Topology optimization of multi-story buildings under fully non-stationary stochastic seismic ground motion

Topology optimization has been mainly addressed for structures under static loads using a deterministic setting. Nonetheless, many structural systems are subjected to uncertain dynamic loads, and thus efficient approaches are required to evaluate the optimal topology in such kind of applications. Within this framework, the present paper deals with the topology optimization of multi-story buildings subjected to seismic ground motion. Because of the inherent randomness of the earthquakes, the uncertain system response is determined through a random vibration-based approach in which the seismic ground motion is described as filtered white Gaussian noise with time-varying amplitude and frequency content (i.e., fully non-stationary seismic ground motion). The paper is especially concerned with the assessment of the dynamic response sensitivity for the gradient-based numerical solution of the optimization problem. To this end, an approximated construction of the gradient is proposed in which explicit, exact derivatives with respect to the design variables are computed analytically through direct differentiation for a sub-assembly of elements (up to a single element) resulting from the discretization of the optimizable domain. The proposed strategy is first validated for the simpler case of stationary base excitation by comparing the results with those obtained using an exact approach based on the adjoint method, and its correctness is ultimately verified for the more general case of non-stationary seismic ground motion. Overall, this validation demonstrates that the proposed approach leads to accurate results at low computational effort. Further numerical investigations are finally presented to highlight to what extent the features of the non-stationary seismic ground motion influence the optimal topology

Durum Wheat in Conventional and Organic Farming: Yield Amount and Pasta Quality in Southern Italy

Five durum wheat cultivars were grown in a Mediterranean area (Southern Italy) under conventional and organic farming with the aim to evaluate agronomic, technological, sensory, and sanitary quality of grains and pasta. The cultivar Matt produced the best pasta quality under conventional cropping system, while the quality parameters evaluated were unsatisfactory under organic farming. The cultivar Saragolla showed the best yield amount and pasta quality in all the experimental conditions, thus proving to be the cultivar more adapt to organic farming. In all the tested experimental conditions, nivalenol (NIV) and deoxynivalenol (DON) occurrence was very low and the other mycotoxins evaluated were completely absent. These data confirm the low risk of mycotoxin contamination in the Mediterranean climate conditions. Finally, it has been possible to produce high-quality pasta in Southern Italy from durum wheat grown both in conventional and organic farming

PEERS’ ANATOMY: teaching among students as an original approach to learning anatomy – a project made in Alma Mater

Anatomy is an ancient discipline which benefited greatly from technological improvements. Those very same technologies, along with a shift towards more clinically relevant topics, might be endangering anatomy’s central role as a cornerstone of medical education. A review of local realities showed anatomy to be quite uniformly taught by means of lectures alone. On the basis of our own experience, and comforted by references in literature (Day et al. [1]), we propose a revaluation of the teaching approach to anatomy, which includes an integration between different available resources and, above all, introduces peer-to-peer activity. Over the course of the last decade, based on a proposal from the Anatomy Department, more and more medical students took part to gross anatomy workshops abroad, thus consolidating what today is a large group of tutors. Working in parallel with the lectures, back home these students organize activities where notions are not a mere tool to pass the exam, but are aimed at giving younger students solid foundations on which to build their future competence. On the grounds of the experiences acquired in these years, we managed to divide the tutoring activities into six areas: surface and topographic anatomy, muscles and skeleton, heart and thorax, neuroanatomy, abdomen and pelvis, didactic coordination. Each group is based on the equal division of tasks and on respecting each tutor’s expertise, attitudes and skills. These workshops have proved to be highly effective both for students, as a chance to experience anatomy “hands-on”, and for tutors, as an opportunity of mastering the subject. Being appointed a tutor outlines a shift from a deductive learning method, typical of the pre-exam phase, to an inductive one, more useful in the future as medicine doctors. To sum up, the availability of adequate facilities for cadaveric dissection certainly enhances the teaching of anatomy; what our experience shows, however, is that only direct involvement of students as tutors brings out the full potential of these activities. We therefore propose abandoning a pure “learning-to-do” approach, in favour of a more effective “learning-by- doing” strategy

CRISPR/Cas9 Ablation of Integrated HIV-1 Accumulates Proviral DNA Circles with Reformed Long Terminal Repeats

