PELL-SCHOOLS a standardized and interoperable platform for the seismic vulnerability and energy efficiency data management of italian schools

PELL, Public Energy Living Lab, is a platform conceived to support the Public Administration in Italy towards the definition and implementation of interventions on public buildings, aiming to jointly pursue their seismic safety, energy efficiency and environmental certification. This paper presents the on-going activities for the development of the platform PELL-Schools, focusing, in particular, on the “Seismic-Response” module that aims to become a standardized and interoperable database for the collection and collation of relevant data for the seismic vulnerability assessment and for the seismic monitoring of Italian schools. In order to test, tune and modify, if necessary, the proposed PELL-School Seismic-Response module and to contribute to its implementation on Italian school buildings a Working Group has been set up involving several Italian municipalities and stakeholders. The paper concludes with a call to action inviting researchers working on the seismic vulnerability assessment and monitoring of strategic buildings to join the Working Group to contribute their knowledge towards the common goal of guarantying the seismic safety of schools and other strategic buildings in Italy

Musashi-2 regulates normal hematopoiesis and promotes aggressive myeloid leukemia

RNA-binding proteins of the Musashi (Msi) family are expressed in stem cell compartments and in aggressive tumors, but they have not yet been widely explored in the blood. Here we demonstrate that Msi2 is the predominant form expressed in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), and its knockdown leads to reduced engraftment and depletion of HSCs in vivo. Overexpression of human MSI2 in a mouse model increases HSC cell cycle progression and cooperates with the chronic myeloid leukemia-associated BCR-ABL1 oncoprotein to induce an aggressive leukemia. MSI2 is overexpressed in human myeloid leukemia cell lines, and its depletion leads to decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis. Expression levels in human myeloid leukemia directly correlate with decreased survival in patients with the disease, thereby defining MSI2 expression as a new prognostic marker and as a new target for therapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML)