Riqualificazione energetica del Palazzo dell'Orologio a Volterra.

La presente tesi di laurea ha come oggetto la riqualificazione energetica del Palazzo dell’Orologio a Saline di Volterra. Partendo da una proposta di nuova destinazione d’uso, sono stati analizzati gli aspetti fisico-tecnici per il comfort ambientale: aspetti termo-igrometrici, aspetti illuminotecnici, aspetti acustici. Le proposte sull’involucro edilizio di progetto, quali la scelta di un isolamento a cappotto, di una copertura di tipo ventilato e la sostituzione degli infissi, si sono rivelate vantaggiose in termini energetici, permettendo di raggiungere prestazioni superiori a quelle attuali e in accordo con le richieste del D.Lgs.311/2006. Sono stati calcolati i fabbisogni energetici per la climatizzazione invernale, la produzione di acqua calda sanitaria e l’illuminazione artificiale e i relativi indici di prestazione. Inoltre è stata prevista la realizzazione di un impianto fotovoltaico integrato alla copertura, che consente di ridurre i prelievi di energia dalla rete elettrica

The Role of the Ubiquitination–Proteasome Pathway in Breast Cancer: Use of Mouse Models for Analyzing Ubiquitination Processes

Turnover of several regulatory proteins results from targeted destruction via ubiquitination and subsequent degradation through the proteosome. The timely and irreversible degradation of critical regulators is essential for normal cellular function. The precise biochemical mechanisms that are involved in protein turnover by ubiquitin-mediated degradation have been elucidated using in vitro assays and cell culture systems. However, pathways that lead to ubiquitination of critical regulatory proteins in vivo are more complex, and have both temporal and tissue-specific differences. In vivo models will allow identification of substrates and enzymes of the ubiquitin–proteosome pathway that play important roles in selected tissues and diseases. In addition, assessment of the therapeutic efficacy of drugs designed to inhibit or enhance protein turnover by ubiquitination requires in vivo models. In the present review we describe selected examples of transgenic and knockout models of proteins that are known either to be regulated by ubiquitin-mediated degradation or to have a catalytic function in this process, and to play an important role in breast cancer. We outline the functions of these proteins in vivo and focus on knowledge gained in the comparison of in vivo behavior predicted from cell-free in vitro data or from experiments conducted in cell culture systems

Witnessing entanglement in hybrid systems

We extend the definition of entanglement witnesses based on structure factors to the case in which the position of the scatterers is quantized. This allows us to study entanglement detection in hybrid systems. We provide several examples that show how these extra degrees of freedom affect the detection of entanglement by directly contributing to the measurement statistics. We specialize the proposed witness operators for a chain of trapped ions. Within this framework, we show how the collective vibronic state of the chain can act as an undesired quantum environment and how ions quantum motion can affect the entanglement detection. Finally, we investigate some specific cases where the method proposed leads to detection of hybrid entanglement.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Health Information Literacy Outreach: Meeting the Needs of the Latino Community in Providence, Rhode Island and Rural Seniors in Western Maine

Purpose: To guide decisions related to a new approach to health information outreach and set in motion partnerships with community-based organizations and agencies. Audience: Providence Rhode Island’s Latino community and rural residents in the Western Maine Health District (Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford counties). Methodology: Social Cognitive Theory informed the development of a semi-structured key informant interview protocol. Questions were designed to determine confidence in using the Internet to find health information and the availability community resources that support access to computers and the Internet, including possible role models. Interviews were conducted in person and at a time and place convenient to the interviewee. All questions were open-ended, followed by probes to elicit greater detail. Interview data were coded and organized into major themes and sub-themes. It is within the sub-themes and direct quotes that patterns emerge. Results: Nine key informants, service providers in CBOs, libraries, and schools were interviewed in Western Maine. Data were organized into six major themes and 24 sub-themes. From these data we learned that communities in Western Maine have a growing senior population and that community-based organizations are important to supporting public health efforts. Health topics of concern include chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and cancer. The public school system, adult education programs, and public libraries offer access to computers, and opportunities for training and support. Ten key informants, service providers in CBOs, libraries, and health care were interviewed in Providence, Rhode Island. Data were organized into six major themes and 23 sub-themes. From these data we learned that Latinos in this community begin looking for health information by asking the people they know and trust. Health topics of concern include issues related to health insurance and access to care, chronic diseases like diabetes, and family and childhood health and that the radio is an important source of health information. Adult education programs, public libraries, and a network of minority health centers offer access to computers, and opportunities for training and support. These findings led the NN/LM – NER to tailor their health information outreach efforts in Western Maine to seniors and to work with public health coalitions and agencies directly serving seniors to increase awareness and use of NIHSeniorHealth. In Providence, Rhode Island these findings led us to develop a train-the-trainer health information outreach model working with foreign trained health professionals to teach others in the community about reliable health information resources including MedlinePlus in Spanish and to work with local radio. Discussion: An intensive community assessment effort is critical to developing a focused health information literacy outreach program. These data and the process of gathering these data helped the program tailor efforts to meet the needs of the community and identified community leaders, local organizations, and other potential partners to improve community access to reliable health information. While the results of this community assessment are not generalizable, the approach provides a much needed practical understanding of the community and how best to address the needs and utilize available resources. Presented at the Institute for Healthcare Advancement\u27s Health Literacy Conference, Irvine, California, May 5, 2011

