Parole come molecole: scienza e letteratura in Primo Levi

Il profilo di Primo Levi è stato a lungo quello di chimico e di scrittore per caso e la sua fortuna editoriale, incerta all'inizio, lo dimostra. Oggi non si esita a considerarlo uno tra i più grandi scrittori morali del Novecento per la qualità letteraria del suo stile e per le questioni morali che affronta, l'uomo di fronte al male, le conseguenze dello sviluppo tecnologico, la scelta tra il bene e il male. Nella sua produzione letteraria si contano racconti, romanzi-saggi, poesie, reportages che sono l'esito di una teoria etica sulla funzione e la natura della scrittura letteraria. Il sistema periodico, in questo senso, è una silloge esemplare della maniera di comporre e di inventare storie a partire dai referti casuali del reale

Damage tolerance analysis of aircraft reinforced panels

This work is aimed at reproducing numerically a campaign of experimental tests performed for the development of reinforced panels, typically found in aircraft fuselage. The bonded reinforcements can significantly reduce the rate of fatigue crack growth and increase the residual strength of the skin. The reinforcements are of two types: stringers and doublers. The former provides stiffening to the panel while the latter controls the crack growth between the stringers. The purpose of the study is to validate a numerical method of analysis that can predict the damage tolerance of these reinforced panels. Therefore, using a fracture mechanics approach, several models (different by the geometry and the types of reinforcement constraints) were simulated with the finite element solver ABAQUS. The bonding between skin and stiffener was taken either rigid or flexible due to the presence of adhesive. The possible rupture of the reinforcements was also considered. The stress intensity factor trend obtained numerically as a function of crack growth was used to determine the fatigue crack growth rate, obtaining a good approximation of the experimental crack propagation rate in the skin. Therefore, different solutions for improving the damage tolerance of aircraft reinforced panels can be virtually tested in this way before performing experiments

Analysis of unswept and swept wing chordwise pressure data from an oscillating NACA 0012 airfoil experiment. Volume 1: Technical Report

The unsteady chordwise force response on the airfoil surface was investigated and its sensitivity to the various system parameters was examined. A further examination of unsteady aerodynamic data on a tunnel spanning wing (both swept and unswept), obtained in a wind tunnel, was performed. The main body of this data analysis was carried out by analyzing the propagation speed of pressure disturbances along the chord and by studying the behavior of the unsteady part of the chordwise pressure distribution at various points of the airfoil pitching cycle. It was found that Mach number effects dominate the approach to and the inception of both static and dynamic stall. The stall angle decreases as the Mach number increases. However, sweep dominates the load behavior within the stall regime. Large phase differences between unswept and swept responses, that do not exist at low lift coefficient, appear once the stall boundary is penetrated. It was also found that reduced frequency is not a reliable indicator of the unsteady aerodynamic response in the high angle of attack regime

Le forme del racconto tra memoria e utopia fantastica

In questo libro l'opera di Giuseppe Bonaviri \ue8 analizzata da una prospettiva critica nuova: lo sperimentalismo formale e l'espressivismo linguistico dei romanzi della cosiddetta trilogia fantastica, La Divina foresta, Notti sull'altura, L'isola amorosa. I temi cari allo scrittore, il viaggio, le avventure, il senso della vita e della morte, la memoria, offrono lo spunto per intrecciare itinerari fantastico-surreali e per disarticolare le modalit\ue0 proprie del racconto realistico. In linea con le pi\uf9 recenti teorie del fantastico novecentesco, in questo studio si suggerisce l'inserimento dello scrittore siciliano all'interno delle modalit\ue0 formali del 'fantastico del linguaggio'

Some steady and oscillating airfoil test results, including the effects of sweep, from the tunnel spanning wing

A large scale tunnel spanning wing was built and tested. The model can be operated as either a swept or unswept wing and can be tested in steady state or oscillated sinusoidally in pitch about its quarter chord. Data is taken at mid-span with an internal 6-component balance and is also obtained from miniature pressure transducers distributed near the center span region. A description is given of the system and a brief discussion of some of the steady and unsteady results obtained to date. These are the steady load behavior to Mach numbers of approximately 1.1 and unsteady loads, including drag, at a reduced frequency of approximately 0.1

Chiral Anomalies via Classical and Quantum Functional Methods

In the quantum path integral formulation of a field theory model an anomaly arises when the functional measure is not invariant under a symmetry transformation of the Lagrangian. In this paper, generalizing previous work done on the point particle, we show that even at the classical level we can give a path integral formulation for any field theory model. Since classical mechanics cannot be affected by anomalies, the measure of the classical path integral of a field theory must be invariant under the symmetry. The classical path integral measure contains the fields of the quantum one plus some extra auxiliary ones. So, at the classical level, there must be a sort of "cancellation" of the quantum anomaly between the original fields and the auxiliary ones. In this paper we prove in detail how this occurs for the chiral anomaly.Comment: 26 pages, Latex, misprint fixed, a dedication include

Evidence for uteroplacental malperfusion in fetuses with major congenital heart defects.

