Ylenia Ricci

"From spolia in se to spolia in re': What does the transformation underneath this sentence implies? !t is a transition from a simple building stone, an element originally used fora specific purpose, to a stone that after being cut and used in a built structure is removed for being used elsewhere. This "survival of the ancient" c an be seen from two di./ferent perspectives, o ne purely pragmatic: the reuse of the spolia as a usejùl element for a specific building, or on a more ideological level: the symbol of a glorious past witnessing values to be preserved. The reuse of the Ancient in the centre of the Roman Istanbul is a process that has left marks, clear but with an uncertain and open interpretation, traces rich in mythological depth but completely to be investigated in their architectural history. In the contribution proposed here, contemporary technologies of digitai survey, modeling and visualization for virtual!augmented reality will be used to investigate the protomes of Medusa located in the Basilica Cistern and formulate hypotheses about their formai and architectural changes.

Fragments, ruined architectures, parts of statues, all these elements have always exercised a strong fascination on humanity, evoking a close or far past and pushing the mind to imagine the piece original aspect and its surroundings, while creating a subtle melancholy which undoubtedly has a strong appeal on many people. At the same time, it is quite common to find the "puzzle" of ancient portions of monuments immersed in their same mystery, where they truly come from: which was their original asset? which series of events have caused such a destruction (and sometimes reconstruction)? Finding some correct answers is something quite difficult, because to read and to interpreter such elements is not easy at all. At the same time these artefacts are often at risk of rapid decay (being broken and damaged or exposed in the natural environment or not located according to their original destination), so they may deserve a proper documentation to preserve at least a (digital) copy. At the same time, their great suggestive potential may be a robust base to create communication about their art, history and context. In the case study proposed here, the Medusa's Heads in Istanbul, Turkey, are the starting point for an investigation and exploration about the original architectures to which these statues were destined. Using digital solutions for survey, interpreting and disseminating the characteristics and a (possible) story about these ancient artworks. The protome of Medusa at the centre of this case study are situated in Istanbul: two of them are quite well known and are inside the Basilica Cistern, while the third one (at all the effects a double head, but with the two heads not separated from the same stone block) is kept in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. The Basilica Cistern, Yerebatan Sarnici in Turkish (which means "Cistern sinking into the ground"), was built in 535 AD by Justinian. The peculiarity of these heads stands in their position inside the Cistern, used as build materials in the basements of two columns. Meeting these fragments push the visitors to wonder about their real origin, because it is quite evident that in this case the "spolia in se" has become "spolia in re"(accordingly to the concept from Richard Brilliant). They missed the apotropaic symbolic function of the horrid that drives away the horrid, but takes on a pragmatic character, it is clearly an element not made specifically for the cistern but taken and reused. The figure of Medusa is known in the mythological world and is a character of material interest since it has been part of the artistic scenario from its first appearances in the 8th century BC, surviving, thanks to the strength of such a character, to the present days, getting many new shapes and interpretations. The tasks of this research are quite essential: getting a high-quality survey of the heads; using the digital model as the base for virtual analysis and reconstructions; creating virtual environments presenting the artworks as they are and inside the digital version of the reconstruction hypothesis. The survey was done in two separate occasions, in 2014 and 2017, using a high resolution professional camera (Nikon D800e) and processing the set of shots in SfM photogrammetry software. Taking simple direct measurements on the artworks allowed to put in scale the digital models. After a proper treatment, the digital models were used as a base for the study and development of various reconstruction hypothesis. All the results of this phase were uploaded to the Sketchfab.com platform, an excellent solution to publish, share and discover 3D, VR and AR contents. The Sketchfab features were then exploited to create a first virtual visit to the Gorgons, controlling 3D animation and activating the Virtual Reality mode to make the model viewable by Virtual Reality devices. To create a simulation of the "Basilica Cisterna" the choice was for Unreal Engine, a perfect solution for creating a virtual environment for immersive devices, like the Oculus Rift, to access the digital version of the Cisterna and to offer a format that can be reused in any museum context. Inside the simulation, with the use of QR codes, the visitor can access detailed documentation about the place and the Gorgons, even the models loaded on Sketchfab.com are accessible within the Cistern virtual space. The access to multimedia material, like 3D models, rendering in 360 panoramic mode and VR/AR contents, gives to the visitors the opportunity to gain a clear idea about the nature of the protome. In this contribution, the procedures, issues and solutions adopted to move from the reality to its virtualization and integration with reconstruction hypothesis will be presented in detail, with video and links to report the reached results.

