Open spaces and environmental design

The urban fabric of any human settlement can be analyzed at two levels: the built fabric and the system of empty spaces. Graphically, the two levels are contrary to each other. The first is the structure generated by the aggregation of the elementary unit that represents its governing and invariable element. It is a component that can be managed and its spatial, functional and structural entity can be controlled due to its “box like” structure. The empty system consists of public and private open spaces that form a network of relational, representative and social spaces but also an interconnecting system. So, the identification of the methods to analyze the environmental characteristics of these empty spaces and, therefore, the criteria to improve the comfort conditions of the users, is the aim of this research. The survey follows the branch of research that studies the methods of intervention in historical centers. The need to carry out project interventions in historic urban fabrics pushes the researchers to find the methods to introduce the comfort levels required by contemporary users and, at the same time, to respect the values to pass down to posterity The choice of a strategy involving a certain degree of invasiveness and reversibility depends on the designer's knowledge of the particular context of intervention For this reason, the project carried out in a context having important values, as it is a minor center, requires a detailed cognitive analysis of the site under study that, inevitably, will limit the designer's freedom. The study area is located in the Abruzzi Region, full of minor historical centers rich in deep cultural values

SAFETY MONITORING BY MEANS OF SENSOR NETWORKS DISTRIBUTED WITHIN THE FOSSA SITE PLAN

Abstract. The seismic event of 6 April 2009 has inevitably left its mark on the history of the entire territory of L'Aquila (Italy), completely devastating the town and much of the province. Within such frantic and extensive reconstruction activity, the resulting construction works could not but draw attention to some issues of fundamental importance such as coordinated planning, safety, respect for the rules and above all the rebirth of the territory. This research is aimed at drawing up the site plan for Fossa, a municipality in the Province of L'Aquila and not far from the region capital of Abruzzo, Italy. The main objective is to create a monitoring standard by means of a dedicated sensors network and detailed strategies in order to coordinate, guide and support the single actions of intervention through design behaviours and highly technological tools. The Plan is configured as a tool for participatory planning, with the active involvement of planners, companies and citizens, whose common goal is the preservation of the identity of locations, the mitigation of seismic risk and the enhancement of the cultural heritage of the Municipality of Fossa. Implementation of this work is the application of technological systems for construction site monitoring: a concrete response to the growing demand for organized management of the construction process on site and safety in the workplace can be achieved through the use of systems and rational control and management procedures that include the use of innovative technologies

3D AND 4D MODELLING IN BUILDING SITE WORKING CONTROL

The purpose of this contribution is to describe the use of the HBIM method for the management of the restoration building site applied to a historic building in the heart of the historic center of L'Aquila. The construction is located in a densely constructed area and it is characterized by a high spatial complexity with various types of limitations including: small external and internal spaces and interferences due to neighboring construction sites. The proposed method involves a particularly detailed organization of the construction site, simultaneously planning both the development of the working and the safety in order to have more transparency and more control of the information shared among stakeholders. This method consists in planning the Gantt diagram from general to detailed level, according to certain parameters that will be cross-examined and checked regurarly. A screening step has been carried out regarding the current situation, the proceedings to be undertaken and the stakeholders to be included. Thank to this, it has been possible to have automated processes to control not only geometrical interferences but also the ones related to the completion of the work in the interest of enhancing the risk management. Due to a 3D and 4D BIM modelling, there are been found advanced layouts and some timeliners that have allowed a rigourus control of the building process, particularly in the case of precise working and potencial changes that are common in building sites of this type

BEP & MAPPING PROCESS FOR THE RESTORATION BUILDING SITE

The BEP, acronym for BIM Execution Plan, consists of the information management plan created by the design team to illustrate how to meet the requirements defined in the Employer's Information Requirement (EIR).The big amount of data will have to be organized a priori both for the professionals who will use that piece of information and for the stakeholders who will have to receive only the right information and use specific worksets. Just at this stage, the heart of the BIM method, there are different advantages compared to the traditional process, in which these informational steps were omitted, causing errors, delays and therefore an increase in active and passive costs. This paper explores the methodology applied to the mapping process of the management of a recovery site. For a better understanding of the result achieved, the stages of the process have been explained, from the acquisition of data, through the scan to BIM process up to the construction phases. In addition, the phases (Identify BIM goal and uses, Design BIM Project Execution Process, Develop information exchange) and the steps (Investigation, Identification and Strategy) necessary to achieve the objective have been analyzed. This is the Lean construction and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), methodologies and systems that allow the improvement of the building process thanks to data sharing and communication between stakeholders before work begins so as to eliminate any possible delay.</p

Perspective: Cancer Patient Management Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic

On March 11, 2020, the WHO has declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic. As the last few months have profoundly changed the delivery of health care in the world, we should recognize the effort of numerous comprehensive cancer centers to share experiences and knowledge to develop best practices to care for oncological patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients as well as physicians must be aware of all these constraints and profound social, personal, and medical challenges posed by the tackling of this deadly disease in everyday life in order to adjust to such a completely novel scenario. This review will discuss facing the challenges and the current approaches that cancer centers in Italy and United States are adopting in order to cope with clinical and research activities

COFLEX: FLEXIBLE BRACELET ANTI COVID-19 TO PROTECT CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

Abstract. To implement the protocol contrasting the diffusion of Covid-19, the employer is required, to ensure the safety and health of the worker at work, to adopt measures related to the control of body temperature (with respect for privacy), the minimum distance during work and all other activities such as breaks, canteen breaks, access to toilets, in addition to the adoption of specifically developed safety procedures, such as e.g. the use of man-down detection devices. In this context, the project aims to illustrate a system able of providing support in the safeguarding of workers' health on construction sites. This system, based on information received from sensors capable of identifying workers' positions (e.g., if less than 1m away) and their vital parameters (e.g., body temperature, gasped breathing), as well as moving objects inside the construction site area (e.g., to check if a worker is passing under a moving crane), will raise early alerts directly to the workers and/or to the central software, with respect for privacy, to immediately activate all the necessary measures to mitigate the risk. The system, based on the data communicated by the various sensors, will store and process them for the purpose of extracting useful information for risk management. The proposed system configured itself as a new product taking advantage from a high Technology Readiness Level maturated from the Smart Safety Belt already developed by some of the authors

Minimally invasive infrapubic inflatable penile prosthesis implant for erectile dysfunction: evaluation of efficacy, satisfaction profile and complications

Erectile dysfunction (ED), the second most common male sexual disorder, has an important impact on man sexuality and quality of life affecting also female partner’s sexual life. ED is usually related to cardiovascular disease or is an iatrogenic cause of pelvic surgery. Many non-surgical treatments have been developed with results that are controversial, while surgical treatment has reached high levels of satisfaction. The aim is to evaluate outcomes and complications related to prosthesis implant in patients suffering from ED not responding to conventional medical therapy or reporting side effects with such a therapy. One hundred eighty Caucasian male suffering from ED were selected. The patient population were divided into two groups: 84 patients with diabetes and metabolic syndrome (group A) and 96 patients with dysfunction following laparoscopic radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer (group B). All subjects underwent primary inflatable penile prosthesis implant with an infrapubic minimally invasive approach. During 12 months of follow-up, we reported 3 (1.67%) explants for infection, 1 (0.56%) urethral erosion, 1 (0.56%) prosthesis extrusion while no intraoperative complications were reported. Mean International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5) was 8.2 ± 4.0 and after the surgery (12 months later) was 20.6 ± 2.7. The improvement after the implant is significant in both groups without a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P-value 0.65). Mean Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction (EDITS) score 1 year after the implant is 72.2 ± 20.7, and there was no statistically significant difference between groups A and B (P-value 0.55). Implantation of an inflatable prosthesis, for treatment of ED, is a safe and efficacious approach; and the patient and partner satisfaction is very high. Surgical technique should be minimally invasive and latest technology equipment should be implanted in order to decrease after surgery common complications (infection and mechanical failure)

Androgen-deprivation therapy and SARS-Cov-2 infection: the potential double-face role of testosterone

To analyze possible effect of androgen deprivation therapy in preventing SARS-Cov-2 infection and respiratory complication