Maquina Verde - El Arca Solar Decathlon Latin America & Caribbean 2019

The current supply of social housing in Latin American countries is often not adequate for the real needs of the population, generating situations of social conflict and permanent contraposition between the “formal” and the “informal” cities. The Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogotá and the Politecnico di Torino participated together in the Solar Decathlon Latin America and Caribbean 2019 competition with the project Máquina Ver-de - El Arca, a vivienda social thought for the informal neighborhood of El Pozón, located in the periphery of the Colombian city of Cartagena de Indias. The project is based on the reinterpretation of the Caribbean house, starting from a study of the user needs, integrating industrial technologies - like the steel frame- and artisanal technologies -such as the tejidos in the façade-, with a strategy to reduce the environmental impact of the building in its life cycle. In December 2019 Máquina Verde - El Arca was built and tested by the students and professors of the two universities during the final phase of the Solar Decathlon in Cali, Colombia. The collaboration in the international competition was born as an innovative training activity based on PBL (Problem Based Learning) and “learning by doing” methodologies and has evolved into a shared research about the issues of environmental, social and economic sustainability for the architecture of social interest of the Latin American cities

Infectious Diseases, Social, Economic and Political Crises, Anthropogenic Disasters and Beyond: Venezuela 2019 – Implications for Public Health and Travel Medicine

During last months, there have been a significant increase in the evidences showing the catastrophic health situation in Venezuela. There are multiple epidemics, increase in emerging and reemerging infectious, tropical and parasitic diseases as consequences of the social, economic and political crises, which would be considered today a clearly anthropogenic disaster. Venezuela is facing in 2019, the worse sanitary conditions, with multiple implications for public health and travel medicine. So far, from a global perspective, this situation will be an impediment for the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDG) in 2030. In this multiauthor review, there is a comprehensive analysis of the situation for infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, their impact in the Americas region, given the migration crisis as well as the comparative status of the SDG 2030. This discussion can provide input for prioritizing emerging health problems and establish a future agenda

Infectious Diseases, Social, Economic and Political Crises, Anthropogenic Disasters and Beyond: Venezuela 2019 – Implications for Public Health and Travel Medicine

During last months, there have been a significant increase in the evidences showing the catastrophic health situation in Venezuela. There are multiple epidemics, increase in emerging and reemerging infectious, tropical and parasitic diseases as consequences of the social, economic and political crises, which would be considered today a clearly anthropogenic disaster. Venezuela is facing in 2019, the worse sanitary conditions, with multiple implications for public health and travel medicine. So far, from a global perspective, this situation will be an impediment for the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDG) in 2030. In this multiauthor review, there is a comprehensive analysis of the situation for infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, their impact in the Americas region, given the migration crisis as well as the comparative status of the SDG 2030. This discussion can provide input for prioritizing emerging health problems and establish a future agenda

Science education and teachers\u2019 training. Research in partnership

Taking into account the results of international researches concerning science knowledge of young people (TIMMS and PISA) and the worrying decrease in science disciplines\u2019 roll in many countries, especially in European Community, our research group, cooperating within an international context, has designed materials in order to: - improve motivation, learning and pupils' attitudes in science education - develop a critical thinking, stimulate intuition and creativity - increase scientific literacy in the community. According to our experience, the most important school-related factor in raising student achievement is the quality of the teacher. Today, in the era of high standards and increased accountability, boosting teacher quality is more crucial than ever before. So we designed models of courses for pre-service and in-service science teachers as well offering the opportunity to cope with open problems, reflect about teaching models, discuss examples of good practices. Kindergarten initial teachers had to reflect about some basic science concepts (space, time, forces, geometrical shapes), analyze their own mind representations, make simple experiments and design a short item. Mathematics and Physics teachers were trained in laboratory with innovative and flexible devices which stimulated their motivation and creativity. We investigated : - variables affecting teaching models/styles and related students' learning - students' assessment. We present some results concerning kindergarten- primary - high school teachers' training. Method We interacted with initial and in-service science teachers mainly according with a critical social constructivist perspective, stimulating reflection and collaborative learning. We submitted pre-school initial teachers to questionnaires to explore their ideas concerning both their teaching models and basic scientific concepts. Expected Outcomes Outcomes. We have observed in teachers: - increased awareness about conceptual knots concerning scientific concepts - more sensitiveness and attention to students' involvement - reflection about the effectiveness of their daily school work - increased awareness about cooperative learning. References M. De Paz, M. Pilo, C. Pastorino \u2013 Constructivist evaluation of learning. A research through partnership \u2013 Proceedings of EERA Conference, Ecer 1999, Lahti (Finland), September 1999 M. De Paz, M. Pilo \u2013 Examples of constructivist teaching/learning \u2013 Ibidem M. Pilo, M. De Paz, C. Pastorino - \u2018Wrong experiments\u2019: case studies of a constructivist approach to effective learning for science- Contribution to International Conference at University College Worcester on \u201cEffective Learning through Reflective practice\u201d, January 11-14, 2001 M. Pilo - A collaborative Approach in teachers\u2019 training- ECER 2007, Ghent (Belgium), September 19-22 P. Masson, M. Pilo (eds) \u2013 Partnership in Education- Theoretical Approach and case studies (2009) \u2013 The BookEdition \u2013 ISBN 978-2-9533881-0-7 M. Pilo, B. Gavio \u2013 Scientific education: issues of researches in partnership \u2013 Ibidem- p. 153-16

