Energy savings in building restoration - an applicative case

Italy has a historical and architectural heritage which consists mainly of buildings built in different historical period. These buildings are today characterized by some aspects of functional distribution and comfort, which need rehabilitation. This is related to the change thinking on a more comfortable distribution of spaces, and improving the sustainability of buildings. These issues have spurred the study of methods to improve the distribution of spaces, the performance of indoor comfort and the energy efficiency in the full respect of materiality and aesthetics of the building. Therefore, the aim of this rehabilitation is improving the indoor comfort, the energy efficiency and the environmental performance of existing buildings, but it is also to choose more carefully the most environmentally sustainable materials for the restructuring. In this work, a case study of rehabilitation of a historical school building sited in the city of Palermo in Italy is reported

Il mentoring nella docenza universitaria: il progetto “Mentori per la didattica” nell’Università di Palermo

The qualification of faculty teaching competences in higher education is nowadays an important aim pursued by academic institutions in order to innovate teaching and learning (Sursock, 2015;Gaebel & Zhang, 2018; QUARC_Docente, 2017). The research in the field suggests adopting within staff development programs methodologies that foster active involvement, mutual exchange,sharing of values and practices, following a faculty learning community approach (Cox, 2004). In this context, mentoring represents a crucial experience to improve the faculty professional action in teaching as well as the organizational socialization (Underhill, 2006; Johnson, 2015). Mentoring is based on interventions to guide and support the improvement in teaching and learning (Sorcinelli & Yun, 2015), but the literature offers several models with specific organizational and relational approaches. The project “Mentors for teaching” carried out at Palermo University adopts a peer mentoring approach as mutual support between mentors and mentees. The project is framed in a community that investigates, reflects and creates strategies towards continuous development.La qualificazione delle competenze didattiche del docente universitario è oggi un obiettivo importante perseguito dalle istituzioni accademiche per innovare la didattica (Sursock, 2015; Gaebel & Zhang, 2018; QUARC_Docente, 2017). Le metodologie indicate dalla ricerca sollecitano l’adozione di strategie di formazione in grado di attivare l’implicazione attiva, lo scambio reciproco, la condivisione di valori e di pratiche di insegnamento apprendimento, nella logica di una comunità che apprende (Cox, 2004). In tale contesto, il mentoring si colloca come un’esperienza particolarmente significativa per il miglioramento dell’azione professionale del docente in campo didattico e la socializzazione organizzativa (Underhill, 2006; Johnson, 2015). L’attività di mentoring fa leva su interventi di guida e aiuto al miglioramento (Sorcinelli & Yun, 2015) ma esistono in letteratura diversi modelli con forme organizzative e relazionali specifiche. Il progetto “Mentori per la didattica”, realizzato nell’ateneo di Palermo, si connota come azione di peer mentoring sviluppata dai docenti in termini di supporto reciproco fra mentori e mentee. L’esperienza si sviluppa all’interno di una comunità che indaga, riflette ed elabora, in un percorso di ricerca per il miglioramento continuo

ANTIMONY ACCUMULATION RISK IN LETTUCE GROWN IN BRAZILIAN URBAN GARDENS

More than 80% of the Brazilian population inhabits urban areas. Diffused poverty and the lack of fresh vegetables have generated malnutrition and unbalanced diets. Thus, the interest in growing food locally, in urban allotments and community gardens, has increased. However, urban agriculture may present some risks caused by the urban pollution. Road traffic is considered the biggest source of heavy metals in urban areas. Hence, the objective of the study was the assessment of the accumulation of heavy metals in an urban garden in the city of Recife, at different distances from a road with high traffic burden. The results showed that the distance from the street decreased the accumulation of many potentially toxic elements. Furthermore, the human health risk was estimated, revealing that greater danger was associated with the accumulation of antimony. Concentration of other elements in the leaf tissues were within previously reported thresholds

Chk1 Inhibition Restores Inotuzumab Ozogamicin Citotoxicity in CD22-Positive Cells Expressing Mutant p53

Inotuzumab ozogamicin (IO) is an anti-CD22 calicheamicin immunoconjugate that has been recently approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (r/r B-ALL). We employed both immortalized and primary cells derived from CD22-positive lymphoproliferative disorders to investigate the signaling pathways contributing to IO sensitivity or resistance. We found that the drug reduced the proliferation rate of CD22-positive cell lines expressing wild-type p53, but was remarkably less effective on cells exhibiting mutant p53. In addition, CD22-positive cells surviving IO were mostly blocked in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle because of Chk1 activation that, in the presence of a wild-type p53 background, led to p21 induction. When we combined IO with the Chk1 inhibitor UCN-01, we successfully abrogated IO-induced G2/M arrest regardless of the underlying p53 status, indicating that the DNA damage response triggered by IO is also modulated by p53-independent mechanisms. To establish a predictive value for p53 in determining IO responsiveness, we expressed mutant p53 in cell lines displaying the wild-type gene and observed an increase in IO IC50 values. Likewise, overexpression of an inducible wild-type p53 in cells natively presenting a mutant protein decreased their IC50 for IO. These results were also confirmed in primary CD22-positive cells derived from B-ALL patients at diagnosis and from patients with r/r B-ALL. Furthermore, co-treatment with IO and UCN-01 significantly increased cell death in primary cells expressing mutant p53. In summary, our findings suggest that p53 status may represent a biomarker predictive of IO efficacy in patients diagnosed with CD22-positive malignancies