Gene editing may be used to excise the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) provirus from the host cell genome, possibly eradicating the infection. Here, using cells acutely or latently infected by HIV-1 and treated with long terminal repeat (LTR)-targeting CRISPR/Cas9, we show that the excised HIV-1 provirus persists for a few weeks and may rearrange in circular molecules. Although circular proviral DNA is naturally formed during HIV-1 replication, we observed that gene editing might increase proviral DNA circles with restored LTRs. These extrachromosomal elements were recovered and probed for residual activity through their transfection in uninfected cells. We discovered that they can be transcriptionally active in the presence of Tat and Rev. Although confirming that gene editing is a powerful tool to eradicate HIV-1 infection, this work highlights that, to achieve this goal, the LTRs must be cleaved in several pieces to avoid residual activity and minimize the risk of reintegration in the context of genomic instability, possibly caused by the off-target activity of Cas9. IMPORTANCE The excision of HIV-1 provirus from the host cell genome has proven feasible in vitro and, to some extent, in vivo. Among the different approaches, CRISPR/Cas9 is the most promising tool for gene editing. The present study underlines the remarkable effectiveness of CRISPR/Cas9 in removing the HIV-1 provirus from infected cells and investigates the fate of the excised HIV-1 genome. This study demonstrates that the free provirus may persist in the cell after editing and in appropriate circumstances may reactivate. As an episome, it might be transcriptionally active, especially in the presence of Tat and Rev. The persistence of the HIV-1 episome was strongly decreased by gene editing with multiple targets. Although gene editing has the potential to eradicate HIV-1 infection, this work highlights a potential issue that warrants further investigation

Grain Yield, Quality and Deoxynivalenol (DON) Contamination of Durum Wheat (Triticum Durum Desf.): Results of National Networks in Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems

This work shows the results of trials carried out over three years (2006-2008) within the national networks of durum wheat grown under conventional and organic cropping systems in six representative locations of the main cultivation areas of Italy. The main aspects of grain yield and grain quality were analyzed, particularly assessing the hygienic health status of the grain in relation to the possible presence of deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination. DON is considered the most common trichothecene mycotoxin found in the wheat grain, causing significant reductions in grain yield and adverse effects for human or animal consumption. In the studied period the average grain yields were quite interesting both in conventional samples (5.85 t ha-1) and in organic ones (4.91 t ha-1). As expected, the organic yields were significantly different(-16%). However, in the southern locations the same differences were lower (-5%), thus emphasizing the limited impact of the higher inputs of the conventional cropping in these environments. The reduced nitrogen input is notoriously the most critical point of organic wheat, because the protein content is the most sensitive parameter of grain quality. The protein content was significantly different among year, fields location and cropping system, but not among their interactions. Grain protein content in organic wheat was lower than in conventional one all over the three years; anyway, differences were somewhat limited (only about 1% in the southern locations and 0.5% in central Italy). Among cultivars no significant differences in the protein content were recorded. Mean levels of DON contamination during the study period were generally lower, with only a sample exceeding the legal limit of 1750 ppb. Among the main factors, year and location (and their interaction) had a strong influence on DON contamination, accounting for 75% of the observed variability. DON levels in 2008 at Papiano-PG were dramatically high; the strong influence of the year-location interaction may be due to this fact. Cropping system and cultivar, although significant, had a low influence; however, their interaction accounted for 13% of total variance. Cropping system – location interaction accounted for 5% of the total variability. Very low levels of DON were detected in the southern locations with both cropping systems; the lower levels were recorded in organic wheat samples. In the central Italy areas DON could represent a potential hazard, but even in these organically cropped environments wheat gave the best results. Lower concentrations of DON were detected in organic wheat samples, either in less favourable years for the occurrence of Fusarium (2006 and 2007) and in the more favourable one (2008). Regarding the role of the varietal choice, Creso revealed to be the less susceptible to DON contamination, probably as it is the best adapted to the areas of the Central Italy, where Fusarium is more widespread

Hematopoietic reconstitution dynamics of mobilized- and bone marrow-derived human hematopoietic stem cells after gene therapy

