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Background:Cardiovascular (CV) and cerebrovascular (CVB) risk have not been adequately examined in the setting of patients with small vessel vasculitides. In particular, data on CV/CVB surogate markers are scarce and the diagnostic value of traditional CV risk scores, such as the Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) and ist EULAR modified version (mSCORE) is unknown.Objectives:Aims of this study were to examine gold standard surrogates of CV risk and subclinical atherosclerosis (1), as well as novel duplex-sonographic markers of CVB risk in a cohort of patients with small vessel vasculitides. Moreover, we sought to evaluate for the first time the diagnostic value of SCORE and mSCORE in identifying patients at high CV and CVB risk.Methods:SCORE/mSCORE and the gold standard marker of aortic stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity; cfPWV) were examined in patients with small vessel vasculitides and healthy controls across 3 Rheumatology Centers. Moreover, sonography of the common- (CCA), internal- (ICA) and external- (ECA) carotid arteries was performed in subsets of both groups, evaluating carotid intima-media-thickness (cIMT), plaque presence and duplex-sonographic indices of CBV risk, such as the resistance- (RI) and pulsatility-index (PI). Disease characteristics, clinical and serological activity markers, as well as traditional CV risk factors were also documented.Results:We recruited 46 patients with small vessel vasculitides [granulomatosis with polyangiitis (n=33), eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (n=6), microscopic polyangiitis (n=4), cryoglobulinemic vasculitis (n=1), urticaria vasculitis (n=2): 76.1% female, median age 61.5 years (52-72.25, IQR)] and 105 healthy controls [76.1% female, median age 61.5 years (52-72.25, IQR)]. cfPWV was significantly higher in the patient group compared to the control group, even after statistical corrections for confounding factors (i.e. age, gender: different in the two groups) (8.4 m/s vs. 6.8 m/s; padjAccording to SCORE and (EULAR)-mSCORE, 0.9% and 15.8% of the patients had high CV risk (defined as SCORE/mSCORE >5), respectivelly. However, cfPWV revealed an increased CV risk in 28.2% of the patients. Moreover, carotid sonography showed signs of subclinical carotid arteriosclerosis in 50% (plaques) and 71.7% (cIMT >0.9 mm) of the patients, respectively.Conclusion:Herein, we could show that patients with small vessel vasculitides had higher aortic stiffness and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis, compared to controls and could thus have higher CV and CVB risk. Moreover, we were able to demonstrate for the first time that SCORE/mSCORE performed poorly in identifying patients at high CV risk and carotid atherosclerosis compared to cfPWV and carotid sonography respectively. Thus, cfPWV and carotid sonography could improve CV and CBV screening in patients with small vessel vasculitides.Table 1.Descriptive characteristics.Controls(n=105)Patients(n=46)Significance(p)cfPWV† (m/s)6.80 (6.05-7.5)8.40 (7.26-10.66)Age† (years)50 (39.50-56.5)61.50 (52-72.25)Gender(female)95 (90.5%)35 (76.1%)0.019*Nicotin(smokers)21 (20%)5 (11.1%)0.190Antihypertensive drugs18 (17.1%)27 (65.9%)BMI†23.73 (21.1-27.1)25.14 (22.81-28.70)0.074Mean art. pressure¶93.45±10.6896.19±10.680.150ESR† (mm/h)-20.00 (11– 41.5)-ANCA-25 (54.3%)-Creatinine†0.77 (0.72-0.81)0.94 (0.8-1.31)Cholesterol¶ (mg/dL)-216.88±40.16 -Prednisolone† (mg)-5.63 (1.75-16.38)-Lung involvement17 (37%)-Kidney involvement17 (37%)-Ear-nose-throat (ENT)16 (34.8%)-†median (IQR): Mann Whitney test¶ mean±standard deviation: t test*pReferences:[1]Vlachopoulos C et al., Prediction of Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Mortality With Arterial Stiffness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol 2010 30;55(13):1318-27Disclosure of Interests:Konstantinos Triantafyllias Speakers bureau: Pfizer, Novartis, Janssen, Chugai, Leif-Erik Thiele: None declared, Michele De Blasi: None declared, Andreas Schwarting: None declared

