Non-Destructive Damage Detection and Retrofitting Techniques on a Historical Masonry Tower

The aim of the paper is to detect the damage of the bell tower of the Church “Santa Maria della Natività”, Noci (Bari, Italy) that in 2012 was hit by a lightning and to propose a retrofitting solution. The solution must be designed to improve the constructive regularity, the strength and ductility of the structure, especially on the more resistant structural elements or on the mechanisms of collapse so as to transform them from brittle to ductile ones. The tower is 35 m tall and it is structurally connected to the Church for about one third of its height; the remaining part of the tower is totally disconnected from the structure of the Church. The results of the experimental tests have been analyzed in order to estimate the modal parameters of the tower and to calibrate a 3D finite element model of the tower in order to design ad hoc improvement interventions

Antischächtbewegung und Antisemitismus in Deutschland von 1867 bis 1914

Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, das Verhältnis von Antischächtbewegung - als Teil der Tierschutzbewegung - und Antisemitismus im Deutschen Kaiserreich zu untersuchen. Als Quellengrundlage dienten Gutachten von Tierärzten, Medizinern, Theologen und Juristen zum Schächtthema zwischen 1867 und 1914, die in Form veröffentlichter Gutachtensammlungen, als Stellungnahmen und Vorträge in Tierschutzzeitschriften und tierärztlichen Fachzeitschriften sowie als Sonderdrucke und Monographien vorliegen. Weitere Quellen waren die stenographischen Berichte des Reichstages von 1887-1914 und Tierschutzbeiträge der Zeitung Bayreuther Blätter von 1870-1914. Eine besondere Rolle in der Schächtdebatte spielten Tierärzte, die einerseits Gutachten über das Schächten abgaben und andererseits ab 1910 als Promotoren der Antischächtbewegung fungierten. Unter Einbeziehung der politischen und berufspolitischen Denkweisen der Tierärzte, der Weiterentwicklung des Schlachtwesens, der reichspolitischen Debatte zum Schächten und der Darlegung des Verhältnisses radikaler Tierschützer zu antisemitischen Gruppierungen werden die Motoren für die Antischächtbewegung dargestellt. In der Bayreuther Gedankenwelt vermengten sich Tierschutzthemen mit völkisch-rassistischem Gedankengut, kulturkämpferisch begründetem Antisemitismus und Eugenik. Die Agitation der Tierschützer gegen das Schächten in Deutschland in den 1870er und 1880er Jahren gründete auf der tierschützerisch motivierten Forderung nach einer Betäubung vor dem Blutentzug, der Gleichstellung des betäubungslosen Schlachtens durch christliche Metzger mit dem rituellen Schächten, der Nichtanerkennung des rituellen Schächtens als religiöse Handlung und der Höherstellung des Tierrechts über das Religionsrecht. Auf wissenschaftlicher Ebene prägten die von jüdischen Rabbinern gesammelten schächtfreundlichen Gutachten medizinischer und tiermedizinischer Hochschulgelehrter die Diskussion ums Schächten. Mit der Einführung von Betäubungsgeräten im Schlachtalltag spielten vermehrt Tierärzte im Staatsdienst und Schlachthoftierärzte als Gutachter eine Rolle. Die schächtkritischen Gutachten der Schlachthoftierärzte und ihre ab 1910 erfolgten Versuche zur politischen Einflussnahme wurden neben den Erfahrungen im Schlachthofalltag und wissenschaftlichen Überzeugungen, stark von dem Streit um die Kompetenzhoheit in der Schächtfrage beeinflusst. Der Streit gewann damit eine berufspolitische – im Jargon der Zeit „standespolitische“ – Komponente. Daneben hatte der um die Jahrhundertwende in allen gesellschaftlichen Schichten sich ausbreitende offene Antisemitismus zur Folge, dass, ähnlich wie die Kritik am Tierversuch, auch das Schächtthema mit antisemitischen Elementen im Sinne eines Kulturkampfes beladen wurde. So bedienten sich schächtkritische Tierärzte, Tierschützer und Antisemiten gleicher Argumente. Reichspolitisch gesehen hatte die Antischächtbewegung im