Le Archeidi di Giulio Turcato problematiche conservative e proposte di intervento

Le Archeidi, gruppo scultoreo composto da cinque elementi realizzati con laminati di ferro a struttura tubolare assemblati artigianalmente, sono alte circa quattro metri e il loro ingombro varia tra gli ottanta e i novanta centimetri. Vennero realizzate da Giulio Turcato nel 1989 per la citt\ue0 di Salerno, in occasione della prima edizione di \u201cSalerno Incontri d\u2019Arte\u201d, parallelamente alla mostra \u201cGiulio Turcato per/Corso\u201d, tenutasi in tre gallerie della citt\ue0 \u201cLa Bottegaccia\u201d, \u201cIl Catalogo\u201d e \u201cLa Seggiola\u201d. Il gruppo scultoreo era composto da quattro elementi che erano stati scherzosamente definiti dal maestro \u201caculei\u201d e da un quinto che ricordava le sembianze di un \u201cfiore\u201d. Purtroppo, appena le opere vennero collocate lungo il percorso cittadino, una sub\uec un atto vandalico mentre un\u2019altra venne trafugata. Le cinque sculture furono realizzate, seguendo il progetto dell\u2019artista, nella bottega di un fabbro salernitano e successivamente trattate cromaticamente. Le ragioni principali del degrado delle Archeidi sono legate alla collocazione in ambiente esterno e al fatto che l\u2019aspettativa di vita dei materiali utilizzati non garantisce la durabilit\ue0 del gruppo scultoreo. Quattro strutture, di propriet\ue0 del Comune di Salerno, si presentano oggi in un precario stato di conservazione, aggravato dall\u2019umidit\ue0 dello spazio dove sono conservate. Ad un\u2019osservazione preliminare si riscontra un viraggio completo dei colori e la presenza diffusa di ruggine. Le opere, dopo un accurato intervento di restauro, attendono di trovare una nuova collocazione che risponda alle necessit\ue0 di una buona conservazione e al tempo stesso alla natura di \u201copera ambientale\u201d cos\uec come ideata dall\u2019artista

A fretting fatigue setup for testing shrink-fit connections and experimental evidence of the strength enhancement induced by deep rolling

Fretting tests are usually performed on flat specimens with lateral contacting pads. The shrink-fitted connection, which experiences fretting at the edge of the contact, prompted the alternative use of a round-shaped specimen. This simplified the equipment and provided an accurate alignment between the fretting specimen and the external hub which plays the role of the pad. The deep rolling treatment can also be efficiently applied to a round shape, which would otherwise be difficult on the flat specimen geometry. After introducing this solution for fretting testing, the paper shows an experimental campaign on three shrink-fitted connections with different sizes and material combinations. There was a significant improvement in fretting fatigue strength, induced by the deep rolling, for all three specimen types. Finally, scanning electron microscopic analyses provided insights into the fretting fatigue nucleation mechanisms both for untreated and deep-rolled specimens

Type 2 myocardial infarction: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in contemporary cardiology

In the expanding world of cardiovascular diseases, rapidly reaching pandemic proportions, the main focus is still on coronary atherosclerosis and its clinical consequences. However, at least in the Western world, middle-aged male patients with acute myocardial infarction are no more the rule. Due to a higher life expectancy and major medical advances, physicians are to treat older and frailer individuals, usually with multiple comorbidities. In this context, myocardial ischaemia and infarction frequently result from an imbalance between myocardial oxygen supply and demand\u2014i.e., type 2 myocardial infarction (T2MI), according to the current universal definition\u2014rather than coronary atherothrombosis. Moreover, the increasing use of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays has led to a heightened detection of T2MI\u2014often causing relatively little myocardial injury\u2014, which seems to have doubled its numbers in recent years. Nevertheless, owing to its multifaceted pathophysiology and clinical presentation, T2MI is still underdiagnosed. Perhaps more importantly, T2MI is also victim of undertreatment, as drugs that constitute the cornerstone of therapy in most cardiovascular diseases are much more unlikely to be prescribed in T2MI than in coronary atherothrombosis. In this paper, we review the recent literature on the classification, pathophysiology, epidemiology, and management of T2MI, trying to summarise the state-of-the-art knowledge about this increasingly important pathologic condition. Finally, based on the current scientific evidence, we also propose an algorithm that may be easily utilised in clinical practice, in order to improve T2MI diagnosis and risk stratification

Current-oscillator correlation and Fano factor spectrum of quantum shuttle with finite bias voltage and temperature

A general master equation is derived to describe an electromechanical single-dot transistor in the Coulomb blockade regime. In the equation, Fermi distribution functions in the two leads are taken into account, which allows one to study the system as a function of bias voltage and temperature of the leads. Furthermore, we treat the coherent interaction mechanism between electron tunneling events and the dynamics of excited vibrational modes. Stationary solutions of the equation are numerically calculated. We show current through the oscillating island at low temperature appears step like characteristics as a function of the bias voltage and the steps depend on mean phonon number of the oscillator. At higher temperatures the current steps would disappear and this event is accompanied by the emergence of thermal noise of the charge transfer. When the system is mainly in the ground state, zero frequency Fano factor of current manifests sub-Poissonian noise and when the system is partially driven into its excited states it exhibits super-Poissonian noise. The difference in the current noise would almost be removed for the situation in which the dissipation rate of the oscillator is much larger than the bare tunneling rates of electrons.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Sovereign debt restructuring : the judge, the vultures and creditor rights

What role did the US courts play in the Argentine debt swap of 2005? What implications does this have for the future of creditor rights in sovereign bond markets? The judge in the Argentine case has, it appears, deftly exploited creditor heterogeneity – between holdouts seeking capital gains and institutional investors wanting a settlement – to promote a swap with a supermajority of creditors. Our analysis of Argentine debt litigation reveals a ‘judge-mediated’ sovereign debt restructuring, which resolves the key issues of Transition and Aggregation - two of the tasks envisaged for the IMF’s still-born Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism. For the future, we discuss how judge-mediated sovereign debt restructuring (together with creditor committees) could complement the alternative promoted by the US Treasury, namely collective action clauses in sovereign bond contracts

Il Grano di Pietro Gaudenzi. Stato di conservazione e problematiche di intervento

