Quale intervento per la mobilità sostenibile nel quartiere Murat di Bari? Risultati di una procedura partecipata di valutazione

Bari è una delle otto “città - pilota” del progetto MUSA (Mobilità Urbana Sostenibile e Attrattori culturali) in cui viene sperimentata una procedura partecipata d i valutazione (PPV) delle strategie e politiche per la mobilità urbana sostenibile. Nel caso di Bari l’applicazione di una PPV è simulata con riferimento a un intervento specifico: la riorganizzazione della circolazione e della sosta nel centrale quartiere Murat. La PPV utilizzata prevede l'uso di tre strumenti: un “dialogo strutturato” con gli stakeholder, basato su una multicriteria semplificata; un'indagine demoscopica per raccogliere le valutazioni dei cittadini; una “consulta dei cittadini”, che ha il compito di modificare, integrare e validare l’esito finale della PPV. La PPV è basata su uno schema di valutazione con quattro obiettivi: 1. Protezione e valorizzazione dei beni culturali; 2. Miglioramento della vivibilità; 3. Sviluppo delle attività comme rciali e turistiche; 4. Miglioramento dell’accessibilità. Tali obiettivi sono stati utilizzati per valutare quattro alternative d’intervento nel quartiere Murat: A. Pedonalizzazione totale; B. Pedonalizzazione con zone interne a traffico limitato; C. Zona a traffico limitato con isole pedonali; D. Zona a traffico moderato con isole pedonali. L'applicazione della PPV nel caso barese ha avuto un buon esito: sia per il livello e la qualità della partecipazione di stakeholder e cittadini, sia per la preferenza espressa in modo condiviso per l'opzione C (ztl + isole pedonali). L'indicazione emersa alla fine della PPV di un'ulteriore opzione “ibrida” (la C con corridoi di attraversamento del quartiere aperti a tutti) spinge a suggerire che in futuro la PPV sia int egrata da una fase preliminare di progettazione che consenta di generare in modo partecipato le alternative d'intervento da sottoporre a valutazione

Lernen von Ottawa? Perspektiven der humanitären Ächtung von Kernwaffen im 21. Jahrhundert

"Der nukleare Rüstungskontroll- und Abrüstungsprozess liegt seit Jahren brach. Doch eine humanitäre Initiative bemüht sich darum, einen globalen Diskurswechsel in der Kernwaffenfrage zu erzielen. Ein solcher Diskurswechsel, der der menschlichen Sicherheit gleiche Bedeutung zumisst wie der staatlichen Sicherheit, ging auch den erfolgreichen Kampagnen für das Verbot von Anti-Personenminen und Streumunition voraus. Die Autoren zeigen Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede der humanitären Initiative und den anderen Kampagnen auf. Sie loten die Erfolgschancen aus, inwieweit die Ächtung von Kernwaffen die Haltung der Atommächte und das nukleare Nichtverbreitungsregime beeinflussen kann." (Autorenreferat

Cascaded neural networks improving fish species prediction accuracy: the role of the biotic information

Species distribution is the result of complex interactions that involve environmental parameters as well as biotic factors. However, methodological approaches that consider the use of biotic variables during the prediction process are still largely lacking. Here, a cascaded Artifcial Neural Networks (ANN) approach is proposed in order to increase the accuracy of fsh species occurrence estimates and a case study for Leucos aulain NE Italy is presented as a demonstration case. Potentially useful biotic information (i.e. occurrence of other species) was selected by means of tetrachoric correlation analysis and on the basis of the improvements it allowed to obtain relative to models based on environmental variables only. The prediction accuracy of the L. aulamodel based on environmental variables only was improved by the addition of occurrence data for A. arborellaand S. erythrophthalmus. While biotic information was needed to train the ANNs, the fnal cascaded ANN model was able to predict L. aula better than a conventional ANN using environmental variables only as inputs. Results highlighted that biotic information provided by occurrence estimates for non-target species whose distribution can be more easily and accurately modeled may play a very useful role, providing additional predictive variables to target species distribution models

Differential nickel-induced responses of olfactory sensory neuron populations in zebrafish

