Enantioselective synthesis of a key "A-ring" intermediate for the preparation of 1alpha-fluoro vitamin D3 analogues.

1Alpha-fluoro A-ring dienol 2, a useful building block for the preparation of fluorinated vitamin D3 analogues, was synthesized in eight steps from 4-{[tert-butyldimethylsilyl]oxy}cyclohexanone. The most distinctive synthetic development to emerge from this new synthesis is an unprecedented substrate-controlled diastereoselective fluorodesilylation of an advanced dienylsilane intermediate. This is the first enantioselective route to compound 2 relying on the use of an electrophilic fluorinating reagent

Thermographic inspection of historical bronze statues.

The thermal analysis has been widely applied to the investigation of the structure and of the materials of artworks. Different kind of cultural heritage have been inspected, in particular, by means of the active thermography, a technique based on the analysis of the temperature distribution at the surface of an artifact, evolving as a consequence of a given thermal stimulation. Such a technique enables to detect the presence of sub-surface defects and inhomogeneities and offers several advantages, the main one being its non destructive character. In this work we present an application of the active thermography to the study of a bronze statue. In particular, we refer to a copy of a bronze statue which can be obtained from a single original model using the indirect casting process. The artist’s original model is hence preserved by this method and can be used as a reference during the surface finishing and refinement of the casting performed by means of a variety of filing, polishing, and chasing tools. The aim of the present research is in particular to investigate the processing of bronze surfaces, giving the possibility to reveal the cold working hidden under the final polishing

Thermographic inspection of historical bronze statues.

The thermal analysis has been widely applied to the investigation of the structure and of the materials of artworks. Different kind of cultural heritage have been inspected, in particular, by means of the active thermography, a technique based on the analysis of the temperature distribution at the surface of an artifact, evolving as a consequence of a given thermal stimulation. Such a technique enables to detect the presence of sub-surface defects and inhomogeneities and offers several advantages, the main one being its non destructive character. In this work we present an application of the active thermography to the study of a bronze statue. In particular, we refer to a copy of a bronze statue which can be obtained from a single original model using the indirect casting process. The artist’s original model is hence preserved by this method and can be used as a reference during the surface finishing and refinement of the casting performed by means of a variety of filing, polishing, and chasing tools. The aim of the present research is in particular to investigate the processing of bronze surfaces, giving the possibility to reveal the cold working hidden under the final polishing

La polis del futuro

There is nowadays an urgent need to know produced futures of our making, that is to engage or re-engage with what is called future presents (Adam 2007), which has to do with social responsibility. Progress relates to future, but not all kinds of progress make future. Sometimes future is not linked to what we call progress, much more so to what we call responsibility. This is also because responsibility and knowledge are less and less linked, while non-knowledge is becoming the dominant feature of technology-based innovation. So while innovation increases, thanks to scientific and technological advancements, the parallel growth of uncertainty and indeterminacy gave rise to an increased need of social and individual responsibility in making future. Innovation became indeed a matter of ethical concern and a basis for political present and future action Building sustainable cities is of the utmost importance for the future, no less than to deal with the theme of regeneration, retraining and sustainable urban reuse. The theme in fact implies the issue, crucial in town planning practice, of acting in conformity with a policy mode of a sustainable city development. Projecting sustainable cities, that still have their matrix in the Greek polis, also involves the consideration of various related aspects, among which that of spaces excluded from production processes, that of shantytowns, those of urban expansion, of environmental impacts and, last but not least, that of consumption of non-urbanized soil. Another issue of consequence for urban regeneration is the construction of appropriate decision-making inclusive processes. The citizens\u2019 participation, as it appears in Musco\u2019s book (2009) certainly looks as an important element on two grounds: on the one hand to identify, support and develop policies of sustainability, on the other as means to achieve shared solutions. It must be said, however, that in order to be effective and efficient, participation should be a continuous, recurrent practice. Retrieving spaces abandoned from production processes or restoring new environmental, economic and social quality to degraded districts perfectly answers the concept of sustainable city, by limiting urban dispersion and reducing environmental impacts inherent in the built-up areas (Musco 2009). An excellent example in this line is provided by the city of Barcelona. Central in current projects of requalification of the city is the intention of connecting it with the retrieval of Ensanche (or Eixample in Catalan) from Cerda\u2019s idea, already stretched to include all the social and urban needs of a city one and a half century old. Public space and its regeneration are then conceived as a strategy for modification of the metropolitan area, once again overcoming the fences of utopia with the ability to carry out projects (Mazzoleni 2009). The awareness of living in a world whose resources and possibilities of expansion are limited helped to draw attention to the ecological limitations and the possibilities of change in relation with both environment and culture. Hence the diffusion of methods of ecology of culture and of ideas to find sustainable solutions. The very peripheries, those of which Renzo Piano the architect writes that they need to be \u2018mended\u2019 by a new generation of able and responsible young people, are perhaps to embody the city of the future, and not only in Italy: \u2018The suburbs are the great urban bet of the coming decades. See the example of Otranto (1979). New crafts and techniques are to be found, intended to the consolidation of buildings, and micro businesses that only need a small capital to trigger a virtuous cycle\u2019 (Piano 2014). The irreparable decline and inexorable depopulation in some of the U.S.A., Japan and western and eastern European cities and suburbs, at the same time stimulated the research for a better understanding of new synergies between decline and growth. The phenomenon of urban contraction has acquired a new meaning, which connotes a variety of urban ailments, comprising both North and South of the world. The planning lessons that come from both the American Rust Belt and from Eastern German cities are conquering the center of the scene and helping to solicit new planning paradigms

Cantiere di studio e restauro del lapidario di Palazzo Ancarano, sede della Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Emilia Romagna

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Hierarchical TiN Nanostructured Thin Film Electrode for Highly Stable PEM Fuel Cells

Fuel cells are, to date, on the verge of large-scale commercialization. Still, long-term stability is of concern, especially in the automotive field, mainly because of the cathodic catalyst support. In fact, carbonaceous materials, the state of the art to date, suffer from severe corrosion phenomena during discontinuous operation. In the effort to replace carbon as Pt support and develop a nanoengineered architecture for the fuel cell electrodes, we report here the concept of a hierarchical TiN nanostructured thin film (HTNTF) electrode, in which Pt is deposited on an array of quasi-1D TiN nanostructures with good conductivity, high roughness factor, tunable porosity, and outstanding chemical stability. The HTNTF is grown by self-assembly from the gas phase by means of a one-step, template-free, room-temperature process, namely, pulsed laser-scattered ballistic deposition, PL-SBD. The activity of the nanostructured thin film electrode is assessed toward the oxygen reduction reaction and its stability evaluated according to DOE accelerated stress test (AST) standard protocols, revealing an electrochemical surface area (ECSA) loss as low as 7% with respect to the 40% goal. Moreover, a proof-of-concept cell has been realized to demonstrate the applicability of our supports to the device scale. Despite the fact that further optimization is needed to achieve high performances, this new class of electrodes has clear potential in terms of stability with respect to the state of the art, overcoming carbon corrosion by simply removing it from direct contact with the Pt electrocatalyst