Politiche e strumenti per la reinterpretazione dei paesaggi produttivi estrattivi in ambito costiero: la Sardegna come caso di studio nel contesto euro-mediterraneo

The research deals with the subject of protection, development and reuse of disused extraction landscapes; the overall aim is to develop policies and tools for the reinterpretation of these areas through proposals which are able to take the opportunities arising from a systemic and interdisciplinary approach. The study analyzes both ancient and modern quarries, in accordance with the definition suggested by the research and highlights, through context analysis, the different methodological approaches aimed at tackling the main issues of the disused quarry sites. The sphere of analysis is that of coastal areas, with particular reference to the situation in Sardinia. The regional case of study, and the specific case of the city of Cagliari, allow to contextualise the planning scenario, offering the opportunity to verify the effectiveness of policies and tools which are already in place and to define new operational proposals. The experiences analysed provide the elements needed to set up guidelines, designed as support instruments for the policies for reinterpretation of the quarry areas. The guidelines are put together using a multi-criteria evaluation model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) (Saaty, 1980, 1988, 2001); this experimentation uses a scientific method and guarantees the identification of functional criteria for the definition of intervention priorities and long-term policies to be implemented in disused areas. The sites under examination are characterized by the presence of features related to the extractive history which deserve to be valued even if the quarries have ceased their activity in recent years. The research codifies existing policies and tools which support the reinterpretation of the quarry areas, the critical issues related to the processes, the opportunities arising from the scenario which has been analysed, and missed opportunities. The problematic issues which are found are addressed by proposals aimed at encouraging the paths of intervention in quarry sites and formulating policies and tools in structured paths. These proposals are aimed at outlining scenarios which are compatible with the territorial dynamics in place, and with renewed principles of protection and enhancement of the landscape, in order to overcome the fragmentation of the planning framework that emerges clearly from the performed context analysis

Cu(II) mediates kinetically distinct, non-amyloidogenic aggregation of amyloid-β peptides

Cu(II) ions are implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease by influencing the aggregation of the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide. Elucidating the underlying Cu(II)-induced Aβ aggregation is paramount for understanding the role of Cu(II) in the pathology of Alzheimer disease. The aim of this study was to characterize the qualitative and quantitative influence of Cu(II) on the extracellular aggregation mechanism and aggregate morphology of Aβ(1–40) using spectroscopic, microelectrophoretic, mass spectrometric, and ultrastructural techniques. We found that the Cu(II):Aβ ratio in solution has a major influence on (i) the aggregation kinetics/mechanism of Aβ, because three different kinetic scenarios were observed depending on the Cu(II):Aβ ratio, (ii) the metal:peptide stoichiometry in the aggregates, which increased to 1.4 at supra-equimolar Cu(II):Aβ ratio; and (iii) the morphology of the aggregates, which shifted from fibrillar to non-fibrillar at increasing Cu(II):Aβ ratios. We observed dynamic morphological changes of the aggregates, and that the formation of spherical aggregates appeared to be a common morphological end point independent on the Cu(II) concentration. Experiments with Aβ(1–42) were compatible with the conclusions for Aβ(1–40) even though the low solubility of Aβ(1–42) precluded examination under the same conditions as for the Aβ(1–40). Experiments with Aβ(1–16) and Aβ(1–28) showed that other parts than the Cu(II)-binding His residues were important for Cu(II)-induced Aβ aggregation. Based on this study we propose three mechanistic models for the Cu(II)-induced aggregation of Aβ(1–40) depending on the Cu(II):Aβ ratio, and identify key reaction steps that may be feasible targets for preventing Cu(II)-associated aggregation or toxicity in Alzheimer disease

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Determination of the strong coupling constant αs from transverse energy–energy correlations in multijet events at s√=8 TeV using the ATLAS detector

Measurements of transverse energy–energy correlations and their associated asymmetries in multi-jet events using the ATLAS detector at the LHC are presented. The data used correspond to s√=8 TeV proton–proton collisions with an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb−1 . The results are presented in bins of the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of the two leading jets, unfolded to the particle level and compared to the predictions from Monte Carlo simulations. A comparison with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD is also performed, showing excellent agreement within the uncertainties. From this comparison, the value of the strong coupling constant is extracted for different energy regimes, thus testing the running of αs(μ) predicted in QCD up to scales over 1 TeV . A global fit to the transverse energy–energy correlation distributions yields αs(mZ)=0.1162±0.0011(exp.) +0.0084−0.0070(theo.) , while a global fit to the asymmetry distributions yields a value of αs(mZ)=0.1196±0.0013(exp.) +0.0075−0.0045(theo.)