Quaranta anni di attenzione all’ambiente nella Tecnologia dell’Architettura - Forty years of environmentally conscious building technology design

This short essay analyzes the environmental approach throughout the history of Architectural Technology, starting from building details up to the present attention to the smart city, land maintenance and urban retrofit, seen as complex research activities, political strategies, design and entrepreneurial actions which have the scope to transform present day urban crusts into organic textures, climatologically consistent, reactive, user-friendly, efficient and with a low environmental impact. The exercise identifies some research and teaching trends for Architectural Technology in order to promote debate and the analysis of the historical perspective and present situation of the discipline

From filopodia to synapses : the role of actin-capping and anti-capping proteins

Actin-capping and anti-capping proteins are crucial regulators of actin dynamics. Recent studies have indicated that these proteins may be heavily involved in all stages of synaptogenesis, from the emergence of filopodia, through neuritogenesis and synaptic contact stabilization, to the structural changes occurring at the synapse during potentiation phenomena. In this review, we focus on recent evidence pointing to an active role of actin-capping and anti-capping proteins in orchestrating the processes controlling neuronal connectivity and plasticity

Consistent Posttest Calculations for LOCA Scenarios in LOBI Integral Facility

Integral test facilities (ITFs) are one of the main tools for the validation of best estimate thermalhydraulic system codes. The experimental data are also of great value when compared to the experiment-scaled conditions in a full NPP. The LOBI was a single plus a triple-loop (simulated by one loop) test facility electrically heated to simulate a 1300 MWe PWR. The scaling factor was 712 for the core power, volume, and mass flow. Primary and secondary sides contained all main active elements. Tests were performed for the characterization of phenomenologies relevant to large and small break LOCAs and special transients in PWRs. The paper presents the results of three posttest calculations of LOBI experiments. The selected experiments are BL-30, BL-44, and A1-84. They are LOCA scenarios of different break sizes and with different availability of safety injection components. The goal of the analysis is to improve the knowledge of the phenomena occurred in the facility in order to use it in further studies related to qualifying nodalizations of actual plants or to establish accuracy data bases for uncertainty methodologies. An example of procedure of implementing changes in a common nodalization valid for simulating tests occurred in a specific ITF is presented along with its confirmation based on posttests results

Usability Characteristics Assessment Protocol Applied to eTouch Ultrasound User-defined workflow Optimization Tool

AbstractThe Ultrasound (US) examination time reduction is an increasing compelling request in sonographer's everyday life. The increased number of patients and the cost reduction are two opposite forces, which can lead the sonographer to work faster without caring about scanning posture. The numerous repeated actions performed can easily lead to Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WRMSD). The analysis of those problems has driven to the definition and implementation of eTouch tool: user-defined Macros appositively created, automatically and sequentially saved and performed in real time by pressing a button. The present work investigates ergonomics and usability performances of a portable US system (MyLabAlpha, Esaote S.p.A., Italy) by using eTouch as well as the classical manual interface in two clinical applications (Abdominal and Vascular). performed by a skilled sonographer on a healthy subject. is. Upper-body kinematic and muscle activation of the sonographer's left arm were recorded through an optoelectronic system (SmartDx400, BTS Spa, Italy) and a multi-channel Wireless Superficial Electromyography (SEMG, Freemg300, BTS Spa, Italy). The number of keystrokes used during the manual procedure was more than 3 times higher than the one with eTouch. This difference implied a reduction of US execution time when using eTouch in comparison with manual use of about 30%. Results of the upper-body kinematic showed that the arm was extended for less time intervals when using eTouch, whereas during the manual procedure there was a greater activation of the deltoid, responsible for the elevation of the shoulder and thus the extension of the arm. SEMG analysis showed that eTouch allowed a significant reduction of muscular activation, especially for the anterior deltoideus. Our findings showed that eTouch is recommendable for decreasing WRMSD risk

Comparison of the immunomodulatory properties of three probiotic strains of Lactobacilli using complex culture systems: prediction for in vivo efficacy