untersuchten Zeitraum keinen Erfolg: die Vereinnahmung des Schächtthemas durch die Antisemiten, die fehlende „Wissenschaftlichkeit“ der schächtkritischen Gutachten und die Uneinigkeit im Reichstag über die Erlaubnis des Eingreifens des Staates in Religions- und Schlachtangelegenheiten führten dazu, dass zu keinem Zeitpunkt innerhalb des untersuchten Zeitraums reichsweite Regelungen gegen das rituelle Schächten entschieden wurden.The aim of the present doctoral thesis is to investigate the relationship between the movement against Jewish animal slaughter (also ritual slaughter) – as part of the animal protection movement – and antisemitism in the German Empire. The sources used were opinions by veterinarians, physicians, theologians and lawyers on the subject of slaughtering according to Jewish rites published in form of appraisals, statements and lectures in animal protection magazines and veterinary journals, reprints and monographs between 1867 and 1914. Further sources used consisted of stenographic reports of the Reichstag and animal welfare contributions of the newspaper Bayreuther Blätter published in the same period. Veterinarians played a particular role in the debate about ritual slaughter. They were on the one hand appraiser and acted on the other hand from 1910 as promoters of the movement against Jewish animal slaughter. The motors for the movement against Jewish animal slaughter are presented, taking into account the political and professional thinking of veterinarians, the further development of stunning devices, the political debate on slaughtering according to Jewish rites and the description of the relationship between radical animal rights activists and anti-Semitic groups. According to the concept of the Bayreuth Circle, animal welfare topics were mixed with racist ideas, antisemitism, within the meaning of cultural war, and eugenics. The agitation of the animal rights activists against the Jewish animal slaughter in Germany in the 1870s and 1880s based on the demand for a stunning before bleeding for animal welfare reasons, the equalization of the non-stun slaughter by Christian butchers with the ritual slaughter, the non-recognition of the ritual slaughter as a religious act and the elevation of animal rights over religious freedom. The scientific discussion about Jewish animal slaughter was characterized by the favourable opinions on ritual slaughter of medical and veterinary university professors. With the introduction of stunning devices in slaughterhouses, veterinarians employed in public service and slaughterhouses played an increasing role as appraisers. The critical opinions of the veterinarians working in slaughterhouses and their attempts to influence politics from 1910 onwards were affected by their experiences in slaughterhouse, their scientific convictions, as well as the dispute over competence on ritual slaughter issues. Thus, the dispute about ritual slaughter gained a professional policy component. Around the turn of the century, an open antisemitism spread out to all social strata, loading the ritual slaughter dispute with anti-Semitic elements in the sense of a cultural war, similar to criticism of animal experiments. Accordingly, veterinarians, who criticized ritual slaughter, animal rights activists and anti-Semites, used the same arguments. The movement against Jewish animal slaughter had no success in state politics in the period under review. The instrumentalisation of the ritual slaughter issue by the anti-Semites, the lack of scientific character of the critical appraisals and the disagreement in the Reichstag on the permission of the intervention of the state in religious and slaughter affairs, were all causes responsible for the fact that at no time within the period studied nationwide regulations against the ritual slaughter were decided

Influence of laboratory-related and endoscopy-related factors on the assessment of serum pepsinogens and gastrin-17

Background and aim Serum pepsinogen I (PGI) and pepsinogen II (PGII) are noninvasive parameters in the detection of atrophic gastritis. The diagnostic add-on value of serum gastrin-17 (G-17) remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to assess the stability of these serum parameters over time and to evaluate the influence of clinical factors, such as upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy and bowel cleansing, on serum PGI, PGII, and G-17 assessment. Patients and methods A prospective study was carried out in healthy individuals and patients. For the stability analyses, the plasma and serum samples from 23 individuals were processed at different time points with and without the addition of a stabilizer. Ten patients were included to evaluate the influence of upper GI endoscopy and 18 patients to evaluate the effect of bowel cleansing before colonoscopy. Results PGI, PGII, and G-17 levels were not statistically different in the serum and plasma. PGI and PGII serum levels were stable over time. G-17 is associated with time-dependent degradation (P = 0.0001). The addition of the G-17 stabilizer showed no improvement in stability. Upper GI endoscopy and bowel preparation before colonoscopy were associated with minimal variations in PGI and PGII, whereas G-17 showed patient-specific alterations. Conclusion PGI and PGII serum levels are stable over time. However, G-17 stability is strongly dependent on the time of processing and storage;therefore, samples for G-17 analysis need to be processed no later than 6 h after blood collection. Upper GI endoscopy and colonoscopy preparation lead to minimal nonsignificant changes in basal PGI, PGII, and G-17 levels

Leukotriene receptor expression in esophageal squamous cell cancer and non-transformed esophageal epithelium: a matched case control study

Study questionnaire. (DOC 21 kb

The Relevance of Discovering and Recovering the Biodiversity of Apulian Almond Germplasm by Means of Molecular and Phenotypic Markers

Almond cultivation has great traditional and economic relevance in Southern Italy, especially in the Apulia region, where almond trees feature an ample and ancient varietal richness. To contrast the loss of plant genetic erosion and to safeguard the available bioresources, as well as to reinforce the local production, the regional Re.Ge.Fru.P. project aimed to re-evaluate, identify, and characterize the Apulian almond germplasm that is still uncharacterized and not jet studied using a dual (genetic and morphological) approach. Collection was conducted in the regional territory of 187 among the most widespread and minor or marginalized genotypes that were molecularly fingerprinted by means of 18 nuclear microsatellites (simple sequence repeats, SSRs). The high number of scored alleles reflected the great level of diversification within the Apulian germplasm, as also confirmed by neighbor joining and structure analysis, that clearly distinguished different genotype clusters. The phenotypic characterization using 17 morphological and phenological descriptors mirrored the genetic results, revealing a high degree of variability. The morphological traits with the best discriminatory ability were nut ventral suture, shell softness and shape and petal color. This work emphasizes the importance of recovering the genetic variability of Apulian almond germplasm, and the need to promote added value and enhance the local agri-food economy

Radiomics to predict the mortality of patients with rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease: A proof-of-concept study

OBJECTIVES: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) have increased mortality compared to the general population and factors capable of predicting RA-ILD long-term clinical outcomes are lacking. In oncology, radiomics allows the quantification of tumour phenotype by analysing the characteristics of medical images. Using specific software, it is possible to segment organs on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images and extract many features that may uncover disease characteristics that are not detected by the naked eye. We aimed to investigate whether features from whole lung radiomic analysis of HRCT may alone predict mortality in RA-ILD patients. METHODS: High-resolution computed tomographies of RA patients from January 2012 to March 2022 were analyzed. The time between the first available HRCT and the last follow-up visit or ILD-related death was recorded. We performed a volumetric analysis in 3D Slicer, automatically segmenting the whole lungs and trachea via the Lung CT Analyzer. A LASSO-Cox model was carried out by considering ILD-related death as the outcome variable and extracting radiomic features as exposure variables. RESULTS: We retrieved the HRCTs of 30 RA-ILD patients. The median survival time (interquartile range) was 48 months (36–120 months). Thirteen out of 30 (43.33%) patients died during the observation period. Whole line segmentation was fast and reliable. The model included either the median grey level intensity within the whole lung segmentation [high-resolution (HR) 9.35, 95% CI 1.56–55.86] as a positive predictor of death and the 10th percentile of the number of included voxels (HR 0.20, 95% CI 0.05–0.84), the voxel-based pre-processing information (HR 0.23, 95% CI 0.06–0.82) and the flatness (HR 0.42, 95% CI 0.18–0.98), negatively correlating to mortality. The correlation of grey level values to their respective voxels (HR 1.52 95% CI 0.82–2.83) was also retained as a confounder. CONCLUSION: Radiomic analysis may predict RA-ILD patients’ mortality and may promote HRCT as a digital biomarker regardless of the clinical characteristics of the disease

