SURVEY OF BUILDINGS, ELABORATION OF URBAN MAPS, DATABASES FOR DESCRIBING THE SEISMIC BEHAVIOUR OF HISTORICAL SITES

The survey was not extended on a single block, as was the case previously examined, but on a larger portion of territory characterized by diversified manufacturing of building. The urban texture of the historic city center of Chieri, the object of analysis, ranges from the Middle Age, with buildings made of brick masonry and horizontal elements in wooden structure, until, in the sixties of Nineteen Century, with modern buildings made of reinforced concrete. Inside the block it is possible to find buildings rich in architectural and construction typical of an urban transformation that, since medieval age, consolidated, through the Baroque period to the end of the nineteenth century, as a result of strong urban and architectural transformations. The research was developed according to the following steps: - Identification of a sample portion of land characterized by a wide assortment of historical buildings of different architectural features and different uses, with load-bearing masonry structure and stratigraphy of significant historical periods from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. - Geometrical survey of the actual state and return of buildings in their current state with the identification of the buildings, their height, width, openings at ground level and over, survey of common areas such as hallways, stairwells and courtyards. - Analysis of the fronts, the openings and the development plano-elevation of buildings, the aspect ratio of each architectural element constituting the block; - Identification of materials, the elements making up the organism resistant, both in material and constructive state, with attention to construction techniques and to the connections between the elements, as defined by the DPCM 09/02/2011, for the assessment and mitigation of seismic risk of the cultural heritage in relation to technical standards for construction - Identification of the hierarchy and constructive relations between the building and the urban context. - Identification of carriers as unidirectional or bidirectional load-bearing walls, vertical columns or masonry pillars or galleries. The presence of spaces with a significant height interstory and the presence of buildings sleeve simple or double sleeve. - Identification, where possible, of the areas of discontinuity and inhomogeneities of materials due to different construction phases (additional bodies, cant, substitutions of certain parts of buildings or floors, insertion of new structural elements and balconies etc.)

Survey of buildings, elaboration of urban maps, databases for describing the seismic behavior of historical sites

This research, whose ultimate purpose is the protection of historic city centers through the evaluation of the potential seismic risk involves the technical support of different disciplines. As the matter is characterized within a territorial area, it is obvious the completeness and the ampleness of the necessary knowledge. The contribution of the needed multiple competences, that have broadly been discussed and elaborated, range from the methodological point of view to the historical-critical analysis. The development of the research allowed to evaluate and to highlight some critical operational steps, that have emerged by analyzing the new case study identified in the southwest of the historic center of Chieri. The survey work must be closely linked to the cognitive context. It means it is necessary to represent the environment geometry of the site, but also to investigate the historical memory dynamics, and last but not least the material characteristic of the architectural artifact. This research, whose ultimate goal is protecting the historical urban centers by assessing their seismic potential risk, required the technical support of different disciplines, ranging from structural engineering to history of architecture

‘Nuovi’ centri urbani: metodi e strumenti grafici per la lettura della qualità e della resilienza in luoghi extra moenia con caratteri storici consolidati | ‘New’ Urban Centers: Graphic Methods and Tools for Reading Quality and Resilience in Extra Moenia Places with Consolidated Historical Characteristics

Lo studio qui presentato è parte di una più ampia ricerca intrapresa da diverso tempo su nuovi temi del rilievo urbano, tesa alla definizione di un linguaggio fondato su una codifica di tipo grafico-simbo- lico capace di descrivere differenti ed eterogenei livelli conoscitivi di interesse per la città.Attraverso le possibili declinazioni del termine resilienza per i contesti urbani, la ricerca ripercorre, in una sorta di analisi ragionata, le premesse culturali e disciplinari del rilievo urbano per giungere, mediante affi- namenti successivi, alla proposta di un sistema di rappresentazione. In questa occasione sono presen- tate alcune esplorazioni di carattere metodologico e applicativo, fondamento per approfondimenti successivi maggiormente sistematizzati. Si tratta qui di introdurre alcuni elementi di base da portare all’interno di un articolato sistema informativo per il rilievo della qualità, del benessere e della sicu- rezza come parametri ed elementi indicatori della resilienza urbana, anche con riguardo alle ricadute di impatto sociale, relativamente a nuovi centri per la città consolidata (tessuti storicizzati o oggetto di nuova progettazione). Oltre a quelli presentati in questa occasione, sono stati e saranno condotti ulteriori test circa il metodo proposto. Si tratta di un ambito di indagine che ormai è all’attenzione da alcuni anni e che si ritiene abbia raggiunto un risultato per tanta parte attendibile e stabilizzato, salvo alcune inevitabili messe a punto e maturazioni per le esperienze da condurre nei luoghi della città in trasformazione

Amiodarone and metabolite MDEA inhibit Ebola virus infection by interfering with the viral entry process

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is one of the most lethal transmissible infections characterized by a high fatality rate, and a treatment has not been developed yet. Recently, it has been shown that cationic amphiphiles, among them the antiarrhythmic drug amiodarone, inhibit filovirus infection. In the present work, we investigated how amiodarone interferes with Ebola virus infection. Wild-type Sudan ebolavirus and recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus, pseudotyped with the Zaire ebolavirus glycoprotein, were used to gain further insight into the ability of amiodarone to affect Ebola virus infection. We show that amiodarone decreases Ebola virus infection at concentrations close to those found in the sera of patients treated for arrhythmias. The drug acts by interfering with the fusion of the viral envelope with the endosomal membrane. We also show that MDEA, the main amiodarone metabolite, contributes to the antiviral activity. Finally, studies with amiodarone analogues indicate that the antiviral activity is correlated with drug ability to accumulate into and interfere with the endocytic pathway. Considering that it is well tolerated, especially in the acute setting, amiodarone appears to deserve consideration for clinical use in EV