Architectural self-fabrication

The paper will focus on the role of computational design and digital fabrication in the processes of urban and architectural self-regeneration of existing infrastructures and buildings. The Architectural Fabrication research agenda takes inspiration from some of the concepts mentioned in Christopher Alexander’s essay ‘Systems generating systems’ (1968). It aims at introducing ways in which systems thinking and computer aided manufacturing can be most directly applied to the built environment. Hacking architectural spaces, by evolving their genetic spatial and structural codes, is developing the idea of optimizing resources involving inhabitants rather than generating other top down architectural solutions. During the last decades (starting from the book of Mario Carpo, ‘The Digital Turn in Architecture’) the digital shift in architectural design has generated a new discipline with the aim to define an innovative way to bridge the notion of nature with the one of teknè. From such a cultural milieu many research agenda were focusing on the concepts of morphogenesis and evolutionary thinking inspired by the work of French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari based on the theory of complex systems. Despite this interest in bridging an evolutionary approach with the notion of emergent technologies in architecture (well described in the book ‘The Architecture of Emergence’ of Michael Weinstock) only a very few researchers have investigated on the potential of computational design as a driver for the ecological rehabilitation of existing infrastructures. As a matter of fact, the computational designers were so worried to claim for a new aesthetical identity of their discipline while a new opportunity was emerging for applying this evolutionary approach in order to hack existing structures. The idea of living infrastructures is related to the possibility of developing contextual algorithms in order to customize standard solutions with a post-human process that creates diversified spatial configurations out of very rigid organizational systems. Therefore, the paper will also talk about the Hacking Gomorra project as a possible paradigm of experimenting a 3D printing protocol for the environmental rehabilitation of a mega-structural housing building in Naples (Italy)

ACLAS – a method to define geologically significant lineaments from potential fields data

Geological features, such as faults, dikes and contacts appear as lineaments in gravity and magnetic data. The Automated Coherent Lineament Analysis and Selection (ACLAS) method is a new approach to automatically compare and combine sets of lineaments or edges derived from two or more existing enhancement techniques applied to the same gravity or magnetic data set. ACLAS can be applied to the results of any edge detection algorithms and overcomes discrepancies between techniques to generate a coherent set of detected lineaments, which can be more reliably incorporated into geological interpretation. We demonstrate that the method increases spatial accuracy, removes artefacts not related to real edges, increases stability and that it is fast to implement and execute. The direction of lower density or susceptibility can also be automatically determined representing, for example, the downthrown side of a fault. Here, ACLAS is demonstrated on magnetic anomalies calculated from a simple slab model and from a synthetic continental margin model with noise added to the result. The approach helps to identify and discount artefacts of the different techniques, although the success of the combination is limited by the appropriateness of the individual techniques and their inherent assumptions. ACLAS has been applied separately to gravity and magnetic data from the NW Australia shelf displaying results from the two data sets together helps the appreciation of similarities and differences between gravity and magnetic results and indicates the application of the new approach to large scale structural mapping. Future developments could include refinement of depth estimates for ACLAS lineaments

Diagnostic and prognostic role of liquid biopsy in non-small cell lung cancer: evaluation of circulating biomarkers

Lung cancer is still one of the main causes of cancer-related death, together with prostate and colorectal cancers in males and breast and colorectal cancers in females. The prognosis for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is strictly dependent on feasibility of a complete surgical resection of the tumor at diagnosis. Since surgery is indicated only in early stages tumors, it is necessary to anticipate the timing of diagnosis in clinical practice. In the diagnostic and therapeutic pathway for NSCLC, sampling of neoplastic tissue is usually obtained using invasive methods that are not free from disadvantages and complications. A valid alternative to the standard biopsy is the liquid biopsy (LB), that is, the analysis of samples from peripheral blood, urine, and other biological fluids, with a simple and non-invasive collection. In particular, it is possible to detect in the blood different tumor derivatives, such as cell-free DNA (cfDNA) with its subtype circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), cell-free RNA (cfRNA), and circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Plasma-based testing seems to have several advantages over tumor tissue biopsy; firstly, it reduces medical costs, risk of complications related to invasive procedures, and turnaround times; moreover, the analysis of genes alteration, such as EGFR, ALK, ROS1, and BRAF is faster and safer with this method, compared to tissue biopsy. Despite all these advantages, the evidences in literatures indicate that assays performed on liquid biopsies have a low sensitivity, making them unsuitable for screening in lung cancer at the current state. This is caused by lack of standardization in sampling and preparation of specimen and by the low concentration of biomarkers in the bloodstream. Instead, routinely use of LB should be preferred in revaluation of patients with advanced NSCLC resistant to chemotherapy, due to onset of new mutations

lipid oxidation in buffalo meat from animals with dietary supplementation of vitamin e

Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) meat is not widely used in the diet, but it is recently reconsidered due to its valuable nutritional qualities. New strategies aiming to improve the quality of buffalo meat have to be applied particularly to face the problem of lipid peroxidation, one of the most important causes of meat food deterioration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the lipid oxidation of buffalo meat (muscles Caput longum tricipitis brachii, Longissimus dorsi and Semimembranosus), coming from animals fed with two different amount of vitamin E (600 IU/die and 1500 IU/die for 102 -123 days) considering, as markers for lipid oxidation, the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) by HPLC-UV and TBA test. Moreover it was evaluated, by HPLC-DAD, vitamin E concentration in the meat samples. Muscles coming from animals with vitamin E supplementation were in mean 2 times more enriched of vitamin E than control (p < 0.05). Meat from buffalo fed with 600 IU/die vitamin E had significant lower MDA concentration in comparison with control (in mean -53%, n= 4). Both for MDA and vitamin E concentrations not significant differences were found between the supplementation of 600 IU/die and 1500 IU/die. It is concluded that dietary supplementation with Vitamin E is a promising strategy to prevent lipid oxidation of buffalo meat and to prolong its shelf-life

Potentialities of a Low Temperature Solar Heating System Based on Slurry Phase Change Materials (PCS)

Flat-plate solar thermal collectors are the most common devices to convert solar energy into heat. Water-based fluids are commonly adopted as heat carrier for this technology, although their efficiency is limited by some thermodynamic and heat storage constraints. To overcome some of these limitations, an innovative approach is the use of latent heat, which can be available by means of microencapsulated slurry PCMs (mixtures of microencapsulated Phase Change Materials, water and surfactants). The viscosity of these fluids is similar to that of water and they can be easily pumped. In the present work, some of the thermo-physical and rheological properties and material behaviour that interest flat-plate solar thermal collectors with slurry PCM as the heat carrier fluid are analysed. Concepts of solar thermal systems filled with a slurry phase change material are proposed and a prototypal system is presented. Possible advantages and drawbacks of this technology are also discussed

Milk production and physiological traits of ewes and goats housed indoor or grazing at different daily timing in summer

During a 6 week trial in summer, 3 homogeneous groups, each consisting of 5 Comisana ewes and 5 Rossa Mediterranea goats, grazed watered forage resources during day (D) or night (N), or were housed indoor and supplied with mowed herbage(H). Maximum THI peaked at 94 at the end of July, and was almost constantly higher of 80. Milk yield was higher in N than in D and H goats, whereas N ewes produced more milk than H group, but their milk yield was higher than D ewes only in the period with the highest THI values. The lower urea in N goat milk, and the higher casein in N ewe milk, seem to indicate a better efficiency in dietary nitrogen utilization of night grazing animals. N ewes showed lower SCC in milk, and higher incidence of clotting milk samples, in comparison to other ewes. N goats and ewes showed lower rectal temperature and pulse rate in the afternoon and, among metabolic parameters, higher hematic level of sodium. Night grazing was confirmed to be a management practice for increasing heat tolerance, to which goats appeared to be more sensitive in terms of milk yield

Film Blowing of Biodegradable Polymer Nanocomposites for Agricultural Applications

Films for agricultural applications, such as greenhouses films or mulching films are generally made of polyolefins such as linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) or low-density polyethylene. However, the use of biodegradable and/or compostable polymers is increasing, which enjoy the additional advantage that they can be left on the site since a fine life would be gradually assimilated to the underlying soil. Nevertheless, biodegradable polymeric films often do not have suitable mechanical performances. In this work, biodegradable polymer-based nanocomposite films are prepared by film blowing and compared with traditional LLDPE based nanocomposites. In particular, a biodegradable polymer blend and two different inorganic nanofillers (an organo-modified clay and a calcium carbonate with a hydrophobic coating) are used for the preparation of the nanocomposites. A detailed investigation of obtained materials is performed through rheological, mechanical, and optical characterizations. Adding nanofillers led to an increase of rigidity and tear strength of blown films without negatively affecting their ductility

