Tipologie ricorrenti di edifici scolastici

Il capitolo affronta la scala edilizia proponendo i termini metodologici di un'operazione di catalogazione della grande varietà degli edifici scolastici a situazioni ricorrenti, prodotto di fasi storiche, culture tecniche e normative che si sono succedute nella storia della scuola italiana. Ne risultano delle tipologie di edifici e di contesti, statisticamente rilevanti, che offrono una descrizione sintetica, ma esaustiva, delle principali caratteristiche edilizie del patrimonio

Adjuvant-carrying synthetic vaccine particles augment the immune response to encapsulated antigen and exhibit strong local immune activation without inducing systemic cytokine release

Augmentation of immunogenicity can be achieved by particulate delivery of an antigen and by its co-administration with an adjuvant. However, many adjuvants initiate strong systemic inflammatory reactions in vivo, leading to potential adverse events and safety concerns. We have developed a synthetic vaccine particle (SVP) technology that enables co-encapsulation of antigen with potent adjuvants. We demonstrate that co-delivery of an antigen with a TLR7/8 or TLR9 agonist in synthetic polymer nanoparticles results in a strong augmentation of humoral and cellular immune responses with minimal systemic production of inflammatory cytokines. In contrast, antigen encapsulated into nanoparticles and admixed with free TLR7/8 agonist leads to lower immunogenicity and rapid induction of high levels of inflammatory cytokines in the serum (e.g., TNF-α and IL-6 levels are 50- to 200-fold higher upon injection of free resiquimod (R848) than of nanoparticle-encapsulated R848). Conversely, local immune stimulation as evidenced by cellular infiltration of draining lymph nodes and by intranodal cytokine production was more pronounced and persisted longer when SVP-encapsulated TLR agonists were used. The strong local immune activation achieved using a modular self-assembling nanoparticle platform markedly enhanced immunogenicity and was equally effective whether antigen and adjuvant were co-encapsulated in a single nanoparticle formulation or co-delivered in two separate nanoparticles. Moreover, particle encapsulation enabled the utilization of CpG oligonucleotides with the natural phosphodiester backbone, which are otherwise rapidly hydrolyzed by nucleases in vivo. The use of SVP may enable clinical use of potent TLR agonists as vaccine adjuvants for indications where cellular immunity or robust humoral responses are required

Terminologia e interculturalità. Problematiche e prospettive

La terminologia contribuisce al consolidamento di patrimoni linguistici e culturali mentre la sua diffusione intra- e interlinguistica favorisce la costruzione di dialoghi interdisciplinari, evolvendo in parallelo a nuovi bisogni e contesti. Queste dinamiche si innestano nelle problematiche della comunicazione interculturale, tanto nelle pratiche dell’espressione quanto in quelle della traduzione interlinguistica. In questo volume, studiose e studiosi, specialiste e specialisti di terminologia presentano le loro riflessioni su queste tematiche, indagando la dimensione culturale e interculturale della ricerca terminologica e delle sue pratiche, interrogando tutti i fenomeni relativi all’incontro fra culture in atto nella realizzazione discorsiva di ambito specialistico. Tali riflessioni considerano ogni dimensione della testualità, fino agli spazi digitali, che offrono strumenti di analisi oltre i limiti della materialità, offrendo così un panorama ampio nel dibattito in corso, un terreno fertile per la verifica teorica alle questioni di ricerca in ambito terminologico

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

Thin layer films of copper hexacyanoferrate: Structure identification and analytical applications

Thin films of copper hexacyanoferrate (CuHCF) have been reproducibly electrodeposited on conductive substrates according to two different potentiostatic methods, here denoted as A and B. For both methods two consecutive steps are involved, the first being the electrodeposition of a thin Cu layer, the second its partial dissolution and formation of CuHCF in presence of hexacyanoferrate anion, giving as result a two layers film (CuHCF on Cu metal). The main difference, instead, consists in the applied potential values and their application times, featuring Method A lower potentials but longer processing times. Structural insights have been achieved by means of X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) measurements, from which we can deduce the presence of Prussian blue (PB) impurities in Method A, while Method B leads to a pure CuHCF phase. Two analytical applications have been considered, ion exchange and H2O2 sensing. Ion exchange has been first assayed and, although CuHCF-A shows a higher stability towards multivalent cations, CuHCF-B is suitable for small hydrated ions. PB impurities in CuHCF-A boost its sensing towards H2O2, making it more adapted to this employment

