The Missing Link: Filling the gap and achieving success in Australian contrabass auditions

In Australia, a contrabass player who wishes to win a full-time orchestral position must pass a formal audition. Australian contrabass auditions normally consist of both solo works and a set of orchestral excerpts. In order to be successful in the audition, the aspiring musician must meet the standard expected by the adjudicating panel of musicians. This dissertation explores the keys to success in such auditions, shining light upon why some musicians are successful and others not. A series of interviews have been conducted with string musicians around Australia to assist in discovering optimal strategies and approaches to achieving success. Practising and studying the required orchestral excerpts is also key to performing a successful audition. This process can be achieved by systematically working through contrabass excerpt books, accumulating a knowledge of the repertoire and developing a high performance standard in preparation for auditions. However, there is a gap within the commercially available contrabass excerpt books. In these books, the information provided by the authors is limited to the orchestral part, marked only with bowings and fingerings. While information regarding bowing and fingerings is useful, incorporating information regarding tempo, vibrato, bow use, dynamics, orchestral context, phrasing and expression would also be beneficial. This dissertation explores the missing link neglected by these texts and offers a more comprehensive guide to the preparation of seven of the most frequently requested orchestral excerpts in Australia

Architecture in iron in the city of XIX century : roof structures of theatres and covered markets in Palermo

In post-unification Palermo, components manufactured abroad were usually used for complementary iron structures (greenhouses and skylights, projecting roofs, staircases...), whereas, for more demanding works, more weight was given to the contribution of producers with experience gained in the field of metal construction. Analysis is here carried out on the works of greatest importance, from the roofs of the two major theatres to the roofing of food market structures; the finest technicians were employed and a critical debate was triggered in the city with regard to formal, static and building aspects

Molecular techniques (humeomics and metabolomics) to relate the structure of rhizosphere micro-bio-humeome to plants bio-stimulation

The present study, was aimed to evaluate the use of new sustainable and integrate agricultural practices, alternatively to the conventional and unsustainable use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, developing new technologies able to understand how these interact with plants metabolism. Specifically, were tested bio-fertilizers based on the use of recycling products like composts, alone or in combination with plant bio-stimulants like microorganisms and humic substances. Such bio-effectros, frequently used in the organic farming, not only ensures food safety and increases soil biodiversity but are considered totally eco-sustainable. The comprehension of rhizospheric micro-bio-humeome interactions and the effects on plants metabolome was studied by Metabolomics through the use of advanced analytical techniques, like gas-chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (NMR). The results underline a positive effects on plants, exerted by the combined use of bio-fertilizers and bio-stimulants, suggesting therefore, their use as valuable alternative to the conventional agricultural practices able to promote the environmental sustainability and production of healthy foods maintaining crop productivity. Additionally, in order to better understand witch molecular class of compound play a specific role in the micro-bio-humeome interaction, the Humeomics approach applied directly on materials enrich of HS, was firstly evaluated, representing a preliminary experiment with the future aim to apply this technique also on materials containing humo-like substances such as compost from different sources. The employment of analytical approach such as Metabolomics and Humeomics for understand the rhizospheric micro-bio-humeome interaction, appear necessary in order to formulate in the future, tailored prepared with specific bio-stimulats actions as a function of different crops and soils characteristics

The façades along the Cassaro in Palermo: historical-building characterization, degradation, restoration norms for interventions

The good-will to operate in the old town privileging the history and the maintenance of historic buildings, is manifest in this study on the Vittorio Emanuele monumental street, the foundation axis of Palermo, and it’s architectural degraded and disfigured fronts. The search concerning sixty civil buildings is based initially on a cognitive process that includes historical analysis, geometric and dimensional survey, investigation on constituent materials and decay systems, in relation to environmental or anthropic causes. The study includes a design proposal that, according to the individuality of cases, it would represent an intervention code about some recurrent critical aspects on which it’s possible to intervene only applying codified procedures. The proposed designs show so an application to concrete cases, not abdicating to involve physical and economic urban environment: the re-qualification of building materials and architectural language would respect the historical image without depressing the market demands

Combination of humic biostimulants with a microbial inoculum improves lettuce productivity, nutrient uptake, and primary and secondary metabolism

Biostimulants of natural origin represent a growing ecological strategy to increase crops productivity, especially when applied in combination with microbial bioeffectors. We studied the effect of biostimulants such as Potassium Humates (KH) from Leonardite and Compost Tea (CT) from green compost on both productivity and nutritional status of lettuce plants, as well as on the primary and secondary metabolism of treated plants, when amended either alone or in combination with a commercial microbial inoculum (M+), mainly based on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Micosat TabPlus)

Fertilisation with compost mitigates salt stress in tomato by affecting plant metabolomics and nutritional profiles

Abstract Background Salinity is one of the major threats for crop growth and yield and its rate of expansion is expected to increase. We conducted a pot experiment to evaluate and compare the effect of a green compost addition and mineral fertilisation, on growth, nutrition and metabolites of tomato plants, exposed to increasing doses of NaCl. Results Although the development of stressed plants was lower than the corresponding controls, compost-treated plants performed better than mineral-amended plants watered with the same amount of salt. The different plant growth was related to an increased nutritional status. Namely, compost-treated plants showed a larger content of macro- and micronutrients, and a greater accumulation of osmoprotectants, such as soluble sugars and amino acids. Moreover, compost-treated plants showed a larger content of metabolites involved in modulating the response to salt stress, such as molecules related to energy transfer in plants and precursors of Reactive Oxygen Species scavenging compounds. Overall, the better performance of compost-added plants may be attributed to a greater availability of the organic forms of nutrients and to the positive bioactivity of compost-derived humic substances. Conclusions Compost application efficiently mitigated salt stress in tomato plants in respect to mineral fertilisation. This alleviating role was associated to the induction of a more efficient metabolic response that increased accumulation of metabolites involved in modulating the salinity stress. Therefore, fertilising with composted agricultural residue may represent a convenient alternative to mineral fertilisers to grow tomato plants in the presence of salt stress. Graphical Abstrac

Recurrent extreme bilateral gigantomastia caused by pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) syndrome: a case report

Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) of the breast is a rare and benign medical condition in which the breast tissue is affected by an abnormal myofibroblastic proliferation, which mimics a low-grade sarcoma angiomatous proliferation. PASH usually presents itself either as a palpable mass or as an incidental diagnosis during breast specimens' histological examination. A few cases have been reported in the literature of a diffuse form of breast PASH syndrome in which the clinical presentation is a bilateral form of gigantomastia without palpable masses. In such cases, the optimal surgical management is still debated due to a significant risk of relapse after breast reduction. Mastectomy seems to be the endpoint of this condition in relapsing cases. Recent studies report a good outcome with a Tamoxifen regimen when surgery cannot be performed, supporting a hormonal component for the etiology of the condition. This study reports on an extremely rare case of bilateral, rapid, and severe PASH in a young patient, presenting as a truly disabling gigantomastia that forced the patient to use a wheelchair due to the excessive breast weights (25 kg the right breast and 21 kg the left). We describe her complicated medical history, her diagnosis, and our course of treatment

Electrothermal PSpice Modeling and Simulation of Power Modules

Integrated power electronics modules (IPEMs) represent an innovative typology of power electronics assemblies able to guarantee several advantages such as increasing of power density, better management of the thermal flows, and a significant reduction of the package sizes. Their characteristics make them suitable for applications like motor drives or power conditioning. IPEM usage in emerging fields like hybrid automotive traction and electric generation from renewable energy sources is continuously increasing. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a devised flow to generate the layer-based electrothermal PSpice model of an IPEM and the simulation flow of the model. The proposed modeling methodology allows reducing an electrothermal multidomain problem to an electrical single one. The general PSpice-like nature of the proposed model makes it suitable for a wide range of simulation frameworks where the integration of heterogeneous multiphysics models could be a difficult task. The outlining of both electrical and thermal PSpice layers is discussed, and the implementation into the final model, by the assistance of custom electronic-design-automation flow, is presented. Moreover, we describe the validation procedure of the proposed approach, and the results are compared with the ones obtained by a commercial finite-element-based package used as a benchmark. Two simulation approaches related to specific conversion systems, and related issues, are presented and discussed

Imaging features of perineural and perivascular spread in rapidly progressive rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis: A case report and brief review of the literature

Background: Rhinocerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) is an opportunistic fungal infection originating from the paranasal sinuses with extension to the brain. A delayed diagnosis can rapidly result in a poor prognosis. ROCM commonly affects patients with diabetes or immunocompromised states with a variable progression. Case description: We report the case of a 59-year old patient with an untreated diabetes who developed a ROCM with rapidly progressive neurological symptoms. From the onset of sinus pain, nasal congestion, he rapidly developed facial swelling and masticatory dysfunction. The patient underwent sinus surgery which allowed Rhizopus oryzae to be isolated. Accordingly, a systemic therapy by intensive intravenous amphotericin B was started. Nevertheless, the infection rapidly resulted in bilateral cavernous sinuses thrombosis and occlusion of the left internal carotid artery providing the subsequent patient death. Conclusion: Mucormycosis is a life-threatening fungal infection in diabetic and/or immunosuppressed patients. Our case demonstrates the three main mechanisms for infection spreading that are direct, perineural, and perivascular diffusion. Clear identification of the main risk factors, proper assessment of clinical features, and radiological findings may improve the chance for an early diagnosis and patient survival