From rural house to “villa of delights”: knowledge and conservation of Villa Murat in the Sorrento peninsula

[EN] Thanks to an innovative territorial plan, drafted with the coordination of Roberto Pane and Luigi Piccinato and approved in 1987, many exceptional examples of vernacular architecture have been preserved in the Sorrento peninsula. Some of these, initially built as rural houses inserted in agricultural estates, have been transformed over the centuries by subsequent aggregation of volumes, into more complex structures, in which agricultural and residential usage have long coexisted. This is what happened to Villa Rossi, later known as Villa Murat, in the municipality of Massa Lubrense: an initial nucleus, dating back to the 17th century, was expanded during the following century, adding volumes and regularizing an initially spontaneous architecture. Despite such transformations, Villa Murat still retains some constructive features which are typical of vernacular architecture of the Sorrento and Amalfi coasts, such as extradosed vaults covered with beaten lapillus or the loggias facing the sea. The villa, which in the meantime had become property of the Rossi family, intertwined major historical events at the beginning of the 19th century, having become the headquarters of king Gioacchino Murat - hence its name - during the “Capture of Capri” against the British in 1808. Villa Murat, located in the quiet hamlet called Annunziata, away from the centres that have undergone major alterations, has still been preserved almost intact, even in the architectural surfaces, both the internal and external ones. For this reason a thorough research was possible, also thanks to an integrated survey with both aerial and terrestrial photogrammetry and laser scanning. The final aim, as the paper will show, is to develop a conservative design proposal, with targeted actions of conservation of architectural surfaces and structural consolidation, that will allow to keep the physical integrity of the villa and its authenticity without giving up a possible but compatible enhancement.Pane, A.; Catuogno, R.; Parente, M. (2022). From rural house to “villa of delights”: knowledge and conservation of Villa Murat in the Sorrento peninsula. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 889-896. https://doi.org/10.4995/HERITAGE2022.2022.1436688989

The roots of the Venice Charter

[EN] This text presents an in-depth study of the Italian postwar atmosphere that eventually gave birth to the Venice Charter. It investigates the debate on Italian historic centres, many of which were heav-ily bombed during the Second World War. At the time, debate on their future focused on whether to protect them or open up to urban planning. The article reviews the role of the main advocates of the international charter on monument protec-tion, Piero Gazzola and Roberto Pane, together with other Italian and international figures such as Raymond Lemaire, in their prolonged struggle to ensure the recognition of anonymous urban or ru-ral elements as monuments in themselves, one of the greatest achievements of the Venice Charter which consequently protected and safeguarded these from urban speculation[ES] El texto ahonda en el contexto de posguerra italiano que generó la redacción de la Carta de Venecia, investigando en la discusión que surgió en torno a los centros históricos italianos, muchos de ellos bombardeados gravemente durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, cuyo futuro se debatía en aquel entonces entre la protección y la apertura al planeamiento urbano. El artículo revisa el rol desempeñado por los principales promotores de esta carta internacional de protección de monumentos, Piero Gazzola y Roberto Pane, junto con otros protagonistas de la escena italiana e internacional como Raymond Lemaire, en una lucha prolongada por el reconocimiento de los conjuntos urbanos o rurales anónimos como monumentos en sí mismos, uno de los mayores logros de la Carta de Venecia, y por ende, por su tutela y salvaguarda frente a los fenómenos de especulación urbana.Pane, A. (2015). Las raíces de la Carta de Venecia. Loggia, Arquitectura & Restauración. (27):8-23. doi:10.4995/loggia.2014.3946.SWORD82327R. Pane, Passage de l'idée du monument historique isolé à l'idée d'ensemble historique ou artistique, en Conseil d'Europe, Principes et méthodes de la conservation et de la réanimation des sites et ensembles d'intérêt historique ou artistique. Défense et mise en valeur des sites et ensembles d'intérêt historique ou artistique, Rapport (Bath 3-7 oct. 1966), Strasbourg 1967, pp. 35-40.M. Tafuri, Storia dell'architettura italiana, 1944-1985, Einaudi, Torino 1982, p. 5.C. Olmo, Urbanistica e società civile. Esperienza e conoscenza. 1945-1960, Bollati Borighieri, Torino 1992.L. Falco, La rivista «Urbanistica» dalla fondazione al 1949, «Urbanistica», n. 76-77, diciembre / december 1984, pp. 20-21.A. Bellini, Il restauro architettonico, AA.VV., La difesa del patrimonio artistico, Mondadori, Milano 1978, pp.153-155.A. G. Ricci, Aspettando la Repubblica. I governi della transizione 1943-1946, Donzelli, Roma 1996, pp. 142-150.M. Tafuri, Storia dell'architettura italiana, 1944-1985, cit., p. 32; C. Olmo, Urbanistica e società civile, cit.B. Croce, La «terza via», Id., Per la storia del comunismo in quanto realtà politica, Laterza, Bari 1944, pp. 27-36.G. Rosi, Intorno all'ambiente dei monumenti e ai monumenti d'ambiente, Istituto Nazionale di Urbanistica, Convegno Nazionale di Urbanistica, cit., pp. 79-86.C. Di Biase, Roberto Pane ed Ernesto Nathan Rogers: dibattito sugli inserimenti nelle preesistenze ambientali, in Roberto Pane tra storia e restauro, cit., pp. 364-369.C. Olmo, Urbanistica e società civile, cit., pp. 66-69.A. Cederna, M. Manieri Elia, Orientamenti critici sulla salvaguardia dei centri storici, in «Urbanistica», n. 32, diciembre 1960, p. 69.M. Giambruno, Verso la dimensione urbana della conservazione, Alinea, Firenze 2002, pp. 108-113.E. Salzano, Leggi e istituzioni, cit., pp. 352-353

