This PhD thesis consists of three projects: the first and the second ones, carried out at Sapienza University of Rome, deal with the design and synthesis of novel COX-2 selective inhibitors and dual COX-2 inhibitors/NO-releasing agents, respectively. The third project concerns the development of a novel BRD9 chemical probe and was realized at the University of Oxford (Department of Chemistry).

Considering the seismic behaviour of cultural heritage buildings, recent earthquakes have emphasised the high vulnerability of vaulted structures. In this regard, the present thesis deals with masonry cross vaults, among the most diffused and fascinating structural typologies of the European cultural heritage. After a thorough review of cross vault historical developments, the focus is shifted to the shaking table tests of a scaled arch. These two points provided valuable information to calibrate the finite element model of cross vault, discussed next. Finally, the influence of the main geometrical and mechanical parameters on the seismic capacity of cross vaults are examined by means of a sensitivity analysis.

The topic of proactivity of brain functions has become of growing interest in the cognitive neuroscience. Brain activity is no longer described solely in a reactive way, but also as preparatory and predictive of future events. This volume focuses especially on the neurocognitive activities associated with anticipatory processes of perceptual decision-making. What does the brain do to prevent mistakes? Is it possible to prevent speed and accuracy of a decision even before it is made? Why do some people perform better or worse than others? The volume answers these and other questions through the description of some original research. In particular, electroencephalographic investigations are illustrated which allowed to define a first version of the model known as “preparation-perception-action cycle”. Present findings reveal theoretical and practical implications which constitute a useful reference for researchers and scholars interested in discovering the aware and unaware ways in which our brain anticipates the future.

This volume collects the main results of the Author’s Ph.D. course in Electromagnetics and Mathematical Models for Engineering, attended at ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome from November 2011 to February 2015, in the Electromagnetic Fields 1 Lab of the Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, under the tutoring of Prof. Alessandro Galli.

Living organisms are adapted to their environment. Modern compilers and runtime systems for computer software are no different: as part of a continuous optimization process, they can adapt the execution cycle of a program to the workload it operates on. This thesis brings novel ideas to the software optimization domain. It illustrates methodological and practical contributions that advance the state of the art for performance profiling techniques and adaptive runtime designs, backed by promising experimental results on industrial-strength benchmarks. Part of the results has been presented in flagship programming language venues.

Neuropathic pain is a common problem in clinical practice, which affects patients quality of life. The more recent approach to this peculiar type of pain is based on the “sensory profiles theory”. According to this theory, neuropathic pain manifests with different combinations of sensory abnormalities, which in turn arise through different pathophysiological mechanisms. Convincing evidence now suggests that the classification of neuropathic pain according to a mechanism-based approach rather than etiology could help in targeting the therapy for the individual patient and would be useful for testing new drugs. My work has therefore focused on disclosing the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying neuropathic pain and how they translate into symptoms.