L\u2019opera Il grano (\u201cdipinto murale su intonaco applicato a masonite\u201d, cm 249x434, Pinacoteca del Museo Civico \u201cAla Ponzone\u201d di Cremona) viene realizzata da Pietro Gaudenzi nel 1940 per la seconda edizione del Premio Cremona istituito da Roberto Farinacci nel 1939, a seguito della necessit\ue0 di rafforzare il mercato e le quotazioni d\u2019arte attraverso mostre e premi che richiamassero i valori dell\u2019ideologia fascista in campo artistico. I cartoni preparatori degli affreschi eseguiti da Gaudenzi a Rodi, raccolti nella recente mostra (2015) Pietro Gaudenzi: gli affreschi perduti del Castello dei Cavalieri a Rodi [1], ritenuti l\u2019ultima testimonianza rimasta delle pitture murali che occupavano la Sala del pane e la Sala della famiglia del Castello - ricostruito dagli italiani dal 1936 al 1940 - evocano il trittico che vincer\ue0 il premio Cremona nel 1940. Diversamente dalle tecniche sperimentali che hanno caratterizzato molte delle opere del ritorno alla tradizione decorativa murale, Gaudenzi dipinge il trittico su un intonaco composto da un aggregato silicatico e calce. Il disegno \ue8 stato eseguito tramite incisioni dirette da cartoni preparatori, successivamente ripassate con un tratto bruno, i colori sono stati scelti tra quelli tradizionalmente usati per questo tipo di pittura, unitamente a pigmenti inorganici minerali sintetici in uso a partire dal XIX secolo. L\u2019opera, realizzata su pannelli rigidi (masonite), risulta \u2013 sul fondo \u2013 impermeabile al vapore acqueo che, in situazioni di variazione dei parametri microclimatici ambientali e a causa delle frequenti movimentazioni del dipinto, provoca sollevamenti localizzati di forme tondeggianti (a bolla). La pellicola pittorica, resa leggermente plastica dalla vernice, si rigonfia distaccandosi dal supporto in quantit\ue0 talvolta, estese. I conseguenti necessari interventi di manutenzione, mirati al consolidamento dei sollevamenti, risultano particolarmente complessi per l\u2019impossibilit\ue0 di intervenire dal retro: la necessit\ue0 di attraversare il film protettivo e penetrare la pellicola pittorica in assenza di crettature ha evidenziato l\u2019estrema fragilit\ue0 sia del film pittorico che della materia sottostante. Lo studio presenta alcune metodologie di intervento utilizzate, nel tempo, per consolidare il trittico. La possibilit\ue0 di poter analizzare alcuni microframmenti ha richiesto l\u2019applicazione di una strategia analitica basata sull\u2019uso di microscopi e microsonde. La successione degli strati tecnici \ue8 stata definita in microscopia ottica (OM) ed elettronica a scansione (SEM), su \u201ccross section\u201d. Le tessiture e la composizione chimica dei leganti e dei pigmenti dei singoli strati sono state determinate utilizzando un sistema di microanalisi in dispersione di energia (EDS) e in spettrofotometria FT-IR. Questi dati integrano le informazioni ottenute con le tecniche non invasive d\u2019immagine (luminescenza UV, riflettografia IR e riprese IR in falso colore) e puntuali (XRF) realizzate in situ

Phase-Space Volume of Regions of Trapped Motion: Multiple Ring Components and Arcs

The phase--space volume of regions of regular or trapped motion, for bounded or scattering systems with two degrees of freedom respectively, displays universal properties. In particular, sudden reductions in the phase-space volume or gaps are observed at specific values of the parameter which tunes the dynamics; these locations are approximated by the stability resonances. The latter are defined by a resonant condition on the stability exponents of a central linearly stable periodic orbit. We show that, for more than two degrees of freedom, these resonances can be excited opening up gaps, which effectively separate and reduce the regions of trapped motion in phase space. Using the scattering approach to narrow rings and a billiard system as example, we demonstrate that this mechanism yields rings with two or more components. Arcs are also obtained, specifically when an additional (mean-motion) resonance condition is met. We obtain a complete representation of the phase-space volume occupied by the regions of trapped motion.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figure

Evolutionary Dynamics of Multigene Families in Triportheus (Characiformes, Triportheidae): A Transposon Mediated Mechanism?

Triportheus (Characiformes, Triportheidae) is a freshwater fish genus with 18 valid species. These fishes are widely distributed in the major river drainages of South America, having commercial importance in the fishing market, mainly in the Amazon basin. This genus has diverged recently in a complex process of speciation carried out in different river basins. The use of repetitive sequences is suitable to trace the genomic reorganizations occured along the speciation process. In this work, the 5S rDNA multigene family has been characterized at molecular and phylogenetic level. The results showed that other multigene family has been found within the non-transcribed spacer (NTS): the U1 snRNA gene. Double-FISH with 5S and U1 probes were also performed, confirming the close linkage between these two multigene families. Moreover, evidences of different transposable elements (TE) were detected within the spacer, thus suggesting a transposon-mediated mechanism of 5S-U1 evolutionary pathway in this genus. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a species-specific grouping, except for Triportheus pantanensis, Triportheus aff. rotundatus and Triportheus trifurcatus. The evolutionary model of the 5S rDNA in Triportheus species has been discussed. In addition, the results suggest new clues for the speciation and evolutionary trend in these species, which could be suitable to use in other Characiformes species