Background: While the use of probiotics to treat or prevent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been proposed, to this point the clinical benefits have been limited. In this report we analyzed the immunological activity of three strains of Lactobacillus to predict their in vivo efficacy in protecting against experimental colitis. Methodology/Principal Findings: We compared the immunological properties of Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB8826, L. rhamnosus GG (LGG), L. paracasei B21060 and pathogenic Salmonella typhimurium (SL1344). We studied the stimulatory effects of these different strains upon dendritic cells (DCs) either directly by co-culture or indirectly via conditioning of an epithelial intermediary. Furthermore, we characterized the effects of these strains in vivo using a Dextran sulphate sodium (DSS) model of colitis. We found that the three strains exhibited different abilities to induce inflammatory cytokine production by DCs with L. plantarum being the most effective followed by LGG and L. paracasei. L. paracasei minimally induced the release of cytokines, while it also inhibited the potential of DCs to both produce inflammatory cytokines (IL-12 and TNF-\u3b1) and to drive Th1 T cells in response to Salmonella. This effect on DCs was found under both direct and indirect stimulatory conditions - i.e. mediated by epithelial cells - and was dependent upon an as yet unidentified soluble mediator. When tested in vivo, L. plantarum and LGG exacerbated the development of DSS-induced colitis and caused the death of treated mice, while, conversely L. paracasei was protective. Conclusions: We describe a new property of probiotics to either directly or indirectly inhibit DC activation by inflammatory bacteria. Moreover, some immunostimulatory probiotics not only failed to protect against colitis, they actually amplified the disease progression. In conclusion, caution must be exercised when choosing a probiotic strain to treat IBD

Effects of water stress on spectral reflectance of bermudagrass

In the south-central Italy, during summer rainfall does not supply a sufficient amount of water. Therefore, irrigation management during dry periods is important for maintaining turf quality. The hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × Cynodon transvaalensis Burtt–Davy) is known to represent the dominant warm-season turfgrass in warm to temperate climatic regions and its drought tolerance make bermudagrass a competitive turfgrass. A greenhouse experiment was conducted using uniform cores of hybrid bermudagrass, which were secured in a polyvinyl chloride cylinders and watered by constant sub-irrigation. The objectives of the present research were to measure the spectral reflectance with a new generation handheld spectroradiometer on hybrid bermudagrass and to explore various vegetation indices to be used as future detecting tool to study water stress in bermudagrass. Moreover, the potential uses of multivariate processing techniques for discriminating different water stress conditions in turfgrass has been investigated. Besides spectral indices, multivariate methods, although performed on a data set limited in terms of sample size, have shown a great potential for water stress monitoring in turfgrass and surely deserve further investigations. There are different indices that use distinct water absorption features independent of chlorophyll concentration, such as water index (WI = R900/R970) that has been reported to be a robust index of canopy water content and is used as an active indicator of changes in Leaf Relative Water Content (LRWC). Also, the ratio of WI with NDVI (WI/NDVI = (R900/R970)/((R800 − R680)/(R800 + R680)]) was found to be an effective indicator of water stress. Another vegetation index to detect water features is normalized difference water index (NDWI), designed to maximize reflectance of water by using green wavelengths. In our trial in bermudagrass the relationships studied, suggest that WI (900/970) and WI/NDVI, among the indices studied, are the more effective indicators of water stress. In fact, lower values of WI indicate higher water stress, while higher values of WI/NDVI indicate higher water stress levels

Early-life nicotine or cotinine exposure produces long-lasting sleep alterations and downregulation of hippocampal corticosteroid receptors in adult mice

Early-life exposure to environmental toxins like tobacco can permanently re-program body structure and function. Here, we investigated the long-term effects on mouse adult sleep phenotype exerted by early-life exposure to nicotine or to its principal metabolite, cotinine. Moreover, we investigated whether these effects occurred together with a reprogramming of the activity of the hippocampus, a key structure to coordinate the hormonal stress response. Adult male mice born from dams subjected to nicotine (NIC), cotinine (COT) or vehicle (CTRL) treatment in drinking water were implanted with electrodes for sleep recordings. NIC and COT mice spent significantly more time awake than CTRL mice at the transition between the rest (light) and the activity (dark) period. NIC and COT mice showed hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor (GR) downregulation compared to CTRL mice, and NIC mice also showed hippocampal mineralocorticoid receptor downregulation. Hippocampal GR expression significantly and inversely correlated with the amount of wakefulness at the light-to-dark transition, while no changes in DNA methylation were found. We demonstrated that early-life exposure to nicotine (and cotinine) concomitantly entails long-lasting reprogramming of hippocampal activity and sleep phenotype suggesting that the adult sleep phenotype may be modulated by events that occurred during that critical period of life