Seismic vulnerability of churches in Faial and Pico islands, Azores

Earthquakes represent one of the main cause of serious damage and loss of historic and architectural heritage. Interventions to preserve these building should start with a careful knowledge and assessment of their seismic vulnerability, in order to support any needed retrofitting and strengthening measures. This paper proposes a procedure to register and diagnose of the level of damage on churches after the occurrence of an earthquake, and also to assess the seismic vulnerability of this type of construction. This procedure was applied to sixteen churches in the Azores islands which were hit by the July 9th 1998 earthquake. Belfries of church towers are elements with a particular seismic vulnerability. For this reason, and based on the Italian methodology proposed by the Linee Guida (2006), it is applied to belfries of two churches from Pico (Azores), a simplified mechanical model for assessment of seismic vulnerability of this type of structures

A Quantitative Study of Two Attacks

We use a special operational semantics which helps us in predicting quantitative measures on systems describing cryptographic protocols: We also consider a possible attacker. The transitions of the system carry enhanced labels. We assign rates to transitions by only looking at these labels. We then map transition systems to Markov chains and evaluate performance of systems, using standard tools

Modelling biochemical pathways through enhanced π-calculus

AbstractWe use the π-calculus to model the evolution of biochemical systems, taking advantage of their similarities with global computation applications. First, we present a reduction semantics for the π-calculus from which causality and concurrency can be mechanically derived. We prove that our semantics agrees with the causal definitions presented in the literature. We also extend our semantics to model biological compartments. Then, we show the applicability of our proposal on a couple of biological examples

Emerging bone marrow microenvironment‐driven mechanisms of drug resistance in acute myeloid leukemia: Tangle or chance?

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been considered for a long time exclusively driven by critical mutations in hematopoietic stem cells. Recently, the contribution of further players, such as stromal and immune bone marrow (BM) microenvironment components, to AML onset and progression has been pointed out. In particular, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) steadily remodel the leukemic niche, not only favoring leukemic cell growth and development but also tuning their responsiveness to treatments. The list of mechanisms driven by MSCs to promote a leukemia drug-resistant phenotype has progressively expanded. Moreover, the relative proportion and the activation status of immune cells in the BM leukemic microenvironment may vary by influencing their reactivity against leukemic cells. In that, the capacity of the stroma to re‐program immune cells, thus promoting and/or hampering therapeutic efficacy, is emerging as a crucial aspect in AML biology, adding an extra layer of complexity. Current treatments for AML have mainly focused on eradicating leukemia cells, with little consideration for the leukemia‐damaged BM niche. Increasing evidence on the contribution of stromal and immune cells in response to therapy underscores the need to hold the mutual interplay, which takes place in the BM. A careful dissection of these interactions will help provide novel applications for drugs already under experimentation and open a wide array of opportunities for new drug discovery

3-d visualization and animation of architectonic elements for prehistoric megalithic temples of the island of Gozo: the temple of Ggantija

Laser scanning can now be defined without doubt as the newest frontier in the field of survey technique, and recent technological developments of instruments and processing software have encouraged the introduction of this technique in the world of applications connected to archaeological site and other related disciplines. The temple of Ggantija on the island of Gozo was considered to be representative of the entire series of temple complexes due to their particular architectural characteristics, their stage of evolution and form of deterioration, both material and structural. The survey was conducted by the use of the local geodetic network in the different phases: • Topographic survey • 3D laser scanner survey • Photographic Survey: both traditional and digital pictures will be taken in order to fully documentation internal and external surfaces of the site. The treatment and analysis of data collections was divided into the following sub-stages: elaboration and compensation of close polygonal, thickening polygonal and direct measurements; elaboration and compensation of altimetric network; linking of the above data with the existing Maltese national networks; elaboration of laser scanner positions and absolute orientations; elaboration of points coordinates for georeferencing and linking the point clouds coming from laser; final data verification end quality control; analysis of laser measured point clouds, for filtering and subsequent elaboration; scanning orientations and subdivision into “islands” (internal rooms and external sides); analysis of laser measured point clouds over the grid determined by the topographic survey.; modelling of the Archaeological site, elimination of noises and metric "pollution" by statistics and verification; accentuation and reduction of triangles on areas interested by complex geometries; triangles transformation into complex surfaces (mesh); model checking by topographic points; mapping of digital photocolors covering all the surfaces of the site. The digital model will be cut by vertical and horizontal section plans at heights requested by customer 2D graphic editing of the plans, sections and elevations. Finishing of vertical sections (sections and views) using the mapped model created by rendering calculated, generating contours lines from the 3D model; of a light model (low density model) of the laser scanner data using the filtering tools of the software package; of an virtual animation of the high density model; of a mapped VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language) model for a web interactive and hypertestual navigation, using the low density model. This part of the study was aimed at defining the architectural characteristics and mode of construction of this monument

Oil quality in sea-level quinoa as determined by cultivar-specific responses to temperature and radiation conditions

