European Union funding Research Development and Innovation projects on Smart Cities.: The state of the art in 2019

European cities currently host 72% of the European population, which probably will rise to 80% by 2050. European Union, Member States, National and Regions Authorities and different type of stakeholders have worked - and keep on doing - together to promote a sustainable urban development and to adapt policies to the needs of cities, thus make visible improvements to the daily lives of people. According to this approach, many Member States decided to pool resources at european level, achieving more than by acting alone. It is thanks to the coordinated approach of European Union and Member State that Research Development & Innovation boost smart cities and smart specialization strategies as two novelties that have been adopted by policymakers

Building envelope design as a contribution for improvement of urban spaces and social housing environmental quality

The design of building envelope and the definition of its elements, can influence both the quality of the external spaces perception and the living standard referred to internal building spaces. This improvement depends by the planning of some component design. Particularly, solar shadings and integrated plant solutions, also thanks to an increasing consequential interest about the issue and the legislative and normative evolution, represent factors able to be involved both in the performance and morphological quality of building envelope (improvement of energy efficiency and living quality of internal spaces), which can influence the perception of environment. A study about this questions has been conducted through the elaboration of a system of Best Pratices, a Code of Practice, for the new Plans of Zone of Rome Municipality. The indications contained in the Code takes in examination the integration-mitigation and facilities connection of solar collectors in the building design, and the possibility of integration between solar shading and collector elements, customized like a support tool for the sustainable design of building envelope. The design of building envelope, reported to morphological and technological issues, can assume particular importance in the definition of living quality. Design of closures, developed through some indications referred to its technological components, can influence both the quality perception of external living spaces through the morphological definition of building, and the life quality of internal spaces by the implementation of energy efficiency of building system. Solar shading in particular, also thanks to the increasing consequential interest in the evolution of legislation about the argument, more in the future will represent a fundamental element for design and the increment of performance and morphological quality of building enclosure

Industrialised constructive systems for residential buildings: the CCCabita system

The integration between the working reality of the building site, scientific research and industrial production encourages the creation of technological systems capable of providing new forms of housing that meet planning requirements on issues related to sustainability, speed of construction and containment of costs arising from the various demands of the market. Open industrialised systems represent the transposition into the constructive field of technological research in the productive chain and they restore the synthesis on the front of the possibilities of development of industrial systems in construction, ensuring the adoption of the most innovative technical solutions and favouring the wider variability of the different housing models

Sustainable Urban Areas for 2030 in a Post-Covid-19 Scenario: Focus on Innovative Research and Funding Frameworks to Boost Transition towards 100 Positive Energy Districts and 100 Climate-Neutral Cities

Cities generate about 85% of the EU’s GDP. As such, they are key players in shaping and providing technological and social innovations but also environmental impact. Thus, they must urgently engage in unprecedented systemic transformational and bold transitions towards sustainability and climate neutrality. The contribution—taking into account that the concepts of community resilience and urban transition have changed as a consequence of COVID-19—critically discusses innovative frameworks and funding opportunities that Horizon Europe will put in place to boost sustainable urban areas in Europe, driving a transition to 100 Positive Energy Districts and 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030

PAK6 phosphorylates 14-3-3γ to regulate steady state phosphorylation of LRRK2

Mutations in Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) are associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) and, as such, LRRK2 is considered a promising therapeutic target for age-related neurodegeneration. Although the cellular functions of LRRK2 in health and disease are incompletely understood, robust evidence indicates that PD-associated mutations alter LRRK2 kinase and GTPase activities with consequent deregulation of the downstream signaling pathways. We have previously demonstrated that one LRRK2 binding partner is P21 (RAC1) Activated Kinase 6 (PAK6). Here, we interrogate the PAK6 interactome and find that PAK6 binds a subset of 14-3-3 proteins in a kinase dependent manner. Furthermore, PAK6 efficiently phosphorylates 14-3-3γ at Ser59 and this phosphorylation serves as a switch to dissociate the chaperone from client proteins including LRRK2, a well-established 14-3-3 binding partner. We found that 14-3-3γ phosphorylated by PAK6 is no longer competent to bind LRRK2 at phospho-Ser935, causing LRRK2 dephosphorylation. To address whether these interactions are relevant in a neuronal context, we demonstrate that a constitutively active form of PAK6 rescues the G2019S LRRK2-associated neurite shortening through phosphorylation of 14-3-3γ. Our results identify PAK6 as the kinase for 14-3-3γ and reveal a novel regulatory mechanism of 14-3-3/LRRK2 complex in the brain

Tecnologie per la riqualificazione. Soluzioni e strategie per la trasformazione intelligente del comparto abitativo esistente.

