Technical report - Task 7 : Europe-centric Light Duty Test Cycle and Differences with Respect to the WLTP Cycle

The Worldwide harmonized Light duty Test Cycle (WLTC) has been designed on the basis of the in-use driving databases provided by Europe, India, Japan, Korea and USA. These databases have been merged by applying a weighing factor to each of them, obtaining the “Unified” database. In order to verify the representativeness of the Unified database and the resulting WLTC with respect to the European driving behavior, a comparison between the Unified and the European database has been carried out, which has shown a high level of resemblance for the most important parameters (i.e. speed distribution, acceleration distribution, speed* acceleration, etc.). The drivability tests carried out over the WLTC in several laboratories have shown levels of CO2 emissions similar to those obtained with NEDC. Possible explanations of such results are presented.JRC.F.8-Sustainable Transpor

Observer dans la recherche et à la crèche : conditions pour l'efficacité des interventions de formation

International audienceL'observation systématique est l'outil principal de la recherche sur le développement dans la petite enfance, largement utilisée dès les années 1970. En même temps, l'observation est considérée comme l'un des outils fondamentaux de la pratique professionnelle des éducatrices. En Italie, la formation en service à la crèche s'est largement basée sur l'observation, en offrant un échange mutuel de connaissances et d'opportunités de recherche, ce qui a permis une croissance rapide des connaissances sur la petite enfance, et une diffusion de ces connaissances chez les professionnel(le)s (Bondioli, & Mantovani, 1987). Cependant, cet échange semble s'être arrêté au cours de ces dernières années : la recherche se pose des questions toujours plus éloignées de la pratique quotidienne, tandis que, dans la pratique professionnelle, l'observation systématique devient de plus en plus difficile. En tant que chercheurs, nous nous sommes posés la question de la construction d'outils d'observation fiables et efficaces, et en même temps suffisamment simples pour être utilisés dans la pratique quotidienne (Molina, 2012). L'observation projet (Fontaine, 2008, 2011) a les caractéristiques d'un outil de ce genre. Il s'agit d'une méthode d'observation dans une perspective écologique, proposée par Anne Marie Fontaine à partir de sa longue expérience de recherche et d'intervention auprès des professionnel(le)s de la petite enfance, et finalisée pour soutenir l'observation autonome des éducatrices de leur propre intervention éducative. Nous allons présenter deux recherches/interventions qui utilisent l'Observation projet. La première, menée en 2008-09 dans une crèche de la banlieue de Turin, a vu la participation de 5 éducatrices et 23 enfants: l'objectif de l'intervention était la modification de l'organisation de l'espace et de la position des éducatrices dans la salle de séjour des enfants. L'intervention a été évaluée par quatre observations sur tous les enfants, avant et après les modifications décidées par les éducatrices, observations qui ont montré des différences significatives soit dans l'utilisation de l'espace, soit dans l'interaction des enfants entre eux et avec les adultes. La deuxième recherche, réalisée dans la crèche de d'une grand usine à Turin, concernait l'organisation des groupes d'enfants qui restaient à la crèche l'après-midi et des activités à proposer durant cette période. Ici aussi l'observation a montré l'efficacité des changements mis en place, soit par rapport à l'organisation, soit pour les conséquences dans l'activité et l'interaction des enfants. Les données de recherche seront discutées aussi par rapport à l'évaluation faite par les éducatrices de l'outil expérimenté

ADDICTIONS SUBSTANCE FREE DURING LIFESPAN

The addictions substance free is an umbrella definition comprises internet addiction, sexual addiction, gambling pathological, workholism, videogames and computer addiction. Actually, the technological addictions is frequent in young adolescents. The term Digital Natives indicates the children born in an information system of learning and communication different from that of the generations previous. This temporal range was strongly characterized by growing presence of technological communication toolsin daily life. The effects of hyper-exposition to technological tools tend to create a relational virtuality without a body is born,therefore, already within the family ties and during adolescence he moved to the digital socialization network. The technological object it interacts between the adolescent and the world of peers and adults, becoming the facilitator object that as the psychotropic substance, it conveys new modes of communicatio

