ArtMap geo-social street art

Il progetto ArtMap! mette a disposizione un applicativo user, destinato agli utenti, che tramite una struttura a social network, propone una mappatura globale di street art. Viene messo a disposizione un archivio di informazioni, aggiornate direttamente dagli utenti, relative a opere ed artisti e la possibilità di creare itinerari personali. Inoltre, è stato sviluppato un applicativo di supporto per la convalidazione delle informazioni inserite dagli utenti, destinato ai gestori del database di informazioni.

[House dust mite allergy]

House dust mites can be found all over the world where human beings live independent from the climate. Proteins from the gastrointestinal tract- almost all known as enzymes - are the allergens which induce chronic allergic diseases. The inhalation of small amounts of allergens on a regular base all night leads to a slow beginning of the disease with chronically stuffed nose and an exercise induced asthma which later on persists. House dust mites grow well in a humid climate - this can be in well isolated dwellings or in the tropical climate - and nourish from human skin dander. Scales are found in mattresses, upholstered furniture and carpets. The clinical picture with slowly aggravating complaints leads quite often to a delayed diagnosis, which is accidently done on the occasion of a wider spectrum of allergy skin testing. The beginning of a medical therapy with topical steroids as nasal spray or inhalation leads to a fast relief of the complaints. Although discussed in extensive controversies in the literature - at least in Switzerland with the cold winter and dry climate - the recommendation of house dust mite avoidance measures is given to patients with good clinical results. The frequent ventilation of the dwelling with cold air in winter time cause a lower indoor humidity. Covering encasings on mattresses, pillow, and duvets reduces the possibility of chronic contact with mite allergens as well as the weekly changing the bed linen. Another option of therapy is the specific immunotherapy with extracts of house dust mites showing good results in children and adults. Using recombinant allergens will show a better quality in diagnostic as well as in therapeutic specific immunotherapy.

Resocialization of the Street Children

This project studied the phenomenon of street children through various forms of action dealing with them. The target group included 100 children who frequented the Pygmalion and Open House day centres in Bucharest. On the basis of this sample it was possible to establish the main problems of the street children: reasons for appearance, age on the street, origin, family size, attitude towards parents, reasons for street life, consumption of toxic substances, reasons for detention by the police, main health problems, needs and wishes. The work in Bucharest was supplemented by visits elsewhere in Romania and abroad which provided a breadth of understanding and knowledge of the specific profile of street children, of the complexity of their problems and of their prospects. A comparison of the causes of the phenomenon, and study of some projects and intervention programmes both from Romania and abroad provided the basis for a proposed strategy for combatting the problem. The practical activities on the project included continuing counselling and informative and education activities with the children in order to motivate them to change their life. Further mediation was aimed at changing the hostile approach of the public opinion and some people in authority towards these children. The experiments with schooling and professional resocialisation of the street children provided clear evidence of the possibility of reintroducing them into the social framework but this will require systems and mechanisms specially developed to achieve this.

Centennial mineral dust variability in high-resolution ice core data from Dome C, Antarctica

Ice core data from Antarctica provide detailed insights into the characteristics of past climate, atmospheric circulation, as well as changes in the aerosol load of the atmosphere. We present high-resolution records of soluble calcium (Ca2+), non-sea-salt soluble calcium (nssCa2+), and particulate mineral dust aerosol from the East Antarctic Plateau at a depth resolution of 1 cm, spanning the past 800 000 years. Despite the fact that all three parameters are largely dust-derived, the ratio of nssCa2+ to particulate dust is dependent on the particulate dust concentration itself. We used principal component analysis to extract the joint climatic signal and produce a common high-resolution record of dust flux. This new record is used to identify Antarctic warming events during the past eight glacial periods. The phasing of dust flux and CO2 changes during glacial-interglacial transitions reveals that iron fertilization of the Southern Ocean during the past nine glacial terminations was not the dominant factor in the deglacial rise of CO2 concentrations. Rapid changes in dust flux during glacial terminations and Antarctic warming events point to a rapid response of the southern westerly wind belt in the region of southern South American dust sources on changing climate conditions. The clear lead of these dust changes on temperature rise suggests that an atmospheric reorganization occurred in the Southern Hemisphere before the Southern Ocean warmed significantly.