L'Utopia di André Gorz. Per una rilettura complessiva del suo pensiero.

Il saggio mira ad una globale ripensamento del pensiero e dell’esperienza culturale e politica di André Gorz, intellettuale che nei lontani anni cinquanta fu prossimo a Sartre nella condivisione dei temi dell’esistenzialismo e che tentò una rivisitazione del marxismo in chiave critica rispetto alla vulgata dell’epoca. La sua opera continuò negli anni settanta fino alla morte nel 2007, con un particolare interesse verso i temi dell’economia, del lavoro e dell’ecologia. Rispetto alle categorie dominanti del sapere economico e alle prassi del sistema capitalistico avanzato, Gorz si pose in modo polemico, elaborando strategie alternative che tenessero conto dei nuovi bisogni emergenti e dei nuovi soggetti sociali comparsi sulla storia. Il saggio nella sua parte principale e più estesa prende le mosse dagli inizi dell’attività di Gorz e dei suoi esordi, in particolare con il romanzo autobiografico "Il Traditore", ricostruisce il retroterra filosofico entro cui il pensatore si muove ed in seguito scandaglia le opere più tarde ove l’autore abbraccia convintamente il tema dell’economia politica, dell’ecologia, dell’abitare dell’uomo e delle trasformazioni del lavoro negli ultimi decenni, anche in seguito all’avvento del mondo del digitale e dell’immateriale. Da ultimo viene studiato e analizzato l’ultimo tratto della vita di Gorz, legato alla vicenda umana del legame strettissimo e complesso con la moglie Dorine e alla morte della donna in seguito ad un male incurabile. Gorz stesso pose fine alla sua vita non sopportando la scomparsa della compagna. L’ultima opera di Gorz "Lettera a D." (oggetto della postilla di Roberto Taioli) ha il valore di una estrema testimonianza umana ed è al contempo ricca di rimandi diretti ed indiretti alla precedente esperienza culturale e politica, tale da poter essere letta come una ricapitolazione della sua intera esperienza. Il saggio mira altresì a mettere in evidenza la sostanziale unità e continuità del pensiero di Gorz, pur nelle differenze di stagioni culturali e di interessi di studio che hanno segnato la sua vita

Carlo De Carli. Lo spazio primario.

Il volume riassume i contenuti delle mostre svoltesi all'interno dell'iniziativa Carlo De Carli. Lo spazio primari

A Streamlined Model of Conditional Simple Temporal Networks - Semantics and Equivalence Results

A Conditional Simple Temporal Network (CSTN) augments a Simple Temporal Network to include a new kind of time-points, called observation time-points. The execution of an observation time-point generates information in real time, specifically, the truth value of a propositional letter. In addition, time-points and temporal constraints may be labeled by conjunctions of (positive or negative) propositional letters. A CSTN is called dynamically consistent (DC) if there exists a dynamic strategy for executing its time-points such that no matter how the observations turn out during execution, the time-points whose labels are consistent with those observations have all been executed, and the constraints whose labels are consistent with those observations have all been satisfied. The strategy is dynamic in that its execution decisions may react to observations. The original formulation of CSTNs included propositional labels only on time-points, but the DC-checking algorithm was impractical because it was based on a conversion of the semantic constraints into an exponentially-sized Disjunctive Temporal Network. Later work added propositional labels to temporal constraints, and yielded a sound-and-complete propagation-based DC-checking algorithm, empirically demonstrated to be practical across a variety of CSTNs. This paper introduces a streamlined version of a CSTN in which propositional labels may appear on constraints, but not on time-points. This change simplifies the definition of the DC property, as well as the propagation rules for the DC-checking algorithm. It also simplifies the proofs of the soundness and completeness of those rules. This paper provides two translations from traditional CSTNs to streamlined CSTNs. Each translation preserves the DC property and, for any DC network, ensures that any dynamic execution strategy for that network can be extended to a strategy for its streamlined counterpart. Finally, this paper presents an empirical comparison of two versions of the DC-checking algorithm: the original version and a simplified version for streamlined CSTNs. The comparison is based on CSTN benchmarks from earlier work. For small-sized CSTNs, the original version shows the best performance, but the performance difference between the two versions decreases as the number of time-points in the CSTN increases. We conclude that the simplified algorithm is a practical alternative for checking the dynamic consistency of CSTNs