Formant Space Reconstruction From Brain Activity in Frontal and Temporal Regions Coding for Heard Vowels

Classical studies have isolated a distributed network of temporal and frontal areas engaged in the neural representation of speech perception and production. With modern literature arguing against unique roles for these cortical regions, different theories have favored either neural code-sharing or cortical space-sharing, thus trying to explain the intertwined spatial and functional organization of motor and acoustic components across the fronto-temporal cortical network. In this context, the focus of attention has recently shifted toward specific model fitting, aimed at motor and/or acoustic space reconstruction in brain activity within the language network. Here, we tested a model based on acoustic properties (formants), and one based on motor properties (articulation parameters), where model-free decoding of evoked fMRI activity during perception, imagery, and production of vowels had been successful. Results revealed that phonological information organizes around formant structure during the perception of vowels; interestingly, such a model was reconstructed in a broad temporal region, outside of the primary auditory cortex, but also in the pars triangularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus. Conversely, articulatory features were not associated with brain activity in these regions. Overall, our results call for a degree of interdependence based on acoustic information, between the frontal and temporal ends of the language network

Anti-Angiogenic Therapy Induces Integrin-Linked Kinase 1 Up-Regulation in a Mouse Model of Glioblastoma

BACKGROUND: In order to improve our understanding of the molecular pathways that mediate tumor proliferation and angiogenesis, and to evaluate the biological response to anti-angiogenic therapy, we analyzed the changes in the protein profile of glioblastoma in response to treatment with recombinant human Platelet Factor 4-DLR mutated protein (PF4-DLR), an inhibitor of angiogenesis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: U87-derived experimental glioblastomas were grown in the brain of xenografted nude mice, treated with PF4-DLR, and processed for proteomic analysis. More than fifty proteins were differentially expressed in response to PF4-DLR treatment. Among them, integrin-linked kinase 1 (ILK1) signaling pathway was first down-regulated but then up-regulated after treatment for prolonged period. The activity of PF4-DLR can be increased by simultaneously treating mice orthotopically implanted with glioblastomas, with ILK1-specific siRNA. As ILK1 is related to malignant progression and a poor prognosis in various types of tumors, we measured ILK1 expression in human glioblastomas, astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas, and found that it varied widely; however, a high level of ILK1 expression was correlated to a poor prognosis. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that identifying the molecular pathways induced by anti-angiogenic therapies may help the development of combinatorial treatment strategies that increase the therapeutic efficacy of angiogenesis inhibitors by association with specific agents that disrupt signaling in tumor cells

Carriers of ADAMTS13 Rare Variants Are at High Risk of Life-Threatening COVID-19

Thrombosis of small and large vessels is reported as a key player in COVID-19 severity. However, host genetic determinants of this susceptibility are still unclear. Congenital Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura is a severe autosomal recessive disorder characterized by uncleaved ultra-large vWF and thrombotic microangiopathy, frequently triggered by infections. Carriers are reported to be asymptomatic. Exome analysis of about 3000 SARS-CoV-2 infected subjects of different severities, belonging to the GEN-COVID cohort, revealed the specific role of vWF cleaving enzyme ADAMTS13 (A disintegrin-like and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 motif, 13). We report here that ultra-rare variants in a heterozygous state lead to a rare form of COVID-19 characterized by hyper-inflammation signs, which segregates in families as an autosomal dominant disorder conditioned by SARS-CoV-2 infection, sex, and age. This has clinical relevance due to the availability of drugs such as Caplacizumab, which inhibits vWF-platelet interaction, and Crizanlizumab, which, by inhibiting P-selectin binding to its ligands, prevents leukocyte recruitment and platelet aggregation at the site of vascular damage