Interactive Information Models and Augmented Reality in the Digital Age

The construction industry in the digital era has seen significant changes in design, construction, and spatial process learning through new technological systems. These processes influence management and how data is collected, cataloged, and monitored using sensors and connected users. The real challenge that the digital era imposes on the society of the future is to define new secure and resilient digital models coupled with interoperable methods that minimize the impacts of our built heritage throughout its lifecycle. For these reasons, new models are being investigated to educate, gain detailed knowledge of places, design inclusive spaces that meet users’ needs and finally manage and maintain the built heritage. New technologies of Augmented and Virtual Reality support principals and users to define stable and interoperable relational processes. Although the challenge is ambitious, it is essential to find efficient solutions in governance policies for the city’s futur

Human papillomavirus vaccination coverage among adolescents living in southern Italy

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate HPV vaccination coverage in the target population residing in Sicily, five years after launch of the vaccination campaign, and to analyze its organization in this region. Methods: Regional data as at 31 December 2013, grouped by province, issued by the Regional Health Authority were used. The organization and information materials of the campaign were also assessed (letters, posters, brochures, etc.). Results: The results for Sicily show uptake rates for three doses of HPV vaccination of 56.5%, 55.8%, 58.2%, 55.3% for cohorts born in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 respectively, and 56.4% for cohorts born in 1996. These figures highlight the problems encountered during the promotion campaign and vaccination provision. Conclusions: Vaccine uptake in Sicily was lower than national figures for Italy as a whole for all cohorts and both fall far short of the targets set by the National Immunization Prevention Plan 2012-2014. In order to promote vaccination uptake and improve coverage, at both regional and local level, the quality of information should be improved and more communication campaigns be instigated to increase the involvement of professionals

Multi-Level Information Processing Systems in the Digital Twin Era

The most challenging aspect of the scientific panorama linked to technological innovation is the search for possible connections between Representation, Man and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the complex ecosystem that defines a Digital Twin. Man plays a crucial role in facilitating communication processes both for the dissemination of knowledge and the accessibility and usability of content and for his ability to become a “sensor” and communicate information, feelings, emotions. The contribution proposes a cross-section of applications that link and decline Augmented Reality and AI differently according to a gradual scale shift from the artefact contained in a building overlooking an urban context of interest. The result is a multi-level information processing system derived from the three-dimensional matrix that links data collection, representation and visualisation techniques and tools with the cultural heritage – city, building, artefact – according to specific use cases

Chapter Digital Twin. Experimenting drawings (di-SEGNI) between science and technology in teaching

The 43rd UID conference, held in Genova, takes up the theme of ‘Dialogues’ as practice and debate on many fundamental topics in our social life, especially in these complex and not yet resolved times. The city of Genova offers the opportunity to ponder on the value of comparison and on the possibilities for the community, naturally focused on the aspects that concern us, as professors, researchers, disseminators of knowledge, or on all the possibile meanings of the discipline of representation and its dialogue with ‘others’, which we have broadly catalogued in three macro areas: History, Semiotics, Science / Technology. Therefore, “dialogue” as a profitable exchange based on a common language, without which it is impossible to comprehend and understand one another; and the graphic sign that connotes the conference is the precise transcription of this concept: the title ‘translated’ into signs, derived from the visual alphabet designed for the visual identity of the UID since 2017. There are many topics which refer to three macro sessions: - Witnessing (signs and history) - Communicating (signs and semiotics) - Experimenting (signs and sciences) Thanks to the different points of view, an exceptional resource of our disciplinary area, we want to try to outline the prevailing theoretical-operational synergies, the collaborative lines of an instrumental nature, the recent updates of the repertoires of images that attest and nourish the relations among representation, history, semiotics, sciences

Identification of domains in apoA-I susceptible to proteolysis by mast cell chymase. Implications for HDL function.

When stimulated, rat serosal mast cells degranulate and secrete a cytoplasmic neutral protease, chymase. We studied the fragmentation of apolipoprotein (apo) A-I during proteolysis of HDL(3) by chymase, and examined how chymase-dependent proteolysis interfered with the binding of eight murine monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) against functional domains of apoA-I. Size exclusion chromatography of HDL(3) revealed that proteolysis for up to 24 h did not alter the integrity of the alpha-migrating HDL, whereas a minor peak containing particles of smaller size with prebeta mobility disappeared after as little as 15 min of incubation. At the same time, generation of a large (26 kDa) polypeptide containing the N-terminus of apoA-I was detected. This large fragment and other medium-sized fragments of apoA-I produced after prolonged treatment with chymase were found to be associated with the alphaHDL; meanwhile, small lipid-free peptides were rapidly produced. Incubation of HDL(3) with chymase inhibited binding of Mab A-I-9 (specific for prebeta(1)HDL) most rapidly (within 15 min) of the eight studied Mabs. This rapid loss of binding was paralleled by a similar reduction in the ability of HDL(3) to induce high-affinity efflux of cholesterol from macrophage foam cells, indicating that proteolysis had destroyed an epitope that is critical for this function. In sharp contrast, prolonged degradation of HDL(3) by chymase failed to reduce the ability of HDL(3) to activate LCAT, even though it led to modification of three epitopes in the central region of apoA-I that are involved in lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activation. This differential sensitivity of the two key functions of HDL(3) to the proteolytic action of mast cell chymase is compatible with the notion that, in reverse cholesterol transport, intactness of apoA-I is essential for prebeta(1)HDL to promote the high-affinity efflux of cellular cholesterol, but not for the alpha-migrating HDL particles to activate LCAT