Lymph Node Subcapsular Sinus Macrophages Confer Resistance to CNS Invasion Upon Peripheral Infection With a Neurotropic Virus

Lymph nodes (LNs) capture microorganisms that breach the body's external barriers and enter draining lymphatics, thereby limiting the systemic spread of such pathogens1. Recent work has shown that CD11b+CD169+ macrophages, which populate the subcapsular sinus (SCS) of LNs, are critical for clearance of viruses from the lymph and for initiating anti-viral humoral immune responses2,3,4. Using vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), a relative to rabies virus that is typically transmitted by insect bites, we show here that SCS macrophages perform a third vital function; they prevent lymph-borne neurotropic viruses from infecting the CNS. Upon local depletion of SCS macrophages, ~60% of mice developed ascending paralysis and died within 7-10 days after subcutaneous infection with a small dose of VSV that was readily cleared by macrophage-sufficient control animals. VSV gained access to the nervous system via peripheral nerves in macrophage-depleted LNs. In contrast, in macrophage-sufficient LNs VSV replicated preferentially within SCS macrophages but failed to replicate in adjacent nerves. Removal of SCS macrophages did not compromise the humoral or T cell responses against VSV, but it dramatically reduced the production of type I interferon (IFN-I) within infected LNs. VSV-infected macrophages recruited IFN-I producing plasmacytoid dendritic cells to the SCS and additionally were a major source of IFN-I themselves. Experiments in bone marrow chimeric mice lacking the IFN-I receptor in either hematopoietic or stromal cells revealed that IFN-I must act on both compartments, including the intranodal nerves, to prevent lethal VSV infection. These results identify SCS macrophages as crucial gatekeepers to the CNS that prevent fatal viral neuroinvasion upon peripheral infection

Organic PolyRadicals as Redox Mediators : Effect of Intramolecular Radical Interactions in their Efficiency

The spin-spin interactions between unpaired electrons in organic (poly)radicals, especially nitroxides, are of largely investigated and are of crucial importance for their applications in areas such as organic magnetism, molecular charge transfer or multiple spin labeling in structural biology. Recently, TEMPO and polymers functionalized with nitroxides have been described as successful redox mediators, however, the study of spin-spin interactions effect in such an area is absent. This communication deals with the preparation and study of a novel family of discrete polynitroxide molecules, with the same number of radical units but different arrangement to study how intramolecular spin-spin interactions affect on their electrochemical potential and their use as redox mediators.peerReviewe

Selective activation, expansion, and monitoring of human iNKT cells with a monoclonal antibody specific for the TCR α-chain CDR3 loop

A significant fraction of CD1d-restricted T cells express an invariant T cell receptor (TCR) α-chain. These highly conserved ‘iNKT’ populations are important regulators of a wide spectrum of immune responses. The ability to directly identify and manipulate iNKT is essential to understanding their function and to exploit their therapeutic potential. To that end, we sought monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies specific for iNKT by immunizing CD1d KO mice, which lack iNKT, with a cyclic peptide modeled after the TCR-α CDR3 loop. One monoclonal antibody (mAb; 6B11) was specific for cloned and primary human but not rodent iNKT and the human invariant TCR-α, as shown by transfection and reactivity with human invariant TCR-α transgenic T cells ex vivo and in situ. 6B11 was utilized to identify, purify, and expand iNKT from an otherwise minor component of human peripheral blood lymphocytes and to specifically identify human iNKT in tissue. Thus, we report a novel and general strategy for the generation of monoclonal antibodies specific for the CDR3 loop encoded by the TCR of interest. Specifically, an anti-Vα24Jα18 CDR3 loop clonotypic TCR mAb is available for the enumeration and therapeutic manipulation of human and non-human primate iNKT populations