La decorazione della grotta degli Animali: note sulle vicende conservative dall’epoca sabauda ad oggi

The essay deals with events concerning the history of the conservation of the “Cave of the Animals” from the Savoy period to the present day. Thanks to documentation found in the Central State Archive, it was possible to analyse some aspects of its maintenance and the proposals concerning the main restorations made to the sculptures in the Garden: the fountain of Hercules and Antaeus, as well as to the Cave of the Animals. This maintenance continued sporadically over the years until the Eighties of the last century, when important restoration activities were undertaken. This allowed the progressive recovery of the decorated surfaces and of the hydraulic system of the Cave of the Animals

Atlante

In order to provide exhaustive documentation concerning the “Cave of the Animals”, the atlas is composed of already known historical documents, as well as of new historical and scientific insights. In the first case, we provide some important figurative documents, fundamental from the historical point of view, regarding a long period between the beginning of the sixteenth century and the late twentieth century. In the second case, the atlas collects results of the work carried out by the GECO Lab of the University of Florence between 2013 and 2015, which illustrates the cave's complex hydraulic system and internal decorations. Regarding the photographic documentation carried out by GECO Lab, the images are the result of the processing of many photographs for obtaining overall high-resolution images. The panoramic image showing the whole Grotto in equirectangular projection is composed of 126 photographs, whereas the images of the basins are represented in a rectilinear projection in order to preserve the straight lines as in a normal photograph using central projection

Spread of hypervirulent multidrug-resistant ST147 Klebsiella pneumoniae in patients with severe COVID-19: an observational study from Italy, 2020-21

Objectives: To report an outbreak of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKp) in COVID-19 patients. Methods: Prospective, observational study including consecutive COVID-19 patients with hvKp infections admitted to the University Hospital of Pisa (Italy). Clinical data and outcome of patients were collected. All patients were followed-up to 30 days from the diagnosis of infection. Mortality within 30 days of the diagnosis of hvKp infection was reported. The hypermucoviscous phenotype was determined by the 'string test'. Molecular typing was performed on three strains collected during different periods of the outbreak. The strains underwent whole genome sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq instrument. The complete circular assemblies were also obtained for the chromosome and a large plasmid using the Unicycler tool. Results: From November 2020 to March 2021, hvKp has been isolated from 36 COVID-19 patients: 29/36 (80.6%) had infections (15 bloodstream infections, 8 ventilator-associated pneumonias and 6 complicated urinary tract infections), while 7/36 (19.4%) had colonization (3 urine, 2 rectal and 2 skin). The isolates belonged to ST147 and their plasmid carried three replicons of the IncFIB (Mar), IncR and IncHI1B types and several resistance genes, including the rmpADC genes encoding enhancers of capsular synthesis. The hvKp isolates displayed an ESBL phenotype, with resistance to piperacillin/tazobactam and ceftolozane/tazobactam and susceptibility only to meropenem and ceftazidime/avibactam. The majority of patients were treated with meropenem alone or in combination with fosfomycin. Thirty-day mortality was 48.3% (14/29). Conclusions: ST147 ESBL-producing hvKp is associated with high mortality in COVID-19 patients. Strict microbiological surveillance and infection control measures are needed in this population

Innovative therapeutic strategy for B-cell malignancies that combines obinutuzumab and cytokine-induced killer cells

Patients affected by aggressive B-cell malignancies who are resistant to primary or salvage chemoimmunotherapy have an extremely poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Promising therapeutic success has been achieved with the infusion of CD19 chimeric antigen receptor-T cells, but several limits still restrain the administration to a limited proportion of patients. This unmet clinical need might be fulfilled by an adoptive immunotherapy approach that combines cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells and monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to the CD20 antigen. Indeed, CIK cells are an effector population endowed with antitumor activity, which can be further improved and antigen-specifically redirected by clinical-grade mAb triggering antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity

Firenze 1911: la mostra del ritratto italiano e le radici iconografiche dell’identità nazionale

Il saggio indaga la storia della Mostra del ritratto italiano tenutasi a Firenze nel 1911 in occasione del cinquantenario del Regno. La grande mostra, ideata e organizzata dal critico d'arte Ugo Ojetti, fu episodio di grande rilevanza per la riscoperta della pittura di ritratto in relazione all'identità nazionale a confronto con quella di altri paesi europei.The essay investigates the history of the exhibition of Italian portrait held in Florence in 1911 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Italian Kingdom. The exhibition, conceived and organized by the art critic Ugo Ojetti was an episode of great importance for the rediscovery of portrait's painting in relation to national identity in comparison with that of other European countries