Artists Residencies, Challenges and Opportunities for Communities’ Empowerment and Heritage Regeneration

The paper debates the results of a research carried out by the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples “Federico II” (DiARC), as part of the Creative Europe 2018 Artists in Architecture, Re-activating modern European houses program (entitled EACEA 32/2017 and EACEA 35/2017; scientific coordinator: Maria Rita Pinto; project manager: Serena Viola). The research investigates the relationships between creativity and sharing as tools of a new form of social sustainability. These elements can induce positive effects on the settlement qualities of the places, acting as engines of the custody of the settlement values and the collaborative regeneration of the built environment. The methodology is based on participatory approaches able to restore the levels of cohesion, care, and creativity that the experimentation typology of the Artists Residencies is able to trigger on the territory and on the communities who inhabit it. The results return in the form of the complex process of the artist exhibition reception a significant strategy of sustainable development, capable of influencing the community by entrusting it with the role of custodian of the existing heritage and of renewing local entrepreneurship with innovative productions

Classification of dendritic cell phenotypes from gene expression data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The selection of relevant genes for sample classification is a common task in many gene expression studies. Although a number of tools have been developed to identify optimal gene expression signatures, they often generate gene lists that are too long to be exploited clinically. Consequently, researchers in the field try to identify the smallest set of genes that provide good sample classification. We investigated the genome-wide expression of the inflammatory phenotype in dendritic cells. Dendritic cells are a complex group of cells that play a critical role in vertebrate immunity. Therefore, the prediction of the inflammatory phenotype in these cells may help with the selection of immune-modulating compounds.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A data mining protocol was applied to microarray data for murine cell lines treated with various inflammatory stimuli. The learning and validation data sets consisted of 155 and 49 samples, respectively. The data mining protocol reduced the number of probe sets from 5,802 to 10, then from 10 to 6 and finally from 6 to 3. The performances of a set of supervised classification models were compared. The best accuracy, when using the six following genes --Il12b, Cd40, Socs3, Irgm1, Plin2 and Lgals3bp-- was obtained by Tree Augmented Naïve Bayes and Nearest Neighbour (91.8%). Using the smallest set of three genes --Il12b, Cd40 and Socs3-- the performance remained satisfactory and the best accuracy was with Support Vector Machine (95.9%). These data mining models, using data for the genes Il12b, Cd40 and Socs3, were validated with a human data set consisting of 27 samples. Support Vector Machines (71.4%) and Nearest Neighbour (92.6%) gave the worst performances, but the remaining models correctly classified all the 27 samples.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The genes selected by the data mining protocol proposed were shown to be informative for discriminating between inflammatory and steady-state phenotypes in dendritic cells. The robustness of the data mining protocol was confirmed by the accuracy for a human data set, when using only the following three genes: Il12b, Cd40 and Socs3. In summary, we analysed the longitudinal pattern of expression in dendritic cells stimulated with activating agents with the aim of identifying signatures that would predict or explain the dentritic cell response to an inflammatory agent.</p

Endothelial and Metabolic Function Interactions in Overweight/Obese Children.

AIM: Although the underlined mechanisms are still unknown, metabolic/coagulation alterations related to childhood obesity can induce vascular impairments. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between metabolic/coagulation parameters and endothelial function/vascular morphology in overweight/obese children. METHODS: Thirty-five obese/overweight children (22 pre-pubertal, mean age: 9.52±3.35 years) were enrolled. Body mass index (BMI), homeostasis model assessment index (HOMAIR), metabolic and coagulation parameters, [adiponectin, fibrinogen, high molecular weight adiponectin (HMW), endothelin-1, and vonWillebrand factor antigen] ultrasound early markers of atherosclerosis [flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), common carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT), and anteroposterior diameter of infra-renal abdominal aorta (APAO)] were assessed. RESULTS: APAO was related to anthropometric (age: r=0.520, p=0.001; height: r=0.679, p＜0.001; weight: r=0.548, p=0.001; BMI: r=0.607, p＜0.001; SBP: r=0.377, p=0.026) and metabolic (HOMAIR: r=0.357, p=0.035; HMW: r=－0.355, p=0.036) parameters. Age, height, and systolic blood pressure were positively related to increased C-IMT (r=0.352, p=0.038; r=0.356, p=0.036; r=0.346, p=0.042, respectively). FMD was not related to any clinical and biochemical characteristics of the pediatric population. Age, HOMAIR, fasting glucose levels, and HMW were independent predictors for APAO increase. Each unit decrease in HMW concentrations (1 μg/ml) induced a 0.065 mm increase in APAO. CONCLUSION: High molecular weight adiponectin is related to cardiovascular risk in overweight/obese children

Paediatric-type diffuse high-grade gliomas in the 5th CNS WHO Classification

As a relevant element of novelty, the fifth CNS WHO Classification highlights the distinctive pathobiology underlying gliomas arising primarily in children by recognizing for the first time the families of paediatric-type diffuse gliomas, both high-grade and low-grade. This review will focus on the family of paediatric-type diffuse high-grade gliomas, which includes four tumour types: 1) Diffuse midline glioma H3 K27-altered; 2) Diffuse hemispheric glioma H3 G34-mutant; 3) Diffuse paediatric-type high-grade glioma H3-wildtype and IDH-wildtype; and 4) Infant-type hemispheric glioma. The essential and desirable diagnostic criteria as well as the entities entering in the differential will be discussed for each tumour type. A special focus will be given on the issues encountered in the daily practice, especially regarding the diagnosis of the diffuse paediatric-type high-grade glioma H3-wildtype and IDH-wildtype. The advantages and the limits of the multiple molecular tests which may be utilised to define the entities of this tumour family will be evaluated in each diagnostic context