Increase Sustainability in Buildings Through Public Procurements: The PROLITE project for Lighting Retrofit in Schools

The Public Procurement has always been a demand-side policy measure with great opportunities in terms of spurring innovation at the scale of products and/or services. A support for a sustainable development in the field of energy and buildings may came from different types of Public Procurement: Green Public Procurement (GPP), Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) and Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI). Within this framework, the paper presents a case study where PPI has been used to promote the development of innovative solutions for upgrading school buildings in terms of increased energy efficiency and sustainability

The reference site collaborative network of the european innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing

Seventy four Reference Sites of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) have been recognised by the European Commission in 2016 for their commitment to excellence in investing and scaling up innovative solutions for active and healthy ageing. The Reference Site Collaborative Network (RSCN) brings together the EIP on AHA Reference Sites awarded by the European Commission, and Candidate Reference Sites into a single forum. The overarching goals are to promote cooperation, share and transfer good practice and solutions in the development and scaling up of health and care strategies, policies and service delivery models, while at the same time supporting the action groups in their work. The RSCN aspires to be recognized by the EU Commission as the principal forum and authority representing all EIP on AHA Reference Sites. The RSCN will contribute to achieve the goals of the EIP on AHA by improving health and care outcomes for citizens across Europe, and the development of sustainable economic growth and the creation of jobs

Inconsistent objects in naturalistic scenes attract overt attention boosting the detection of changes from short-term memory

Object-scene integration is a hotly debated topic in vision science, as it relates to predictive cognitive processes. For example, objects inconsistent with their scene context (e.g., a torch vs. a toothbrush in a bathroom) are known to capture early attention and be better remembered. What is still unclear though is how short-term memory mechanisms for high-level properties of objects such as their identity or location could depend on their semantic integration with the scene. In this eye-tracking study, participants had to detect a change in one object which was either consistent or inconsistent with the scene. The object could change on three conditions: identity (an object becomes another object), location (an object moves to another position), and both (an object moves and becomes another object). Only for location changes, the object maintained the same consistency between encoding and recognition. Inconsistent objects were fixated earlier and for longer at encoding. During recognition, objects encoded as inconsistent had a higher probability of first fixation and their change was detected better and faster; especially for changes happening only on locations. Objects encoded as consistent instead were fixated proportionally less when a change happened on only its location as compared to changes in identity or both. A key insight is that objects semantically inconsistent with the scene are more strongly encoded in short-term memory because they elicit a prediction-error. In fact, when changes happen only in location, better detections and faster attentional responses are observed because the object-scene integration error is not yet resolved

Object semantics is differently accessed from visual short-term memory by people suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment

Objects semantically inconsistent with their scene context (e.g., a torch vs. a toothbrush in a bathroom) capture early overt attention and are better remembered. Yet, it remains unexplored whether such mechanisms of object-scene integration are still functioning in people suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). In two independent eye-tracking studies: (a) younger (N = 26) and healthy older participants (N = 24), and (b) people with MCI (N = 30) and healthy age-matched controls (N = 32) were asked to detect whether an object, either consistent or inconsistent with its embedding scene, changed on its identity (became another object), location (moved to another position) or concurrently both these features. Changes occurring on objects encoded as inconsistent were better detected than consistent ones by all groups. Oculomotor responses during successful detections reveal subtle differences between the MCIs and all other groups. MCIs were less likely to fixate the critical object as the first target when it changed in identity, and it was encoded as inconsistent (becoming consistent). Once fixated MCIs spent significantly longer on it when it changed only in identity. Like healthy participants, MCIs benefit from object semantics to successfully recall from visual short-term memory (VSTM). Nevertheless, they display slight differences in their early overt attention indicating that object semantics may not immediately be ready in VSTM, especially when the object is no longer predictable (i.e., it is consistent). Overall, predictive mechanisms of object-scene integration are still active in pathologically aged individuals, even though with interesting, possibly compensatory, changes

Conceptual Knowledge Modulates the Temporal Dynamics of Novelty Preference for Real-world Objects in a Visual Paired Comparison Task

Our visual system tends to prioritise novel information, and this allocation of attention, as examined with the Visual Paired Comparison Task (VPC), is taken as an indirect index of memory processes. At present, research on the emergence of a novelty preference (NP) remains unclear about its temporal dynamics and agnostic about the role that the organisation of conceptual knowledge may play in it. These two gaps are addressed in this eye-tracking study, which adapts the VPC task to enable a finer temporal tracking of the NP while manipulating categorical and functional relationships between pairs of real-world visual objects to examine the impact conceptual associations bear on it. We found that NP significantly increases with increasing delay between the familiarisation and the test phase, especially for pairs of objects that were both categorically and functionally related (e.g., dart/dartboard). Our findings provide fresh evidence about the interplay between overt attention, conceptual knowledge and memory processes on novelty preference while offering valuable insights into the temporal dynamics of NP and its conceptual implications for mechanisms governing visual short-term memory

