Funzione e espressione nell'architettura: progetto di città o costruzione di edifici ?

La concezione progettuale di Guido Canella fondata sulla compenetrazione di fattori funzionali ed espressivi in particolare nell'individuazione di luoghi e tipologie per una "direzionalità" intesa in senso non settoriale e monofunzionale, ma come intreccio tra attività economico-finanziarie, di innovazione produttiva, e di formazione di nuove professionalità, ponendo precocemente la consapevolezza dell'attendibilità di "un'alternativa economica e, quindi, di prospettiva storica, sociale della città" (G. Canella, Vecchie e nuove ipotesi per i Centri Direzionali, in Casabella-Continuità, n. 275, maggio 1963, p. 56) che mantiene tutta la propria attualità di fronte al diffondersi nelle città occidentali delle dismissioni di aree ad attività produttive indotte dalla globalizzazione economica

A Milano dopo Citylife e Porta Nuova: ancora sparkling buildings contro town planning?

Determinare gli indici edificatori e di dotazione di aree per servizi pubblici degli strumenti di programmazione negoziata nel riuso strategico delle aree dismesse in modo razionalmente congruente, invece che negoziarli ‘liberamente’ sotto garanzia della Valutazione Ambientale Strategica (VAS), con particolare riferimento all’esperienza dei progetti Citylife e Porta Nuova nella città di Milano. Per una nuova alleanza tra gli indici di sostenibilità del consumo di risorse non rinnovabili e criteri urbanistici di insediamento come carattere fondante di un vero Rinascimento Urban

Stereoselectivity Switch in the Reduction of α-Alkyl-β-Arylenones by Structure-Guided Designed Variants of the Ene Reductase OYE1

Ene reductases from the Old Yellow Enzyme (OYE) family are industrially interesting enzymes for the biocatalytic asymmetric reduction of alkenes. To access both enantiomers of the target reduced products, stereocomplementary pairs of OYE enzymes are necessary, but their natural occurrence is quite limited. A library of wild type ene reductases from different sources was screened in the stereoselective reduction of a set of representative α-alkyl-β-arylenones to investigate the naturally available biodiversity. As far as the bioreduction of the ethyl ketone derivatives concerns, the results confirmed the distinctiveness of the OYE3 enzyme in affording the reduced product in the (S) configuration, while all the other tested ene reductases from the Old Yellow Enzymes family showed the same stereoselectivity toward the formation of corresponding (R) enantiomer. A possible determinant role of the “hot spot” residue in position 296 for the stereoselectivity control of these reactions was confirmed by the replacement of Phe296 of OYE1 with Ser as found in OYE3. Further investigations showed that the same stereoselectivity switch in OYE1 could be achieved also by the replacement of Trp116 with Ala and Val, these experimental results being rationalized by structural and docking studies. Moreover, an additive effect on the stereoselectivity of OYE1 was observed when coupling the selected mutations in position 296 and 116, thus providing two extremely enantioselective variants of OYE1 (W116A-F296S, W116V-F296S) showing the opposite stereoselectivity of the wild type enzyme. Lastly, the effects of the mutations on the bioreduction of carvone enantiomers were investigated as well

Constraining Present‐Day Anthropogenic Total Iron Emissions Using Model and Observations

Iron emissions from human activities, such as oil combustion and smelting, affect the Earth's climate and marine ecosystems. These emissions are difficult to quantify accurately due to a lack of observations, particularly in remote ocean regions. In this study, we used long‐term, near‐source observations in areas with a dominance of anthropogenic iron emissions in various parts of the world to better estimate the total amount of anthropogenic iron emissions. We also used a statistical source apportionment method to identify the anthropogenic components and their sub‐sources from bulk aerosol observations in the United States. We find that the estimates of anthropogenic iron emissions are within a factor of 3 in most regions compared to previous inventory estimates. Under‐ or overestimation varied by region and depended on the number of sites, interannual variability, and the statistical filter choice. Smelting‐related iron emissions are overestimated by a factor of 1.5 in East Asia compared to previous estimates. More long‐term iron observations and the consideration of the influence of dust and wildfires could help reduce the uncertainty in anthropogenic iron emissions estimates

Périgord black truffle genome uncovers evolutionary origins and mechanisms of symbiosis

LetterInternational audienceThe Périgord black truffle ($Tuber\ melanosporum$ Vittad.) and the Piedmont white truffle dominate today's truffle market. The hypogeous fruiting body of $T.\ melanosporum$ is a gastronomic delicacy produced by an ectomycorrhizal symbiont endemic to calcareous soils in southern Europe. The worldwide demand for this truffle has fuelled intense efforts at cultivation. Identification of processes that condition and trigger fruit body and symbiosis formation, ultimately leading to efficient crop production, will be facilitated by a thorough analysis of truffle genomic traits. In the ectomycorrhizal $Laccaria\ bicolor$, the expansion of gene families may have acted as a 'symbiosis toolbox'. This feature may however reflect evolution of this particular taxon and not a general trait shared by all ectomycorrhizal species. To get a better understanding of the biology and evolution of the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, we report here the sequence of the haploid genome of $T.\ melanosporum$, which at $\sim$125 megabases is the largest and most complex fungal genome sequenced so far. This expansion results from a proliferation of transposable elements accounting for $\sim$58% of the genome. In contrast, this genome only contains $\sim$7,500 protein-coding genes with very rare multigene families. It lacks large sets of carbohydrate cleaving enzymes, but a few of them involved in degradation of plant cell walls are induced in symbiotic tissues. The latter feature and the upregulation of genes encoding for lipases and multicopper oxidases suggest that $T.\ melanosporum$ degrades its host cell walls during colonization. Symbiosis induces an increased expression of carbohydrate and amino acid transporters in both $L.\ bicolor$ and $T.\ melanosporum$, but the comparison of genomic traits in the two ectomycorrhizal fungi showed that genetic predispositions for symbiosis $-$'the symbiosis toolbox'$-$ evolved along different ways in ascomycetes and basidiomycete

AERO-MAP: A data compilation and modelling approach to understand spatial variability in fine and coarse mode aerosol composition

Aerosol particles are an important part of the Earth system, but their concentrations are spatially and temporally heterogeneous, as well as variable in size and composition. Particles can interact with incoming solar radiation and outgoing long wave radiation, change cloud properties, affect photochemistry, impact surface air quality, change the surface albedo of snow and ice, and modulate carbon dioxide uptake by the land and ocean. High particulate matter concentrations at the surface represent an important public health hazard. There are substantial datasets describing aerosol particles in the literature or in public health databases, but they have not been compiled for easy use by the climate and air quality modelling community. Here we present a new compilation of PM2.5 and PM10 aerosol observations, focusing on the spatial variability across different observational stations, including composition, and demonstrate a method for comparing the datasets to model output. Overall, most of the planet or even the land fraction does not have sufficient observations of surface concentrations, and especially particle composition to understand the current distribution of particles. Most climate models exclude 10–30 % of the aerosol particles in both PM2.5 and PM10 size fractions across large swaths of the globe in their current configurations, with ammonium nitrate and agricultural dust aerosol being the most important omitted aerosol types

Prescription appropriateness of anti-diabetes drugs in elderly patients hospitalized in a clinical setting: evidence from the REPOSI Register

Diabetes is an increasing global health burden with the highest prevalence (24.0%) observed in elderly people. Older diabetic adults have a greater risk of hospitalization and several geriatric syndromes than older nondiabetic adults. For these conditions, special care is required in prescribing therapies including anti- diabetes drugs. Aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness and the adherence to safety recommendations in the prescriptions of glucose-lowering drugs in hospitalized elderly patients with diabetes. Data for this cross-sectional study were obtained from the REgistro POliterapie-Società Italiana Medicina Interna (REPOSI) that collected clinical information on patients aged ≥ 65 years acutely admitted to Italian internal medicine and geriatric non-intensive care units (ICU) from 2010 up to 2019. Prescription appropriateness was assessed according to the 2019 AGS Beers Criteria and anti-diabetes drug data sheets.Among 5349 patients, 1624 (30.3%) had diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. At admission, 37.7% of diabetic patients received treatment with metformin, 37.3% insulin therapy, 16.4% sulfonylureas, and 11.4% glinides. Surprisingly, only 3.1% of diabetic patients were treated with new classes of anti- diabetes drugs. According to prescription criteria, at admission 15.4% of patients treated with metformin and 2.6% with sulfonylureas received inappropriately these treatments. At discharge, the inappropriateness of metformin therapy decreased (10.2%, P < 0.0001). According to Beers criteria, the inappropriate prescriptions of sulfonylureas raised to 29% both at admission and at discharge. This study shows a poor adherence to current guidelines on diabetes management in hospitalized elderly people with a high prevalence of inappropriate use of sulfonylureas according to the Beers criteria

The “Diabetes Comorbidome”: A Different Way for Health Professionals to Approach the Comorbidity Burden of Diabetes

(1) Background: The disease burden related to diabetes is increasing greatly, particularly in older subjects. A more comprehensive approach towards the assessment and management of diabetes’ comorbidities is necessary. The aim of this study was to implement our previous data identifying and representing the prevalence of the comorbidities, their association with mortality, and the strength of their relationship in hospitalized elderly patients with diabetes, developing, at the same time, a new graphic representation model of the comorbidome called “Diabetes Comorbidome”. (2) Methods: Data were collected from the RePoSi register. Comorbidities, socio-demographic data, severity and comorbidity indexes (Cumulative Illness rating Scale CIRS-SI and CIRS-CI), and functional status (Barthel Index), were recorded. Mortality rates were assessed in hospital and 3 and 12 months after discharge. (3) Results: Of the 4714 hospitalized elderly patients, 1378 had diabetes. The comorbidities distribution showed that arterial hypertension (57.1%), ischemic heart disease (31.4%), chronic renal failure (28.8%), atrial fibrillation (25.6%), and COPD (22.7%), were the more frequent in subjects with diabetes. The graphic comorbidome showed that the strongest predictors of death at in hospital and at the 3-month follow-up were dementia and cancer. At the 1-year follow-up, cancer was the first comorbidity independently associated with mortality. (4) Conclusions: The “Diabetes Comorbidome” represents the perfect instrument for determining the prevalence of comorbidities and the strength of their relationship with risk of death, as well as the need for an effective treatment for improving clinical outcomes

Antidiabetic Drug Prescription Pattern in Hospitalized Older Patients with Diabetes

Objective: To describe the prescription pattern of antidiabetic and cardiovascular drugs in a cohort of hospitalized older patients with diabetes. Methods: Patients with diabetes aged 65 years or older hospitalized in internal medicine and/or geriatric wards throughout Italy and enrolled in the REPOSI (REgistro POliterapuie SIMI—Società Italiana di Medicina Interna) registry from 2010 to 2019 and discharged alive were included. Results: Among 1703 patients with diabetes, 1433 (84.2%) were on treatment with at least one antidiabetic drug at hospital admission, mainly prescribed as monotherapy with insulin (28.3%) or metformin (19.2%). The proportion of treated patients decreased at discharge (N = 1309, 76.9%), with a significant reduction over time. Among those prescribed, the proportion of those with insulin alone increased over time (p = 0.0066), while the proportion of those prescribed sulfonylureas decreased (p < 0.0001). Among patients receiving antidiabetic therapy at discharge, 1063 (81.2%) were also prescribed cardiovascular drugs, mainly with an antihypertensive drug alone or in combination (N = 777, 73.1%). Conclusion: The management of older patients with diabetes in a hospital setting is often sub-optimal, as shown by the increasing trend in insulin at discharge, even if an overall improvement has been highlighted by the prevalent decrease in sulfonylureas prescription