Background:Valid assessment of disease activity leads to outcome improvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (1). Optical spectral transmission (OST) is a modern diagnostic tool able to assess the blood-specific absorption of light transmitted through a tissue, promising quantification of inflammation in the finger and wrist joints of RA patients (commercial device: HandScan - Hemics, The Netherlands) (2).Objectives:To our knowledge, there are no data regarding the diagnostic value of OST in the evaluation of inflammatory activity changes during arthitis follow up.Thus, aims of this study were to examine the ability of OST to detect response to anti-inflammatory therapy in patients with arthritis and to explore OST associations with clinical, laboratory and ultrasonographic (US) activity markers.Methods:OST measurements were performed in patients with active arthritides of the wrist and finger joints before and after administration of glucocorticoids (GC), during a disease flare. For the same points in time (a and b) patients and healthy controls underwent clinical, laboratory and joint US [Grey Scale (GSUS) - Power Doppler (PDUS)] examinations. OST-values before and after therapy were subsequently compared with their corresponding DAS28- and US-values. The distributions of Delta-PDUS und OST-values between the two time points were compared by Bayesian statistics. Moreover, OST diagnostic performance was tested by Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC).Results:We recruited 54 patients with active inflammatory arthritis: 39 RA, 4 gout, 7 peripheral spondylarthritides and 4 other miscellaneous arthritides (66.7% females) and 114 controls.Previous to therapy with GC, median OST was [OST(a):8.75(5.38-16.25, IQR)] and after therapy [OST(b):4.75(2.38-8.63, IQR)] (p). Similarly, DAS28 dropped significantly after GC therapy [DAS28(a):5.12(4.33-6.10, IQR) vs. DAS28(b):3.85(3.40-4.82),p)]. OST correlated moderately with PDUS at both time points: (a)rho=0.449and (b)rho=0.414, respectively (both;p). Moreover, OST correlated significantly with swollen joint count at both time points (a)rho=0.379and (b)rho=0.382,prespectively.OST and US performed similarly in the assessment of inflammatory changes caused by the administration of GC (same tendency in the change of OST values in83.2%of the cases). Furthermore, Bayesian statistic revealed no significant differences between OST and US for all 3 examined joint categories (MCP:p=0.81; PIP:p=0.74; wrists:p=0.60).In addition, ROC revealed that OST is a very good tool to distinguish patients with arthritis from healthy controls at both examination points [AUC(a):0.883(95% CI=0.83-0.94) and AUC(b):0.811(95% CI=0.74-0.881)].Conclusion:OST was able to assess response to therapy in arthritis patients comparable to US. Moreover, OST correlated with disease activity markers and could effectively differentiate between arthritis patients and controls. Therefore, OST could prove to be a valuable non-interventional time- and resource-saving diagnostic tool to assist arthritis monitoring.References:[1]Katchamart W, et al. Systematic monitoring of disease activity using an outcome measure improves outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol 2010;37:1411–1415.[2]Onna M Van, et al. Assessment of disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis using optical spectral transmission measurements, a non-invasive imaging technique. Ann Rheum Dis 2016;75:511–518.Figure 1.OST-, PDUS- and DAS28- values before and after GC therapy.Figure 2.OST- (group 1) und Ultrasound- (group 2) Bayesian distributions, means- and standard deviation-differences for MCP (A), PIP (B) and wrists (C).Disclosure of Interests:None declared

Background:Antisynthetase Syndrom (ASyS) is an autoimmune overlap disease characterized by antiaminoacyl-tRNA-synthetase (anti-ARS) antibodies and the classic triad of arthritis, myositis and interstitial lung disease (ILD) (1). Markers of cardiovascular (CV) or cerebrovascular (CVB) risk have never been examined in ASyS.Objectives:Aim of this study (RIsk of CARdiovascular Disease in ASyS: RI.CAR.D.A.) was to test the ability of an established traditional CV risk prediction score (Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation-SCORE) and its EULAR modified version (mSCORE) to identify ASyS patients at high CV risk. Moreover, we sought to examine for the first time associations of CV surrogate markers with clinical and immunological ASyS parameters.Methods:SCORE/mSCORE and the gold standard marker of aortic stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity-cfPWV) were examined in patients with ASyS and healthy controls in a multicenter setting (6 Rheumatology Centers). Moreover, sonography of the common- (CCA), internal- (ICA) and external- (ECA) carotid arteries was performed in subsets of both groups, evaluating carotid intima-media-thickness (cIMT), plaques and duplex-sonographic indices of CBV risk such as the resistance- (RI) and pulsatility-index (PI).Figure 1.Carotid Doppler surrogate markers of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk in controls and ASyS (case).cIMTCarotid intima media thickness;CAA(common-),ICA(internal),ECA(external) carotid artery;RIresistance index;PIpulsatility index. (all;p< 0.05)Results:We recruited 66 ASyS patients with different anti-ARS and 88 controls. According to mSCORE5/50 (10%) of the patients had high CV risk. However, cfPWV and carotid sonography (CS) revealed an increased CV risk in21.2%and subclinical carotid arteriosclerosis (plaques and/or cIMT>0.9 mm) (SCA) in85.7%of the patients respectively. ROC analyses showed similarly poor diagnostic performances of SCORE/mSCORE in comparison to cfPWV(>10 m/s) and SAC by areas under the curve (AUC) of0.56 (95%CI=0.39-0.73) and0.63 (95%CI=0.3-0.96),respectively. cfPWV and SCA were higher in ASyS patients compared to controls (padj=0.021andp=0.003, respectively). cfPWV and cIMT correlated in the patient group significantly with age (r=0.679; prespectively).Moreover, cfPWV correlated with BMI (padj=0.001) and diabetes(padj=0.043). ACC-RI and ACC-PI showed significant associations with a marker of myositis activity [creatine phosphokinase (CPK):r=0.629;p=0.012andr=0.574;p=0.032, respectively]. Finally, ACI-RI and ACI-PI values were higher in patients with ILD (both;p=0.039).Conclusion:This is the first report of higher aortic stiffness and SCA in ASyS patients compared to controls. Active myositis and presence of ILD were associated with higher CVB risk parameters. Furthermore, SCORE/mSCORE performed poorly in identifying patients at high CV risk and carotid arteriosclerosis compared to cfPWV and CS respectively. Thus, cfPWV and CS could improve CV and CBV screening in ASyS patients.References:[1]Cavagna L, et al. Clinical Spectrum Time Course in Anti Jo-1 Positive Antisynthetase Syndrome.Medicine2015;94:1144.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

Background Autonomic dysfunction, a basic element of fibromyalgia (FM), has been in some cases related to increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease. CV risk associates with aortic stiffness, which can be reliably assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV). Objectives Aims of this study were to test the hypothesis of increased cfPWV in a group of patients with FM and to examine its association with FM associated parameters and selected traditional CV risk factors. Methods We performed measurements of cfPWV in 99 FM patients and 102 healthy controls. The difference between cfPWV values in the two groups after controlling for possible confounding factors was evaluated through multiple regression analysis. The associations of cfPWV with FM related parameters such as pain severity on the EuroQol visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) and FM tender points were also analysed. Finally, we explored the relationship of cfPWV with various laboratory parameters (patients’ group) and traditional CV risk factors (both groups). Results Adjusted statistical analyses for confounding factors showed significantly higher cfPWV values in FM patients in comparison to controls (padj=0.044). cfPWV associated significantly with age in both the patients and the control group (rho=0.614, p Conclusions Our data reveal that patients with FM have higher aortic stiffness than healthy controls, even after adjusting for confounding factors of cfPWV. Therefore, FM may be associated with an increased CV risk. To our knowledge, this is the largest study to examine the gold standard assessment method of aortic stiffness in patients with FM and the first one to find increased cfPWV-values in comparison to healthy subjects. Disclosure of Interest None declared

Objective: To evaluate the ability of the BioFire FilmArray Blood Culture Identification (BCID) panel to rapidly detect pathogens producing late-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), a severe infection often produced by Gram-negative bacteria. These microorganisms are frequently multidrug resistant and typically require broad-spectrum empiric treatment. Methods: In the context of an international multicentre clinical trial (MagicBullet), respiratory samples were collected at the time of suspicion of VAP from 165 patients in 32 participating hospitals in Spain, Greece and Italy. Microorganisms were identified using the BCID panel and compared with results obtained by conventional microbiologic techniques. Results: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the most commonly identified species, representing 54.7% (70/128) of microorganisms. The BCID panel showed high global specificity (98.1%; 95% confidence interval, 96–100) and negative predictive values (96.6%) and a global sensitivity and positive predictive value of 78.6% (95% confidence interval, 70–88) and 87.3%, respectively, for these microorganisms. Importantly, the BCID panel provided results in only 1 hour directly from respiratory samples with minimal sample processing times. Conclusions: The BCID panel may have clinical utility in rapidly ruling out microorganisms causing VAP, specifically multidrug-resistant Gram-negative species. This could facilitate the optimization of empiric treatment. © 2018 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

A 90 nm-CMOS power-optimized analog baseband chain for ultra-low-power impulse-radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) receivers is presented. The proposed device merges the functions of a programmable gain amplifier (PGA) and a low-pass filter (LPF). It consists of the cascade of three biquadratic cells made up by opamps in a series-shunt configuration, which features high input impedance, low load effects in the cascade blocks, and better frequency response. The opamp parameters are included in the overall biquad transfer function. This allows getting very low power performance, since the opamp bandwidth is not required to be much larger than the filter cutoff frequency. Moreover, the current consumption is optimized according to the selected gain level (1.3 mA at 0 dB-gain up to 1.9 mA at 40 dB-gain). The PGA features a 0-40 dB programmable gain range with a 5 dB gain-step. The LPF performs a sixth-order 255 MHz low-pass frequency response. For the overall chain the IIP3 is 14 dBm at 0 dB gain, while the input referred noise is 12.5 nV/√Hz at 40 dB gain. © 2012 IEEE.

The design of an automatic biasing system for High-Electron-Mobility-Transistors is here presented (HEMT-Biasing-System, HBS). The HBS automatically regulates the operating point of an off-chip multistage HEMT block. A proper automatic algorithm is implemented in order to maximize the HEMT transconductance (gm) efficiency (defined as gm/IDS ratio). This is an important feature in several HEMT-based systems, since they are used in LNA stages, where noise/power trade-off is a key aspect. Interfacing CMOS and HEMT technologies features several design issues, like negative gate-source voltage (to be managed by a CMOS circuits for HEMT switch-off operation) and closed-loop stability (due to the presence of very large off-chip capacitance - 100nF). The System here presented manages all these issues with tailored circuit solutions. A prototype has been designed in CMOS 0.35μm technology. It consumes 6.2mW (excluding the current consumption for HEMT driving).

In this paper a 5th order low-pass continuous time analog filter in CMOS 45nm technology is presented. The filter design is based on a single compact cell used to synthesize five poles. The circuit performs the low-pass filtering of the in-band signal, while the in-band thermal noise is high-pass filtered, improving Signal-To-Noise-Ratio. 1-GHz -3dB-bandwidth is obtained by a prototype of the filter simulated in 45nm CMOS technology node (also Process-Voltage-Temperature simulations are available). The overall power consumption is 9mW from a single 1.2V supply voltage. 54dB@THD>40dBc is the SNR at 0dB gain.

