Structural health monitoring of Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence, Italy: measurement using interferometric radar

The \u201cArtemio Franchi\u201d Stadium in Florence, Italy, designed by Pier Luigi Nervi in 1929, was built from 1930 to 1932. The stadium has a reinforced concrete structure and it is composed by 24 stands, a 50-meter tower (\u201cMaratona\u201d tower) and a cantilever roof. In occasion of the World Cup in 1990 the stadium was renovated by adding seats at the ground level as retrofit. A study for seismic requalification is in progress and an interferometric radar has been used for monitoring the architectural complex. In particular, the radar monitored the \u201cMaratona\u201d tower and some of the stands. In this paper, the experimental results of this preliminary measurement campaign are reported. The interferometric radar is a remote sensor for monitoring large structures. When the structure under test is excited by external actions (i.e. wind, vehicular traffic, vibrodyne), the interferometric radar is able to detect the displacements of the structure and to measure its natural frequencies. The wind action was exploited to test the \u201cMaratona\u201d tower. The tower is a 30-meter tower located on a reinforced-concrete slab placed in the middle of the grandstand on the east-side of the Stadium, close to one of its well-known spiral stairs. Inside the tower an elevator is hosted. This measurement was performed both with an interferometric radar and a seismic accelerometer. The radar was installed close to an entrance of stadium, the seismic accelerometer was installed on the tower\u2019s attic. Natural frequencies were measured for these structures with both instruments, and the results were in good agreement. The stands are too rigid to be appreciably excited by wind or vehicular traffic, hence the measurements were performed during football matches. The supporters\u2019 movements were used as input action to measure the dynamic properties of stands. Unfortunately, this input was not enough wide to allow the measurement of the natural frequencies of all the stands. The experimental results of stands have been compared with a numerical model

Taurine Stabilizing Effect on Lysozyme

none6Taurine is an important organic osmolyte in mammalian cells, and it weakens inflammation and oxidative stress mediated injuries in some diseases. Recently, taurine has been demonstrated to play a therapeutic role against neurodegenerative disorders, although its parallel involvement in several biochemical mechanisms makes not clear taurine specific role in these diseases. Furthermore, the stabilizing effect of this molecule in terms of protein stability is known, but not deeply investigated. In this work we explore by Circular Dichroism the stabilizing impact of taurine in lysozyme thermal denaturation and its influence in lysozyme aggregation into amyloid fibrils. Taurine even at low concentration modifies protein-protein interactions in lysozyme native state, as revealed by Small Angle X-ray Scattering experiments, and alters the amyloid aggregation pattern without completely inhibiting it, as confirmed by UV/Vis spectroscopy with Congo Red and by Atomic Force Microscopy. Evaluation of the cytotoxicities of the amyloid fibrils grown in presence or in absence of taurine is investigated on SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.openMastrella, Leonardo; Moretti, Paolo; Pieraccini, Silvia; Magi, Simona; Piccirillo, Silvia; Ortore, Maria GraziaMastrella, Leonardo; Moretti, Paolo; Pieraccini, Silvia; Magi, Simona; Piccirillo, Silvia; Ortore, Maria Grazi

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette's syndrome (TS)

There is evidence that motor and premotor cortex are hyperexcitable in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette's syndrome (TS). We tested whether low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) could normalize overactive motor cortical regions and thereby improve symptoms. Subjects with OCD or TS were treated with active rTMS to the supplementary motor area (SMA) for 10 daily sessions at 1 Hz, 100% of motor threshold, 1200 stimuli/day. Suggestions of clinical improvement were apparent as early as the first week of rTMS. At the second week of treatment, statistically significant reductions were seen in the YBOCS, YGTSS, CGI, HARS, HDRS, SAD, BDI, SCL-90, and SASS. Symptoms improvement was correlated with a significant increase of the right resting motor threshold and was stable at 3 months follow-up. Slow rTMS to SMA resulted in a significant clinical improvement and a normalization of the right hemisphere hyperexcitability, thereby restoring hemispheric symmetry in motor threshold

The effects of CA IX catalysis products within tumor microenvironment

Solid tumors are composed of both cancer cells and various types of accessory cells, mainly fibroblasts, that collectively compose the so called tumor-microenvironment. Cancer-associated fibroblasts have been described to actively participate in cancer progression by establishing a cytokine-mediated as well as metabolic crosstalk with cancer cells. In the present paper we show that activated human fibroblasts are able to boost tumor cells proliferation and that this effect is greatly dependent on stromal carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) activity. In fact fibroblasts show a strong upregulation of CA IX expression upon activation by cancer cells, while CA IX products, protons and bicarbonate, exert differential effects on cancer cells proliferation. While acidification of extracellular pH, a typical condition of rapidly growing solid tumors, is detrimental for tumor cells proliferation, bicarbonate, through its organication, supplies cancer cells with intermediates useful to sustain their high proliferation rate. Here we propose a new kind of fibroblasts/tumor cells crosstalk within tumor microenvironment, mediated by stromal CA IX products, aimed to favor cancer cells growth, opening new perspectives on CA IX role in tumor microenvironment