Listing Subgraphs by Cartesian Decomposition

We investigate a decomposition technique for listing problems in graphs and set systems. It is based on the Cartesian product of some iterators, which list the solutions of simpler problems. Our ideas applies to several problems, and we illustrate one of them in depth, namely, listing all minimum spanning trees of a weighted graph G. Here iterators over the spanning trees for unweighted graphs can be obtained by a suitable modification of the listing algorithm by [Shioura et al., SICOMP 1997], and the decomposition of G is obtained by suitably partitioning its edges according to their weights. By combining these iterators in a Cartesian product scheme that employs Gray coding, we give the first algorithm which lists all minimum spanning trees of G in constant delay, where the delay is the time elapsed between any two consecutive outputs. Our solution requires polynomial preprocessing time and uses polynomial space

Anesthetic Profile of a Non-lipid Propofol Nanoemulsion

SummaryBackground and objectivesThe clinical use of a lipid propofol formulation causes pain during injection, allergic reactions, and bacterial growth. Propofol has been reformulated in different non-lipid presentations to reduce the incidence of adverse effects, but those changes can modify its pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. In the present study, we investigate the pharmacology and toxicology of lipid propofol (CLP) and the non-lipid nanoemulsion (NLP).MethodsConventional lipid formulation of propofol and NLP were infused in the jugular veins of rats and blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and respiratory rate (RR) were measured. Both formulations (1%) were infused (40 μL.min-1) over 1 hour. Hypnotic and anesthetic doses as well as recoveries were determined. The pain induced by the CLP and NLP vehicles was compared by counting the number of abdominal contortions (“writhing test”) after the intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection in mice. Acetic acid (0.6%) was used as positive control.ResultsHypnotic and anesthetic doses of 1% CLP (6.0 ± 1.3 and 17.8 ± 2.6 mg.kg-1, respectively) and 1% NLP (5.4 ± 1.0 and 16.0 ± 1.4 mg.kg-1, respectively) were not significantly different. Recovery from hypnosis and anesthesia was faster with NLP than with CLP. Changes in HR, BP, and RR caused by NLP were not significantly different from those caused by CLP. Acetic acid and the vehicle of CLP caused 46.0 ± 2.0 and 12.5 ± 0.6 abdominal contortions 20 min after i.p. injection, respectively. The absence of abdominal contractions was observed with the vehicle of NLP. Abdominal inflammatory response was not observed after the i.p. injection of both propofol vehicles.ConclusionsNon-lipid formulation of propofol can be a better alternative to CPL for intravenous anesthesia with fewer adverse effects

Role of the Gastrointestinal Tract Microbiome in the Pathophysiology of Diabetes Mellitus.

The incidence of diabetes mellitus is rapidly increasing throughout the world. Although the exact cause of the disease is not fully clear, perhaps, genetics, ethnic origin, obesity, age, and lifestyle are considered as few of many contributory factors for the disease pathogenesis. In recent years, the disease progression is particularly linked with functional and taxonomic alterations in the gastrointestinal tract microbiome. A change in microbial diversity, referred as microbial dysbiosis, alters the gut fermentation profile and intestinal wall integrity and causes metabolic endotoxemia, low-grade inflammation, autoimmunity, and other affiliated metabolic disorders. This article aims to summarize the role of the gut microbiome in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Additionally, we summarize gut microbial dysbiosis in preclinical and clinical diabetes cases reported in literature in the recent years

Interfacial Morphology Addresses Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells Based on Composite Hole Transporting Materials of Functionalized Reduced Graphene Oxide and P3HT

