L'antrace, i contagi, le intermittenti : lettere del professore Luigi Metaxa a Paolo Baroni.

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Raccolta delle opere di F. Paolo Sarpi dell' Ordine de' Servi di Maria ... /

Mode of access: Internet.

Raccolta delle opere di F. Paolo Sarpi dell' Ordine de' Servi di Maria ... /

Mode of access: Internet.

Raccolta delle opere di F. Paolo Sarpi dell' Ordine de' Servi di Maria ... /

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Esercizi spirituali : esposti secondo il metodo del padre Paolo Segneri iuniore ... /

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Quaresimale di Paolo Segneri della Compagnia di Giesu.

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Raccolta delle opere di F. Paolo Sarpi dell' Ordine de' Servi di Maria ... /

Mode of access: Internet.

Directional dominance on stature and cognition in diverse human populations

Homozygosity has long been associated with rare, often devastating, Mendelian disorders1, and Darwin was one of the first to recognize that inbreeding reduces evolutionary fitness2. However, the effect of the more distant parental relatedness that is common in modern human populations is less well understood. Genomic data now allow us to investigate the effects of homozygosity on traits of public health importance by observing contiguous homozygous segments (runs of homozygosity), which are inferred to be homozygous along their complete length. Given the low levels of genome-wide homozygosity prevalent in most human populations, information is required on very large numbers of people to provide sufficient power3, 4. Here we use runs of homozygosity to study 16 health-related quantitative traits in 354,224 individuals from 102 cohorts, and find statistically significant associations between summed runs of homozygosity and four complex traits: height, forced expiratory lung volume in one second, general cognitive ability and educational attainment (P < 1 × 10−300, 2.1 × 10−6, 2.5 × 10−10 and 1.8 × 10−10, respectively). In each case, increased homozygosity was associated with decreased trait value, equivalent to the offspring of first cousins being 1.2 cm shorter and having 10 months’ less education. Similar effect sizes were found across four continental groups and populations with different degrees of genome-wide homozygosity, providing evidence that homozygosity, rather than confounding, directly contributes to phenotypic variance. Contrary to earlier reports in substantially smaller samples5, 6, no evidence was seen of an influence of genome-wide homozygosity on blood pressure and low density lipoprotein cholesterol, or ten other cardio-metabolic traits. Since directional dominance is predicted for traits under directional evolutionary selection7, this study provides evidence that increased stature and cognitive function have been positively selected in human evolution, whereas many important risk factors for late-onset complex diseases may not have been.

Una aproximación al concepto de “razón de estado” en Giovanni Botero desde la teoría política de Carl Schmitt

Resumen: El trabajo se propone analizar la conceptualización del término “razón de Estado” en el teólogo piamontés Giovanni Botero a la luz de las teorías políticas de Carl Schmitt. En especial se hará hincapié en la aparición dentro del pensamiento de Botero de conceptos que luego Schmitt caracterizará como esenciales en la conformación del Estado Moderno, entre los cuales están el de soberanía, la idea del enemigo político, y la conformación de un orden frente a la existencia de un estado de excepción. Principalmente se busca usar estos conceptos schmittianos como marco teórico para entender cómo Botero intentó definir el concepto de “razón de Estado” frente a las problemáticas políticas, sociales y religiosas que se producían a fines del siglo XVI.

El origen de la comunidad política en Giovanni Botero. Influencias medievales y prefiguración de conceptos modernos

Resumen: El presente trabajo busca analizar las ideas sobre el origen de la comunidad política en el teólogo católico piamontés del siglo XVI, Giovanni Botero. El propósito, en primer lugar, es intentar delinear cuáles pudieron haber sido las influencias de la Antigüedad clásica y de la Cristiandad medieval en este pensador, tratando de vislumbrar la conexión con las tendencias aristotélico-tomistas, por un lado y las latino-ciceronianas, por otro. Y en segundo término, asimismo se buscará dilucidar cómo, a partir de estas ideas, comienzan a aparecer en este pensador católico algunas referencias que demuestran, sino un quiebre, por lo menos una cierta variación en el pensamiento político, variación que puede compararse con los cuidados necesarios, con las clásicas teorías políticas modernas. El objetivo final se enmarca en proveer un primer acercamiento a una temática compleja que en estudios posteriores puede enfocarse desde perspectivas distintas a las clásicamente estudiadas: la temática del “tránsito” entre las ideas políticas medievales y modernas.

Laparoscopic Appendectomy in Italy: An Appraisal of 26,863 Cases

Objective: To evaluate the practice of laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) in Italy. Methods: On behalf of the Italian Society of Young Surgeons (SPIGC), an audit of LA was carried out through a written questionnaire sent to 800 institutions in Italy. The questions concerned the diffusion of laparoscopic surgery and LA over the period 1990 through 2001, surgery-related morbidity and mortality rates, indications for LA, the diagnostic algorithm adopted prior to surgery, and use of LA among young surgeons (<40 years). Results: A total of 182 institutions (22.7%) participated in the current audit, and accounted for a total number of 26863 LA. Laparoscopic surgery is performed in 173 (95%) institutions, with 144 (83.2%) routinely performing LA. The mean interval from introduction of laparoscopic surgery to inception of LA was 3.4 ± 2.5 years. There was an emergent basis for 8809 (32.8%) LA procedures (<6 hours of admission); 10314 (38.4%) procedures were performed on an urgent basis (<24 hours of admission); while 7740 (28.8%) procedures were elective. The conversion rate was 2.1% (561 cases) and was due to intraoperative complications in 197 cases (35.1%). Intraoperative complications ranged as high as 0.32%, while postoperative complications were reported in 1.2% of successfully completed LA. The mean hospital stay for successfully completed LA was 2.5 ± 1.05 days. The highest rate of intraoperative complications was reported as occurring during the learning curve phase of their experience (in their first 10 procedures) by 39.7% of the surgeons. LA was indicated for every case of suspected acute appendiceal disease by 51.8% of surgeons, and 44.8% order abdominal ultrasound (US) prior to surgery. A gynecologic counseling is deemed necessary only by 34.5% surgeons, while an abdominal CT scan is required only by 1.5%. The procedure is completed laparoscopically in the absence of gross appendiceal inflammation by 83%; 79.8% try to complete the procedure laparoscopically in the presence of concomitant disease; while 10.4% convert to open surgery in cases of suspected malignancy. Of responding surgeons aged under 40, 76.3% can perform LA, compared to 47.3% surgeons of all age categories. Conclusions: The low response rate of the present survey does not allow us to assess the diffusion of LA in Italy, but rather to appraise its practice in centers routinely performing laparoscopic surgery. In the hands of experienced surgeons, LA has morbidity rates comparable to those of international series. The higher diagnostic yield of laparoscopy makes it an invaluable tool in the management algorithm of women of childbearing age; its advantages in the presence of severe peritonitis are less clear-cut. Surgeons remain the main limiting factor preventing a wider diffusion of LA in our country, since only 47.3% of surgeons from the audited institutions can perform LA on a routine basis.

Evidence for the Confraternity of S. Pietro Martire at San Zanipolo, Venice

This conference paper looks at evidence of 15th- and 16th-century saints' images on carved door frames at the church of S. Zanipolo (SS Giovanni e Paolo) in Venice, using them to help locate and reconstruct the history of the 'albergo' of the confraternity dedicated to St Peter Martyr and St Vincent Ferrer. Suggestions are made concerning the possible relationship of confraternity buildings outside a church to altars dedicated to the same saint(s) within that church.

Giovanni Battista Montano as Architectural Draughtsman: Recording the Past and Designing the Future

Giovanni Battista Montano (1534-1621), who was born in Milan and trained as a woodcarver, relocated permanently to Rome in the early 1570s where his interest in sculpting was replaced by intense study of the city’s antique monuments and ruins. Although Montano carried out several sculptural and architectural projects during his time in Rome, it is his surviving corpus of drawings that testifies to his passion of exploring ancient architecture through the medium of drawing. While Montano was not famous during his lifetime, a large body of his intriguing designs became celebrated and widely circulated after his death thanks to the 1624 publication of Montano’s designs by his loyal pupil, Giovanni Battista Soria. Montano’s lifelong work differs from virtually all of his predecessors and contemporaries in its “fantastical” and ornamental nature. This thesis explores Montano’s artistic training as it relates to his later interest in imaginatively reconstructing antique buildings, along with his disregard for archaeological or historical accuracy. The subject matter upon which Montano focused is discussed, along with his objective in creating a large corpus of half-historical, half-invented drawings. His drawing techniques are explored with specific reference to the largest group of extant Montano drawings, today housed in Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, England, and also in reference to three original Montano drawings in the Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. Also explored is the legacy and impact of Montano’s drawings and the later publications of his designs on the works of Roman Baroque architects, specifically Borromini and Bernini. This thesis ultimately attempts to understand the impact of the intellectual and artistic environment surrounding Montano in late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Rome, his drawing techniques, his choice of subject matter, and the reception that his unique works received from contemporary artists and intellectuals, along with those of the following generation.