In this paper, aiming to overcome the problems related to mobility in a Satellite Internet scenario, the data link reliable transmission over a mobile geo-stationary satellite link has been analysed. In such environment, the Selective Repeat (SR) classical version does not perform well due to high BER values and burst errors. In order to cope with these impairments, an Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) protocol, which represents a SR version particularly suitable to mobile channel characteristics has been considered. A performance analysis of this SR version, through a simulations campaign aimed to the evaluation of throughput and delay measures, is presented in comparison with those of other SR approaches. The results of the analysis show how an accurate design of lower layers can determine an appreciable efficiency gain

In this work a new concept of hybrid lamps burner is presented. The High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps and the new generation Light Emitting Diodes (LED) lamps can be driven by the same electronic ballast using this hybrid ASIC in 0.35m CMOS technology. In the state-of-art the electronic ballasts are managed by powerful general-purpose devices (usually FPGA or microcontroller). These devices are not customized for the specific application. Thus they have a larger area occupation and power consumption compared to ASIC solution. The designed ASIC power consumption is 35 mW and the package area is about 6.5 cm2 against 550 mW and 6.5 cm2 for commonly used PIC 18FXX2. © 2011 IEEE.

In this paper the design of a 3rd-order 16 bit 20 kHz-bandwidth discrete-time σδ modulator with voltage- controlled oscillator (VCO)-based quantizer is presented. This design is motivated by the trends towards die size and power consumption reduction together with performance robustness. In this direction, the flash converter embedded in a multi-bit σδM is here replaced by a VCO and digital counter, resulting in a compact fully-digital quantizer implementation. This solution would greatly exploit the technology scaling. Moreover in the proposed feed-forward architecture all feed-forward paths are summed within the last integrator of the σδ loop filter, thereby eliminating the need for an analog summation amplifier at the quantizer input The presented 3rd-order σδM features 110 dB-SNR, 104 dB-SNDR (i.e. 16 bit-ENOB). © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is becoming more and more important for tracing and tracking systems. Furthermore, the application of standards, such as EPCglobal, is contributing substantially to diffusing the important concept of Internet of Things. Although, these elements promise enormous benefits, there remain barriers that are limiting a large-scale deployment of these innovative technologies in supply chain management systems. An analysis of the main effects of the use of these technologies on the main processes of a supply chain is useful. This paper attempts to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to trace the impacts of the combined use of different standards, such as RFID, EPCglobal, and ebXML, on a pharmaceutical supply chain. The current and possible future visions of the pharmaceutical supply chain are described through the AS-IS and TO-BE models. These models are used to perform a first KPI analysis; even if the reported results are still only partial they sketch out the main guidelines identifying the advantages obtainable by adopting an integrated system with B2B messaging and tracing and tracking capabilities in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

The item-level tagging is one of the main challenges of many application scenarios. Among these, the pharmaceutical supply chain represents a very interesting case where the new auto-identification technologies, based on RFID and EPCglobal, will play a very import role. The authors present practical experiences gained from a recent research project on the item-level traceability in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Furthermore, a discussion on several areas of improvement opportunities for future large-scale deployments of these technologies is reported.

The item-level tagging is one of the main challenges in the pharmaceutical distribution in order to improve track and trace systems. The RFID technology will play a very important role in development of auto-identification solutions. In this chapter, we focus on the use of passive UHF tags, in order to analyze a performance comparison between near field and far field UHF RFID systems. Some different passive UHF tags, suitably chosen, have been tested at item-level, i.e., on each single medicine package, simulating each stage of the pharmaceutical supply chain in a controlled laboratory environment. The obtained experimental results, in terms of successful read rates, have shown that the use of passive far field UHF tags represents an advantage solution to guarantee high performance in an item-level tracing system in the whole supply chain.

