Rice husk and thermal comfort: Design and evaluation of indoor modular green walls

Green walls are vertical greening structures where varied plant species grow. They are conceived as a form of urban landscape and have numerous environmental, social and economic benefits. In fact, these structures have positive effects on air quality, thermal and acoustic insulation, microclimate, psychophysical well-being and urban design. In the framework of thermal comfort, several studies demonstrated the potential of green walls to improve indoor thermal comfort and reduce heat flows through the wall of buildings. This research evaluates the thermal efficiency of two modular green walls that present an alternative substrate as growing medium. This substrate is composed of loam soil and rice husk, an agricultural organic waste derived from the rice milling process. The choice of rice husk is inspired by principles of circular economy in order to reduce the environmental impact and costs of the substrate used in greening applications. The alternative substrate was compared with expanded clay aggregate, used for plant cultivation in living walls, and the analysis was divided into two phases. Firstly, field experiments were carried out on three plant species (Chlorophytum, Dieffenbachia and Spathiphyllum) to evaluate the efficacy of these substrates to grow plants. The efficacy of the substrate was evaluated through the measurement of the concentration of chlorophyll, the determination of the growth index of plants and a qualitative observation of the root development. Secondly, two modular green walls with varied substrates and plants were designed and tested from the point of view of the thermal comfort, using the open source software TerMus-G. After the transmittance value was obtained as output for each green wall module, the heat flow and the relative variation were calculated and compared to the indoor supporting walls. This article presents a valid methodology approach to evaluate the efficiency of green walls substrate and its thermal performance. This methodology differs from those found in scientific literature and represents a valid alternative. The present research demonstrates the ability of designed modules and, more generally, of indoor green walls to increase thermal insulation without causing condensation. Furthermore, the investigation shows a positive contribution both in winter and in summer. Finally, the use of this undervalue by-product rice husk mixed with loam soil shows to be appropriate for green wall application, providing better performance than the expanded clay in terms of thermal comfort and plant growth rate. Moreover, its use as substrates should further improve the ecological footprint of green vertical structures and reduce costs

Horocyclic harmonic Bergman spaces on homogeneous trees

The main focus of this contribution is on the harmonic Bergman spaces $\mathcal{B}_{\alpha}^{p}$ on the $q$-homogeneous tree $\mathfrak{X}_q$ endowed with a family of measures $\sigma_\alpha$ that are constant on the horocycles tangent to a fixed boundary point and turn out to be doubling with respect to the corresponding horocyclic Gromov distance. A central role is played by the reproducing kernel Hilbert space $\mathcal{B}_{\alpha}^{2}$ for which we find a natural orthonormal basis and formulae for the kernel. We also consider the atomic Hardy space and the bounded mean oscillation space. Appealing to an adaptation of Calder\'on-Zygmund theory and to standard boundedness results for integral operators on $L^p_\alpha$ spaces with H\"ormander-type kernels, we determine the boundedness properties of the Bergman projection

Oral plaque from Type 2 diabetic patients reduces the clonogenic capacity of dental pulp-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a major metabolic disease and a key epigenetic risk factor for the development of additional clinical complications. Among them, periodontitis (PD), a severe inflammatory disease ascribable to a dysregulated physiology and composition of the oral microbiota, represents one of the most relevant complications. Periodontitis can impact the structure of the tooth and likely the stem and progenitor cell pool, which actively contributes to the periodontal microenvironment and homeostasis. Modifications of the oral plaque play a key role in the etiopathogenesis of PD caused by T2D. However, to what extent the biology of the progenitor pool is affected has still to be elucidated. In this short report, we aimed to explore the biological effects of oral plaque derived from T2D patients with PD in comparison to non-diabetic patients with PD. Oral plaque samples were isolated from T2D and non-diabetic subjects with PD. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs), derived from the premolar tooth, were conditioned for 21 days with oral plaque samples and tested for their clonogenic ability. Cultures were also induced to differentiate towards the osteogenic lineage, and ALP and osteocalcin gene expression levels were evaluated by real-time qPCR. Results have shown that the number of clones generated by DPSCs exposed to T2D oral plaque was significantly lower compared to controls (ctl). The multivariate analysis confirmed that the decreased clonogenesis was significantly correlated only with T2D diagnosis. Moreover, the effect of T2D oral plaque was specific to DPSCs. Indicators of osteogenic differentiation were not significantly affected. This study provides a new biological insight into the effects ascribable to T2D in PD

The interplay of reactive oxygen species, hypoxia, inflammation, and sirtuins in cancer initiation and progression

The presence of ROS is a constant feature in living cells metabolizing O2. ROS concentration and compartmentation determine their physiological or pathological effects. ROS overproduction is a feature of cancer cells and plays several roles during the natural history of malignant tumor. ROS continuously contribute to each step of cancerogenesis, from the initiation to the malignant progression, acting directly or indirectly. In this review, we will (a) underline the role of ROS in the pathway leading a normal cell to tumor transformation and progression, (b) define the multiple roles of ROS during the natural history of a tumor, (c) conciliate many conflicting data about harmful or beneficial effects of ROS, (d) rethink the importance of oncogene and tumor suppressor gene mutations in relation to the malignant progression, and (e) collocate all the cancer hallmarks in a mechanistic sequence which could represent a "physiological" response to the initial growth of a transformed stem/pluripotent cell, defining also the role of ROS in each hallmark. We will provide a simplified sketch about the relationships between ROS and cancer. The attention will be focused on the contribution of ROS to the signaling of HIF, NFκB, and Sirtuins as a leitmotif of cancer initiation and progressi

One special question to start with: can HIF/NFkB be a target in inflammation?

Hypoxia and Inflammation are strictly interconnected with important consequences at clinical and therapeutic level. While cell and tissue damage due to acute hypoxia mostly leads to cell necrosis, in chronic hypoxia, cells that are located closer to vessels are able to survive adapting their phenotype through the expression of a number of genes, including proinflammatory receptors for alarmins. These receptors are activated by alarmins released by necrotic cells and generate signals for master transcription factors such as NFkB, AP1, etc. which control hundreds of genes for innate immunity and damage repair. Clinical consequences of chronic inflammatory reparative response activation include cell and tissue remodeling, damage in the primary site and, the systemic involvement of distant organs and tissues. Thus every time a tissue environment becomes stably hypoxic, inflammation can be activated followed by chronic damage and cell death or repair with vessel proliferation and fibrosis. This pathway can occur in cancer, myocardial infarction and stroke, diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, chronic and autoimmune diseases and age-related diseases. Interestingly, proinflammatory gene expression can be observed earlier in hypoxic tissue cells and, in addition, in activated resident or recruited leukocytes. Herewith, the reciprocal relationships between hypoxia and inflammation will be shortly reviewed to underline the possible therapeutic targets to control hypoxia-related inflammation in a number of epidemiologically important human diseases and conditions

VITOM®-3D in lumbar disc herniation: Preliminary experience

Objectives: In neurosurgery, optimal illumination and surgeon view's magnification are essential to perform delicate and dangerous operations, such as aneurysms clipping and tumors removal. In this paper, the authors report their initial experience using a 3D-exoscope in spinal surgical procedures. Patients and methods: From January to July 2018 we performed 9 lumbar discectomies using a VITOM®-3D exoscope. We decided to examine these cases, with particular attention to the surgical timing and to the postoperative results in terms of pain control (VAS). Patient positioning, surgical instruments and approach technique were essentially the same used routinely in standard spinal disc herniation surgery.A "control" group composed of 9 cases was selected from patients who underwent a standard discectomy during the same period with the same neurosurgeons in order to obtain two homogeneous and comparable populations. Results: The length of operative time was measured and appeared to be longer in exoscope-assisted discectomies than in the traditional procedures (average 160 min vs 133 min); moreover the one-month postoperative VAS of the two groups were collected and compared but, after a statistical analysis, these differences resulted to be not statistically significant. No technical difficulties or surgical complications were noted. Conclusions: Despite the limited group of patients, the VITOM®-3D exoscope can be considered an interesting instrument in spinal procedures. It cannot permanently substitute the operating microscope but it shows interesting characteristics that make it a useful tool for surgeon's comfort and a versatile and relatively economic instrument in the neurosurgical armamentarium, as a part of a 3D working station composed by endoscope and exoscope. Keywords: Exoscope, Lumbar disc herniation, VITOM®-3D, Discectom

Chronic hepatitis C virus infection: Serum biomarkers in predicting liver damage

Currently, a major clinical challenge in the management of the increasing number of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients is determining the best means for evaluating liver impairment. Prognosis and treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) are partly dependent on the assessment of histological activity, namely cell necrosis and inflammation, and the degree of liver fibrosis. These parameters can be provided by liver biopsy; however, in addition to the risks related to an invasive procedure, liver biopsy has been associated with sampling error mostly due to suboptimal biopsy size. To avoid these pitfalls, several markers have been proposed as non-invasive alternatives for the diagnosis of liver damage. Distinct approaches among the currently available non-invasive methods are (1) the physical ones based on imaging techniques; and (2) the biological ones based on serum biomarkers. In this review, we discuss these approaches with special focus on currently available non-invasive serum markers. We will discuss: (1) class I serum biomarkers individually and as combined panels, particularly those that mirror the metabolism of liver extracellular matrix turnover and/or fibrogenic cell changes; (2) class II biomarkers that are indirect serum markers and are based on the evaluation of common functional alterations in the liver; and (3) biomarkers of liver cell death, since hepatocyte apoptosis plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of HCV infection. We highlight in this review the evidence behind the use of these markers and assess the diagnostic accuracy as well as advantages, limitations, and application in clinical practice of each test for predicting liver damage in CHC.Fil: Valva, Pamela. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez". Servicio de Anatomía Patológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rios, Daniela Alejandra. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez". Servicio de Anatomía Patológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: de Matteo, Elena Noemí. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez". Servicio de Anatomía Patológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Preciado, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez". Servicio de Anatomía Patológica; Argentin

Towards Safer Robot-Assisted Surgery: A Markerless Augmented Reality Framework

Robot-assisted surgery is rapidly developing in the medical field, and the integration of augmented reality shows the potential of improving the surgeons' operation performance by providing more visual information. In this paper, we proposed a markerless augmented reality framework to enhance safety by avoiding intra-operative bleeding which is a high risk caused by the collision between the surgical instruments and the blood vessel. Advanced stereo reconstruction and segmentation networks are compared to find out the best combination to reconstruct the intra-operative blood vessel in the 3D space for the registration of the pre-operative model, and the minimum distance detection between the instruments and the blood vessel is implemented. A robot-assisted lymphadenectomy is simulated on the da Vinci Research Kit in a dry lab, and ten human subjects performed this operation to explore the usability of the proposed framework. The result shows that the augmented reality framework can help the users to avoid the dangerous collision between the instruments and the blood vessel while not introducing an extra load. It provides a flexible framework that integrates augmented reality into the medical robot platform to enhance safety during the operation