Comparative assessment of strut models for the modelling of in-plane seismic response of infill walls

The influence of infills on the seismic response of frame structures has long been recognised. Typically, stiffness and strength of the infill and connections between infill and frame are such that the infill affects the global seismic behaviour of the structure. Hence, the presence of infills should be considered in the analysis and design of new buildings and in the seismic assessment of existing ones. To this aim, simple models for infill walls, such as the equivalent diagonal no-tension strut model, have been developed in the last decades. The objective of the present study is to assess the validity of different strut models. To this aim, 162 experimental tests available in the literature are considered. The data set includes both reinforced concrete and steel frames, as well as confined masonry structures. The mechanical characteristics of masonry and the boundary conditions between frames and infills of the test specimens take into account a large set of situations, reflecting the great variability in the materials and in the construction techniques adopted in different countries. Moreover, the type of tests and the related results are not uniform; in some cases monotonic experiments are performed, whereas in other cases cyclic tests are carried out. As expected, the presence of different types of infill-frame systems results in a large scatter of the data. However, the comparison between experimental results and predictions show that, on the average, the infill strength can be adequately estimated by resorting to the strut model whereas major uncertainties are found for the stiffness prediction

What Teachers Tell Us About the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Public Education in Italy

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) state of emergency has brought about a radical change in the way of teaching. In a questionnaire, we asked 120 teachers from Italian Primary, Middle and High Schools about the advantages and disadvantages of online teaching, the students’ conduct during lessons and the methodologies applied to students with special educational needs. Primary School teachers most strongly reported an increase in boredom and distraction, and disagreed that online teaching helps students’ learning and that it makes them more active. The main advantage of online teaching was the technical and methodological innovations, while the main disadvantage was the lack of relationship with students. In the case of students with special educational needs, many teachers reported that they used simplified procedures and personalized meetings. Overall, teachers appear to think that online teaching has many drawbacks, though it also has some positive aspects that need to be appreciated and exploited

LRRK2 phosphorylates pre-synaptic N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion (NSF) protein enhancing its ATPase activity and SNARE complex disassembling rate

Background Lrrk2, a gene linked to Parkinson\u2019s disease, encodes a large scaffolding protein with kinase and GTPase activities implicated in vesicle and cytoskeletal-related processes. At the presynaptic site, LRRK2 associates with synaptic vesicles through interaction with a panel of presynaptic proteins. Results Here, we show that LRRK2 kinase activity influences the dynamics of synaptic vesicle fusion. We therefore investigated whether LRRK2 phosphorylates component(s) of the exo/endocytosis machinery. We have previously observed that LRRK2 interacts with NSF, a hexameric AAA+ ATPase that couples ATP hydrolysis to the disassembling of SNARE proteins allowing them to enter another fusion cycle during synaptic exocytosis. Here, we demonstrate that NSF is a substrate of LRRK2 kinase activity. LRRK2 phosphorylates full-length NSF at threonine 645 in the ATP binding pocket of D2 domain. Functionally, NSF phosphorylated by LRRK2 displays enhanced ATPase activity and increased rate of SNARE complex disassembling. Substitution of threonine 645 with alanine abrogates LRRK2-mediated increased ATPase activity. Conclusions Given that the most common Parkinson\u2019s disease LRRK2 G2019S mutation displays increased kinase activity, our results suggest that mutant LRRK2 may impair synaptic vesicle dynamics via aberrant phosphorylation of NSF

Genome sequence analysis of the first human West Nile virus isolated in Italy in 2009.

In 2009, six new human cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) were identified in Veneto region, following the six cases already reported in 2008. A human West Nile virus (WNV) isolate was obtained for the first time from an asymptomatic blood donor. Whole genome sequence of the human WNV isolate showed close phylogenetic relatedness to the Italy-1998-WNV strain and to other WNV strains recently isolated in Europe, with the new acquisition of the NS3-Thr249Pro mutation, a trait associated with avian virulence, increased virus transmission, and the occurrence of outbreaks in humans

O QUE VOCÊ LÊ? O PERFIL DO LEITOR LITERÁRIO BRASILEIRO NA ATUALIDADE

Os suportes de leitura foram sendo modificados ao longo dos anos, em especial nas últimas décadas, com o surgimento de livros interativos, aplicativos de leitura e e-books. A leitura literária sofre impactos com as facilidades do mundo digital, que passou a ocupar parte do tempo livre das pessoas, mas muito se questiona sobre os impactos no tipo de livro, no volume de leitura, bem como no perfil dos leitores da atualidade. Sabe-se que a leitura estimula o pensamento, melhora o vocabulário, a interpretação e fornece aos leitores uma ampla variedade de conhecimentos sobre diversos assuntos, como também contribui para desenvolver a criatividade, a imaginação, a comunicação, o pensamento crítico e a expansão das habilidades de escrita, melhorando também seu desempenho acadêmico. Nesse sentido, a literatura passa a ser um convite para a liberdade de expressão, por meio da qual podemos expressar nossos sentimentos e entendê-los, compreendendo melhor nossas próprias emoções, proporcionando também uma melhor compreensão do outro. Com a finalidade de conhecer o perfil dos leitores brasileiros, este trabalho de pesquisa tem por objetivo apresentar o perfil dos leitores literários no Brasil na atualidade, a partir dos dados do Retratos de Leitura no Brasil, Observatório de leitura e Instituto Pró-Livro. Como objetivos específicos, tem-se realizar um levantamento bibliográfico dos autores contemporâneos mais lidos e com maior tiragem na atualidade, bem como o perfil (gênero, enredo, etc) de suas obras; relacionar os autores de literatura brasileira mais lidos na atualidade; conhecer o perfil do leitor literário contemporâneo no Brasil; realizar um levantamento, junto aos estudantes do Ensino Médio Integrado do IFC Campus Concórdia, identificando quais são seus livros e autores preferidos e, por fim, estabelecer um comparativo desta amostragem local com dados nacionais. Este trabalho se justifica pela necessidade de entender como um tema relevante como a leitura se apresenta na atualidade, uma vez que é uma habilidade diretamente relacionada à compreensão e interpretação de mundo dos indivíduos, bem como a seu repertório sociocultural, o que interfere nas relações escolares e no mundo do trabalho. Para que o estudo seja possível, a pesquisa será de caráter descritivo, com análise quantitativa e qualitativa dos dados. Como procedimentos metodológicos, será iniciada com uma pesquisa bibliográfica dos dados da pesquisa “Retratos da leitura no Brasil”, após, serão comparados para analisar a mudança de perfil ao longo de suas cinco edições (espaço de tempo de duas décadas). Na sequência, será feita uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre vida e obra dos escritores brasileiros que tiveram maior tiragem de exemplares nos últimos 05 anos. Para responder algumas questões problema, será aplicado um levantamento, composto por questões abertas e fechadas, destinadas a alunos do Ensino Médio Integrado do IFC Campus Concórdia, por meio de formulário google forms. A análise e apresentação dos resultados do estudo será tabulada e comparada com os dados do perfil do leitor brasileiro. Como resultados, espera-se identificar mudanças no perfil, mas preferências em gêneros e suportes, bem como sugerir ações de leitura literária que possam ser desenvolvidas em âmbito local

Clinical and virological findings in the ongoing outbreak of West Nile virus Livenza strain in northern Italy, July to September 2012.

