Survey and modelling for the bim of Basilica of San Marco in Venice

The Basilica of San Marco is a singular case in the field of Cultural heritage, as it constitutes a construction site always active for the maintenance and preservation of the basilica itself. The continuous intervention of conservation, due to the particular environmental conditions of Venice and the opening to the public, together with the complexity of the building itself, imposes the need to identify an optimized management system. For this reason, in 2013 the Procurator of St. Marco Basilica commissioned the construction of a 3D model of the Basilica to be used for the creation of a BIM. The model must meet the required precision of the scale of 1: 50, and should also include, in addition to the geometric description, a description of the mosaic and marble surfaces of the basilica through high resolution orthophoto which are essential for the restoration of the mosaics. The complexity of the church and the large and continuous flow of public led to work in non-optimal conditions especially for the acquisition stage. The basilica has certain peculiarities that led to some important choices, for example the use of photogrammetry instead of laser scanning technique. The same technique was preferred also by the need to realize, in addition to the geometric model, high-resolution orthophotos of marbles and mosaic surfaces. The modelling of the basilica has highlighted a number of problems related to the building features. The basilica, indeed, is the result of the juxtaposition of elements (capitals, columns) with different origin, which therefore cannot be standardized in special libraries. Moreover, especially in the extensive mosaic areas, there are not edges that characterize the architecture, but only beveled surfaces. This has resulted in a change also in the modeling paradigm with the need to identify alternative systems even for the construction of simple elements. Therefore, we decided to model using NURBS since it is the method that allows greater adherence to reality and, at the same time, a model with acceptable dimensions in terms of navigation and usability. Only the most sculptural pieces such as capitals and statues have been replaced by mesh models. As we were interested in different elaborations, the results of this work are a geometric NURBS model for the subsequent insertion into BIM environment, with the possibility of extracting two-dimensional drawings such as plans and sections, a mesh model with low resolution textures for online navigation and high resolution orthophotos. The survey work and modeling has been almost completed for the interior of the basilica whereas only the external remains to be acquired and modeled. For the management of the entire work it was decided to use the data organization system already used by the Politecnico di Milano for the Duomo di Milano. The BIM3DSURVEY system will be essential not only to manage the finished model, but it has been very useful also during the construction phase because it allows us to divide the entire work into more work units. However, this system required some changes to meet the peculiarity of this BIM, in particular the need to append and link the orthophotos to real surfaces, in order to use the model also as a spatial index for the images

The 4 K outer cryostat for the CUORE experiment: construction and quality control

The external shell of the CUORE cryostat is a large cryogen-free system designed to host the dilution refrigerator and the bolometers of the CUORE experiment in a low radioactivity environment. The three vessels that form the outer shell were produced and delivered to the Gran Sasso underground Laboratories in July 2012. In this paper, we describe the production techniques and the validation tests done at the production site in 2012.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures; to appear in NIM

Reduced T-cell repertoire restrictions in abatacept-treated rheumatoid arthritis patients.

BACKGROUND: CD28(neg) T cells, which display functional characteristic of oligoclonally expanded cytotoxic memory T lymphocytes, are believed to be pathologically relevant in rheumatoid arthritis manifestation. The CD28 co-stimulation blockade by abatacept can prevent the generation of CD28(neg) T-cell populations in these patients. METHODS: Samples were obtained before and after 12 months of abatacept therapy. T-cell phenotype and T-cell receptor diversity were evaluated by flow cytometry and complementarity-determining region-3 spectratyping, respectively, while telomerase reverse-transcriptase gene level was measured by real-time PCR. RESULTS: Abatacept induces a decrease of the percentage and number of CD4(+)CD28(neg) T cells and a reduction of T-cell repertoire restrictions; these features are directly correlated. Thymic output and telomerase activity are not modified by the therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Abatacept-induced decrease of peripheral T-cell repertoire restrictions can due to a reduced generation of senescent, chronically stimulated CD4(+)CD28(neg) T cells

