Combining the conservation of biodiversity with the provision of ecosystem services in urban green infrastructure planning. Critical features arising from a case study in the metropolitan area of Rome

A large number of green infrastructure (GI) projects have recently been proposed, planned and implemented in European cities following the adoption of the GI strategy by the EU Commission in 2013. Although this policy tool is closely related to biodiversity conservation targets, some doubts have arisen as regards the ability of current urban GI to provide beneficial effects not only for human societies but also for the ecological systems that host them. The aim of this work is to review the features that should be considered critical when searching for solutions that simultaneously support biodiversity and guarantee the provision of ecosystem services (ES) in urban areas. Starting from a case study in the metropolitan area of Rome, we highlight the role of urban trees and forests as proxies for overall biodiversity and as main ecosystem service providers. We look beyond the individual functional features of plant species and vegetation communities to promote the biogeographic representativity, ecological coherence and landscape connectivity of new or restored GI elements

Plant invasion as an emerging challenge for the conservation of heritage sites. The spread of ornamental trees on ancient monuments in Rome, Italy

Cultural heritage sites such as historical or sacred areas provide suitable habitats for plants and play an important role in nature conservation, particularly in human-modified contexts such as urban environments. However, such sites also provide opportunities for the spread of invasive species, whose impact on monuments has been raising growing concerns. The aim of this study was to investigate the patterns of distribution and spread of invasive plants in heritage areas, taking the city of Rome as an example. We focused on woody species as they pose the greatest threat to the conservation of monuments, owing to the detrimental effects of their root system. We analysed changes in the diversity and traits of native and non-native flora growing on the walls of 26 ancient sites that have been surveyed repeatedly since the 1940s. We found that the diversity of the native flora has steadily decreased, while there has been an increase in non-native, larger and more damaging species. The introduced species that have expanded most are ornamental wind- or bird-dispersed trees, which represent a major management problem as their propagules can reach the upper sections of the monuments, where they become more difficult to control. The most widespread and damaging of such species is Ailanthus altissima, which has recently been included among the invasive species of European Union concern (EU Regulation 2019/1262). Our findings show that plant invasion is an emerging challenge for the conservation of heritage sites and needs to be prioritized for management to prevent future expansion

An XRI naming system for dynamic and federated clouds: a performance analysis

Abstract Cloud platforms are dynamic, self-optimizing, continuously changing environments where resources can be composed with other ones in order to provide many types of services to their users, e.g., companies, governments, organizations, and desktop/mobile clients. In order to enable cloud platforms to manage and control their assets, they need to name, identify, and resolve their virtual resources in different operating contexts. In such a scenario, naming, resource location, and information retrieval raise several issues regarding name space management. This paper aims to propose a standard practice for the implementation of a cloud naming system based on the eXtensible Resource Identifier (XRI) technology. More specifically, by means of the development of a Cloud Name Space Management (CNSM) front-end interacting with the OpenXRI architecture, we investigate its performance simulating typical cloud name space management tasks

Big Data Storage in the Cloud for Smart Environment Monitoring

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MESENCHYMAL FEATURES MEDIATED BY TWIST1 IN COLORECTAL CANCER CELLS AND MICROENVIRONMENT

Background. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major cause of death for cancer in western countries, ranking third in both sexes. Therapeutic developments in the past decades have extended life expectancy in patients with advanced disease (i.e., stage III), and even for those with distant metastasis (i.e., stage IV). Most treatments for advanced disease nowadays include a combination of chemotherapy with target therapy. Despite advances, the fact that metastatic colorectal cancer remains largely incurable, pushes to pursue a better understanding of the factors underlying cancer progression. Nowadays, a major field of investigation is the relationship between epithelial tumor cells and the surrounding compartment, namely tumor microenvironment, and in particular its contribution to cancer progression. The tumor microenvironment essentially comprises tumor infiltrating cells, vasculature, extracellular matrix, plus other matrix associated molecules. Transformed cells can modulate the functions of stromal cells, likely to facilitate their own growth and survival. In this Darwinian perspective, outgrowth of cancer cells goes together with local changes. Such changes, like clonal ones, are likely progressive, from the stage of local invasion, up to regional lymph-node colonization and finally to the development of distant metastasis. Infiltrating cells are a mix of populations having myeloid or mesenchymal origin, including tumor-associated macrophages, myeloid -derived suppressor cells, mast cells, monocytes, neutrophils, CD3+ T cells, natural killers, dendritic cells, endothelial cells, mesenchymal stem cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts. Taken together, all these players are involved in a double-faced game, in which an anti-tumor effect (such as that exerted by CD3+ cells in early CRC, [1]) is counteracted by a cancer promoting one (e.g., that exerted by macrophages [2]. Currently, this cancer-microenvironment match implies contradictory and controversial data, largely depending upon the investigated cell population and upon the experimental setting. This Ariadnes' thread seems unravelled, mainly because of the contemporaneous evolution of both tumor and microenvironment cells during multi-stage tumor progression. What is certainly perceived today, is that a switch from a genetic to a non-clonal prospective is required to understand tumor evolution. Clearly, the dynamic architecture of the stromal compartment and the interactions therein, need to be reconciled with the evidences concerning genetic irreversible changes in stromal cells. The latter include loss of heterozygosis, microsatellite instability (MSI) [3], trisomy of Chromosome 7 in connective tissues elements of CRC [4], and p53 mutations (in the stroma of breast carcinoma[5]). These surprising results rise the possibility that the stromal compartment contains not only an admixture of non-neoplastic cells, but also cancer cells with an aggressive and invasive phenotype which became able to invade the surrounding tissues by mimicking fibroblast morphology. This metamorphosis would be possible through the re-use of an embryonic program by cancer cells, that is the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Originally, in a murine model of spontaneous metastatic breast cancer, Weinberg and Coll. demonstrated that the highest aggressive potential of cancer cell was reached after their transition from an epithelial to a mesenchymal morphology (i.e., EMT), driven by Twist1 gene [6]. Twist1 expression and EMT are strictly associated with the acquisition of a spindle-like fibroblast morphology, the down-regulation of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and the expression of mesenchymal ones (N-cadherin and vimentin), with metastases development, and with the inhibition of the key pathway of senescence p16 driven [7]. Currently, many studies demonstrate that this embryonic program is activated by a set of transcription factors which act pleiotropically. These include Snail, Slug, Zeb1/2, and obviously Twist1. These regulators are expressed in various combination in a number of malignant tumor types and have been shown in experimental models of carcinoma formation to be casually important for programming invasion [8], [9], [10], [11]. The issues. The multi-step process of metastasis development, recapitulated by local invasion, intravasation, extravasation, colonization and growth in distant organs, postulates that cells undergoing EMT should be able to complete each individual step. However, no experimental evidence of the EMT process has been provided for the first step of local invasion (nor for the following ones) in tissues specimens of human malignancies. Similarly, proof of EMT in human epithelial cancer cells remains partial, largely derived from murine models, and based on ectopic expression of EMT regulators, or on stimulation to achieve transient mesenchymal features. Although several studies demonstrate the expression of EMT transcription factors in both the tumoral and stromal compartments of different cancers [12], [13], [14], they do not directly link this expression to the presence of cancer infiltrating cells. The experimental work. We moved from the unexplained evidence of genetic and chromosomal abnormalities in the stromal compartment of solid tumors, and from the role of Twist1 as EMT regulator in cancer cells. Moving by microarray data of a pool of CRC cells, we first show that tumor cells with a permanent mesenchymal signature, in a stable EMT state, can arise from epithelial CRC cells, both in humans and mice. Then we clarify that, within the mesenchymal signature, Twist1 plays a crucial role in the migration and invasion of CRC tumor cells. By a combination of immuno-based and cytogenetic methods we detected in human CRC a Twist1+subpopulation of stromal cells, with a mesenchymal phenotype. This subpopuation was more represented in MS-stable CRC than in less metastatic MS-unstable CRC, and was associated with advanced CRC stage and with worse survival. Additionally, we showed that Twist1 transcript is degraded in MSI CRC, due to a frameshifted 3\u2019-UTR, and propose that this mechanism contributes to the low capability of MSI CRC to exploit EMT to undergo metastasis. Finally, we identified Twist1+, stromal cells which share genetic changes with epithelial cancer cells, establishing a genetic link between epithelial and mesenchymal components of CRC. In summary, we provide data from an original cellular model to tissue studies to prove the occurrence of EMT in human CRC. We demonstrated the presence of tumor cells in the stroma of CRC tumors and we give a method to identify those cells undergone to EMT and able to invade the surrounding tissues. Thus, our results readdress the study approach to the stromal compartment from that of a recipient of non-neoplastic cells to an incubator of cancer EMT cells able to disrupt tissues by mimicking activated fibroblast. The experimental demonstration of human CRC in stable EMT, coupled to the identification of previously postulated tumor cells with mesenchymal morphology in the stromal compartment, add substantial evidence to EMT, translating a model it into a real phenomenon contributing to the metastatic process of human CRC. In a clinical perspective, our study highlights the importance to re-evaluate the target therapy of solid tumors from the epithelial compartment to include the mesenchymal one

