Evaluating urban housing development patterns in developing countries: Case study of Worn-out Urban Fabrics in Iran

The restoration of Worn-out Urban Fabrics (WoUFs), i.e., the disfiguration of fabric components of the city from their main shape, and the implementation of the urban housing development plan have always been pivotal activities for designing livable cities – especially in developing countries. Prior research, however, did not identify an appropriate model of sustainable housing development for the recovery of WoUFs. To fill this gap, housing development patterns – i.e., supportive housing, Mehr housing, rental, and social housing – aimed at restoring the WoUF of the Hemmatabad district in Isfahan city (Iran) were studied. Expert opinions, on the criteria affecting the selection of housing development patterns, from 40 professionals in urban management and urban development models were collected and then analyzed by the Analytic Hierarchical Process and VIKOR method. It resulted that, in order to revive the WoUF of Hemmatabad, social housing is the more desirable pattern of housing development (Qi = 1) compared to supportive housing (Qi = 0.911), Mehr housing (Qi = 0.117) and rental housing (Qi = 0.004). Results help governments of developing countries in directing their effort in the decision of which housing development pattern for WoUFs to implement

Long-Term Estrogen Receptor Beta Agonist Treatment Modifies the Hippocampal Transcriptome in Middle-Aged Ovariectomized Rats.

Estradiol (E2) robustly activates transcription of a broad array of genes in the hippocampal formation of middle-aged ovariectomized rats via estrogen receptors (ERalpha, ERbeta, and G protein-coupled ER). Selective ERbeta agonists also influence hippocampal functions, although their downstream molecular targets and mechanisms are not known. In this study, we explored the effects of long-term treatment with ERbeta agonist diarylpropionitrile (DPN, 0.05 mg/kg/day, sc.) on the hippocampal transcriptome in ovariectomized, middle-aged (13 month) rats. Isolated hippocampal formations were analyzed by Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarray and quantitative real-time PCR. Four hundred ninety-seven genes fulfilled the absolute fold change higher than 2 (FC > 2) selection criterion. Among them 370 genes were activated. Pathway analysis identified terms including glutamatergic and cholinergic synapse, RNA transport, endocytosis, thyroid hormone signaling, RNA degradation, retrograde endocannabinoid signaling, and mRNA surveillance. PCR studies showed transcriptional regulation of 58 genes encoding growth factors (Igf2, Igfb2, Igf1r, Fgf1, Mdk, Ntf3, Bdnf), transcription factors (Otx2, Msx1), potassium channels (Kcne2), neuropeptides (Cck, Pdyn), peptide receptors (Crhr2, Oprm1, Gnrhr, Galr2, Sstr1, Sstr3), neurotransmitter receptors (Htr1a, Htr2c, Htr2a, Gria2, Gria3, Grm5, Gabra1, Chrm5, Adrb1), and vesicular neurotransmitter transporters (Slc32a1, Slc17a7). Protein-protein interaction analysis revealed networking of clusters associated with the regulation of growth/troph factor signaling, transcription, translation, neurotransmitter and neurohormone signaling mechanisms and potassium channels. Collectively, the results reveal the contribution of ERbeta-mediated processes to the regulation of transcription, translation, neurogenesis, neuromodulation, and neuroprotection in the hippocampal formation of ovariectomized, middle-aged rats and elucidate regulatory channels responsible for DPN-altered functional patterns. These findings support the notion that selective activation of ERbeta may be a viable approach for treating the neural symptoms of E2 deficiency in menopause

Assessing the resilience of a river management regime: Informal learning in a shadow network in the Tisza River Basin

Global sources of change offer unprecedented challenges to conventional river management strategies, which no longer appear capable of credibly addressing a trap: the failure of conventional river defense engineering to manage rising trends of disordering extreme events, including frequency and intensity of floods, droughts, and water stagnation in the Hungarian reaches of the Tisza River Basin. Extreme events punctuate trends of stagnation or decline in the ecosystems, economies, and societies of this river basin that extend back decades, and perhaps, centuries. These trends may be the long-term results of defensive strategies of the historical river management regime that reflect a paradigm dating back to the Industrial Revolution: "Protect the Landscape from the River." Since then all policies have defaulted to the imperatives of this paradigm such that it became the convention underlying the current river management regime. As an exponent of this convention the current river management regimes' methods, concepts, infrastructure, and paradigms that reinforce one another in setting the basin's development trajectory, have proven resilient to change from wars, political, and social upheaval for centuries. Failure to address the trap makes the current river management regimes resilience appear detrimental to the regions future development prospects and prompts demand for transformation to a more adaptive river management regime. Starting before transition to democracy, a shadow network has generated multiple dialogues in Hungary, informally exploring the roots of this trap as part of a search for ideas and methods to revitalize the region. We report on how international scientists joined one dialogue, applying system dynamics modeling tools to explore barriers and bridges to transformation of the current river management regime and develop the capacity for participatory science to expand the range of perspectives that inform, monitor, and revise learning, policy, and the practice of river management

Barriers to Attracting Private Sector Investment in Public Road Infrastructure Projects in the Developing Country of Iran

