La recalificación arquitectónico-ambiental del centro histórico: Recuperación y resignificación de los “Sassi de Matera” The Architectonic-Environmental Requalification of the Historical Centre: Recovery and Resignification of the “Sassi of Matera”

Los Sassi de Matera se encuentran sobre una colina de piedra empinada, donde grupos de casas se asientan paralelamente sobre el terreno, de manera superpuesta, en círculos concéntricos. Conforman un enorme patrimonio arquitectónico que estuvo habitado hasta el año 1952 en condiciones prehistóricas, careciendo de servicios básicos de habitabilidad y urbanismo adaptados a la vida moderna. Durante cuarenta años de abandono, se han estudiado técnicas de restauración y conservación tradicionales para garantizar la adecuada recuperación del lugar. Se presentan dos intervenciones realizadas por los autores, tomadas como casos de estudio, sus problemáticas particulares, y las soluciones concretas dadas a cada uno. Matera ofrece un recorrido por la historia más antigua de la humanidad y sus tradiciones: su adecuada recalificación arquitectónica puede servir de modelo en un futuro para la conservación de los ecosistemas urbanos logrados gracias al correcto uso de los recursos hídricos, del sol y de la piedra disponibles en su momento

Hepatitis E Virus Occurrence in Pigs Slaughtered in Italy

In Europe, foodborne transmission has been clearly associated to sporadic cases and small clusters of hepatitis E in humans linked to the consumption of contaminated pig liver sausages, raw venison, or undercooked wild boar meat. In Europe, zoonotic HEV-genotype 3 strains are widespread in pig farms but little information is available on the prevalence of HEV positive pigs at slaughterhouse. In the present study, the prevalence of HEV-RNA positive pigs was assessed on 585 animals from 4 abattoirs located across Italy. Twenty-one pigs (3.6%) tested positive for HEV in either feces or liver by real-time RT-PCR. In these 21 pigs, eight diaphragm muscles resulted positive for HEV-RNA. Among animals collected in one abattoir, 4 out of 91 plasma tested positive for HEV-RNA. ELISA tests for the detection of total antibodies against HEV showed a high seroprevalence (76.8%), confirming the frequent exposure of pigs to the virus. The phylogenetic analyses conducted on sequences of both ORF1 and ORF2 fragments, shows the circulation of HEV-3c and of a novel unclassified subtype. This study provides information on HEV occurrence in pigs at the slaughterhouse, confirming that muscles are rarely contaminated by HEV-RNA compared to liver, which is the most frequently positive for HEV

Cost-effectiveness analysis of personalised versus standard dosimetry for selective internal radiation therapy with TheraSphere in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Aims: To perform a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) comparing personalised dosimetry with standard dosimetry in the context of selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) with TheraSphere for the management of adult patients with locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from the Italian Healthcare Service perspective. Materials and methods: A partition survival model was developed to project costs and the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) over a lifetime horizon. Clinical inputs were retrieved from a published randomised controlled trial. Health resource utilisation inputs were extracted from the questionnaires administered to clinicians in three oncology centres in Italy, respectively. Cost parameters were based on Italian official tariffs. Results: Over a lifetime horizon, the model estimated the average QALYs of 1.292 and 0.578, respectively, for patients undergoing personalised and standard dosimetry approaches. The estimated mean costs per patient were €23,487 and €19,877, respectively. The incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR) of personalised versus standard dosimetry approaches was €5,056/QALY. Conclusions: Personalised dosimetry may be considered a cost-effective option compared to standard dosimetry for patients undergoing SIRT for HCC in Italy. These findings provide evidence for clinicians and payers on the value of personalised dosimetry as a treatment option for patients with HCC

The syntax of ‘-cā’ (*-kwe) in Ahunavaiti Gāthā

This paper seeks to provide a full description of the syntactic behaviour of the enclitic co-ordinate conjunction -cā in the earliest stage of the Avestan language. By studying the occurrences of the particle in Ahunavaiti Gāthā, a distributive analysis is provided together with an interpretative hypothesis of its distributive dynamics. Two syntactic levels, phrase and sentence, are taken into consideration. Finally, a syntactic domain-based variation is argued and two clitic functional variants are identified as synchronically operating conjunction strategies

Italian guidelines for primary headaches: 2012 revised version

The first edition of the Italian diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for primary headaches in adults was published in J Headache Pain 2(Suppl. 1):105–190 (2001). Ten years later, the guideline committee of the Italian Society for the Study of Headaches (SISC) decided it was time to update therapeutic guidelines. A literature search was carried out on Medline database, and all articles on primary headache treatments in English, German, French and Italian published from February 2001 to December 2011 were taken into account. Only randomized controlled trials (RCT) and meta-analyses were analysed for each drug. If RCT were lacking, open studies and case series were also examined. According to the previous edition, four levels of recommendation were defined on the basis of levels of evidence, scientific strength of evidence and clinical effectiveness. Recommendations for symptomatic and prophylactic treatment of migraine and cluster headache were therefore revised with respect to previous 2001 guidelines and a section was dedicated to non-pharmacological treatment. This article reports a summary of the revised version published in extenso in an Italian version

Rehabilitation and release of diurnal raptors: monitoring and radiotracking

Radiotracking of three buzzards, Buteo buteo, treated and released from Raptor Rescue Centre of Natural Reserve of Lake Vico (Latium, Italy)

Role of Surface Defects on Photoinduced Reactivity in SiO₂ Nanoparticles

Silica nanostructured materials find application in different fields, since they are cheap, versatile, and easy to functionalize as materials. However, silica reactivity has not been deeply investigated yet, mainly due to a poor understanding of how it is affected by superficial defects. In the present study, the electronic and optical properties of nanoparticles have been investigated using bare silica nanoparticles (SNP) and amino- or phosphonate-functionalized silica nanoparticles (SNP–APTES and SNP-phosphonate), prepared by a sol-gel procedure, and their morphology has been investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. The prepared silica nanomaterials were characterized by means of reflectance and emission spectroscopies to determine the types of defects that can be found on silica nanoparticles’ surface. In order to understand the effect of surface defects on the reactivity of silica, the nanoparticles were employed for the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine 6G (R6G), upon selective irradiation at 320 nm, where only silica colloids absorb. The photoreaction was carried out in ethanol and in water and was monitored following the fluorescence signal of the dye. The evaluation of the fluorescent intensities allowed for the determination of the degradation efficiencies

On the evolution of proton conductivity of Aquivion membranes loaded with CeO2 based nanofillers: effect of temperature and relative humidity

Surface modified CeO2 nanoparticles were prepared by reacting nanometric CeO2 with a fluoroalkyl (C8F17-C2H4-PO(OH)2) or a fluorobenzyl phosphonic acid (C6F5-CH2-PO(OH)2). Both non-modified and fluorophosphonic acid modified CeO2 were used as fillers of composite Aquivion membranes, with loadings up to 5 wt%. Ex situ accelerated ageing using the Fenton reaction shows that non-modified CeO2 is a more efficient radical scavenger than the two fluorophosphonic acid modified fillers. Fluoride emission rate data for pristine Aquivion and for the composite membranes are consistent with the corresponding changes in the values of ion exchange capacity (IEC) and elastic modulus. The conductivity of membranes containing non-modified CeO2, measured as a function of relative humidity at 80 and 110 °C, decreases with increasing filler loading. For loadings > 2 wt%, an increase in temperature from 80 to 110 °C results in further conductivity drop and in the concomitant IEC decrease, due to partial filler solubilisation, thus indicating that the composite membranes are unstable at temperature > 80 °C. However such conductivity drops are strongly reduced, especially at 80 °C, for composites with fluorophosphonic acid modified CeO2

Molecular Tailored Therapeutic Options for Advanced Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs): Current Practice and Future Perspectives

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are one of the most common mesenchymal tumors characterized by different molecular alterations that lead to specific clinical presentations and behaviors. In the last twenty years, thanks to the discovery of these mutations, several new treatment options have emerged. This review provides an extensive overview of GISTs’ molecular pathways and their respective tailored therapeutic strategies. Furthermore, current treatment strategies under investigation and future perspectives are analyzed and discussed

Effects of the increase in neuronal fatty acids availability on food intake and satiety in mice

Rationale Neurons detect free fatty acids (FFAs) availability and use this nutritional status to modulate feeding and control body weight. Objectives The work is designed to characterize the impact on feeding behavior of either oleic acid (OA) administration (experiment 1) or the inhibition (experiment 2) of the enzyme carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT-1). The structure of feeding behavior and satiation time course were examined through the behavioral satiety sequence (BSS) paradigm. Methods Adult male mice were initially habituated to a palatable diet, then subjected to intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) infusion of different doses of OA or the CPT-1 inhibitor ST1326. Food intake at different time points, duration, and frequencies of feeding and non-feeding-related behaviors were continuously monitored over 40 min and satiety development profiled according to BSS. Results Intra-i.c.v. infusion of oleic acid (300 nM) and ST1326 (50 and 75 pM) suppressed food intake. As indicated by the earlier leftward shifting of the normal transition from eating to resting, both strategies similarly accelerated the onset of satiety. The premature onset of satiety resulted in a dose-related fashion with 50 pM of ST1326 producing a marked premature onset than the lower dose. However, at the highest dose injected, the inhibition of CPT-1 disrupted the BSS profile. Conclusions The increased neuronal availability of FFAs mediates a significant anorectic response which is mirrored by an early occurrence of satiety onset. Besides supporting the role of central nutrient sensing in feeding, the present data demonstrate that the modulation of satiety enhancement can produce appetite suppressant effects within narrow range of neuronal FFAs availability