Alice in wonderland syndrome. a clinical and pathophysiological review

Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS) is a perceptual disorder, principally involving visual and somesthetic integration, firstly reported by Todd, on the literary suggestion of the strange experiences described by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland books. Symptoms may comprise among others aschematia and dysmetropsia. This syndrome has many different etiologies; however EBV infection is the most common cause in children, while migraine affects more commonly adults. Many data support a strict relationship between migraine and AIWS, which could be considered in many patients as an aura or a migraine equivalent, particularly in children. Nevertheless, AIWS seems to have anatomical correlates. According to neuroimaging, temporoparietal- occipital carrefour (TPO-C) is a key region for developing many of AIWS symptoms. The final part of this review aims to find the relationship between AIWS symptoms, presenting a pathophysiological model. In brief, AIWS symptoms depend on an alteration of TPO-C where visual-spatial and somatosensory information are integrated. Alterations in these brain regions may cause the cooccurrence of dysmetropsia and disorders of body schema. In our opinion, the association of other symptoms reported in literature could vary depending on different etiologies and the lack of clear diagnostic criteria

Dipendenza della ripetibilit? dei risulati dei test di elica isolata dal numero di Reynolds

According to current European regulations for calculating measurement uncertainty, besides computation of sensibility coefficients by, for example, OFAT tests, we have to evaluate the own repeatability of measurement device and technique, in order to estimate the influence of not controlled parameters. The aim of the present work is to show that repeatability of open water test results depends on the performed Reynolds number. A large set of tests performed on four screws models, with different shapes, diameters and blades numbers, has shown that, the coefficients of variation of torque and trust measurements, as well as standard deviation of hydrodynamic coefficients KQ and KT, decrease if Reynolds number increases, with a trend well fitted by a rational function like kx-?. The obtained results show that, if Reynolds number is about 750.000, standard deviations of torque and trust are about 0.5% of carried out measures, as well those of KQ and KT that are about 0.001, that is, in the worst case, the 0.5% of the mean value. In addition to what already shown by ITTC (International Towing Tank Conference) procedures, this conclusion provides useful information about the minimum Reynolds number to perform open water tests limiting the uncertainty intervals.Secondo quanto previsto dall\u27attuale normativa europea per la determinazione dell\u27incertezza di misura [1], oltre ad individuare i coefficienti di sensibilit? mediante ad esempio prove OFAT (one factor a time), ? necessario stimare la ripetitivit? intrinseca del sistema di misura cos? da valutare l\u27influenza dei parametri non sotto controllo. Obiettivo del presente Rapporto Tecnico ? mostrare come la ripetitivit? dei risultati ottenuti in una prova di elica isolata dipenda dal numero di Reynolds a cui ? stata eseguita. In particolare l\u27esecuzione di un cospicuo numero di misure (627 punti sperimentali) su 4 eliche con caratteristiche geometriche diverse, ha mostrato che, al crescere del numero di Reynolds, il coefficiente di variazione relativo alle misure di coppia e di spinta, nonch? la deviazione standard dei coefficienti idrodinamici KQ e KT, diminuiscono con andamenti generalmente ben approssimabili con funzioni razionali del tipo kx-?. I risultati ottenuti mostrano che, quando il numero di Reynolds raggiunge i 750.000, le deviazioni standard delle misure di coppia e di spinta scendono intorno allo 0,5% delle misure effettuate, e quelle di KT e KQ scendono intorno a 0.001, che, nel peggiore dei casi analizzato, ? anch\u27esso circa lo 0,5% del valore medio. Tale risultato fornisce utili indicazioni per l\u27individuazione del numero minimo di Reynolds a cui ? opportuno effettuare prove di elica isolata all\u27Insean

