Chapter The Chapel of Sant’Agata in Pisa. 3D surveying, Artificial Intelligence and archival heritage

The 43rd UID conference, held in Genova, takes up the theme of ‘Dialogues’ as practice and debate on many fundamental topics in our social life, especially in these complex and not yet resolved times. The city of Genova offers the opportunity to ponder on the value of comparison and on the possibilities for the community, naturally focused on the aspects that concern us, as professors, researchers, disseminators of knowledge, or on all the possibile meanings of the discipline of representation and its dialogue with ‘others’, which we have broadly catalogued in three macro areas: History, Semiotics, Science / Technology. Therefore, “dialogue” as a profitable exchange based on a common language, without which it is impossible to comprehend and understand one another; and the graphic sign that connotes the conference is the precise transcription of this concept: the title ‘translated’ into signs, derived from the visual alphabet designed for the visual identity of the UID since 2017. There are many topics which refer to three macro sessions: - Witnessing (signs and history) - Communicating (signs and semiotics) - Experimenting (signs and sciences) Thanks to the different points of view, an exceptional resource of our disciplinary area, we want to try to outline the prevailing theoretical-operational synergies, the collaborative lines of an instrumental nature, the recent updates of the repertoires of images that attest and nourish the relations among representation, history, semiotics, sciences

Muc5ac mucin expression during rat skin development

Some mucin genes have been detected during human embryonic and fetal organ development; however, little is known about mucin expression in epidermal development, neither in humans nor in other species. The present research was developed to explore Muc5ac skin expression during prenatal and postnatal rat development. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), Western blotting (WB) and RT-PCR were employed. By IHC, Muc5ac protein was found early in embryonic epidermis from day 13 of gestation until seven days after birth when the surface epidermis became negative and the reaction was restricted to secreting sebum cells. In coincidence with IHC findings, WB analysis showed a band at approximately 200KDa at the same periods of development. Results were also confirmed by RT-PCR. Muc5ac expression in rat embryonic epidermis suggests that Muc5ac may play a protective role in embryonic skin previous to birth which may be replaced by pile covering. To our knowledge, this is the first report which confirmed Muc5ac expression during skin development.Conclusion: Muc5ac expression in rat embryonic epidermis suggests that Muc5ac may play a protective role in embryonic skin previous to birth which may be replaced by pile covering. To our knowledge, this is the first report which confirmed Muc5ac expression during skin development.Fil: Ferretti, Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Segal Eiras, Amada. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Barbeito, Claudio Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas. Cátedra de Histología y Embriología; ArgentinaFil: Croce, María Virginia. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentin

Use of a remote eye-tracker for the analysis of gaze during treadmill walking and visual stimuli exposition

The knowledge of the visual strategies adopted while walking in cognitively engaging environments is extremely valuable. Analyzing gaze when a treadmill and a virtual reality environment are used as motor rehabilitation tools is therefore critical. Being completely unobtrusive, remote eye-trackers are the most appropriate way to measure the point of gaze. Still, the point of gaze measurements are affected by experimental conditions such as head range of motion and visual stimuli. This study assesses the usability limits and measurement reliability of a remote eye-tracker during treadmill walking while visual stimuli are projected. During treadmill walking, the head remained within the remote eye-tracker workspace. Generally, the quality of the point of gaze measurements declined as the distance from the remote eye-tracker increased and data loss occurred for large gaze angles. The stimulus location (a dot-target) did not influence the point of gaze accuracy, precision, and trackability during both standing and walking. Similar results were obtained when the dot-target was replaced by a static or moving 2D target and "region of interest" analysis was applied. These findings foster the feasibility of the use of a remote eye-tracker for the analysis of gaze during treadmill walking in virtual reality environments

From survey to semantic representation for Cultural Heritage: the 3D modeling of recurring architectural elements

The digitization of Cultural Heritage paves the way for new approaches to surveying and restitution of historical sites. With a view to the management of integrated programs of documentation and conservation, the research is now focusing on the creation of information systems where to link the digital representation of a building to semantic knowledge. With reference to the emblematic case study of the Calci Charterhouse, also known as Pisa Charterhouse, this contribution illustrates an approach to be followed in the transition from 3D survey information, derived from laser scanner and photogrammetric techniques, to the creation of semantically enriched 3D models. The proposed approach is based on the recognition -segmentation and classification- of elements on the original raw point cloud, and on the manual mapping of NURBS elements on it. For this shape recognition process, reference to architectural treatises and vocabularies of classical architecture is a key step. The created building components are finally imported in a H-BIM environment, where they are enriched with semantic information related to historical knowledge, documentary sources and restoration activities

The Management of Psoriatic Arthritis in Italy: Organizational Impact Analysis of Optimized Pathways

BACKGROUND: The management of psoriatic arthritis requires competencies in the fields of both rheumatology and dermatology, and a multidisciplinary approach.AIM: To propose an effective pathway for the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of psoriatic arthritis in the Italian context, and to assess its organizational impact on the Regional Health Service of Lombardy Region.METHODS: The analysis was performed through interviews conducted with two key opinion leaders in the areas of dermatology and rheumatology. The current pathway of patients who present symptoms that might be related to psoriatic arthritis was defined and an optimized pathway was then proposed on the basis of the clinical practice, considering the implementation of a dermatology and rheumatology shared outpatient service. The organizational impact of the optimized pathway was then assessed from both the hospital and that of the Regional Health Service of Lombardy Region perspectives.RESULTS: The implementation of the service would have a positive impact on patients' experience, improving the quality of the service provided, thanks to the multidisciplinary approach adopted, limiting the patients' resources needed for the diagnosis, reducing the number of visits and time loss. The optimized pathway, therefore, would have a limited impact on the marketing mix, while potentially improving patients satisfaction, increasing the possibility of patients' retention. To successfully implement the dermatological and rheumatologic multidisciplinary service, a precise communication strategy is mandatory.CONCLUSIONS: The optimized pathway for the diagnosis and management of psoriatic arthritis proposed would have a limited organizational impact at both hospital and Regional Health Service levels, while leading to theoretical benefits in terms of a prompt diagnosis of the pathology

