Soft Mobility and Urban Transformation: Some European Case Studies

La ricerca verso forme di spostamento alternative al mezzo privato soprattutto per gli spostamenti urbani legati ad attività del tempo libero, nello scenario attuale, rappresenta un obiettivo comune a tutti i livelli amministrativi anche in ragione della necessità di rispondere ad indicazioni normative sul miglioramento della qualità dell’ambiente urbano. Le città, quindi, sono interessate da interventi finalizzati alla promozione di una modalità di spostamento che può essere definita dolce (lenta). Tali interventi presuppongono la messa in atto sia di politiche di gestione degli spostamenti sia di azioni sul sistema fisico urbano attraverso la realizzazione di appositi percorsi (pedonali, ciclabili o misti) atti a garantire opportuni livelli di sicurezza. La realizzazione di tali interventi, in molti casi, rappresenta un’occasione di riqualificazione di aree urbane centrali o periferiche restituite all’uso pubblico. L’articolo propone di esaminare alcuni casi significativi dove gli interventi finalizzati alla promozione della mobilità dolce hanno avuto una positiva incidenza sul miglioramento della qualità urbana.The paper examines some European cases referred to promotion of soft mobility as a new lifestyle oriented to improve benefits on environment and urban liveability. Soft mobility refers to human powered displacement (HPM) and represents a particular component of passenger traffic, it is particularly associated with pedestrian traffic, hiking, cycling as well as getting around on vehicle-type devices (such as inline skates, kick scooters, etc.). Promoting this kind of sustainable transport needs interventions both on physical and functional system. On one hand cities have to provide specific attractive, safe and integrated facilities whose realization could be an opportunity of urban requalification; on the other hand they have to dispose political actions to improve soft mobility use. European context is characterized by high disparity among countries in the use of soft mobility applied to urban displacement in spite of a prolific production of laws and roles referred to the emergency of adopting new ways of moving to minimize negatives impacts generated by car dependence also in urban short distance. The use of soft mobility for short displacement especially referred to leisure and tourism activities could represent an occasion both to promote special measures to create better condition in urban life and to improve integration between territorial transformation and mobility management achieving higher level of urban quality life. The cases shown in this paper underline that promotion of soft mobility affect both territorial and urban level giving a chance toward new ways of enjoying urban and territorial resources

Smart city tra competitività urbana e vocazione turistica

[Italiano]: L’interesse per il turismo urbano, soprattutto nell’ambito degli studi di matrice socio-geografica, risale alla seconda metà del secolo scorso. Tuttavia, già nei primi lavori scientifici si evidenziava una separazione tra chi si occupava di turismo senza considerare la città e viceversa. Lo studio presentato in questo volume analizza il turismo quale fenomeno integrato nel processo di trasformazione della città. Rivisitando il paradigma della Smart City applicato alla destinazione turistica, il lavoro si pone l’obiettivo di evidenziare luci ed ombre della relazione turismo-città nell’ottica della competitività urbana./[English]: The interest in urban tourism has been topical in the field of socio-geographical studies since 1980. However, already early studies tended to separate scholars involved in tourism and those in urban planning. This division is not logic given that the World Tourism Organization in the Economic Review of World Tourism reported in the 1970s the growing demand for tourist destinations in cities. Nonetheless, a real contribution from scientific research to the issues arisen by tourism on the cities’ organization has been achieved yet. The study does not aim to fill this gap but does encourage the analysis of tourism as an integrated phenomenon in the process of governing urban and territorial transformations It is no longer an external force but a part of the everyday urban activity. . The separation between “the place of work” (city) and the “place of leisure” (outside the city) has characterized the approaches of tourism research for the last thirty years. Based on this theoretical framework, this monograph illustrates the recent evolutions of tourism in its relationship with cities, confronting the challenges faced by cities, revisiting the Smart City paradigm applied to the tourist destination. It also presents an insightful perspective on the lights and shadows of urban tourism

The emergency plan for the use and management of the territory

The issue of emergency planning in areas exposed to natural hazards cannot yet be considered as a focus within the scientific literature, probably because it has been judged as “too operative” for the interest of academic research. The topic of land use planning, spatial planning, and urban planning in risky areas, conversely, has gained attention in recent years. Nevertheless, the examples of good practices that involve ordinary master plans embedding mitigation concerns are still limited. &nbsp

The Tourist-Religious Mobility of the “Silver-Haired People”. The Case of Pietrelcina

This study deals with religious tourism as a particular social and cultural activity attaining high levels of interest also in the scientific context. Within this form of tourism, the segment of “senior travelers” plays an important role considering the increase of the population aging phenomenon. Although there is not yet a unique and shared definition of senior tourism, it is possible to outline some characteristics to define this specific form of use of the urban system. The case study of Pietrelcina (BN) in Campania has been considered as a meaningful example of international religious pole connected to San Pio cult. In this regard, the study is aimed to explore the possibilities of defining territorial strategies for the promotion of territorial resources. The main objective of this study is to overcome the sectorial approach, based on the “mono-pole supply” (the organization of tourist flows “exclusively oriented”, centralized in the most popular destination), suggesting a systemic-territorial supply reconfiguration aimed at improving the accessibility to older slow tourism. The study, thus, proposes a reconfiguration of the territorial organization in order to prefigure a systemic territorial-supply aimed at improving particularly accessibility referred to older slow tourism. Slow tourism as innovative form of territorial use could improve the relationship between tourism and territory that was the original sense of pilgrimage