There is renewed interest in quinoa as a potential source of vegetable oils; however, there is no knowledge about how environmental conditions affect its fatty acids composition, a critical indicator of its oil quality. The fatty acid concentrations of four cultivars adapted to temperate environments were compared at three sowing dates in order to evaluate the effect of environmental conditions during the seed‐filling period on the variation in oil quality. The interaction between cultivar and sowing date was the main source of variation explaining the changes in the lipid content and fatty acid concentrations in quinoa. Most of the variation in the concentration of unsaturated fatty acids was attributed to the temperature and solar radiation during the seed‐filling period; cultivar‐specific responses to photo‐thermal conditions were observed among the sea level quinoa cultivars evaluated. Lipid content and concentration of fatty acids in quinoa is affected by sowing date. This effect is exerted through changes in temperature and solar radiation conditions. Therefore, this managing practice can be used to achieve quinoa oil with different qualities.Fil: Curti, Ramiro Nestor. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Escuela de Agronomía. Laboratorio de Investigaciones Botánicas; ArgentinaFil: Sanahuja, María del Carmen. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Vidueiros, Silvina M.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Curti, Carolina Antonela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Pallaro, Anabel Nora. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Bertero, Hector Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentin

La gestione del document delivery in BIBLIOSAN, la rete delle biblioteche degli enti di ricerca biomedici italiani

BIBLIOSAN is a Research Project headed up by the Italian Ministry of Health aiming to create a network of libraries from Italian Biomedical Research Institutes. There are 53 participating libraries, of which: 32 from IRCCS - Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (Scientific Recovery and Treatment Institutes) 10 from IZS - Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali (Zoo Prophylactic Experimental Institutes) ISS - Istituto Superiore di Sanit? (The Superior Health Institute) ISPESL - Istituto per la Prevenzione e la Sicurezza sul Lavoro (The Work Prevention and Safety Superior Institute) ASSR - Agenzia per i Servizi Sanitari Regionali (The Agency for Regional Health Services) Main objectives of the project are: resource sharing, document exchange, ratio of purchases, widening of documents disposability. BIBLIOSAN has choosen to belong to the NILDE network for document exchange. The lesson learned, the required personalizations to NILDE system and the advantages of becoming part of a wider italian network for document delivery are discussed.Bibliosan prende forma nel Dicembre 2003 come progetto di ricerca finalizzata finanziato dal Ministero della Salute con lo scopo di creare una rete di collaborazione tra le strutture bibliotecarie dei 45 principali Enti di ricerca biomedici italiani: 32 Istituti di ricovero e cura a carattere scientifico (IRCCS), 10 Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali (IZS), l?Istituto Superiore di Sanit? (ISS), l?Istituto Superiore per la Prevenzione e la Sicurezza del Lavoro (ISPESL) e l?Agenzia per i Servizi Sanitari Regionali (ASSR). I primi obiettivi, che il gruppo di lavoro a cui ? stato affidato il progetto ha dovuto affrontare, sono stati quelli di realizzare un catalogo collettivo dei periodici ed un sistema di interscambio di documentazione scientifica, entrambi consultabili ed utilizzabili su rete tramite interfaccia web. Gli strumenti adottati da Bibliosan per raggiungere questi obiettivi sono stati ACNP e NILDE. All?interfaccia ?standard? di gestione del document delivery di Nilde, grazie alla collaborazione col CNR di Bologna, sono state aggiunte alcune importanti personalizzazioni con lo scopo di ottenere statistiche avulse dal sistema NILDE e limitate solo ai dati d?interscambio in Bibliosan. Tali personalizzazioni hanno lo scopo di monitorare il ?sistema Bibliosan? ottenendo indicatori trasparenti sulla quantit? e qualit? di lavoro di cui ogni biblioteca si fa carico. L?utilizzo di tali indicatori ? infatti stato proposto al Ministero della Salute per valutare, assieme ad altri, l?attivit? degli IRCCS in fase di assegnazione dei fondi annuali per la ricerca corrente

PGE2-Induced IDO1 Inhibits the Capacity of Fully Mature DCs to Elicit an In Vitro Antileukemic Immune Response.

In the last years, dendritic cells (DC) have been evaluated for antitumor vaccination. Although DC-based vaccines have raised great expectations, their clinical translation has been largely disappointing. For these results, several explanations have been proposed. In particular, the concomitant expression by DCs of tolerogenic pathways, such as the immunosuppressive agent indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO1), has been demonstrated. The aim of this study is to evaluate both the stimulatory and the tolerogenic feature of monocyte-derived DCs (Mo-DCs) after maturation with PGE2. In particular, the role of IDO1 expression in PGE2-matured Mo-DCs has been addressed. Here we show that PGE2, which is required for full maturation of DCs, is one mediator of DC tolerance by enhancing IDO1. PGE2-mediated expression of IDO1 results in the production of kynurenine, in the generation of Tregs, and in the inhibition of either the allogeneic or the autologous antigen-specific stimulatory capacity of DCs. When pulsed with leukemic lysates and matured with PGE2, DCs are impaired in the induction of IFN-γ secreting CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells due to IDO1 upregulation. Moreover, the inhibition of IDO1 enhances the antileukemic response. Overall, these results point toward the use of IDO1 inhibitors to enhance the vaccination capacity of DCs, matured with PGE2