L’identità ‘noetico-ontica’ nel poema parmenideo (B3 e B8,34)

B3 represents one of Parmenides’ most complex and enigmatic texts. Its doxographic tradition is both very scarce and very late, but above all involved in theological (Christian) schemes (Clement of Alexandria) or in metaphysical (pagan) research (Plotin and Proclus). Both Clement and Plotin, the only witnesses quoting B3, are not unreliable. The goodness of their quotation is not in doubt and the contexts in which the fragment is quoted provide some clues suitable for promoting acknowledging its original sense, even if understanding Parmenides’ notion of identity between νοεῖν and εἶναι in theological or Neoplatonic perspective has been judged little acceptable. Through syntactic, morphological, semantic, and intertextual observations Parmenides’ concept of τὸ αὐτό has emerged as an essential point in order to grasp the being. At the end of the analysis B8,34 unanimously deemed as the unique parallel with B3 has been examined and interpreted as an emphatical reaffirmation of the aforesaid noetic-ontic identity, which because of its own immanent, permanent peculiarity is the only reason for the exclusive possibility of νόημ

Dividuum and (re-)iteration of the unique and simple one.

In a recent international debate on the political philosophy, an impressive and theoretically fruitful concept of the one seems to emerge, as evidenced by the editorial publication concerning an international conference Politics of the one

Annotazioni su B1,1-3 (B1,4a?) di Parmenide

The extraordinary overall textual situation of Parmenides’ B1,1-3, due to complex, variegate and polymorphous causes, entailed and still entails diverse sorts of problematic issues so to constitute a true labyrinth of philological, hermeneutical and theoretical instances interwoven each other in almost inextricable way. In this analysis, a first substantial knot of philological type resulted necessary to a preliminary discrimination for making sure the textual reconstruction in order to argue then its most literarily clear and specifiable meaning. In this way it was also possible to make sure its semantic and theoretical relevancies. This research leaded to outline and, hopefully, to demonstrate no textual corruption and following misunderstanding happened before sec. XIII, namely corresponding to the lecture present in the first available manuscript, the so-called cod. N, universally excluded and entirely misevaluated, even discarded; instead it is not only the principle, but the unique reliable codex. The detailed analyse including the autoptic exam is the result of enlightening the absolute goodness of this version and the reasons both philological and hermeneutical comparations, which allow to achieve its complete textual rehabilitation and so to grasp its real conceptual content.         &nbsp

Optimization of compliant adaptive structures in the design of a morphing droop nose

A design procedure for the synthesis of active camber morphing wing devices is proposed. A topology optimization initially defines the internal structure that is further enhanced by structural size and shape optimizations, and these optimizations are based on the distributed compliance concept. The size optimization enables the adaption of the topology solution to other materials and geometries while refining the topology solution to improve the shape quality of the skin deformation. Then, the structural shape optimization enables the reduction of the stress peaks inside the compliant structure and the finalization of the details to obtain a solution that is closer to the manufacturing process stage. The proposed methodology is used in the design of an adaptive droop nose to be installed on a reference regional aircraft, and two different design applications are considered. The first application is the validation of the procedure at the full scale level using a superelastic material for the internal structure. The second application is the design of a corresponding 3D-printed prototype, in which both geometry and material changes are considered, for experimental validation. The results show satisfactory shape quality and the achievement of structural feasibility. The experimental functional test of the scaled prototype demonstrates the effectiveness of the adopted morphing solution

Changes in the state of ice buildup on a composite plate: ultrasonic monitoring and assessment.

From airplane wings to overhead power lines, through large blades of wind turbines, a buildup of ice can cause problems ranging from low performance to catastrophic failure. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to control or prevent ice formation, especially on the critical areas of the structures. However, de-icing and anti-icing countermeasures can result energetically expensive and harmful to the environment. In addition, excessive use thereof will reduce the life of an ice protection system (IPS) and introduce fatigue to the controlled structures. Therefore, in order to manage properly the available resources, it is desirable to have an IPS that can both detect ice formation and monitor the ice thickness on critical surfaces. This would allow the IPS to operate when it is necessary. Ultrasonic guided-wave-based techniques have proved to be reliable for ice detection but approaches to assess ice state over time have not been reported yet. The present work investigates the interaction of ultrasonic waves, propagating in a composite plate, with an ice mass changing state, as it melts. The use of a metric is discussed as indicator of ice condition variation

Different polyubiquitinated bodies in human dendritic cells: IL-4 causes PaCS during differentiation while LPS or IFNα induces DALIS during maturation

Two types of polyubiquitin-reactive cytoplasmic bodies, particulate cytoplasmic structures (PaCS) and dendritic cell (DC) aggresome-like induced structures (DALIS), were analyzed by electron microscopy, immunocytochemistry, immunoblotting, and flow cytometry in DC obtained from human blood monocytes incubated with GM-CSF plus IL-4 (IL4-DC), GM-CSF plus IFNα (IFN-DC), or GM-CSF alone (GM-DC), with or without LPS maturation. PaCS developed as monomorphic aggregates of proteasome-reactive barrel-like particles only in ribosomes-rich cytoplasmic areas of differentiating IL4-DC. In contrast, DALIS formed as vesicular bodies storing K63-linked ubiquitinated proteins by coalescence of increased endosomal structures, in IFN-DC or after LPS maturation of GM-DC. DALIS-forming cells showed incomplete morphological and functional DC-type differentiation when compared to PaCS-forming IL4-DC. PaCS and DALIS may have different function as well as different origin and cytochemistry. DALIS may be a transient accumulation site of potentially antigenic polyubiquitinated proteins during their processing and presentation. PaCS are found under physiologic or pathologic conditions associated with increased/deranged protein synthesis and increased ubiquitin– proteasome activity. Given its high heat-shock protein content PaCS may work as a quality control structure for newly synthesized, cytosolic proteins. This comparative analysis suggests that PaCS and DALIS have distinctive roles in DC

The Enabling Technologies for a Quasi-Zero Emissions Commuter Aircraft

The desire for greener aircraft pushes both academic and industrial research into developing technologies, manufacturing, and operational strategies providing emissions abatement. At time of writing, there are no certified electric aircraft for passengers’ transport. This is due to the requirements of lightness, reliability, safety, comfort, and operational capability of the fast air transport, which are not completely met by the state-of-the-art technology. Recent studies have shown that new aero-propulsive technologies do not provide significant fuel burn reduction, unless the operational ranges are limited to short regional routes or the electric storage capability is unrealistically high, and that this little advantage comes at increased gross weight and operational costs. Therefore, a significant impact into aviation emissions reduction can only be obtained with a revolutionary design, which integrates disruptive technologies starting from the preliminary design phase. This paper reviews the recent advances in propulsions, aerodynamics, and structures to present the enabling technologies for a low emissions aircraft, with a focus on the commuter category. In fact, it is the opinion of the European Community, which has financed several projects, that advances on the small air transport will be a fundamental step to assess the results and pave the way for large greener airplanes

Dangerous liaisons? The role of inflammation and comorbidities in HIV and SARS-CoV-2 infection

In people living with HIV (PLWH), immune activation and inflammation levels are high even when viral suppression is maintained, potentially contributing to several comorbidities, and hampering the immune response to infections such as the recent SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19)