Modelling of a sustainable refugee camp drainage system for stormwater management

A novel decentralised Sustainable Refugee Camp Drainage System (SRCDS) has been developed for the effective management of stormwater in the Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya. The SRCDS uses the principle of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for runoff generated from extreme rainfall events in order to minimise flooding of inhabited areas of the camp. The performance of the drainage system was modelled by the Storm-water Management Model (SWMM) and Micro Drainage Sustainable Drainage Systems (MDSuDS) software to obtain: (i) the total stormwater flow in a sub-catchment in order to obtain total runoff volume and peak runoff rate and (ii) the required dimensions of the SRCDS to effectively drain and store runoff for reuse. The results showed that the total volume of runoff generated over the sub-catchment area reduces significantly as the volume of water drained by the SRCDS increases, and the peak runoff rate decreases as the size of the SRCDS increases. The SRCDS was effective in dealing with the peak rate and total volume of runoff anticipated

THE MANAGEMENT AND CAPITALIZATION OF THE LANDSCAPING POTENTIAL OF THE CRUCII SQUARE FROM TIMISOARA CITY

The Crucii Square is situated in the Elisabetin district in the city of Timisoara, in a residential area. According to a map from 1849, the current Crucii Square is situated on the very line of the building injunction circle around the fortress of Timisoara. The square name originates from an old cross which was preserved until today. Taking into the age of the oldest trees, the square was set as a green space after 1920. The current landscaping consists in tracing and slabbing the allies and building a new hero monument, also dates from after 1920. The square’s surface is of 6255mp. In the present paper we carried out an estimate of the green space and determined the current vegetation state, since green cadastre is the only way to determine the real state of green spaces belonging to a city’s patrimony, including parks and squares as well as the entire street vegetation (Ciupa et al., 2005). The paper‘s character is thus that of a vegetation fund inventory, as well as organisational design based on ecologic and landscaping criteria. The paper also comprises a square landscaping proposal, highlighting the site’s historic character and the high vegetation value

pGlu-serpinin protects the normotensive and hypertensive heart from ischemic injury

Serpinin peptides derive from proteolytic cleavage of Chromogranin-A at C-terminus. Serpinin and the more potent pyroglutaminated-Serpinin (pGlu-Serp) are positive cardiac beta-adrenergic-like modulators, acting through β1-AR/AC/cAMP/PKA pathway. Since in some conditions this pathway and/or other pro-survival pathways, activated by other Chromogranin-A fragments, may cross-talk and may be protective, here we explored whether pGlu-Serp cardioprotects against ischemia/reperfusion injury under normotensive and hypertensive conditions. In the latter condition cardioprotection is often blunted because of the limitations on pro-survival Reperfusion-Injury-Salvage-Kinases (RISK) pathway activation. The effects of pGlu-Serp were evaluated on infarct size (IS) and cardiac function by using the isolated and Langendorff perfused heart of normotensive (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats exposed to ischemic pre-conditioning (PreC) and post-conditioning (PostC). In both WKY and SHR rat, pGlu-Serp induced mild cardioprotection in both PreC and in PostC. pGlu-Serp administered at the reperfusion (Serp-PostC) significantly reduced IS, being more protective in SHR than in WKY. Conversely, developed Left Ventricular Pressure (LVDevP) post-ischemic recovery was greater in WKY than in SHR. pGlu-Serp-PostC reduced contracture in both strains. Co-infusion with specific RISK inhibitors (PI3K/AkT, MitoK(ATP) channels, and PKC) blocked the pGlu-Serp-PostC protective effects. To show direct effect on cardiomyocytes, we pre-treated H9c2 with pGlu-Serp which were thus protected against hypoxia/reoxygenation. These results suggest pGlu-Serp as a potential modulatory agent implicated in the protective processes which can limit infarct size and overcome the hypertension-induced failure of PostC

ADAMTS2 gene dysregulation in T/myeloid mixed phenotype acute leukemia.

Background: Mixed phenotype acute leukemias (MPAL) include acute leukemias with blasts that express antigens of more than one lineage, with no clear evidence of myeloid or lymphoid lineage differentiation. T/myeloid (T/My) MPAL not otherwise specified (NOS) is a rare leukemia that expresses both T and myeloid antigens, accounting for less than 1% of all leukemias but 89% of T/My MPAL. From a molecular point of view, very limited data are available on T/My MPAL NOS. Case presentation: In this report we describe a T/My MPAL NOS case with a complex rearrangement involving chromosomes 5 and 14, resulting in overexpression of the ADAM metallopeptidase with thrombospondin type 1 motif, 2 (ADAMTS2) gene due to its juxtaposition to the T cell receptor delta (TRD) gene segment. Conclusion: Detailed molecular cytogenetic characterization of the complex rearrangement in the reported T/My MPAL case allowed us to observe ADAMTS2 gene overexpression, identifying a molecular marker that may be useful for monitoring minimal residual disease. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of gene dysregulation due to a chromosomal rearrangement in T/My MPAL NOS. Keywords: Mixed phenotype acute leukemia, ADAMTS2, TRD, Complex chromosomal rearrangement, Promoter swapping, Gene dysregulatio

Absolute quantification of the pretreatment PML-RARA transcript defines the relapse risk in acute promyelocytic leukemia.

