Sustainable Community Gardens Require Social Engagement and Training: A Users\u2019 Needs Analysis in Europe

Urban gardens are spreading in many cities across Europe, with community gardening being a fundamental form of urban agriculture. While the literature reveals the essential role that community gardens can play in terms of learning and education, no studies have investigated the training needs for participants in community gardens to ensure their successful development. The goal of this article is to evaluate the training requirements of urban community gardens to ensure their successful implementation and their contribution to sustainability in European cities. Two questionnaires of users\u2019 needs analysis were designed and implemented in Berlin, Bologna, Budapest, and Cartagena. The results unveiled the need to re-enforce the training in the formation and community building phases of community gardens towards ensuring the creation of an engaged gardening community to maintain activity, particularly for top-down activities (e.g., research-related gardens). Users claimed their need for being trained on crop management skills (e.g., maintenance, bed preparation, organic practices) and on communication skills to further disseminate their activity, thereby increasing the potential for citizen engagement. Such requirements could be overcome with the creation of urban gardens networks, where experiences and knowledge are shared among practitioners. Policy recommendations are provided based on the outputs of this study

Prospective, observational, multicenter study on minimally invasive gastrectomy for gastric cancer: robotic, laparoscopic and open surgery compared on operative and follow-up outcomes - IMIGASTRIC II study protocol: IMIGASTRIC II

Background:Several meta-analyses have tried to defi ne the role of minimally invasive approaches. However, further evidence to get a wider spread of these methods is necessary. Current studies describe minimally invasive surgery as a possible alternative to open surgery but deserving further clarifi cation. However, despite the increasing interest, the difficulty of planning prospective studies of adequate size accounts for the low level of evidence, which is mostly based on retrospective experiences.A multi-institutional prospective study allows the collection of an impressive amount of data to investigate various aspects of minimally invasive procedures with the opportunity of developing several subgroup analyses.A prospective data collection with high methodological quality on minimally invasive and open gastrectomies can clarify the role of diff erent procedures with the aim to develop specifi c guidelines.Methods and analysis:a multi-institutional prospective database will be established including information on surgical, clinical and oncological features of patients treated for gastric cancer with robotic, laparoscopic or open approaches and subsequent follow-up.The study has been shared by the members of the International study group on Minimally Invasive surgery for GASTRIc Cancer (IMIGASTRIC)The database is designed to be an international electronic submission system and a HIPPA protected real time data repository from high volume gastric cancer centers.Ethics:This study is conducted in compliance with ethical principles originating from the Helsinki Declaration, within the guidelines of Good Clinical Practice and relevantlaws/regulations.Trial registration number:NCT0275108

MR

Mass drug administration (MDA) programmes against Onchocerca volvulus use ivermectin (IVM) which targets microfilariae (MF), the worm's offspring. Most infected individuals are hyporesponsive and present regulated immune responses despite high parasite burden. Recently, with MDA programmes, the existence of amicrofilaridermic (a-MF) individuals has become apparent but little is known about their immune responses. Within this immunoepidemiological study, we compared parasitology, pathology and immune profiles in infection-free volunteers and infected individuals that were MF+ or a-MF. The latter stemmed from villages in either Central or Ashanti regions of Ghana which, at the time of the study, had received up to eight or only one round of MDA respectively. Interestingly, a-MF patients had fewer nodules and decreased IL-10 responses to all tested stimuli. On the other hand, this patient group displayed contrary IL-5 profiles following in vitro stimulation or in plasma and the dampened response in the latter correlated to reduced eosinophils and associated factors but elevated neutrophils. Furthermore, multivariable regression analysis with covariates MF, IVM or the region (Central vs. Ashanti) revealed that immune responses were associated with different covariates: whereas O. volvulus-specific IL-5 responses were primarily associated with MF, IL-10 secretion had a negative correlation with times of individual IVM therapy (IIT). All plasma parameters (eosinophil cationic protein, IL-5, eosinophils and neutrophils) were highly associated with MF. With regards to IL-17 secretion, although no differences were observed between the groups to filarial-specific or bystander stimuli, these responses were highly associated with the region. These data indicate that immune responses are affected by both, IIT and the rounds of IVM MDA within the community. Consequently, it appears that a lowered infection pressure due to IVM MDA may affect the immune profile of community members even if they have not regularly participated in the programmes

Conservare il non finito: il Magazzino Darsena e il comparto del sale di Cervia

L’oggetto del nostro studio è il Magazzino del sale detto “Darsena” di Cervia. Durante l’elaborazione della tesi sono state affrontate diverse tematiche. La nostra attenzione è stata concentrata inizialmente sullo studio della Città Vecchia e sulla fondazione della Nuova, in rapporto alla nascita del comparto dei magazzini del sale, di cui il Darsena fa parte, e sulle trasformazioni che il manufatto ha subito nel tempo per effetto di questi cambiamenti. Siamo giunte fino all’ultimo, e più rilevante, intervento ad opera dell’Architetto Giancarlo De Carlo, che ha cambiato profondamente la spazialità interna dell’edificio. Questa premessa ha indirizzato lo studio della consistenza dell’edificio e del suo stato di conservazione, riflettendo sulla diversità e convivenza di nuovo e antico. Ci siamo proposte in seguito di intervenire sul manufatto con un progetto di restauro conservativo, accompagnato da una nuova destinazione d’uso che permetta all’edificio il suo riuso. Questa proposta si espande all’esterno dell’edificio, verso un progetto per il comparto del sale

