Environmental rehabilitation of the formal city: The case of Rio das Pedras in Rio de Janeiro

This article explores the notion of “value” that lies beneath architectural preservation in order to establish a relationship between cultural and environmental values of the built heritage. To illustrate this case, an analysis has been done of the physical, social and environmental drama of the community of Rio das Pedras in Rio de Janeiro, adjacent to a lagoon where sewage flows from formal areas as well as informal settlements. Even though as a physical fact this informal settlement is a counter-image of the city architecture, the environmental load received by the urban environment is mostly produced by the formal neighbourhood next to Barra de Tijuca. ---- Este artículo explora la noción de “valor” que subyace en la preservación arquitectónica para establecer una relación entre los valores culturales y ambientales del patrimonio construido. Para ilustrar este caso, se analiza el drama físico, social y medioambiental de la comunidad Rio das Pedras en Río de Janeiro, adyacente a una laguna en la que desaguan aguas fecales tanto de zonas formales como de asentamientos informales. Aunque como hecho físico este asentamiento informal es una contra-imagen de la arquitectura de la ciudad, la carga ambiental que sufre el entorno urbano es en gran parte producida por el barrio for- mal adyacente de Barra da Tijuca

Territorio y cicatriz. Concurso de ideas Memorial-Merinales

The hereby presented 1st prize of the Competition “Concurso de Ideas Memorial-Merinales” uses the biography of the Territory to design a Memorial for the prisoners that built part of the “Canal del Bajo Guadalquivir”. It incorporates the “ruin” as a biographic heritage of its site; it uses parts of the already destroyed buildings as a landscape, constructive and design solution. The “Canal del Bajo Guadalquivir” acts as a infrastructural urban element at the Project. The buildings are discretely settled in the site, and have a coherent organisation of the functions in it. These are Exhibition, Research and Diffusion of its History, and the management and maintenance of the Memorial“(1).El Proyecto que se presenta, 1er premio del Concurso de Ideas Memorial-Merinales, utiliza la biografía del Territorio para proyectar un Memorial a los presos que construyeron parte del Canal del Bajo Guadalquivir. El Proyecto incorpora la “ruina” como patrimonio biográfico del lugar, usando restos de edificios penitenciarios como solución paisajística, constructiva y de diseño. El Canal del Bajo Guadalquivir se incorpora al proyecto como elemento infraestructural de ordenación urbanística. “El proyecto hace un planteamiento discreto del edificio, y diseña una distribución coherente entre las funciones expositivas, de investigación y difusión de la memoria, y las propias de gestión y mantenimiento del Memorial”.

Retrofitting and the epistemological problem of urban sustainability

The growing use of green building certificates within the construction industry reflects a societal shift towards environmentally sensitive practices. However, role of technology in providing sustainable commodities can be considered contradictory: while green building certificates neither incentivize, nor disincentivize new construction building in favor of refurbishing, they pose an implicit claim that new construction buildings can be, at the least, as sustainable as retrofitting ones. This paper adds to the rhetorical analysis of sustainability’s discourse by analyzing the gap existing among knowledge and discourse, in public policy arguments made regarding to the choice between building refurbishing and demolition. In the light of the analysis of main indicators of the “three pillars of sustainability” and follows a current policy debate at Bajos de Mena (Chile) where the discussion between opting for refurbishing and new building construction of social housing takes place. In doing so, the paper addresses the quantitative-bias leveraging a developmentalist approach towards urbanization, and highlights the underlying epistemological conflict eroding the notion of sustainability

Territory and scar. Memorial-Merinales ideas competition

El Proyecto que se presenta, 1er premio del Concurso de Ideas Memorial-Merinales, utiliza la biografía del Territorio para proyectar un Memorial a los presos que construyeron parte del Canal del Bajo Guadalquivir. El Proyecto incorpora la “ruina” como patrimonio biográfico del lugar, usando restos de edificios penitenciarios como solución paisajística, constructiva y de diseño. El Canal del Bajo Guadalquivir se incorpora al proyecto como elemento infraestructural de ordenación urbanística. “El proyecto hace un planteamiento discreto del edificio, y diseña una distribución coherente entre las funciones expositivas, de investigación y difusión de la memoria, y las propias de gestión y mantenimiento del Memorial”.The hereby presented 1st prize of the Competition “Concurso de Ideas MemorialMerinales” uses the biography of the Territory to design a Memorial for the prisoners that built part of the “Canal del Bajo Guadalquivir”. It incorporates the “ruin” as a biographic heritage of its site; it uses parts of the already destroyed buildings as a landscape, constructive and design solution. The “Canal del Bajo Guadalquivir” acts as a infrastructural urban element at the Project. The buildings are discretely settled in the site, and have a coherent organisation of the functions in it. These are Exhibition, Research and Diffusion of its History, and the management and maintenance of the Memorial

Blue-green infrastructure (BGI) in dense urban watersheds. The case of the Medrano stream basin (MSB) in Buenos Aires