In this study we performed absolute quantification of the PML-RARA transcript by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) in 76 newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cases to verify the prognostic impact of the PML-RARA initial molecular burden. ddPCR analysis revealed that the amount of PML-RARA transcript at diagnosis in the group of patients who relapsed was higher than in that with continuous complete remission (CCR) (272 vs 89.2 PML-RARA copies/ng, p = 0.0004, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic analysis detected the optimal PML-RARA concentration threshold as 209.6 PML-RARA/ng (AUC 0.78; p < 0.0001) for discriminating between outcomes (CCR versus relapse). Among the 67 APL cases who achieved complete remission after the induction treatment, those with > 209.6 PML-RARA/ng had a worse relapse-free survival (p = 0.0006). At 5-year follow-up, patients with > 209.6 PML-RARA/ng had a cumulative incidence of relapse of 50.3% whereas 7.5% of the patients with suffered a relapse (p < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis identified the amount of PML-RARA before induction treatment as the sole independent prognostic factor for APL relapse. Our results show that the pretreatment PML-RARA molecular burden could therefore be used to improve risk stratification in order to develop more individualized treatment regimens for high-risk APL cases

The scientist' experience in participated science communication

Since 2006 a small group of researchers from the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics started to realized one of the first European Researchers' Night in Europe: a one night-event, supported by the European Commission, that falls every last Friday of September to promote the researcher's figure and its work. Today, after thirteen editions, the project has evolved by involving more than 60 scientific partners and more than 400 events/year spread from the North to the South of Italy in 30 cities, captivating more than 50.000 attendees with a not negligible impact on the people and the press. During the years, the project has followed and sometimes anticipated the science communication trend, and BEES (BE a citizEn Scientist) is the last step of this long and thrilling evolution that brought to a huge public engagement in our territory. The experience, the methodology, and the major successful examples of the organized events are presented together with the results of the long term project impact

IRF4 expression is low in Philadelphia negative myeloproliferative neoplasms and is associated with a worse prognosis

Interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) is involved in the pathogenesis of various hematologic malignancies. Its expression has been related to the negative regulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and the polarization of anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages, thereby altering immunosurveillance and inflammatory mechanisms. An abnormal inflammatory status in the bone marrow microenvironment of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) has recently been demonstrated; moreover, in chronic myeloid leukemia a downregulated expression of IRF4 has been found. In this context, we evaluated the IRF4 expression in 119 newly diagnosed consecutive Philadelphia negative MPNs (Ph- MPNs), showing a low expression among the MPNs phenotypes with a more significant decrease in primary myelofibrosis patients. Lower IRF4 levels were associated with JAK2 + and triple negatives cases carrying the worst prognosis. Furthermore, the IRF4 levels were related to leukemic transformation and a shorter leukemia-free survival; moreover, the risk of myelofibrosis transformation in polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia patients was more frequent in cases with lower IRF4 levels. Overall, our study demonstrates an IRF4 dysregulated expression in MPNs patients and its association with a worse prognosis. Further studies could validate these data, to improve our knowledge of the MPNs pathogenesis and confirm the IRF4 role as a new prognostic factor

Renewing Criminalized and Hegemonic Cultural Landscapes

The Mafia's long historical pedigree in Mezzogiorno, Southern Italy, has empowered the Mafioso as a notorious, uncontested, and hegemonic figure. The counter-cultural resistance against the mafiosi culture began to be institutionalized in the early 1990s. Today, Libera Terra is the largest civil society organization in the country that uses the lands confiscated from the Mafia as a space of cultural repertoire to realize its ideals. Deploying labor force through volunteer participation, producing biological fruits and vegetables, and providing information to the students on the fields are the principal cultural practices of this struggle. The confiscated lands make the Italian experience of anti-Mafia resistance a unique example by connecting the land with the ideals of cultural change. The sociocultural resistance of Libera Terra conveys a political message through these practices and utters that the Mafia is not invincible. This study draws the complex panorama of the Mafia and anti-Mafia movement that uses the ‘confiscated lands’ as cultural and public spaces for resistance and socio-cultural change. In doing so, this article sheds new light on the relationship between rural criminology and crime prevention policies in Southern Italy by demonstrating how community development practice of Libera Terra changes the meaning of landscape through iconographic symbolism and ethnographic performance