Monitoring and Analysis of the Real Estate Market in a Social Perspective: Results from the Turin’s (Italy) Experience

In Italy, it has always been dicult to collect reliable data on real estate given the opacity of the information available. Keeping into consideration the actual availability of data and information, the possibility to have a structure for permanently monitoring and analysing the real estate market is fundamental. Focusing on developing and disseminating knowledge related to practices in this context, in this paper the Turin’s (Northern Italy) experience is presented, through the Real Estate Market Observatory (TREMO): This structure is based on a data-warehouse, implemented over time, with databases that lead to historic price observations of the residential market. The data warehouse is the basis for investigating methodologies and analyses, assuming the spatial requisites of the data and its georeferencing as the main discriminant in choosing among descriptive statistics, multi-varied or spatial analysis methods. In twenty years, several studies have been developed, allowing us not only to explore the applicability of models and operative modalities, but also to obtain results with a high potential impact under a social viewpoint. In this paper, the methodologies developed for implementing the monitoring structure are presented, specifically the “quality process” and computerized analysis procedures, followed by some representative research experiences with reference to aims, models and results

Assessing Social and Territorial Vulnerability on Real Estate Submarkets

The concept of social vulnerability is widely studied in literature in order to identify particularly socially fragile sectors of the population. For this purpose, several studies have adopted indexes to measure the economic and social conditions of the population. The aim of this paper is to investigate the link between social and territorial vulnerability and the real estate market, by means of an exploratory analysis related to the possibility that spatial analyses can help to identify spatial latent components and variables in the process of price determination. A three phase approach is proposed, using the geographical segmentation of Turin and its related submarkets as a case study. After the identification and analysis of a set of three social and territorial vulnerability indicators, a traditional hedonic approach was applied to measure their influence on property listing prices. Subsequently, spatial analyses were investigated to focus on the spatial components of the indicators and property prices; their spatial autocorrelation was measured and the presence of spatial dependence was taken into account by applying a spatial regression. Results demonstrated that two indicators were spatially correlated with property prices and had a significant and negative influence on them. The proposed approach may help not only to identify the most vulnerable urban areas characterized by the lowest property prices, but also to support the future modification to the actual geographical segmentation of Turin

An innovative methodological and operational approach to developing Management Plans for UNESCO World Heritage Sites: a Geographic Information System for “Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century”

The model for developing Management Plans for UNESCO World Heritage Sites drawn up by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities in 2005 is no longer wholly adequate in terms of promoting heritage resources and their local contexts. The article considers the innovation developed in the IT/ICT field and provides theoretical and methodological considerations, based on which a new methodology for devising Management Plans could be developed. A Geographic Information System (GIS) for the knowledge and management of the site “Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century”, is proposed as an innovative, dynamic, interoperable model that can both support urban-scale projects to capture the economic value of cultural heritage and promote forms of indirect enjoyment of the site

Economic and cultural value, urban and built heritage, architecture education: the active role of stakeholders

Innovation in architecture education is increasingly oriented towards the analysis of real problems considered in their multi-dimensionality and the active involvement of the stakeholders. In learning processes, it is useful to face real case studies so that students acquire disciplinary tools and technical knowledge for the definition of sustainable projects, closely linked to the territorial reality, the socio-economic context and the needs expressed by the different stakeholders involved. With an approach of students’ inclusion and involvement in the process of knowledge and definition of the problem under study, they are responsible for their project, collaborate with each other and with external stakeholders and become active in the community of reference. For the students this implies competences in engaging with stakeholders establishing consistent vocabularies, and facilitating participatory research and decision making in collaboration with experts from academia, industry, government, and civil society. Assuming these premises, the aim of this paper is to highlight how the active role of the stakeholders can improve the economic and cultural value of enhancement projects developed in Architecture and Planning Schools, focusing on the potentialities of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach in addressing sustainable and effective design processes. For this purpose, a three steps methodology based on PBL approach is presented in order to facilitate the active involvement of the stakeholders in improving the economic and cultural value of complex building heritages at the architectural and urban scale, starting from real problems and developing sustainable and feasible projects. Each step of the proposed methodology was applied during the atelier “Heritage Preservation and Enhancement”, carried out at the Politecnico di Torino and implemented as a module within the Erasmus + EU project “Citylab. Engaging students with sustainable cities in Latin-America”, co-funded by the European Commission. Specific results were achieved for each step through the interaction among stakeholders, teachers and students and the application of evaluation tools. In particular, the steps and the related findings mainly regarded the context and the main problem definition, the knowledge acquisition and management and the development of feasible and sustainable projects. This experience highlighted the learner’s role in defining problems and alternative design solutions, focusing not so much on the intended result (project) as on the path to get there and so start the transformation from a project-based approach to a PBL one

Snail1 expression is required for sarcomagenesis

Altres ajuts: Fundació La Marató de TV3 (120130)Snail1 transcriptional repressor is a major inducer of epithelial-to mesenchymal transition but is very limitedly expressed in adult animals. We have previously demonstrated that Snail1 is required for the maintenance of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), preventing their premature differentiation. Now, we show that Snail1 controls the tumorigenic properties of mesenchymal cells. Increased Snail1 expression provides tumorigenic capabilities to fibroblastic cells; on the contrary, Snail1 depletion decreases tumor growth. Genetic depletion of Snail1 in MSCs that are deficient in p53 tumor suppressor downregulates MSC markers and prevents the capability of these cells to originate sarcomas in immunodeficient SCID mice. Notably, an analysis of human sarcomas shows that, contrarily to epithelial tumors, these neoplasms display high Snail1 expression. This is particularly clear for undifferentiated tumors, which are associated with poor outcome. Together, our results indicate a role for Snail1 in the generation of sarcomas

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat