Tents, Beds and Clothing: The Evocative Objects of Contemporary Art Textile

The vast collection of textiles, fabrics and fibres from Vesuvian sites, kept at the MANN (National Archaeological Museum of Naples), represents one of the most interesting and, until now, less explored bequests of a not marginal aspect of ancient culture, among whose ‘folds’ it is possible to trace important elements of an history that crosses the sphere of production, distribution, habits and society of Pompeii and, more generally, of Roman culture. The contribution intends to present the first results of a work of research and documentation on this precious textile material and the task of reinterpreting, that the research group is carrying out in order to illustrate a process of dissemination and cultural promotion of the complex knowledge that is kept in it

Heart rate variability and target organ damage in hypertensive patients

Background: We evaluated the association between linear standard Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measures and vascular, renal and cardiac target organ damage (TOD). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed including 200 patients registered in the Regione Campania network (aged 62.4 ± 12, male 64%). HRV analysis was performed by 24-h holter ECG. Renal damage was assessed by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), vascular damage by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), and cardiac damage by left ventricular mass index. Results: Significantly lower values of the ratio of low to high frequency power (LF/HF) were found in the patients with moderate or severe eGFR (p-value < 0.001). Similarly, depressed values of indexes of the overall autonomic modulation on heart were found in patients with plaque compared to those with a normal IMT (p-value <0.05). These associations remained significant after adjustment for other factors known to contribute to the development of target organ damage, such as age. Moreover, depressed LF/HF was found also in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy but this association was not significant after adjustment for other factors. Conclusions: Depressed HRV appeared to be associated with vascular and renal TOD, suggesting the involvement of autonomic imbalance in the TOD. However, as the mechanisms by which abnormal autonomic balance may lead to TOD, and, particularly, to renal organ damage are not clearly known, further prospective studies with longitudinal design are needed to determine the association between HRV and the development of TOD

Potential net primary productivity in South America: application of a global model

We use a mechanistically based ecosystem simulation model to describe and analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP) in South America. The Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM) is designed to predict major carbon and nitrogen fluxes and pool sizes in terrestrial ecosystems at continental to global scales. Information from intensively studies field sites is used in combination with continental—scale information on climate, soils, and vegetation to estimate NPP in each of 5888 non—wetland, 0.5° latitude °0.5° longitude grid cells in South America, at monthly time steps. Preliminary analyses are presented for the scenario of natural vegetation throughout the continent, as a prelude to evaluating human impacts on terrestrial NPP. The potential annual NPP of South America is estimated to be 12.5 Pg/yr of carbon (26.3 Pg/yr of organic matter) in a non—wetland area of 17.0 ° 106 km2. More than 50% of this production occurs in the tropical and subtropical evergreen forest region. Six independent model runs, each based on an independently derived set of model parameters, generated mean annual NPP estimates for the tropical evergreen forest region ranging from 900 to 1510 g°m—2°yr—1 of carbon, with an overall mean of 1170 g°m—2°yr—1. Coefficients of variation in estimated annual NPP averaged 20% for any specific location in the evergreen forests, which is probably within the confidence limits of extant NPP measurements. Predicted rates of mean annual NPP in other types of vegetation ranged from 95 g°m—2°yr—1 in arid shrublands to 930 g°m@?yr—1 in savannas, and were within the ranges measured in empirical studies. The spatial distribution of predicted NPP was directly compared with estimates made using the Miami mode of Lieth (1975). Overall, TEM predictions were °10% lower than those of the Miami model, but the two models agreed closely on the spatial patterns of NPP in south America. Unlike previous models, however, TEM estimates NPP monthly, allowing for the evaluation of seasonal phenomena. This is an important step toward integration of ecosystem models with remotely sensed information, global climate models, and atmospheric transport models, all of which are evaluated at comparable spatial and temporal scales. Seasonal patterns of NPP in South America are correlated with moisture availability in most vegetation types, but are strongly influenced by seasonal differences in cloudiness in the tropical evergreen forests. On an annual basis, moisture availability was the factor that was correlated most strongly with annual NPP in South America, but differences were again observed among vegetation types. These results allow for the investigation and analysis of climatic controls over NPP at continental scales, within and among vegetation types, and within years. Further model validation is needed. Nevertheless, the ability to investigate NPP—environment interactions with a high spatial and temporal resolution at continental scales should prove useful if not essential for rigorous analysis of the potential effects of global climate changes on terrestrial ecosystems

Pupillometry via smartphone for low-resource settings

The photopupillary reflex regulates the pupil reaction to changing light conditions. Being controlled by the autonomic nervous system, it is a proxy for brain trauma and for the conditions of patients in critical care. A prompt evaluation of brain traumas can save lives. With a simple penlight, skilled clinicians can do that, whereas less specialized ones have to resort to a digital pupilometer. However, many low-income countries lack both specialized clinicians and digital pupilometers. This paper presents the early results of our study aiming at designing, prototyping and validating an app for testing the photopupillary reflex via Android, following the European Medical Device Regulation and relevant standards. After a manual validation, the prototype underwent a technical validation against a commercial Infrared pupilometer. As a result, the proposed app performed as well as the manual measurements and better than the commercial solution, with lower errors, higher and significant correlations, and significantly better Bland-Altman plots for all the pupillometry-related measures. The design of this medical device was performed based on our expertise in low-resource settings. This kind of environments imposes more stringent design criteria due to contextual challenges, including the lack of specialized clinicians, funds, spare parts and consumables, poor maintenance, and harsh environmental conditions, which may hinder the safe operationalization of medical devices. This paper provides an overview of how these unique contextual characteristics are cascaded into the design of an app in order to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goal 3 of the World Health Organization: Good health and well-being

Unintended Environmental Consequences of a Global Biofuels Program

Abstract and PDF report are also available on the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change website (http://globalchange.mit.edu/).Biofuels are being promoted as an important part of the global energy mix to meet the climate change challenge. The environmental costs of biofuels produced with current technologies at small scales have been studied, but little research has been done on the consequences of an aggressive global biofuels program with advanced technologies using cellulosic feedstocks. Here, with simulation modeling, we explore two scenarios for cellulosic biofuels production and find that both could contribute substantially to future global-scale energy needs, but with significant unintended environmental consequences. As the land supply is squeezed to make way for vast areas of biofuels crops, the global landscape is defined by either the clearing of large swathes of natural forest, or the intensification of agricultural operations worldwide. The greenhouse gas implications of land-use conversion differ substantially between the two scenarios, but in both, numerous biodiversity hotspots suffer from serious habitat loss. Cellulosic biofuels may yet serve as a crucial wedge in the solution to the climate change problem, but must be deployed with caution so as not to jeopardize biodiversity, compromise ecosystems services, or undermine climate policy.This study received funding from the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, which is supported by a onsortium of government, industry and foundation sponsors

Future nitrogen availability and its effect on carbon sequestration in Northern Eurasia

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Kicklighter, D. W., Melillo, J. M., Monier, E., Sokolov, A. P., & Zhuang, Q. Future nitrogen availability and its effect on carbon sequestration in Northern Eurasia. Nature Communications, 10, (2019): 3024, doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10944-0.Nitrogen (N) availability exerts strong control on carbon storage in the forests of Northern Eurasia. Here, using a process-based model, we explore how three factors that alter N availability—permafrost degradation, atmospheric N deposition, and the abandonment of agricultural land to forest regrowth (land-use legacy)—affect carbon storage in the region’s forest vegetation over the 21st century within the context of two IPCC global-change scenarios (RCPs 4.5 and 8.5). For RCP4.5, enhanced N availability results in increased tree carbon storage of 27.8 Pg C, with land-use legacy being the most important factor. For RCP8.5, enhanced N availability results in increased carbon storage in trees of 13.4 Pg C, with permafrost degradation being the most important factor. Our analysis reveals complex spatial and temporal patterns of regional carbon storage. This study underscores the importance of considering carbon-nitrogen interactions when assessing regional and sub-regional impacts of global change policies.This research was supported by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Land-Cover and Land-Use Change (LCLUC) Program grant NNX14AD91G. The Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change is funded by a number of federal agencies and a consortium of 40 industrial and foundation sponsor (for the complete list see http://globalchange.mit.edu/sponsors)

Climate impacts of a large-scale biofuels expansion

A global biofuels program will potentially lead to intense pressures on land supply and cause widespread transformations in land use. These transformations can alter the Earth climate system by increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land use changes and by changing the reflective and energy exchange characteristics of land ecosystems. Using an integrated assessment model that links an economic model with climate, terrestrial biogeochemistry, and biogeophysics models, we examined the biogeochemical and biogeophysical effects of possible land use changes from an expanded global second-generation bioenergy program on surface temperatures over the first half of the 21st century. Our integrated assessment model shows that land clearing, especially forest clearing, has two concurrent effects—increased GHG emissions, resulting in surface air warming; and large changes in the land's reflective and energy exchange characteristics, resulting in surface air warming in the tropics but cooling in temperate and polar regions. Overall, these biogeochemical and biogeophysical effects will only have a small impact on global mean surface temperature. However, the model projects regional patterns of enhanced surface air warming in the Amazon Basin and the eastern part of the Congo Basin. Therefore, global land use strategies that protect tropical forests could dramatically reduce air warming projected in these regions.United States. Dept. of Energ

Analysis of Climate Policy Targets under Uncertainty

Abstract and PDF report are also available on the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change website (http://globalchange.mit.edu/).Although policymaking in response to the climate change is essentially a challenge of risk management, most studies of the relation of emissions targets to desired climate outcomes are either deterministic or subject to a limited representation of the underlying uncertainties. Monte Carlo simulation, applied to the MIT Integrated Global System Model (an integrated economic and earth system model of intermediate complexity), is used to analyze the uncertain outcomes that flow from a set of century-scale emissions targets developed originally for a study by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. Results are shown for atmospheric concentrations, radiative forcing, sea ice cover and temperature change, along with estimates of the odds of achieving particular target levels, and for the global costs of the associated mitigation policy. Comparison with other studies of climate targets are presented as evidence of the value, in understanding the climate challenge, of more complete analysis of uncertainties in human emissions and climate system response.This study received support from the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, which is funded by a consortium of government, industry and foundation sponsors

Evaluation of Donor and Recipient Characteristics Involved in Descemet Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty Outcomes

Aims: To evaluate both donor and recipient features involved in visual acuity restoring and complication insurgence in eyes that have undergone Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK). Methods: In this retrospective study, charts of 111 eyes of 96 patients (mean age 70.25 ± 8.58 years) that underwent DSAEK were evaluated. Only Fuch's Distrophy (FD) or Bullous Keratopathy (BK) due to cataract surgery eyes were included. A complete ophthalmic check with endothelial cell density (ECD) and central corneal thickness (CCT) measurement was performed before surgery and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up. Each DSAEK was performed by the same well-trained surgeon; only pre-cut lenticules, provided by same Eye Bank, were implanted. Results: A total of 48 (43%) complications have been observed (most of them were 22 partial graft detachments and 17 IOP spikes). At the last follow-up (mean: 8.58 ± 4.09 months), a significant increase (p &lt; 0.05) of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was detected. Overall mean BCVA of the eyes evaluated was 0.40 ± 0.43 LogMAR with BK eyes showing a significantly higher improvement (p &lt; 0.05) compared to FD eyes. The only factor showing a significant correlation (p &lt; 0.05) with visual acuity enhancement was the implant of a lenticule thinner than 100 μm. Recipient features significantly (p &lt; 0.05) associated with complications observed after surgery were glaucoma and diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: The use of a graft thinner than 100 μm can provide better visual acuity recovery while recipients affected by glaucoma or diabetes mellitus are more prone to develop complications after surgery