Proapoptotic Activity and Chemosensitizing Effect of the Novel Akt Inhibitor (2S)-1-(1H-Indol-3-yl)-3-[5-(3-methyl-2H-indazol-5-yl)pyridin-3-yl]oxypropan2-amine (A443654) in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Constitutively activated AKT kinase is a common feature of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Here, we report that the novel AKT inhibitor (2S)-1-(1H-indol-3-yl)-3-[5-(3-methyl-2Hindazol-5-yl)pyridin-3-yl]oxypropan2-amine (A443654) leads to rapid cell death of T-ALL lines and patient samples. Treatment of CEM, Jurkat, and MOLT-4 cells with nanomolar doses of the inhibitor led to AKT phosphorylation accompanied by dephosphorylation and activation of the downstream target, glycogen synthase kinase-3â. Effects were time- and dose-dependent, resulting in apoptotic cell death. Treatment of Jurkat cells with A443654 resulted in activation of caspase-2, -3, -6, -8, and -9. Apoptotic cell death was mostly dependent on caspase-2 activation, as demonstrated by preincubation with a selective pharmacological inhibitor. It is remarkable that A443654 was highly effective against the drug-resistant cell line CEMVBL100, which expresses 170-kDa P-glycoprotein. Moreover, A443654 synergized with the DNA-damaging agent etoposide in both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cell lines when coadministered [combination index (CI) = 0.39] or when pretreated with etoposide followed by A443654 (CI = 0.689). The efficacy of A443654 was confirmed using blasts from six patients with T-ALL, all of whom displayed low levels of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) and constitutive phosphorylation of Akt on Ser473. At 1 ìM, the inhibitor was able to induce apoptotic cell death of T-ALL blast cells, as indicated by flow cytometric analysis of samples immunostained for active (cleaved) caspase-3. Because activated AKT is seen in a large percentage of patients with T-ALL, A443654, either alone or in combination with existing drugs, may be a useful therapy for primary and drug-resistant T-ALL. Originally published Molecular Pharmacology, Vol. 74, No. 3, Sep 200

The CUORE cryostat: an infrastructure for rare event searches at millikelvin temperatures

The CUORE experiment is the world's largest bolometric experiment. The detector consists of an array of 988 TeO2 crystals, for a total mass of 742 kg. CUORE is presently taking data at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy, searching for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 130Te. A large custom cryogen-free cryostat allows reaching and maintaining a base temperature of about 10 mK, required for the optimal operation of the detector. This apparatus has been designed in order to achieve a low noise environment, with minimal contribution to the radioactive background for the experiment. In this paper, we present an overview of the CUORE cryostat, together with a description of all its sub-systems, focusing on the solutions identified to satisfy the stringent requirements. We briefly illustrate the various phases of the cryostat commissioning and highlight the relevant steps and milestones achieved each time. Finally, we describe the successful cooldown of CUORE

GNO Solar Neutrino Observations: Results for GNOI

We report the first GNO solar neutrino results for the measuring period GNOI, solar exposure time May 20, 1998 till January 12, 2000. In the present analysis, counting results for solar runs SR1 - SR19 were used till April 4, 2000. With counting completed for all but the last 3 runs (SR17 - SR19), the GNO I result is [65.8 +10.2 -9.6 (stat.) +3.4 -3.6 (syst.)]SNU (1sigma) or [65.8 + 10.7 -10.2 (incl. syst.)]SNU (1sigma) with errors combined. This may be compared to the result for Gallex(I-IV), which is [77.5 +7.6 -7.8 (incl. syst.)] SNU (1sigma). A combined result from both GNOI and Gallex(I-IV) together is [74.1 + 6.7 -6.8 (incl. syst.)] SNU (1sigma).Comment: submitted to Physics Letters B, June 2000. PACS: 26.65. +t ; 14.60 Pq. Corresponding author: [email protected] ; [email protected]

Targeting sustainable competitiveness in Croatia by implementation of “20 Keys” methodology

Throughout the current wave of regulatory reforms, several theoretical models have been proposed that call for the emergence of instruments of self-regulation under some form of state supervision as part of the demand to improve product development performances aligned with awareness of environmental needs, to help with meeting regulation and to reduce the risk of production nonconformance. “20 Keys” is one example of a mass application of a methodology for raising sustainable development and holistic approach to competitiveness in new EU member the Republic of Croatia, and therefore, the aim of this study is to observe the results of the methodology application in Croatian companies. 20 Keys is a methodology that brings an integrated set of tools aimed at increasing overall productive efficiency and quality level with simultaneous reduction of costs. As it was shown in this paper, implementation success is coincident with senior management’s active role in setting the main goals for implementation, assuring that suitable methods and tools are used, allocating resources appropriately and enabling communication within the company

Search for antihelium in cosmic rays

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) was flown on the space shuttle Discovery during flight STS-91 in a 51.7 degree orbit at altitudes between 320 and 390 km. A total of 2.86 * 10^6 helium nuclei were observed in the rigidity range 1 to 140 GV. No antihelium nuclei were detected at any rigidity. An upper limit on the flux ratio of antihelium to helium of < 1.1 * 10^-6 is obtained.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, 9 .eps figure

Protons in near earth orbit

The proton spectrum in the kinetic energy range 0.1 to 200 GeV was measured by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) during space shuttle flight STS-91 at an altitude of 380 km. Above the geomagnetic cutoff the observed spectrum is parameterized by a power law. Below the geomagnetic cutoff a substantial second spectrum was observed concentrated at equatorial latitudes with a flux ~ 70 m^-2 sec^-1 sr^-1. Most of these second spectrum protons follow a complicated trajectory and originate from a restricted geographic region.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 7 .eps figure