Experiences of improving water access in rural areas in Guatemala

The GESAAF Department of the UNIFI has been involved in the project “Gestione ambientale e del rischio nel dipartimento di Sololà” in the period 2011-’12 aiming at guaranteeing water access to people leaving in rural areas in the Sololà Department in Guatemala, in collaboration with the two NGOs Movimento Africa ’70 and Oxfam Italia. Appropriate technologies, such as EMAS pump and well drilled with the Baptista- Boliviana technique, have been proposed and utilized for improving water access in areas where lack of water represented a limiting factor for the human development. They can be both considered compatible with local, cultural and economic conditions: in fact locally available materials are used and the tools can be maintained and operationally controlled by the local users. At the end of the project, 52 EMAS pumps have been installed and 19 wells drilled, 33 pumps have been installed in already existing wells tank. Formation activities of local people played an important role: diffusion actions of the methodology started from schools, 20 workers participated to an in class course and more than 100 participated in the field work. Monitoring activities on the 52 installed pumps have been carried out in order to check the performances of the pumps and the knowledge level acquired by the users. After some months of operation, more than 80% of the pumps were correctly functioning and the required maintenance activities have been carried out in collaboration with the local users. In order to analyze the project results, a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) has been carried out for developing a strategy able to tackle the weaknesses and threats of the procedure. The application of the SWOT analysis showed to be an useful tool to analyse the current situation coming from the ended project. It has been helpful to gauge how the project performed. The analysis results may be also utilized for exploring strengths and weaknesses of a possible transferring of the methodology to other sites

La tura di Treporti alla Bocca di Lido - Venezia: simulazione numerica delle fasi di costruzione

Il progetto MO.S.E. prevede di utilizzare il futuro porto rifugio di Treporti -in fase provvisionale- come tura di prefabbricazione dei cassoni delle barriere. Durante la fase di aggottamento delle acque è stata predisposta una vasta campagna di monitoraggio . Lo studio ripercorre attraverso una simulazione numerica con il codice Abaqus le diverse fasi di costruzione della tura ed in particolare la fase di dewatering. Viene implementato un modello costitutivo semplice basato su parametri standard normalizzati con la granulometria

INTERPRETAZIONE GEOMETRICA DI IDENTITA' ALGEBRICHE Unità didattica in una scuola secondaria di secondo grado

Questa tesi si inserisce nell'ambito di un approccio didattico all'algebra che sviluppi negli studenti il symbol sense. In particolare viene proposto un percorso didattico incentrato sulla rappresentazione geometrica di identità algebriche e si discutono i risultati della sperimentazione effettuata in una classe terza di un Liceo Linguistico. Alla base della costruzione del percorso stanno due chiavi teoriche: una storica e una semiotica. Da un lato il percorso prende spunto dall'opera "Breve opera sul calcolo di spostare e raccogliere" del matematico arabo al-Khwarizmi, che segna la nascita dell'algebra. Dall'altro le attività mirano a sviluppare la capacità di rappresentare uno stesso oggetto matematico in diversi registri, ossia la "competenza semiotica." Nel Capitolo 1 si presentano i tratti essenziali dell'opera di al-Khwarizmi, mentre nel Capitolo 2 si introducono i primi elementi di semiotica, si presentano le caratteristiche di questa teoria e si analizza lo studio formale e interpretativo dei segni. Nel Capitolo 3 si presenta il progetto svolto in classe, mentre i dati emersi da registrazioni, protocolli e da due test somministrati prima e dopo il percorso, sono analizzati nel Capitolo 4. Nel quinto e ultimo capitolo di questa tesi, si interpretano i risultati in termini di apprendimento concettuale, semiotico e comunicativo

Dual effect of Thymosin α 1 on human monocyte-derived dendritic cellin vitrostimulated with viral and bacterial toll-like receptor agonists

OBJECTIVES: Thymosin α 1 (Tα1) recently gained interest as immune adjuvant for vaccines because of its ability to modulate the T-cell/dendritic cell (DC) axis and to improve antibody production. The objective of this study was to determine whether Tα1 would address in vitro the response of human primary monocyte-derived DC, crucial regulators of vaccine-induced immunity, upon exposure to different toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists or infection with viruses or bacteria. METHODS: DC maturation and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines were analyzed. RESULTS: Our data revealed a dual effect of Tα1 on DC biology upon viral or bacterial stimulation. Interestingly, Tα1 enhanced human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-I and II surface expression and secretion of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-8 when DCs were treated with viral TLR3 and TLR7/8 agonists. Similarly, in pandemic H1N1 influenza A-infected DCs, Tα1 raised the expression of maturation markers and type I and III Interferon (IFN). In contrast, following bacterial TLR2 and 4 stimulation, as well as upon Bacillus Calmette-Guerin infection, the presence of Tα1 in DC cultures drastically lowered the analyzed cellular parameters. CONCLUSION: The knowledge that Tα1 pleiotropic effect might ameliorate anti-viral immune responses and, at the same time, dampen inflammation caused by bacterial infections could lay the groundwork for a more appropriate therapeutic application of this molecule

Predicting the outcome of heart failure against chronic-ischemic heart disease in elderly population – Machine learning approach based on logistic regression, case to Villa Scassi hospital Genoa, Italy

Totally 167 patients were admitted at cardiology ward in Villa Scassi hospital, Genoa, Italy. We worked with two control groups: heart failure 59 patients (mean age: 71.37 ± 13.27 years) and chronic-ischemic heart disease 108 patients (mean age: 68.85 ± 11.3 years). Nine parameters: Hb, Serum Creatinine, LDL, HDL, Triglycerides, ALT, AST, hs-cTnI, CRP were evaluated onset to hospitalization. We aimed to identify significant independent predictors relative to the outcome of heart failure versus chronic-ischemic heart disease and select combination of biochemical parameters in logistic regression-based model that would provide on average excellent discrimination to the outcome of heart failure versus chronic-ischemic heart disease in elderly population

Host defense responses to infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Induction of IRF-1 and a serine protease inhibitor.

Alveolar macrophages and newly recruited monocytes are targets of infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Therefore, we examined the expression of interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF-1), which plays an important role in host defense against M. tuberculosis, in undifferentiated and differentiated cells. Infection induced IRF-1 in both. IRF-1 from undifferentiated, uninfected monocytic cell lines was modified during extraction to produce specific species that were apparently smaller than intact IRF-1. After infection by M. tuberculosis or differentiation, intact IRF-1 was recovered. Subcellular fractions were assayed for the ability to modify IRF-1 or inhibit its modification. A serine protease on the cytoplasmic surface of an organelle or vesicle in the "lysosomal/mitochondrial" fraction from undifferentiated cells was responsible for the modification of IRF-1. Thus, the simplest explanation of the modification is cleavage of IRF-1 by the serine protease. Recovery of intact IRF-1 correlated with induction of a serine protease inhibitor that was able to significantly reduce the modification of IRF-1. The inhibitor was present in the cytoplasm of M. tuberculosis-infected or -differentiated cells. It is likely that induction of both IRF-1 and the serine protease inhibitor in response to infection by M. tuberculosis represent host defense mechanisms

Eating Disorders in Hospitalized School-Aged Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of Discharge Records in Developmental Ages in Italy

Eating disorders (EDs) are characterized by behavioral and cognitive aspects that result in a significant impairment of an individual’s well-being. COVID-19 pandemic consequences negatively impacted healthcare services and people’s mental health. Particularly, in developmental ages, difficulties in coping with the situation could have had an impact on eating behaviors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess EDs’ hospitalization trend before, during and after the pandemic peak to evaluate whether it has been influenced. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on the hospital discharge forms of patients from 5 to 19 years old in Piedmont, which is a region in northern Italy. Overall, hospitalization, age, and gender-specific rates due to EDs that occurred in 2020 and 2021 were compared to those that occurred in 2018–2019. Since 2020, there has been a 55% reduction in overall hospitalizations, while the total proportion of EDs admissions has doubled from 2020 to 2021 (from 13.9‰ to 22.2‰). Significant hospitalization rate increases were observed both in 15–19 and in 10–14 females’ age groups in 2021. Non-significant increases were observed in all males’ age groups. The increase in hospitalizations for EDs should be further investigated, as it might be the tip of an iceberg not yet acknowledged

Unraveling the functional role of the orphan solute carrier, SLC22A24 in the transport of steroid conjugates through metabolomic and genome-wide association studies.

Variation in steroid hormone levels has wide implications for health and disease. The genes encoding the proteins involved in steroid disposition represent key determinants of interindividual variation in steroid levels and ultimately, their effects. Beginning with metabolomic data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), we observed that genetic variants in the orphan transporter, SLC22A24 were significantly associated with levels of androsterone glucuronide and etiocholanolone glucuronide (sentinel SNPs p-value <1x10-30). In cells over-expressing human or various mammalian orthologs of SLC22A24, we showed that steroid conjugates and bile acids were substrates of the transporter. Phylogenetic, genomic, and transcriptomic analyses suggested that SLC22A24 has a specialized role in the kidney and appears to function in the reabsorption of organic anions, and in particular, anionic steroids. Phenome-wide analysis showed that functional variants of SLC22A24 are associated with human disease such as cardiovascular diseases and acne, which have been linked to dysregulated steroid metabolism. Collectively, these functional genomic studies reveal a previously uncharacterized protein involved in steroid homeostasis, opening up new possibilities for SLC22A24 as a pharmacological target for regulating steroid levels

Impact of Mycobacterium tuberculosis RD1-locus on human primary dendritic cell immune functions

Modern strategies to develop vaccines against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) aim to improve the current Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine or to attenuate the virulence of Mtb vaccine candidates. In the present study, the impact of wild type or mutated region of difference 1 (RD1) variants on the immunogenicity of Mtb and BCG recombinants was investigated in human primary dendritic cells (DC). A comparative analysis of transcriptome, signalling pathway activation, maturation, apoptosis, cytokine production and capacity to promote Th1 responses demonstrated that DC sense quantitative and qualitative differences in the expression of RD1-encoded factors - ESAT6 and CFP10 - within BCG or Mtb backgrounds. Expansion of IFN-γ producing T cells was promoted by BCG::RD1-challenged DC, as compared to their BCG-infected counterparts. Although Mtb recombinants acted as a strong Th-1 promoting stimulus, even with RD1 deletion, the attenuated Mtb strain carrying a C-terminus truncated ESAT-6 elicited a robust Th1 promoting phenotype in DC. Collectively, these studies indicate a necessary but not sufficient role for the RD1 locus in promoting DC immune-regulatory functions. Additional mycobacterial factors are likely required to endow DC with a high Th1 polarizing capacity, a desirable attribute for a successful control of Mtb infection

Time to change the single-centre approach to management of patients with tuberculosis: a novel network platform with automatic data import and data sharing

Time to change the single-centre approach to TB http://ow.ly/lCeM30hBcbB