Augmenting the Smart City. A "new view" for the urban planning

In recent years, Augmented Reality has gained interest both for being a technology that offers many possibilities of interaction with mobile devices (smartphone and tablet) and for its potentialities of being used in outside contexts. The recent transition of Augmented Reality from the virtual context of the Video Games -within an indoor ambiance- to the real urban space -within an outside ambiance- is providing new perspectives for urban planning processes, as a result. Referring to this transition, the paper tries to investigate the possibilities of proposing a new view for the urban planning process taking into account the potentialities of the recent applications of the Augmented Reality. At the same time, the paper wonders on the possibility of new perspectives that the Augmented Reality can offer to the research in the sector of the town planning. Using a methodology based on a systemic approach, the paper intends to underline the relations existing between urban subsystems and the use of technology. In these relations, the social subsystem plays a central role, as its components (people living and using the city) can improve the urban smartness by the adoption of responsible and aware behaviors. AR applications in the fi eld of the game (e.g. the phenomenon of PokemonGo) has shown how people are willing to be involved in new ways of fruition of urban spaces as long as they can use their mobile devices and they can share their own experiences on the social networks. This attitude can be properly taken into account within the process of urban governance both to improve the participative procedures and to explore new paths for the aware use of technologies. These innovative research dimensions should be explored carefully and quickly, considering the possible contribution of these values to the urban smartness

Un approccio GIS-BIM per il governo delle trasformazioni urbane. Il caso del comune di Aversa

Lo studio ha l’obiettivo di definire e sperimentare un metodo semiautomatizzato basato sull’integrazione GIS-BIM che rappresenti uno strumento di supporto per le pubbliche amministrazioni nel processo di rilascio dei titoli abilitativi per interventi sul patrimonio edilizio. Se l’apporto innovativo dello studio è il tentativo di integrare ambienti di conoscenza; il limite è la necessità di una forte interazione tra la lungimiranza della ricerca scientifica e la lentezza dell’apparato burocratic

NATIVE CHARACTERIZATION AND QC PROFILING OF HUMAN AMNIOTIC MESENCHYMAL STROMAL CELL VESICULAR FRACTIONS FOR SECRETOME-BASED THERAPY

Human amniotic mesenchymal stromal cells (hAMSCs) have unique immunomodulatory properties making them attractive candidates for regenerative applications in inflammatory diseases. Most of their beneficial properties are mediated through their secretome. The bioactive factors concurring to its therapeutic activity are still unknown. Evidence suggests synergy between the two main components of the secretome, soluble factors and vesicular fractions, pivotal in shifting inflammation and promoting self-healing. Biological variability and the absence of quality control (QC) protocols hinder secretome-based therapy translation to clinical applications. Moreover, vesicular secretome contains a multitude of particles with varying size, cargos and functions whose complexity hinders full characterization and comprehension. This study achieved a significant advancement in secretome characterization by utilizing native, FFF-based separation and characterizing extracellular vesicles derived from hAMSCs. This was accomplished by obtaining dimensionally homogeneous fractions then characterized based on their protein content, potentially enabling the identification of subpopulations with diverse functionalities. This method proved to be successful as an independent technique for secretome profiling, with the potential to contribute to the standardization of a qualitative method. Additionally, it served as a preparative separation tool, streamlining populations before ELISA and LC-MS characterization. This approach facilitated the categorization of distinctive and recurring proteins, along with the identification of clusters associated with vesicle activity and functions. However, the presence of proteins unique to each fraction obtained through the FFF separation tool presents a challenge for further analysis of the protein content within these cargoes

Genetic Identification of a Network of Factors that Functionally Interact with the Nucleosome Remodeling ATPase ISWI

Nucleosome remodeling and covalent modifications of histones play fundamental roles in chromatin structure and function. However, much remains to be learned about how the action of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling factors and histone-modifying enzymes is coordinated to modulate chromatin organization and transcription. The evolutionarily conserved ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling factor ISWI plays essential roles in chromosome organization, DNA replication, and transcription regulation. To gain insight into regulation and mechanism of action of ISWI, we conducted an unbiased genetic screen to identify factors with which it interacts in vivo. We found that ISWI interacts with a network of factors that escaped detection in previous biochemical analyses, including the Sin3A gene. The Sin3A protein and the histone deacetylase Rpd3 are part of a conserved histone deacetylase complex involved in transcriptional repression. ISWI and the Sin3A/Rpd3 complex co-localize at specific chromosome domains. Loss of ISWI activity causes a reduction in the binding of the Sin3A/Rpd3 complex to chromatin. Biochemical analysis showed that the ISWI physically interacts with the histone deacetylase activity of the Sin3A/Rpd3 complex. Consistent with these findings, the acetylation of histone H4 is altered when ISWI activity is perturbed in vivo. These findings suggest that ISWI associates with the Sin3A/Rpd3 complex to support its function in vivo

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

Azimuthal anisotropy of charged jet production in root s(NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions

We present measurements of the azimuthal dependence of charged jet production in central and semi-central root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the second harmonic event plane, quantified as nu(ch)(2) (jet). Jet finding is performed employing the anti-k(T) algorithm with a resolution parameter R = 0.2 using charged tracks from the ALICE tracking system. The contribution of the azimuthal anisotropy of the underlying event is taken into account event-by-event. The remaining (statistical) region-to-region fluctuations are removed on an ensemble basis by unfolding the jet spectra for different event plane orientations independently. Significant non-zero nu(ch)(2) (jet) is observed in semi-central collisions (30-50% centrality) for 20 <p(T)(ch) (jet) <90 GeV/c. The azimuthal dependence of the charged jet production is similar to the dependence observed for jets comprising both charged and neutral fragments, and compatible with measurements of the nu(2) of single charged particles at high p(T). Good agreement between the data and predictions from JEWEL, an event generator simulating parton shower evolution in the presence of a dense QCD medium, is found in semi-central collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe