Open spaces and environmental design

The urban fabric of any human settlement can be analyzed at two levels: the built fabric and the system of empty spaces. Graphically, the two levels are contrary to each other. The first is the structure generated by the aggregation of the elementary unit that represents its governing and invariable element. It is a component that can be managed and its spatial, functional and structural entity can be controlled due to its “box like” structure. The empty system consists of public and private open spaces that form a network of relational, representative and social spaces but also an interconnecting system. So, the identification of the methods to analyze the environmental characteristics of these empty spaces and, therefore, the criteria to improve the comfort conditions of the users, is the aim of this research. The survey follows the branch of research that studies the methods of intervention in historical centers. The need to carry out project interventions in historic urban fabrics pushes the researchers to find the methods to introduce the comfort levels required by contemporary users and, at the same time, to respect the values to pass down to posterity The choice of a strategy involving a certain degree of invasiveness and reversibility depends on the designer's knowledge of the particular context of intervention For this reason, the project carried out in a context having important values, as it is a minor center, requires a detailed cognitive analysis of the site under study that, inevitably, will limit the designer's freedom. The study area is located in the Abruzzi Region, full of minor historical centers rich in deep cultural values

Biochemical mechanism of oxidative damage by redox-cycling drugs.

Biochemical mechanisms of production of redox intermediates of redox-cycling drugs include: photochemical events, either photoionization process or electron transfer from photoexcited states; electron exchange of reduced form of a drug with the oxy state of oxygen-binding hemoproteins; oxidation by catalytic metal centers (oxidases, peroxidases, oxygenases) of the reduced forms of drugs; or electron transfer to the oxidized form of a drug from activated intracellular electron transfer chain (mitochondria, microsomes, etc.). Further reaction of these drug free radicals can lead to oxidative damage by either direct attack of biological macromolecules or via oxygen reduction, giving O2-, H2O2, and OH. The reaction pathway depends on the presence of metal ions, natural scavengers, enzymes that control relative concentrations of reactive species, and availability of oxygen in the environment

Energy Improvement in the Building Sector: An Economic Analysis Relating to the Most Common Italian Masonry

The construction sector is a major contributor to total energy consumption, therefore, it is crucial to adopt energy efficiency strategies capable of reducing energy impact in buildings. Among these strategies, exterior wall insulation is one of the most cost-effective options to achieve energy savings for both newly constructed and renovated buildings. In this paper, based on an economic analysis, we aim to determine the economically optimal thickness of insulation material to be used for retrofit interventions of masonry structures. The study analyzes 10 different insulating materials and 5 masonry structures widespread in Italy. The results show that each masonry structure requires a careful evaluation of the thickness of the insulating material to be applied in retrofit operations. Moreover, varying the type of insulating material used, even if applied to the same wall structure, there are different levels of thickness to be applied in order to optimize the performance of the structure

UAV PHOTOGRAMMETRY FOR RESILIENCE MANAGEMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION PLAN OF URBAN HISTORICAL CENTRES AFTER SEISMIC EVENTS. A CASE STUDY

In the last decades, the UAV photogrammetry has been widely employed to obtain a complete and metric survey in different fields, especially when high resolution, speed of execution and safety are required. It is widely used in the construction sector and an interesting research field is their use to support the historical centres urban renewal projects, especially in post-earthquake reconstruction. In fact, the establishment of a construction site involves several intrinsic criticalities linked to the nature of the context, and especially in a post-earthquake scenario, additional problems arise beyond these critical elements. These conditions affect the preservation of historical centres, planned conservation, risk and resilience management. For this reason, it is necessary to develop innovative methodologies and strategy to plan interventions and to manage the construction sites in the historical centre after an earthquake.The use of UAV photogrammetry is a tool to support this activity in this field because it allows obtaining a complete and a high-resolution geometric survey of the areas to be reconstructed in a fast way and especially in total safety for the operators. For this reason, this study aims to illustrate a methodology that, starting from a series of preliminary surveys, supports the development of the program of reconstruction of a historic urban centre hit by an earthquake event. The aim of this research is to prevent problems, interferences and criticalities in order to increase the safety and rationality of the entire reconstruction process.</p

Glutamine deprivation enhances antitumor activity of 3-bromopyruvate through the stabilization of monocarboxylate transporter-1

Anticancer drug efficacy might be leveraged by strategies to target certain biochemical adaptations of tumors. Here we show how depriving cancer cells of glutamine can enhance the anticancer properties of 3-bromopyruvate, a halogenated analog of pyruvic acid. Glutamine deprival potentiated 3-bromopyruvate chemotherapy by increasing the stability of the monocarboxylate transporter-1, an effect that sensitized cells to metabolic oxidative stress and autophagic cell death. We further elucidated mechanisms through which resistance to chemopotentiation by glutamine deprival could be circumvented. Overall, our findings offer a preclinical proof-of-concept for how to employ 3-bromopyruvate or other monocarboxylic-based drugs to sensitize tumors to chemotherap

