An accessibility planning tool for network transit oriented development: SNAP

In the academic debate regarding the influences between urban form, built environment and travel patterns, a specific idea that has taken hold is that more compact urban development around railway stations, often referred to as Transit Oriented Development (TOD), contributes to the control of vehicle travel and to more sustainable metropolitan systems. According to this general principle this work proposes a GIS accessibility tool for the design of polycentric transit oriented scenario: SNAP - Station Network Accessibility Planning tool. In the first part the state of the art on Transit Oriented Development policies in Europe is presented with a focus on three study cases. In the second part the SNAP tool is described, with remarks to the approach, the methodology and the used indicators. Furthermore the paper discusses an application to the metropolitan area of Naples

Il Governo del Sistema Integrato Città-Trasporti-Energia

[English]:Theories about the origins and developments of modern cities seem to agree, without exception, to a point: the city is the place of maximum concentration of exchange. Activities, in fact, are located into urban and metropolitan agglomerations to minimize the resources needed to meet the growing need for relationships and exchanges with other activities. In recent years, the concentration and specialization of these activities have led to an extraordinary increase in intensity and quality of exchange needs, with the obvious consequence of congestion in most metropolitan areas with predictable consequences on the sustainability of urban areas, on the quality of life of its inhabitants and on the energy consumption associated with the growing demand for mobility. As a result, in recent years, several authors have argued for greater integration between urban planning policies, mobility management and energy efficiency. In this context, this volume aims to provide a contribution in this direction and presents the results of a research project aimed at the development of an integrated city-mobility-energy governance model. In particular, the first part of this work give an overview of the complex relationships between mobility, energy consumption and built environment through a meta-analysis of the recent literature. Specifically, in this section, the two main sources of energy consumption in urban areas (energy consumption in the residential sector and energy consumption of transport) are considered. These sectors represent, according to the latest estimates, respectively 32% and 35% of the final energy consumption. The section introduces several characteristics of the built environment such as density, functional mix or accessibility and described as such factors affect energy consumption in the transport and residential sectors. Understanding these relationships is of crucial importance for the development of a coordinated mix of actions aimed at reducing energy consumption in urban areas. Subsequently, the main models present in the literature for estimating residential energy consumption and urban transport energy consumption are presented, paying particular attention to the strengths and weaknesses of each model, the complexity and the related technical and operational aspects related to the implementation of such models. In the second part of this work, the focus is on the techniques for the representation and classification of energy consumption in urban areas through an application to the case study of Naples. Particularly, this section places particular emphasis on the new opportunities offered by the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and by the increasing availability of new data sources. The work integrates the use of "traditional" data sources such as census surveys, new data sources (in particular open and large data) with spatial analyzes developed ad hoc to provide exhaustive knowledge of energy consumption patterns within the city of Naples. The proposed methodology is validated by comparing the results obtained with the previously available data for the study area and by the implementation of spatial statistical analyzes in a GIS environment. The proposed methodology is a useful tool for public decision-makers and policy makers aimed at defining integrated government strategies for the reducing and optimizing of public and private energy consumption. In particular, the methodology described in this work is useful for classifying and representing energy consumption on an urban scale, for the identification of critical areas in terms of consumption, and for ex post evaluation of interventions on the urban system. Finally, the last part of the paper proposes an analysis of the tools, actions and best practices for reducing energy consumption in urban areas. Particularly, in this chapter the most important mobility planning tools are presented, describing for each of them the main objectives, contents and modes of implementation. Two new governance tools for territorial transformations, the Municipal Energy Action Plan and the Sustainable Energy Action Plan are also introduced, which define the energy policies of the Communes, aimed at achieving targets for the reduction of climate change emissions, efficiently energy and use of renewable energy sources. Subsequently, a reasoned synthesis of the actions that individual municipalities can put in place to contain energy consumption in the transport sector is presented. These actions are organized in the form of guidelines and action policies, where action policies represent operational specification of the first. Finally, the last part of the chapter presents some case studies of urban mobility interventions aimed at energy saving in some Italian and European cities. These are particularly relevant cases, examples of mobility capable, on the one hand, of optimizing the use and development of energy resources through traditional fuel economy savings and incentives for the use of renewable energy sources and, on the other hand, to meet the new needs of transporting people and goods safely and efficiently./ [Italiano]: Le teorie sulla nascita e lo sviluppo della città moderna sembrano concordare, senza eccezioni, su un punto: la città è il luogo di massima concentrazione dello scambio. Le attività, infatti, si insediano all’interno degli agglomerati urbani e metropolitani per minimizzare le risorse necessarie a soddisfare le crescenti necessità di relazione e di scambio con le altre attività localizzate sul territorio. Negli ultimi anni la concentrazione e la specializzazione di queste attività hanno comportato un aumento straordinario, per intensità e qualità, delle necessità di scambio, con la ovvia conseguenza di avviare alla congestione la maggior parte delle aree metropolitane con prevedibili conseguenze sulla sostenibilità delle aree urbane, sulla qualità della vita dei suoi abitanti e sui consumi energetici associati alla crescente domanda di mobilità. Come conseguenza, negli ultimi anni, diversi autori hanno sostenuto la necessità di una maggiore integrazione tra politiche di assetto urbano, gestione della mobilità ed efficientamento energetico. In tale contesto, il presente volume intende offrire un contributo in tale direzione e presenta i risultati di un progetto di ricerca, finalizzato alla messa a punto di un modello di governance integrato città-mobilità-energia. In particolare, la prima parte del lavoro è finalizzato alla definizione di un quadro conoscitivo del complesso rapporto tra mobilità, consumi energetici e ambiente costruito mediante una rassegna della letteratura scientifica più recente. In particolare, in tale sezione, vengono considerate le due principali fonti di consumo energetico in ambito urbano (il consumo energetico nel settore residenziale ed il consumo energetico dei trasporti) che costituiscono i settori di maggiore incidenza in Italia, rappresentando, secondo le più recenti stime, rispettivamente il 32% e 35% del consumo finale di energia. Vengono dunque presentate diverse caratteristiche dell’ambiente costruito quali, ad esempio, la densità, il mix funzionale o l’accessibilità e descritto come tali fattori influenzano il consumo energetico nel settore dei trasporti e nel settore residenziale. La comprensione di tali relazione risulta essere infatti di fondamentale importanza per la messa a punto di un mix coordinato di azioni finalizzate alla riduzione del consumo energetico in ambito urbano. Successivamente, vengono presentati i principali modelli presenti in letteratura per la stima dei consumi energetici residenziali e dei trasporti in ambito urbano, ponendo particolare attenzione ai punti di forza e di debolezza e di debolezza di ciascun modello, alla complessità ed agli aspetti tecnico-operativi connessi con l’implementazione di tali modelli. Nella seconda parte del lavoro viene presentato un focus sulle tecniche per la rappresentazione e la classificazione dei consumi energetici delle aree urbane, mediante una applicazione al caso studio di Napoli. Tale sezione in particolare pone particolare enfasi sulle nuove opportunità offerte dai Sistemi Informativi Geografici (GIS) e dalla crescente disponibilità di nuove fonti di dati. Il lavoro infatti integra l’utilizzo di fonti di dati “tradizionali” quali le indagini censuarie, nuove fonti di dati (in particolar modo dati aperti e big data) con analisi spaziali sviluppate ad hoc per fornire una conoscenza esaustiva dei pattern di consumo energetico all’interno del Comune di Napoli. La metodologia proposta è validata tramite il confronto dei risultati ottenuti con i dati precedentemente disponibili per l’area di studio e mediante l’implementazione di analisi statistiche di tipo spaziale in ambiente GIS. La metodologia proposta costituisce un utile strumento di supporto per decisori pubblici e policy makers per la definizione di strategie di governo integrato finalizzate alla riduzione e ottimizzazione dei consumi energetici pubblici e privati. In particolare, la metodologia descritta risulta essere utile per la classificazione e la rappresentazione dei consumi energetici a scala urbana, per l’individuazione delle problematiche energetiche presenti sul territorio e la valutazione ex post degli interventi sul sistema urbano. Infine, l’ultima parte del lavoro propone una analisi degli strumenti, delle azioni e delle best practices per la riduzione dei consumi energetici in ambito urbano. In particolar modo in tale capitolo vengono presentati gli strumenti di governo della mobilità alla scala urbana, descrivendo, per ciascuno di essi, i principali obiettivi, i contenuti e le modalità di attuazione. Vengono inoltre introdotti inoltre due nuovi strumenti di governo delle trasformazioni territoriali, il Piano Energetico Comunale ed il Piano di Azione per l'Energia Sostenibile che definiscono le politiche energetiche dei Comuni, finalizzate al raggiungimento di obiettivi di riduzione delle di gas emissioni clima-alteranti, efficientemente energetico ed impiego di fonti energetiche rinnovabili. Successivamente, viene presentata una sintesi ragionata delle azioni che i singoli Comuni possono mettere in campo per contenere i consumi energetici nel settore dei trasporti. Tali azioni sono organizzate in forma di indirizzi e criteri di azione. Gli indirizzi costituiscono orientamenti di carattere generale di governo della mobilità. I criteri di azione invece rappresentano una specificazione in chiave operativa dei primi. Infine, nell’ultima parte del capitolo vengono presentati alcuni casi di studio di interventi sulla mobilità urbana finalizzati al risparmio energetico realizzati in alcune città italiane ed europee. Si tratta di casi particolarmente rilevanti, esempi di una mobilità capace, da una parte, di ottimizzare l’uso e lo sviluppo delle risorse energetiche con interventi di risparmio dei combustibili tradizionali e di incentivazione all'utilizzo di fonti energetiche rinnovabili e, dall’altra, di rispondere alle nuove esigenze di trasporto di persone e merci in modo sicuro ed efficiente

Testing a gravity-based accessibility instrument to engage stakeholders into integrated LUT planning

The paper starts from the concern that while there is a large body of literature focusing on the theoretical definitions and measurements of accessibility, the extent to which such measures are used in planning practice is less clear. Previous reviews of accessibility instruments have in fact identified a gap between the clear theoretical assumptions and the infrequent applications of accessibility instruments in spatial and transport planning. In this paper we present the results of a structured-workshop involving private and public stakeholders to test usability of gravity-based accessibility measures (GraBaM) to assess integrated land-use and transport policies. The research is part of the COST Action TU1002 “Accessibility Instruments for Planning Practice” during which different accessibility instruments where tested for different case studies. Here we report on the empirical case study of Rome

Recombinant protein expression system in cold loving microorganisms

Soluble and functional proteins are of high demand in modern biotechnology. Although many recombinant proteins have been successfully obtained from common prokaryotic and eukaryotic hosts, these systems result to be often unproductive due to the peculiar properties of the protein to be produced. Incorrect folding of the nascent polypeptide chains is one of the main problems occurring during heterologous protein production in bacteria. Since formation of inclusion bodies often impairs the recombinant production of valuable proteins, many experimental approaches have been explored to minimize this undesirable effect [1, 2]. Expression of "difficult" proteins has also been carried out by lowering the temperature at the physiological limit allowed for the growth of mesophilic host organisms (between 15 and 18°C for Escherichia coli). Lowering the temperature, in fact, has a pleiotropic effect on the folding process, destabilising the hydrophobic interactions needed for intermediates aggregation [3]. On the basis of the above considerations, a rational alternative to mesophilic organisms is the use of naturally cold-adapted bacteria as hosts for protein production at low temperature (even at around 0°C)

critical properties of the two dimensional z 5 vector model

n/

Audio-Vestibular Alterations During the Phases of the Menstrual Cycle in Patients with Cochlear Implant

Background: The female hormones fluctuations in woman’s life play a dominant role in homeostasis of the body and can influence the psycho-neurological processes in different body systems. In particular, in the auditory system seems that hormonal alterations during the menstrual cycle can compromise the homeostasis of the labyrinthine fluids altering balance and/or hearing. Aims/Objectives: Our study aims to verify if hormonal changes during different menstrual phases may have an influence, in females with cochlear implants, on the trend of auditory and vestibular performances. Materials and methods: Tonal, speech audiometry, vestibular examination and a measure of cochlear implants electrodes impedances were realized in the follicular and luteal phases on a group of eight women who are at a fertile age, affected by profound sensorineural form of hearing loss and carrying a monolateral cochlear implant. Results: Audio-vestibular alterations, as well as, an increase of impedance electrodes are reported in the luteal phase. Conclusions: Our work suggests that audio-vestibular alterations are related to the different phases of the menstrual cycle with consequent variation also of the performances of the implant. It is very important to keep in mind this aspect to avoid negative results during rehabilitation

Anti-Biofilm Activity of a Long-Chain Fatty Aldehyde from Antarctic Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis TAC125 against Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilm

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a harmless human skin colonizer responsible for ~20% of orthopedic device-related infections due to its capability to form biofilm. Nowadays there is an interest in the development of anti-biofilm molecules. Marine bacteria represent a still underexploited source of biodiversity able to synthesize a broad range of bioactive compounds, including anti-biofilm molecules. Previous results have demonstrated that the culture supernatant of Antarctic marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis TAC125 impairs the formation of S. epidermidis biofilm. Further, evidence supports the hydrophobic nature of the active molecule, which has been suggested to act as a signal molecule. In this paper we describe an efficient activity-guided purification protocol which allowed us to purify this anti-biofilm molecule and structurally characterize it by NMR and mass spectrometry analyses. Our results demonstrate that the anti-biofilm molecule is pentadecanal, a long-chain fatty aldehyde, whose anti-S. epidermidis biofilm activity has been assessed using both static and dynamic biofilm assays. The specificity of its action on S. epidermidis biofilm has been demonstrated by testing chemical analogs of pentadecanal differing either in the length of the aliphatic chain or in their functional group properties. Further, indications of the mode of action of pentadecanal have been collected by studying the bioluminescence of a Vibrio harveyi reporter strain for the detection of autoinducer AI-2 like activities. The data collected suggest that pentadecanal acts as an AI-2 signal. Moreover, the aldehyde metabolic role and synthesis in the Antarctic source strain has been investigated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the identification of an anti-biofilm molecule form from cold-adapted bacteria and on the action of a long-chain fatty aldehyde acting as an anti-biofilm molecule against S. epidermidis