The Italian National Register of infants with congenital hypothyroidism: twenty years of surveillance and study of congenital hypothyroidism

All the Italian Centres in charge of screening, diagnosis, and follow-up of infants with congenital hypothyroidism participate in the Italian National Registry of affected infants, which performs the nationwide surveillance of the disease. It was established in 1987 as a program of the Health Ministry and is coordinated by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. The early diagnosis performed by the nationwide newborn screening programme, the prompt treatment and the appropriate clinical management of the patients carried out by the Follow-up Centres, and the surveillance of the disease performed by the National Register of infants with congenital hypothyroidism are the components of an integrated approach to the disease which has been successfully established in our country

Geotechnical and structural analysis of the Ninfeo di Genazzano

The conservation of our architectural heritage, so vast and rich in historical and artistic terms, requires a multidisciplinary approach to understand the ongoing phenomena and to implement countermeasures against degradation factors and natural and anthropic risks. In this paper an integrated, geotechnical and structural, research for the investigation of the stability conditions of the Ninfeo di Genazzano is presented. The structure, which tracks back to the Renaissance and is attributed to Bramante, was built near Rome and is at present in ruins. The interpretation of the instability phenomena, already suggested in architectural studies of the past century, was carried out using a numerical approach based on the Finite Element method. Advanced constitutive laws were adopted to describe the key features of the mechanical behaviour of soil strata and masonry structures and of their mutual interaction. The comparison between the numerical results and the current conditions at the investigated site proves the predictive capabilities of the developed models and their potentiality in the context of evaluation and preservation activities of historical-architectural heritage

Jointed Masonry Model: A constitutive law for 3D soil-structure interaction analysis

Classical approaches to soil-structure interaction are often characterised by relatively simple constitutive assumptions for either one or both components of the problem. Such simplified assumptions prove to be appropriate for simple soil-foundation cases, while showing all their limits when tackling more complex problems, as those involving excavation in the vicinity or beneath historical masonry structures. In such cases, the need for reliable prediction of the potential damage induced by construction activities on surface structures justifies the adoption of more advanced numerical approaches, possibly based on realistic constitutive assumptions for both soils and masonries, together with an accurate modelling schematisation of the excavation process. In recent years the Authors have adopted an advanced numerical approach to investigate this issue in the two-dimensional domain, accounting for the non-linearity and irreversibility of the soil behaviour and schematising the block masonry structure as a homogenised anisotropic medium. This study extends this approach to three dimensional conditions, to more realistically account for a number of features, including the possible different relative orientations between the structure and an underground tunnel under construction. The focus in this contribution is on the modelling of the masonry, here described by a modified version of the Jointed Rock model, an anisotropic elastic perfectly plastic constitutive model based on a simplified multilaminate approach and implemented in the commercial code Plaxis 3D. This model takes into account the directional properties of the medium, identifying the orientation of three planes along which the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion applies. Here we first describe the modification introduced in the original model and then illustrate some benchmark numerical examples to validate it. This is followed by the illustration of a 3D analysis of an idealised tunnelling-structure interaction problem, aimed at highlighting some of the features of the proposed masonry model

Three-Dimensional Numerical Modelling of Historical Masonry Structures Affected by Tunnelling-Induced Settlements

This paper focuses on the interaction between tunnelling and historical masonry structures. These latter often characterise the centre of many cities and should be preserved from possible tunnelling-induced damage. In recent years the Authors of this contribution have adopted an advanced numerical approach to investigate this issue in the two-dimensional domain, schematising the block masonry structure as a homogenised anisotropic medium [1, 2]. This study extends the approach to three-dimensional conditions. The behaviour of masonry is described by a modified version of the Jointed Rock model, named hereafter as Jointed Masonry model, an anisotropic elastic perfectly plastic constitutive model implemented in the code Plaxis 3D. This model takes into account the directional properties of the medium, identifying the orientation of three planes along which the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion applies. The paper first briefly describes how the original Jointed Rock model was modified to more realistically account for some specific features of the nonlinear mechanics of masonry. This is followed by the 3D analysis of a tunnelling-structure interaction problem, aimed at highlighting the key features of the proposed masonry model

An integrated approach for geotechnical and structural analysis of the Nymphaeum of Genazzano

The conservation of Italian architectural heritage, so vast and rich in historical and artistic terms, requires a multidisciplinary approach to understand the ongoing phenomena and to implement countermeasures against degradation factors caused by natural and anthropic risks. In this paper an integrated, geotechnical and structural, research for the investigation of the stability conditions of the Ninfeo di Genazzano is presented. The monument, which dates back to the Renaissance and is attributed to Bramante, is at present in ruins. The interpretation of the instability phenomena, already suggested in architectural studies of the past century, was carried out using a numerical approach based on the Finite Element method. Advanced constitutive laws were adopted to describe the key features of the mechanical behaviour of soil strata and masonry structures and of their mutual interaction. The comparison between the numerical results and the current conditions proves the predictive capabilities of the developed models and their potentiality in the context of evaluation and preservation of architectural heritage

Jointed Masonry Model: A constitutive law for 3D soil-structure interaction analysis

Classical approaches to soil-structure interaction are often characterised by relatively simple constitutive assumptions for either one or both components of the problem. Such simplified assumptions prove to be appropriate for simple soil-foundation cases, while showing all their limits when tackling more complex problems, as those involving excavation in the vicinity or beneath historical masonry structures. In such cases, the need for reliable prediction of the potential damage induced by construction activities on surface structures justifies the adoption of more advanced numerical approaches, possibly based on realistic constitutive assumptions for both soils and masonries, together with an accurate modelling schematisation of the excavation process. In recent years the Authors have adopted an advanced numerical approach to investigate this issue in the two-dimensional domain, accounting for the non-linearity and irreversibility of the soil behaviour and schematising the block masonry structure as a homogenised anisotropic medium. This study extends this approach to three dimensional conditions, to more realistically account for a number of features, including the possible different relative orientations between the structure and an underground tunnel under construction. The focus in this contribution is on the modelling of the masonry, here described by a modified version of the Jointed Rock model, an anisotropic elastic perfectly plastic constitutive model based on a simplified multilaminate approach and implemented in the commercial code Plaxis 3D. This model takes into account the directional properties of the medium, identifying the orientation of three planes along which the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion applies. Here we first describe the modification introduced in the original model and then illustrate some benchmark numerical examples to validate it. This is followed by the illustration of a 3D analysis of an idealised tunnelling-structure interaction problem, aimed at highlighting some of the features of the proposed masonry model

Three-dimensional numerical modelling of historical masonry structures affected by tunnelling-induced settlements

This paper focuses on the interaction between tunnelling and historical masonry structures. These latter often characterise the centre of many cities and should be preserved from possible tunnelling-induced damage. In recent years the Authors of this contribution have adopted an advanced numerical approach to investigate this issue in the two-dimensional domain, schematising the block masonry structure as a homogenised anisotropic medium [1, 2]. This study extends the approach to three-dimensional conditions. The behaviour of masonry is described by a modified version of the Jointed Rock model, named hereafter as Jointed Masonry model, an anisotropic elastic perfectly plastic constitutive model implemented in the code Plaxis 3D. This model takes into account the directional properties of the medium, identifying the orientation of three planes along which the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion applies. The paper first briefly describes how the original Jointed Rock model was modified to more realistically account for some specific features of the nonlinear mechanics of masonry. This is followed by the 3D analysis of a tunnelling-structure interaction problem, aimed at highlighting the key features of the proposed masonry model