Field monitoring in Mediterranean climate to quantify thermal performances of vertical greening systems

Green envelopes can provide environmental and ecological benefits in dense urban areas, improving air quality, mitigating Urban Heat Island effect, reducing energy use for air conditioning. The present study is based on field monitoring of the pilot project INPS Green Fa\ue7ade, built in Genoa (Italy) to quantify its environmental, economic, and social benefits. The vertical greening system was installed on the south wall of an office building built early in the last century and renovated in the 1980\u2019s, owned by INPS (National Institute of Social Insurance). The facade is exposed to solar radiation several hr/day in summer and 1\u20132 hr/day during winter. The external walls are constituted by two layers of masonry spaced by a 51 cm air gap (resulting from the retrofitting works), with a layer of 5 cm of insulating material. An experimental investigation allows evaluating the thermal performances of a well vegetated vertical greening system during summer and winter. This study demonstrates that a green layer can mitigate outdoor and surface temperatures, thus improve conform conditions and reduce building surfaces warming up (contributing to urban heat island mitigation). The cooling capacity of vertical greening systems, with air temperature difference up to 10\ub0C, can be exploited to reduce energy demand for air conditioning during summer. Although the energy saving for cooling strongly depends on several factors, the results obtained show a potential significant reduction of energy need for air cooling. The consequence of the vertical greening system on energy demand during winter is more complex to define because combined effects can be registered: prevention from solar radiation, shielding from the wind and a natural ventilation of the cavity

Pascoli e l\u2019immaginario degli italiani. Convegno Internazionale di Studi. Bologna, 2-4 aprile 2012

Recensione al volum

Rare breast neoplasms: is there any peculiar feature on magnetic resonance mammography?

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to describe the semiological features of rare breast neoplasms at magnetic resonance mammography (MRM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Out of 468 MRMs of patients with a histological diagnosis of breast malignancy, 27 (5.7%) cases of rare breast neoplasms, confirmed by definitive histological analysis on surgical specimens, were selected: four (0.9%) intracystic papillary neoplasms, four (0.9%) intraductal papillary neoplasms, five (1.0%) invasive papillary neoplasms, two (0.4%) medullary carcinomas, seven (1.5%) mucinous carcinomas, three (0.6%) tubular carcinomas, one (0.2%) tubulo-lobular carcinoma and one (0.2%) desmoid tumour. Two radiologists evaluated the MRM images according to Fischer criteria and indicated a level of diagnostic suspicion. In particular, MRM lesion morphology and enhancement characteristics were analysed. RESULTS: No semiologic features of malignancy or peculiar appearances indicating rare breast neoplasm were identified. On the contrary, MRM appearance was nonspecific and often suggestive of probably benign (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System-BI-RADS 3) (40%) or benign lesions (BI-RADS 2) (7.5%), or lesions were undetectable at MRM (BI-RADS 1) (7.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Frequently, rare breast neoplasms show low suspicious morphologic and kinetic patterns at MRM, and they are often classified as indeterminate lesions. This is probably due to their high grade of differentiation and their histological features

The use of vertical greening systems to reduce the energy demand for air conditioning. Field monitoring in Mediterranean climate

Green envelopes can provide environmental and ecological benefits in dense urban areas, improving air quality, mitigating Urban Heat Island effect, reducing energy use for air conditioning. The aim of the research presented is to determine the performance of vertical greening systems in the Mediterranean climate of Italy, analyzing a pilot project built in the city of Genoa. The authors performed an experimental investigation to evaluate the cooling potential of a well vegetated vertical greening system during summer. Field monitoring of the pilot project INPS (National Institute of Social Insurance) Green Fa\ue7ade, installed in 2014 on the south wall of an office building built early in the last century and renovated in the 1980\u2019s, demonstrates that a green layer can mitigate outdoor and surface temperatures, thus improve conform conditions and reduce building surfaces warming up (contributing to urban heat island mitigation). The cooling capacity of vertical greening systems can be exploited to reduce energy demand for air conditioning (with a theoretical energy saving potential of 26% for summer season). Although the energy saving for cooling strongly depends on several factors, the results obtained show a potential significant reduction of energy need for air conditioning

Optimal planning and economic evaluation of trigeneration districts

Trigeneration, or combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP), is the process by which electricity, heating and cooling are simultaneously generated from the combustion of a fuel. Trigeneration systems for serving the electricity, thermal and cooling loads in residential districts are a possible solution to enhance energy efficiency, reduce fossil fuel consumption and increase the use of renewable energy sources in the residential sector. Technical, economical and financial issues have to be taken into account when planning a trigeneration system, or when expanding an existing generation system. In this chapter a two-step decision support procedure is presented for analysing alternative system configurations. The first step is based on a mixed integer linear programming model that allows to describe the system components in great detail and computes the annual optimal dispatch of the distributed generation system with a hourly discretization, taking into account load profiles, fuel costs and technical constraints. The optimal dispatch is then used for the economic evaluation of the investment, taking into account prices of commodities, taxation, incentives and financial aspects. The procedure allows to compare alternative plant configurations and can be used as a simulation tool, for assessing the system sensitivity to variations of model parameters (e.g. incentives, ratio debt/equity,...)