Abstract Private sector investment, the mainstream financing method for procuring public road transport development projects, has encountered several profound difficulties and risks during execution, particularly in developing countries. However, there needs to be more extensive investigations on the major barriers facing road transport infrastructure projects in these countries. In this vein, the present study aims to identify and assess the perceived barriers inhibiting private sector investment in delivering public road transport infrastructure projects in the developing country of Iran. The research method adopted is based on a descriptive survey with a three-round Delphi technique with 35 experts from both the private and public sector in Iran. According to the research study results, four main groups of legal and organizational, political, economic, and operational barriers have been found to significantly impact the attraction of private sector investment in such projects. The three most significant obstacles for public road transport infrastructure projects in developing countries include: (i) a lack of financial and investment safety; (ii) a lack of proficient managers and policies of public organizations in order to facilitate the process of privatization; and (iii) corruption in the privatization process. The survey findings can help the government and policymakers to eliminate or alleviate the potential barriers towards private sector participation in future public road infrastructure projects, particularly in those developing countries such as Iran

The significance of lipid profile and positive troponin-I in predicting cardiac event

Background: Diagnosis of acute cardiac event in the early stage of its onset is important in the treatment process. The development of highly sensitive and specific immunoassays for myocardial proteins such as cardiac troponin-I had made it possible. However troponin indicates cardiac events only after its onset or after cardiac tissue necrosis. Traditionally such high risk subjects were identified using lipid profiles. The identification of subjects with high risk of developing cardiac event in the future is more significant as it will provide time to prevent such incidents.Methods: In this retrospective study data of the 250 patients presented to the emergency department with symptoms of cardiac ischemia who underwent both troponin-I and lipid profiles tests were compared with the lipid profiles of 100 normal healthy subjects (controls). The troponin-I was detected quantitatively when a specimen contains troponin-I above the 99th percentile (TnI >0.3 ng/ml). The total cholesterol, high density lipoproteins cholesterol, very low density lipoproteins cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels were also analyzed and low density lipoprotein cholesterol level was calculated using Friedewald’s formula.Results: Patients with chest pain and positive troponin-I test (with confirmed cardiac event) were found to have significantly elevated levels of total cholesterol, triacylglycerols, low density lipoprotein cholesterol level and significantly reduced high density lipoproteins cholesterol levels when compared to the patients who experienced only chest pain with (negative troponin-I) and healthy controls.Conclusions: An acute cardiac event is best diagnosed by highly sensitive and specific positive troponin-I test (by quantitative method). However, traditional lipid profile levels still can be used in screening the populations to identify those subjects with high risk of developing cardiac event, in those centres where troponin-I test facility is unavailable.

A Global Survey of Infection Control and Mitigation Measures for Combating the Transmission of COVID-19 Pandemic in Buildings Under Facilities Management Services

Facilities management along with health care are two important aspects in controlling the spread of infectious diseases with regard to controlling the outbreak of global COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, with the increasing outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of examining the relationship between the built environment and the outbreak of infectious diseases has become more significant. The aim of the research described in this article is to develop effective infection control and mitigation measures to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 pandemic in the built environment. This study seeks to answer the question of how the facilities management industry can help reduce the transmission of coronavirus. For this purpose, an online survey questionnaire was distributed internationally from 8 April to 25 July, 2020 to collect data from various key stakeholders. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS software. Various methods for the prevention and control of infectious diseases transmission are evaluated through this questionnaire-based survey with regard to their effectiveness for the healthy and safe built environment. These methods were categorized into three groups, including training protocols, operation and maintenance, and design and construction. The results show that all suggested methods have a positive effect on all types of buildings. These methods have an equal effect on low-risk buildings, while for high and very high-risk buildings, training protocols and design and construction measures have the greatest impact. In addition, training protocols and the measures in operation and maintenance will have the greatest effect on medium-risk buildings. The results can help in more rational decision making in relation to controlling the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in all types of buildings

Systemic and stratum corneum biomarkers of severity in infant atopic dermatitis include markers of innate and T helper cell-related immunity and angiogenesis

BACKGROUND: Biomarkers of atopic dermatitis (AD) are largely lacking, especially in infant AD. Those that have been examined to date have focused mostly on serum cytokines with few on non-invasive biomarkers in the skin. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to explore biomarkers obtainable from non-invasive sampling of infant skin. We compared these to plasma biomarkers and structural and functional measures of the skin barrier. METHODS: We recruited 100 infants at first presentation with AD, who were treatment naïve to topical or systemic anti-inflammatory therapies and 20 healthy children. We sampled clinically unaffected skin by tape stripping the stratum corneum (SC). Multiple cytokines and chemokines and natural moisturizing factors (NMF) were measured in the SC and plasma. We recorded disease severity and skin barrier function. RESULTS: 19 SC and 12 plasma biomarkers showed significant difference between healthy and AD skin. Some biomarkers were common to both the SC and plasma, and others were compartment-specific. Identified biomarkers of AD severity included Th2 skewed markers (IL-13, CCL17, CCL22, IL-5), markers of innate activation (IL-18, Il-1α, IL1β, CXCL8), angiogenesis (Flt-1, VEGF) and others (sICAM-1, vCAM-1, IL-16, IL-17A). CONCLUSIONS: We identified clinically relevant biomarkers of AD, including novel markers, easily sampled and typed in infants. These markers may provide objective assessment of disease severity and suggest new therapeutic targets, or response measurement targets for AD. Future studies will be required to determine if these biomarkers, seen in very early AD, can predict disease outcomes or comorbidities