"Osservatorio territoriale droga e tossicodipendenze. Il fenomeno delle dipendenze nel territorio della ASL MI 2. Anno 2009- X Rapporto"

Report on the state of legal and illegal substances use in the territory of the Local Healthcare Service-MI 2, Province of Milan.Il Report analizza il fenomeno delle dipendenze nel territorio della ASL Milano 2. La descrizione del fenomeno si sviluppa intorno all\u27analisi degli indicatori individuati dall\u27Osservatorio Europeo delle Dipendenze di Lisbona (OEDT): 1-uso di sostanze nella popolazione generale (questo indicatore va a rilevare i comportamenti nei confronti di alcol e sostanze psicoattive da parte della popolazione generale); 2-prevalenza d\u27uso problematico delle sostanze psicoattive; 3-domanda di trattamento degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 4-mortalit? degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 5-malattie infettive. Altri due importanti indicatori che si stanno sviluppando, e che vengono qui illustrati, sono l\u27analisi delle Schede di Dimissione Ospedaliera (SDO) e gli indicatori relativi alle conseguenza sociali dell\u27uso di droghe (criminalit? droga correlata). Inoltre sono state applicate diverse metodologie standard di stima sia per quantificare la quota parte sconosciuta di utilizzatori di sostanze che non afferiscono ai servizi, sia per identificarne alcune caratteristiche

New Insights into Alzheimer's Disease Progression: A Combined TMS and Structural MRI Study

BACKGROUND: Combination of structural and functional data of the human brain can provide detailed information of neurodegenerative diseases and the influence of the disease on various local cortical areas. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To examine the relationship between structure and function of the brain the cortical thickness based on structural magnetic resonance images and motor cortex excitability assessed with transcranial magnetic stimulation were correlated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients as well as in age-matched healthy controls. Motor cortex excitability correlated negatively with cortical thickness on the sensorimotor cortex, the precuneus and the cuneus but the strength of the correlation varied between the study groups. On the sensorimotor cortex the correlation was significant only in MCI subjects. On the precuneus and cuneus the correlation was significant both in AD and MCI subjects. In healthy controls the motor cortex excitability did not correlate with the cortical thickness. CONCLUSIONS: In healthy subjects the motor cortex excitability is not dependent on the cortical thickness, whereas in neurodegenerative diseases the cortical thinning is related to weaker cortical excitability, especially on the precuneus and cuneus. However, in AD subjects there seems to be a protective mechanism of hyperexcitability on the sensorimotor cortex counteracting the prominent loss of cortical volume since the motor cortex excitability did not correlate with the cortical thickness. Such protective mechanism was not found on the precuneus or cuneus nor in the MCI subjects. Therefore, our results indicate that the progression of the disease proceeds with different dynamics in the structure and function of neuronal circuits from normal conditions via MCI to AD

Performance of non-invasive tests and histology for the prediction of clinical outcomes in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: an individual participant data meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Histologically assessed liver fibrosis stage has prognostic significance in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and is accepted as a surrogate endpoint in clinical trials for non-cirrhotic NAFLD. Our aim was to compare the prognostic performance of non-invasive tests with liver histology in patients with NAFLD. METHODS: This was an individual participant data meta-analysis of the prognostic performance of histologically assessed fibrosis stage (F0-4), liver stiffness measured by vibration-controlled transient elastography (LSM-VCTE), fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4), and NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) in patients with NAFLD. The literature was searched for a previously published systematic review on the diagnostic accuracy of imaging and simple non-invasive tests and updated to Jan 12, 2022 for this study. Studies were identified through PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL, and authors were contacted for individual participant data, including outcome data, with a minimum of 12 months of follow-up. The primary outcome was a composite endpoint of all-cause mortality, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation, or cirrhosis complications (ie, ascites, variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, or progression to a MELD score ≥15). We calculated aggregated survival curves for trichotomised groups and compared them using stratified log-rank tests (histology: F0-2 vs F3 vs F4; LSM: 2·67; NFS: 0·676), calculated areas under the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves (tAUC), and performed Cox proportional-hazards regression to adjust for confounding. This study was registered with PROSPERO, CRD42022312226. FINDINGS: Of 65 eligible studies, we included data on 2518 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD from 25 studies (1126 [44·7%] were female, median age was 54 years [IQR 44-63), and 1161 [46·1%] had type 2 diabetes). After a median follow-up of 57 months [IQR 33-91], the composite endpoint was observed in 145 (5·8%) patients. Stratified log-rank tests showed significant differences between the trichotomised patient groups (p<0·0001 for all comparisons). The tAUC at 5 years were 0·72 (95% CI 0·62-0·81) for histology, 0·76 (0·70-0·83) for LSM-VCTE, 0·74 (0·64-0·82) for FIB-4, and 0·70 (0·63-0·80) for NFS. All index tests were significant predictors of the primary outcome after adjustment for confounders in the Cox regression. INTERPRETATION: Simple non-invasive tests performed as well as histologically assessed fibrosis in predicting clinical outcomes in patients with NAFLD and could be considered as alternatives to liver biopsy in some cases. FUNDING: Innovative Medicines Initiative 2