INTRUDER: a device to improve hull performances

The intruder is a device that has been used for a long time now on big fast monohulls like "Acquastrada". It consists of a small vertical thin plate positioned under the transom of a planing or semi-planing hull, jutting out just a few millimetres. It is able to improve hull performances assuring a smaller drag thus a higher speed for the same installed power. For this reason, for its working and installation simplicity, as well as for its low cost, the intruder is becoming increasing popular even with small working and sports crafts. In order to improve the knowledge about the hydrodynamic effects caused by this device, some tests have been performed at INSEAN using three planing and semi-planing models. As the results of tests show, the intruder changes significantly the dynamic trim of the hull and it raises the stern. These effects can reduce the wave pattern and thus the drag. The improvements are larger in the pre-planing phase (1<Fn&#61649;<2.5) where drag reductions - of more than 20% - have been measured.L\u27intruder ? un dispositivo da tempo utilizzato in campo navale sui grandi monoscafi veloci tipo Acquastrada: non ha una definizione univoca e pu? essere chiamato anche interceptor, tegolo poppiero, o altro. ? costituito da una piccola lamina verticale posta in corrispondenza dello specchio di poppa sporgente alcuni millimetri dal fondo di una carena planante o semiplanante. Esso pu? essere utilizzato in alternativa ai flap come stabilizzatore e/o correttore d\u27assetto, ma ? anche in grado di migliorare le prestazioni della carena, garantendo una minor resistenza all\u27avanzamento e, di conseguenza, una maggior velocit? a parit? di potenza installata. Per questo motivo, per la sua estrema semplicit? di funzionamento e di installazione anche su scafi esistenti, nonch? per la sua economicit?, l\u27intruder, sia di tipo commerciale a sporgenza variabile comandata a distanza, sia di tipo fisso, si va diffondendo anche su imbarcazioni veloci di piccole dimensioni sia da lavoro che da diporto. Sul funzionamento dell\u27intruder, o meglio su una valutazione quantitativa degli effetti che esso produce, si hanno ancora poche informazioni, per cui non ? possibile formulare delle regole precise di utilizzo. Proprio al fine di fornire una pi? efficace valutazione degli effetti idrodinamici generati da questo dispositivo, sono state eseguite presso la Vasca Navale di Roma (INSEAN), alcuni test sperimentali comparativi con e senza intruder su tre modelli di imbarcazioni plananti e semiplananti. Su uno dei tre modelli sono stati eseguiti ulteriori test per comparare l\u27efficacia dell\u27intruder a quella di flap di tipo e dimensioni commerciali. Alla luce dei test eseguiti l\u27installazione di questo dispositivo modifica significativamente l\u27assetto dinamico assunto dall\u27imbarcazione e genera una sopraelevazione della poppa. Tali modifiche possono produrre una sensibile riduzione della formazione ondosa e quindi della resistenza della carena. Gli effetti positivi sono pi? consistenti in fase di preplanata (1<Fn&#61649;<2.5), dove sperimentalmente sono state riscontrate riduzioni di resistenza che hanno superato anche il 20%

Reducing the meta-emotional problem decreases physiological fear response during exposure in phobics

Anxiety disorders may not only be characterized by specific symptomatology (e.g., tachycardia) in response to the fearful stimulus (primary problem or first-level emotion) but also by the tendency to negatively evaluate oneself for having those symptoms (secondary problem or negative meta-emotion). An exploratory study was conducted driven by the hypothesis that reducing the secondary or meta-emotional problem would also diminish the fear response to the phobic stimulus. Thirty-three phobic participants were exposed to the phobic target before and after undergoing a psychotherapeutic intervention addressed to reduce the meta-emotional problem or a control condition. The electrocardiogram was continuously recorded to derive heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) and affect ratings were obtained. Addressing the meta-emotional problem had the effect of reducing the physiological but not the subjective symptoms of anxiety after phobic exposure. Preliminary findings support the role of the metaemotional problem in the maintenance of response to the fearful stimulus (primary problem)

Thermoplasmonic effect of surface enhanced infrared absorption in vertical nanoantenna arrays

