The Method of Contrast and the Perception of Causality in Audition

The method of contrast is used within philosophy of perception in order to demonstrate that a specific property could be part of our perception. The method is based on two passages. I argue that the method succeeds in its task only if the intuition of the difference, which constitutes the core of the first passage, has two specific traits. The second passage of the method consists in the evaluation of the available explanations of this difference. Among the three outlined options, I will demonstrate that only in the third option – as we shall see, the case of the scenario that remains the same but is perceived in two different ways by the same perceiver – the intuition purports a difference that posses the necessary characteristics, namely being immediately evident and extremely complex and multifaceted, which determine its tensive nature. The application within auditory perception of this third option will generate two cases, a diachronic one and a synchronic one, which clearly show that we can auditorily perceive causality as a link between two sonorous episodes. The causal explanation is the only possible explanation among the many evaluated within the second passage of the method of contrast

Some considerations on pitch

Pitch is an audible quality of sound which can be explained not only in terms of strong correlation with sound waves’ properties, but also by a neat correlation to the properties of the sounding object. This seems to be in favour of the theory of sound labelled “distal view”, according to which sound is the vibration of the sounding object

Interacting Discovery Processes on Complex Networks

Innovation is the driving force of human progress. Recent urn models reproduce well the dynamics through which the discovery of a novelty may trigger further ones, in an expanding space of opportunities, but neglect the effects of social interactions. Here we focus on the mechanisms of collective exploration and we propose a model in which many urns, representing different explorers, are coupled through the links of a social network and exploit opportunities coming from their contacts. We study different network structures showing, both analytically and numerically, that the pace of discovery of an explorer depends on its centrality in the social network. Our model sheds light on the role that social structures play in discovery processes

Safety of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine in egg allergy: in vivo and in vitro management

Background: Egg allergy is the second most prevalent form of food allergy in childhood. In spite of the evidence accumulated, inoculating egg allergy children with attenuated vaccines grown on chick embryo cell cultures, such as the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, is regarded (erroneously) as potentially dangerous or even anaphylactogenic, by many. An issue perceived as particularly conflicting also by Health Professionals. Case presentation: A 15-year-old boy, with a history of severe egg allergy in early infancy, who was still sensitized to egg allergens, including baked egg, had never received MMR vaccination, in fear of possible anaphylaxis, in spite of the fact that this vaccination is mandatory in the first year of life, in Italy. Because of that, he was not allowed to attend school, longer, and was referred to us in order to assess the potential risk of MMR vaccination. Upon thorough allergologic workup, sensitization to MMR vaccine components was excluded by an in vivo approach, consisting in skin prick tests, intradermal tests, and subcutaneous injection test, corroborated by vaccine-specific B-lymphocyte proliferation assay, ex vivo. T-cell proliferation in response to MMR vaccine was also excluded. Eventually, the boy was inoculated with MMR vaccine and was readmitted to school. Conclusions: The diagnostic strategy adopted appears feasible and easy-to-perform and may be adopted in controversial cases (as the one reported), characterized by previous severe allergic reactions to egg. The B-lymphocyte proliferation assay we developed may represent a useful and reliable tool not only in research but also in clinical practice

Assessing the potential of molten carbonate fuel cell-based schemes for carbon capture in natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants

Abstract This work explores two configurations of natural gas-fired combined cycles (NGCC) with molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) for CO2 capture. Special attention is devoted to the selection of MCFC operating conditions (trade-off between CO2 capture and voltage losses), heat integration scheme, fuel use and CO2 purification. Two schemes are considered: (i) in the first "integrated" scheme, MCFC modules are installed between the gas turbine and the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to maximize the efficiency of the integrated power plant; (ii) in the second "non-integrated" layout, the MCFC is located downstream of the HRSG and a regenerative heat exchanger is designed to preheat cathode reactants up to the MCFC working temperature. This study includes a full techno-economic analysis of the two layouts based on a preliminary sizing of the key-components, and a sensitivity analysis on the CO2 utilization factor. Compared to a benchmark amine scrubbing process, the "integrated" configuration shows considerably better performance (Specific Primary Energy Consumption for CO2 Avoided - SPECCA = 0.31 MJ kgCO2-1; Cost of CO2 avoided - CCA = 50 $tCO2−1), whereas the "non-integrated" solution shows higher energy penalties but similar CO2 avoidance cost (SPECCA = 2.4  MJ  kgCO2−1; CCA = 76$ tCO2−1)

