978 research outputs found
GIS Multisource Data for the Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Buildings at the Urban Scale
No full textThe paper presents a methodology of extraction, integration and elaboration of data from different sources using the geographic information system (GIS), to realize a georeferenced building database (GBD) useful for the seismic vulnerability assessment of existing buildings on a large scale. Three levels of GIS entities have been defined and equipped with the related information: census section (CS), urban block (UB), and individual building (IB), depending on the level of detail of dataset. Additional information about the typological and structural features has been extracted by CARTIS catalogue, to refine the data associated with each building. The data have been validated using detailed information gathered on a proper sample of buildings, which have been filed and analyzed one-by-one. The alphanumeric format of data allows for the automatic implementation of different methods available in the literature, which provide a qualitative seismic vulnerability index at different scales (whole urban district, an urban block, and a single building). Finally, the 3D representation of data and results have been elaborated, providing a tool easily searchable and constantly implementable. An application has been developed for a case study in Puglia, Italy: Bisceglie, for which 3726 IB have been assessed. The work addresses the issue of the lack of information typical of large-scale applications, exploiting all the available data sources to achieve nearly complete knowledge of existing building stock finalized to a rapid but extensive evaluation of the seismic vulnerability on an urban scale with very low computational efforts and the use of limited resources in terms of time and cost
Proposal of a Procedure for Gathering Data for The Structural and Energy Classification of Residential Building Stock: A Case Study in Puglia
No full textThe paper focuses on a classification procedure of building typologies benchmark aimed at vulnerability and exposure analysis of existing building stock at urban scale. This procedure is based on data collection at different levels of detail of typological, structural and technological component of existing residential buildings according to the CARTIS scheme developed in the framework of ReLUIS project.The data structure of CARTIS schedule are complemented by a further envelope building information and plant features, in order to define different building typology classes on the bases of characteristics regarding both structural and energy behaviour, representative of a whole urban building stock.As a first step the information are collected at urban scale in order to carry out a preliminary division in homogeneous sectors in which different building typologies are identified on the bases of similar characteristics. Subsequently more detailed data for several building sample are obtained by available technical documentations, photographic record, expeditious inspections and survey to know typological, geometrical, structural, technological characteristics, possible damage and degradation state and maintenance condition at single building scale. This allow a cross-validation of the data collected at different level of detail.The procedure proposed has been implemented for a city of Bisceglie located in Puglia, Italy, for which data gathered has carried out at urban scale and then at single building scale.The methodology presented in this work makes it possible to classify a large number of buildings in specific typology class considering not only typological and structural features but also envelope and plant characteristics in order to implement a fast procedure of analysis of different fundamental aspects of existing building stock using data with a growing level of detail
Proposal of a Procedure for Gathering Data for The Structural and Energy Classification of Residential Building Stock: A Case Study in Puglia
No full textThe paper focuses on a classification procedure of building typologies benchmark aimed at vulnerability and exposure analysis of existing building stock at urban scale. This procedure is based on data collection at different levels of detail of typological, structural and technological component of existing residential buildings according to the CARTIS scheme developed in the framework of ReLUIS project.The data structure of CARTIS schedule are complemented by a further envelope building information and plant features, in order to define different building typology classes on the bases of characteristics regarding both structural and energy behaviour, representative of a whole urban building stock.As a first step the information are collected at urban scale in order to carry out a preliminary division in homogeneous sectors in which different building typologies are identified on the bases of similar characteristics. Subsequently more detailed data for several building sample are obtained by available technical documentations, photographic record, expeditious inspections and survey to know typological, geometrical, structural, technological characteristics, possible damage and degradation state and maintenance condition at single building scale. This allow a cross-validation of the data collected at different level of detail.The procedure proposed has been implemented for a city of Bisceglie located in Puglia, Italy, for which data gathered has carried out at urban scale and then at single building scale.The methodology presented in this work makes it possible to classify a large number of buildings in specific typology class considering not only typological and structural features but also envelope and plant characteristics in order to implement a fast procedure of analysis of different fundamental aspects of existing building stock using data with a growing level of detail
THE STUDY OF SNAP29 IN MITOSIS AND IN CEDNIK PATHOGENESIS.
No full textIntracellular trafficking includes a series of regulated events that allow the transport of proteins and macromolecules. A key step of intracellular trafficking is the fusion between a containing-cargo vesicle and a target membrane, mediated by Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion Attachment protein REceptor (SNARE) proteins. Snap29 is a cytosolic SNARE protein containing two SNARE domains required for fusion, whose specificity and activity is unclear. During the last few years, we and others have discovered that Snap29 is a key regulator of autophagy required for fusion of autophagosomes with lysosomes, the last trafficking step before cargo degradation. During the first part of my PhD, I contributed to uncover a novel function of Snap29 using Drosophila melanogaster, as a model system. We demonstrated that during mitosis Snap29 is repurposed as an outer kinetochore component, and that its localization depends on known kinetochore proteins, but does not require membranes or the autophagy process. Depletion of Snap29 in Drosophila S2 cells leads to cell division defects, such as failure to form a proper metaphase plate and segregate chromosomes correctly, or formation of aberrant mitotic spindles, ultimately leading to generation of micronuclei, aneuploidy and cell death. In addition, we observed that Snap29 is fundamental to determine correct tissue development and homeostasis in Drosophila, since its depletion or mutation determines disorganization and multilayering in the follicular epithelium, and tumor-like tissue alterations in eye imaginal discs. Since mutations affecting autophagy genes are not sufficient per se to induce such disruptions in the epithelial architecture, we hypothesize that these defects might be due to loss of Snap29 activity during mitosis.
Mutations of SNAP29 human gene cause a rare neurocutaneous syndrome called CEDNIK (Cerebral Dysgenesis, Neuropathy, Ichthyosis and Keratoderma), which causes severe neurological and dermatological congenital manifestations associated with short life expectancy. So far, the most investigated aspects of this syndrome are dermatological alterations, likely caused by the impairment of SNAP29 activity during membrane trafficking. Other symptoms such as neonatal feeding impairment, muscle hypotonia, and neurological defects were never investigated neither in human patients nor in CEDNIK animal models. To study uncharacterized CEDNIK traits, in the second part of my PhD, we took advantage of an uncharacterized snap29 mutant in zebrafish. The presence of CEDNIK traits in homozygous mutant fish, such as keratoderma and microcephaly, indicated that snap29 zebrafish mutant could be a valid CEDNIK disease model. Importantly, by studying the homozygous fish, we found that they display trigeminal nerve formation and axon branching defects, suggesting the requirement of Snap29 for correct nervous system development. Such alterations correlate with mouth opening problems and swimming difficulties, as well as feeding impairment. In addition, we are currently characterizing defects in muscle fibers organization and angiogenesis and we are assessing whether Snap29 plays a role in autophagy and cell division in vivo.
Overall, our findings demonstrate that Snap29 is a key regulator of cell division and shed light on uncharacterized aspects of CEDNIK syndrome, highlighting a pivotal role of Snap29 in nervous system development
How to use a multipurpose SNARE: The emerging role of Snap29 in cellular health
No full textDespite extensive study, regulation of membrane trafficking is incompletely understood. In particular, the specific role of SNARE (Soluble NSF Attachment REceptor) proteins for distinct trafficking steps and their mechanism of action, beyond the core function in membrane fusion, are still elusive. Snap29 is a SNARE protein related to Snap25 that gathered a lot of attention in recent years. Here, we review the study of Snap29 and its emerging involvement in autophagy, a self eating process that is key to cell adaptation to changing environments, and in other trafficking pathways. We also discuss Snap29 role in synaptic transmission and in cell division, which might extend the repertoire of SNARE-mediated functions. Finally, we present evidence connecting Snap29 to human disease, highlighting the importance of Snap29 function in tissue development and homeostasis
Promises and Problems in the Governance of Mediterranean Agro-Pastoral Systems: The Case Study of Alta Murgia
No full textGovernance, as a wider concept that includes not only government actors but also private sector and civil society, came into use in the 1980s. This paper discusses some major definitions of governance in order to delineate its main indicators. These indicators are then used to discuss premises and problems in the governance of rural areas with special reference to Alta Murgia, in central Apulia. The paper shows that the governance of rural areas holds both promises and problems