Glucose variability increases during minimally invasive procedures in very preterm infants

The objective of this study is to assess the effect of neonatal procedures on glucose variability in very preterm infants. Preterm infants (<= 32 weeks gestation and/or birthweight <= 1500 g) were started on continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) on day 2 of birth and monitored for 5 days. Minimally invasive (heel stick, venipunctures) and non-invasive (nappy change, parental presence) procedures were recorded. CGM data were analyzed 30 min before and after each procedure. The primary outcome was the coefficient of glucose variation (CV=SD/mean) before and after the procedure; SD and median glucose were also evaluated. We analyzed 496 procedures in 22 neonates (GA 30.5 weeks [29-31]; birthweight 1300 g [950-1476]). Median glucose did not change before and after each procedure, while CV and SD increased after heel prick (p = 0.017 and 0.030), venipuncture (p= 0.010 and 0.030), and nappy change (p < 0.001 and <0.001), in the absence of a difference during parental presence.Conclusions: Non-invasive and minimally invasive procedures increase glucose variability in the absence of changes of mean glucose

Hydrogen-Assisted Transformation of CO2 on Nickel: The Role of Formate and Carbon Monoxide

The nanoscale description of the reaction pathways and of the role of the intermediate species involved in a chemical process is a crucial milestone for tailoring more active, stable, and cheaper catalysts, thus providing "reaction engineering" capabilities. This level of insight has not been achieved yet for the catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 on Ni catalysts, a reaction of enormous environmental relevance. We present a thorough atomic-scale description of the mechanisms of this reaction, studied under controlled conditions on a model Ni catalyst, thus clarifying the long-standing debate on the actual reaction path followed by the reactants. Remarkably, formate, which is always observed under standard conditions, is found to be just a "dead-end" spectator molecule, formed via a Langmuir-Hinshelwood process, whereas the reaction proceeds through parallel Eley-Rideal channels, where hydrogen-assisted C-O bond cleavage in CO2 yields CO already at liquid nitrogen temperature

Carbon dioxide hydrogenation on Ni(110)

We demonstrate that the key step for the reaction of CO2 with hydrogen on Ni(110) is a change of the activated molecule coordination to the metal surface. At 90 K, CO2 is negatively charged and chemically bonded via the carbon atom. When the temperature is increased and H approaches, the H-CO2 complex flips and binds to the surface through the two oxygen atoms, while H binds to the carbon atom, thus yielding formate. We provide the atomic-level description of this process by means of conventional ultrahigh vacuum surface science techniques combined with density functional theory calculations and corroborated by high pressure reactivity tests. Knowledge about the details of the mechanisms involved in this reaction can yield a deeper comprehension of heterogeneous catalytic organic synthesis processes involving carbon dioxide as a reactant. We show why on Ni the CO2 hydrogenation barrier is remarkably smaller than that on the common Cu metal-based catalyst. Our results provide a possible interpretation of the observed high catalytic activity of NiCu alloys

Interaction of carbon dioxide with Ni(110): a combined experimental and theoretical study

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the CO2 interaction with the Ni110 surface. Photoelectron spectroscopy, temperature-programmed desorption, and high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy measurements are performed at different coverages and for increasing surface temperature after adsorption at 90 K with the aim to study the competing processes of CO2 dissociation and desorption. Simulations are performed within the framework of density functional theory using ab initio pseudopotentials, focusing on selected chemisorption geometries, determining the energetics and the structural and vibrational properties. Both experimental and theoretical vibrational frequencies yield consistent indications about two inequivalent adsorption sites that can be simultaneously populated at low temperature: short-bridge site with the molecular plane perpendicular to the surface and hollow site with the molecular plane inclined with respect to the surface. In both sites, the molecule has pure carbon or mixed oxygen-carbon coordination with the metal and is negatively charged and bent. Predicted energy barriers for adsorption and diffusion on the surface suggest a preferential adsorption path through the short-bridge site to the hollow site, which is compatible with the experimental findings. Theoretical results qualitatively support literature data concerning the increase of the work function upon chemisorption