Cognitive Digital Twin Framework for Life Cycle Assessment Supporting Building Sustainability

Digital Twins is crucially connected to the asset lifecycle that requires timely adaptive strategies and real-timed control of the processes implemented according to variable conditions. The multiple advantages of a digital twin are fully deployed when a cognitive concept is applied. The data gathering systems that can be implemented in the actual building can empower the awareness of the processes triggering changes in the building during the Operations and Maintenance phase and promote implementation strategies to increase the energy performance according to standards and requirements. In the research, a BIM-based process for Life Cycle Assessment and replacement of materials to decrease the environmental impact of a test building are explored with the aim to upsurge efficiency and test interoperability of the workflow. A framework to outline the structure of a cognitive digital twin to upkeep the sustainable operation of the building is presented and evaluated emphasizing the benefits and the procedures that can be activated to increase asset efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint. The goal of the proposed approach lies in the creation of a structured architecture that can sustain the building in the life cycle checking possible implementation during the maintenance through materials replacement and consequent energy performances

Rapid alkalinization factor 22 has a structural and signalling role in root hair cell wall assembly

Pressurized cells with strong walls make up the hydrostatic skeleton of plants. Assembly and expansion of such stressed walls depend on a family of secreted RAPID ALKALINIZATION FACTOR (RALF) peptides, which bind both a membrane receptor complex and wall-localized LEUCINE-RICH REPEAT EXTENSIN (LRXs) in a mutually exclusive way. Here we show that, in root hairs, the RALF22 peptide has a dual structural and signalling role in cell expansion. Together with LRX1, it directs the compaction of charged pectin polymers at the root hair tip into periodic circumferential rings. Free RALF22 induces the formation of a complex with LORELEI-LIKE-GPI-ANCHORED PROTEIN 1 and FERONIA, triggering adaptive cellular responses. These findings show how a peptide simultaneously functions as a structural component organizing cell wall architecture and as a feedback signalling molecule that regulates this process depending on its interaction partners. This mechanism may also underlie wall assembly and expansion in other plant cell types.The authors show that RALF22 has a dual role in cell wall assembly in root hairs: as a structural component organizing cell wall architecture and as a feedback signalling molecule that regulates this process depending on its interaction partners

The peri-germ cell membrane: poorly characterized but key interface for plant reproduction

Over the past 50 years, only a few studies have examined the peri-germ cell membrane. Nonetheless, it has been assigned multiple names. For example, the peri-germ cell membrane was identified in 1969 (ref. 1) as the ‘generative cell envelope’. Subsequent ultrastructural work in the 1980s led to new names, including ‘internal plasma membrane of the vegetative cell’, ‘inner plasma membrane of the pollen grain’ and ‘inner vegetative cell plasma membrane’2,3,4,5,6. Another study referred to it as the ‘pollen tube inner plasma membrane’ when considering the pollen tube7. When the Arabidopsis small GTPase RHO OF PLANTS 9 (AtROP9) was identified as the first protein reported to locate to this membrane, the authors named it the ‘invaginated pollen tube plasma membrane’8. More recently, when the maize NOT-LIKE-DAD protein (NLD; also known as MATRILINEAL (MTL) or PHOSPHOLIPASE-A1 (ZmPLA1)) was found to localize exclusively to the peri-germ cell membrane, the authors named it the ‘pollen endo-plasma membrane’9. This diverse nomenclature causes confusion and calls for the implementation of a consensus on terminology. For example, the term ‘generative cell envelope’ is too restrictive, as the peri-germ cell membrane also encloses the two sperm cells. Similarly, the use of ‘pollen tube’ in the nomenclature is not appropriate because this membrane is also present before pollen germination. Furthermore, using ‘plasma membrane’ could lead to confusion with the classical plasma membrane (PM) of the generative cell, sperm cells or vegetative cell. Additionally, the term plasma membrane is misleading, given that the peri-germ cell membrane may differ in protein and lipid composition from the classical PM