The EMAS Registration of the Livenza Furniture District in the Province of Pordenone (Italy)

Abstract: One of the most important manufacturing areas of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region is the territory close to Pordenone, the Livenza furniture district. This industrial district, consisting of industries of wood, wood and cork products, furniture, straw articles, and weave materials, located in 11 municipalities of that area, was the \ufb01rst Italian district to obtain the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) Registration in 2006. Data and information from a questionnaire compiled by more than 100 \ufb01rms and 11 municipalities of the district were used to draw up the territorial environmental analysis (TEA). For the EMAS registration renewal, obtained in 2016, the TEA was updated by reviewing the methodology of the environmental impact evaluation: the ecological footprint(EF)wascomparedwiththecarryingcapacity(CC)ofthatarea. Theresultsputinlightthat theEFwasgreaterthantheCC.Severalactionsforreducingtheenvironmentalimpactsofthedistrict activities were highlighted

The EMAS Recognition of the Livenza Furniture District in the Province of Pordenone (Italy)

The EC Regulation No 761/2001, known as EMAS II, provided the possibility of obtaining the EMAS recognition also by industrial districts. As a consequence, the Livenza furniture district obtained the EMAS recognition in 2006 as the first industrial district in Italy. The Livenza district includes several manufacturing enterprises which carry out their activity in 11 municipalities of the province of Pordenone, Italy. Industries of wood, wood and cork products, straw articles, weave materials and furniture take part in the district. A Territorial Environmental Analysis was drawn up to obtain the recognition, by collecting data and information from questionnaires compiled by more than 100 firms and by the 11 municipalities of the district. For the EMAS registration renewal, obtained by the district in 2016, the Territorial Environmental Analysis was updated by revising in particular the methodology of evaluation of environmental impacts. More specifically, Ecological Footprint (EF) (that is, the quantitative evaluation of consumption of raw materials and energy and of waste production) was compared with Carrying Capacity (CC) (that is, the quantitative evaluation of the area able to assure the availability of the resources required and to absorb waste produced). In this way, it was possible to put in light that the EF of the district is much greater than the corresponding CC. The main actions which might be chosen to reduce EF have been pinpointed, with the aim of warranting a better sustainability of the district activities

Improving Numerical Accuracy for Non-Negative Matrix Multiplication on GPUs using Recursive Algorithms

ABSTRACT Scientific computing is only bound by the limits of Moore's Law and the scalability of high performance mathematical library implementations. Most mathematical libraries however tend to focus only on general inputs, limiting their potential performance and scalability by not tailoring their implementation to specific inputs, such as non-negative inputs. By removing this limitation it is possible to improve the performance and accuracy of a range of problems. In this paper we explore the limitations of hardware to improve accuracy of non-negative matrix multiply by specifically comparing implementations on the GPU and CPU and propose algorithmic solutions to improve accuracy. Next, we demonstrate a matrix multiply implementation that takes advantage of asymptotically fast matrix multiply algorithms, which have been shown to scale better than O(N 3 ) matrix multiply implementations, and improve accuracy by up to a whole digit while increasing performance by up to 27% for matrices where the input is positive. Finally, we propose to extend the BLAS level 3 specification to non-negative matrices to allow easy integration of our solution and allow other library authors to implement their own solutions as part of an existing standard

Systemic immunosuppression plus local production of CTLA4-Ig to control rejection of transgenic pig neuroblasts in non-human primates

International audienc

Systemic immunosuppression plus local production of CTLA4-Ig to control rejection of transgenic pig neuroblasts in non-human primates

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) results from the selective degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Transplantation of neural precursors has been attempted as a therapeutic approach in PD patients with variable outcomes. In this context, we studied porcine cell survival, maturation and functional recovery using a challenging model of xenogeneic intrastriatal implantation of mesencephalic dopaminergic-enriched grafts in PD primates. Methods: PD was induced in 23 macaques by repeated exposure to MPTP. Once stable lesions were obtained, PD monkeys were unilaterally injected in the left putamen with neural cells from 9 to 10 CTLA4-Ig+ (n = 18) or wild type pig embryos (n = 6). All primates were immunosuppressed using a clinically applicable immunosuppressive regimen based on cyclosporin A, mycophenolate sodium and steroids. The immunosuppressive therapy lasted for at least one month. Xenograft survival and function was determined by clinical neurological assessment, analysis of locomotor activity (Ethovision software), brain imaging (PET scan with 18F- DOPA), and histological studies at the end of each experiment. Results: Behavioural studies performed for up to 957 days showed an optimal recovery of spontaneous locomotion in primates receiving CTLA4-Ig+ transgenic neurons plus systemic immunosuppression for at least 6 months. In these animals, recovery was associated with a partial restoration of dopaminergic activity detected by PET scans in all primates transplanted with CTLA4-Ig+ neural precursors and submitted to long term immunosuppression. Histological analysis of the brains revealed the presence of large porcine xenografts composed of dopaminergic, serotoninergic and GABAergic differentiated neurons and various glial components that were not observed in animals receiving wild type neurons. Longterm presence of the xenograft was usually associated with local infiltration by T cells and CD80/86 positive microglial cells, expressing indoleamine dioxygenase (IDO) that was observed only in recipients of CTLA4-Ig+ pig embryos. Conclusions: These studies demonstrate that transplantation of porcine embryonic grafts in the striatum of immunosuppressed PD primates may enable long term xenograft survival and differentiation, associated with considerable improvement of locomotor activity. Our data also suggest a synergistic immunomodulatory effect due to local blockade of T cell costimulation

Cell therapy for Parkinson's disease: A translational approach to assess the role of local and systemic immunosuppression

Neural transplantation is a promising therapeutic approach for neurodegenerative diseases. However, many patients receiving intracerebral fetal allografts exhibit signs of immunization to donor antigens that could compromise the graft. In this context, we intracerebrally transplanted mesencephalic pig xenografts into primates to identify a suitable strategy to enable long-term cell survival, maturation and differentiation. Parkinsonian primates received wild-type or CTLA4-Ig transgenic porcine xenografts and different durations of peripheral immunosuppression to test whether systemic plus graft-mediated local immunosuppression might avoid rejection. A striking recovery of spontaneous locomotion was observed in primates receiving systemic plus local immunosuppression for 6 months. Recovery was associated with restoration of dopaminergic activity detected both by PET imaging and histological examination. Local infiltration by T-cells and CD80/86-positive microglial cells expressing indoleamine 2,3-dioxigenase were observed only in CTLA4-Ig recipients. Results suggest that, in this primate neurotransplantation model, peripheral immunosuppression is indispensable to achieve the long-term survival of porcine neuronal xenografts that is required to study the beneficial immunomodulatory effect of local blockade of T-cell costimulation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved