New Acoustic Design for the Piscina Mirabilis Located nearby the Port of Misenum

Many heritage buildings from ancient Rome are being refurbished based on their original plan’s structure. One of them is the piscina mirabilis located nearby in Naples, which was a cistern used by the Romans to collect drinkable water for the navy waiting in the port of Misenum. The piscina mirabilis has similar architectural characteristics to a “cathedral”; however, its current precarious architectural state is the result of high levels of humidity that have caused the proliferation of mould on its vertical and horizontal surfaces over the centuries. Acoustic measurements were conducted inside the piscina mirabilis, highlighting an existing condition of the room being very reverberant, not suitable for occasional speech and conversations. The design proposed by the authors involves some mitigation solutions for the acoustics, mainly focused on controlling the low–medium frequencies and the realization of a restoration project consisting of a raised timber-floored walkway that runs along the perimeter walls, with the addition of water covering the existing floor as a natural element dominating the room volume, which represents the primary function of the building in antiquity. A waterfall was designed to be on the northern side wall. Acoustic studies were an important part of the refurbishment strategy, and a mitigation solution was devised to control medium–low frequencies by using inflated balloons of different sizes that were suspended from the ceiling vaults instead of widely used acoustic panels. The proposed strategy lowered the reverberation time by 3–4 s to accommodate a minimal level of conversational understanding. Such a solution is appropriate for this heritage building as well as other future conservation projects

Modulation of 5-fluorouracil as adjuvant systemic chemotherapy in colorectal cancer: the IGCS-COL multicentre, randomised, phase III study

The aims of this multicentre, randomised phase III trial were to evaluate: ( 1) the role of levamisol (LEV); and ( 2) the role of folinic acid ( FA), added to 5-fluorouracil (5FU) in the adjuvant treatment of colorectal cancer. Patients with histologically proven, radically resected stage II or III colon or rectal cancer were eligible. The study had a 2 x 2 factorial design with four treatment arms: ( a) 5FU alone, (b) 5FU+LEV, ( c) 5FU+FA, ( d) 5FU+LEV+FA, and two planned comparisons, testing the role of LEV and of FA, respectively. From March 1991, to September 1998, 1327 patients were randomised. None of the two comparisons resulted in a significant disease-free (DFS) or overall (OAS) survival advantage. The hazard ratio (HR) of relapse was 0.89 (95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.73 - 1.09) for patients receiving FA and 0.99 ( 95% CI 0.80 - 1.21) for those receiving LEV; corresponding HRs of death were 1.02 ( 95% CI: 0.80 - 1.30) and 0.94 ( 95% CI 0.73 - 1.20). Nonhaematological toxicity ( all grade vomiting, diarrhoea, mucositis, congiuntivitis, skin, fever and fatigue) was significantly worse with FA, while all other toxicities were similar. In the present trial, there was no evidence that the addition of FA or LEV significantly prolongs DFS and OAS of radically resected colorectal cancer patients

From sport to science: the acoustics of a pool transformed into an auditorium

A dismissed public building has been donated to the University of Foggia, Italy, due to the demand of facilities that the different departments requested for their academic meetings and events. This building, realized almost a hundred of years ago, was pro vided with a swimming pool on the ground floor, to be 25 m long and 3 m deep. The architects in charge to apply the change of use have designed the realization of an auditorium in place of the pool. The project consists of the installation of the audience seats on a 10% sloped stalls area, having a rectangular plan layout. The short dimension headwall, that is 3 m high, has been designed to allocate a screen for image and video projection. Before any change, a campaign of acoustic measurements has been unde rtaken in order to assess the existing conditions of the room, having a volume size of 4000 m3. The results from the first survey highlight that the main acoustic parameters were abundantly out of the optimal range defined for an auditorium. ThisThis paperpaper dedealsals withwith thethe acousticacoustic designdesign ofof anan auditoriumauditorium determineddetermined byby somesome mitigationtion solutionssolutions appliedapplied toto lowerlower thethe reverberationreverberation andand increaseincrease thethe speechspeech intelligibilityintelligibility inin termsterms ofof SpeechSpeech TransmissionTransmission IndexIndex (STI).(STI). TheThe additionaddition ofof absorbingabsorbing surfacesurface areasareas inin anan almoalmostst totallytotally rever-rever-berantberant roomroom allowedallowed thethe usersusers toto effectivelyeffectively makemake useuse ofof thisthis facility.facility. AA secondsecond campaigncampaign ofof measure-measure-mentsments carriedcarried outout afterafter thethe realizationrealization ofof thethe acousticacoustic designdesign havehave beenbeen analyzedanalyzed andand comparedcompared withwith thethe predictionspredictions.

Physical characterization of incompatible blends of polymethylmethacrylate and polycaprolactone

Blends of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) were prepared and characterized. The analysis of the glass transition temperature indicates no compatibility of the two polymers, which segregated into two distinct phases. The fracture strength of the blends can be explained on the basis of a constitutive model of spheres of PCL embedded in a PMMA matrix. The trend of water sorption confirms the hypothesis of phase segregation of PCL in the glassy matrix of PMMA