Istituto Universitario Di Studi Superiori Di Pavia

About: Istituto Universitario Di Studi Superiori Di Pavia is a education organization based out in Pavia, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Pulsar & Neutron star. The organization has 162 authors who have published 566 publications receiving 22605 citations.

Unraveling Moral Reasoning in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: How Emotional Detachment Modifies Moral Judgment.

Abstract: In the last decade, scientific literature provided solid evidence of cognitive deficits in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients and their effects on end-life choices. However, moral cognition and judgment are still poorly investigated in this population. Here we aimed at evaluating both socio-cognitive and socio-affective components of moral reasoning in a sample of 28 ALS patients. Patients underwent clinical and neuropsychological evaluation including basic cognitive and social cognition measures. Additionally, we administered an experimental task including moral dilemmas, with instrumental and incidental conditions. Patients' performances were compared with a control group [healthy control (HC)], including 36 age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy subjects. Despite that the judgment pattern was comparable in ALS and HC, patients resulted less prone to carry out a moral transgression compared to HC. Additionally, ALS patients displayed higher levels of moral permissibility and lower emotional arousal, with similar levels of engagement in both instrumental and incidental conditions. Our findings expanded the current literature about cognitive deficits in ALS, showing that in judging moral actions, patients may present non-utilitarian choices and emotion flattening. Such a decision-making profile may have relevant implications in applying moral principles in real-life situations and for the judgment of end-of-life treatments and care in clinical settings.

Development of a seismic social vulnerability model for northern Algeria

Abstract: A common definition of seismic risk entails the quantification of three main elements: hazard, exposure of properties and societies, and corresponding vulnerability. When properly characterised, the vulnerability of a community or an asset is the easiest component to act upon, through governmental agencies and decentralised frameworks, when facing natural hazards. Algeria is a country with a relatively short history of seismic risk mitigation even though, in the past, the population suffered from many devastating earthquakes leading to large human and economic losses. Furthermore, until now, the actions taken to reduce such devastating effects have been of reduced impact. With this in mind, this paper investigates the social vulnerability and resilience level to natural hazards, with a specific focus on seismic risk, in the province of Blida, an important cultural and economic region in Northern Algeria. The evaluation is carried out through a hybrid methodology that puts together results from the well-known social vulnerability index or SoVI®, obtained from population data and national statistics, integrated with the Resilience Performance Scorecard (RPS) method, which qualitatively assesses the resilience of a population with reference to qualitative information gathered through public interest and participation. With such a methodology, this study aims to evaluate the societal factor and the impact on the population at risk through vulnerability mapping. The results allow identifying the areas and the social vulnerability dimensions requiring immediate addressing by regulatory and institutional frameworks that can increase preparedness levels, resource allocation, contingency planning, and efforts in raising public awareness. Following the use of census data and the participatory scheme, as well as a hybrid approach combining the two, it is seen that the province of Blida is characterised by medium levels of vulnerability. Following a simplified comparison, the SoVI approach results tend to underestimate the RPS ones. Such information will be useful to aid decision-makers and the exposed society itself to endure the effects of disastrous events.

Approximation of Saddle Point Problems

Abstract: This chapter is in a sense the kernel of the book It sets a general framework in which mixed and hybrid finite element methods can be studied Even if some applications will require variations of the general results, these could not be understood without the basic notions introduced here Our first concern will be existence and uniqueness of solutions We first consider in Section II11 the simple case of a saddle point problem corresponding to the minimization of a linearly constrained quadratic functional This case is extended in Section II12 to a more general case The matter of approximating the solution will then be considered under various (but classical) assumptions Finally, we shall deal with numerical properties of the discretized problems and practical computational facts

From Design to Earthquake Loss Assessment of Steel Moment-Resisting Frames

Abstract: Steel moment-resisting frames (MRFs) are well known for their ductile and stable hysteretic behaviour. For this reason, they are an attractive and effective structural system for seismic resistance. Current seismic design codes, namely Eurocode 8, provide system performance factors that should be used in the seismic design under different ductility classes. However, recent research studies have shown that the use of the code-prescribed performance factors lead to stiffer and heavier structural solutions that are not consistent with the performance-based design assumptions. A new methodology, Improved Force-Based Design (IFBD), has recently been proposed with the aim of a more rational determination of the adopted value of the behaviour factor, q, instead of using the upper bound reference values provided by the design code. This paper investigates if the obtained values of q for both EC8 and IFBD concerning steel MRFs are not only adequate, but also provide sufficient margins against collapse under maximum considered earthquake (MCE) ground motions. To this end, the methodology proposed in FEMA P695 was used. Additionally, the expected direct economic seismic losses are computed according to the PEER-PBEE methodology.

A minimal model describing the effect of drug administration on tumor growth dynamics

Abstract: The preclinical development of antitumor drugs would greatly benefit from the availability of models capable of predicting tumor growth as a function of the drug administration schedule. For being of practical use such models should be simple enough to be identifiable from standard experiments conducted on animals. In the present paper, a simple mathematical model of tumor dynamics is derived from a set of minimal assumptions formulated at cellular level. In the model there are two classes of tumor cells: proliferating and non-proliferating. Assuming independence between the cells, the mean tumor mass obeys two differential equations: an ordinary and a partial differential one. It is shown that, due to the large number of cells in measured tumor masses, the variance of the mass tumor is negligible compared to its expected value so that the stochastic model can be replaced by a deterministic one. For suitable choice of the model parameters, the proposed minimal model yields the so-called TGI (Tumor Growth Inhibition) model. This is a lumped parameter model, based on only five parameters, that in the last few years has been successfully used to fit and predict the effect of several antitumor drugs.