\uc8 un paesaggio?

Il paesaggio \ue8 concreto o astratto? \uc8 materiale o immateriale? Si pu\uf2 toccare o si pu\uf2 solo vedere\u2026 o forse si pu\uf2 solo pensare o immaginare? \uc8 solo una esperienza estetica? \uc8 utile? \uc8 naturale o \ue8 anche artificiale? \uc8 una costruzione culturale? Come se ne fa l\u2019esperienza\u2026 ognuno per s\ue9 o collettivamente\u2026 standosene a casa, in un museo, o all\u2019interno del paesaggio stesso? Chi vede il paesaggio e chi no? Il contadino o lo scienziato? O nessuno dei due?... A partire da queste domande vengono confrontati frammenti di teorie e riflessioni di alcuni speciali studiosi, sulle quali posizioni trasversali poter impostare un discorso attuale sul riconoscimento e la trasformazione del paesaggio: Lucius Burckhardt per l\u2019esperienza del paesaggio con la sua \u201cSpaziergangwissenschaft\u201d; Alain Roger per il processo di riconoscimento del paesaggio tramite l\u2019\u201dArtialisasion\u201d, Lucius Burckhardt insieme a Bernard Lassus con la \u201cTeoria dell\u2019Intervento Minimo\u201d, e Gilles Clement con le riflessioni intorno al \u201cTerzo Paesaggio\u201d. Lo spessore \u201clungo il mare\u201d di Palermo diventa un campo di studio applicativo delle teorie di cui sopra e oggetto di descrizioni e operazioni di trasformazione.Is this a landscape? Is landscape a concrete or abstract entity? Is it material or immaterial? Can we touch it or just see it\u2026 or maybe only think of it and imagine it? Is it just an aesthetical experience? Is it useful? Is it natural or can it also be artificial? Is it a cultural elaboration? How do we experience it\u2026 individually or collectively\u2026 being at home, in a museum, or inside the landscape itself? Who can see the landscape and who cannot? The peasant or the scientist? Or neither of the two?... On the basis of these questions the essay compares fragments of different specific theories in order to outline a contemporary discourse on the recognition and the transformation of landscape: Lucius Burckhardt\u2019s landscape experience through his \u201cStrollology\u201d; Alain Roger\u2019s landscape recognition trough the \u201dArtialisation\u201d, Lucius Burckhardt\u2019s and Bernard Lassus\u2019s \u201cTheory of Minimal Intervention\u201d, and Gilles Clement\u2019s considerations about the \u201cThird Landscape\u201d. Palermo\u2019s stretch of coastline (\u201clungo il mare\u201d) is the area where these theories are tested, and becomes the object of description and transformation

Transformabilit\ue4t moderner Architektur

Il saggio riassume e articola una delle due conferenze di apertura tenuta da Gaetano Licata (l'altra \ue8 stata tenuta da Bruno Reichlin) e la tavola rotonda conclusiva del Simposio internazionale "Bestand der Moderne" che ha avuto luogo a Vienna nel dicembre del 2009. Vengono esposti nel testo le argomentazioni a favore della tesi che sostiene la trasformabilit\ue0 della architettura moderna "corrente", come disposizione propria di questo tipo di edifici. Il tema, molto dibattuto in Europa, guadagna la sua attualit\ue0 a partire dalla grande quantit\ue0 di costruzioni di questo periodo (dal dopoguerra agli anni '80), dalla necessit\ue0 di ripensamento sempre crescente per il loro naturale "invecchiamento", ma soprattutto per tutta una serie di operazioni in corso da qualche decennio che testimoniano nella prassi, con casi concreti e realizzati, la tesi della trasformabilit\ue0. Dall'argomentazione della tesi e dall prove portate, si lasciano anche formulare domande sull'atteggiamento verso edifici moderni che sono diventati icone di valore storico e documentale, elevando la loro trasformabilit\ue0 a mezzo stesso del loro mantenimento, uscendo da posizioni "conservative" ed elitarie,a loro volta mutuate dal restauro dell'antico o dell'architettura storica

Loop realizations of quantum affine algebras

We give a simplified description of quantum affine algebras in their loop presentation. This description is related to Drinfeld's new realization via halves of vertex operators. We also define an idempotent version of the quantum affine algebra which is suitable for categorification.Comment: 19 page

Dark Universe and distribution of Matter as Quantum Imprinting: the Quantum Origin of Universe

In this paper we analyze the Dark Matter problem and the distribution of matter through two different approaches, which are linked by the possibility that the solution of these astronomical puzzles should be sought in the quantum imprinting of the Universe. The first approach is based on a cosmological model formulated and developed in the last ten years by the first and third authors of this paper; the so-called Archaic Universe. The second approach was formulated by Rosen in 1933 by considering the Friedmann-Einstein equations as a simple one-dimensional dynamical system reducing the cosmological equations in terms of a Schroedinger equation. As an example, the quantum memory in cosmological dynamics could explain the apparently periodic structures of the Universe while Archaic Universe shows how the quantum phase concernts not only an ancient era of the Universe, but quantum facets permeating the entire Universe today.Comment: 18 page

Early carotid atherosclerosis and cardiac diastolic abnormalities in hypertensive subjects

Despite the fact that it is known that hypertension may be associated to early atherosclerosis manifestations, few data are to date available on the relationship between early carotid abnormalities and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. To address this issue, 142 hypertensive patients (64 females and 78 males) younger than 55 years, at the first diagnosis of mild-to-moderate essential hypertension (WHO/ISH criteria), were selected from a database consisting of 3541 subjects referred to ultrasound cardiovascular laboratory in the last 5 years. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was detected by high-resolution vascular ultrasound and left ventricular structure and function by the use of Doppler echocardiography. According to carotid IMT values, all patients were subgrouped into two groups consisting of 89 (62.6%) pts with IMT > or = 1 mm (A) and 53 (37.4%) pts with IMT < 1 mm (B). Our results show that isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT), deceleration time of E velocity (EDT) and left ventricular relative wall thickness (LV-RWT) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in group A (IVRT 112 +/- 8.9 ms; EDT 288 +/- 21.8 ms; LV-RWT 0.40 +/- 0.08) than in group B (IVRT 92.3 +/- 4.6 ms; EDT 203.3 +/- 27.01 ms; LV- RWT 0.37 +/- 0.06). Moreover, the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in group A (30/89; 33.7%) than in group B (8/53; 15%). A positive correlation (P < 0.001) between IMT, EDT and IVRT was found only in hypertensives without LVH. These results are consistent with the indication that IMT evaluation has to be recommended both in hypertensive patients with LVH and in those without LVH, but with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. This approach might improve the prognostic stratification of hypertensive subjects and it might be suitable to recognize the subset of patients at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease or events early

Kinetic limitations of cooperativity based drug delivery systems

We study theoretically a novel drug delivery system that utilizes the overexpression of certain proteins in cancerous cells for cell specific chemotherapy. The system consists of dendrimers conjugated with "keys" (ex: folic acid) which "key-lock" bind to particular cell membrane proteins (ex: folate receptor). The increased concentration of "locks" on the surface leads to a longer residence time for the dendrimer and greater incorporation into the cell. Cooperative binding of the nanocomplexes leads to an enhancement of cell specificity. However, both our theory and detailed analysis of in-vitro experiments indicate that the degree of cooperativity is kinetically limited. We demonstrate that cooperativity and hence the specificity to particular cell type can be increased by making the strength of individual bonds weaker, and suggest a particular implementation of this idea. The implications of the work for optimizing the design of drug delivery vehicles are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, v3: minor revision

The new criteria for classification of rheumatoid arthritis: what we need to know for clinical practice

The new criteria for classification of Rheumatoid Arthritis have been recently released. They incorporate the anti-Citrullinated Protein antibody testing and the other classic criteria in a score system (the diagnosis of definite rheumatoid arthritis is made by a total score 656). These criteria try to meet the pressing needs to gain sensitivity in early disease. Symptoms, elevated acute-phase response, serologic abnormality, joint involvement were all considered for scoring after confirming the presence of synovitis in at least 1 joint in the absence of an alternative diagnosis that better explains the synovitis. However, no sensitivity and specificity has been showed. Moreover, Area Under Curve of the Receiver Operating Characteristic curves (a measure of performance of the test) was not optimal in almost two of the three studied cohorts. On the contrary, the old criteria of the American College of Rheumatology had been tested to calculate sensitivity and specificity. Moreover, sensitivity and specificity of anti-citrullinated peptide auto-antibodies are available for clinical reasoning based on pre-test and post-test probabilities of the disease. The use of likelihood ratios applied to both the old criteria and anti-citrullinated autoantibodies could help clinicians to effectively manage early arthritis patients implementing Bayesian reasoning. Here, we tried to explain the methodology applied to the body of knowledge currently available about rheumatoid arthritis for diagnostic decision-making based on the Bayesian approach

Self-assembling DNA-caged particles: nanoblocks for hierarchical self-assembly

DNA is an ideal candidate to organize matter on the nanoscale, primarily due to the specificity and complexity of DNA based interactions. Recent advances in this direction include the self-assembly of colloidal crystals using DNA grafted particles. In this article we theoretically study the self-assembly of DNA-caged particles. These nanoblocks combine DNA grafted particles with more complicated purely DNA based constructs. Geometrically the nanoblock is a sphere (DNA grafted particle) inscribed inside a polyhedron (DNA cage). The faces of the DNA cage are open, and the edges are made from double stranded DNA. The cage vertices are modified DNA junctions. We calculate the equilibriuim yield of self-assembled, tetrahedrally caged particles, and discuss their stability with respect to alternative structures. The experimental feasability of the method is discussed. To conclude we indicate the usefulness of DNA-caged particles as nanoblocks in a hierarchical self-assembly strategy.Comment: v2: 21 pages, 8 figures; revised discussion in Sec. 2, replaced 2 figures, added new reference

Salt-regulating hormones in young normotensive obese subjects. Effects of saline load.

To investigate whether the response of salt-regulating hormones to volume expansion is impaired in obese subjects, we assessed the effects of saline load (0.25 mL/kg.min.120 min) in 9 young, healthy, normotensive obese subjects (body mass index, > 30 kg/m2) and in 10 lean control subjects (body mass index, < 25 kg/m2) matched for age, gender, height, and mean blood pressure. Hematocrit, plasma renin activity (PRA), plasma aldosterone (PA), atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), and urinary sodium excretion (UNaV) were evaluated. Saline load increased ANF levels significantly (P < .001) in lean subjects at both 60 and 120 minutes, whereas they decreased in obese subjects. Such decreases became significant (P < .01) at 120 minutes. Suppression of PRA and PA by saline load were more marked in lean than obese subjects. Hematocrit decreased in both groups, and UNaV increased more in lean than obese subjects during saline load. Comparisons of percent changes in ANF, PRA, and PA after saline load showed that the responses of lean and obese subjects were significantly different (P < .001 for ANF at both 60 and 120 minutes; P < .05 for PRA and PA at both 60 and 120 minutes). In conclusion, the lack of ANF response and the reduced suppression of PRA and PA to saline load indicate a dysfunction of these systems in obese subjects. This alteration may be involved in the higher susceptibility of obese subjects to developing hypertension