Il rilievo integrato del castello-recinto di Pesche (IS): conoscenza e strategie di valorizzazione di un insediamento fortificato in Molise

Perched on the slopes of San Marco Mount, in a perfect symbiosis of architecture and landscape, there is the small village of Pesche in the province of Isernia, which traces its origins back to the 5th-6th centuries, when the steep natural slope was chosen as the site for the construction of a safe village. On the top of the site, the ruins of the so-called Castrum Pesclarum emerge, evidence of a particular type of fortified structure in Molise, that of the castle-enclosure. Built as early as the Norman era to reinforce the defence and transformed over the following centuries due to damage caused by natural disasters and human actions, the small fortified citadel is haracterised by a perimeter marked by curtain walls that follow the natural slope, interspersed with towers, while its interior contains small rooms placed side by side and built using the typical limestone of the area. The present contribution intends to show the current state of conservation of the fortified citadel of Pesche, outlining the methodology followed in the study of the site, and then proposing a possible enhancement strategy. The work was conducted starting from an integrated instrumental survey, based on laser scanning and aerial digital photogrammetry with a drone, thus showing the efficiency of these systems not only at the single architectural scale, but also at the urban scale, even in complex sites such as that of Pesche. The combination of these two techniques has made it possible to obtain an accurate knowledge of a large part of the site, thus making it possible to propose design strategies for its conservation and enhancement

INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF AN ERF TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR IN MEDIATING STRESS RESPONSE AND TOMATO FRUIT RIPENING AND QUALITY

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the world's most consumed vegetables and its consumption has been associated with decreased risk of chronic degenerative diseases. Tomato fruit is an important source of antioxidant compounds such as carotenoids, particularly lycopene, ascorbic acid, vitamin E and phenolic compounds. Fruit ripening is regulated by ethylene. Ethylene biosynthesis and signaling are modulated during fruit development and ripening and are involved in several processes such as antioxidant accumulation and softening that affect fruit quality and shelf-life. To date, several strategies have been implemented in tomato to modulate ripening and enhance tomato fruit quality and shelf-life by regulating the expression of genes involved in ethylene biosynthesis, perception or signaling. Among others, AP2/ERF genes are transcription factors which play key roles in several processes, such as plant development, ethylene response, and pathogen resistance. In tomato fruit, they can act as positive or negative regulator of ripening and of ethylene production. Our goal is to elucidate the functional role of ERF F4 gene (Solyc07g053740) in mediating modulation of the tomato fruit ripening during the plant response to abiotic stress and investigatiing its impact on fruit redox balance and antioxidant accumulation. In particular, the ERF F4 locus was targeted in Microtom by CRISPR/Cas 9 technology to generate knockout tomato plants. One month-old T3 offspring mutant and wild-type plants underwent three level of irrigation, consisting in the complete restitution of water (FWR), restitution of 50% of lost water (HWR) and 30% of water restitution (TWR), respectively. Beside no variation was observed in the lycopene and total carotenoid levels in fruit at the red-ripe stage, edited plants showed increased levels of soluble solid content than wild type plants and responded to drought treatment with a higher increase in their antioxidant capacity. These results suggested the involvement of ERF F4 in modulating ripening associated metabolic processes and fruit redox balance in response to abiotic stresses. Ongoing experiments will further investigate the role of the tomato ERF F4 in regulating the expression of genes involved in controlling the metabolism of antioxidants, particularly glutathione and ascorbate pool

Effects of Probiotics Administration on Human Metabolic Phenotype

The establishment of the beneficial interactions between the host and its microbiota is essential for the correct functioning of the organism, since microflora alterations can lead to many diseases. Probiotics improve balanced microbial communities, exerting substantial healthpromoting effects. Here we monitored the molecular outcomes, obtained by gut microflora modulation through probiotic treatment, on human urine and serum metabolic profiles, with a metabolomic approach. Twenty-two subjects were enrolled in the study and administered with two different probiotic types, both singularly and in combination, for 8 weeks. Urine and serum samples were collected before and during the supplementation and were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and statistical analyses. After eight weeks of treatment, probiotics deeply influence the urinary metabolic profiles of the volunteers, without significantly altering their single phenotypes. Anyway, bacteria supplementation tends to reduce the differences in metabolic phenotypes among individuals. Overall, the effects are recipient-dependent, and in some individuals, robust effects are already well visible after four weeks. Modifications in metabolite levels, attributable to each type of probiotic administration, were also monitored. Metabolomic analysis of biofluids turns out to be a powerful technique to monitor the dynamic interactions between the microflora and the host, and the individual response to probiotic assumption