AIMS: Fetuses affected by congenital heart defects (CHD) are considered to be at increased risk of fetal growth restriction and intrauterine demise. Whether these risks are a direct consequence of fetal CHD or a result of associated uteroplacental dysfunction is not evident from the data of recent studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of uteroplacental dysfunction reflected by abnormal uterine artery Doppler indices and reduced fetal growth in CHD pregnancies. METHODS: This is a retrospective case-control study including singleton pregnancies referred for detailed fetal cardiac assessment subsequently diagnosed with or without CHD. Mid-trimester uterine artery Doppler assessment at 20-24 weeks as well as third trimester fetal biometry and arterial Doppler pulsatility indices (PI) were performed. All fetal biometry were converted into centiles and Doppler values to multiples of median (MoM) to adjust for physiological changes with gestation. RESULTS: The study included 811 pregnancies including 153 cases where the fetus was diagnosed with CHD. Mid-pregnancy uterine artery PI was significantly higher in women with fetal CHD compared to controls (0.90MoM vs 0.83MoM; p = 0.006). In the third trimester, median centiles for fetal head circumference (45.4 vs 57.07; p<0.001), abdominal circumference (51.17 vs 55.71; p = 0.014), estimated fetal weight (33.6 vs 56.7; p<0.001) and cerebroplacental ratio (CPR: 0.84MoM vs 0.95MoM; p<0.001) were significantly lower in fetuses with CHD compared to controls. The percentage of small for gestational age births <10th centile (24.0% vs 10.7%; <0.001) and low CPR <0.6MoM (11.7% vs 2.5%; p<0.001) were significantly higher in the fetal CHD cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Mid-pregnancy uterine artery resistance is increased and subsequent fetal biometry reduced in pregnancies with CHD fetuses. These findings suggest that fetal CHD are associated with uteroplacental dysfunction, secondary to impaired maternal uteroplacental perfusion resulting in relative fetal hypoxaemia and reduced fetal growth

The affective core of the self: A neuro-archetypical perspective on the foundations of human (and animal) subjectivity

Psychologists usually considered the "Self" as an object of experience appearing when the individual perceives its existence within the conscious field. In accordance with such a view, the self-representing capacity of the human mind has been related to corticolimbic learning processes taking place within individual development. On the other hand, Carl Gustav Jung considered the Self as the core of our personality, in its conscious and unconscious aspects, as well as in its actual and potential forms. According to Jung, the Self originates from an inborn dynamic structure integrating the essential drives of our "brain-mind," and leading both to instinctual behavioral actions and to archetypal psychological experiences. Interestingly, recent neuroethological studies indicate that our subjective identity rests on ancient neuropsychic processes that humans share with other animals as part of their inborn constitutional repertoire. Indeed, brain activity within subcortical midline structures (SCMSs) is intrinsically related to the emergence of prototypical affective states, that not only influence our behavior in a flexible way, but alter our conscious field, giving rise to specific feelings or moods, which constitute the first form of self-orientation in the world. Moreover, such affective dynamics play a central role in the organization of individual personality and in the evolution of all other (more sophisticated) psychological functions. Therefore, on the base of the convergence between contemporary cutting-edge scientific research and some psychological intuitions of Jung, we intend here to explore the first neuroevolutional layer of human mind, that we call the affective core of the Self

Damage tolerance analysis of aircraft reinforced panels

This work is aimed at reproducing numerically a campaign of experimental tests performed for the development of reinforced panels, typically found in aircraft fuselage. The bonded reinforcements can significantly reduce the rate of fatigue crack growth and increase the residual strength of the skin. The reinforcements are of two types: stringers and doublers. The former provides stiffening to the panel while the latter controls the crack growth between the stringers. The purpose of the study is to validate a numerical method of analysis that can predict the damage tolerance of these reinforced panels. Therefore, using a fracture mechanics approach, several models (different by the geometry and the types of reinforcement constraints) were simulated with the finite element solver ABAQUS. The bonding between skin and stiffener was taken either rigid or flexible due to the presence of adhesive. The possible rupture of the reinforcements was also considered. The stress intensity factor trend obtained numerically as a function of crack growth was used to determine the fatigue crack growth rate, obtaining a good approximation of the experimental crack propagation rate in the skin. Therefore, different solutions for improving the damage tolerance of aircraft reinforced panels can be virtually tested in this way before performing experiments

Aggiornamenti e novità sulla distribuzione del genere Gagea (Liliaceae) in Toscana

Viene confermata la presenza di Gagea bohemica (zauschn.) Scuhlt. & Schult. f. nell’unica località nota per la Toscana (isola d’Elba) e di G. granatellii (Parl.) Parl. all’isola del Giglio, dove da oltre 100 anni la specie non era stata più osservata. Vengono anche segnalate nuove località di G. granatellii nella porzione centrale e orientale dell’isola d’Elba, nonché di G. lutea (L.) Ker-Gawl. e di G. pratensis (Pers.) Dumort. nella Toscana settentrionale (Pracchie di Pontito e Monte Morello, rispettivamente)