The olfactory epithelium of fish includes three main types of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs). Whereas ciliated (cOSNs) and microvillous olfactory sensory neurons (mOSNs) are common to all vertebrates, a third, smaller group, the crypt cells, is exclusive for fish. Dissolved pollutants reach OSNs, thus resulting in impairment of the olfactory function with possible neurobehavioral damages, and nickel represents a diffuse olfactory toxicant. We studied the effects of three sublethal Ni2+ concentrations on the different OSN populations of zebrafish that is a widely used biological model. We applied image analysis with cell count and quantification of histochemically-detected markers of the different types of OSNs. The present study shows clear evidence of a differential responses of OSN populations to treatments. Densitometric values for G\u3b1 olf, a marker of cOSNs, decreased compared to control and showed a concentration-dependent effect in the ventral half of the olfactory rosette. The densitometric analysis of TRPC2, a marker of mOSNs, revealed a statistically significant reduction compared to control, smaller than the decrease for G\u3b1 olf and without concentration-dependent effects. After exposure, olfactory epithelium stained with anti-calretinin, a marker of c- and mOSNs, revealed a decrease in thickness while the sensory area appeared unchanged. The thickness reduction together with increased densitometric values for HuC/D, a marker of mature and immature neurons, suggests that the decrements in G\u3b1 olf and TRPC2 immunostaining may depend on cell death. However, reductions in the number of apical processes and of antigen expression could be a further explanation. We hypothesize that cOSNs are more sensitive than mOSNs to Ni2+ exposure. Difference between subpopulations of OSNs or differences in water flux throughout the olfactory cavity could account for the greater susceptibility of the OSNs located in the ventral half of the olfactory rosette. Cell count of anti-TrkA immunopositive cells reveals that Ni2+ exposure does not affect crypt cells. The results of this immunohistochemical study are not in line with those obtained by electro-olfactogram

Regenerative medicine in hearing recovery

Hearing loss, or deafness, affects 360 million people worldwide of which about 32 million are children. Deafness is irreversible when it involves sensory hair cell death because the regenerative ability of these cells is lost in mammals after embryo development. The therapeutic strategies for deafness include hearing aids and/or implantable devices. However, not all patients are eligible or truly benefit from these medical devices. Regenerative medicine based on stem cell application could play a role in both improvement of extant medical devices and in vivo recovery of auditory function by regeneration of inner ear cells and neurons. A review of recent literature on the subject indicates that two promising approaches to renewal and differentiation of cochlear tissues are transplantation of stem cells and in situ administration of growth factors. Rather than directly regenerating dead cells, these procedures apparently induce, through various pathways, differentiation of resident cochlear cells. More studies on the possible adverse effects of transplanted cells and the recovery of tonotopic sensorineural activity or required. To date, no reliable clinical results have been obtained in the field of cochlear regeneration. \ua9 2017 International Society for Cellular Therapy

Defend as You Can, React Quickly: The Effects of the COVID-19 Shock on a Large Fishery of the Mediterranean Sea

This paper presents an analysis of the effect of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic and related restrictive measures on the activity of the Italian fleet of trawlers, which represents one of the most important fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea. We integrated multiple sources of information including: (1) Fleet activity data from Vessel Monitoring System, the most important satellite-based tracking device; (2) vessel-specific landing data disaggregated by species; (3) market and economic drivers affecting the effort variation during the lockdown and in the related fishing strategies; (4) monthly landings of demersal species in the main Italian harbors. These data sources are combined to: (1) Assess the absolute and relative changes of trawling effort in the geographical sub- areas surrounding the Italian coasts; (2) integrate and compare these changes with the market and economic drivers in order to explain the observed changes in fishing effort and strategy; (3) analyze the changes of the fishing effort on the Landing-per-unit- effort (LPUE) in order to further understand the strategy adopted by fishers during this crisis and to infer the potential consequence for the different stocks. The results provide an overview of the effects of the “COVID-19 shock,” in terms of fishing activity and socio-economic drivers, demonstrating that the consequences of the pandemic have been very varied. Although the COVID-19 shock has caused a marked overall reduction in activity in the first semester of 2020, in some cases the strategies adopted by fishermen and the commercial network linked to their activity have significantly reduced the impact of the emergency and taken back catch and effort to levels similar to those of previous years. These results could provide insights for management measures based on temporal stops of fishing activities. In particular, if no limits to the fishing effort after the restart of fishing activities are adopted, the benefits of fishing pressure reduction on fishery resources could be nullified. On the other hands, when fishing activities restart, and in the absence of catch control, effort tends to increase on coastal bottoms characterized by greater abundance of resources and longer effective fishing time

Day case parathyroidectomy: is this the right way for the patients?

Minimally-invasive video-assisted parathyroidectomy (MIVAP) can be considered as the primary treatment of choice for single parathyroid adenoma. Often, this technique is performed in a day surgery setting and is associated with regional anaesthesia (RA). Many studies have already reported the feasibility and safety of MIVAP in day surgery. Here our focus has been on the patient's personal experience with these procedures through an assessment of their recovery at home