Artificial Intelligence for Mobile Health Data Analysis and Processing

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Influenza della velocità di deformazionenel carico di rottura di moschettoni in lega di alluminio e di acciaio

Si analizzano i dati sulla deformabilità, sul lavoro alla rottura e sulla resistenza ottenuti con prove di caduta a velocità di deformazione variabile (Torre CRASC) su moschettoni in lega di alluminio e in acciaio, evidenziando come all’aumentare della velocità di deformazione le caratteristiche di resistenza diminuiscano marcatamente. Queste variazioni vengono messe in relazione ai diversi intervalli dei valori della velocità di deformazione propri della progressione speleologica, torrentistica, alpinistica e ad alte velocità di deformazione (vie ferrate).We analyze data on the deformability, the work on resistance to breakage and obtained evidence of a fall in variable strain rate (Torre CRASC) on snap aluminum alloy and steel, noting that with increasing strain rate characteristics resistance decreases markedly. These changes are made in relation to the different ranges of values of strain rate of its progression caving, canyoning, mountaineering, high strain rate (via ferrata)

Development of laser-based powder bed fusion process parameters and scanning strategy for new metal alloy grades: A holistic method formulation

In spite of the fast growth of laser-based powder bed fusion (L-PBF) processes as a part of everyday industrial practice, achieving consistent production is hampered by the scarce repeatability of performance that is often encountered across different additive manufacturing (AM) machines. In addition, the development of novel feedstock materials, which is fundamental to the future growth of AM, is limited by the absence of established methodologies for their successful exploitation. This paper proposes a structured procedure with a complete test plan, which defines step-by-step the standardized actions that should be taken to optimize the processing parameters and scanning strategy in L-PBF of new alloy grades. The method is holistic, since it considers all the laser/material interactions in different local geometries of the build, and suggests, for each possible interaction, a specific geometry for test specimens, standard energy parameters to be analyzed through a design of experiment, and measurable key performance indicators. The proposed procedure therefore represents a sound and robust aid to the development of novel alloy grades for L-PBF and to the definition of the most appropriate processing conditions for them, independent of the specific AM machine applied

How to develop IoT cloud e-health systems based on fiware: A lesson learnt

Nowadays, the penetration of sensors and actuators in different application fields is revolutionizing all aspects of our daily life. One of the major sectors that is taking advantage of such cutting-edge cheap smart devices is healthcare. In this context, Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) at home represents a tempting opportunity for hospitals to reduce clinical costs and to improve the quality of life of both patients and their families. It allows patients to be monitored remotely by means networks of Internet of Things (IoT) medical devices equipped with sensors and actuators that collect healthcare data from patients and send them to a Cloud-based Hospital Information System (HIS) for processing. Up to now, many different proprietary software systems have been developed as stand-along expensive solutions, presenting interoperability, extensibility, and scalability issues. In recent years, the European Commission (EC) has promoted the wide adoption of FIWARE technology, launching 16 Industrial Accelerators focusing on different application fields. One of these, i.e., FICHe, is specialized in healthcare, providing the guidelines on how to develop eHealth systems. This paper focuses on how to compose new cutting-edge IoT and Cloud-based Cyber Physical Health Sytem (CPHS) services and applications interconnected with remote medical sensors and actuators using FIWARE technology in the context envisioned by FICHe. In particular, we discuss the design and development of an RPM system implemented through the collaboration between the Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) “Bonino Pulejo” (i.e., a clinical and research healthcare centre specialized in the treatment of neuro lesions), University of Messina, IBM Research, Telefónica, and the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. The description of our best practice provides a model and guidelines for the development of lightweight and low cost RPM services for rural and isolated areas, with the expectation of expanding healthcare to the developing world and in general allows us to outline how to deal with the real adoption of the FIWARE technology in an e-health project