Laboratory tests on hydraulic lime mortar reinforced with jute fibres

Background: Considering the high seismic vulnerability of masonry buildings located in the Italian territory, the implementation of seismic retrofit programs is strongly needed.. With consideration for sustainable interventions, it is evident that the retrofit techniques to protect the historical heritage should be carried out with innovative green compound materials, such as mortars reinforced with natural fibres. Objective: In the current paper, laboratory tests on lime mortars strengthened with raw jute fibres have been performed. Methods: The workability of the fibre-reinforced mixture has been assessed through shaking table tests, and the mechanical resistances of standard specimens have been evaluated by bending and compression tests. Results: Considering the hygroscopic nature of jute, it has been identified that the optimal water/lime ratio and the maximum water percentage are absorbed by jute fibres. From the results, how the spreading of the mixture, which is indicative of the mortar consistency, changes with the water/lime ratio, has been evaluated. From bending tests, the effective behaviour of fibres, which provide a stitching effect of the failure crack in the investigated fibre-reinforced lime mortars, has been observed. Conclusion: Finally, the results of compression tests have shown that the examined fibre-reinforced mortars can be effectively used as building products according to the actual Italian technical code NTC 2018

Homogeneous manifolds from noncommutative measure spaces

Let M be a finite von Neumann algebra with a faithful normal trace τ. In this paper we study metric geometry of homogeneous spaces O of the unitary group UM of M, endowed with a Finsler quotient metric induced by the p-norms of τ, ‖x‖p = τ (|x|p)1/p, p ≥ 1. The main results include the following. The unitary group carries on a rectifiable distance dp induced by measuring the length of curves with the p-norm. If we identify O as a quotient of groups, then there is a natural quotient distance over dp that metrizes the quotient topology. On the other hand, the Finsler quotient metric defined in O provides a way to measure curves, and therefore, there is an associated rectifiable distance dO, p. We prove that the distances over dp and dO, p coincide. Based on this fact, we show that the metric space (O, dp) is a complete path metric space. The other problem treated in this article is the existence of metric geodesics, or curves of minimal length, in O. We give two abstract partial results in this direction. The first concerns the initial values problem and the second the fixed endpoints problem. We show how these results apply to several examples. In the process, we improve some results about the metric geometry of UM with the p-norm.Facultad de Ciencias Exacta

Stimulation of TH1 response by Helicobacter pylori neutrophil activating protein decreases the protective role of IgE and eosinophils in experimental trichinellosis

Th2 responses seem to play an important role in defence against Trichinella spiralis (Ts). The Neutrophil Activating Protein of Helicobacter pylori (HP-NAP), that induces IL-12, and IL-23 expression and shifts to Th1 allergen-specific Th2 cells in vitro was used as an anti-Th2 agent in BALB/c mice infected with T. spiralis. The muscle larvae (ML) burden was lower (p < 0.02) in untreated infected animals than those infected treated with HP-NAP. In both groups there was an inverse relationship between ML burden of each animal and total IgE level (controls: r -0.617,p = 0.0013 and HP-NAP-treated: r -0.678,p = 0.0001) or eosinophil count, evaluated in the same mouse on day 42 (r -0.390,p = 0.0592 and r -0.803,p = 0.0001, respectively). Inflammatory response around the nurse cell-parasite complex was significantly higher in HP-NAP-treated infected animals than in those untreated infected, on the contrary the number of eosinophils, counted around each complex was significantly lower in the first animal group. This study provides evidence of a powerful anti-Th2 activity in vivo by HP-NAP and for the partial protective effect of Th2 responses in T. spiralis infection

The Torino Observatory Parallax Program: White Dwarf Candidates

We present parallax determinations for six white dwarf candidates in the Torino Observatory Parallax Program. The absolute parallaxes are found with precisions at the 2-3 milliarcsecond level. For WD 1126+185 we find a distance incompatible with being a white dwarf, implying an incorrect classification. For WD 2216+484 we find our distance is consistent with a simple DA white dwarf rather than a composite system as previously proposed in the literature. In general it is found that the published photometric distance is an overestimate of the distance found here.Comment: AA paper, 7 pages, 4 figure

Trichinella inflammatory myopathy: host or parasite strategy?

The parasitic nematode Trichinella has a special relation with muscle, because of its unique intracellular localization in the skeletal muscle cell, completely devoted in morphology and biochemistry to become the parasite protective niche, otherwise called the nurse cell. The long-lasting muscle infection of Trichinella exhibits a strong interplay with the host immune response, mainly characterized by a Th2 phenotype

The gastrointestinal nematode Trichostrongylus colubriformis down-regulates immune gene expression in migratory cells in afferent lymph

