Nora, Area C: problematiche e prospettive di studio sulla ceramica africana da cucina

A partire dal 1990 la Missione archeologica a Nora (Pula, Cagliari) ha intrapreso campagne di scavo in diversi settori della città; l’Università degli Studi di Genova ha concentrato le proprie indagini nel quartiere settentrionale della città, prossimo al porto, in un’area compresa tra il muro perimetrale orientale dell’insula A2 e la strada E-F (area C), nel punto in cui quest’ultima presenta un’anomalia: dopo un tratto rettilineo analogo agli altri assi stradali norensi, infatti, il selciato E-F cambia andamento, curvando verso occidente, e raddoppia la propria carreggiata. L’area C, che è risultata essere estranea all’impianto più antico della città, individuato al di sotto del Foro repubblicano, assume una funzione artigianale solamente a partire dal VI secolo a.C., quando l’abitato si espande verso nord-ovest. Ancora nel IV-III secolo a.C. il settore si presenta come uno spazio periferico occupato da un’officina a carattere polivalente. Su quest’area artigianale si impianta, verso la metà del I secolo a.C., un’abitazione che successivamente, intorno alla metà del II secolo d.C., viene interessata da un’imponente fase di ristrutturazione che vede la costruzione di una struttura in grossi blocchi di calcare conchiglifero, la cui destinazione d’uso non è chiara. Agli inizi del III secolo d.C. tutta la zona viene profondamente modificata per la realizzazione dell’insula A e la ristrutturazione della strada E-F. L’insula, infine, rientra nella riorganizzazione dell’impianto di Nora in età severiana. Dalla parete di fondo dell’insula un vano scala (vano A32) provvede al collegamento con il piano superiore; al momento dell’ampliamento dell’isolato la scala viene decontestualizzata e il vano, in un periodo compreso tra il III e il IV secolo d.C., viene defunzionalizzato e riempito di rifiuti, trasformandosi così in un immondezzaio. Il vano comincia ad essere colmato con un primo riempimento (US 2690), viene chiuso tamponando la porta che lo collegava con l’ambiente A25, e infine viene completamente riempito (US 2632). I due strati di riempimento dell’immondezzaio (UUSS 2690 e 2632) contengono una grande quantità di ceramica da cucina e da mensa, di vetri, di ossi lavorati, di laterizi e di resti di pasto, oltre che un numero più esiguo di litoidi, di frammenti di intonaco e di oggetti in metallo. Tale tipologia di materiali induce a ritenere che si tratti di un butto antico costituito da residui provenienti da un edificio abitativo

Error Field and Correction Coils in DTT: a preliminary analysis

The Divertor Tokamak Test (DTT) facility, construction starting at Frascati, Italy, is designed to test different solutions for divertor in view of DEMO. A preliminary analysis of the error fields (EFs) assumed a simplified model of rigid and independent displacements and rotations. A methodology based on the first order truncated Taylor expansion has been applied, linking the displacement parameters and the EFs within the required accuracies. A system of in-vessel copper coils has been designed to counteract EFs and the ampere-turns necessary to force them back within the request limits has been calculated. Here, the details of the analysis have been provided

Effect of the relative shift between the electron density and temperature pedestal position on the pedestal stability in JET-ILW and comparison with JET-C

The electron temperature and density pedestals tend to vary in their relative radial positions, as observed in DIII-D (Beurskens et al 2011 Phys. Plasmas 18 056120) and ASDEX Upgrade (Dunne et al 2017 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 59 14017). This so-called relative shift has an impact on the pedestal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability and hence on the pedestal height (Osborne et al 2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 063018). The present work studies the effect of the relative shift on pedestal stability of JET ITER-like wall (JET-ILW) baseline low triangularity (\u3b4) unseeded plasmas, and similar JET-C discharges. As shown in this paper, the increase of the pedestal relative shift is correlated with the reduction of the normalized pressure gradient, therefore playing a strong role in pedestal stability. Furthermore, JET-ILW tends to have a larger relative shift compared to JET carbon wall (JET-C), suggesting a possible role of the plasma facing materials in affecting the density profile location. Experimental results are then compared with stability analysis performed in terms of the peeling-ballooning model and with pedestal predictive model EUROPED (Saarelma et al 2017 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion). Stability analysis is consistent with the experimental findings, showing an improvement of the pedestal stability, when the relative shift is reduced. This has been ascribed mainly to the increase of the edge bootstrap current, and to minor effects related to the increase of the pedestal pressure gradient and narrowing of the pedestal pressure width. Pedestal predictive model EUROPED shows a qualitative agreement with experiment, especially for low values of the relative shift

Insulin resistance, microbiota, and fat distribution changes by a new model of vertical sleeve gastrectomy in obese rats

