BIM-based structural survey design

Abstract The study, which is part of the digitalization project of the public real estate portfolio of the City of Turin (TOBIM), explores the use of parametric structural models in organizing the knowledge and the data involved in the investigations and analysis on an existing building. The recommended approach exploits Building Information Modelling to set up a graphic and alphanumeric database of interoperable information that can be implemented throughout the building life cycle. Specifically, this paper promotes solutions focused on maximizing BIM data for structural survey design activities. The case study analyzed is a pavilion school complex of the 70s located in Turin

The Role of PET in the Diagnosis and Disease Activity Assessment in Large Vessel Vasculitis

The role of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) in the diagnosis of large vessel vasculitis (LVV) is well established. It permits us to assess the extent and the grade of vascular involvement and to rule out the other causes in clinical scenarios characterized by less specific symptoms. The advantages of 18F-FDG PET are far less clear in monitoring disease activity over time. Studies looking for the role of 18F-FDG PET as a potential biomarker had conflicting results and whether and when to repeat it during follow-up is based on clinical experience. A comprehensive assessment, including clinical, laboratory and morphological imaging is still required to monitor patients with large-vessel vasculitis over time. The aim of this review is to present more recent data about the utility of 18 F-FDG PET in the diagnosis and follow-up of LVV

The activity of Pleurotus ostreatus extracts against pathogenic fusaria

A P. ostreatus strain, appreciated as food and for the production of nutraceuticals, was grown on a commercial substrate, dried at low temperature (<40\ub0C) and grinded in order to produce a mushroom powder. The bioactivity of the water extract conserved at 4\ub0C in the dark was then assessed on F. graminearum, F. culmorum and F. musae at different time points from production (4 hrs, 40 days, 4 months). Moreover, the effect of the extracts on trichothecene type B production was measured exploiting a F. graminearum isolate expressing GFP-tagged trichodiene synthase. This allowed to monitor the first step of toxin production using a microplate fluorimeter. While mycelial growth of F. graminearum and F. culmorum was completely blocked at 3 mg/ml, mycelial growth of F. musae was inhibited at 90%. MIC50 was measured for F. graminearum and F. culmorum at 300 micrograms/mL. A loss of the bioactivity of P. ostreaus water extract on fungal growth was observed at 40 days (-30%) and of a further -30% at 4 months. A preliminary study on the biological activities of the extract identified a strong protease activity associated to low molecular weight proteins. Their bioactivity decreased over storage time in accordance with a decreased proteolytic activity. The P. ostreatus extract modulates trichothecene production independently from the protease activity, even at concentration where no mycelium inhibition was observed (down to 0.75 micrograms/mL). Studies on the genetic determinants of the protease activity as well as the compounds able to modulate trichothecene production are ongoing

A non-perturbative renormalization group study of the stochastic Navier--Stokes equation

We study the renormalization group flow of the average action of the stochastic Navier--Stokes equation with power-law forcing. Using Galilean invariance we introduce a non-perturbative approximation adapted to the zero frequency sector of the theory in the parametric range of the H\"older exponent $4-2\,\varepsilon$ of the forcing where real-space local interactions are relevant. In any spatial dimension $d$, we observe the convergence of the resulting renormalization group flow to a unique fixed point which yields a kinetic energy spectrum scaling in agreement with canonical dimension analysis. Kolmogorov's -5/3 law is, thus, recovered for $\varepsilon=2$ as also predicted by perturbative renormalization. At variance with the perturbative prediction, the -5/3 law emerges in the presence of a \emph{saturation} in the $\varepsilon$-dependence of the scaling dimension of the eddy diffusivity at $\varepsilon=3/2$ when, according to perturbative renormalization, the velocity field becomes infra-red relevant.Comment: RevTeX, 18 pages, 5 figures. Minor changes and new discussion

Subclinical giant cell arteritis in polymyalgia rheumatica: Concurrent conditions or a common spectrum of inflammatory diseases?

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) are common conditions in older adults. Their clinical connection has been recognized over time, with many patients experiencing both conditions separately, simultaneously or in temporal sequence to each other. Early GCA detection is essential to prevent vascular damage, but identifying subclinical GCA in PMR patients remains a challenge and routine screening is not standard practice. Subclinical GCA prevalence in newly diagnosed PMR patients ranges from 23 to 29%, depending on the screening method. Vessel wall imaging and temporal artery biopsy can detect subclinical GCA. Epidemiology and trigger factors show similarities between the two conditions, but PMR is more common than GCA. Genetic and pathogenesis studies reveal shared inflammatory mechanisms involving dendritic cells, pro-inflammatory macrophages, and an IL-6 signature. However, the inflammatory infiltrates differ, with extensive T cell infiltrates seen in GCA while PMR shows an incomplete profile of T cell and macrophage-derived cytokines. Glucocorticoid treatment is effective for both conditions, but the steroid requirements vary. PMR overall mortality might be similar to the general population, while GCA patients with aortic inflammatory aneurysms face increased mortality risk. The GCA-PMR association warrants further research. Considering their kinship, recently the term GCA-PMR Spectrum Disease (GPSD) has been proposed

On the canonically invariant calculation of Maslov indices

After a short review of various ways to calculate the Maslov index appearing in semiclassical Gutzwiller type trace formulae, we discuss a coordinate-independent and canonically invariant formulation recently proposed by A Sugita (2000, 2001). We give explicit formulae for its ingredients and test them numerically for periodic orbits in several Hamiltonian systems with mixed dynamics. We demonstrate how the Maslov indices and their ingredients can be useful in the classification of periodic orbits in complicated bifurcation scenarios, for instance in a novel sequence of seven orbits born out of a tangent bifurcation in the H\'enon-Heiles system.Comment: LaTeX, 13 figures, 3 tables, submitted to J. Phys.

Single-Cell Detection of Secreted A and sAPP from Human IPSC-Derived Neurons and Astrocytes

Secreted factors play a central role in normal and pathological processes in every tissue in the body. The brain is composed of a highly complex milieu of different cell types and few methods exist that can identify which individual cells in a complex mixture are secreting specific analytes. By identifying which cells are responsible, we can better understand neural physiology and pathophysiology, more readily identify the underlying pathways responsible for analyte production, and ultimately use this information to guide the development of novel therapeutic strategies that target the cell types of relevance. We present here a method for detecting analytes secreted from single human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural cells and have applied the method to measure amyloid β (Aβ) and soluble amyloid precursor protein-alpha (sAPPα), analytes central to Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Through these studies, we have uncovered the dynamic range of secretion profiles of these analytes from single iPSC-derived neuronal and glial cells and have molecularly characterized subpopulations of these cells through immunostaining and gene expression analyses. In examining Aβ and sAPPα secretion from single cells, we were able to identify previously unappreciated complexities in the biology of APP cleavage that could not otherwise have been found by studying averaged responses over pools of cells. This technique can be readily adapted to the detection of other analytes secreted by neural cells, which would have the potential to open new perspectives into human CNS development and dysfunction.W. M. Keck FoundationNational Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (R21MH096233)National Institute on Aging (R33AG049864)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (P30-CA14051

Fundamental parameters of B supergiants from the BCD system: I. Calibration of the (λ1, D) parameters into Teff

Context. Effective temperatures of early-type supergiants are important to test stellar atmosphere- and internal structure-models of massive and intermediate mass objects at different evolutionary phases. However, these Teff values are more or less discrepant depending on the method used to determine them. Aims. We aim to obtain a new calibration of the T eff parameter for early-type supergiants as a function of observational quantities that are: a) highly sensitive to the ionization balance in the photosphere and its gas pressure; b) independent of the interstellar extinction; c) as much as possible model-independent. Methods. The observational quantities that best address our aims are the (λ1, D) parameters of the BCD spectrophotometric system. They describe the energy distribution around the Balmer discontinuity, which is highly sensitive to Teff and log g. We perform a calibration of the (λ 1, D) parameters into Teff using effective temperatures derived with the bolometric-flux method for 217 program stars, whose individual uncertainties are on average |ΔTeff|/Teff f = 0.05. Results. We obtain a new and homogeneous calibration of the BCD (λ1, D) parameters for OB supergiants and revisit the current calibration of the (λ1, D) zone occupied by dwarfs and giants. The final comparison of calculated with obtained Teff values in the (λ1, D) calibration show that the latter have total uncertainties, which on average are εTeff/Teff f ≃ ±0.05 for all spectral types and luminosity classes. Conclusions. The effective temperatures of OB supergiants derived in this work agree on average within some 2000 K with other determinations found in the literature, except those issued from wind-free non-LTE plane-parallel models of stellar atmospheres, which produce effective temperatures that can be overestimated by up to more than 5000 K near Teff = K. Since the stellar spectra needed to obtain the (λ1, D) parameters are of low resolution, a calibration based on the BCD system is useful to study stars and stellar systems like open clusters, associations or stars in galaxies observed with multi-object spectrographs and/or spectro-imaging devices.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica