed Archeologia nelle terre dei Kirghisi" held in Naples presents different contributions of Italian and Kirghisian specialists. The main topic of the exhibition, made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Archeological Museum of Naples, the Biskek Museum, and the Italian-Kazakhian Cultural Institute, is the archaeology of that country to the light of the traditional and originarian nomadic nature of the people who had lived there. The large amount of objects exposed, among which should be emphasized those in golden and silver, gives a clear idea to what extent the nomadic cultures of Central Asia were able to reach an very high level in the artistic and material production. Between Iran and China Kirghisistan saw in time the formative processes of the pastoral nomadism which so much conditioned the life and the culture of the steppe peoples

The Achaemenid Period in the Samarkand Area (Sogdiana): Trial Trenches At Koj Tepa, 2009 Campaign

The archaeological project in the Samarkand region aimed at detecting and investigating an Achaemenid horizon in Sogdiana after the first short campaign of May-June 2008 continued in summer 2009 through more extensive trial-trenches at Koj tepa. This tepa is a rather important settlement, constituted by a citadel encircled by walls, inside strongly destroyed, cut through by a modern activity of bulldozers, which, according to the topographic results achieved by the IAM of the Bologna University, presented partial remains of the city walls; though not still clearly identified; this wall was most probably encircling a truncated-cone-sh high citadel, according to a settlement pattern of a constructive urban system typical for sites in ancient Samarkand and Ustrushana areas. A new general map of the site is going to be realized by a laser-scanner survey promoted by the Università degli Studi di Napoli, L’Orientale. The joint Uzbek/Italian team acts in a work inserted within the frame of an official agreement between IAASU and UNO, signed in October 2008 in Samarkand and April 2009 in Naples. The second season of excavation at Koj Tepe in 2009 has been aimed at investigating the area around section no 1 and 2, in the presumed area of the eastern city-wall of the site in order to achieve a typological and possibly chronological stratigraphic differentiation; in the meantime two main objectives were followed: to find some architectural evidence of the wall (length, width, height) and to collect as much dating material culture as possible

The Achaemenid Period in the Samarkand Area (Sogdiana)

The joint Italian-Uzbek activity aimed at realising an Archaeological Map of the Middle Zeravshan Valley, started in 1999 identified and documented (1999-2008) the archaeological evidences in the area and a series of significant canalization works, originated by the river. Among these, the Dargom canal, already mentioned by Tolomeus in his Geografikà as the main water restocking of Μαρακάνδα (Afrasyab) was certainly the most important; in the list of the rivers in the middle-Persian sources, the Dargom is recorded as well3. The Italian-Uzbek activity was aimed at protecting and valorising the archaeological-environmental patrimony of the area on one hand, and to analyze, in details, the ancient settlement scheme, from the early phases up to now on the other