Francesco Petrarca: Poet and Humanist

Genetic analysis of the skeletal remains attributed to Francesco Petrarca.

We report on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis of the supposed remains of Francesco Petrarca exhumed in November 2003, from the S. Maria Assunta church, in Arquà Padua (Italy) where he died in 1374. The optimal preservation of the remains allowed the retrieval of sufficient mtDNA for genetic analysis. DNA was extracted from a rib and a tooth and mtDNA sequences were determined in multiple ...

Michael Servetus Humanist and Martyr

there are not available the textbooks and reference works summarizing the fundamentals of the field as are found in older and more established sciences. Consequently, this reviewer has found it profitable to keep his copies of Progress in Biophysics near at hand as a general reference work. The present volume is a worthy addition, but it is feared that the price will discourage many individuals...

Teaching with a Humanist

The Pathologist as Poet

The role of the humanities (eg, philosophy, bioethics, literature, music, theater, religion, anthropology) in medical education has been argued long and hard for decades. It is argued that the study of subjects included in the humanities can enhance critical thinking skills, foster a deeper level of learning and understanding, and help to enhance one's level of compassion, empathy, and moral/et...

Francesco Martinelli and

In this note we consider a fluid flow, single part-type, single unreliable machine production system with a bounded backlog/inventory space. We prove that, as in the unbounded case, the problem of minimizing an infinite horizon average demand loss/backlog/surplus cost is solved by a hedging point policy. An implicit equation is given, whose structure easily allows to numerically evaluate the op...