Entre cartesianos y jesuitas: a la búsqueda de Blaise Pascal

Decía Alexander Koyré que, cuando se aborda el estudio de un pensamiento que no es el nuestro, es tan importante captar lo que sabía o creía saber aquel pensador como olvidar lo que sabemos o creemos saber en la actualidad. Víctimas del anacronismo que repudia Koyré han sido muchos científicos del pasado y, para el caso, Blaise Pascal. Abordar el pensamiento de Pascal se vuelve particularmente intrincado porque tal anacronismo ha sido practicado con la complicidad y el acuerdo de los historiadores de la ciencia, de la filosofía y de la literatura, quienes, al menos hasta tiempos recientes, lo han fragmentado y han depositado los fragmentos en compartimientos disciplinares estancos. De acuerdo con ello, no habría un solo Pascal sino dos: por una parte, el Científico, el matemático, el físico; por otra, el teólogo, el apólogo del cristianismo, el de las Provinciales y los Pensamientos, esa obra maestra de la literatura francesa

Francmasonería y trascendencia tecnológica en el siglo XVIII: el ingeniero como Nuevo Adán de la modernidad

Señalábamos en un trabajo anterior que la ciencia inglesa de la segunda mitad del siglo XVII halló su perfil característico no sólo en el utilitarismo social de los fundadores de la Royal Society sino también en el declarado milenarismo de éstos. Concebida la empresa científica como una síntesis de (o compromiso entre) conocimiento natural y técnico al servicio del progreso social, se incrementaba con ella la certidumbre milenarista de que en un futuro cercano el hombre recobraría su condición adánica, es decir, la gracia, la sabiduría y el dominio sobre la naturaleza perdidos al acontecer la Caída y de había que habían gozado Adán y Eva hasta que Dios los expulsara del Paraíso

Supersymmetric observables of N=1 Quantum Field Theories on a twisted S^1 x S^3

Recent years have seen a big progress in the understanding of quantum field theories defined in curved backgrounds. In particular, in the presence of supersymmetry it has been possible to derive many exact results for large classes of background manifolds. The thesis will consider a simple N=1 quantum field theory defined on a manifold diffeomorphic to S^1 x S^3, review some known results derived through the technique of dimensional reduction, and extend them to the more general case where the 3-sphere is twisted over the circle. A reformulation of the results in terms of Hopf surfaces and their complex structure parameters will be discussed. This background plays an important role in holography as it corresponds to the boundary of supersymmetric black holes in five-dimensional Anti de Sitter space, with the twisting of the sphere corresponding to rotation parameters.ope

Chern-Simons theory and its applications

The aim of this thesis is to introduce and study basic general properties and certain mathematical and physical aspects of Chern-Simons field theories, as well as their application to the description of particles with fractional statistics and spin on the plane called anyons.ope

Gilbert, Galileo y Bacon: experimentalismo y tradiciones en conflicto

Figuras tan disímiles para la historia de la revolución científica como Gilbert, Bacon Harvey, Kepler o Galileo nos han advertido acerca del valor de la experiencia como antídoto contra el pensamiento especulativo. Sin embargo, Alexander Koyré nos recuerda que "el empirismo de la ciencia moderna no se basa en la experiencia sino en la experimentación" y que ésta es "un proceso teleológico cuyo fin está determinado por la teoría"

Should there be a universal financial regulator in the United States?

The purpose of this Article is to provide both theoretical and empirical evidence tending to conclude that the existence of a universal financial regulator in the United States is not only feasible, but also necessary in terms of efficiency. For such reason, the arguments that sustain the abovementioned statement rely on an economic analysis of the law, which is also known as the “law in action”. Therefore, economic theory is used to support the economic rationale of the law, together with factual elements that assert the conclusions obtained

Dalla conoscenza della forma urbana alla gestione e selezione delle informazioni per le rappresentazioni della città

A partire dal modello, inteso come prodotto del rilievo, modello che organizza la conoscenza, si richiamano alcune tappe delle ricerche del gruppo di Disegno del Dipartimento di Ingegneria dei Sistemi Edilizi e Territoriali del Politecnico di Torino, con la finalità di documentare le motivazioni che hanno fatto progredire la ricerca fino agli argomenti odierni. Dopo la stagione della forma urbana, si passa a quella della conoscenza-rilievo finalizzato alla regola per la progettazione, sia a scala urbana che a scala architettonica, ed infine alla stagione del rilievo della funzione. Studiando la funzione mercato su suolo pubblico si affrontano i temi legati alle trasformazioni nel tempo breve e l'integrazione degli archivi attivi di conoscenze complesse con le necessità della rappresentazione, sia statica che dinamic

Genes and miRNAs as Hurdles and Promoters of Corticospinal Tract Regeneration in Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating lesion to the spinal cord, which determines the interruption of ascending/descending axonal tracts, the loss of supraspinal control of sensory-motor functions below the injured site, and severe autonomic dysfunctions, dramatically impacting the quality of life of the patients. After the acute inflammatory phase, the progressive formation of the astrocytic glial scar characterizes the acute-chronic phase: such scar represents one of the main obstacles to the axonal regeneration that, as known, is very limited in the central nervous system (CNS). Unfortunately, a cure for SCI is still lacking: the current clinical approaches are mainly based on early vertebral column stabilization, anti-inflammatory drug administration, and rehabilitation programs. However, new experimental therapeutic strategies are under investigation, one of which is to stimulate axonal regrowth and bypass the glial scar. One major issue in axonal regrowth consists of the different genetic programs, which characterize axonal development and maturation. Here, we will review the main hurdles that in adulthood limit axonal regeneration after SCI, describing the key genes, transcription factors, and miRNAs involved in these processes (seen their reciprocal influencing action), with particular attention to corticospinal motor neurons located in the sensory-motor cortex and subjected to axotomy in case of SCI. We will highlight the functional complexity of the neural regeneration programs. We will also discuss if specific axon growth programs, that undergo a physiological downregulation during CNS development, could be reactivated after a spinal cord trauma to sustain regrowth, representing a new potential therapeutic approach

Chapter Raccontare i caratteri di un luogo. Dialoghi tra rappresentazione, rilievo e restauro

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

Una segunda visita a la granja de Thomas Knhn: ¿esquizofrenia o naturalismo?

Este trabajo constituye una segunda reflexión sobre un tema tratado anteriormente por los autores (Boido, G., "Patos y conejos en la granja de Thomas Kuhn; ¿fue la Revolución Certifica una revolución científica?", Coloquio de Historia y Filosofía de la Ciencia y la Tecnología, Sociedad Argentina de Análisis Filosófico, 1996, comentado y discutido por A Gianella.). En aquella oportunidad, la invocación de patos y conejos en la granja de Kuhn remitía a sus conocidas afirmaciones acerca de la necesidad de mantener académicamente separadas a la filosofía de la ciencia y a la historia de la ciencia