Dalla nostra terra: as contribuições “geognósticas” italianas ao Museu Nacional

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The pediatric gut bacteriome and virome in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection

IntroductionSince the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in early 2020, it has been apparent that children were partially protected from both infection and the more severe forms of the disease. Many different mechanisms have been proposed to explain this phenomenon, including children’s frequent exposure to other upper respiratory infections and vaccines, and which inflammatory cytokines they are more likely to produce in response to infection. Furthermore, given the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the intestine and its ability to infect enterocytes, combined with the well described immunomodulatory capabilities of the microbiome, another potential contributing factor may be the presence of certain protective microbial members of the gut microbiota (GM).MethodsWe performed shotgun metagenomic sequencing and profiled both the bacteriome and virome of the GM of pediatric SARS-CoV-2 patients compared to healthy, age-matched subjects.ResultsWe found that, while pediatric patients do share some pro-inflammatory microbial signatures with adult patients, they also possess a distinct microbial signature of protective bacteria previously found to be negatively correlated with SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and COVID-19 severity. COVID-19 was also associated with higher fecal Cytomegalovirus load, and with shifts in the relative abundances of bacteriophages in the GM. Furthermore, we address how the preventative treatment of COVID-19 patients with antibiotics, a common practice especially in the early days of the pandemic, affected the bacteriome and virome, as well as the abundances of antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes in these patients. DiscussionTo our knowledge, this is the first study to address the bacteriome, virome, and resistome of pediatric patients in response to COVID-19 and to preventative antibiotics use

Benefits of glucocorticoids in non-ambulant boys/men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: A multicentric longitudinal study using the Performance of Upper Limb test

The aim of this study was to establish the possible effect of glucocorticoid treatment on upper limb function in a cohort of 91 non-ambulant DMD boys and adults of age between 11 and 26 years. All 91 were assessed using the Performance of Upper Limb test. Forty-eight were still on glucocorticoid after loss of ambulation, 25 stopped steroids at the time they lost ambulation and 18 were GC naive or had steroids while ambulant for less than a year. At baseline the total scores ranged between 0 and 74 (mean 41.20). The mean total scores were 47.92 in the glucocorticoid group, 36 in those who stopped at loss of ambulation and 30.5 in the naive group (p <0.001). The 12-month changes ranged between -20 and 4 (mean -4.4). The mean changes were -3.79 in the glucocorticoid group, -5.52 in those who stopped at loss of ambulation and -4.44 in the naive group. This was more obvious in the patients between 12 and 18 years and at shoulder and elbow levels. Our findings suggest that continuing glucocorticoids throughout teenage years and adulthood after loss of ambulation appears to have a beneficial effect on upper limb function. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Quantitative oculomotor assessment in hereditary ataxia: systematic review and consensus by the ataxia global initiative working group on digital-motor biomarkers

Oculomotor deficits are common in hereditary ataxia, but disproportionally neglected in clinical ataxia scales and as outcome measures for interventional trials. Quantitative assessment of oculomotor function has become increasingly available and thus applicable in multicenter trials and offers the opportunity to capture severity and progression of oculomotor impairment in a sensitive and reliable manner. In this consensus paper of the Ataxia Global Initiative Working Group On Digital Oculomotor Biomarkers, based on a systematic literature review, we propose harmonized methodology and measurement parameters for the quantitative assessment of oculomotor function in natural-history studies and clinical trials in hereditary ataxia. MEDLINE was searched for articles reporting on oculomotor/vestibular properties in ataxia patients and a study-tailored quality-assessment was performed. One-hundred-and-seventeen articles reporting on subjects with genetically confirmed (n=1134) or suspected hereditary ataxia (n=198), and degenerative ataxias with sporadic presentation (n=480) were included and subject to data extraction. Based on robust discrimination from controls, correlation with disease-severity, sensitivity to change, and feasibility in international multicenter settings as prerequisite for clinical trials, we prioritize a core-set of five eye-movement types: (i) pursuit eye movements, (ii) saccadic eye movements, (iii) fixation, (iv) eccentric gaze holding, and (v) rotational vestibulo-ocular reflex. We provide detailed guidelines for their acquisition, and recommendations on the quantitative parameters to extract. Limitations include low study quality, heterogeneity in patient populations, and lack of longitudinal studies. Standardization of quantitative oculomotor assessments will facilitate their implementation, interpretation, and validation in clinical trials, and ultimately advance our understanding of the evolution of oculomotor network dysfunction in hereditary ataxias