Metabolic surgery improves insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes possibly because of weight loss. We performed a novel sleeve gastrectomy in rats that resects ∼80% of the glandular portion, leaving the forestomach almost intact (glandular gastrectomy [GG]) and compared subsequent metabolic remodeling with a sham operation. GG did not affect body weight, at least after 10 weeks; improved hepatic and peripheral insulin sensitivity likely through increased Akt, glycogen synthase kinase 3, and AMPK phosphorylation; and reduced ectopic fat deposition and hepatic glycogen overaccumulation. Body adipose tissue was redistributed, with reduction of intraabdominal fat. We found a reduction of circulating ghrelin levels, increased GLP-1 plasma concentration, and remodeling of gut microbiome diversity characterized by a lower relative abundance of Ruminococcus and a higher relative abundance of Lactobacillus and Collinsella These data suggest that at least in rat, the glandular stomach plays a central role in the improvement of insulin resistance, even if obesity persists. GG provides a new model of the metabolically healthy obese phenotype

Comparison of different commercial FFDM units by means of physical characterization and contrast-detail analysis

The purpose of this study was to perform a complete evaluation of three pieces of clinical digital mammography equipment. Image quality was assessed by performing physical characterization and contrast-detail (CD)analysis. We considered three different FFDM systems: a computed radiography unit Fuji \u201cFCR 5000 MA\u201d and two flat-panel units, the indirect conversion a-Si based GE \u201cSenographe 2000D\u201d and the direct conversion a-Se based IMS \u201cGiotto Image MD.\u201d The physical characterization was estimated by measuring the MTF, NNPS, and DQE of the detectors with no antiscatter grid and over the clinical range of exposures. The CD analysis was performed using a CDMAM 3.4 phantom and custom software designed for automatic computation of the contrast detail curves. The physical characterization of the three digital systems confirms the excellent MTF properties of the direct conversion flat-panel detector (FPD). We performed a relative standard deviation (RSD) snalysis, for investigating the different components of the noise presented by the three systems. It turned out that the two FPDs show a significant additive component, whereas for the CR system the statistical noise is dominant. The multiplicative factor is a minor constituent for all the systems. The two FPDs demonstrate better DQE, with respect to the CR system, for exposures higher than 70 uGy. The CD analysis indicated that the three systems are not statistically different for detail objects with a diameter greater than 0.3 mm. However, the IMS system showed a statistically significant different response for details smaller than 0.3 mm. In this case, the poor response of the a-Se detector could be attributed to its high-frequency noise characteristics, since its MTF, NEQ, and DQE are not inferior to those of the other systems. The CD results were independent of exposure level, within the investigated clinical range. We observed slight variations in the CD results, due to the changes in the visualization parameters (window/level and magnification factor). This suggests that radiologists would benefit from viewing images using varied window/ level and magnification

Mortality Attributable to Bloodstream Infections Caused by Different Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli: Results From a Nationwide Study in Italy (ALARICO Network)

Background. Our aim was to analyze mortality attributable to carbapenem-resistant (CR) gram-negative bacilli (GNB) in patients with bloodstream infections (BSIs).Methods. Prospective multicentric study including patients with GNB-BSI from 19 Italian hospitals (June 2018-January 2020). Patients were followed-up to 30 days. Primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and attributable mortality. Attributable mortality was calculated in the following groups: Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Enterobacterales, metallo-beta-lactamases (MBL)-producing Enterobacterales, CR-Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA), CR-Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB). A multivariable analysis with hospital fixed-effect was built to identify factors associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted OR (aORs) were reported. Attributable mortality was calculated according to the DRIVE-AB Consortium.Results. Overall, 1276 patients with monomicrobial GNB BSI were included: 723/1276 (56.7%) carbapenem-susceptible (CS)GNB, 304/1276 (23.8%) KPC-, 77/1276 (6%) MBL-producing CRE, 61/1276 (4.8%) CRPA, and 111/1276 (8.7%) CRAB BSI. Thirty-day mortality in patients with CS-GNB BSI was 13.7% compared to 26.6%, 36.4%, 32.8% and 43.2% in patients with BSI by KPC-CRE, MBL-CRE, CRPA and CRAB, respectively (P <.001). On multivariable analysis, age, ward of hospitalization, SOFA score, and Charlson Index were factors associated with 30-day mortality, while urinary source of infection and early appropriate therapy resulted protective factors. Compared to CS-GNB, MBL-producing CRE (aOR 5.86, 95% CI 2.72-12.76), CRPA (aOR 1.99, 95% CI 1.48-5.95) and CRAB (aOR 2.65, 95% CI 1.52-4.61) were significantly associated with 30-day mortality. Attributable mortality rates were 5% for KPC-, 35% for MBL, 19% for CRPA, and 16% for CRAB.Conclusions. In patients with BSIs, carbapenem-resistance is associated with an excess of mortality, with MBL-producing CRE carrying the highest risk of death