Background: Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections are the predominant cause of economic losses in sheep. Infections are controlled almost exclusively by the use of anthelmintics which has lead to the selection of drug resistant nematode strains. An alternative control approach would be the induction of protective immunity to these parasites. This study exploits an ovine microarray biased towards immune genes, an artificially induced immunity model and the use of pseudo-afferent lymphatic cannulation to sample immune cells draining from the intestine, to investigate possible mechanisms involved in the development of immunity.\ud \ud Results: During the development of immunity to, and a subsequent challenge infection with Trichostrongylus colubriformis, the transcript levels of 2603 genes of cells trafficking in afferent intestinal lymph were significantly modulated (P < 0.05). Of these, 188 genes were modulated more than 1.3-fold and involved in immune function. Overall, there was a clear trend for down-regulation of many genes involved in immune functions including antigen presentation, caveolar-mediated endocytosis and protein ubiquitination. The transcript levels of TNF receptor associated factor 5 (TRAF5), hemopexin (HPX), cysteine dioxygenase (CDO1), the major histocompatability complex Class II protein (HLA-DMA), interleukin-18 binding protein (IL-18BP), ephrin A1 (EFNA1) and selenoprotein S (SELS) were modulated to the greatest degree.\ud \ud Conclusions: This report describes gene expression profiles of afferent lymph cells in sheep developing immunity to nematode infection. Results presented show a global down-regulation of the expression of immune genes which may be reflective of the natural temporal response to nematode infections in livestock

Developmental Transcriptomic Features of the Carcinogenic Liver Fluke, Clonorchis sinensis

Clonorchis sinensis is the causative agent of the life-threatening disease endemic to China, Korea, and Vietnam. It is estimated that about 15 million people are infected with this fluke. C. sinensis provokes inflammation, epithelial hyperplasia, and periductal fibrosis in bile ducts, and may cause cholangiocarcinoma in chronically infected individuals. Accumulation of a large amount of biological information about the adult stage of this liver fluke in recent years has advanced our understanding of the pathological interplay between this parasite and its hosts. However, no developmental gene expression profiles of C. sinensis have been published. In this study, we generated gene expression profiles of three developmental stages of C. sinensis by analyzing expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Complementary DNA libraries were constructed from the adult, metacercaria, and egg developmental stages of C. sinensis. A total of 52,745 ESTs were generated and assembled into 12,830 C. sinensis assembled EST sequences, and then these assemblies were further categorized into groups according to biological functions and developmental stages. Most of the genes that were differentially expressed in the different stages were consistent with the biological and physical features of the particular developmental stage; high energy metabolism, motility and reproduction genes were differentially expressed in adults, minimal metabolism and final host adaptation genes were differentially expressed in metacercariae, and embryonic genes were differentially expressed in eggs. The higher expression of glucose transporters, proteases, and antioxidant enzymes in the adults accounts for active uptake of nutrients and defense against host immune attacks. The types of ion channels present in C. sinensis are consistent with its parasitic nature and phylogenetic placement in the tree of life. We anticipate that the transcriptomic information on essential regulators of development, bile chemotaxis, and physico-metabolic pathways in C. sinensis that presented in this study will guide further studies to identify novel drug targets and diagnostic antigens

Cardiopoietic cell therapy for advanced ischemic heart failure: results at 39 weeks of the prospective, randomized, double blind, sham-controlled CHART-1 clinical trial

Cardiopoietic cells, produced through cardiogenic conditioning of patients' mesenchymal stem cells, have shown preliminary efficacy. The Congestive Heart Failure Cardiopoietic Regenerative Therapy (CHART-1) trial aimed to validate cardiopoiesis-based biotherapy in a larger heart failure cohort

An innovative school building design in the town of montemiletto

Background: This paper presents an innovative design for a school building, awarded in the concourse “Scuole innovative”, published by the italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. The new school building is located in a newly built urban area of Montemiletto (Avellino, Italy), at the southeast of the Leonessa castle and the ancient nucleus of the town. The Comprehensive Institute that includes a kindergarten, a primary school and a secondary school, is proposed as a Civic Center, an “urban place”, characterized by new spaces of relationship and aggregation. Objective: The main idea of the project design is the creation of an innovative school with respect to the architectural, structural and plant system aspects and to the energetic efficiency and characterized by the presence of new environments of learning and openness to the territory. Materials and Methods: The project proposals can be summarized in the different points: a) unit of the morphological-settlement solution and the articulation of the Civic Center, to be identified as new reference point in the city; b) adherence of the characters of the school to the landscape and visual connection with the castle; c) urban and architectural role of the system of the paths and connections, which surround and enter in the intervention area; d) extension and permeation between the natural and artificial environments assigning to the roof the task of increasing open spaces; e) accentuation of the public and multi-functional character of the different spaces, so that the school can be a place for meeting and comparison, in which it is possible to test new ways of teaching; f) use of different types of green open spaces as gardens, flowerbeds, educational vegetable gardens that change with the seasons, sporting fields, cycle-forgave routes among the green. Moreover, with respect to the structural aspects, seismic isolation at the basis of the building is proposed. This paper focuses mainly on the aspects related to energy and environmental sustainability and life cycle cost with reference to the case study design. The goal is to reduce the impact on the ecosystem, trying to make the school building organic to the existing environment. The containment of energy consumption for the air conditioning of the rooms is done through the isolation of the massive walls of the façade, covered with local stone (Irpinia breccia) and polycarbonate. Water-saving is obtained by reusing rainwater for the irrigation of vegetable gardens, vegetation and sanitary use. Results and Conclusion: The use of recycled materials and components is proposed: the Irpinia breccia covering the façade and, with different grain sizes, the external roofing and flooring; the polycarbonate; the polyester insulation; the outdoor furniture in recycled wood. In addition, dry reinforced concrete construction technologies are chosen. Definitively, the main concept is to have “a school in the park”