Characterization of chenopodin isoforms from quinoa seeds and assessment of their potential anti-inflammatory activity in Caco-2 cells

Several food-derived molecules, including proteins and peptides, can show bioactivities toward the promotion of well-being and disease prevention in humans. There is still a lack of information about the potential effects on immune and inflammatory responses in mammalian cells following the ingestion of seed storage proteins. This study, for the first time, describes the potential immunomodulation capacity of chenopodin, the major protein component of quinoa seeds. After characterizing the molecular features of the purified protein, we were able to separate two different forms of chenopodin, indicated as LcC (Low charge Chenopodin, 30% of total chenopodin) and HcC (High charge Chenopodin, 70% of total chenopodin). The biological effects of LcC and HcC were investigated by measuring NF-\u3baB activation and IL-8 expression studies in undifferentiated Caco-2 cells. Inflammation was elicited using IL-1\u3b2. The results indicate that LcC and HcC show potential anti-inflammatory activities in an intestinal cell model, and that the proteins can act differently, depending on their structural features. Furthermore, the molecular mechanisms of action and the structural/functional relationships of the protein at the basis of the observed bioactivity were investigated using in silico analyses and structural predictions

Kelvin Probe Studies of Cesium Telluride Photocathode for AWA Photoinjector

Cesium telluride is an important photocathode as an electron source for particle accelerators. It has a relatively high quantum efficiency (>1%), is sufficiently robust in a photoinjector, and has a long lifetime. This photocathode is grown in-house for a new Argonne Wakefield Accelerator (AWA) beamline to produce high charge per bunch (~50 nC) in a long bunch train. Here, we present a study of the work function of cesium telluride photocathode using the Kelvin Probe technique. The study includes an investigation of the correlation between the quantum efficiency and the work function, the effect of photocathode aging, the effect of UV exposure on the work function, and the evolution of the work function during and after photocathode rejuvenation via heating.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Arterial stiffness, endothelial and cognitive function in subjects with type 2 diabetes in accordance with absence or presence of diabetic foot syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Endothelial dysfunction is an early marker of cardiovascular disease so endothelial and arterial stiffness indexes are good indicators of vascular health. We aimed to assess whether the presence of diabetic foot is associated with arterial stiffness and endothelial function impairment. METHODS: We studied 50 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus and diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) compared to 50 diabetic subjects without diabetic foot, and 53 patients without diabetes mellitus, by means of the mini mental state examination (MMSE) administered to evaluate cognitive performance. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (Aix) were also evaluated by Applanation tonometry (SphygmoCor version 7.1), and the RH-PAT data were digitally analyzed online by Endo-PAT2000 using reactive hyperemia index (RHI) values. RESULTS: In comparison to diabetic subjects without diabetic foot the subjects with diabetic foot had higher mean values of PWV, lower mean values of RHI, and lower mean MMSE. At multinomial logistic regression PWV and RHI were significantly associated with diabetic foot presence, whereas ROC curve analysis had good sensitivity and specificity in arterial PWV and RHI for diabetic foot presence. CONCLUSIONS: Pulse wave velocity and augmentation index, mean RHI values, and mean MMSE were effective indicators of diabetic foot. Future research could address these issues by means of longitudinal studies to evaluate cardiovascular event incidence in relation to arterial stiffness, endothelial and cognitive markers