Scenarios of Electromobility. Cross ferilisation and Dissemination of Best Practices and Researches within EU Policies Webinar proceedings

La pubblicazione riporta gli esiti del webinar incentrato sull'user center design dei veicoli elettrici, delle loro infrastrutture di ricarica e sulle sperimentazioni dei veicoli elettrici leggeri nei sistemi di trasporto urbano di Torino e Venaria Reale (IT), Villach (Austria) e Calvià (Spagna). La pubblicazione e il seminario sono parte del progetto STEVE, finanziato dal programma europeo Horizon2020, e incentrato sulla sperimentazione di modelli di mobilità elettrica leggera nelle aree urbane. Il progetto ha coinvolto città, piccole e medie imprese e università di sette paesi europei. Urban Lab ha collaborato con la Città di Torino a delineare le raccomandazioni rivolte ai decision makers in materia di pianificazione della mobilità urbana, emerse dai risultati dei tre anni di progetto

Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis

Low-Frequency and Rare-Coding Variation Contributes to Multiple Sclerosis Risk

Multiple sclerosis is a complex neurological disease, with 3c20% of risk heritability attributable to common genetic variants, including >230 identified by genome-wide association studies. Multiple strands of evidence suggest that much of the remaining heritability is also due to additive effects of common variants rather than epistasis between these variants or mutations exclusive to individual families. Here, we show in 68,379 cases and controls that up to 5% of this heritability is explained by low-frequency variation in gene coding sequence. We identify four novel genes driving MS risk independently of common-variant signals, highlighting key pathogenic roles for regulatory T cell homeostasis and regulation, IFN\u3b3 biology, and NF\u3baB signaling. As low-frequency variants do not show substantial linkage disequilibrium with other variants, and as coding variants are more interpretable and experimentally tractable than non-coding variation, our discoveries constitute a rich resource for dissecting the pathobiology of MS. In a large multi-cohort study, unexplained heritability for multiple sclerosis is detected in low-frequency coding variants that are missed by GWAS analyses, further underscoring the role of immune genes in MS pathology

Modelling Co-ordination Effects in Complex Work Systems: the Aviation Maintenance Case

This paper presents a model of co-ordination analysis, which enables verification of co-ordination systems and their relative impact on the performance of complex work processes. The area of application covers the hangar maintenance operations in the commercial aviation. The new co-ordination analysis, called Co-ordination Audit Methodology (CAM), is a process-oriented audit designed for the EU funded research project ADAMS 2. This new analytical model measures the performance and economical impact associated to faulty co-ordination systems, and suggests new design solutions based quantitative data. Two different case studies will bring together the results obtained in two different European maintenance companies, which tested the methodology on same type of work process.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

Aircraft Maintenance Teams

This dissertation investigated aircraft maintenance teams performing inspections and repairs in the hangar environment of modern commercial aircraft maintenance organisations. Generalisations of all findings are intended to advance knowledge and research practice on work teams in complex work systems. After a review in Chapter 1 and 2 of the main team concepts, models and major team research directions in today commercial aviation environment, a number of six new hypotheses are proposed in Chapter 3: the impact of team competence versus external systems on operational performance (i.e., team externality), situational teamwork, adaptation and work practices, the concept of team risk distribution (i.e., Friedlander argument), and the relation between organisational resources and team proficiency. In Chapter 4 a composite model of work team in aircraft maintenance is proposed and the interdependent nature of team operations uncovered. Chapter 5 follows with an analysis of the team-attitude-behaviour-performance relationship. Chapter 6 provides evidence on the highly contextual and situational nature of teamwork in aircraft maintenance. Chapter 7, 8 and 9 the research focus widens to all processes and systems of the maintenance operation. The organisation of team performances highlights what it is here called the team externality concept. A team externality defines the specific performance of a system that is not controllable by the work team, which turns out to be dependent on that external performance. Apparently, a key hypothesis underlining the entire research is confirmed: for highly dependent systems like operational teams in hangar maintenance it is the environment (externalities) that accounts for performance more than internal team capabilities. Findings in Chapter 8 and 9 seem to suggest also a form of performance limitation that, apparently, work teams in the maintenance operations cannot overcome. Every team locally gets some supports from the organisation but not sufficient to express very high performances. This comes under the name of team risk distribution (Chapter 9) and appears to be an implicit organisational strategy to maintain a complex economy of pooled and limited resources. Finally, in Chapter 10, a new team model, the team multivariate frame is proposed and discussed. Such model underlines a system requirement proposed in Chapter 8 and termed minimal critical order of causality: the widest source of dependencies (largest set of time/sequence orders) within a process will contain the minimal causal chain to comply with and generate the maximal leverage on the system. This requirement simply suggests that there is a temporal-sequential and causal order between different upstream and downstream process elements (e.g., teamwork events, contained by work processes, contained by the organisation). In essence, upstream solutions, even external to teams, are to be favoured to optimise, downstream, operational team events and performances. Overall, causal models and explanations of team performances would miss a serious point if such explanations disregard the model of the overall business approach taken by the organisation to control its economy.JRC.G.7-Traceability and vulnerability assessmen

Natech Risk Reduction in the European Union

A study was performed on the status of Natech risk reduction in EU Member States by means of a questionnaire survey. The results show that natural hazards are increasingly recognised as a possibly important external risk source for chemical facilities. The management of Natech risk is mainly addressed through the Member States’ legal framework for chemical-accident prevention whose effectiveness appears, however, inconclusive. Guidance on Natech risk reduction to support legislation is scarce and, where existing, did not always prevent Natech accidents from occurring. In fact, in over half the responding countries Natech accidents have resulted in the release of toxic substances, fires or explosions with sometimes fatalities and injuries. The natural events that triggered these accidents were not necessarily the ones believed to be of most concern in the Natech context, indicating an incongruity between accident causes and risk perception. Gaps in Natech risk reduction were recognised and are mostly due to budget constraints and a lack of adequate resources which lead to the prioritisation of tasks deemed more important, a lack of training, and insufficient knowledge of the dynamics of Natech accidents. This has resulted in a lack of specific Natech risk-assessment methodologies and tools. Consequently, industry in almost half of the responding countries is believed to insufficiently consider Natech risk in their facility risk assessment. The development of guidance on Natech risk assessment was indicated as the highest-priority need for effective risk reduction. The study concludes with a number of priority areas for future work to improve the management of Natech risk. The results of a Natech questionnaire survey in OECD Member Countries which was performed in parallel show the same trend.JRC.G.6-Security technology assessmen

Human factors data traceability and analysis in the European Community's Major Accident Reporting System

This paper reports on human factors data traceability and analysis of the European Community¿s Major Accident Reporting System (MARS). This is the main EU instrument to major accident data collection, analysis and dissemination for process industry according to the provisions of the Seveso II directive. To date, the MARS database counts approximately 700 Seveso-type major events (November 2008). The MARS system is investigated in terms of human factors data and case studies exploring the relevance of human factors in accident events causation and identification issues. The human factors model and taxonomy as it is applied in the MARS system is reviewed. Criteria to enhance traceability and analysis about human related causes are then considered in detail. Finally, certain limitations affecting the system are pointed out. Findings are expected to favour future modelling and research efforts toward further MARS system improvements.JRC.G.7-Traceability and vulnerability assessmen