LA LINGUA DI LUIGI EINAUDI FRA CLASSICISMO E PATHOS
No full textL’autrice fa una lettura linguistica dei testi di Luigi Einaudi, per individuare i caratteri lessicali, stilistici e retorici degli scritti dell’economista, del divulgatore, del giornalista, del presidente della Repubblica. Su di essi ha pesato a lungo l’etichetta di scrittore nitido, ordinato, algido. In realtà, sottoponendo la sua vastissima produzione scritta a un esame ravvicinato, emerge la straordinaria capacità nell’uso di modalità linguistiche varie: solennità sintattica e affabilità colloquiale, modi popolari e invenzioni lessicali, descrizioni a forti tinte e sobrietà estrema. Valeria Della Valle, The language of Luigi Einaudi between classicism and pathos, in Luigi Einaudi: economic freedom and social cohesion, by Alfredo Gigliobianco, Rome-Bari, 2010, p. 138-154. The author makes a linguistic reading of texts by Luigi Einaudi, to identify the lexical, stylistic and rhetorical characters of the writings of the economist, the popularizer, the journalist, the President of the Italian Republic. On them has long weighed the label of a crisp, neat, icy writer. In fact, subjecting its vast production on close examination, it reveals the extraordinary ability in the use of various language modes: solemnity, friendly conversational syntactic, lexical inventions and popular modes, descriptions with bright colors and extreme simplicity
White middle-class men in Rio de Janeiro. The making of a dominant subject
No full textBased on the biographical accounts of upper-middle-class white men living in wealthy parts of Rio di Janeiro, Valeria Ribeiro Corossacz analyzes specific experiences of whiteness as they are produced at the intersection of multiple categories, in particular gender, class, and sexuality. White middle class men in Rio de Janeiro investigates what it means to be classified as a white person and a man in a society known for its valorization of racial mixing and yet deeply structured by racism, class and gender inequalities. Ribeiro Corossacz focuses on certain experiences in the men’s biographical trajectories representing moments of apprenticeship in a specific model of white, heterosexual and heteronormative middle-class masculinity and describes how these experiences are constructed as normative. This book explores how class, gender and race privilege are mutually produced and perceived by these men as “normal”. Examining instances of silence and what is left unsaid but also these men’s ability to provide precise descriptions of power relations and violent episodes, the author encourages us to observe the condition of dominant subjects as a keystone of the reproduction social discrimination
Poliprotect®, a Medical Device Made of Substances, Potently Protects the Human Esophageal Mucosa Challenged by Multiple Agents: Evidence from In Vitro and Ex Vivo Electrophysiological Models
No full textThe integrity of esophageal epithelial cells in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or GERD-like symptoms is the first mechanism of protection to decrease the sensitivity to gastric reflux and heartburn symptoms. We investigated the protective effects of Poliprotect® (PPRO), a CE-marked medical device, on esophageal epithelial integrity using in vitro and ex vivo models. In vitro, the protective effects of PPRO were tested on Caco-2 cells. PPRO demonstrated safety and protection against oxidative damage induced by hydrogen peroxide. It also preserved epithelial integrity by maintaining transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) against damage from calcium removal or bile acid exposure (taurodeoxycholic acid, TDCA). Ex vivo, esophageal biopsies from patients subjected to endoscopy were mounted in Ussing chambers and exposed to damaging agents (HCl or HCl + TDCA). Untreated biopsies (control) showed significant loss of epithelial resistance (up to −33%). In contrast, low concentrations of PPRO (50–100 µg/mL) provided strong protection against these damages (p < 0.001), even after 60 min of washing. Histological analysis confirmed the barrier-enhancing effect of PPRO. Overall, PPRO effectively protected the esophageal epithelium from damage in both models, suggesting its potential role in alleviating GERD or GERD-like symptoms by strengthening mucosal barriers and reducing epithelial sensitivity to reflux
El Tlacuache Núm. 422 (2010). 422 Año 10 (2010) junio. El Tlacuache
No full textLas guerras van sobre camino de papeles: la insurrección suriana en reportes de Regeneración por Valeria C. de Pina Ravest
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