BEP & MAPPING PROCESS FOR THE RESTORATION BUILDING SITE

The BEP, acronym for BIM Execution Plan, consists of the information management plan created by the design team to illustrate how to meet the requirements defined in the Employer's Information Requirement (EIR).The big amount of data will have to be organized a priori both for the professionals who will use that piece of information and for the stakeholders who will have to receive only the right information and use specific worksets. Just at this stage, the heart of the BIM method, there are different advantages compared to the traditional process, in which these informational steps were omitted, causing errors, delays and therefore an increase in active and passive costs. This paper explores the methodology applied to the mapping process of the management of a recovery site. For a better understanding of the result achieved, the stages of the process have been explained, from the acquisition of data, through the scan to BIM process up to the construction phases. In addition, the phases (Identify BIM goal and uses, Design BIM Project Execution Process, Develop information exchange) and the steps (Investigation, Identification and Strategy) necessary to achieve the objective have been analyzed. This is the Lean construction and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), methodologies and systems that allow the improvement of the building process thanks to data sharing and communication between stakeholders before work begins so as to eliminate any possible delay.</p

A novel software platform for volumetric assessment of ablation completeness

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the accuracy of a novel software platform for assessing completeness of percutaneous thermal ablations. Materials & methods: Ninety hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) in 50 patients receiving percutaneous ultrasound-guided microwave ablation (MWA) that resulted in apparent technical success at 24-h post-ablation computed tomography (CT) and with ≥1-year imaging follow-up were randomly selected from a 320 HCC ablation database (2010–2016). Using a novel volumetric registration software, pre-ablation CT volumes of the HCCs without and with the addition of a 5 mm safety margin, and corresponding post-ablation necrosis volumes were segmented, co-registered and overlapped. These were compared to visual side-by-side inspection of axial images. Results: At 1-year follow-up, CT showed absence of local tumor progression (LTP) in 69/90 (76.7%) cases and LTP in 21/90 (23.3%). For HCCs classified by the software as "incomplete tumor treatments", LTP developed in 13/17 (76.5%) and all 13 (100%) of these LTPs occurred exactly where residual non-ablated tumor was identified by retrospective software analysis. HCCs classified as "complete ablation with <100% 5 mm ablative margins" had LTP in 8/49 (16.3%), while none of 24 HCCs with "complete ablation including 100% 5 mm ablative margins" had LTP. Differences in LTP between both partially ablated HCCs vs completely ablated HCCs, and ablated HCCs with <100% vs with 100% 5 mm margins were statistically significant (p < .0001 and p = .036, respectively). Thus, 13/21 (61.9%) incomplete tumor treatments could have been detected immediately, were the software available at the time of ablation. Conclusions: A novel software platform for volumetric assessment of ablation completeness may increase the detection of incompletely ablated tumors, thereby holding the potential to avoid subsequent recurrences

Explant-derived human dental pulp stem cells enhance differentiation and proliferation potentials

Numerous stem cell niches are present in the different tissues and organs of the adult human body. Among these tissues, dental pulp, entrapped within the 'sealed niche' of the pulp chamber, is an extremely rich site for collecting stem cells. In this study, we demonstrate that the isolation of human dental pulp stem cells by the explants culture method (hD-DPSCs) allows the recovery of a population of dental mesenchymal stem cells that exhibit an elevated proliferation potential. Moreover, we highlight that hD-DPSCs are not only capable of differentiating into osteoblasts and chondrocytes but are also able to switch their genetic programme when co-cultured with murine myoblasts. High levels of MyoD expression were detected, indicating that muscle-specific genes in dental pulp cells can be turned on through myogenic fusion, confirming thus their multipotency. A perivascular niche may be the potential source of hD-DPSCs, as suggested by the consistent Ca(2+) release from these cells in response to endothelin-1 (ET-1) treatment, which is also able to significantly increase cell proliferation. Moreover, response to ET-1 has been found to be superior in hD-DPSCs than in DPSCs, probably due to the isolation method that promotes release of stem/progenitor cells from perivascular structures. The ability to isolate, expand and direct the differentiation of hD-DPSCs into several lineages, mainly towards myogenesis, offers an opportunity for the study of events associated with cell commitment and differentiation. Therefore, hD-DPSCs display enhanced differentiation abilities when compared to DPSCs, and this might be of relevance for their use in therapy

PDE2A is indispensable for mouse liver development and hematopoiesis

Phosphodiesterase 2A (PDE2A) is a cAMP-cGMP hydrolyzing enzyme essential for mouse development and the PDE2A knockout model (PDE2A−/−) is embryonic lethal. Notably, livers of PDE2A−/− embryos at embryonic day 14.5 (E14.5) have extremely reduced size. Morphological, cellular and molecular analyses revealed loss of integrity in the PDE2A−/− liver niche that compromises the hematopoietic function and maturation. Hematopoietic cells isolated from PDE2A−/− livers are instead able to differentiate in in vitro assays, suggesting the absence of blood cell-autonomous defects. Apoptosis was revealed in hepatoblasts and at the endothelial and stromal compartments in livers of PDE2A−/− embryos. The increase of the intracellular cAMP level and of the inducible cAMP early repressor (ICER) in liver of PDE2A−/− embryos might explain the impairment of liver development by downregulating the expression of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl2. In summary, we propose PDE2A as an essential gene for integrity maintenance of liver niche and the accomplishment of hematopoiesis