69 research outputs found
La produzione di ceramica a pareti sottili di Poggio alle Fonti a Santa Cristina in Caio. Tipologie, cronologie e quantificazioni
The excavation of a large furnace discharge and the study of the thin walled pottery of Santa Cristina in Caio has allowed to propose a typology of this kind of pottery and to identify some original forms, perhaps produced only in this settlement: likely, the production of this fine ware takes inspiration from glass products, especially during the 1st century AD.
The statistical study on chronologies has allowed to identify two periods of increased activity of the furnace, which can be framed in the construction phase of the thermal implant and in a phase of restoration of the structure. The circumstance suggests that there may be a correlation between pottery production and architectural constructions. It is possible that there was a locatio-conductio contract between ceramists and the owner of production structures and raw materials.
In this perspective, it is quite obvious to observe a superior income of the owner in the times of more intense production and, therefore, a bigger spending capacity.
The presence of the baths and of the kiln probably had a striking impact on Santa Cristina in Caio landscape: within its topographic basin, between the end of the 1st century B.C. and the 1st century AD., it is likely that a process of deforestation took place, fostering the creation of new agricultural areas in order to support the vicus, the La Befa and Casalone villas and the farms located in the Ombrone valley
Wikipedia's Network Bias on Controversial Topics
The most important feature of Wikipedia is the presence of hyperlinks in
pages. Link placement is the product of people's collaboration, consequently
Wikipedia naturally inherits human bias. Due to the high influence that links'
disposition has on users' navigation sessions, one needs to verify that, given
a controversial topic, the hyperlinks' network does not expose users to only
one side of the subject. A Wikipedia's topic-induced network that prevents
users the discovery of different facets of an issue, suffers from structural
bias. In this work, we define the static structural bias, which indicates if
the strength of connections between pages of contrasting inclinations is the
same, and the dynamic structural bias, which quantifies the network's level
bias that users face over the course of their navigation sessions. Our
measurements of structural bias on several controversial topics demonstrate its
existence, revealing that users have low likelihood of reaching pages of
opposing inclination from where they start, and that they navigate Wikipedia
showing a behaviour much more biased than the expected from the baselines. Our
findings advance the relevance of the problem and pave the way for developing
systems that automatically measure and propose hyperlink locations that
minimize the presence and effects of structural bias
RePBubLik: Reducing the Polarized Bubble Radius with Link Insertions
The topology of the hyperlink graph among pages expressing different opinions
may influence the exposure of readers to diverse content. Structural bias may
trap a reader in a polarized bubble with no access to other opinions. We model
readers' behavior as random walks. A node is in a polarized bubble if the
expected length of a random walk from it to a page of different opinion is
large. The structural bias of a graph is the sum of the radii of
highly-polarized bubbles. We study the problem of decreasing the structural
bias through edge insertions. Healing all nodes with high polarized bubble
radius is hard to approximate within a logarithmic factor, so we focus on
finding the best edges to insert to maximally reduce the structural bias.
We present RePBubLik, an algorithm that leverages a variant of the random walk
closeness centrality to select the edges to insert. RePBubLik obtains, under
mild conditions, a constant-factor approximation. It reduces the structural
bias faster than existing edge-recommendation methods, including some designed
to reduce the polarization of a graph
Tight Lower Bounds on Worst-Case Guarantees for Zero-Shot Learning with Attributes
We develop a rigorous mathematical analysis of zero-shot learning with
attributes. In this setting, the goal is to label novel classes with no
training data, only detectors for attributes and a description of how those
attributes are correlated with the target classes, called the class-attribute
matrix. We develop the first non-trivial lower bound on the worst-case error of
the best map from attributes to classes for this setting, even with perfect
attribute detectors. The lower bound characterizes the theoretical intrinsic
difficulty of the zero-shot problem based on the available information -- the
class-attribute matrix -- and the bound is practically computable from it. Our
lower bound is tight, as we show that we can always find a randomized map from
attributes to classes whose expected error is upper bounded by the value of the
lower bound. We show that our analysis can be predictive of how standard
zero-shot methods behave in practice, including which classes will likely be
confused with others
Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of different extracts from Thymus algeriensis aerial parts
This study was performed to evaluate the metabolite recovery from different extraction
methods applied to Thymus algeriensis aerial parts. A high-performance liquid chromatographic
method using photodiode array detector with gradient elution has been developed and validated
for the simultaneous estimation of different phenolic compounds in the extracts and in their
corresponding purified fractions. The experimental results show that microwave-assisted aqueous
extraction for 15 min at 100 C gave the most phenolics-enriched extract, reducing extraction
time without degradation effects on bioactives. Sixteen compounds were identified in this extract,
11 phenolic compounds and five flavonoids, all known for their biological activities. Color analysis
and determination of chlorophylls and carotenoids implemented the knowledge of the chemical
profile of this plant
Atriplex mollis desf. Aerial parts: extraction procedures, secondary metabolites and color analysis
A method using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode array detector was proposed for the rapid characterization of different phenolic constituents from the extracts of Atriplex mollis aerial parts. Atriplex species are known for their multiple biological activities, but no information is available in the literature about A. mollis. With the aim to firstly characterize the main secondary metabolites of this plant, so as to orient better the biological evaluation, we applied three different extraction procedures and compared the chromatographic results. Microwave-assisted extraction gave the best yield and recovery of important compounds such as gallic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid, p-OH benzoic acid, rutin, sinapinic acid, t-ferulic acid, naringenin and benzoic acid. These constituents belong to three important chemical classes: phenolic acids, flavonoids and monoterpenes. Color evaluation and analysis of chlorophylls (a and b) and carotenoids complete the preliminary profile of this plant. From these analyses, Atriplex mollis is a source of bioactive compounds (especially rutin, t-ferulic acid and gallic acid) and could be recommended as a plant of phyto-pharmaceutical relevance, opening new perspectives on this salt-tolerant plant
Common Variable Immunodeficiency in Elderly Patients: A Long-Term Clinical Experience
none7siAbstract: Background: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a complex, predominantly
antibody deficiency usually diagnosed between 20â40 years. Few data about elderly patients are
reported in the literature. Our aim was to evaluate the clinical phenotypes of elderly patients with
CVID. Method: A retrospective analysis of adult patients with CVID was performed in our Referral
Centre, focusing on the main differences between âolderâ patients (â„65 years at the diagnosis) and
âyoungerâ patients (<65 years). Results: The data from 65 younger and 13 older patients followed
up for a median period of 8.5 years were available. At diagnosis, recurrent infections represented
the only clinical manifestation in 61% and 69% of younger and older patients, respectively. The
incidence of autoimmune diseases was higher in elderly patients compared with younger ones (30 vs.
18%, respectively). During the follow-up, the incidence of autoimmune disorders and enteropathy
increased in the younger patients whereas neoplasia became the most prevalent complication in
the elderly (38%). All patients received a replacement therapy with immunoglobulin, with good
compliance. Conclusion: CVID occurrence in elderly patients is rarely described; therefore, the
clinical characteristics are not completely known. In our series, neoplasia became the most prevalent
complication in the elderly during the follow-up. In elderly patients, 20% SCIg was as safe as in
the younger ones, with good compliance. A genetic analysis is important to confirm the diagnosis,
identify specific presentations in the different ages, clarify the prognosis and guide the treatment.
Future clinical research in this field may potentially help to guide their care.openDanieli, Maria Giovanna; Mezzanotte, Cristina; Verga, Jacopo Umberto; Menghini, Denise; Pedini, Veronica; BilĂČ, Maria Beatrice; Moroncini, GianlucaDanieli, Maria Giovanna; Mezzanotte, Cristina; Verga, Jacopo Umberto; Menghini, Denise; Pedini, Veronica; BilĂČ, Maria Beatrice; Moroncini, Gianluc
Protective effects of pollenaid plus soft gel capsulesâ hydroalcoholic extract in isolated prostates and ovaries exposed to lipopolysaccharide
Pollen extract represents an innovative approach for the management of the clinical symptoms related to prostatitis and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). In this context, the aims of the present work were to analyze the phenolic composition of a hydroalcoholic extract of PollenAid Plus soft gel capsules, and to evaluate the extractâs cytotoxic effects, in human prostate cancer PC3 cells and human ovary cancer OVCAR-3 cells. Additionally, protective effects were investigated in isolated prostate and ovary specimens exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The phytochemical investigation identified catechin, chlorogenic acid, gentisic acid, and 3-hydroxytyrosol as the prominent phenolics. The extract did not exert a relevant cytotoxic effect on PC3 and OVCAR-3 cells. However, the extract showed a dose-dependent inhibition of pro-inflammatory IL-6 and TNF-α gene expression in prostate
and ovary specimens, and the extract was effective in preventing the LPS-induced upregulation of CAT and SOD gene expression, which are deeply involved in tissue antioxidant defense systems. Finally, a docking approach suggested the capability of catechin and chlorogenic acid to interact with the TRPV1 receptor, playing a master role in prostate inflammation. Overall, the present findings demonstrated anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of this formulation; thus, suggesting its
capability in the management of the clinical symptoms related to prostatitis and PID
- âŠ