Numerical experiments in 2D variational fracture

In the present work we present some results of numerical experiments obtained with a variationalmodel for quasi-static Griffith-type brittle fracture. Essentially the analysis is based on a recent formulation byFrancfort and Marigo the main difference being the fact that we rely on local rather than on globalminimization. Propagation of fracture is obtained by minimizing, in a step by step process, a form of energythat is the sum of bulk and interface terms. To solve the problem numerically we adopt discontinuous finiteelements based on variable meshes and search for the minima of the energy through descent methods. We use asort of mesh dependent relaxation of the interface energy to get out of small energy wells. The relaxationconsists in the adoption of a carefully tailored cohesive type interface energy, tending to the Griffith limit as themesh size tends to zero

Thyroid dysfunction and anaemia in a large population-based study.

OBJECTIVE AND BACKGROUND: Anaemia and thyroid dysfunction are common and often co-occur. Current guidelines recommend the assessment of thyroid function in the work-up of anaemia, although evidence on this association is scarce. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the 'European Prospective Investigation of Cancer' (EPIC)-Norfolk population-based cohort, we aimed to examine the prevalence and type of anaemia (defined as haemoglobin <13 g/dl for men and <12 g/dl for women) according to different thyroid function groups. RESULTS: The mean age of the 8791 participants was 59·4 (SD 9·1) years and 55·2% were women. Thyroid dysfunction was present in 437 (5·0%) and anaemia in 517 (5·9%) participants. After excluding 121 participants with three most common causes of anaemia (chronic kidney disease, inflammation, iron deficiency), anaemia was found in 4·7% of euthyroid participants. Compared with the euthyroid group, the prevalence of anaemia was significantly higher in overt hyperthyroidism (14·6%, P < 0·01), higher with borderline significance in overt hypothyroidism (7·7%, P = 0·05) and not increased in subclinical thyroid dysfunction (5·0% in subclinical hypothyroidism, 3·3% in subclinical hyperthyroidism). Anaemia associated with thyroid dysfunction was mainly normocytic (94·0%), and rarely macrocytic (6·0%). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of anaemia was higher in overt hyperthyroidism, but not increased in subclinical thyroid dysfunction. Systematic measurement of thyroid-stimulating hormone in anaemic patients is likely to be useful only after excluding common causes of anaemia

Has VZV epidemiology changed in Italy? Results of a seroprevalence study

The aim of the study was to evaluate if and how varicella prevalence has changed in Italy. In particular a seroprevalence study was performed, comparing it to similar surveys conducted in pre-immunization era. During 2013–2014, sera obtained from blood samples taken for diagnostic purposes or routine investigations were collected in collaboration with at least one laboratory/center for each region, following the approval of the Ethics Committee. Data were stratified by sex and age. All samples were processed in a national reference laboratory by an immunoassay with high sensitivity and specificity. Statutory notifications, national hospital discharge database and mortality data related to VZV infection were analyzed as well. A total of 3707 sera were collected and tested. In the studied period both incidence and hospitalization rates decreased and about 5 deaths per year have been registered. The seroprevalence decreased in the first year of life in subjects passively protected by their mother, followed by an increase in the following age classes. The overall antibody prevalence was 84%. The comparison with surveys conducted with the same methodology in 1996–1997 and 2003–2004 showed significant differences in age groups 1–19 y. The study confirms that in Italy VZV infection typically occurs in children. The impact of varicella on Italian population is changing. The comparison between studies performed in different periods shows a significant increase of seropositivity in age class 1–4 years, expression of vaccine interventions already adopted in some regions

Masonry behaviour and modelling

In this Chapter we present the basic experimental facts on masonry materials and introduce simple and refined models for masonry. The simple models are essentially macroscopic and based on the assumption that the material is incapable of sustaining tensile loads (No-Tension assumption). The refined models account for the microscopic structure of masonry, modeling the interaction between the blocks and the interfaces.(undefined

David Gordon White, The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali : A Biography (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, 273 pp. ISBN 978-0-691- 14377-4)

David Gordon White, The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. A Biography(Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, 273 pp. ISBN 978-0-691-14377-4) di Maria AngelilloDavid Gordon White,The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. A Biography(Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, 273 pp. ISBN 978-0-691-14377-4)di Maria Angelill

Censire l'esistente per creare il reale : l'origine indiana e la costruzione dei "rrom"

