ESPON Project 2.3.1., Application and effects of the ESDP in Member States. First Interim Report

This First Interim Report includes the initial results of the project "Application and Effects of the ESDP in the Member States" within the ESPON Programme 2000-2006. The focus of the study is the application of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), which was adopted at the Potsdam European Council meeting in May 199

Gentrification without gentrifiers? Tourism and Real Estate Investment in Lisbon

Tourism gentrification, first described by Gotham (2005), has become an expanding phenomenon in many cities during recent years. This is connected to the general expansion of tourism as one of the world‟s biggest industries, but real estate investment, utilizing tourism to extract rent, importantly contributes to the phenomenon. Lisbon is a perfect example for this interaction of touristic and financial flows. This article, based on in-depth interviews and on analysis of official documents, newspaper articles, and statistics, reveal a complex picture of the interaction of long-term pre-conditions (the widespread abandonment and degradation of Lisbon‟s central neighbourhoods), new public policies (in housing as well as finance) at different levels, introduced in the context of austerity and, finally, global flows of investment into real estate as much as tourism. All this finally causes the rapid transformation of Lisbon's historical centre: from a physically degraded area with few and largely poor inhabitants to an extremely popular destination for tourism and real estate investments, leading to renovation and revitalisation, provoking the displacement of the area‟s original inhabitants, and producing neighbourhoods without a consistent stable population, as the “gentry” – in the most traditional definition of the term – does not exist

Recensione: Morandi C., Rolando A. and Di Vita S., From smart city to smart region. Digital services for an internet of places, PoliMI Springerbriefs, Heidelberg Dordrecht London, 2016, p. 115, € 41,64 (eBook).

Recensione del volume di Corinna Morandi, Andrea Rolando e Stefano Di Vita dal titolo "From smart city to smart region. Digital services for an internet of places", PoliMI Springerbriefs, Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London, 2016

Convergence of Wnt signalling on the HNF4a-driven transcription in controlling liver zonation

BACKGROUND & AIMS: In each hepatocyte, the specific repertoire of gene expression is influenced by its exact location along the portocentrovenular axis of the hepatic lobule and provides a reason for the liver functions compartmentalization defined "metabolic zonation." So far, few molecular players controlling genetic programs of periportal (PP) and perivenular (PV) hepatocytes have been identified; the elucidation of zonation mechanisms remains a challenge for experimental hepatology. Recently, a key role in induction and maintenance of the hepatocyte heterogeneity has been ascribed to Wnt/beta-catenin pathway. We sought to clarify how this wide-ranging stimulus integrates with hepatocyte specificity. METHODS: Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) allowed the transcriptional profiling of hepatocytes derived from in vitro differentiation of liver stem cells. The GSK3beta inhibitor 6-bromoindirubin-3'-oxime (BIO) was used for beta-catenin stabilization. Co-immunoprecipitations were used to study biochemical protein interactions while ChIP assays allowed the in vivo inspection of PV and PP genes regulatory regions. RESULTS: We found that spontaneous differentiation of liver stem cells gives rise to PP hepatocytes that, after Wnt pathway activation, switch into PV hepatocytes. Next, we showed that the Wnt downstream player LEF1 interacts with the liver-enriched transcriptional factor HNF4alpha. Finally, we unveiled that the BIO induced activation of PV genes correlates with LEF1 binding to both its own and HNF4alpha consensus, and the repression of PP genes correlates with HNF4alpha displacement from its own consensus. CONCLUSION: Our data show a direct and hitherto unknown convergence of the canonical Wnt signaling on the HNF4alpha-driven transcription providing evidences of a mechanism controlling liver zonated gene expression

Setting up a university city. Geographies of exclusion in North Turin

Universities have progressively seen a change in their role as actors in the transformation of cities, with the growth of student populations and related studentification processes that are seen both as drivers of development and causes of negative externalities. What risks being overshadowed, however, is the complex array of interests and agencies that are involved. The aim of the article is, thus, to explore the production of geographies of exclusion that cannot be simply linked to the negative impacts directly exerted by the increased pressure of students' concentrations on specific neighbourhoods. They can also be related to the specific form that urban development strategies driven by higher education institutions takes in post-industrial cities. The case of Turin, Italy, shows that a dominant narrative on the role of universities has triggered various stakeholders' strategic orientation and that, therefore, variegated transformations can be interpreted as the effects of capital investments that materialise in university-related ‘fixes’

Sustainable Cities: A Reflection on Potentialities and Limits based on Existing Eco-Districts in Europe