Landslide Ground Based Remote Sensing Monitoring: Formigal Case Study (Huesca, Spain)

Galahad is an ongoing Specific Targeted Research Project developed within the EU 6th Framework Programme ¿ Priority 1.1.6.3. The objective is to retrieve, through the use of improved GB-SAR and TLS technologies, field parameters that can be used in prediction algorithms of landslides, avalanches and glaciers related hazards. The landslide study area is located in the ski resort of Formigal, central Pyrenees (province of Huesca, Spain). The excavation of a parking area in the summer of 2004 reactivated a complex paleolandslide creating new sliding surfaces. The movement extends over an area of 0.25 km2 and experienced displacements as large as 0.5 cm/day during the period 2004¿2005. Stabilization engineering solutions were carried out reducing maximum observed displacement to 0.2 cm/day at the end of 2005. Within Galahad performed activities consisted in the collection of data on the landslide useful for its detailed characterization and the execution of a series of site measurement campaigns with GB-SAR, TLS and Differential GPS (D-GPS). The monitoring activities started in May 2006 completing a series of four campaigns with Total Station and D-GPS, a continuous two month data acquisition with GB-SAR and several TLS scans during two different periods from three points of view over the landslide. In this paper data obtained by GB-SAR and TLS are compared with D-GPS data, and a good agreement has been found between data sets. The project is still in progress and new site measurement campaigns with GB-SAR, TLS and D-GPS in 2007 will provide further insight into landslide forecasting models.JRC.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE): Technical Overview

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) will expand the information space for study of cosmic sources, by adding linear polarization to the properties (time, energy, and position) observed in x-ray astronomy. Selected in 2017 January as a NASA Astrophysics Small Explorer (SMEX) mission, IXPE will be launched into an equatorial orbit in 2021. The IXPE mission will provide scientifically meaningful measurements of the x-ray polarization of a few dozen sources in the 2-8 keV band, including polarization maps of several x-ray-bright extended sources and phase-resolved polarimetry of many bright pulsating x-ray sources

Le rétablissement du patriarcat latin de Jérusalem en 1847 et la Custodie de Terre Sainte

Cet article porte sur le rétablissement du patriarcat latin de Jérusalem dans la première moitié du XIXe siècle, après plus de quatre siècles d'absence. Il traite surtout de la législation canonique du Saint Siège, du régime de I'Église patriarcale hiérosolymitaine et des rapports du patriarche avec la Custodie. En l'abordant, nous avons aussi tracé le profil historique des deux principales institutions religieuses catholiques de la Palestine, au cours d'une période sensible de leur existence. Nous avons mis en évidence les causes de leur conflit endémique, ainsi que les éléments qui allait permettre au patriarcat latin de se doter d'un clergé et d'une hiérarchie ecclésiastique presque exclusivement autochtones. L'originalité de cette analyse historique est qu'elle repose sur des sources jusque-là très marginalement exploitées, principalement les archives de la Congrégation de la Propaganda Fide, celles de la Curie Généralice des Frères mineurs et de la Custodie de Terre Sainte

Il Patriarcato latino di Gerusalemme, la Santa Sede e il sionismo di fronte alla prima traduzione dei Protocolli dei savi di Sion in lingua araba (1925-1926)

The aim of this article is to investigate the spread into British Palestine of one of the most virulent Anti-Semitic pamphlets: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. To this end, this essay focuses on both local and global issues, bringing to light some aspects of the life and organization of the Latin community in Jerusalem during the early years of the British mandate. On the 5th of January 1926 the official magazine of the Latin Patriarchate, the «Raqib Seyon», published a review of the Arab translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, underlining that this book was «worthy to be read by all the Arabs» because it «shows the bad intentions of the Zionists». The Zionist leaders tried to secure a denial from the Holy See and a Vatican declaration denouncing the falsity of The Protocols. The whole issue was directly manged by the World Zionist Organization which establish many channels of communication with the Vatican. The Jewish American association also entered into this controversy, asking that the Vatican distance itself from the review. Despite this strong campaign, the Catholic press remained silent, and the Latin Patriarchate decided to close the «Raqib Seyon» without any explanation

Le Patriarcat latin de Jérusalem et la France (1918-1940)

La nomination de Mgr Luigi Barlassina En février 1918, le Patriarche latin de Jérusalem Mgr Filippo Camassei (1906-1920) – en exil à Nazareth où les Ottomans l’ont déporté – demande au Saint-Siège de nommer un nouvel évêque, l’ancien étant mort en novembre 1917 à Damas à la suite des mauvais traitements qui lui ont été infligés par les Turcs durant la déportation. Les gouvernements italien et français s’activent immédiatement afin que cette charge soit assignée à un ecclésiastique de leur nat..