This paper means to show how British Colonialism in India was made possible, and then sustained and strengthened, as much by cultural technologies of rule as it was by the more obvious and brutal modes of conquest. In fact colonialism was itself a cultural project of control. Colonial knowledge both enabled conquest and was produced by it. Cultural forms in Indian society were reconstructed and transformed by this knowledge. In the conceptual scheme which the British created to understand and to act in India they reduced vastly complex codes and their associated meanings to a few metonyms. An example of colonial way of organizing and representing Indian social identity is offered by the British construction of Indian Gypsies. This communication is meant to explain first the logic of such an identification and then the new authority and vitality currently attained by this product of Orientalism in Romani political organizations and cultural associations

Eredità e attualità del pensiero e dell'opera di M.K. Gandhi

Ai molti tentativi di rendere ragione della versatile specificità e della peculiarità del suo pensiero e della sua opera corrispondono le tante definizioni a cui è stata ricondotta la figura di Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: filosofo idealista, rivoluzionario nonviolento, politico machiavellico, fine stratega, santo acclarato, pragmatico idealista, visionario riformista sociale, irresistibile trascinatore di folle, guida carismatica, impavido attivista, mediatore culturale ante-litteram, ispirato karma-yogin, devoto hindu, lungimirante ambientalista, appassionato pedagogo, etc. La varietà degli ambiti a cui Gandhi rivolse la propria attenzione, eleggendoli a oggetto delle proprie speculazioni teoriche e a campi d’azione della propria opera di riforma, rispecchia, d’altra parte, il carattere totalizzante del programma di liberazione dell’India e dei suoi abitanti dal dominio coloniale britannico. L’ispirato e onnipervasivo sforzo di riforma sociale che, nella prospettiva gandhiana, non poteva che muovere dall’azione diretta al progresso e alla nobilitazione innanzitutto del singolo individuo, si espresse, infatti, attraverso un concertato programma di emancipazione della società indiana dalla concatenazione di mali che la affliggevano, di cui la dominazione coloniale britannica era il più evidente e manifesto, ma non certo l’unico

Rethinking resources : service nomadism adjusted

This article is based on six years fieldwork with Kalbelia community living in the environs of Pushkar, a famous place of pilgrimage, t\u12brtha, for Hindus and a popular tourist destination, especially for foreigner backpacker travelers, situated at the edge of the Thar desert and at the foot at the outer fringes of the Aravalli mountain chain, at the centre of the western state of Rajasthan. It will be explained how Kalbelias\u2019 traditional means of living describe a form of economic, social and cultural adaptation common to groups defined both as service nomads and as peripatetic peoples. The purpose of the present article is to show that both the definitions fit not only the past identity of Kalbelias as wandering snake charmers, but they can be still effective in describing the present of the caste and its new emerging working profile as folk dancers and musicians. It will be argued in fact that, even if in the past few years the meaning and the content of Kalbelia service nomadism have been going through a deep transformation which can be considered to be mainly a creative answer to a whole string of significant social changes occurring in Indian and Rajasthani society, Kalbelias\u2019 new occupational profile entails new forms of spatial mobility. If spatial mobility is proving to be a meaningless economic strategy as far as snake charming and begging is concerned, it is in fact yet highly effective with regard to the new professional identity of the caste. The article will deal with the way Kalbelias have been able to translate their peripatetic identity into contemporary globalized world

I luoghi del riconoscimento : spazi sacri e spazi profani

Nel presente contributo si introducono i luoghi abitati dai membri della comunit\ue0 kalbelia di Pushkar e gli spazi che a vario titolo sono ritenuti significativi, se non addirittura imprescindibili, nella definizione del profilo socio-culturale del gruppo. Dall\u2019interazione con i luoghi che ne scandiscono la quotidianit\ue0 e la vita spirituale, rituale e cultuale, i Kalbelia ricavano ed esprimono il proprio posizionamento all\u2019interno della pi\uf9 ampia societ\ue0 r\u101jasth\u101n\u12b. La descrizione etnografica dello spazio vissuto, percepito, ricordato e immaginato dagli appartenenti alla comunit\ue0 kalbelia contribuisce a rendere evidente come lo spazio sia socializzato e localizzato attraverso pratiche consapevoli ed elaborate di rappresentazione, esecuzione e azione e come, lungi dal costituire semplicemente uno sfondo, esso influenzi e determini la prassi degli attori sociali