The need for more sustainable cities has become a primary objective of urban strategies. The urgency for a radical transition towards sustainability in a long term-vision has brought with it several new concepts, such as smart urbanism, and models, such as smart city, eco-city, sustainable neighborhood, eco-district, etc. While these terms are fascinating and visionary, they often lack a clear definition both in terms of theoretical insight and empirical evidence. In this light, this contribution aims at defining a conceptual framework through which to further substantiate the blurred concept of eco-district and sustainable neighborhood. It does so by reviewing the concepts of smart urbanism and sustainable neighborhood/eco-districts in the literature, including also references to other well-known sustainability-oriented models of urban development. It then explores whether several indicators, emerging from the analysis of exemplary case studies of sustainable neighborhoods in Europe, can be used to clearly identify the characteristics of a sustainable approach at the district scale. The analysis, built on a review of existing literature, allows for both the clarification of several issues related to these fields of inquiry, as well as for the identification of the potential bridges to link these issues

LE NUOVE DIRETTIVE EUROPEE SUI CONTRATTI PUBBLICI: COME RECEPITE NEL D. LGS. 50 2016

Con il presente lavoro di tesi si cercherà di analizzare l’impatto che hanno avuto le recenti modifiche in tema di contratti pubblici all’interno del nostro Ordinamento nazionale. Nel primo capitolo si andrà ad analizzare la previgente disciplina cercando di inquadrare quelli che erano i punti critici. Nel secondo capitolo l’attenzione verrà rivolta alle caratteristiche ed ai tratti essenziali della nuova disciplina, in seguito al recepimento delle nuove direttive del 2014 e all’emanazione del nuovo Codice dei contratti pubblici di cui al D.lgs. 50/2016. Nel terzo, invece, verranno approfonditi singoli istituti introdotti o modificati dalla nuova regolamentazione della materia in questione. Nella parte finale dell’elaborato andremo, infine, a trattare della disciplina delle concessioni, la quale rappresenta una delle principali novità (forse la principale) del pacchetto normativo 2014

Untitled. Spazi ibridi della città contemporanea

Spazi pubblici e privati con caratteri di utilizzo transitorio o indefinito rap- presentano una sfida analitica per chi si occupa di leggere e interpretare le cit- tà contemporanee: questi spazi sono identificati impropriamente come vuoti e solo in parte si possono ricondurre a categorie note e formalizzate di uso. Tenendo conto di prospettive disciplinari diverse si è quindi individuato un concetto sufficientemente vago ma ricco di potenziali suggestioni analitiche, l’ibrido, come guida nel confronto tra posizioni e con casi reali. L’uso del ter- mine ibrido ha permesso sia di riferirsi a spazi e edifici di tipologie e caratteri- stiche diverse sia di non dover riconoscere immediatamente una loro destina- zione all’interno di un quadro noto di usi e funzioni possibili

An epistatic mini-circuitry between the transcription factors Snail and HNF4a controls liver stem cell and hepatocyte features exhorting opposite regulation on stemness-inhibiting microRNAs

Preservation of the epithelial state involves the stable repression of EMT program while maintenance of the stem compartment requires the inhibition of differentiation processes. A simple and direct molecular mini-circuitry between master elements of these biological processes, may provide the best device to keep balanced such complex phenomena. In this work, we show that in hepatic stem cell Snail, a transcriptional repressor of the hepatocyte differentiation master gene HNF4, directly represses the expression of the epithelial microRNAs-200c and -34a, which in turn target several stem cell genes. Notably, in differentiated hepatocytes HNF4, previously identified as a transcriptional repressor of Snail, induces the microRNAs-34a and -200a, b, c that, when silenced, causes epithelial dedifferentiation and reacquisition of stem traits. Altogether these data unveiled Snail, HNF4 and microRNAs -200a, b, c and -34a as epistatic elements controlling hepatic stem cell maintenance/differentiation

Experimental assessment of the acoustic performance of nozzles designed for clean agent fire suppression

Discharge through nozzles used in gas-based fire protection of data centers may generate noise that causes the performance of hard drives to decay considerably; silent nozzles are employed to limit this harmful effect. This work focuses on proposing an experimental methodology to assess the impact of sound emitted by gaseous jets by comparing various nozzles under several operating conditions, together with relating that impact to design parameters. A setup was developed and repeatability of the experiments was evaluated; standard and silent nozzles were tested regarding the discharge of inert gases and halocarbon compounds. The ability of silent nozzles to contain the emitted noise—generally below the 110 dB reference threshold—was proven effective; a relationship between Reynolds number and peak noise level is suggested to support the reported increase in noise maxima as released flow rate increases. Hard drives with lower speed were the most affected. Spectral analysis was conducted, with sound at the higher frequency range causing performance decay even if lower than the acknowledged threshold. Independence of emitted noise from the selected clean agent was also observed in terms of released volumetric flow rate, yet the denser the fluid, the lower the generated noise under the same released mass flow rate