Search

Steel-Earth project aims at distributing among technicians, engineers, design companies and standardization bodies the results of three past RFCS projects (Steel-Retro [3], Opus [2] and PrecaSteel [1]), providing useful tools for the design and for the retrofit of existing buildings. Technical documents and practical applications to case studies, regarding design of steel and composite steel/concrete buildings and innovative steel-based techniques for the retrofit of existing r.c. and masonry constructions, have been elaborated and collected into a volume distributed during the final workshop of the dissemination project. Pre-normative and background documents concerning the design of steel and composite structures and the rehabilitation of existing constructions have been prepared. A lot of attention has been paid to the analysis of the influence of overstrength factors on the seismic design of steel and composite structures. The prepared documents have been distributed to the attending people and to the members of WG 2 (CEN/TC 250/SC 8/WG 2 “Steel and Composite Structures”) during the final workshop of the project. Technical sheets, working examples and background documents have been translated into several languages (German, French, Italian, Romanian and Greek) and are free available on the website of the project (https://www.steelconstruct. com/site/), where information regarding Steel-Earth are also presented. 11 Workshops in Italy, Greece, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Romania and 5 conferences in Emilia-Romagna have been organized, as well as 2 practical courses for engineers and academic people in Pavia (Italy). Flash-drives with the technical documents and applications elaborated in Steel-Earth have been distributed to the attending people.

This JRC Scientific and Policy Report is a pre-normative document that represents the basis of a new Eurocode on the design of structural glass. It was developed by CEN/TC 250 WG 3 and it presents the available background of both the design of glass components related to up-to-date existing national codes as well as the recent scientific knowledge. The report includes a material part, describing the behaviour of glass and the used interlayer materials. Subsequently, the typical properties of glass products and their placement in existing product standards are mentioned. The principles and basic rules for the design of glass components as well as the safety approach are clarified with regard to the particular characteristic of glass – the absent of plasticity. Furthermore there are different types of construction made of glass. They can be separated in secondary and primary structural elements. For secondary structural elements the existing design rules are presented, for primary structural elements the report gives an overview of the actual state of research work. In form of so called “Code reviews” the existing design and product standards are mentioned and they are also explained to some extent, the so-called “Eurocode outlooks” give a perspective on what and how the content of the future Eurocode on Structural Glass should be., JRC.G.5-European laboratory for structural assessment

INTRODUCTION. Off-leash areas, created for dogs to exercise and play in a controlled environment, are increased in urban areas all around the world. Together the benefit, public health considerations can concern also zoonotic risk (Rahim et al., 2017 J. Comm. Health, 43:433–440). It is known that the presence and quantity of keratinophilic fungi in the soil is closely related to the animalization process: soils rich in keratin material of animal origin constitute a suitable pabulum for the survival and multiplication of potentially pathogenic agents for humans and animals (Mantovani,1978, Mycopathol., 65: 61-66). The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of keratinophilic fungi in the soil of off-leash areas in Bologna. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Six areas were selected; every ones was divided in two subareas in each of which a x sampling scheme was used (according to DM 11/5/1992), collecting a sample of superficial soil every 2 meters along the diagonals. From each area, 8 pools for mycological examination (see figure) were obtained, and handled according to Vanbreuseghem et al., (1978. Guide pratique de mycologie medicale et veterinaire, Masson, Paris) to isolate keratinophilic fungi, using human hair as baits. A total of 56 pools were examined. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS. All the off-leash areas were positive for the geophilic M. gypseum, potentially pathogenic for humans and animals, found in 43/56 samples (76.8%); also the geophilics Trichophyton ajelloi (2/56-3.6%) and Chrysosporium sp (4/56-7.1%) were occasionally found. In this research, the assortment of genera of keratinophilic fungi was lower than other surveys carried out in soil from parks of urban areas or in soil from lairs of wild animals (Morganti and Tampieri, 1984, Nuovi Ann Ig. Microbiol, XXXV: 43-50; Gallo et al., 2005, Med Mycol. 43,:373-379; Galuppi et al., 2002, VI congresso FIMUA, 127-128), and no zoophilic dermatophytes were found. The lack of the latter should not be surprising, because they do not replicate in the ground and are rapidly destroyed by the environmental microflora, so their occasional finding in the soil is usually considered a consequence of a recent contamination due to infected animals (Lostia and Pinetti, 1970 , rassegna medica sarda, 73: 71). Vice versa, a higher percentage of positive samples for M. gypseum was found. Probably, the high attendance of a single animal species (dog) in these areas may promote the development of an ecological niche favourable to the development of this mycete. It could be of interest to verify, in collaboration with dermatologists, if an higher prevalence of dermatophytoses due to M. gypseum is observed in people attending off-leash areas.