Spazio pubblico e attrattività urbana. L'Isola e le sue piazze

L’Isola e le sue piazze è un progetto di valorizzazione urbana integrata promosso nel gennaio 2015 da Comune di Milano, Regione Lombardia e Distretto urbano del commercio Isola, volto a promuovere l’identità del quartiere Isola, attraverso la realizzazione di arredi temporanei, eventi e un piano di comunicazione. Entro tale contesto, un gruppo multidisciplinare di ricerca del Politecnico di Milano afferente ai dipartimenti di Architettura e Studi Urbani e di Design, attraverso mappature e rilievi, osservazione diretta e interviste, ha condotto un lavoro di accompagnamento e monitoraggio della proposta risultata vincitrice del bando pubblico. Il volume restituisce gli esiti della ricerca: descrive lo sfondo entro cui è maturato il progetto, racconta le specificità del quartiere, la qualità del suo spazio pubblico, le geografie dell’offerta economica. I testi degli autori della ricerca si intrecciano alle voci di abitanti, di testimoni privilegiati, di rappresentanti delle istituzioni e dell’associazionismo locale che a vario titolo sono stati coinvolti dal progetto, con l’obiettivo di riflettere sulle molteplici dimensioni dello spazio pubblico e dell’attrattività urbana: dagli usi formali e informali ai servizi commerciali di prossimità, dagli eventi che hanno avuto luogo nel periodo osservato alle dinamiche che hanno innescato, fino agli esiti di un inedito bando e alle opportunità della sua replicabilità

Protection of vaccine preventable diseases in a population of hiv-infected children: A 3 years prospective study

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected children have a 30–70% chance of being incompletely immunized and may not respond serologically with the same magnitude or durability as uninfected children. The aim of the study was to describe the rate of protective antibodies titre and the persistence of the response against four recommended vaccinations in HIV infected children and adolescents. A two-phase observational study was performed in which protective IgG antibodies to measles, mumps, rubella and hepatitis B were determined and monitored for 12 and 24 months, in 26 perinatally HIV-infected children. The rate of protection for rubella and hepatitis B was significantly lower in the HIV group compared to the control group (92% vs. 65% for rubella and 78.4% vs. 45.4% for hepatitis B; p < 0.05). Children who received primary vaccination after initiating combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) had a higher rate of response. Seronegative patients who received a booster dose of vaccine had a good immunological response. HIV infection is associated with a lower response to vaccines against rubella and hepatitis. The beginning of cART before vaccination may be associated with a better response. The evaluation of the serological response is crucial in children with HIV infection in order to evaluate the protection of vaccine preventable diseases

Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of Non-linear Vibrational Relaxation of Polyatomic Molecules Strongly Excited by Resonant Laser Radiation

We present a very simple theoretical model aimed at the analysis of non-linear relaxation processes in molecular gases in the presence of partial molecular dissociation induced by vibrational–vibrational exchange between highly excited molecules. The model has a phenomenological character, since it analyzes the behavior of a system of anharmonic diatomic molecules, which is a very rough approximation of a polyatomic molecule such as SF6. Nonetheless, it provides an interesting key for the interpretation of a number of peculiar features characterizing our experimental observation, with which a comparison is made. In particular, the model takes realistic account of the influence of dissociation processes on the relaxation time

The Production of Alternative Urban Spaces An International Dialogue

Alternative urban spaces across civic, private, and public spheres emerge in response to the great challenges that urban actors are currently confronted with. Labour markets are changing rapidly, the availability of affordable housing is under intensifying pressure, and public spaces have become battlegrounds of urban politics. This edited collection brings together contributors in order to spark an international dialogue about the production of alternative urban spaces through a threefold exploration of alternative spaces of work, dwelling, and public life. Seeking out and examining existing alternative urban spaces, the authors identify the elements that provide opportunities to create radically different futures for the world's urban spaces. This volume is the culmination of an international search for alternative practices to dominant modes of capitalist urbanisation, bringing together interdisciplinary, empirically grounded chapters from hot spots in disparate cities around the world. Offering a multidisciplinary perspective, The Production of Alternative Urban Spaces will be of great interest to academics working across the fields of urban sociology, human geography, anthropology, political science, and urban planning. It will also be indispensable to any postgraduate students engaged in urban and regional studies

Is the Armington Elasticity Really Constant across Importers?

This paper shows that the Armington elasticity, which refers to both the elasticity of substitution across goods and the price elasticity of demand under the assumption of a large number of varieties, systematically changes from one importer country to another in an international trade context. Then a natural question to ask is "What determines the Armington elasticity?" The answer comes from the distinction between the elasticity of demand with respect to the destination price (i.e., the Armington elasticity) and the elasticity of demand with respect to the source price. Under additive trade costs, it is shown that the elasticity of demand with respect to the destination price is equal to the sum of the elasticity of demand with respect to the source price and the elasticity of demand with respect to the trade costs. The empirical results using the United States export data at the state level support this relation; hence, it is more likely to have a constant elasticity of demand with respect to the source price rather than a constant Armington elasticity under additive trade costs. In terms of policy implications, the constant Armington elasticity undervalues the effects of a policy change around 3 or 4 times compared to the importer-specific Armington elasticities

Gata2 related conditions and predisposition to pediatric myelodysplastic syndromes

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are hematopoietic disorders rare in childhood, often occurring in patients with inherited bone marrow failure syndromes or germinal predisposition syndromes. Among the latter, one of the most frequent involves the gene GATA binding protein 2 (GATA2), coding for a transcriptional regulator of hematopoiesis. The genetic lesion as well as the clinical phenotype are extremely variable; many patients present hematological malignancies, especially MDS with the possibility to evolve into acute myeloid leukemia. Variable immune dysfunction, especially resulting in B-and NK-cell lymphopenia, lead to severe infections, including generalized warts and mycobacterial infection. Defects of alveolar macrophages lead to pulmonary alveolar proteinosis through inadequate clearance of surfactant proteins. Currently, there are no clear guidelines for the monitoring and treatment of patients with GATA2 mutations. In patients with MDS, the only curative treatment is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) that restores normal hematopoiesis preventing the progression to acute myeloid leukemia and clears long-standing infections. However, to date, the donor type, conditioning regimen, and the optimal time to proceed to HSCT, as well as the level of chimerism needed to reverse the phenotype, remain unclear highlighting the need for consensus guidelines

Measurement of the two-photon absorption cross-section of liquid argon with a time projection chamber

This paper reports on laser-induced multiphoton ionization at 266 nm of liquid argon in a time projection chamber (LAr TPC) detector. The electron signal produced by the laser beam is a formidable tool for the calibration and monitoring of next-generation large-mass LAr TPCs. The detector that we designed and tested allowed us to measure the two-photon absorption cross-section of LAr with unprecedented accuracy and precision: sigma_ex=(1.24\pm 0.10stat \pm 0.30syst) 10^{-56} cm^4s{-1}.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Simple method for the characterization of intense Laguerre-Gauss vector vortex beams

We report on a method for the characterization of intense, structured optical fields through the analysis of the size and surface structures formed inside the annular ablation crater created on the target surface. In particular, we apply the technique to laser ablation of crystalline silicon induced by femtosecond vector vortex beams. We show that a rapid direct estimate of the beam waist parameter is obtained through a measure of the crater radii. The variation of the internal and external radii of the annular crater as a function of the laser pulse energy, at fixed number of pulses, provides another way to evaluate the beam spot size through numerical fitting of the obtained experimental data points. A reliable estimate of the spot size is of paramount importance to investigate pulsed laser-induced effects on the target material. Our experimental findings offer a facile way to characterize focused, high intensity complex optical vector beams which are more and more applied in laser-matter interaction experiments