The development of novel hole transporting materials (HTMs) for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) that can enhance device's reproducibility is a largely pursued goal, even to the detriment of a very high efficiency, since it paves the way to an effective industrialization of this technology. In this work, we study the covalent functionalization of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) flakes with different organic functional groups with the aim of increasing the stability and homogeneity of their dispersion within a poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) HTM. The selected functional groups are indeed those recalling the two characteristic moieties present in P3HT, i.e., the thienyl and alkyl residues. After preparation and characterization of a number of functionalized RGO@P3HT blends, we test the two containing the highest percentage of dispersed RGO as HTMs in PSCs and compare their performance with that of pristine P3HT and of the standard Spiro-OMeTAD HTM. Results reveal the big influence of the morphology adopted by the single RGO flakes contained in the composite HTM in driving the final device performance and allow to distinguish one of these blends as a promising material for the fabrication of highly reproducible PSCs

Producción de cerveza artesanal reemplazando pellets por flor de lúpulo variedad cascade en la ciudad de Córdoba

Trabajo Final Integrador. (Área de Consolidación Gestión de la Producción de Agroalimentos - Ingeniería Agronómica) -- UNC- Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, 2018Este trabajo nos permitió profundizar sobre un cultivo con marcada influencia en la producción de cerveza, como lo es el lúpulo. Se realizó un recorrido comenzando por su caracterización y descripción en la cadena agroalimentaria para terminar en su utilización. El eje del presente informe analiza el proceso de elaboración de cerveza artesanal de la fábrica Sheg Beer, de modo tal que pueda comprenderse en qué momento se adiciona este producto, para así relacionarlo con las características aportadas. Se recibieron importantes aportes de productores de lúpulo de Mar del Plata y de la prestigiosa empresa Lúpulos de la Patagonia que brindaron información muy valiosa para comprender su morfología, atributos y características dentro de sistema productivo. En la propuesta de mejora planteada se intenta buscar una cerveza de calidad superadora apuntando a un nicho de mercado que prioriza la calidad del producto, por sobre otras características. Finalmente se realiza un análisis económico de la propuesta planteada para determinar la factibilidad del cambio propuesto y compartir posteriormente las conclusiones pertinentes

Incorporating Decision Nodes into Conditional Simple Temporal Networks

A Conditional Simple Temporal Network (CSTN) augments a Simple Temporal Network (STN) to include special time-points, called observation time-points. In a CSTN, the agent executing the network controls the execution of every time-point. However, each observation time-point has a unique propositional letter associated with it and, when the agent executes that time-point, the environment assigns a truth value to the corresponding letter. Thus, the agent observes but, does not control the assignment of truth values. A CSTN is dynamically consistent (DC) if there exists a strategy for executing its time-points such that all relevant constraints will be satisfied no matter which truth values the environment assigns to the propositional letters. Alternatively, in a Labeled Simple Temporal Network (Labeled STN) - also called a Temporal Plan with Choice - the agent executing the network controls the assignment of values to the so-called choice variables. Furthermore, the agent can make those assignments at any time. For this reason, a Labeled STN is equivalent to a Disjunctive Temporal Network. This paper incorporates both of the above extensions by augmenting a CSTN to include not only observation time-points but also decision time-points. A decision time-point is like an observation time-point in that it has an associated propositional letter whose value is determined when the decision time-point is executed. It differs in that the agent - not the environment - selects that value. The resulting network is called a CSTN with Decisions (CSTND). This paper shows that a CSTND generalizes both CSTNs and Labeled STNs, and proves that the problem of determining whether any given CSTND is dynamically consistent is PSPACE-complete. It also presents algorithms that address two sub-classes of CSTNDs: (1) those that contain only decision time-points; and (2) those in which all decisions are made before execution begins

Stress-driven AlN cantilever-based flow sensor for fish lateral line system

In this work, we report on the fabrication and characterization of stress-driven aluminum nitride (AlN) cantilevers to be applied as flow sensor for fish lateral line system. The fabricated structures exploit a multilayered cantilever AlN/molybdenum (Mo) and a Nichrome 80/20 alloy as piezoresistor. Cantilever arrays are realized by using conventional micromachining techniques involving optical lithography and etching processes. The fabrication of the piezoresistive cantilevers is reported and the operation of the cantilever as flow sensor has been investigated by electrical measurement under nitrogen flowing condition showing a sensitivity to directionality and to low value applied forces