Arte e Luz. Indagações de uma relação

Il ciclo di seminari "Arte e luce. Indagine di unrapporto" – organizzato nell'agosto 2011 per gli allievidella pós-graduaçao della FAUUSP – nasce dallaconsapevolezza del ruolo dell'elemento luminoso nellapercezione di forme e colori e dalla conseguentevolontà di riflettere criticamente sull'impiego odiernodell'illuminazione nella valorizzazione delle opered'arte.Il punto di partenza è uno studio storico-artistico cheha permesso di ricostruire e riconoscere l'importanzache - nell'età in cui si è sviluppato in Italia illinguaggio barocco - pittori, scultori ed architettiattribuivano alla luce. Costoro, in funzione di essa,compirono scelte operative specifiche ed arrivaronoaddirittura ad intervenire sugli ambienti didestinazione delle loro creazioni per ottenere precisecondizioni di rischiaramento che ne avrebberoottimizzato la percezione visiva o completato ilmessaggio con la loro significante presenza.Il discorso si allarga, poi, a considerare, sempre dalpunto di vista dello storico dell'arte, gli ambiticonservativo, architettonico, religioso, museologico emuseografico che sono coinvolti nella complessa eproblematica relazione oggetto dei seminari: èauspicabile che solo dalla coscienza di talemolteplicità di fattori scaturiscano le soluzionioperative che si avvalgono delle potenzialità propriedell'odierna tecnologia illuminotecnica. Tali sceltedovrebbero essere, cioè, l'esito di un compromesso traesigenze differenti e spesso tra loro contrastanti,consapevolmente valutate e condivise da parte di tuttele figure professionali che sono coinvolte in questospecifico settore. O ciclo de seminários "Arte e luz. Indagações deuma relação" – organizado em agosto de 2011 pelosalunos de pós-graduação da FAUUSP – nasce daconsciência do papel do elemento luminoso napercepção de formas e cores e da consequentevontade de refletir criticamente sobre o empregoatual da iluminação na valorização das obras de arte.O ponto de partida é um estudo histórico-artísticoque permitiu reconstruir e reconhecer a importânciaque, na época em que se desenvolveu na Itália alinguagem barroca, pintores, escultores e arquitetosatribuíam à luz. Aqueles, em função desta, fizeramescolhas operativas específicas e chegaram atémesmo a intervir nos ambientes de destinação dassuas obras para obter precisas condições deiluminação que teriam otimizado a percepção visivadas mesmas obras ou que teriam completado amensagem.A análise se amplia, em seguida, para considerar,sempre do ponto de vista do historiador da arte, osâmbitos conservativo, arquitetônico, religioso,museológico e museográfico que estão envolvidos nacomplexa e problemática relação que é o objeto destes seminários: é desejável que somente da consciência de tal multiplicidade de fatores nasçamas soluções operativas que se aproveitem daspotencialidades da atual tecnologia das técnicas deiluminação. Tais escolhas deveriam ser, assim, o êxito de um acordo entre exigências diferentes e amiúde contrastantes entre elas, conscientemente avaliadas e compartilhadas por todas as figuras profissionais que estão envolvidas neste específico setor

A numerical scheme for stochastic differential equations with distributional drift

In this paper we present a scheme for the numerical solution of stochastic differential equations (SDEs) with distributional drift. The approximating process, obtained by the scheme, converges in law to the (virtual) solution of the SDE in a general multi-dimensional setting. When we restrict our attention to the case of a one-dimensional SDE we also obtain a rate of convergence in a suitable $L^1$-norm. Moreover, we implement our method in the one-dimensional case, when the drift is obtained as the distributional derivative of a sample path of a fractional Brownian motion. To the best of our knowledge this is the first paper to study (and implement) numerical solutions of SDEs whose drift cannot be expressed as a function of the state.Comment: 35 pages, 8 figure

Supporting Policy Design for the Diffusion of Cleaner Technologies: A Spatial Empirical Agent-Based Model

Renewable energy resources and energy-efficient technologies, as well as building retrofitting, are only some of the possible strategies that can achieve more sustainable cities and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Subsidies and incentives are often provided by governments to increase the number of people adopting these sustainable energy efficiency actions. However, actual sales of green products are currently not as high as would be desired. The present paper applies a hybrid agent-based model (ABM) integrated with a Geographic Information System (GIS) to simulate a complex socio-economic-architectural adaptive system to study the temporal diffusion and the willingness of inhabitants to adopt photovoltaic (PV) systems. The San Salvario neighborhood in Turin (Italy) is used as an exemplary case study for testing consumer behavior associated with this technology, integrating social network theories, opinion formation dynamics and an adaptation of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Data/characteristics for both buildings and people are explicitly spatialized with the level of detail at the block scale. Particular attention is given to the comparison of the policy mix for supporting decision-makers and policymakers in the definition of the most efficient strategies for achieving a long-term vision of sustainable development. Both variables and outcomes accuracy of the model are validated with historical real-world data

A System Dynamics Model and Analytic Network Process: An Integrated Approach to Investigate Urban Resilience

During the last decade, the concept of urban resilience has been increasingly implemented in urban planning, with the main aim to design urban development strategies. Urban resilience is a multi-dimensional and dynamic concept. When applied to urban planning, it consists of studying cities as complex socio-economic systems. Municipalities are currently working to undertake appropriate actions to enrich the resilience of cities. Moreover, several difficulties concern the evaluation of the impacts over time of the strategies designed to enhance urban resilience. The present paper proposes an integrated approach based on the System Dynamics Model (SDM) and the Analytic Network Process (ANP). The objective of this research is to describe the method and to illustrate its application to the area called Basse di Stura, located in the city of Turin, Italy. The method is applied to evaluate the possible impacts of two different urban scenarios in terms of the change of urban resilience performance over time. The final result is represented by an index that describes urban resilience performance

Isolation, culture and characterisation of murine microvascular endothelial cells

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX180585 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Preface [Special issue on Modeling and Simulation of Tumor Development, Treatment and Control]

Preface of the Special Issue: Modeling and Simulation of Tumor Development, Treatment, and Control, Edited by Nicola Bellomo and Elena De Angelis, Volume 37, Issue 11, Pages 1121-1252, 2003, Mathematical and Computer Modelling, ISSN 0895-7177, ELSEVIE

Optimal Dividend Payout under Stochastic Discounting

Bandini E, de Angelis T, Ferrari G, Gozzi F. Optimal Dividend Payout under Stochastic Discounting. Center for Mathematical Economics Working Papers. Vol 636. Bielefeld: Center for Mathematical Economics; 2020.Adopting a probabilistic approach we determine the optimal dividend payout policy of a firm whose surplus process follows a controlled arithmetic Brownian motion and whose cash-flows are discounted at a stochastic dynamic rate. Dividends can be paid to shareholders at unrestricted rates so that the problem is cast as one of singular stochastic control. The stochastic interest rate is modelled by a Cox-Ingersoll- Ross (CIR) process and the firm's objective is to maximize the total expected flow of discounted dividends until a possible insolvency time. We find an optimal dividend payout policy which is such that the surplus process is kept below an endogenously determined stochastic threshold expressed as a decreasing function $r \mapsto b(r)$ of the current interest rate value. We also prove that the value function of the singular control problem solves a variational inequality associated to a second-order, non-degenerate elliptic operator, with a gradient constraint.2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. 91G50, 93E20, 60G40, 35R3

Unbalance between Excitation and Inhibition in Phenylketonuria, a Genetic Metabolic Disease Associated with Autism

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is the most common genetic metabolic disease with a well-documented association with autism spectrum disorders. It is characterized by the deficiency of the phenylalanine hydroxylase activity, causing plasmatic hyperphenylalaninemia and variable neurological and cognitive impairments. Among the potential pathophysiological mechanisms implicated in autism spectrum disorders is the excitation/inhibition (E/I) imbalance which might result from alterations in excitatory/inhibitory synapse development, synaptic transmission and plasticity, downstream signalling pathways, and intrinsic neuronal excitability. Here, we investigated functional and molecular alterations in the prefrontal cortex (pFC) of BTBR-Pah(enu2) (ENU2) mice, the animal model of PKU. Our data show higher frequency of inhibitory transmissions and significant reduced frequency of excitatory transmissions in the PKU-affected mice in comparison to wild type. Moreover, in the pFC of ENU2 mice, we reported higher levels of the post-synaptic cell-adhesion proteins neuroligin1 and 2. Altogether, our data point toward an imbalance in the E/I neurotransmission favouring inhibition in the pFC of ENU2 mice, along with alterations of the molecular components involved in the organization of cortical synapse. In addition to being the first evidence of E/I imbalance within cortical areas of a mouse model of PKU, our study provides further evidence of E/I imbalance in animal models of pathology associated with autism spectrum disorders