Embryo Culture, In Vitro Propagation, and Molecular Identification for Advanced Olive Breeding Programs

The high biodiversity of the olive tree is an important opportunity to develop sustainable plans to control Xylella fastidiosa (X) through breeding programs. Olive tree breeding activities have been limited due to various features of this species including the long time required for seed germination caused by the inhibition effect of the woody endocarp, the seed integument, and the endosperm. Starting from F1 seeds by cross-breeding, the embryo culture was compared with traditional seed germination, evaluating the effectiveness of in vitro multiplication of the plantlets for large-scale production. The isolated embryos were established on a new medium based on Rugini ‘84 macroelements, Murashige & Skoog ‘62 microelements, with Nitsch J. P. & Nitsch C. ‘69 vitamine and subcultured on Leva MSM modified. The results obtained confirmed that in vitro culture of olive embryos is a valid tool for increasing the percentage and speed of germination, helping to reduce the time of the olive breeding programs, offering the possibility to effectively propagate plantlets for further experiments

Long-term safety of rituximab in rheumatic patients with previously resolved hepatitis B virus infection

Conflicting results can be found in the literature on the frequency of hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation (HBVr) on rituximab (RTX) in rheumatic patients with previously resolved HBV (prHBV) infection. Here, we report the frequency of HBVr in a large historical cohort of caucasian rheumatic patients with prHBV receiving RTX. Registry data of rheumatic patients treated with RTX were retrospectively analysed. Demographic and clinical characteristics including evaluation of anti-HCV and HBV markers, annual HBV-DNA determination and aminotransferase levels assessed every three months, were recorded. Kaplan–Meier estimate was used to compare the risk of being still under therapy at different time points in patients with or without prHBV infection. Cox regression analysis was used to determine the association between recorded variables and treatment discontinuation. A total of 311 patients treated with RTX, 44 (14.1%) with and 267 (85.9%) without prHBV were analysed. No significant difference between the two groups regarding demographic and clinical characteristics was observed. During RTX treatment, detectable HBV-DNA and reappearance of HBsAg in patients with prHBV (seroreversion) were never observed. Kaplan–Meier functions were similar in patients with or without prHBV infection which was not associated with RTX discontinuation neither at univariate nor at multivariate analysis. These data are in favor of the concept that patients with rheumatologic diseases have a very low risk of reactivation of the HBV infection under RTX treatment. However, future prospective studies, including a larger number of patients, are still necessary to draw definitive conclusions

NEMESIS: Noninferiority, Individual-Patient Metaanalysis of Selective Internal Radiation Therapy with ⁹⁰Y Resin Microspheres Versus Sorafenib in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

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New insight into the identity of italian grapevine varieties: The case study of calabrian germplasm

Calabria is a region located in Southern Italy and it is characterized by a long tradition of viticulture practices and favorable pedoclimatic conditions for grapevine cultivation. Nevertheless, less than 2% of cultivated land is dedicated to grapevine growing in Calabria. The characterization of local grapevine accessions is crucial to valorize the local and peculiar Italian products and boost the Calabrian winemaking sector. With this purpose, we performed a deep characterization of two widespread Calabrian grapevine varieties—Magliocco Dolce and Brettio Nero, of which very little is known. In particular, a genetic and morphological analysis, a berry physico-chemical and polyphenolic compositions assessment, and oenological evaluation of monovarietal wines were carried out. Our results allowed us to demonstrate that Magliocco Dolce and Brettio Nero are unique and distinct varieties with peculiar morphological and chemical characteristics and show the suitability of these two varieties in high-quality wine production. Moreover, the obtained molecular profiles will be useful for authentication and traceability purposes