Biomechanics and tissue engineering

Development of artificial scaffold for musculo-skeletal applications, especially in load-bearing situations, requires the consideration of biomechanical aspects for its integrity and its function. However, the biomechanical loading could also be used to favour tissue formation through mechano-transduction phenomena. Design of scaffold could take advantages of this intrinsic mechanical loadin

Multi-Process Print Artwork with Integrated Electronics

Multi-Process Print Artwork with Integrated Electronics explores the production of screen, block, and digital printing, and incorporates capacitive sensing to generate interactivity. The primary function of the art is to serve as promotional material for the student media group .wavzine. Moreover, the multi-print production is intended to demonstrate the inherent, tangible benefits of various printing methods. This is important to consider as the print industry continues to move towards digital homogeneity

I Giochi del Mediterraneo. Uno strumento per una possibile integrazione sociale e culturale?

L'intento del lavoro \ue8 quello di rispondere alla domanda se i Giochi del Mediterraneo siano uno strumento di integrazione tra Paesi che vi si affacciano e che spesso dichiarano intenti di collaborazione, se non di vera e propria integrazione politica. Mediante l'analisi critica di fonti di vario tipo e l'elaborazione di una serie di interviste a interlocutori privilegiati, abbiamo messo in risalto come il senso stesso di integrazione sia fuggente a una definizione puntuale e alla conseguente misura tramite indicatori quantitativi. Tuttavia, l'analisi qualitativa svolta ci consente di dare una risposta sostanzialmente positiva a proposito della capacit\ue0 di mettere in contatto, attraverso lo sport, individui e organizzazioni appartenenti a Paesi e culture diverse. Altrettanto positiva \ue8 la risposta se ci riferiamo alle potenzialit\ue0 che la manifestazione conserva nel consentire e rinnovare le relazioni tra popoli diversi e nel modificare lentamente qualche carattere sociale. L'indagine svolta non sembra autorizzare, invece, troppo ottimismo a riguardo di un contributo dei Giochi all'effettiva integrazione sociale e culturale tra Paesi. I Giochi sono un'efficace occasione di incontro tra individui, enti organizzativi, localit\ue0 geografiche distanti, ma considerazioni di pi\uf9 ampia portata socio-politica sarebbero azzardata. La comune appartenenza a una regione geografica \u201cpossibile\u201d, com'\ue8 il Mediterraneo, non \ue8 di per s\ue9 sufficiente per assicurare l'avvicinamento di nazioni, persone e culture diverse e l'organizzazione di grandi eventi sportivi non pu\uf2 avere un potere supplente. Per contro, le diversit\ue0 nei risultati sportivi e le diverse abilit\ue0 organizzative tra attori localizzati al nord o al sud del Mediterraneo permangono e, anzi, il confronto sia agonistico sia gestionale sembra giocare un ruolo di consolidamento della leadership sportiva e geopolitica di alcuni paesi europei mediterranei, segnatamente Italia e Francia. Tra quelli affrontati, un argomento che merita e necessita maggiori approfondimenti di ricerca \ue8 senza dubbio quello della partecipazione delle donne ai Giochi del Mediterraneo

Effective metropolitan governance is not an outcome just from a law making process. The Italian case

The Delrio law has been ruling in Italy since the beginning of 2015, and it defines the boundaries of the ex Italian provinces, as metropolitan perimeters. Consequently, numerous problems have arisen from the resulting spatial configuration, both in terms of governance and metropolitan visioning, since only in very few cities the newly established metropolitan boundaries are coherent with urban systems’ dynamics and changes. The analysis of the Italian case helps to demonstrate that effective metropolitan governance does not stem only from a Government-driven and top down provision, and confirms that metropolitan development and governance require the development and strengthening of no-statutory and voluntary approaches, with a strong involvement of the business community. In order to illustrate and critically evaluate the recent Italian experience, this paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of a range of European polycentric metropolitan and industrial areas: Amsterdam (NL), Rotterdam-Den Haag (NL), Lille (FR), Barcelona (ES), Ruhrgebeit (DE). After a dramatic crisis caused by deindustrialisation and economic restructuring, they are all focusing on innovation, the establishment of new high-quality local services, and greater orientation to international competitiveness. These strategies do not stem directly from Government-driven regulation for local authorities, but are, to a large extent, dependent upon cooperative and nostatutory efforts. Moreover, the spatial scales of these initiatives are not always coincident with previous administrative boundaries. As a result, both in case of institutionalized metropolitan authorities as formal level of government, and in case of the absence of formal metropolitan institutions, this paper demonstrates that territorial cooperation is the essential basis for any metropolitan process, that often imply associations of municipalities and other local actors, sharing a common vision, and implementing strategic development projects