Conventional urban drainage approaches have historically focused on the volume of stormwater to be displaced with the aim of moving it as fast and as far as possible from the city. They have also been negligent regarding water quality and the inherent value of watercourses to distinct forms of life in cities, from maintaining biodiversity to providing recreational space for residents. Contemporary responses to these issues point to a paradigm change: They seek to replicate the natural mechanisms of absorption and retention, with the aim of addressing pluvial drainage needs closer to the site of origin. This article aims to explore the extent to which such an approach could be accommodated in one dense and highly impervious setting in the Global South. Specifically, it compares urban morphology, land value, hydraulic performance, and politico-institutional conditions of grey and Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) scenarios in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The findings suggest that even in very dense and impervious urban basins it is possible to implement BGI with a significant effect in achieving urban-sustainability goals. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that it is possible to deculvert watercourses in line with Compact City principles through the development of hybrid BGI/grey-infrastructure systems.Fil: Kozak, Daniel Matias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo. Centro de Investigación Hábitat y Energía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro de Estudios Urbanos y Regionales; ArgentinaFil: Henderson, Hayley. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro de Estudios Urbanos y Regionales; Argentina. Australian National University; AustraliaFil: de Castro Mazarro, Alejandro. Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development,; AlemaniaFil: Rotbart, Demián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo; ArgentinaFil: Aradas, Rodolfo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentin

Massive necrotizing fasciitis : a life threatening entity

Altres ajuts: The authors want to thank the Dr. Vilallonga Foundation for the financial support in the preparation of this article (http://www.fundacioramonvilallonga.org).Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a complicated soft tissue infection frequently associated with severe sepsis if an early medical and surgical treatment is not performed. We report two postoperative cases of severe NF after oophorectomy and colorectal resection. Because of the similarity with more benign skin infections at the early steps, clinical suspicion is crucial. Surgical exploration and resection will provide both the diagnosis confirming necrotizing infection of the fascia with vessels and treatment. Also, empirical broad-spectrum antibiotics must be initiated as soon as possible. Regardless of the presence of risk factors, NF is a condition with a high mortality rate and only an expeditious and undelayed treatment may improve the patient's outcome. Surgical focus control requires wide and repeated resections, and planned reconstructive plastic surgery might be necessary

Massive necrotizing fasciitis: a life threatening entity

Fascitis necrosant; Diagnòstic; AntibiòticsNecrotizing fasciitis; Diagnostics; AntibioticsFascitis necrosante; Diagnóstico; AntibióticosNecrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a complicated soft tissue infection frequently associated with severe sepsis if an early medical and surgical treatment is not performed. We report two postoperative cases of severe NF after oophorectomy and colorectal resection. Because of the similarity with more benign skin infections at the early steps, clinical suspicion is crucial. Surgical exploration and resection will provide both the diagnosis confirming necrotizing infection of the fascia with vessels and treatment. Also, empirical broad-spectrum antibiotics must be initiated as soon as possible. Regardless of the presence of risk factors, NF is a condition with a high mortality rate and only an expeditious and undelayed treatment may improve the patient’s outcome. Surgical focus control requires wide and repeated resections, and planned reconstructive plastic surgery might be necessary

Genetic variation in CYP2D6 and SLC22A1 affects amlodipine pharmacokinetics and safety

Amlodipine is an antihypertensive drug with unknown pharmacogenetic biomarkers. This research is a candidate gene study that looked for associations between amlodipine pharmacokinetics and safety and pharmacogenes. Pharmacokinetic and safety data were taken from 160 volunteers from eight bioequivalence trials. In the exploratory step, 70 volunteers were genotyped for 44 polymorphisms in different pharmacogenes. CYP2D6 poor metabolizers (PMs) showed higher half-life (t1/2) (univariate p-value (puv) = 0.039, multivariate p-value (pmv) = 0.013, β = −5.31, R2 = 0.176) compared to ultrarapid (UMs), normal (NMs) and intermediate metabolizers (IMs). SLC22A1 rs34059508 G/A genotype was associated with higher dose/weight-corrected area under the curve (AUC72/DW) (puv = 0.025; pmv = 0.026, β = 578.90, R2 = 0.060) compared to the G/G genotype. In the confirmatory step, the cohort was increased to 160 volunteers, who were genotyped for CYP2D6, SLC22A1 and CYP3A4. In addition to the previous associations, CYP2D6 UMs showed a lower AUC72/DW (puv = 0.046, pmv = 0.049, β = −68.80, R2 = 0.073) compared to NMs, IMs and PMs and the SLC22A1 rs34059508 G/A genotype was associated with thoracic pain (puv = 0.038) and dizziness (puv = 0.038, pmv = 0.014, log OR = 10.975). To our knowledge, this is the first work to report a strong relationship between amlodipine and CYP2D6 and SLC22A1. Further research is needed to gather more evidence before its application in clinical practic