Implementation of a computer architecture simulator prototype written in Turbo Prolog, which is suitable for educational purposes, is described. Besides adapting to teaching needs for conventional use, the simulator design incorporates features for an easy alteration of computer architectural structures appropriate to the trainee's learning level. Thus, this simulator is not limited to a particular architecture but permits the student to vary dynamically the architectural characteristics of the computer under study in order to verify the consequences of his decisions and to experiment with families of computers and alternatives of design. >

Recently, there has been much effort to integrate heterogeneous wireless technologies in order to make overlay networks able to provide mobile users with ubiquitous Internet access. Handover management is still one of the most challenging issues to be solved for seamless integration of wireless networks. In this paper, an algorithm for vertical handover with QoS guarantees between IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.11e networks, without computational complexity added on mobile nodes, has been proposed. It uses a decision mechanism based on the following metrics: the available bandwidth, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the access delay. Its characteristics are perfectly compatible with the guidelines specified in the IEEE 802.21 standard. The effectiveness of the defined algorithm has been evaluated, using the ns-2 tool, in terms of packet loss rate (PLR), satisfaction of minimum applications requirements and number of useless handovers. The performance of the defined algorithm has been compared with that obtained by using the algorithm suggested by IEEE 802.21 standard that exploits only the SNR in the decision procedure.

The microarchitecture of a co-processor for unification in Prolog is described. It is composed of two processing sections: a character interpreter and a unification interpreter. The character interpreter builds up descriptors to be used by the subsequent unification process. In order to achieve maximum performance, compatibly with adopting microprogramming, a general scheme of migrating analysis and decode functions from microprogramming to hardware, based on an explicit definition of status of interpretation, has been devised.

The specifications of a non overloading preamplifier for magnetostriction spark chambers are described in detail. The design of the preamplifier that has been developed is discussed. Its characteristics are: gain of 1300, risetime of 80 nsec, equivalent input noise of 10 μV r.m.s. It recovers within 5 μsec after the spark chamber's discharge

A spark chamber which gives both coordinates of the spark with a single plane of wires has been studied. While gas fillings of helium and neon-helium have been found unsuitable, good results have been obtained with argon and helium-argon mixtures. The velocity of the pulses in the wires is measured for every pulse, using the pulse reflected at one end of the wires. It has been found that hard-drawn wires give signals of better shape and of amplitude less variable with the tension of the wire, than the half-annealed wires.

A parallel architecture for Prolog, oriented to an efficient execution of backtracking, is introduced. It uses a few instances of a Unification Processor endowed with a high degree of internal parallelism, each of which is connected to a Transputer. The PBPE (Parallel Backtracking Prolog Engine) as a whole is a circular chain of these couples, linkable by means of one of its Transputers to a host computer for integration with traditional programming environments.

Some structures of self-tuning machines, i.e. of computers which adapt their own architecture to the applicative program in real-time with program execution, are presented. Although based on the same microprogrammable computer model, alternative philosophies of sequencing (i.e. by strictly microprogramming tuning algorithms) or paralleling the operations, correspond to entirely different interpreter's learning processes. All of this involves a careful re-analysis of the experience and learning concepts of the interpreters in the procedural model which are opposite to the analogues derived from a humanoid point of view.

In this paper an approach for the design of low-voltage analog Active-RC filers is presented. This technique is based on the use of different common mode levels at the opamp inputs and the filter inputs and outputs. A design example of a 600mV supply voltage 4th order low-pass analog filter for UMTS receivers is reported. The filter is designed in a 0.13μm CMOS technology with a 600mV supply voltage. The filter features a wide swing performance (THD=40dB@800mVpp,differential output signal amplitude), and high dynamic range (47 dB). © 2006 IEEE.

This paper proposes a novel algorithm which enables an ARQ protocol defined for IEEE 802.16e to vary the packet size depending on wireless channel behaviour. The algorithm adopts an analytical approach for dynamically evaluating the optimal packet size. The latter is derived from an expression of the ARQ protocol efficiency, obtained by exploiting a finite-state Markov error model which also considers Adaptive Modulation/Coding. The effectiveness of the designed algorithm in improving TCP performance has been evaluated.

