Granite By-Products for inverted pavement technique

As mentioned by Sardinia Region: ''Sustainable Development is what satisfies present's needs without shattering those of future generations, thanks to smart use of environmental resources and without waists''. This research aims to use a current resource available in high quantities in Sardinia to optimize the uses of the extracted materials and not to take just advantage of the Region. The mining activity in Sardinia, which is very important since ‘60s, during these years, has produced huge amounts of granite by-products. The ornamental use of granite is an important money source for Sardinia. Unfortunately, as the virgin material extracted must have high aesthetic qualities, many rock blocks are rejected. This research has the aim of making the most of the material stored in a quarry sites and of optimizing the uses of resource stone examined. The target is the use of granite by-products as material with high mechanical featured to be used for road pavements, from the foundation to surface. This research gives you the opportunity to make the most of regional resources, to minimize the thickness of asphalt, reducing the maintenance and realization costs. This is a good start for the Island to make money of something easy to export. Granite by-products will be used for the construction of innovative road pavement design. The Inverted Pavement Technique, studied and developed in South Africa since 1950, is going to be used for road infrastructure. In particular, I have focused the attention on the behavior of granular base layer. Thanks to this technique is actually possible to take advantage of mechanical features of base layer, creating base layers that assure high and long lasting performances with almost zero environmental costs. The Project is finalized to a sustainable design by using resources, considered as waste so far, present in the Sardinian Land and the minimal use of exhaustible and expensive row materials as asphalt layers. The increasing costs of petrol products and their limited availability leaded to find alternative solutions to flexible infrastructure everywhere in the world. Another target was to make sure that European and South African Regulation matched regarding granular aggregates. Through laboratory testing physical, chemical, and mechanical features of granite by-products were analyzed comparing to Dolerite, used in South Africa in the Inverted Pavement Technique

Hedonic Responses to Touch are Modulated by the Perceived Attractiveness of the Caresser.

Abstract Previous research has shown that a specific type of C fiber, the C tactile afferents, are involved in detecting gentle, dynamic tactile stimuli on the skin, giving rise to affective responses in the central nervous system. Despite building on such bottom-up information flow, the hedonic perception and the physiological consequences of affective touch are influenced by various sources of top-down information. In the present study we investigated how perception of affective touch is influenced by the attractiveness of hypothetical caressers. Participants were stroked on the arm and the palm while looking at photos of high attractive and low attractive opposite-gender faces, and were instructed to imagine those people as the caressers. In a control condition no photo was paired with the touch. The stroking stimulation was delivered with a soft brush either on the forearm or on the palm, and either with a slower or faster speed. Participants rated the pleasantness of each stimulation, while electrocardiographic recordings were made to extract heart rate variability data. Results showed that participants preferred touch stimuli paired with high attractive faces; they also preferred palm stroking and slower stroking speed. Like subjective pleasantness ratings, heart rate variability responses to affective touch (slow) were higher for high attractive than for low attractive caressers, but were not selective for arm or palm stroking. Overall, the present study confirms that contextual social information plays a major role in affective touch experiences, influencing not only the hedonic quality of the experience but also the physiological state of the body

L'Università dell'innovazione. L'ufficio di trasferimento tecnonolgico dell'Ateneo di Cagliari "Unica Laison Office"

Obiettivi ed organizzazzione dell'ufficio per il trasferimento tecnologico

The role of visual experience in the emergence of cross-modal correspondences

Cross-modal correspondences describe the widespread tendency for attributes in one sensory modality to be consistently matched to those in another modality. For example, high pitched sounds tend to be matched to spiky shapes, small sizes, and high elevations. However, the extent to which these correspondences depend on sensory experience (e.g. regularities in the perceived environment) remains controversial. Two recent studies involving blind participants have argued that visual experience is necessary for the emergence of correspondences, wherein such correspondences were present (although attenuated) in late blind individuals but absent in the early blind. Here, using a similar approach and a large sample of early and late blind participants (N=59) and sighted controls (N=63), we challenge this view. Examining five auditory-tactile correspondences, we show that only one requires visual experience to emerge (pitch-shape), two are independent of visual experience (pitch-size, pitch-weight), and two appear to emerge in response to blindness (pitch-texture, pitch-softness). These effects tended to be more pronounced in the early blind than late blind group, and the duration of vision loss among the late blind did not mediate the strength of these correspondences. Our results suggest that altered sensory input can affect cross-modal correspondences in a more complex manner than previously thought and cannot solely be explained by a reduction in visually-mediated environmental correlations. We propose roles of visual calibration, neuroplasticity and structurally-innate associations in accounting for our findings

Impact of organised programs on colorectal cancer screening

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening has been shown to decrease CRC mortality. Organised mass screening programs are being implemented in France. Its perception in the general population and by general practitioners is not well known.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two nationwide observational telephone surveys were conducted in early 2005. First among a representative sample of subjects living in France and aged between 50 and 74 years that covered both geographical departments with and without implemented screening services. Second among General Practionners (Gps). Descriptive and multiple logistic regression was carried out.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-five percent of the persons(N = 1509) reported having undergone at least one CRC screening, 18% of the 600 interviewed GPs reported recommending a screening test for CRC systematically to their patients aged 50–74 years. The odds ratio (OR) of having undergone a screening test using FOBT was 3.91 (95% CI: 2.49–6.16) for those living in organised departments (referent group living in departments without organised screening), almost twice as high as impact educational level (OR = 2.03; 95% CI: 1.19–3.47).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>CRC screening is improved in geographical departments where it is organised by health authorities. In France, an organised screening programs decrease inequalities for CRC screening.</p

Dynamic touch reduces physiological arousal in preterm infants: A role for c-tactile afferents?

Preterm birth is a significant risk factor for a range of long-term health problems and developmental disabilities. Though touch plays a central role in many perinatal care strategies, the neurobiological basis of these approaches is seldom considered. C-Tactile afferents (CTs) are a class of unmyelinated nerve fibre activated by low force, dynamic touch. Consistent with an interoceptive function, touch specifically targeted to activate CTs activates posterior insular cortex and has been reported to reduce autonomic arousal. The present study compared the effect of 5 min of CT optimal velocity stroking touch to 5 min of static touch on the heart-rate and oxygen saturation levels of preterm infants between 28- & 37-weeks gestational age. CT touch produced a significant decrease in infants' heart-rates and increase in their blood oxygenation levels, which sustained throughout a 5-min post-touch period. In contrast, there was no significant change in heart-rate or blood oxygenation levels of infants receiving static touch. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that CTs signal the affective quality of nurturing touch, providing a neurobiological substrate for the apparent beneficial effects of neonatal tactile interventions and offering insight for their optimisation