Spatial search by continuous-time quantum walks on renormalized Internet networks

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.We study spatial search with continuous-time quantum walks on real-world complex networks. We use smaller replicas of the Internet network obtained with a recent geometric renormalization method introduced by García-Pérez, Nat. Phys. 14, 583 (2018)10.1038/s41567-018-0072-5. This allows us to infer for the first time the behavior of a quantum spatial search algorithm on a real-world complex network. By simulating numerically the dynamics and optimizing the coupling parameter, we study the optimality of the algorithm and its scaling with the size of the network, showing that on average it is considerably better than the classical scaling O(N), but it does not reach the ideal quadratic speedup O(N) that can be achieved, e.g. in complete graphs. However, the performance of the search algorithm strongly depends on the degree of the nodes and, in fact, the scaling is found to be very close to optimal when we consider the nodes below the 99th percentile ordered according to the degree.Peer reviewe

IS THE VELOCITY PERTURBATION METHOD SUITABLE FOR THE CALCULATION OF THE USEFUL MECHANICAL POWER OUTPUT OF SPRINT KAYAKERS IN OUTDOOR CONDITIONS?

This study assessed whether the Useful Mechanical Power Output (PMO) estimated using the Velocity Perturbation Method (VPM) would be a valid biomechanical measure of performance enhancement in sprint kayaking that would not be affected by changes in environmental conditions. Twelve national-age K1 sprint kayakers performed twelve trials each of 60m maximal effort sprints within two separate sessions, six of which were conducted while towing a hydrodynamic object of known resistance. The opposing wind condition in each trial was recorded and classified as either mild or strong. The sprint velocities at towing-free and towing conditions under similar wind velocities and the resistance of the hydrodynamic object were matched to estimate the PMO. Non-significant differences in PMO between mild and strong wind conditions were observed. However, the typical error of PMO in both wind conditions were larger than 26% of the mean values, which hindered the ability of the PMO to detect the smallest worthwhile enhancement that would be valuable for high-performance kayak sprinting

Dietary supplementation with algae and polyphenols in lactating sows: effects on sows and piglets' performance.

The decrease of the use of antibiotic has promoted the scientific research towards the identificationand study of natural substances able to improve animal performance and welfare (Hashemi et al.,2011; Daglia, 2012; Maghin et al., 2014). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mixtureof algae plus polyphenols (Algatan Mater®) on piglet and sow performance when used as dietarysupplements to the sows. Eighty-four sows (42 per batch) were divided in two groups fed a controland Algatan Mater® supplemented diet. Feed intake, backfat thickness and blood samples at entry infarrowing room and at 21 days of lactation, and sows’ reproductive data until the next service werecollected. Haematochemical parameters and antioxidant status of sows were analysed. Weight atbirth, after cross-fostering and at 21 days of lactation were recorded to each litter. Backfat losstended to be lower (P=0.07) in sows treated than control. The administration of algae pluspolyphenols in sows improved (P<0.05) the piglets average daily gain and body weight at 21 days oflactation (P=0.014, Figure 1a.). Haematochemical parameters and antioxidant activity of blood wasnot affected by dietary treatment. The total number of piglets born at the next farrowing fromtreated group was higher (P=0.04) than controls (Figure 1b). The inclusion in lactating sows ofAlgatan Mater® improves lactating sows and piglets’ performance. Further research is needed toexplore the mechanism of action of this natural mixture

Antioxidant supplementation in pig nutrition: effects on shelf life of longissimus dorsi muscle and consumers’ preferences for smoked cured ham.

The effects of dietary supplementation with antioxidant mixture in medium-heavy swine on oxidative status, nutritional and sensory characteristics of longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle and smoked cured ham were evaluated. Seventy-four pigs (PIC x Max Grow), were assigned to two experimental groups: control (CT) and treated supplemented with antioxidant mixture (AOX) for 45 days before slaughter. The total antiradicalic activity of blood (KRL test) and carcass dressing percentage was positively affected (P<0.05) by AOX supplementation. Chemical composition of LD was not affected by dietary treatment. Oxidative stability and colour indices were significantly affected (P<0.05) by dietary treatment and storage time (0, 6, 12, 15 days under modified atmosphere packs - MAP). Sensory analysis revealed that at 12 and 15 days of storage a loss of colour beside presence of off odors was higher (P<0.05) in CT than AOX group. The seasoning losses of smoked cured ham tended to be lower (P=0.06) in AOX group than CT. Physical and chemical composition was not affected by dietary treatment. Sensory analysis revealed a difference between CT and AOX (P<0.05) in salty and sweet taste. Furthermore, the consumer test revealed that smoked cured ham from AOX were preferred (P<0.05) than CT. Dietary supplementation with antioxidant mixture improves total antioxidant status, carcass dressing percentage and smoked cured ham seasoning losses. The oxidative, colour stability and sensory parameters of LD muscle was improved in AOX groups during refrigerated storage in MAP. Antioxidant mixture positively affect the consumer preference of smoked cured ham, without affecting other quality parameters