A. Martini - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by A. Martini
Biodiversity and other branches of biological research require rapid and inex- pensive methods to... more Biodiversity and other branches of biological research require rapid and inex- pensive methods to extract and purify DNA, able to process several samples simultaneous- ly, thus allowing an extensive approach to the molecular study of diversity in nature. One problem is the necessity of choosing between rapid methods able to produce relatively crude products or time-consuming procedure yielding nucleic acids
Epidemiologia e prevenzione
To describe temporal trends in AIDS incidence and mortality in an Italian region. Descriptive stu... more To describe temporal trends in AIDS incidence and mortality in an Italian region. Descriptive study based on incidence and mortality registries. Tuscany. AIDS incidence and mortality annual truncated rates, age-standardized; joinpoint analysis highlighted significant changes in the temporal trends. AIDS incidence rose until 1995 and then decreased by 30% every year; AIDS mortality rose in men until 1995 and in women until 1996, then decreased by 35.9% and 49.7% every year respectively. Differences in AIDS mortality have been found between the residents of the coastline municipalities and those of other municipalities. Differences in the temporal trends may mirror differences in risk group composition and in health-care access.
Immunology, 1978
The fate of mouse spleen cells, stimulated with Concanavalin (Con A) and labelled with [3H] thymi... more The fate of mouse spleen cells, stimulated with Concanavalin (Con A) and labelled with [3H] thymidine in culture, has been followed after transfer into recipients, syngeneic to the cell donors. The labelled cells, localizing in the spleen, were found mainly in the white pulp in both germinal centre and periarteriolar sheath areas. The number of cells with labelled nuclei found in the spleens of recipients was much greater than could be accounted for simply on the basis of the radioactivity present. Using donor cells, whose DNA had been substituted with bromodeoxyuridine (BUdr) in sufficient amounts to increase its buoyant density, it was concluded that redistribution of label rather than cell division was responsible for this increase of labelled nuclei. In addition to these findings, the spleens of recipient mice showed evidence of a vigorous immunological response to the donor cells, very similar to that following injection of an antigen such as sheep red cells. These results show...
Introduction . Smoking is the largest preventable cause of health impairment. An important and ch... more Introduction . Smoking is the largest preventable cause of health impairment. An important and challenging task for health professionals is to communicate the health benefits associated with smoking cessation. A simple and effective way could be to compute, for each individual smoker, the number of life years which he/she may gain by quitting smoking. Aim . To estimate gain in life years associated with smoking cessation by using Italian data. Methods . We computed mortality tables [1] based on Italian data, specific for current and former smokers. Subsequently, the survival curves of former and current smokers were compared to estimate the number of life years gained with quitting smoking at various ages [2], by gender and number of cig. smoked per day. Results . As an example, based on the implemented statistical model, men and women smoking 10-19 cig. per day and quitting at age 30, 40, 50, or 60 years, gained about 7, 7, 6, or 5, and 5, 5, 4, or 3 years of life, respectively. The gain in life years was higher for men and women smoking more cig. per day (9 years for > 20 cig.) and lower for light smokers (2 years for 1-9 cig.) and related to age of quitting. Conclusions . Cessation at any age provides meaningful life gain, especially for heavy smokers. The novelty of this study is to provide estimates of life years gain for Italian smokers who quit according to the number of cig. smoked per day. [1] Woloshin S, et al. The risk of death by age, sex, and smoking status in the United States: putting health risks in context. J Natl Cancer Inst 2008; 100: 845-853. [2] Doll R, et al. Mortality in relation to smoking: 40 years9 observations on male British doctors. BMJ 1994; 309: 901-911.
The article focuses on a research that explains the variation of friction in lubricated system by... more The article focuses on a research that explains the variation of friction in lubricated system by using graphene layers. It mentions that graphite is widely used in lubricated system as it has weak interlayer interaction strength that cause low friction. It reflects on the use of friction force microscopy (FFM) to study the nanostructure of graphene and mentions that graphene explains the phenomenon of wrinkle formation in lubricants and impact of layers or sheet size on friction
Intelligent Knowledge-Based Systems, 2005
... Iansiti (1995) highlights how "concurrent engineering models normally do not... more ... Iansiti (1995) highlights how "concurrent engineering models normally do not imply the simultaneous execution ~f conceptu-alisation and implementation, but rather thejoint participation ifdifferentfunctional groups in the execution ifthese separate and sequential sets of activities ...
Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, 2013
ABSTRACT To achieve successful business, large software companies employ Agile Software Developme... more ABSTRACT To achieve successful business, large software companies employ Agile Software Development to be fast and responsive in addressing customer needs. However, a large number of small, independent and fast teams suffer from excessive inter-team interactions, which may lead to paralysis. In this paper we provide a framework to understand how such interactions affect business goals dependent on speed. We detect factors causing observable interaction effects that generate speed waste. By combining data and literature, we provide recommendations to manage such factors, complementing current Agile practices so that they can be adapted in large software organizations.
Continuous Software Engineering, 2014
A known problem in large software companies is to balance the return on investment coming from sh... more A known problem in large software companies is to balance the return on investment coming from short-term and long-term business goals dependent on the responsiveness of the companies. In the previous chapter we have found challenges in interactions between the Agile team and other parts of the organization. We have conducted an investigation on three large product line companies employing Agile software development in order to find practices that would mitigate the challenges.
Continuous Software Engineering, 2014
Agile software development is broadly adopted in industry and works well for small-scale projects... more Agile software development is broadly adopted in industry and works well for small-scale projects. In the context of large-scale development, however, there is a need for additional structure in the form of roles and practices, especially in the area of software architecture. In this chapter, we introduce the CAFFEA framework that defines a model for architecture governance. The framework defines three roles, i.e., chief architect, governance architect, and team architect, as well as a set of practices and responsibilities assigned to these roles. The CAFFEA framework has been developed and validated in close collaboration with several companies.
Langmuir, 2014
Suspended graphene exhibits distinct behavior in which nanoscale friction first increases and the... more Suspended graphene exhibits distinct behavior in which nanoscale friction first increases and then decreases with load; this is in contrast to the monotonic increase of friction with load exhibited by most materials, including graphene supported by a substrate. In this work, these friction trends are reproduced for the first time using molecular dynamics simulations of a nanoscale probe scanning on suspended and supported graphene. The atomic-scale detail available in the simulations is used to correlate friction trends to the presence and size of a wrinkle on the graphene surface in front of the probe. The simulations also provide information about how frictional load dependence is affected by the size of the graphene, the size of the probe, and the strength of the interaction between graphene and probe.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2014
Page 2399, Figure 3. Death rates for never smokers were computed using death rates for current an... more Page 2399, Figure 3. Death rates for never smokers were computed using death rates for current and former smokers specific for each class of cigarettes smoked per day (1-9 cig./day, 10-19 cig./day, ≥20 cig./day). As a consequence, death rates for never smokers resulted cig./dayspecific and not uniquely defined. To solve this problem we computed death rates for never
Production Planning & Control, 2011
... Since 1998, there has been a radical decrease in the number of contributions referring to Jap... more ... Since 1998, there has been a radical decrease in the number of contributions referring to Japanese management concepts and Imai's work on kaizen (ie the so-called 'hard' perspective), while the number of articles ... [CrossRef], [Web of Science ®] View all references, Cua et al. ...
Journal of Hepatology, 2014
The Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2009
Background: Making the right diagnosis in patients with cardiac arrest or peri-arrest (shock and ... more Background: Making the right diagnosis in patients with cardiac arrest or peri-arrest (shock and severe respiratory failure) is often difficult when based only on the clinical evaluation. Objective: To study the feasibility and the diagnostictherapeutic impact of integrated ultrasound in patients with cardiac arrest or peri-arrest in the emergency department (ED). Patients and Methods: We enrolled 30 patients admitted to the ED of the Pinerolo General Hospital (Turin, Italy), 14 with cardiac arrest (pulseless electrical activity [PEA] 12, ventricular fibrillation 1, asystole 1), and 16 in peri-arrest. All patients were managed according to Advanced Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support guidelines; in addition, they underwent extensive ultrasonographic evaluation, primarily focused on heart or lungs, then extended to other body districts, if needed. We evaluated: feasibility, diagnostic-therapeutic impact, and potential support in procedure execution. Results: The integrated ultrasound approach was feasible in all patients, in a short time and without interfering with other procedures. Heart was evaluated in 30 patients (100%), lungs in 11 (37%), inferior vena cava in 9 (30%), and other districts in 11 (37%). In 19 of 30 patients (63%), the diagnosis was defined based on ultrasound results: pulmonary embolism 7, cardiac tamponade 1, acute pulmonary edema 2, myocardial infarction 1, aortic valve endocarditis 1, aortic dissection 1, pneumothorax 1, acute respiratory distress syndrome 1, and hypovolemia 4. Ultrasound findings led to therapeutic changes in 13 of 30 patients (43%): thrombolysis 6, discontinuation of chest compressions during pseudo-PEA 2, fluid resuscitation 1, pericardiocentesis 1, chest tube 1, antibiotics 1, and anticoagulation 1. In 9 of 30 patients (30%), invasive procedures were performed with ultrasound support. Conclusion: In patients with cardiac arrest or peri-arrest, integrated ultrasound is feasible in a short time and has high diagnostic-therapeutic impact, leading to better diagnostic definition and therapeutic variations in over half of the patients.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2001
The differential sensitivities to toxins produced by a short panel of four killer yeasts allowed ... more The differential sensitivities to toxins produced by a short panel of four killer yeasts allowed discrimination between 91 strains of the yeast Candida albicans and 223 non- C. albicans Candida strains. One hundred percent of C. albicans isolates exhibited negative results to the toxin panel, while 100% of non- C. albicans cultures gave well-defined and reproducible positive results to at least one of the four killer toxins. Among C. albicans strains only 96 and 87% gave germ tube (GT)- and chlamydospore-positive results, respectively. In addition a few GT-false-positive strains were detected among non- C. albicans isolates. Susceptibility to the toxin panel is apparently expressed more consistently than either GT or chlamydospore production and may constitute a promising basis for a new simple and easy-to-use procedure for routine discrimination between the species C. albicans and other species of the genus Candida .
International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, 2009
ABSTRACT Challenged by competition pressures and the unprecedented pace of change, firms cannot c... more ABSTRACT Challenged by competition pressures and the unprecedented pace of change, firms cannot choose anymore whether to concentrate on the needs of today's customers or on the anticipation of tomorrow's needs: they must be excellent at both. This requires managing two related balancing acts: on the one side, being excellent in both the exploitation and exploration of their capabilities and, on the other side, being excellent in managing both incremental and radical innovation. These two balances are critical since exploitation and exploration, on the one side, and incremental and radical innovation, on the other side, require different approaches that have been traditionally considered difficult to combine within the same organisation. Our objective is to begin to shed light on the necessity of considering these balancing acts in a global perspective and on how companies can combine them. We performed a retrospective case study of Microlambda/Selenia, which was successful in achieving and maintaining a combination of these two balancing acts.
European Journal of Pediatrics, 1996
Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 2003
Response surface analysis was applied in optimising volatile organic compound (VOC) production by... more Response surface analysis was applied in optimising volatile organic compound (VOC) production by shaken-flask cultures of a selected Candida oleophila strain. A fractional factorial experiment (2 n−k) was designed by setting four parameters at two levels: pH (3-7), concentration of yeast extract (YE = 5-15 g l −1), glucose (C = 10-30 g l −1) and (NH 4) 2 HPO 4 (N = 5-15 g l −1). VOCs produced were sampled by means of headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME), separated and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). On the basis of the results of factorial design, YE and C were optimised by performing a central composite design. Second order polynomial models and response diagrams were obtained for total VOCs (VOC1), esters (EST) and isoamyl acetate (IAA) production. A range of variation of YE and C able to maximise simultaneously all three responses has been found. Average final values of responses (VOC1 = 125.3 mg l −1 ; EST = 18.1 mg l −1 ; IAA = 16.80 mg l −1) were in good agreement with calculated values, thus confirming the reliability of our empirical model in describing VOC production.
Digestive and Liver Disease, 2014
Biodiversity and other branches of biological research require rapid and inex- pensive methods to... more Biodiversity and other branches of biological research require rapid and inex- pensive methods to extract and purify DNA, able to process several samples simultaneous- ly, thus allowing an extensive approach to the molecular study of diversity in nature. One problem is the necessity of choosing between rapid methods able to produce relatively crude products or time-consuming procedure yielding nucleic acids
Epidemiologia e prevenzione
To describe temporal trends in AIDS incidence and mortality in an Italian region. Descriptive stu... more To describe temporal trends in AIDS incidence and mortality in an Italian region. Descriptive study based on incidence and mortality registries. Tuscany. AIDS incidence and mortality annual truncated rates, age-standardized; joinpoint analysis highlighted significant changes in the temporal trends. AIDS incidence rose until 1995 and then decreased by 30% every year; AIDS mortality rose in men until 1995 and in women until 1996, then decreased by 35.9% and 49.7% every year respectively. Differences in AIDS mortality have been found between the residents of the coastline municipalities and those of other municipalities. Differences in the temporal trends may mirror differences in risk group composition and in health-care access.
Immunology, 1978
The fate of mouse spleen cells, stimulated with Concanavalin (Con A) and labelled with [3H] thymi... more The fate of mouse spleen cells, stimulated with Concanavalin (Con A) and labelled with [3H] thymidine in culture, has been followed after transfer into recipients, syngeneic to the cell donors. The labelled cells, localizing in the spleen, were found mainly in the white pulp in both germinal centre and periarteriolar sheath areas. The number of cells with labelled nuclei found in the spleens of recipients was much greater than could be accounted for simply on the basis of the radioactivity present. Using donor cells, whose DNA had been substituted with bromodeoxyuridine (BUdr) in sufficient amounts to increase its buoyant density, it was concluded that redistribution of label rather than cell division was responsible for this increase of labelled nuclei. In addition to these findings, the spleens of recipient mice showed evidence of a vigorous immunological response to the donor cells, very similar to that following injection of an antigen such as sheep red cells. These results show...
Introduction . Smoking is the largest preventable cause of health impairment. An important and ch... more Introduction . Smoking is the largest preventable cause of health impairment. An important and challenging task for health professionals is to communicate the health benefits associated with smoking cessation. A simple and effective way could be to compute, for each individual smoker, the number of life years which he/she may gain by quitting smoking. Aim . To estimate gain in life years associated with smoking cessation by using Italian data. Methods . We computed mortality tables [1] based on Italian data, specific for current and former smokers. Subsequently, the survival curves of former and current smokers were compared to estimate the number of life years gained with quitting smoking at various ages [2], by gender and number of cig. smoked per day. Results . As an example, based on the implemented statistical model, men and women smoking 10-19 cig. per day and quitting at age 30, 40, 50, or 60 years, gained about 7, 7, 6, or 5, and 5, 5, 4, or 3 years of life, respectively. The gain in life years was higher for men and women smoking more cig. per day (9 years for > 20 cig.) and lower for light smokers (2 years for 1-9 cig.) and related to age of quitting. Conclusions . Cessation at any age provides meaningful life gain, especially for heavy smokers. The novelty of this study is to provide estimates of life years gain for Italian smokers who quit according to the number of cig. smoked per day. [1] Woloshin S, et al. The risk of death by age, sex, and smoking status in the United States: putting health risks in context. J Natl Cancer Inst 2008; 100: 845-853. [2] Doll R, et al. Mortality in relation to smoking: 40 years9 observations on male British doctors. BMJ 1994; 309: 901-911.
The article focuses on a research that explains the variation of friction in lubricated system by... more The article focuses on a research that explains the variation of friction in lubricated system by using graphene layers. It mentions that graphite is widely used in lubricated system as it has weak interlayer interaction strength that cause low friction. It reflects on the use of friction force microscopy (FFM) to study the nanostructure of graphene and mentions that graphene explains the phenomenon of wrinkle formation in lubricants and impact of layers or sheet size on friction
Intelligent Knowledge-Based Systems, 2005
... Iansiti (1995) highlights how "concurrent engineering models normally do not... more ... Iansiti (1995) highlights how "concurrent engineering models normally do not imply the simultaneous execution ~f conceptu-alisation and implementation, but rather thejoint participation ifdifferentfunctional groups in the execution ifthese separate and sequential sets of activities ...
Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, 2013
ABSTRACT To achieve successful business, large software companies employ Agile Software Developme... more ABSTRACT To achieve successful business, large software companies employ Agile Software Development to be fast and responsive in addressing customer needs. However, a large number of small, independent and fast teams suffer from excessive inter-team interactions, which may lead to paralysis. In this paper we provide a framework to understand how such interactions affect business goals dependent on speed. We detect factors causing observable interaction effects that generate speed waste. By combining data and literature, we provide recommendations to manage such factors, complementing current Agile practices so that they can be adapted in large software organizations.
Continuous Software Engineering, 2014
A known problem in large software companies is to balance the return on investment coming from sh... more A known problem in large software companies is to balance the return on investment coming from short-term and long-term business goals dependent on the responsiveness of the companies. In the previous chapter we have found challenges in interactions between the Agile team and other parts of the organization. We have conducted an investigation on three large product line companies employing Agile software development in order to find practices that would mitigate the challenges.
Continuous Software Engineering, 2014
Agile software development is broadly adopted in industry and works well for small-scale projects... more Agile software development is broadly adopted in industry and works well for small-scale projects. In the context of large-scale development, however, there is a need for additional structure in the form of roles and practices, especially in the area of software architecture. In this chapter, we introduce the CAFFEA framework that defines a model for architecture governance. The framework defines three roles, i.e., chief architect, governance architect, and team architect, as well as a set of practices and responsibilities assigned to these roles. The CAFFEA framework has been developed and validated in close collaboration with several companies.
Langmuir, 2014
Suspended graphene exhibits distinct behavior in which nanoscale friction first increases and the... more Suspended graphene exhibits distinct behavior in which nanoscale friction first increases and then decreases with load; this is in contrast to the monotonic increase of friction with load exhibited by most materials, including graphene supported by a substrate. In this work, these friction trends are reproduced for the first time using molecular dynamics simulations of a nanoscale probe scanning on suspended and supported graphene. The atomic-scale detail available in the simulations is used to correlate friction trends to the presence and size of a wrinkle on the graphene surface in front of the probe. The simulations also provide information about how frictional load dependence is affected by the size of the graphene, the size of the probe, and the strength of the interaction between graphene and probe.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2014
Page 2399, Figure 3. Death rates for never smokers were computed using death rates for current an... more Page 2399, Figure 3. Death rates for never smokers were computed using death rates for current and former smokers specific for each class of cigarettes smoked per day (1-9 cig./day, 10-19 cig./day, ≥20 cig./day). As a consequence, death rates for never smokers resulted cig./dayspecific and not uniquely defined. To solve this problem we computed death rates for never
Production Planning & Control, 2011
... Since 1998, there has been a radical decrease in the number of contributions referring to Jap... more ... Since 1998, there has been a radical decrease in the number of contributions referring to Japanese management concepts and Imai's work on kaizen (ie the so-called 'hard' perspective), while the number of articles ... [CrossRef], [Web of Science ®] View all references, Cua et al. ...