Mobilized peripheral blood is increasingly used instead of bone marrow as a source of autologous hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells for ex vivo gene therapy. Here, we present an unplanned exploratory analysis evaluating the hematopoietic reconstitution kinetics, engraftment and clonality in 13 pediatric Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome patients treated with autologous lentiviral-vector transduced hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells derived from mobilized peripheral blood (n = 7), bone marrow (n = 5) or the combination of the two sources (n = 1). 8 out of 13 gene therapy patients were enrolled in an open-label, non-randomized, phase 1/2 clinical study (NCT01515462) and the remaining 5 patients were treated under expanded access programs. Although mobilized peripheral blood- and bone marrow- hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells display similar capability of being gene-corrected, maintaining the engineered grafts up to 3 years after gene therapy, mobilized peripheral blood-gene therapy group shows faster neutrophil and platelet recovery, higher number of engrafted clones and increased gene correction in the myeloid lineage which correlate with higher amount of primitive and myeloid progenitors contained in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells derived from mobilized peripheral blood. In vitro differentiation and transplantation studies in mice confirm that primitive hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells from both sources have comparable engraftment and multilineage differentiation potential. Altogether, our analyses reveal that the differential behavior after gene therapy of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells derived from either bone marrow or mobilized peripheral blood is mainly due to the distinct cell composition rather than functional differences of the infused cell products, providing new frames of references for clinical interpretation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell transplantation outcome.</p

Hearing Function: Identification of New Candidate Genes Further Explaining the Complexity of This Sensory Ability

To date, the knowledge of the genetic determinants behind the modulation of hearing ability is relatively limited. To investigate this trait, we performed Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) meta-analysis using genotype and audiometric data (hearing thresholds at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 kHz, and pure-tone averages of thresholds at low, medium, and high frequencies) collected in nine cohorts from Europe, South-Eastern USA, Caucasus, and Central Asia, for an overall number of ~9000 subjects. Three hundred seventy-five genes across all nine analyses were tagged by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) reaching a suggestive p-value (p < 105). Amongst these, 15 were successfully replicated using a gene-based approach in the independent Italian Salus in the Apulia cohort (n = 1774) at the nominal significance threshold (p < 0.05). In addition, the expression level of the replicated genes was assessed in published human and mouse inner ear datasets. Considering expression patterns in humans and mice, eleven genes were considered particularly promising candidates for the hearing function: BNIP3L, ELP5, MAP3K20, MATN2, MTMR7, MYO1E, PCNT, R3HDM1, SLC9A9, TGFB2, and YTHDC2. These findings represent a further contribution to our understanding of the genetic basis of hearing function and its related diseases

Body piercing and tattoos: a survey on young adults' knowledge of the risks and practices in body art

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The practice of tattooing and piercing has expanded in western society. In order to verify young adults' knowledge of the risk and practices related to body art, an investigation was conducted among freshmen of the University of Bari in the region of Apulia, Italy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was carried out in the Academic Year 2009-2010 through an anonymous self-administered written questionnaire distributed to 1.656 freshmen enrolled in 17 Degree Courses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 1.598 students included in the analysis, 78.3% believe it is risky to undergo piercing/tattoo practices. AIDS was indicated as a possible infection by 60.3% of freshmen, hepatitis C by 38.2%, tetanus by 34.3% and hepatitis B by 33.7% of the sample. 28.1% of freshmen were not aware that there are also non-infectious complications. 29% of the sample had at least one piercing or tattoo (this percentage does not include earlobe piercing in women). Of those with body art, the decision to undergo body art was made autonomously in 57.9% of the participants. 56.3% of freshmen undergoing body art had taken less than a month to decide. With regard to the reasons that led the sample to undergo body art, 28.4% were unable to explain it, 23.8% answered to improve their aesthetic aspect, 18.4% to distinguish themselves from others, 12.3% for fashion; 17.1% for other reasons. 25.4% of the sample declared that they had a piercing (79.8% female vs 20.2% male; ratio M/F 1:4.0). The average age for a first piercing was 15.3 years (range 10-27; SD ± 2.9). 9.6% of the sample declared that they have a tattoo (69.9% female vs 30.1% male; ratio M/F 1:2.3). The average age for a first tattoo was 17.5 years (range 10-26, SD ± 2.4).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Most of the freshmen knew about AIDS-related risks but not other potential risks. Body art is fairly common among young adults (especially women). The decision is often not shared with the family and is undertaken mostly without a specific reason or for the improvement of aesthetic aspect. Information about freshmen's knowledge, attitudes and practices could help in effective planning of health promotion strategies.</p

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p &lt; 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p &lt; 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p &lt; 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p &lt; 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p &lt; 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice