The astronomical orientation of the urban plan of Alexandria

Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 331 BC. The newly founded town was conceived as an orthogonal grid based on a main longitudinal axis, later called Canopic Road. We analyse here the astronomical orientation of the project and propose that the main axis was deliberately oriented towards the rising sun on the day of birth of Alexander the Great. The argument is admittedly speculative as any Archaeoastronomy argument not backed up by written sources. However, it is nested accurately into the archaeological records and into what is known on the foundation of the town. Further, a topographical analysis is given to sustain the thesis.Comment: Archaeoastronomy/History of Astronom

Competitive and Cooperative Approaches to the Balancing Market in Distribution Grids

The electrical grid has been changing in the last decade due to the presence, at the distribution level, of renewables, distributed generation, storage systems, microgrids, and electric vehicles. The introduction of new legislation and actors in the smart grid\u2019s system opens new challenges for the activities of companies, and the development of new energy management systems, models, and methods. In order to face this revolution, new market structures are being defined as well as new technologies and optimization and control algorithms for the management of distributed resources and the coordination of local users to contribute to active power reserve and ancillary services. One of the main problems for an electricity market operator that also owns the distribution grid is to avoid congestions and maximize the quality of the service provided. The thesis concerns the development and application of new methods for the optimization of network systems (with multi-decision makers) with particular attention to the case of power distribution networks This Ph.D. thesis aims to address the current lack of properly defined market structures for the determination of balancing services in distribution networks. As a first study, to be able to handle the power flow equation in a computationally better way, a new convex relaxation has been proposed. Thereafter, two opposite types of market structure have been developed: competitive and cooperative. The first structure presents a two-tier mechanism where the market operator is in a predominant position compared to other market players. Vice versa in the cooperative mechanism (solved through distributed optimization techniques ) all actors are on the same level and work together for social welfare. The main methodological novelties of the proposed work are to solve complex problems with formally correct and computationally efficient techniques

The Ancient Varieties of Mountain Maize: The Inheritance of the Pointed Character and Its Effect on the Natural Drying Process

The introduction of mechanized agricultural practices after the Second World War and the use of productive hybrids led to a gradual disappearance of local maize varieties. However, 13 landraces are still cultivated in North-Western Italy, in the Lombardy region; those that are cultivated in mountainous areas (roughly up to 1200 m in altitude) are often characterized by the pointed shape of their seeds (i.e., “Nero Spinoso”, “Rostrato Rosso di Rovetta”, “Spinato di Gandino” and “Scagliolo di Carenno”) and the presence of pigments (i.e., “Nero Spinoso”, “Rostrato Rosso di Rovetta”). The pointed shape of the seeds is an ancient characteristic of maize-ancestors, which negatively affects the yield by not allowing optimal “filling” of the ear. This study reports work on four different Italian varieties of pointed maize in order to assess the genetic bases of the “pointed character” and to try to explain the reasons for this adaptation to the mountain environment. The data obtained by genetic analysis, seed air-drying modeling and thermographic camera observations demonstrated that the “pointed trait” is controlled by the same genes across the different varieties studied and suggested that this peculiar shape has been selected in mountainous areas because it promotes faster drying of the seed, with the presence of pigments implementing this effect

comments on gene polymorphisms in fas rs3740286 and rs4064 are involved in endometriosis development in brazilian women but not those in casp8 rs13416436 and rs2037815

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Development of 177Lu-scFvD2B as a Potential Immunotheranostic Agent for Tumors Overexpressing the Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen

The clinical translation of theranostic 177Lu-radiopharmaceuticals based on inhibitors of the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) has demonstrated positive clinical responses in patients with advanced prostate cancer (PCa). However, challenges still remain, particularly regarding their pharmacokinetic and dosimetric properties. We developed a potential PSMA-immunotheranostic agent by conjugation of a single-chain variable fragment of the IgGD2B antibody (scFvD2B) to DOTA, to obtain a 177Lu-labelled agent with a better pharmacokinetic profile than those previously reported. The labelled conjugated 177Lu-scFvD2B was obtained in high yield and stability. In vitro, 177Lu-scFvD2B disclosed a higher binding and internalization in LNCaP (PSMA-positive) compared to PC3 (negative control) human PCa cells. In vivo studies in healthy nude mice revealed that 177Lu-scFvD2B present a favorable biokinetic profile, characterized by a rapid clearance from non-target tissues and minimal liver accumulation, but a slow wash-out from kidney. Micro-SPECT/CT imaging of mice bearing pulmonary microtumors evidenced a slow uptake by LNCaP tumors, which steadily rose up to a maximum value of 3.6 SUV at 192 h. This high and prolonged tumor uptake suggests that 177Lu-scFvD2B has great potential in delivering ablative radiation doses to PSMA-expressing tumors, and warrants further studies to evaluate its preclinical therapeutic efficacy

Measurement of the CKM angle γ from a combination of B±→Dh± analyses

A combination of three LHCb measurements of the CKM angle γ is presented. The decays B±→D K± and B±→Dπ± are used, where D denotes an admixture of D0 and D0 mesons, decaying into K+K−, π+π−, K±π∓, K±π∓π±π∓, K0Sπ+π−, or K0S K+K− final states. All measurements use a dataset corresponding to 1.0 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. Combining results from B±→D K± decays alone a best-fit value of γ =72.0◦ is found, and confidence intervals are set γ ∈ [56.4,86.7]◦ at 68% CL, γ ∈ [42.6,99.6]◦ at 95% CL. The best-fit value of γ found from a combination of results from B±→Dπ± decays alone, is γ =18.9◦, and the confidence intervals γ ∈ [7.4,99.2]◦ ∪ [167.9,176.4]◦ at 68% CL are set, without constraint at 95% CL. The combination of results from B± → D K± and B± → Dπ± decays gives a best-fit value of γ =72.6◦ and the confidence intervals γ ∈ [55.4,82.3]◦ at 68% CL, γ ∈ [40.2,92.7]◦ at 95% CL are set. All values are expressed modulo 180◦, and are obtained taking into account the effect of D0–D0 mixing