Binary file ES_Abstracts_Final_ECDC.txt matche

Responses of the atmospheric concentration of radon-222 to the vertical mixing and spatial transportation

Radon-222 (Rn-222) has traditionally been used as an atmospheric tracer for studying air masses and planetary boundary-layer evolution. However, there are various factors that influence its atmospheric concentration. Therefore, we investigated the variability of the atmospheric radon concentration in response to the vertical air mixing and spatial transport in a boreal forest environment in northern Europe. Long-term Rn-222 data collected at the SMEAR II station in southern Finland during 2000-2006 were analysed along with meteorological data, mixing layer height retrievals and air-mass back trajectory information. The daily mean atmospheric radon concentration followed a log-normal distribution within the range <0.1-11 Bq m(-3), with the geometric mean of 2.5 Bq m(-3) and a geometric standard deviation of 1.7 Bq m(3). In spring, summer, autumn and winter, the daily mean concentrations were 1.7, 2.7, 2.8 and 2.7 Bq m(-3), respectively. The low, spring radon concentration was especially attributed to the joint effect of enhanced vertical mixing due to the increasing solar irradiance and inhibited local emissions due to snow thawing. The lowest atmospheric radon concentration was observed with northwesterly winds and high radon concentrations with southeasterly winds, which were associated with the marine and continental origins of air masses, respectively. The atmospheric radon concentration was in general inversely proportional to the mixing layer height. However, the ambient temperature and small-scale turbulent mixing were observed to disturb this relationship. The evolution of turbulence within the mixing layer was expected to be a key explanation for the delay in the response of the atmospheric radon concentration to the changes in the mixing layer thickness. Radon is a valuable naturally-occurring tracer for studying boundary layer mixing processes and transport patterns, especially when the mixing layer is fully developed. However, complementing information, provided by understanding the variability of the atmospheric radon concentration, is of high necessity to be taken into consideration for realistically interpreting the evolution of air masses or planetary boundary layer.Peer reviewe

High serum levels of soluble CD40-L in patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma: pathogenic and clinical relevance

BACKGROUND: Engagement of CD40 promotes survival of undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (UNPC) cells and similar effects are induced by the EBV oncoprotein LMP-1 that is expressed in a fraction of cases. Considering that CD40 may be activated also by the soluble isoform of CD40L (sCD40L), we investigated the serum levels of sCD40L in a series of 61 UNPC patients from Italy, a non-endemic area for this disease. RESULTS: At diagnosis, serum samples of UNPC patients contained significantly higher levels of sCD40L than age-matched healthy controls (p < 0.001). High levels of sCD40L (i.e., >18 ng/ml) were more frequently found in patients <40 years of age (p = 0.03) and with distant metastases at presentation (p = 0.03). Serum levels of sCD40L were inversely associated with the expression of the EBV oncoprotein LMP-1 (p = 0.03), which mimics a constitutively activated CD40. The amount of sCD40L decreased in a fraction of patients treated with local radiotherapy alone. Moreover, CD40L(+ )lymphoid cells admixed to neoplastic UNPC cells were detected in cases with high serum levels of sCD40L, suggesting that sCD40L is probably produced within the tumor mass. CONCLUSION: sCD40L may contribute to CD40 activation in UNPC cells, particularly of LMP-1-negative cases, further supporting the crucial role of CD40 signalling in the pathogenesis of UNPC. sCD40L levels may be useful to identify UNPC patients with occult distant metastases at presentation

Human cases of West Nile Virus infection in north-eastern Italy, 15 June to 15 November 2010.

In 2010, for the third consecutive year, human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection, including three confirmed cases of neuroinvasive disease and three confirmed cases of West Nile fever, were identified in north-eastern Italy. While in 2008 and 2009 all human cases of WNV disease were recorded in the south of the Veneto region, cases of WNV disease in 2010 additionally occurred in two relatively small northern areas of Veneto, located outside those with WNV circulation in the previous years. WNV IgG antibody prevalence in blood donors resident in Veneto was estimated as ranging from 3.2 per 1,000 in areas not affected by cases of WNV disease to 33.3 per 1,000 in a highly affected area of the Rovigo province. No further autochthonous human cases of WNV disease were notified in Italy in 2010. The recurrence of human cases of WNV infection for the third consecutive year strongly suggests WNV has become endemic in north-eastern Italy