Le azioni progettuali senza consumo di suolo costituiscono sempre più una priorità a livello internazionale, e sono in gran parte focalizzate a dare risposte efficaci ai fenomeni di obsolescenza tecnica, energetica e funzionale che contraddistinguono l’ingente stock residenziale esistente realizzato con tecnologie industrializzate e prefabbricate. Le innovazioni tecnologiche che accompagnano la filiera delle costruzioni prospettano oggi una nuova stagione di sviluppo di sistemi costruttivi industrializzati, caratterizzati anche da rinnovati processi di prefabbricazione. Ad essi si affianca lo sviluppo di piattaforme web e soluzioni smart per la gestione integrata del territorio e il raggiungimento di più elevati standard di qualità nell’abitare e nella produzione. Il tema delle tecnologie per la riqualificazione viene affrontato con l’obiettivo di verificare gli indirizzi e lo stato di attuazione della normativa comunitaria, e di illustrare, in maniera sistematizzata, il panorama delle più innovative sperimentazioni che nell’ambito della ricerca europea hanno proposto risposte sostenibili alle richieste di rinnovo dello stock edilizio residenziale, attraverso l’impiego di tecnologie industrializzate. Nel volume si ricostruisce un quadro unitario ed organizzato a supporto del processo di trasformazione, proponendo altresì una strumentazione di guida al progetto di riqualificazione strutturata in un abaco codificato di soluzioni tecniche e strategie di intervento adottabili che, con modalità operative e grado di sperimentazione diversi, accompagnano il progetto sull’esistente, secondo morfologia, intensità e tipologia differenti. Il volume illustra inoltre le potenzialità offerte dalle nuove strumentazioni di supporto digitale del progetto e dalle piattaforme informatiche per la consultazione e la gestione del complesso sistema di dati e componenti tecnologiche che intervengono nello sviluppo di programmi di rinnovo immobiliare.The project actions without land use are increasingly a priority at the international level, and are largely focused to give effective answers to technical, energy and functional obsolescence, that distinguish the existing residential stock built with industrialized and prefabricated technologies. The technological innovations that accompany the construction industry are now facing with a new era of industrialized construction systems, characterized by renewed prefabrication processes. They are complemented by the development of web platforms and smart solutions for integrated land management and the achievement of higher quality standards in housing and production. The issue of the refurbishment technologies is addressed within the aim of verifying the guidelines and the state of implementation of EU legislation and showing ,in a systematic way, the panorama of the most interesting and sustainable innovations, proposed in the field of European research, in order to face the residential building stock renewal by the use of industrialized technologies. The volume reconstructs a unitary and organized framework to support the transformation process, proposing also a guide tool; a coded abacus of technical solutions and adaptable intervention strategies, according with different operating approaches and experimentation levels, accompanies the project on the existing building, fitting different topics: morphology, intensity and typology. The book also discusses the potential offered by new digital design software and the IT platforms for consultation and management of the complex data systems and technological components that are involved in the development of housing renovation programs

Industrialised constructive systems for residential buildings: the <em>CCCabita</em> system

The integration between the working reality of the building site, scientific research and industrial production encourages the creation of technological systems capable of providing new forms of housing that meet planning requirements on issues related to sustainability, speed of construction and containment of costs arising from the various demands of the market. Open industrialised systems represent the transposition into the constructive field of technological research in the productive chain and they restore the synthesis on the front of the possibilities of development of industrial systems in construction, ensuring the adoption of the most innovative technical solutions and favouring the wider variability of the different housing models

Sustainable recovery approach to the existing housing stock in Italy

The current Italian situation in the pre-existing building sector and the forecasts for its future lead to reflections on aspects of the wider European picture that might help us bet-ter understand future patterns in our national context. The theme of adapting residential buildings, which have been built using non-traditional methods, demands in particular both an overall vision of the strategies to use to carry out intelligent interventions, and a methodology that leads to the achievement of aims that are coherent with the concepts of sustainability

Design management: la gestione informatica dell’informazione nel progetto

Un percorso progettuale viene spesso raccontato come un’orchestra sinfonica dove ogni membro e diretto, ognuno per la sua parte, nell’attuare secondo il proprio spartito, e dove, inseguendo la medesima armonia ritmica dell’orchestra, ognuno contribuisce, con il proprio strumento musicale, a ricreare la melodia generale del brano. Cosi il percorso progettuale vede un insieme di attori, appartenenti a discipline diverse e ognuno con il proprio bagaglio strumentale, che inseguono un obiettivo comune: portare a compimento un progetto armonico, senza incongruenze, seguendo sequenze ordinate. Affinché il progetto di architettura possa davvero essere realizzato, e necessario che l’intervento e la partecipazione di una molteplicità di operatori venga coordinato lungo una sequenza organizzata di avvicinamento progettuale – le fasi del processo edilizio – muovendo attraverso una progettazione preliminare, definitiva ed esecutiva, fino a quell’approfondimento tecnico di dettaglio fondamentale per la fase costruttiva in cantiere. Queste osservazioni sottolineano allora come sia necessario individuare un linguaggio convenzionale e codificato che possa essere intellegibile e adottabile da ogni attore e in ogni progetto, sia esso riferito all’ambito pubblico, che a quello privato