Technology and teaching in higher education: A simulation applied to the integration of concepts taught in postgraduate courses

Introducción: El objetivo de este trabajo fue implementar tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) a nivel de posgrado. En este caso particular se usó USINA, un simulador para la toma de decisiones diseñado por el Centro de Innovaciones en Tecnología y Pedagogía (CITEP), de la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Ésta permite trabajar con narraciones, estudio de casos y utilizar el “error” como método pedagógico. Métodos: 1) Diseñar una secuencia de pantallas para ser montadas en USINA utilizándola como herramienta de integración de conceptos en dos cursos de posgrado: Downstream Processing de proteínas (DSP) y Aplicaciones, Síntesis y Análisis de Péptidos Sintéticos (ASAP). 2) Aplicar una encuesta anónima para evaluar la eficiencia de USINA. 3) Realizar una clase presencial para intercambiar opiniones sobre la experiencia. Resultados y Discusión: En ambos cursos (DSP y ASAP) la experiencia resultó exitosa. El alumnado consideró que el uso de USINA permitió el andamiaje de conocimientos y la integración de conceptos al situarlo en el rol de experto. El uso de las TIC en los niveles educativos superiores sigue siendo una asignatura pendiente. A través de la experiencia aquí analizada, se abre la posibilidad de llevar esta herramienta a cursos de pregrado y con mayor número de estudiantesIntroduction: The aim of this work was to implement information and communication technologies (ICTs) at postgraduate level. In this particular case, USINA, a decision-making simulator designed by the Center for Innovation in Technology and Education (CITEP), of the University of Buenos Aires, was used. It allows working with stories, case studies and uses the "error" as a teaching method. Methods: 1) Design a sequence of screens to be mounted in the USINA platform to use it as a tool for the integration of concepts in two postgraduate courses: Protein Downstream Processing (DSP) and Applications, Synthesis and Analysis of Synthetic Peptides (ASAP). 2) Apply anonymous quiz to evaluate the efficiency of USINA. 3) Perform a class attendance to exchange opinions on the experience. Results: During both courses (DSP and ASAP) the experience was very successful. The students felt that the use of USINA enhanced learning and helped integrating concepts by situating them in the role of experts. Discussion: The use of ICTs in higher levels of education remains a pending issue. Through the experience here analyzed the possibility to bring this tool to undergraduate courses and more students is opene

Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Hymenoptera cynipidae) in Sardegna

The chestnut gall wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus was detected in Sardinia in 2007. Two years later its biological control agent, Torymus sinensis, was released and was started the monitoring of native oak gall wasp parasitoids recruited by D. kuriphilus. Five years after its introduction the exotic parasitoid T. sinensis established itself in the study sites and more than 25 morphospecies of native parasitoids emerged from D. kuriphilus galls

AbspectroscoPY, a Python toolbox for absorbance-based sensor data in water quality monitoring

The long-term trend of increasing natural organic matter (NOM) in boreal and north European surface waters represents an economic and environmental challenge for drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). High-frequency measurements from absorbance-based online spectrophotometers are often used in modern DWTPs to measure the chromophoric fraction of dissolved organic matter (CDOM) over time. These data contain valuable information that can be used to optimise NOM removal at various stages of treatment and/or diagnose the causes of underperformance at the DWTP. However, automated monitoring systems generate large datasets that need careful preprocessing, followed by variable selection and signal processing before interpretation. In this work we introduce AbspectroscoPY ("Absorbance spectroscopic analysis in Python"), a Python toolbox for processing time-series datasets collected by in situ spectrophotometers. The toolbox addresses some of the main challenges in data preprocessing by handling duplicates, systematic time shifts, baseline corrections and outliers. It contains automated functions to compute a range of spectral metrics for the time-series data, including absorbance ratios, exponential fits, slope ratios and spectral slope curves. To demonstrate its utility, AbspectroscoPY was applied to 15-month datasets from three online spectrophotometers in a drinking water treatment plant. Despite only small variations in surface water quality over the time period, variability in the spectrophotometric profiles of treated water could be identified, quantified and related to lake turnover or operational changes in the DWTP. This toolbox represents a step toward automated early warning systems for detecting and responding to potential threats to treatment performance caused by rapid changes in incoming water quality