Identification of the microorganisms responsible for periodontopathy by Multiplex RT-PCR

The aim of our research was to identify by bacterial genomicDNA analysis the prevalence of five different species of periodontopathogenic bacteria present in the subgingival biofilm,specifically: Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Prevotella intermedia (Pi), Bacterioides forsytus (Bf), Treponema denticola (Td).For the analysis we used the systematic Multiplex-PCR-microdentkit with species-specific primers. We studied a group of 48 subjects, 18 males and 30 females, from 18 to 78 years of age. Theinitial clinical screening enabled us to select, among the groupanalysed, 24 subjects with signs of active periodontopathy (GroupA) and 24 patients without identifiable clinical evidence of the disease used as the control group (Group B). Within the two experimental groups (A and B), the test was found to be positive in 75%of subjects from group A, whereas the test was found to be negative in all the subjects from group B. Our research shows thatthe Multiplex-PCR system is reliable. Furthermore, the sensitivity and simplicity of this technique, as well as the decrease inworking times and the possibility of identifying non-culturablebacteria, since the presence of viable organisms is not essential,make this technique indicated for the simultaneous identificationof periodontopathogenic bacteria and might, in perspective, pro-vide a more effective clinical alternative to the techniques of bacterial typing of the subgingival plaque

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) in sewage from treatment plants of Messina University Hospital and of Messina city council

Samples of sewage from treatment plants at the ?G. Martino? University Hospital of Messina (AOU) and that of Messina City Council were analysed to detect the hepatits E virus. Samples were taken on sewage entering and exiting the treat- ment plants on a monthly basis over a one-year period from both the hospital plant (24 samples) and the municipal plant (22 samples). All sewage samples were pretreated by ultrafiltraton and concen- tration and finally processed by the PCR method to amplify gene material. A total of three samples tested positive: two (8.33%) entering the AOU treatment plant and one (4.5%) entering the municipal plant while no cases of HEV were detected in samples of treated sewage. These findings confirm the presence of the virus in the city of Messina and showed that the two treatment plants to be working efficiently when tested

Role of the 1st booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the protection against the infection: A fundamental public health tool

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on human health with high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Healthcare Workers (HCWs) are one of the most at risk categories to contract the infection. Effective anti-COVID-19 vaccines were approved in a very short time. Making the 1st booster dose is essential to induce a good protection against the infection. Methods. We conducted a retrospective sero-epidemiological survey of already existing data concerning the antibody response of a HCWs sample vaccinated with the primary cycle and the 1st booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and, specifically, after three weeks from the third dose of vaccination. Results. In our analysis, after the primary cycle, a 95.15% efficacy was detected. Among the non-responders, women were significantly more frequent (69.56%). Moreover, we found a significant reverse correlation between the immune response and the age of the sample, especially in women. However, the 1st booster dose completely cancelled these differences. Conclusions. Our data are perfectly in line with what has been declared by the conducted studies in terms of efficacy. However, it is important to highlight that people with only the primary cycle are at high risk to contract the COVID-19 infection. Therefore, it is necessary to not consider people vaccinated with the primary cycle completely risk-free and to stress the importance to perform the 1st booster dose

Rigenerazione urbana e partecipazione. I casi di Casale Monferrato e Moncalieri

In una società profondamente cambiata dalla lunga fase emergenziale dovuta al sopraggiungere della pandemia da COVID-19, in cui il vivere quotidiano e il benessere sociale sono stati messi a dura prova, emerge la necessità per le città e i territori di individuare idonei processi di rigenerazione urbana che valorizzino e riqualifichino il tessuto urbano, migliorino la qualità dell’abitare e dell’ambiente, favoriscano lo sviluppo economico e promuovano azioni di prossimità per le comunità. Questi processi di rigenerazione includono azioni quali la riqualificazione del patrimonio edilizio, la ricucitura tra i diversi spazi della città, il recupero e l’efficientamento energetico del patrimonio edilizio, la promozione di processi di partecipazione e inclusione sociale che valorizzino le energie di una crescente “società della cura”. Nell’ambito del bando “Prospettive urbane. Studi di fattibilità per la rigenerazione urbana” promosso da Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, il gruppo di ricerca ha condotto degli studi urbanistici e territoriali con attenzione alla dimensione economica e sociale per l’attivazione di due progetti di rigenerazione urbana: uno nel comune di Moncalieri (TO) e l’altro nel comune di Casale Monferrato (AL). Entrambi i progetti hanno in comune l’attenzione per gli aspetti ambientali e paesaggistici in relazione al contesto territoriale del Parco del Po piemontese e si strutturano mediante azioni puntuali e diffuse, che sono esito di un processo di partecipazione e di promozione sociale tra i diversi attori presenti sul territorio

Myoepithelioma of the parotid gland: A case report with review of the literature

Myoepithelioma is a rare tumor of the salivary glands belonging to a distinct category of neoplasms according to World Health Organization. It represents about 1% of all tumors that develop in the salivary glands. Generally the majority of myoepitheliomas are benign but malignant transformation can take place in untreated or recurrent cases. We present a case of a rare myoepithelioma of the left parotid gland, with review of literature. Keywords: Parotid gland, Salivary glands myoepithelioma, Benign salivary glands tumors, Myoepithelioma, Spindle cells myoepitheliom