Binding location and identity in naturalistic scenes boosts change detection when global configuration is preserved

Our research on visual short-term memory in naturalistic scenes found a boosted change detection for objects when both their spatial location and their semantic identity were jointly manipulated; an effect observed in healthy and pathological populations. However, in such studies, the global scene configuration was disrupted when objects changed location (i.e., empty space in their original position), leaving open a question about its contribution to detection. The current eye-tracking study tackled this issue by manipulating object changes on their identity, location or both features while preserving global scene configuration. Specifically, location changes involved the swap in the position of two objects. Detection was significantly better and faster when both features changed while performances were similar when only one feature changed. Thus, detecting changes for features conjunctions requires less attentional demands, as it can benefit from retrieving only one feature of the two. Additionally, during successful recognitions, the proportion of fixation time and the first-pass gaze duration on the critical object were greater when only its identity changed as compared to changes only in location. Indeed, identity change can only be detected by extracting objects’ semantic information, which requires a higher attentional effort than retrieving its spatial information relative to the scene context. In sum, we observed that objects’ location-identity binding boosts change detection for naturalistic scenes also when their global configuration is preserved. This outcome differs from studies using arrays of artificial objects, whereby feature conjunction results in a greater cost for short-term memory retrieval compared with individual features retrieval

Sulla partecipazione : strumenti di attivazione e democrazia degli abitanti

Sono in molti \u2013 tra esperti e opinione pubblica \u2013 a condividere l\u2019idea che l\u2019attuale crisi della rappresentanza politica vada ben oltre la ridotta percezione di legittimit\ue0 di partiti e organizzazioni sociali. Guardando alla sfera locale, tale crisi ha diverse ragioni. Da un lato, vi sono i tradizionali fattori socio-economici, il cui peso determinante nella differenziazione della partecipazione politica ed elettorale \ue8 amplificato dalla destrutturazione dei partiti e dalla \uabprivatizzazione\ubb della politica. Dall\u2019altro, vi \ue8 una crescente stratificazione civica [Morris 2002], ovvero la compresenza nell\u2019ambito di un medesimo territorio di individui caratterizzati da una variet\ue0 di statuti giuridici, a cui corrisponde una rilevante iniquit\ue0 di accesso a diritti e garanzie. Assistiamo cos\uec a uno iato crescente fra la popolazione e suoi rappresentanti nelle istituzioni formali: sindaci e Consigli comunali sono scelti da elettorati sempre pi\uf9 ristretti per effetto sia della drastica riduzione dei livelli di partecipazione elettorale sia dell\u2019esclusione dai diritti elettorali attivi e passivi di larghi settori della popolazione. Questa condizione di \uabdemocrazia limitata\ubb ha effetti molto importanti sulla qualit\ue0, l\u2019equit\ue0 e l\u2019inclusivit\ue0 delle politiche locali: la stessa riduzione dei divari sociali e spaziali \ue8 difficile a immaginarsi senza la partecipazione attiva di chi direttamente li subisce. Sui divari che riguardano la democrazia e la cittadinanza prevale un atteggiamento molto spesso fatalista e la stessa concezione di legalit\ue0 oggi prevalente sembra escludere uno dei capisaldi essenziali di una democrazia costituzionale: il diritto a partecipare all\u2019assunzione delle decisioni pubbliche e il dovere delle istituzioni di assicurare contesti entro i quali un numero sempre maggiore di persone possano esercitare tale diritto. Per questa ragione, crediamo vi sia il bisogno di un \uabapproccio volontaristico\ubb alla costruzione delle democrazie locali, che abbia come obiettivo la riduzione dei divari anche in questo campo e che muova da due principi generali dai quali discendano una serie di interventi concreti

Simplified multistage computational approach to assess the fatigue behavior of a niti transcatheter aortic valve during in vitro tests: A proof-of-concept study

reserved7siNowadays, transcatheter aortic valve (TAV) replacement is an alternative to surgical therapy in selected high risk patients for the treatment of aortic stenosis. However, left ventricular contraction determines a severe cyclic loading for the implanted stent-frame, undermining its long-term durability. Technical standards indicate in vitro tests as a suitable approach for the assessment of TAV fatigue behavior: generally, they do not specify test methods but require to test TAV in the worst loading conditions. The most critical conditions could be different according to the specific valve design, hence the compartment where deploying the valve has to be properly identified. A fast and reliable computational methodology could significantly help to face this issue. In this paper, a numerical approach to analyze Nickel-Titanium TAV stent-frame behavior during in vitro durability tests is proposed. A simplified multistage strategy was adopted where, in each stage, only two of the three involved components are considered. As a proof-of-concept, the method was applied to a TAV prototype. Despite its simplifications, the developed computational framework gave useful insights into the stent-frame failures behavior during a fatigue test. Numerical results agree with experimental findings. In particular, the most dangerous condition was identified among a number of experimental tests, where different compartments and pressure gradients were investigated. The specific failure location was also correctly recognized. In conclusion, the presented methodology provides a tool to support the choice of proper testing conditions for the in vitro assessment of TAV fatigue behavior.mixedPetrini, Lorenza; Dordoni, Elena; Allegretti, Dario; Pott, Desiree; Kütting, Maximilian; Migliavacca, Francesco; Pennati, GiancarloPetrini, Lorenza; Dordoni, Elena; Allegretti, Dario; Pott, Desiree; Kütting, Maximilian; Migliavacca, Francesco; Pennati, Giancarl

Chronic administration of palmitoylethanolamide counteracts cognitive decline in Tg2576 Mice

Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) has been emerging as a safe and well tolerated analgesic, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective mediator, acting at several molecular targets in the nervous system. PEA is present in foods, as egg yolk, corn, peanut and soy oil. It is synthesized from lipid components of cellular membranes and can be found in high concentrations in brain tissues. In this study, we evaluated the effects of a chronic (6 months) administration of ultra-micronized PEA on cognitive decline in transgenic Tg2576 (Tg) mice expressing mutant APP. When aged, Tg mice develop accumulation of amyloid peptide and amyloid plaques in the brain, as well as cognitive deficits, representing thus an animal model of AD. PEA administration was performed via a subcutaneous delivery system in Tg mice and wild-type control group (from 6 to 12 months of age). PEA effects on behavior were observed longitudinally in a pre-symptomatic phase (3 months), a mild-symptomatic phase (6.5 months) and a full-symptomatic phase (11-12 months). Behavioral assessment was performed by using the following validated tests: Elevated Plus Maze, Rotarod Test, Y-Maze Spontaneous Alternation Test, Novel Object Recognition Test, Tail Suspension Test and Morris Water Maze. PEA administration restored the novelty recognition memory of Tg mice during the full-symptomatic phase. PEA was able to counteract hippocampal- dependent mnesic deficits, suggesting the therapeutic potential for the early treatment of AD. Further in progress analyses involve histological evaluation of dendritic branching, spine number, amyloid plaques and glial reactivity in the hippocampal CA1. This research is aimed to increase knowledge of the effects of PEA as a safe and low-cost nutraceutical tool useful to improve quality of life in AD

Cascade enzymatic cleavage of the β-O-4 linkage in a lignin model compound

7noneThe β-O-4 aryl ether linkages represent about 50% of all ethers in various lignins. At least three enzymatic steps are required to break them down: a NAD+-dependent C-α dehydrogenase (such as LigD and L), a glutathione lyase that releases guaiacol (i.e., a β-etherase such as LigE and F), and a glutathione-dependent lyase (i.e., LigG). In this work the LigD, L, E, F, and G from Sphingobium sp. SYK-6 were overexpressed in E. coli and purified with high yields. After characterizing the stability and kinetic properties of LigD and L on the lignin model compound GGE (1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)propane-1,3-diol) and the thermostability of all five recombinant Lig enzymes, the experimental conditions for GGE bioconversion could be optimized (i.e., pH 9.0, 25 °C, ≈0.1 mg mL-1 of each enzyme, and 0.5 mM racemic substrate). Under optimal conditions, and by recycling NADH using the l-lactate dehydrogenase-pyruvate system, GGE was fully converted into the final products 3-hydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)propan-1-one and guaiacol in <2 hours. Differently from what was previously reported, this result and chiral HPLC analyses demonstrated that LigG catalyzes the glutathione-dependent thioether cleavage of both β(R)- and β(S)-isomer intermediates produced by LigE and LigF β-etherases: this allowed, for the first time, reaching 100% conversion of GGE. Altogether, the recombinant five-enzyme Lig system represents a component well suited for a multienzymatic process, comprising well-known ligninolytic activities (such as peroxidases and laccases), devoted to transforming selected lignins into aromatic compounds as an alternative to the oil source.Rosini, Elena; Allegretti, Chiara; Melis, Roberta; Cerioli, Lorenzo; Conti, Gianluca; Pollegioni, Loredano; D’Arrigo, PaolaRosini, Elena; Allegretti, Chiara; Melis, Roberta; Cerioli, Lorenzo; Conti, Gianluca; Pollegioni, Loredano; D’Arrigo, Paol