Il presente contributo indaga i processi della costruzione letteraria e della ricezione esegetica del primo guardiano infernale incontrato da Dante, Caronte, il cui ruolo (già virgiliano) di nocchiero sull’Acheronte chiama in causa, in ottica dantesca, la figura di Flegiàs, secondo traghettatore della ‘Commedia’. Nelle prime recensioni miniate del poema, quest’ultimo condivide infatti con il primo non solo la funzione di snodo narrativo, ma lo stesso destino metamorfico, vista la sostituzione ricorrente delle tradizionali fattezze umane con fisionomia e attributi diabolici. La significativa somiglianza iconografica dei due guardiani nei più antichi manoscritti miniati della ‘Commedia’ sarà da imputare alla differente caratterizzazione che Dante riserva loro, unita all’assenza di un modello di riferimento autonomo per la figura di Flegiàs, inevitabilmente assimilato al primo. Non sarà infine da ritenersi secondaria la coerenza generale dell’esegesi scritta, concorde nel riconoscere un «dimonio» tanto nel primo quanto nel secondo guardiano.

Il contributo intende indagare l’incessante processo revisionale che l’elaborazione dell' 'Allegria' ungarettiana ha subito per oltre un ventennio. Se l’intenzione autoriale è rivolta a sottrarre il testo alla brutale casualità della storia in virtù di una concezione sacrale della poesia, gli stadi del processo di levigazione consistono, di fatto, nella progressiva eliminazione di connettivi logici e nella conseguente concentrazione dell’enunciato. Tale processo correttorio concomita cronologicamente con la composizione delle liriche del 'Sentimento del Tempo': scopo dell’intervento è di rilevare quanto la poetica, profondamente rinnovata, del secondo tempo della produzione ungarettiana abbia interferito con le ragioni del lungo lavorio di lima apportato all’ 'Allegria', la cui redazione ultima risulta profondamente distante dall’originaria; per questa via, si intende inoltre approfondire l’indagine dell’apparato teorico e filosofico soggiacente al passaggio, di capitale importanza, che dall’ 'Allegria' conduce al 'Sentimento del Tempo' e alla successiva produzione dell’Autore, considerato come espressione della più generale inclinazione della poesia moderna che a partire da Mallarmé e Valéry intende il testo come «progressiva approssimazione a un valore-limite».

Lʼintervento si propone di esporre ed analizzare la posizione assunta da Luigi Pirandello sullo scorcio degli anni Venti circa la questione del nascente cinema sonoro.

L'incunabolo dell'edizione veneziana apparsa nel 1470 delle Rime e dei Trionfi di Petrarca, conservato nella biblioteca Queriniana di Brescia, è un esemplare postillato e interamente ornato da illustrazioni. La fondamentale monografia di Giuseppe Frasso, Giordana Mariani Canova, Ennio Sandal ha attribuito illustrazioni e postille ad Antonio Grifo, che avrebbe atteso al suo manufatto nell'ultimo decennio del secolo. Dopo la ristampa anastatica curata da Pietro Gibellini e Sandal (1995), che hanno preferito parlare di un geniale Dilettante dimostrandosi scettici sull’ipotesi di attribuzione al veneziano Antonio Grifo, si sono avuti alcuni studi di Fabio Cossutta (1998, 2004), Giovanna Zaganelli (2000, 2002), Rosa Brezzani (2010) e Giulia Zava (2016), che hanno considerato le illustrazioni come un vero e proprio commento figurato ancora più interessante delle postille. Qui, con alcuni esempi, si vuole verificare nuovamente la singolare capacità ermeneutica del Dilettante Queriniano.

‘Il fiore delle Mille e una notte’ di Pasolini fornisce notevoli spunti di riflessione sulla questione dell’interscambio tra letteratura e cinema. Poiché esso è il frutto di un processo creativo tormentato, l’ermeneutica dell’opera risulta impreziosita da un tipo di analisi che tenga conto dei metodi della filologia d’autore. Il ricorso all’avantesto del film, a partire dall’individuazione di alcune significative differenze tra la fisionomia originaria della sceneggiatura (già distante a sua volta dalle fiabe delle ‘Mille e una notte’) e la struttura a scatole cinesi della pellicola, permette di cogliere la portata dell’operazione culturale proposta da Pasolini e di rivalutare un’opera giudicata, troppo spesso, di bassa statura ideologica. A tal proposito, prendendo in considerazione le riflessioni del cineasta sullo specifico filmico e sulla natura onirica del cinema, si può constatare che il ruolo del sogno ne ‘Il fiore delle Mille e una notte’ non è ascrivibile soltanto a una volontà di fuga dalla realtà, ma diventa l’arma con cui Pasolini affonda la critica alle contingenze storiche. Se da un lato la leggerezza del sogno esprime il mondo cui aspira la mente del demiurgo Pasolini, d’altra parte è altrettanto vero che esso è ancora impregnato dell’accezione terrificante che deriva dalla potenza visionaria di Medea. Pertanto, oltre a una contestualizzazione de ‘Il fiore delle Mille e una notte’ nel progetto più ampio della ‘Trilogia della vita’, è necessaria un’interpretazione che mira a leggere questo film in continuità con le istanze che Pasolini aveva lasciato aperte in film come ‘Medea’ e ‘Appunti per un’Orestiade africana’, piuttosto che guardare alla successiva ‘Abiura dalla Trilogia della vita’.

L’intervento si propone di investigare un caso esemplare di doppio talento, quello del fiorentino Benvenuto Cellini. A dispetto, infatti, della esigua attenzione critica per tale fenomeno di mutualità espressiva, la consapevolezza di una disposizione creativa declinata in più direzioni sembra risalire già ai primi secoli della nostra tradizione letteraria e artistica. Nel corso del Cinquecento questa duplicità espressiva e la sua eccezionalità assunsero un valore ed esercitarono un fascino del tutto peculiari, come mostra la produzione artistica e letteraria di Benvenuto Cellini. Si intende far emergere come nella Vita egli dia prova di tale autoconsapevolezza e costruisca la biografia quale self-fashioning del proprio doppio talento

Integration between satellite and terrestrial networks is to play a very important role in the creation of a Global Internet which supports user mobility. Unfortunately, in these scenarios, TCP protocol tends to perform poorly because of high delay-bandwidth product, high bit error rate (BER) and burst errors mainly due to shadowing. The use of a reliable data link protocol, well suited to mobile geostationary satellite channel characteristics, can improve TCP performance appreciably. However, introducing a more variable end-to-end delay causes, as a side effect, a new problem: the competition between retransmission mechanisms at transport layer and data link layer. In order to solve this problem a TCP Performance Enhancing Proxy has been defined and validated. The simulation results, in terms or webpage download mean time, have shown that a local approach results in substantial improvements in HTTP performance, solving the retransmission competition problem.

During a three year trial, 380 corpora lutea were found in lactating buffaloes and the ratios of not pregnant buffaloes/corpora lutea (NP/CL) were analysed by chi-square test between: years (1999 vs. 2000 vs. 2001), days open (120 days; DO1 and D02 groups respectively), January March vs. April August calving periods, presence vs. absence of swimming-pool (G1 group us. G2 group respectively). Data were analysed by chi-square test. NP/CL ratios increased throughout the years (7.53%(A) vs. 26.32%(Bb) us. 41.73%(Bc) in 1999, 2000 and 2001 respectively) due to a progressive paddock overcrowding and were higher in D02 groups and during the January-March period. The swimming pool presence was able to reduce significantly the NP/CL incidence (18.01%(A) vs. 33.14%(B) in G1 and G2 groups, respectively) with a significant effect only in the April-August period (18.62%(A) vs. 34.96%(B) in G1 and G2 respectively). NP/CL ratio, as expression of anomalous oestrous cycle and embryonic mortality, may be proposed as a specific tool for evaluating buffalo welfare.