Planning Horizon in International Travel Decision-Making: The Role of Individual and Cultural Determinants

A solid understanding of when travel decisions are made in relation to travelers’ planning horizons is crucial for travel service providers. Despite its importance, there are very few empirical studies investigating the planning horizon and its antecedents in travel research literature. This study contributes to bridging this gap by conceptualizing a two-level model of antecedents of travelers’ planning horizons. In addition to individual traveler- and trip-related aspects, the model provides a cross-cultural perspective on international travelers’ planning horizons by including uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and long-term orientation as cultural-level antecedents. Drawing on a nested dataset of 4,074 international travelers from 17 countries worldwide, the results of a two-level hierarchical regression model show that, in addition to individual-level aspects, cultural antecedents play an important role in determining planning horizons. Based on the empirical results, the paper discusses implications for theory and travel service providers

Immunohistochemical evidence of Muc1 expression during rat embryonic development

During embryonic development, studies on mouse and human embryos have established that Muc1/MUC1 expression coincides with the onset of epithelial sheet and glandular formation. This study aimed therefore at evaluating the temporal and spatial expression of Muc1 at different stages of rat development. In this report, 80 animals were included: 64 rat foetuses at 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 days of gestation from pregnant females (WKAH/Hok), 8 embryos each stage. Standard immunohistochemistry was performed using anti-MUC1 cytoplasmic tail polyclonal antibody (CT33). The reaction was considered positive when more than 5% of the cells were stained; reaction patterns were: L = linear, membrane, C = cytoplasmic and M = mixed; nuclear staining was also recorded. Intensity was graded as negative (-), low (+), moderate (++) and strong (+++). Muc1 expression was observed with a low intensity on 13th day (13 D) in the stomach, lung and kidney; at 14 d, small intestine and pancreas were also reactive; at 16 D, liver and esophagus and at 18 D, trachea and salivary glands. During the development, intensity increased while the pattern of expression changed: at the first days of gestation, it was predominantly linear and apical while during further development an increase in cytoplasmic expression was observed. Trachea, stomach, kidney and lung epithelia were the more reactive tissues. In specimens belonging to neonates and adults, all tissues analyzed showed similar Muc1 expression. The findings of this study assess that Muc1 is highly expressed in the epithelial rat embryonic development.Facultad de Ciencias VeterinariasCentro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y AplicadasFacultad de Ciencias Médica

Immunohistochemical evidence of Muc1 expression during rat embryonic development

During embryonic development, studies on mouse and human embryos have established that Muc1/MUC1 expression coincides with the onset of epithelial sheet and glandular formation. This study aimed therefore at evaluating the temporal and spatial expression of Muc1 at different stages of rat development. In this report, 80 animals were included: 64 rat foetuses at 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 days of gestation from pregnant females (WKAH/Hok), 8 embryos each stage. Standard immunohistochemistry was performed using anti-MUC1 cytoplasmic tail polyclonal antibody (CT33). The reaction was considered positive when more than 5% of the cells were stained; reaction patterns were: L = linear, membrane, C = cytoplasmic and M = mixed; nuclear staining was also recorded. Intensity was graded as negative (-), low (+), moderate (++) and strong (+++). Muc1 expression was observed with a low intensity on 13th day (13 D) in the stomach, lung and kidney; at 14 d, small intestine and pancreas were also reactive; at 16 D, liver and esophagus and at 18 D, trachea and salivary glands. During the development, intensity increased while the pattern of expression changed: at the first days of gestation, it was predominantly linear and apical while during further development an increase in cytoplasmic expression was observed. Trachea, stomach, kidney and lung epithelia were the more reactive tissues. In specimens belonging to neonates and adults, all tissues analyzed showed similar Muc1 expression. The findings of this study assess that Muc1 is highly expressed in the epithelial rat embryonic development.Facultad de Ciencias VeterinariasCentro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y AplicadasFacultad de Ciencias Médica

Machine Learning and Deep Learning for the Built Heritage Analysis: Laser Scanning and UAV-Based Surveying Applications on a Complex Spatial Grid Structure

The reconstruction of 3D geometries starting from reality-based data is challenging and time-consuming due to the difficulties involved in modeling existing structures and the complex nature of built heritage. This paper presents a methodological approach for the automated segmentation and classification of surveying outputs to improve the interpretation and building information modeling from laser scanning and photogrammetric data. The research focused on the surveying of reticular, space grid structures of the late 19th–20th–21st centuries, as part of our architectural heritage, which might require monitoring maintenance activities, and relied on artificial intelligence (machine learning and deep learning) for: (i) the classification of 3D architectural components at multiple levels of detail and (ii) automated masking in standard photogrammetric processing. Focusing on the case study of the grid structure in steel named La Vela in Bologna, the work raises many critical issues in space grid structures in terms of data accuracy, geometric and spatial complexity, semantic classification, and component recognition

Expresión de los epitopes carbohidratos Tn y TF (Thomsen-Friedenreich) en distintos estadíos gestacionales de la rata (<i>Rattus norvegicus</i>)

Objetivos: 1 - Estudiar la expresión de los epitopes carbohidratos Tn y TF en los distintos estadíos gestacionales de la rata y 2 - Comparar dicha expresión con la hallada en neonatos y adultos.Facultad de Ciencias Médica