In recent years, the need to digitize and create digital twins of the ar-chitectural and artistic heritage has been confirmed and accelerated. In this con-text, the DIDA-LXR (Laboratory for eXtended Reality) of the DIDALABS sys-tem, has carried out a series of research on the use of Virtual and Augmented Reality solutions to create and support activities in digital surveying, workshops for architects, and the establishment of a common knowledge basin regarding the existing architectural heritage. In this paper, several experiences are presented, and their workflows and results are shared. The selection focuses on the virtual reconstruction of the Gothic apses in the Cathedral of Fabriano; the reconstruc-tion of the frescoes in Santa Maria dei Bianchi in Gubbio and the virtual recon-struction of the Horrea Agrippiana at the Roman Forum in Rome. Despite these four case studies being different, they all aim at creating a series of products that document the state and possible aspects o...

Importance Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Clinicians may find estimates of the projected long-term benefits of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors a helpful addition to clinical trial results when communicating the benefits of this class of drug to patients. Objective To estimate the projected long-term treatment effects of dapagliflozin in patients with HFrEF over the duration of a patient's lifetime. Design, Setting, and Participants Exploratory analysis was performed of Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Adverse Outcomes in Heart Failure (DAPA-HF), a phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted at 410 sites in 20 countries. Patients with an ejection fraction less than or equal to 40% in New York Heart Association functional classification II to IV and elevated plasma levels of N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide were enrolled between February 15, 2017, and August 17, 2018, with final follow-up on June 6, 2019. Mean (SD) duration of follow-up was 17.6 (5.2) months. Interventions Dapagliflozin, 10 mg, once daily vs placebo in addition to standard therapy. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary composite outcome was time to first hospitalization for heart failure, urgent heart failure visit requiring intravenous therapy, or cardiovascular death. The trial results were extrapolated to estimate the projected long-term treatment effects of dapagliflozin over the duration of a patient's lifetime for the primary outcome and the secondary outcome of death from any cause. Results A total of 4744 patients (1109 women [23.4%]; 3635 men [76.6%]) were randomized in DAPA-HF, with a mean (SD) age of 66.3 (10.9) years. The extrapolated mean event-free survival for an individual aged 65 years from a primary composite end point event was 6.2 years for placebo and 8.3 years for dapagliflozin, representing an event-free survival time gain of 2.1 years (95% CI, 0.8-3.3 years; P = .002). When considering death from any cause, mean extrapolated life expectancy for an individual aged 65 years was 9.1 years for placebo and 10.8 years for dapagliflozin, with a gain in survival of 1.7 years (95% CI, 0.1-3.3; P = .03) with dapagliflozin. Similar results were seen when extrapolated across the age range studied. In analyses of subgroups of patients in DAPA-HF, consistent benefits were seen with dapagliflozin on both event-free and overall survival. Conclusions and Relevance These findings indicate that dapagliflozin provides clinically meaningful gains in extrapolated event-free and overall survival. These findings may be helpful in communicating the benefits of this treatment to patients with HFrEF. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03036124.

The research presented here focuses on the understanding of the act of drawing not only as a means of restitution of the architectural survey but also considering the modernization of the representation techniques. This must be considered as a first step for the creation of virtual environments capable of offering advanced methodologies for the dissemination of the collected data. Expanding the techniques that can be referred to drawing will not only be a necessary process, and one that is already underway, but it will have to strengthen the intrinsic potential of representation. The aim is to communicate and record information with common codes facilitating reading and dissemination. Central to this is the use of drawing as a means of connection between different figures researching a topic. Drawing must be interpreted as the restitution and result of processes of elaboration and codification of the information collected with the survey, that leads us to the modeling and realizatio...