Urban and peri-urban food systems: exploring proximity and care in alternative food networks

Basing on the European and Milanese context, the paper develops and presents a preliminary reflection on urban food systems,specifically related to local Alternative Food Networks(ANFs) and how their relational and geographical proximity, that might facilitate or prevent forms of care through collaboration. The authors introduce the Food System Matrix that analyses 16 case studies to investigate the main issues connected to the territorial scope and the purpose of the selected cases. Finally, the paper proposes the concepts of 'proximity' and 'care' as a framework for understanding systemic and sustainable change in food-related services, emphasizing relationships, inclusiveness, and resilience. This work lays the foundation for future investigations into AFNs for sustainable food systems, highlighting the role of design and collaboration in promoting positive social impact

Impact of global budget payments on cardiovascular care in Maryland: an interrupted time series analysis

Background Global budget payments (GBP) are considered effective in containing health care expenditures; however, information on their impact on quality of cardiovascular care is limited. We aimed to evaluate the effects of GBP on utilization, outcomes, and costs for 3 major cardiovascular conditions. Methods We analyzed claims data of hospital admissions in Maryland from fiscal year 2013 to 2018. Using segmented regression, we evaluated temporal trends in hospitalizations, length of stay, percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting volumes, case mix-adjusted 30-day readmission rates, risk-standardized mortality rates, and hospitalization charges in patients with principal diagnosis of heart failure, acute ischemic stroke, and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in relation to GBP implementation. Trends in global cardiovascular procedure charges/volumes were also studied. Results Hospitalization rates for congestive heart failure and AMI remained unaffected by GBP, while the gradient of ischemic stroke admissions decreased (Ptrend<0.0001). Length of stay slightly increased for patients with congestive heart failure (Ptrend=0.03). Inpatient coronary artery bypass grafting surgeries decreased (Ptrend<0.0001). We observed a significant decrease in casemix-adjusted 30-day readmission rate in the AMI cohort beyond the prepolicy trend (Ptrend=0.0069). There were no significant changes in mortality for any of the 3 conditions. Hospitalization charges increased for ischemic stroke (Ptrend<0.0001), remained constant for congestive heart failure (Ptrend=0.1), and decreased for AMI (Ptrend=0.0005). We observed a significant increase in electrocardiography rate charges (Ptrend<0.0001), coincidentally with a reduction in volumes (Ptrend=0.0003). Conclusions Introducing GBP in Maryland had no perceivable adverse effects on inpatient outcomes and quality indicators for 3 major cardiovascular conditions. Savings were observed in the AMI cohort, possibly due to reduced unnecessary readmissions, efficiency improvements, or shifts to outpatient care. Reduced cardiovascular procedure volumes were counterbalanced by a proportional rise in charges. State-level adoption of GBP with pay-for-performance incentives may be effective for cost containment without adversely impacting quality of cardiovascular care

Nutrient scarcity in a new defined medium reveals metabolic resistance to antibiotics in the fish pathogen piscirickettsia salmonis

Extensive use of antibiotics has been the primary treatment for the Salmonid Rickettsial Septicemia, a salmonid disease caused by the bacterium Piscirickettsia salmonis. Occurrence of antibiotic resistance has been explored in various P. salmonis isolates using different assays; however, P. salmonis is a nutritionally demanding intracellular facultative pathogen; thus, assessing its antibiotic susceptibility with standardized and validated protocols is essential. In this work, we studied the pathogen response to antibiotics using a genomic, a transcriptomic, and a phenotypic approach. A new defined medium (CMMAB) was developed based on a metabolic model of P. salmonis. CMMAB was formulated to increase bacterial growth in nutrient-limited conditions and to be suitable for performing antibiotic susceptibility tests. Antibiotic resistance was evaluated based on a comprehensive search of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from P. salmonis genomes. Minimum inhibitory concentration assays were conducted to test the pathogen susceptibility to antibiotics from drug categories with predicted ARGs. In all tested P. salmonis strains, resistance to erythromycin, ampicillin, penicillin G, streptomycin, spectinomycin, polymyxin B, ceftazidime, and trimethoprim was mediumdependent, showing resistance to higher antibiotic concentrations in the CMMAB medium. The mechanism for antibiotic resistance to ampicillin in the defined medium was further explored and was proven to be associated to a decrease in the bacterial central metabolism, including the TCA cycle, the pentose-phosphate pathway, energy production, and nucleotide metabolism, and it was not associated with decreased growth rate of the bacterium or with the expression of any predicted ARG. Our results suggest that nutrient scarcity plays a role in the bacterial antibiotic resistance, protecting against the detrimental effects of antibiotics, and thus, we propose that P. salmonis exhibits a metabolic resistance to ampicillin when growing in a nutrient-limited medium.Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) CONICYT FONDECYTVersión publicada - versión final del edito

Supporting Colombian artisan communities. A toolkit to help them find their common direction

LAUREA MAGISTRALEIl settore artigianale nasce dalle antiche comunità che realizzavano oggetti per risolvere bisogni materiali e spirituali. Le loro tecniche sono state trasmesse fino ad oggi agli artigiani, che le hanno padroneggiate per la creazione di prodotti che vanno oltre le esigenze domestiche. Attualmente, le comunità artigiane cercano di vivere dei ricavi di questi prodotti, ma stanno affrontando molte difficoltà che potrebbero impedire la conservazione e la trasmissione del loro sapere alle generazioni future. Il progetto ha avuto come motivazione una precedente esperienza personale, a Curiti, Santander, Colombia, che si è poi arricchita di ricerche primarie e secondarie dalla Colombia e dall’Italia. L’esplorazione ha mostrato come risultato principale le preoccupazioni che gli artigiani stanno affrontando, e che sono state raggruppate in questioni interne ed esterne. Minga è un insieme di strumenti proposti come soluzione per comunità artigiane colombiane in crisi, questo vuol dire comunità che affrontano problemi al loro interno legati all’identità, al loro scopo, alla fiducia e alle regole.Finora, il toolkit ha avuto una prima sessione di convalida con i membri della comunità artigiana di Muisca, tuttavia, future applicazioni dovranno essere fatte, per migliorarne l’utilizzo da parte di individui diversi. Anche se il toolkit ha ancora molta strada da fare, il progetto è stato utile per capire tante cose. In primo luogo, per conoscere la situazione attuale degli artigiani in Colombia e in Italia. In secondo luogo, analizzare che il lavoro attualmente svolto tra artigiani e designer non soddisfa le aspettative di entrambe le parti, poiché si concentra sui prodotti e sulle vendite, invece che sulla conservazione delle tecniche e sul sostegno di comunità sane. Si spera che cambiare il ruolo del designer quando interagisce con gli artigiani possa essere l’influenza principale di questo toolkit per il futuro.The artisan sector comes from ancient communities that made objects to solve material and spiritual needs. Their techniques were transmitted until artisans today, who have mastered them for the creation of products that go beyond domestic needs. Currently, artisan communities try to live from the revenues of these products, but are facing many difficulties that could stop the preservation and transmission of their knowledge to future generations. The project had as motivation a previous personal experience, in Curiti, Santander, Colombia, which was later enriched with primary and secondary research from Italy and Colombia. The exploration showed as main result the concerns artisans are facing, which were clustered into internal and external issues. Minga is a set of tools proposed as a solution for Colombian artisan communities in crisis, it means communities facing internal issues related with identity, purpose, trust, and rules. By now, the toolkit had a first validation session with members of the Muisca artisan community, however, future applications will have to done, to improve the use of it by different individuals. Even though the toolkit still has a long way to go, the project was useful to understand different things. First, to learn about the current situation of artisans in Colombia and Italy. Second, to analyse that the work currently done between artisans and designers is not fulfilling the expectations from both sides, since it is focused on products and sales, instead on preserving techniques and supporting healthy communities. Hopefully, changing the role of the designer when interacting with artisans, would be the main legacy of this toolkit for the future

estrategia de intervención urbana en parques vecinales para la disposición de heces fecales de mascotas

Enciende tu vida, es una estrategia de intervención urbana en parques vecinales para la disposición de heces fecales de mascotas, ha sido desarrollado en la modalidad de producto para el curso proyecto de grado (CPG) 2013, primer periodo.#DiseñoIndustrialEnciende tu vida" is an urban intervention strategy in neighborhood parks for the disposal of pet feces. It has been developed as a product for the degree project course (CPG) 2013, first semester

Remoción de metales a través de sustancias poliméricas extracelulares obtenidas desde lodos sanitarios en distintos efluentes industriales.

Memoria de Título presentada para optar al título profesional de Ingeniera Civil Química.Se estudió la remoción de múltiples metales desde distintos efluentes industriales utilizando sustancias poliméricas extracelulares (EPS) obtenidas desde lodos sanitarios. Se realizaron ensayos de adsorción con EPS utilizando lixiviado de rellenos sanitarios, relaves mineros, solución de lantánidos, y soluciones sintéticas que simulan los vertidos anteriores. Se analizó la cinética de adsorción y la desorción multimetal en soluciones sintéticas de lantánidos. Se estudió el efecto de las concentraciones de EPS sobre la adsorción multimetal y se realizó un estudio termodinámico en soluciones sintéticas de lantánidos. Se efectuaron mediciones mediante espectrometría de masa con plasma acoplado inductivamente (ICP-MS) en modo estándar (EST) y modo de discriminación de energía cinética (KED). En soluciones de lixiviados sintéticos a pH 5, se obtuvieron capacidades de adsorción de Pb, Cr, Cu y Cd de 1.66, 1.09, 0.99 y 0.45 mg/g de EPS, respectivamente; y en relaves simulados se obtuvieron capacidades de adsorción de Cu y Zn de 0.95 y 0.15 mg/g de EPS. En efluentes sintéticos de lantánidos, se obtuvieron porcentajes de remoción entre el 50 y 60% y capacidades de adsorción en el siguiente orden; Sm >Yb>Tm>Er>Tb>Lu>Eu>Nd>Dy>Gd>Ho>Ce>La>Y>Sc. Sm exhibió la mayor capacidad de adsorción y Sc la menor: 11.05 y 2,17 mg metal/g de EPS, respectivamente. En una solución de Cu se obtuvo 37.92 mg +2 adsorbido por cada gramo de EPS y 17 % de remoción. Se estudió la cinética multimetal en soluciones sintéticas de lantánidos con EPS a pH 5. Se presentó un pre-equilibrio de adsorción hasta el minuto 50 del proceso, y se ajustaron a los datos experimentales dos modelos similares. Se definió como un proceso lento, ya que se obtuvieron capacidades máximas a partir del minuto 150. Se obtuvo factibilidad de remoción sólo para un grupo de metales con coeficientes de desorción de 84%, 49%, 38%, 32%, 28%, y 7 % para el Pr, Tb, La, Ho, Ce y Lu, respectivamente. Se descartaron interferencias de medición en la espectrometría de masa, concluyendo que el modo estándar (EST) es el que proyecta mejores resultados. Se concluyó que el pH de los efluentes reales de lixiviado y relave es muy alcalino para este proceso de adsorción. En efecto, los efluentes reales no presentaron adsorción multimetal con EPS como adsorbente. Por lo tanto, se comprobó que existen las siguientes dificultades para el escalamiento industrial: (1) el pH del efluente debe estar en un rango de pH 4-5, (2) el pH del adsorbente (en este caso las sustancias poliméricas extracelulares) debe estar en el mismo rango que el efluente, (3) las concentraciones iniciales de los metales deben ser mayores a 1ppm y (4) la utilización de membranas de diálisis, para concentraciones de metales menores a 1 ppm, causan interferencias en la adsorción. El pH óptimo para la adsorción fue 5, ya que los metales están presentes en su forma catiónica. El efecto de la concentración de EPS sobre las capacidades de adsorción de lantánidos con EPS reveló las relaciones óptimas (1:1) y (1:2) de metal:EPS para los ensayos de adsorción en soluciones sintéticas. En el estudio termodinámico, la temperatura óptima fue 20°C y se observó un proceso endotérmico en el rango de 10°C a 20°C y exotérmico de 20°C a 30°C.The removal of multiple metals was studied using extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in different industrial effluents. EPS adsorption tests were performed using leachate from sanitary landfills, mine tailings, lanthanide solution, and synthetic solutions that simulate previous discharges. Adsorption kinetics and multimetal desorption in synthetic lanthanide solutions were analyzed. The effect of EPS concentrations on multimetal adsorption was studied and a thermodynamic study was carried out on synthetic lanthanide solutions. Measurements were made by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in standard mode (EST) and kinetic energy discrimination mode (KED). In synthetic leachate solutions at pH 5, Pb, Cr, Cu and Cd adsorption capacities of 1.66, 1.09, 0.99 and 0.45 mg/g of EPS were obtained, respectively; and in simulated tailings, Cu and Zn adsorption capacities of 0.95 and 0.15 mg/g of EPS were obtained. In synthetic lanthanide effluents, removal percentages between 50 and 60% and adsorption capacities were obtained in the following order: Sm>Yb>Tm>Er>Tb>Lu>Eu>Nd>Dy>Gd >Ho>Ce>La>Y>Sc. Sm exhibited the highest adsorption capacity and Sc the lowest: 11.05 and 2.17 mg metal/g of EPS, respectively. In a Cu solution, was obtained 37.92 mg +2 adsorbed for each gram of EPS and 17% removal. Multimetal kinetics were studied in synthetic lanthanide solutions with EPS at pH 5. An adsorption pre-equilibrium was presented up to minute 50 of the process, from which two similar models were fitted to the experimental data. It was defined as a slow process since maximum capacities were obtained from minute 150. Removal feasibility was obtained only for a group of metals with desorption coefficients of 84%, 49%, 38%, 32%, 28%, and 7 % for Pr, Tb, La, Ho, Ce and Lu, respectively. Measurement interferences were ruled out, concluding that the standard mode (EST) is the one that projects the best results. It was concluded that the pH of the actual leachate and tailings effluents is too alkaline for this adsorption process. Indeed, the real effluents did not present multimetal adsorption with EPS as adsorbent. Therefore, it was found that there are the following difficulties for industrial scaling up: (1) the pH of the effluent must be in a range of pH 4-5, (2) the pH of the adsorbent (in this case the extracellular polymeric substances) it must be in the same range as the effluent, (3) the initial metal concentrations must be greater than 1ppm and (4) the use of dialysis membranes, for metal concentrations less than 1 ppm, cause interference in adsorption. The optimum pH was 5 since the metals are present in their cationic form. The effect of the EPS concentration on the adsorption capacities of lanthanides with EPS yielded optimal ratios (1:1) and (1:2) of metal:EPS for the adsorption tests in synthetic solutions. In the thermodynamic study, the optimum temperature was at 20°C and an endothermic process was observed in the range of 10°C to 20°C and exothermic from 20°C to 30°C.Departamento de Ingeniería Químic