“Atti & Rassegna Tecnica della Società degli Ingegneri e degli Architetti in Torino”, numero monografico Dalla città storica alla struttura storica della città. Studi in onore di Vera Comoli (1935-2006), a. 151, n.s. LXXII, 1, giugno 2018

Il volume raccoglie gli studi presentati in occasione del Convegno Internazionale del 17-18 novembre 2016, promosso dal Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Architettura e Design e Dipartimento Interateneo di Scienze, Progetto e Politiche del Territorio, con il patrocinio del Ministro dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, dell'Associazione Italiana di Storia Urbana e dell’Ordine degli Architetti, Pianificatori, Paesaggisti e Conservatori della provincia di Torino. In sede di edizione, le relazioni presentate sono state ampliate e sono stati raccolti ulteriori studi e testimonianze, che vanno a definire un panorama più ampio dei temi di ricerca sviluppati da Vera Comoli nella sua attività. Segreteria scientifica: Annalisa Dameri, Andrea Longhi Segreteria di redazione: Elena Greco, Federica Stella La pubblicazione del fascicolo è resa possibile grazie al contributo economico del Politecnico di Torin

Expression of AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits in the cervical spinal cord of wobbler mice

BACKGROUND: The localisation of AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits was studied in a model of degeneration of cervical spinal motoneurons, the wobbler mouse. Cervical regions from early or late symptomatic wobbler mice (4 or 12 weeks of age) were compared to lumbar tracts (unaffected) and to those of healthy mice. RESULTS: No differences were found in the distribution of AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits at both ages. Western blots analysis showed a trend of reduction in AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits, mainly GluR1 and NR2A, exclusively in the cervical region of late symptomatic mice in the triton-insoluble post-synaptic fraction but not whole homogenates. Colocalisation experiments evidenced the expression of GluR1 and NR2A receptors in activated astrocytes from the cervical spinal cord of wobbler mice, GluR2 did not colocalise with GFAP positive cells. No differences were found in the expression of AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits in the lumbar tract of wobbler mice, where neither motoneuron loss nor reactive gliosis occurs. CONCLUSION: In late symptomatic wobbler mice altered levels of GluR1 and NR2A receptor subunits may be a consequence of motoneuron loss rather than an early feature of motoneuron vulnerability

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Cluster policy for innovation and competitiveness : introduction

International audienc

Cluster policy for innovation and competitiveness : introduction

International audienc

Extracting Structural Information from Charge-state Distributions of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins by Non-denaturing Electrospray-ionization Mass Spectrometry

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) exert key biological functions but tend to escape identification and characterization due to their high structural dynamics and heterogeneity. The possibility to dissect conformational ensembles by electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) offers an attracting possibility to develop a signature for this class of proteins based on their peculiar ionization behavior. This review summarizes available data on charge-state distributions (CSDs) obtained for IDPs by non-denaturing ESI-MS, with reference to globular or chemically denatured proteins. The results illustrate the contributions that direct ESI-MS analysis can give to the identification of new putative IDPs and to their conformational investigation

Molecular Basis for Structural Heterogeneity of an Intrinsically Disordered Protein Bound to a Partner by Combined ESI-IM-MS and Modeling

International audienceno abstrac

Extracting Structural Information from Charge-state Distributions of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins by Non-denaturing Electrospray-ionization Mass Spectrometry

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) exert key biological functions but tend to escape identification and characterization due to their high structural dynamics and heterogeneity. The possibility to dissect conformational ensembles by electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) offers an attracting possibility to develop a signature for this class of proteins based on their peculiar ionization behavior. This review summarizes available data on charge-state distributions (CSDs) obtained for IDPs by non-denaturing ESI-MS, with reference to globular or chemically denatured proteins. The results illustrate the contributions that direct ESI-MS analysis can give to the identification of new putative IDPs and to their conformational investigation

A Smart Sensing Architecture for Domestic Monitoring: Methodological Approach and Experimental Validation

Smart homes play a strategic role for improving life quality of people, enabling to monitor people at home with numerous intelligent devices. Sensors can be installed to provide a continuous assistance without limiting the resident’s daily routine, giving her/him greater comfort, well-being and safety. This paper is based on the development of domestic technological solutions to improve the life quality of citizens and monitor the users and the domestic environment, based on features extracted from the collected data. The proposed smart sensing architecture is based on an integrated sensor network to monitor the user and the environment to derive information about the user’s behavior and her/his health status. The proposed platform includes biomedical, wearable, and unobtrusive sensors for monitoring user’s physiological parameters and home automation sensors to obtain information about her/his environment. The sensor network stores the heterogeneous data both locally and remotely in Cloud, where machine learning algorithms and data mining strategies are used for user behavior identification, classification of user health conditions, classification of the smart home profile, and data analytics to implement services for the community. The proposed solution has been experimentally tested in a pilot study based on the development of both sensors and services for elderly users at home