Journal of Hepatology, 2014
The Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2009
Background: Making the right diagnosis in patients with cardiac arrest or peri-arrest (shock and ... more Background: Making the right diagnosis in patients with cardiac arrest or peri-arrest (shock and severe respiratory failure) is often difficult when based only on the clinical evaluation. Objective: To study the feasibility and the diagnostictherapeutic impact of integrated ultrasound in patients with cardiac arrest or peri-arrest in the emergency department (ED). Patients and Methods: We enrolled 30 patients admitted to the ED of the Pinerolo General Hospital (Turin, Italy), 14 with cardiac arrest (pulseless electrical activity [PEA] 12, ventricular fibrillation 1, asystole 1), and 16 in peri-arrest. All patients were managed according to Advanced Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support guidelines; in addition, they underwent extensive ultrasonographic evaluation, primarily focused on heart or lungs, then extended to other body districts, if needed. We evaluated: feasibility, diagnostic-therapeutic impact, and potential support in procedure execution. Results: The integrated ultrasound approach was feasible in all patients, in a short time and without interfering with other procedures. Heart was evaluated in 30 patients (100%), lungs in 11 (37%), inferior vena cava in 9 (30%), and other districts in 11 (37%). In 19 of 30 patients (63%), the diagnosis was defined based on ultrasound results: pulmonary embolism 7, cardiac tamponade 1, acute pulmonary edema 2, myocardial infarction 1, aortic valve endocarditis 1, aortic dissection 1, pneumothorax 1, acute respiratory distress syndrome 1, and hypovolemia 4. Ultrasound findings led to therapeutic changes in 13 of 30 patients (43%): thrombolysis 6, discontinuation of chest compressions during pseudo-PEA 2, fluid resuscitation 1, pericardiocentesis 1, chest tube 1, antibiotics 1, and anticoagulation 1. In 9 of 30 patients (30%), invasive procedures were performed with ultrasound support. Conclusion: In patients with cardiac arrest or peri-arrest, integrated ultrasound is feasible in a short time and has high diagnostic-therapeutic impact, leading to better diagnostic definition and therapeutic variations in over half of the patients.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2001
The differential sensitivities to toxins produced by a short panel of four killer yeasts allowed ... more The differential sensitivities to toxins produced by a short panel of four killer yeasts allowed discrimination between 91 strains of the yeast Candida albicans and 223 non- C. albicans Candida strains. One hundred percent of C. albicans isolates exhibited negative results to the toxin panel, while 100% of non- C. albicans cultures gave well-defined and reproducible positive results to at least one of the four killer toxins. Among C. albicans strains only 96 and 87% gave germ tube (GT)- and chlamydospore-positive results, respectively. In addition a few GT-false-positive strains were detected among non- C. albicans isolates. Susceptibility to the toxin panel is apparently expressed more consistently than either GT or chlamydospore production and may constitute a promising basis for a new simple and easy-to-use procedure for routine discrimination between the species C. albicans and other species of the genus Candida .
International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, 2009
ABSTRACT Challenged by competition pressures and the unprecedented pace of change, firms cannot c... more ABSTRACT Challenged by competition pressures and the unprecedented pace of change, firms cannot choose anymore whether to concentrate on the needs of today's customers or on the anticipation of tomorrow's needs: they must be excellent at both. This requires managing two related balancing acts: on the one side, being excellent in both the exploitation and exploration of their capabilities and, on the other side, being excellent in managing both incremental and radical innovation. These two balances are critical since exploitation and exploration, on the one side, and incremental and radical innovation, on the other side, require different approaches that have been traditionally considered difficult to combine within the same organisation. Our objective is to begin to shed light on the necessity of considering these balancing acts in a global perspective and on how companies can combine them. We performed a retrospective case study of Microlambda/Selenia, which was successful in achieving and maintaining a combination of these two balancing acts.
European Journal of Pediatrics, 1996
Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 2003
Response surface analysis was applied in optimising volatile organic compound (VOC) production by... more Response surface analysis was applied in optimising volatile organic compound (VOC) production by shaken-flask cultures of a selected Candida oleophila strain. A fractional factorial experiment (2 n−k) was designed by setting four parameters at two levels: pH (3-7), concentration of yeast extract (YE = 5-15 g l −1), glucose (C = 10-30 g l −1) and (NH 4) 2 HPO 4 (N = 5-15 g l −1). VOCs produced were sampled by means of headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME), separated and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). On the basis of the results of factorial design, YE and C were optimised by performing a central composite design. Second order polynomial models and response diagrams were obtained for total VOCs (VOC1), esters (EST) and isoamyl acetate (IAA) production. A range of variation of YE and C able to maximise simultaneously all three responses has been found. Average final values of responses (VOC1 = 125.3 mg l −1 ; EST = 18.1 mg l −1 ; IAA = 16.80 mg l −1) were in good agreement with calculated values, thus confirming the reliability of our empirical model in describing VOC production.
Digestive and Liver Disease, 2014