Developing an integrated BIM/LCA framework to assess the sustainability of using earthen architecture

The construction industry is responsible for one-quarter of the solid waste generated globally, much of which is excavated soil. Repurposing this soil for the use of earthen architecture (EA) will reduce a considerable amount of this waste. However, little research has been conducted on how to assess the use of EA within the architectural, engineering, environmental and economic context, and in comparison with other construction system solutions. This paper presents the development of an integrated building information modelling (BIM) and life cycle assessment (LCA) framework to explore what advantages EA may have, based on the client's needs and the building's requirements. The decision-making conditions and criteria for the use of EA are firstly identified in an extensive literature review supported by interviews with decision-makers. A workflow is secondly proposed to apply a LCA evaluating the decision criteria in a BIM tool at the early-design stages. This method allows for the evaluation and comparison of choice criteria as functional requirements of the building and objectives set by the decision-makers. The flexibility of setting input parameters in this tool increases the visibility of the potential benefits of EA over other construction systems. Along with this approach, upcoming applications on case studies will aim to be replicable by designers, based on their practices and design tools, to support clients in their choice of using EA

Tensile strengths of flocculated compacted unsaturated soils

Flocculating agents can be introduced to soils through a number of natural or anthropogenic processes. This paper investigates the effect of flocculant addition (aqueous calcium chloride (CaCl2)) on the tensile strengths of two soils of differing flocculation susceptibility. Tensile strengths were found using the Brazilian (direct splitting) test for a range of suction values. A decrease in tensile strength was found for a soil with high clay content, which was consistent with previous findings in the literature. However, the strength of the soil with lower clay content unexpectedly increased. Results were interpreted using the extended Mohr–Coulomb (EMC) yield criterion fitted to data above the residual suction value. Changes in EMC parameters were used to infer changes in material behaviour on calcium chloride addition. Results have important implications for the design of geotechnical structures, for example engineered cover systems, exposed to flocculating conditions. </jats:p

Zero Order Spectrophotometric Method for Estimation of Escitalopram Oxalate in Tablet Formulations

A new, simple, fast and reliable zero order spectrophotometric method has been developed for determination of Escitalopram Oxalate in bulk and tablet dosage forms. The quantitative determination of drug was carried out using the zero order values (absorbance) measured at 238 nm. Calibration graph constructed at 238 nm was linear in concentration range of 2-20 µg/ml with correlation coefficient 0.9999. The method was found to be precise, accurate, specific, and validated as per ICH guidelines and can be used for determination of Escitalopram Oxalate in tablet formulations

Inpatient COVID-19 vaccination rollout: Improving access to vaccination

Background: We were aware of high numbers of inpatients unvaccinated against COVID-19 at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT). Due to this, an inpatient vaccination protocol was set up in July 2021, with initially limited uptake. Methods: From October 2021, a multidisciplinary team worked to improve the protocol for inpatient vaccination, with the development of a system that gave ownership to clinical teams. Results: In 4 months (July 2021 to November 2021), 20 inpatients had been vaccinated at GSTT. Following our intervention, rates of uptake increased, and 34 patients were vaccinated in less than 2 months (November 2021 to January 2022). Forty-five patients who had been referred were discharged without vaccination; attempts were made to invite them to receive a vaccine. Conclusion: An improved pathway and referral process increased the number of inpatient vaccinations delivered. Further work is required in order to ensure that more patients who have been referred are vaccinated

Genetic noise control via protein oligomerization

Gene expression in a cell entails random reaction events occurring over disparate time scales. Thus, molecular noise that often results in phenotypic and population-dynamic consequences sets a fundamental limit to biochemical signaling. While there have been numerous studies correlating the architecture of cellular reaction networks with noise tolerance, only a limited effort has been made to understand the dynamic role of protein-protein interactions. Here we have developed a fully stochastic model for the positive feedback control of a single gene, as well as a pair of genes (toggle switch), integrating quantitative results from previous in vivo and in vitro studies. We find that the overall noise-level is reduced and the frequency content of the noise is dramatically shifted to the physiologically irrelevant high-frequency regime in the presence of protein dimerization. This is independent of the choice of monomer or dimer as transcription factor and persists throughout the multiple model topologies considered. For the toggle switch, we additionally find that the presence of a protein dimer, either homodimer or heterodimer, may significantly reduce its random switching rate. Hence, the dimer promotes the robust function of bistable switches by preventing the uninduced (induced) state from randomly being induced (uninduced). The specific binding between regulatory proteins provides a buffer that may prevent the propagation of fluctuations in genetic activity. The capacity of the buffer is a non-monotonic function of association-dissociation rates. Since the protein oligomerization per se does not require extra protein components to be expressed, it provides a basis for the rapid control of intrinsic or extrinsic noise

Cities in fiction: Perambulations with John Berger

This paper explores selected novels by John Berger in which cities play a central role. These cities are places, partially real and partially imagined, where memory, hope, and despair intersect. My reading of the novels enables me to trace important themes in recent discourses on the nature of contemporary capitalism, including notions of resistance and universality. I also show how Berger?s work points to a writing that can break free from the curious capacity of capitalism to absorb and feed of its critique

Mosquito Infection Responses to Developing Filarial Worms

Human lymphatic filariasis is a mosquito-vectored disease caused by the nematode parasites Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and Brugia timori. These are relatively large roundworms that can cause considerable damage in compatible mosquito vectors. In order to assess how mosquitoes respond to infection in compatible mosquito-filarial worm associations, microarray analysis was used to evaluate transcriptome changes in Aedes aegypti at various times during B. malayi development. Changes in transcript abundance in response to the different stages of B. malayi infection were diverse. At the early stages of midgut and thoracic muscle cell penetration, a greater number of genes were repressed compared to those that were induced (20 vs. 8). The non-feeding, intracellular first-stage larvae elicited few differences, with 4 transcripts showing an increased and 9 a decreased abundance relative to controls. Several cecropin transcripts increased in abundance after parasites molted to second-stage larvae. However, the greatest number of transcripts changed in abundance after larvae molted to third-stage larvae and migrated to the head and proboscis (120 induced, 38 repressed), including a large number of putative, immunity-related genes (∼13% of genes with predicted functions). To test whether the innate immune system of mosquitoes was capable of modulating permissiveness to the parasite, we activated the Toll and Imd pathway controlled rel family transcription factors Rel1 and Rel2 (by RNA interference knockdown of the pathway's negative regulators Cactus and Caspar) during the early stages of infection with B. malayi. The activation of either of these immune signaling pathways, or knockdown of the Toll pathway, did not affect B. malayi in Ae. aegypti. The possibility of LF parasites evading mosquito immune responses during successful development is discussed