An Exploratory Study of Users’ Preference for Different Planting Combinations along Rural Greenways

The literature highlights the importance of vegetation to enhance the ecological and visual qualities of streets and paths; however, when studies specifically focus on rural greenways they do not consider users' assessments of the planting design. This exploratory study aims to contribute to this issue. It is hypothesized that planting combinations characterized by greater variety and aesthetic flow may be more preferred and restorative. To this end, four virtual scenarios simulating bikers moving along a greenway at 25 km/h were created to find out the following: first, what kind of planting combination is the most preferred, and second, which planting combination is perceived as the most restorative by bicycle riders. To assess the experience, subjects were administered a questionnaire made up of: (i) the Perceived Restorativeness Scale-11 with additional items to assess compatibility, familiarity, and preference; (ii) a list of physical and aesthetic attributes; and (iii) information on bicycle use. The results show that participants' preferences were a ffected by the perception of the scenario's restorative value, which was not given exclusively by the degree of naturalness, but by the opportunity the greenway o ffered to engage in social/physical activities. This study shows that preference and restorativeness are not a "simple" matter of quantity of vegetation, but of quality instead, i.e., planting variety. Designers have to consider that the restorative value of greenways is related to the opportunities they offer to engage in physical/social activities

Sustainable Co-Design with Older People: The case of a Public Restorative Garden in Milan (Italy)

The demographic aging and the evolution of lifestyles require new strategies to promote the well-being and active aging of elderly. Active aging depends on many factors: some of these are related to objective data such as physical environment, others are personal elements; it is important to improve environmental physical factors to encourage personal attitudes to the green spaces in use. To design a small sustainable restorative green space in Milan, Italy, restorative garden design criteria are summarized in the first section of the paper and both social and environmental sustainability are considered. The methodology section describes the co-design process and how it was applied to include dierent older user groups in the design of the area. In the results section authors apply a taxonomy based on the four properties of restorative settings according to the Attention Restoration Theory by Kaplan (compatibility, being away, extent, fascination): this provides a unified system to classify users\u2019 expectations and to describe the final project. The proposed co-design process combines social and environmental sustainability, as it provides designers an insight about the user\u2019s experience in nature. Such information can be fruitfully integrated with professional competences about comfort aspects and environmental protection in order to improve the whole design project

Anterior mitral valve aneurysm is an uncommon complication of aortic valve infective endocarditis. A case report

Objective: Rare disease Background: Mitral valve aneurysms (MVAs) are uncommon conditions frequently associated with aortic valve endocarditis. They may be complicated by perforation and severe mitral regurgitation (MR). Optimal treatment of MVA, and in particular the best timing for surgery, are uncertain. Case Report: A 62-year-old man with a recent history of dental surgery presented to the Emergency Department complaining relapsing fever. A first echocardiogram demonstrated infective endocarditis of the aortic valve. The patient was primarily managed with specific antibiotic therapy. Despite this, a few days later he suffered from splen-ic embolization and an MVA with MR was detected. Surgical replacement of the mitral and aortic valves was therefore performed. Conclusions: MVAs are infrequent but potentially severe complications of AV endocarditis. In the absence of definite treatment indication, the correct time for surgery should depend on concomitant clinical and infective features

Plasma cells in the carotid plaque: occurrence and significance

OBJECTIVE: Atherosclerosis is one of the leading causes of disability and mortality worldwide. Inflammation, including monocytes, T and B cells, plays a key role in its pathogenesis. Our purpose was to evaluate plasma cells’ presence in a large series of carotid artery plaques and the clinical association. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-eight consecutive patients treated with carotid endarterectomy were retrospectively analyzed to assess plasma cells’ presence inside the plaque. A semiquantitative grading score was applied, ranging from absence, scattered, clusters of 5-10, and sheets of >10 plasma cells. Plasma cell’s location, as intraplaque, subendothelial or peri-adventitial, was also defined. RESULTS: In 75% of plaques analyzed, plasma cells were detected: scattered in 63.9%, in clusters in 22.2%, and in sheets in 13.9% of cases. In all cases, plasma cells were observed only inside the plaque. In 13.9% and in 11.1% of cases, plasma cells showed, respectively, a concomitant subendothelial or peri-adventitial distribution. In 5.6% of plaques, there was a simultaneous distribution in subendothelial, peri-adventitial layer, and intraplaque. Association between the presence of symptoms and plasma cells infiltrate was found. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that plasma cells could be a key parameter linked to plaque instability. Some types of configurations are significantly associated with the occurrence of cerebrovascular symptoms

Immunohistochemical findings in the lungs of COVID-19 subjects: Evidence of surfactant dysregulation

OBJECTIVE: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by quantitative and qualitative changes in surfactant composition, leading to surfactant dysregulation with alveolar collapse and acute respiratory hypoxic failure. Recently, surfactant has been hypothesized to play a relevant role in COVID-19, representing a strong defender against SARSCoV-2 infection. The aim of our work was the study of immunohistochemical surfactant expression in the lungs of patients died following SARS-CoV-2 ARDS, in order to shed light on a possible therapeutic surfactant administration. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We investigated four patients who died due to ARDS following SARS-COV-2 infection and four patients submitted to lung biopsy, in the absence of SARSCoV-2 infection. In all 8 cases, lung specimens were immunostained with anti-surfactant protein A (SP-A) and B (SP-B). RESULTS: In control subjects, reactivity for SP-B was restricted to type II alveolar cells. Immunostaining for SP-A was observed on the surface of alveolar spaces. In the COVID-19 positive lungs, immunoreactivity for SP-B was similar to that observed in control lungs; SP-A was strongly expressed along the alveolar wall. Moreover, dense aggregates of SP-A positive material were observed in the alveolar spaces. CONCLUSIONS: Our immunohistochemical data show the dysregulation of surfactant production in COVID-19 patients, particularly regarding SP-A expression. The increased presence of SP-A in condensed masses inside alveolar spaces could invalidate the therapeutic efficacy of the treatment with exogenous surfactant

Molecular Modeling of Mechanosensory Ion Channel Structural and Functional Features

The DEG/ENaC (Degenerin/Epithelial Sodium Channel) protein family comprises related ion channel subunits from all metazoans, including humans. Members of this protein family play roles in several important biological processes such as transduction of mechanical stimuli, sodium re-absorption and blood pressure regulation. Several blocks of amino acid sequence are conserved in DEG/ENaC proteins, but structure/function relations in this channel class are poorly understood. Given the considerable experimental limitations associated with the crystallization of integral membrane proteins, knowledge-based modeling is often the only route towards obtaining reliable structural information. To gain insight into the structural characteristics of DEG/ENaC ion channels, we derived three-dimensional models of MEC-4 and UNC-8, based on the available crystal structures of ASIC1 (Acid Sensing Ion Channel 1). MEC-4 and UNC-8 are two DEG/ENaC family members involved in mechanosensation and proprioception respectively, in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We used these models to examine the structural effects of specific mutations that alter channel function in vivo. The trimeric MEC-4 model provides insight into the mechanism by which gain-of-function mutations cause structural alterations that result in increased channel permeability, which trigger cell degeneration. Our analysis provides an introductory framework to further investigate the multimeric organization of the DEG/ENaC ion channel complex

Controlled growth of the self-modulation of a relativistic proton bunch in plasma

A long, narrow, relativistic charged particle bunch propagating in plasma is subject to the self-modulation (SM) instability. We show that SM of a proton bunch can be seeded by the wakefields driven by a preceding electron bunch. SM timing reproducibility and control are at the level of a small fraction of the modulation period. With this seeding method, we independently control the amplitude of the seed wakefields with the charge of the electron bunch and the growth rate of SM with the charge of the proton bunch. Seeding leads to larger growth of the wakefields than in the instability case.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using α-Helical Coiled-Coils to Design Nanostructured Metalloporphyrin Arrays

We have developed a computational design strategy based on the alpha-helical coiled-coil to generate modular peptide motifs capable of assembling into metalloporphyrin arrays of varying lengths. The current study highlights the extension of a two-metalloporphyrin array to a four-metalloporphyrin array through the incorporation of a coiled-coil repeat unit. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that the initial design evolves rapidly to a stable structure with a small rmsd compared to the original model. Biophysical characterization reveals elongated proteins of the desired length, correct cofactor stoichiometry, and cofactor specificity. The successful extension of the two-porphyrin array demonstrates how this methodology serves as a foundation to create linear assemblies of organized electrically and optically responsive cofactors

Efeitos fixos que influenciam a eficiência reprodutiva de ovelhas Santa Inês.

Esse estudo objetivou analisar os efeitos fixos que influenciam a eficiência reprodutiva de ovelhas da raça Santa Inês. Foram utilizadas informações fenotípicas do banco de dados de um rebanho da raça. A eficiência reprodutiva individual das matrizes foi avaliada através do índice calculado pela divisão do peso ao desmame da ninhada de cordeiros pelo peso vivo da matriz ao parto. Os efeitos fixos foram analisados com a utilização de um modelo misto com medida repetida do índice de eficiência reprodutiva individual das ovelhas. Assim, os efeitos fixos que afetaram o índice reprodutivo das ovelhas Santa Inês foram sexo do cordeiro, tipo de parto e ano de nascimento do cordeiro, sendo necessários sua inclusão para avaliação da performance reprodutiva de ovelhas a ser feita posteriormente

Transmembrane helix dynamics of bacterial chemoreceptors supports a piston model of signalling.

Transmembrane α-helices play a key role in many receptors, transmitting a signal from one side to the other of the lipid bilayer membrane. Bacterial chemoreceptors are one of the best studied such systems, with a wealth of biophysical and mutational data indicating a key role for the TM2 helix in signalling. In particular, aromatic (Trp and Tyr) and basic (Arg) residues help to lock α-helices into a membrane. Mutants in TM2 of E. coli Tar and related chemoreceptors involving these residues implicate changes in helix location and/or orientation in signalling. We have investigated the detailed structural basis of this via high throughput coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CG-MD) of Tar TM2 and its mutants in lipid bilayers. We focus on the position (shift) and orientation (tilt, rotation) of TM2 relative to the bilayer and how these are perturbed in mutants relative to the wildtype. The simulations reveal a clear correlation between small (ca. 1.5 Å) shift in position of TM2 along the bilayer normal and downstream changes in signalling activity. Weaker correlations are seen with helix tilt, and little/none between signalling and helix twist. This analysis of relatively subtle changes was only possible because the high throughput simulation method allowed us to run large (n = 100) ensembles for substantial numbers of different helix sequences, amounting to ca. 2000 simulations in total. Overall, this analysis supports a swinging-piston model of transmembrane signalling by Tar and related chemoreceptors