1,785 research outputs found
Looking for differences in wood properties as a function of the felling date: lunar phase-correlated variations in the drying behavior of Norway Spruce (Picea abies Karst.) and Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.)
A large-scale field experiment on the drying behavior of Norway Spruce (Picea abies Karst.) and Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) in relation to the felling date was conducted over a period of 24weeks in order to investigate the existence of variations linked to lunar rhythms, which are mentioned as having a role in many traditional forestry practices. The measured criteria were the water loss from fresh to dry state, the shrinkage linked to this water loss, and the relative density (ratio between the dry density and the initial fresh density) for both sapwood and heartwood in Picea and heartwood in Castanea. In addition to seasonal trends, slight but significant variations with lunar periodicities (both synodic and sidereal; to a much lesser extent tropic) characterize the three investigated criteria. These lunar rhythmicities occur in both Picea and Castanea, in heartwood and sapwood. These results raise new questions and perspectives about a rhythmic character of the wood–water relation
Education and Sustainability: The Case of Emotions Park
Firms working in the third millennium have to face the challenge of being more sustainable. The complexity and
the multidisciplinary nature of sustainability also requires new and specific knowledge. This means the necessity
of a critical rethinking of the education system in the way to provide the cognitive tools and applications needed
for new generations to address environmental, economic, and social challenges. In this perspective, the role of
the school it is crucial, above all, to encourage attention to include sustainability as a theme on educational
programs, focusing on the promotion of its multiple dimensions. Interdisciplinary sustainability programs are
emerging globally, but little is known about the learning in these educational contexts.
Therefore, the current research explores training modules used in the activities of a park to verify how students
can receive a sustainable education from primary school; whether and in which way education can be a driver for
the promotion of sustainable development; and whether it is effective to insert eco-activities such as eco-games,
eco-campus, and eco-sports in the training modules from primary school onwards. For this purpose, the paper
employed a single case study approach using the Emotions Park as a teaching plan. In particular, game and
sports constantly accompany the training process by creating interdisciplinary links with different study subjects
(e.g., civic education, environmental education, communication). Through the eco-activities, an innovative way
to promote environmental and sustainability education was explored as a training model. Outdoor play,
observation, and stimulation of the senses have proved powerful learning tools, and key to the acquisition of
skills. Research data were collected observing the behavior of a sample of 22 participants and through
face-to-face semi-structured interviews with educators, employee and students. The empirical observation
suggests that inserting the sustainability principles as a topic in didactic programs provides the cognitive tools
and applications needed for the new generations to address environmental, economic, and social challenges
Looking for differences in wood properties as a function of the felling date: lunar phase-correlated variations in the drying behavior of Norway Spruce ( Picea abies Karst.) and Sweet Chestnut ( Castanea sativa Mill.)
A large-scale field experiment on the drying behavior of Norway Spruce (Picea abies Karst.) and Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) in relation to the felling date was conducted over a period of 24weeks in order to investigate the existence of variations linked to lunar rhythms, which are mentioned as having a role in many traditional forestry practices. The measured criteria were the water loss from fresh to dry state, the shrinkage linked to this water loss, and the relative density (ratio between the dry density and the initial fresh density) for both sapwood and heartwood in Picea and heartwood in Castanea. In addition to seasonal trends, slight but significant variations with lunar periodicities (both synodic and sidereal; to a much lesser extent tropic) characterize the three investigated criteria. These lunar rhythmicities occur in both Picea and Castanea, in heartwood and sapwood. These results raise new questions and perspectives about a rhythmic character of the wood-water relatio
Resolving sphincter of Oddi incontinence for primary duodenal Crohn's disease with strictureplasty
AbstractINTRODUCTIONCrohn's involvement of duodenum is a rare event and may be associated to proteiform symptoms and uncommon pathological aspects which make diagnosis and treatment complex.PRESENTATION OF CASEThe peculiar aspect of this case was a suspected duodeno-biliary fistula. The patient (female, 22 years old) was affected by duodenal Crohn's disease. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a dilated common bile duct, whose final part linked to a formation containing fluid, and characterized by filling of the contrast medium in the excretory phase. Abdominal ultrasound showed intra-hepatic and intra-gallbladder aerobilia. At surgery, the duodenum was mobilized showing an inflammatory stricture and a slight dilatation of the common bile duct, with no signs of fistulas. The opened duodenum was anastomized side to side to a transmesocolic loop of the jejunum. After surgery, the general condition of the patient improved.DISCUSSIONOnly two cases of fistula between a narrow duodenal bulb and the common bile duct have been described in literature and the Authors were not be able to verify the occurrence of a duodenal biliary fistula at surgery. The association between duodenal Crohn's disease and Sphincter of Oddi incontinence is a very rare finding with different etiology: chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, common bile duct stones, progressive systemic sclerosis.CONCLUSIONThe treatment to resolve Sphincter of Oddi incontinence for primary duodenal Crohn's disease is not clear. Strictureplasty could be the treatment of choice, because, resolving the stricture, the duodenal pressure is likely to decrease and the reflux through the incontinent sphincter can be avoided
Delivering Green Persuasion Strategies with a Conversational Agent: a Pilot Study
Climate change is undeniable. The drastic consequences it may have on our lives make a collective effort crucial. Our research explores how Conversational Agents (CAs) can persuade people into environmentally sustainable behaviors, particularly in domestic spaces where these technologies are becoming increasingly popular. In this research work, we conducted an empirical evaluation (N=29) exploring the effectiveness and stance towards the adoption of different persuasive strategies compared to a CA delivering messages referring to just one persuasion strategy. Furthermore, this contribution reports on a custom dialogue manager's implementation, designed to enable the execution of the experiment. Although study results suggested no significant difference in persuasion effectiveness and usability of the conversational agents, participants reported a significant difference in the perceptions of parasocial interactions and dialogue with the CA, preferring the one delivering multiple persuasive strategies
Oral information in orthopaedics: How should the patient's understanding be assessed?
AbstractIntroductionPatient information is governed by recommendations of best practices required from any healthcare professional. The aim of this study was to design a tool to measure patient comprehension of the information provided during a surgical consultation before a scheduled surgery.Material and methodsThis was a single-center prospective study of 21 patients using a rating scale-type visual analog scale. Each patient was interviewed and asked to score his or her understanding of the information provided. The investigator checked the external validity of the tool using questions to assess patient's understanding level.ResultsThe results show that there is a tendency to overvalue some information (reasons for the intervention and alternatives to surgery) and that certain information is not understood (risks and complications) or not provided (postoperative follow-up).ConclusionThis study confirms that a rating scale can measure the understanding of information and there is a variation between perceived and actual understanding
Separating rank 3 graphs
We classify, up to some notoriously hard cases, the rank 3 graphs which fail
to meet either the Delsarte or the Hoffman bound. As a consequence, we resolve
the question of separation for the corresponding rank 3 primitive groups and
give new examples of synchronising, but not , groups of
affine type
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