Viticulture and Landscape in the Italian Northwestern Alpine Region

Three Northern Italian regions, Valle d\u2019Aosta, Piedmont and Liguria, have specific identities though united by deep geographical and historical common traits. They are traditional wine-growing regions, producing several renowned wines, often in difficult areas. The \u2018heroic\u2019 viticulture, vineyard sites at altitudes over 500 meters (1,600 feet), vines planted on slopes greater than 30% on terraces or embankments, is a cultural element of the wine-growing system in all the three regions, each having a share of mountain and slope areas. Liguria and Valle d\u2019Aosta are much smaller regions than Piedmont; they have a big share of mountain area of the total regional surface. The paper aims describing the diversity of wine landscapes in the three regions, all of them having a large mountain and slope area within the respective total geographical surface. Data have been collected following the Grounded theory, i.e. retrieving data from very diverse sources, including direct observations. Results are that the reality of the heroic viticulture is a fundamental part of the local wine-making in Valle d\u2019Aosta and Liguria

Guardando al «Siculorum» del 1948

Riflettere sulla prima annata del «Siculorum», datata 1948, vuol dire anzitutto per noi riconnetterci simbolicamente al principio, alle pagine da cui tutto ha avuto inizio, ma significa anche specchiarci in una temperie sociale, culturale e politica molto diversa. Si tratta, in altre parole, di un'occasione per comprendere noi stessi a partire da un passato recente ma lontanissimo, vista la velocità estrema dei cambiamenti succedutisi lungo questi settant'anni. Cominciamo insomma la nostra sezione di reprint non da un dibattito intorno ad un tema specifico, sollecitato dalla ristampa digitale di un grande libro, bensì da un tentativo di conversazione e di pensiero sul nostro ieri e sul nostro oggi, in vista di un domani incerto, difficilmente prevedibile ma (altrettanto) ineludibile. In questa riflessione, i primi due numeri del «Siculorum Gymnasium» ci fanno da falsariga e da apripista, in quanto pongono implicitamente alcune questioni decisive, anche in ordine al senso della cultura umanistica, al suo ruolo e ai suoi spazi nella società, ai suoi orizzonti di ricerca e ai suoi atteggiamenti etici, ai suoi saperi e alle sue forme. Abbiamo inviato i due numeri della prima annata in digitale a quattro studiosi, rappresentanti di diverse aree della ricerca umanistica. Abbiamo richiesto loro di rispondere ad alcune questioni poste dalla redazione

Integration of mechanotransduction concepts in bone tissue engineering

Mechanical stimulus has been identified for a long time as a key player in the adaptation of the musculo-skeletal tissues to their function. Mechanical loading is then an intrinsic variable to be considered when new developments are proposed in bone tissue engineering. By combining structural biomechanics and mechanotransduction aspects, a new paradigm is presented for bone tissue engineering. It is proposed that in vivo mechanical loading be used to increased bone formation in the scaffold instead of pre-seeding the scaffold with cells or delivering growth factors. In this article, we demonstrated the feasibility of this approach and compared it to the classical tissue engineering strategy. In particular, we showed that bone formation could be increased in the scaffold that underwent mechanical loading during an in vivo study in rats. A model of bone formation was then proposed to translate the in vivo results into a possible clinical application where the loading of the scaffold would be transmitted by the sharing of the load between an implant and the bone scaffold

Biomechanics and tissue engineering

Development of artificial scaffold for musculo-skeletal applications, especially in load-bearing situations, requires the consideration of biomechanical aspects for its integrity and its function. However, the biomechanical loading could also be used to favour tissue formation through mechano-transduction phenomena. Design of scaffold could take advantages of this intrinsic mechanical loading