Thermoplasmonics is a method for increasing temperature remotely using focused visible or infrared laser beams interacting with plasmonic nanoparticles. Here, local heating induced by mid-infrared quantum cascade laser illumination of vertical gold-coated nanoantenna arrays embedded into polymer layers is investigated by infrared nanospectroscopy and electromagnetic/thermal simulations. Nanoscale thermal hotspot images are obtained by a photothermal scanning probe microscopy technique with laser illumination wavelength tuned at the different plasmonic resonances of the arrays. Spectral analysis indicates that both Joule heating by the metal antennas and surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) by the polymer molecules located in the apical hotspots of the antennas are responsible for thermoplasmonic resonances, i.e. for strong local temperature increase. At odds with more conventional planar nanoantennas, the vertical antenna structure enables thermal decoupling of the hotspot at the antenna apex from the heat sink constituted by the solid substrate. The temperature increase was evaluated by quantitative comparison of data obtained with the photothermal expansion technique to the results of electromagnetic/ thermal simulations. In the case of strong SEIRA by the C=O bond of poly-methylmethacrylate at 1730 cm-1, for focused mid-infrared laser power of about 20 mW, the evaluated order of magnitude of the nanoscale temperature increase is of 10 K. This result indicates that temperature increases of the order of hundreds of K may be attainable with full mid-infrared laser power tuned at specific molecule vibrational fingerprints

Thermoplasmonic effect of surface enhanced infrared absorption in vertical nanoantenna arrays

Thermoplasmonics is a method for increasing temperature remotely using focused visible or infrared laser beams interacting with plasmonic nanoparticles. Here, local heating induced by mid-infrared quantum cascade laser illumination of vertical gold-coated nanoantenna arrays embedded into polymer layers is investigated by infrared nanospectroscopy and electromagnetic/thermal simulations. Nanoscale thermal hotspot images are obtained by a photothermal scanning probe microscopy technique with laser illumination wavelength tuned at the different plasmonic resonances of the arrays. Spectral analysis indicates that both Joule heating by the metal antennas and surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) by the polymer molecules located in the apical hotspots of the antennas are responsible for thermoplasmonic resonances, i.e. for strong local temperature increase. At odds with more conventional planar nanoantennas, the vertical antenna structure enables thermal decoupling of the hotspot at the antenna apex from the heat sink constituted by the solid substrate. The temperature increase was evaluated by quantitative comparison of data obtained with the photothermal expansion technique to the results of electromagnetic/ thermal simulations. In the case of strong SEIRA by the C=O bond of poly-methylmethacrylate at 1730 cm-1, for focused mid-infrared laser power of about 20 mW, the evaluated order of magnitude of the nanoscale temperature increase is of 10 K. This result indicates that temperature increases of the order of hundreds of K may be attainable with full mid-infrared laser power tuned at specific molecule vibrational fingerprints

PROGETTO DI UN’APPLICAZIONE PER IL PAGAMENTO E IL CONTROLLO DELLE AREE DI SOSTA MEDIANTE TELEFONO CELLULARE

La tesi tratta lo studio di applicazioni basate su marcatori visualtag (simboli bidimensionali stampabili su superfici) in cui è possibile codificare dati di varia natura. Nell'ambito di dispositivi mobili è possibile identificare un oggetto reale acquisendo l'immagine del visualtag con la fotocamera incorporata nel dispositivo stesso, senza ricorrere a strumenti di lettura dedicati. L'informazione ricavata dalla decodifica dell'immagine permette di sfruttare le funzionalità associate a quell'oggetto. E' stata realizzata un'applicazione per telefoni cellulari che dimostra come i marcatori visualtag possono rendere più facile e intuitivo la gestione di aree di sosta

Chapter Monitoring online perception of environmental issues on coasts of Sicily

The analysis of big data on human experience (reviews, comments, ratings, etc.) can provide valuable insights to companies and institutions. This pioneer study applied the artificial intelligence proprietary tools of The Data Appeal Company for a different aim: monitoring the online perception of environmental issues on 88 beaches of Sicily. Results proved that it is possible to monitor environmental situation even to sites where there are no other kind of monitoring, using as bases the free and available contents posted by humans online, processed and analyzed by artificial intelligenc