Performance of non-invasive tests and histology for the prediction of clinical outcomes in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: an individual participant data meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Histologically assessed liver fibrosis stage has prognostic significance in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and is accepted as a surrogate endpoint in clinical trials for non-cirrhotic NAFLD. Our aim was to compare the prognostic performance of non-invasive tests with liver histology in patients with NAFLD. METHODS This was an individual participant data meta-analysis of the prognostic performance of histologically assessed fibrosis stage (F0-4), liver stiffness measured by vibration-controlled transient elastography (LSM-VCTE), fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4), and NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) in patients with NAFLD. The literature was searched for a previously published systematic review on the diagnostic accuracy of imaging and simple non-invasive tests and updated to Jan 12, 2022 for this study. Studies were identified through PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL, and authors were contacted for individual participant data, including outcome data, with a minimum of 12 months of follow-up. The primary outcome was a composite endpoint of all-cause mortality, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation, or cirrhosis complications (ie, ascites, variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, or progression to a MELD score ≥15). We calculated aggregated survival curves for trichotomised groups and compared them using stratified log-rank tests (histology: F0-2 vs F3 vs F4; LSM: 2·67; NFS: 0·676), calculated areas under the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves (tAUC), and performed Cox proportional-hazards regression to adjust for confounding. This study was registered with PROSPERO, CRD42022312226. FINDINGS Of 65 eligible studies, we included data on 2518 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD from 25 studies (1126 [44·7%] were female, median age was 54 years [IQR 44-63), and 1161 [46·1%] had type 2 diabetes). After a median follow-up of 57 months [IQR 33-91], the composite endpoint was observed in 145 (5·8%) patients. Stratified log-rank tests showed significant differences between the trichotomised patient groups (p<0·0001 for all comparisons). The tAUC at 5 years were 0·72 (95% CI 0·62-0·81) for histology, 0·76 (0·70-0·83) for LSM-VCTE, 0·74 (0·64-0·82) for FIB-4, and 0·70 (0·63-0·80) for NFS. All index tests were significant predictors of the primary outcome after adjustment for confounders in the Cox regression. INTERPRETATION Simple non-invasive tests performed as well as histologically assessed fibrosis in predicting clinical outcomes in patients with NAFLD and could be considered as alternatives to liver biopsy in some cases. FUNDING Innovative Medicines Initiative 2

The Plant Pathogen Phytophthora andina Emerged via Hybridization of an Unknown Phytophthora Species and the Irish Potato Famine Pathogen, P. infestans

Emerging plant pathogens have largely been a consequence of the movement of pathogens to new geographic regions. Another documented mechanism for the emergence of plant pathogens is hybridization between individuals of different species or subspecies, which may allow rapid evolution and adaptation to new hosts or environments. Hybrid plant pathogens have traditionally been difficult to detect or confirm, but the increasing ease of cloning and sequencing PCR products now makes the identification of species that consistently have genes or alleles with phylogenetically divergent origins relatively straightforward. We investigated the genetic origin of Phytophthora andina, an increasingly common pathogen of Andean crops Solanum betaceum, S. muricatum, S. quitoense, and several wild Solanum spp. It has been hypothesized that P. andina is a hybrid between the potato late blight pathogen P. infestans and another Phytophthora species. We tested this hypothesis by cloning four nuclear loci to obtain haplotypes and using these loci to infer the phylogenetic relationships of P. andina to P. infestans and other related species. Sequencing of cloned PCR products in every case revealed two distinct haplotypes for each locus in P. andina, such that each isolate had one allele derived from a P. infestans parent and a second divergent allele derived from an unknown species that is closely related but distinct from P. infestans, P. mirabilis, and P. ipomoeae. To the best of our knowledge, the unknown parent has not yet been collected. We also observed sequence polymorphism among P. andina isolates at three of the four loci, many of which segregate between previously described P. andina clonal lineages. These results provide strong support that P. andina emerged via hybridization between P. infestans and another unknown Phytophthora species also belonging to Phytophthora clade 1c