Diritto umano e diritto animale: una lettura provocatoria dell'art. 2052 c.c.

[Human law and Animal law: a provocative reading of article 2052 c.c.] This paper analyzes the logic coherence of the actual implementation of article 2052 c.c. in the face of the increasingly widespread social custom related to the cohabitation between humans and pets. In particular, we consider the fact that cohabitation between humans and pets leads to temporary animal communities where legal rules and ethological rules come into contact

Multi-graded Featherweight Java

Resource-aware type systems statically approximate not only the expected result type of a program, but also the way external resources are used, e.g., how many times the value of a variable is needed. We extend the type system of Featherweight Java to be resource-aware, parametrically on an arbitrary grade algebra modeling a specific usage of resources. We prove that this type system is sound with respect to a resource-aware version of reduction, that is, a well-typed program has a reduction sequence which does not get stuck due to resource consumption. Moreover, we show that the available grades can be heterogeneous, that is, obtained by combining grades of different kinds, via a minimal collection of homomorphisms from one kind to another. Finally, we show how grade algebras and homomorphisms can be specified as Java classes, so that grade annotations in types can be written in the language itself

A Java-like calculus with heterogeneous coeffects

We propose a Java-like calculus where declared variables can be annotated by coeffects specifying constraints on their use, e.g., affinity or privacy levels. Such coeffects are heterogeneous, in the sense that different kinds of coeffects can be used in the same program; combining coeffects of different kinds leads to the trivial coeffect. We prove subject reduction, which includes preservation of coeffects, and show several examples. In a Java-like language, coeffects can be expressed in the language itself, as expressions of user-defined classes

A Java-like Calculus with User-Defined Coeffects

We propose a Java-like calculus where declared variables can be annotated by coeffects specifying constraints on their use, such as linearity or privacy levels. Annotations are written in the language itself, as expressions of type Coeffect, a predefined class which can be extended by user-defined subclasses, modeling the coeffects desired for a specific application. We formalize the type system and prove subject reduction, which includes preservation of coeffects, and show several examples

Heavy oxygen recycled into the lithospheric mantle

Magmas in volcanic arcs have geochemical and isotopic signatures that can be related to mantle metasomatism due to fluids and melts released by the down-going oceanic crust and overlying sediments, which modify the chemistry and mineralogy of the mantle wedge. However, the effectiveness of subduction-related metasomatic processes is difficult to evaluate because the composition of arc magmas is often overprinted by interactions with crustal lithologies occurring during magma ascent and emplacement. Here, we show unequivocal evidence for recycling of continental crust components into the mantle. Veined peridotite xenoliths sampled from Tallante monogenetic volcanoes in the Betic Cordillera (southern Spain) provide insights for mantle domains that reacted with Si-rich melts derived by partial melting of subducted crustal material. Felsic veins crosscutting peridotite and the surrounding orthopyroxene-rich metasomatic aureoles show the highest 18O/16O ratios measured to date in upper mantle assemblages worldwide. The anomalously high oxygen isotope compositions, coupled with very high 87Sr/86Sr values, imply the continental crust origin of the injected melts. Isotopic anomalies are progressively attenuated in peridotite away from the veins, showing 18O isotope variations well correlated with the amount of newly formed orthopyroxene. Diffusion may also affect the isotope ratios of mantle rocks undergoing crustal metasomatism due to the relaxation of 18O isotope anomalies to normal mantle values through time. Overall, the data define an O isotope “benchmark” allowing discrimination between mantle sources that attained re-equilibration after metasomatism (>5 Myr) and those affected by more recent subduction-derived enrichment processes

Critical issues in the CFD simulation of Darrieus wind turbines

Computational Fluid Dynamics is thought to provide in the near future an essential contribution to the development of vertical-axis wind turbines, helping this technology to rise towards a more mature industrial diffusion. The unsteady flow past rotating blades is, however, one of the most challenging applications for a numerical simulation and some critical issues have not been settled yet.In this work, an extended analysis is presented which has been carried out with the final aim of identifying the most effective simulation settings to ensure a reliable fully-unsteady, two-dimensional simulation of an H-type Darrieus turbine.Moving from an extended literature survey, the main analysis parameters have been selected and their influence has been analyzed together with the mutual influences between them; the benefits and drawbacks of the proposed approach are also discussed.The selected settings were applied to simulate the geometry of a real rotor which was tested in the wind tunnel, obtaining notable agreement between numerical estimations and experimental data. Moreover, the proposed approach was further validated by means of two other sets of simulations, based on literature study-cases

Turbulent Couette-Taylor flows with endwall effects: a numerical benchmark

International audienceThe accurate prediction of fluid flow within rotating systems has a primary role for the reliability and performance of rotating machineries. The selection of a suitable model to account for the effects of turbulence on such complex flows remains an open issue in the literature. This paper reports a numerical benchmark of different approaches available within commercial CFD solvers together with results obtained by means of in-house developed or open-source available research codes exploiting a suitable Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) closure, Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and a direct numerical simulation (DNS). The predictions are compared to the experimental data of Burin et al. (2010) in an original enclosed Couette-Taylor apparatus with endcap rings. The results are discussed in details for both the mean and turbulent fields. A particular attention has been turned to the scaling of the turbulent angular momentum G with the Reynolds number Re. By DNS, G is found to be proportional to Rea, the exponent a = 1.9 being constant in our case for the whole range of Reynolds numbers. Most of the approaches predict quite well the good trends apart from the k-w SST model, which provides relatively poor agreement with the experiments even for the mean tangential velocity profile. Among the RANS models, even though no approach appears to be fully satisfactory, the RSM closure offers the best overall agreement

Identification of novel human breast carcinoma (MDA-MB-231) Cell growth modulators from a carbohydrate-based diversity oriented synthesis library

The application of a cell-based growth inhibition on a library of skeletally different glycomimetics allowed for the selection of a hexahydro-2H-furo[3,2-b][1,4]oxazine compound as candidate inhibitors of MDA-MB-231 cell growth. Subsequent synthesis of analogue compounds and preliminary biological studies validated the selection of a valuable hit compound with a novel polyhydroxylated structure for the modulation of the breast carcinoma cell cycle mechanism

Anisotropy in the viscoelastic response of knee meniscus cartilage.

Background The knee meniscus is instrumental to stability, shock absorption, load transmission and stress distribution within the knee joint. Such functions are mechanically demanding, and replacement constructs used in meniscus repair often fail because of a poor match with the surrounding tissue. This study focused on the native structure–mechanics relationships and on their anisotropic behavior in meniscus, to define the target biomechanical viscoelastic properties required by scaffolds upon loading. Methods To show regional orientation of the collagen fibers and their viscoelastic behavior, bovine lateral menisci were characterized by second harmonic generation microscopy and through time-dependent mechanical tests. Furthermore, their dynamic viscoelastic response was analyzed over a wide range of frequencies. Results and conclusions Multilevel characterization aims to expand the biomimetic approach from the structure itself, to include the mechanical characteristics that give the meniscus its peculiar properties, thus providing tools for the design of novel, effective scaffolds. An example of modeling of anisotropic open-cell porous material tailored to fulfill the measured requirements is presented, leading to a definition of additional parameters for a better understanding of the load transmission mechanism and for better scaffold functionality