HBIM STRUCTURAL MODEL TO EVALUATE BUILDING EVOLUTION AND CONSTRUCTION HYPOTHESES: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) is a technology that has proven to be very effective for the management, preservation, and maintenance of heritage buildings. HBIM allows a digital replica of the building, in which information can be stored, designs can be made, and future actions can be planned. To do this, it is obviously necessary to have a thorough knowledge of the building and its historical evolution. The HBIM model can therefore become the ideal place in which to develop and model construction hypotheses of building portions that no longer exist, or even record its development over time using different phases of work. Based on this context, the aim of this article is to use the HBIM approach for modelling different construction hypotheses and use the model to study the behaviour of different configurations with structural analysis. To do this, the case study of the church of San Michele Maggiore in Pavia was chosen, which in the 15th century underwent major restorations due to structural failures of the vaults of the central nave, which were replaced with the current cross vaults. In the literature there are different constructive hypotheses of the ancient vaults, which have been modelled in HBIM precisely to evaluate the different structural behaviours following the method presented. This article presents the historical analyses and geometric surveys that led to the HBIM modelling and the model itself. In the future, after careful selection of the most appropriate software, structural calculations will be made to study the structural behaviour of the building

¿Afecta la calidad del hábitat alimentario a la capacidad reproductiva de la garceta común, Egretta garzetta?

In order to understand the role of foraging habitat quality on fecundity parameters we measured habitat use, breeding parameters, and body condition of chicks in six colonies of Little Egrets in southern France. The foraging habitat available differed between colonies; it was mainly natural marshes around the Carrelet colony, agricultural lands (rice fields and dry crops) around the Agon colony, a mix of agricultural and natural lands around the Redon and Fiélouse colonies, a mix of natural and urbanised/industrial lands around the Palissade colony, and mainly cultivated and urbanised lands around the Chaumont colony. The habitat attractiveness to adult Little Egret breeding was higher for natural marshes than for other habitat types. Agricultural marshes (rice fields) came next. Other human–made habitats came last. Clutch size and body condition index of chicks did not differ between colonies. Brood size was influenced by both the association of the proportion of natural marshes in the foraging area and clutch size, and the association of clutch size and the total number of heron pairs in the colony. The effect of the proportion of natural marshes could not be distinguished from the effects of the colony size. The potential influence of other parameters not taken into account in this study is discussed.Con la finalidad de conocer el papel que ejerce la calidad del hábitat alimentario sobre los parámetros de fecundidad, se evaluaron el uso del hábitat, los parámetros reproductivos y las condiciones físicas de los polluelos de seis colonias de garceta común en el sur de Francia. El hábitat alimentario disponible variaba de unas colonias a otras, siendo principalmente marismas naturales en el entorno de la colonia de Carrelet, terrenos agrícolas (campos de arroz y cultivos de secano) alrededor de la colonia de Agon, una combinación de terrenos agrícolas y naturales alrededor de las colonias de Redon y Fiélouse, una combinación de terrenos naturales y urbanizados/industriales alrededor de la colonia de Palissade, y principalmente terrenos cultivados y urbanizados alrededor de la colonia de Chaumont. En la época de reproducción, los adultos de garceta común se sienten atraídos principalmente por las marismas naturales, en detrimento de otros tipos de hábitat. Las tierras agrícolas anegadas (campos de arroz) siguen en orden de preferencia, mientras los hábitats construidos por el hombre ocupan el último lugar. El tamaño de la puesta y el índice de estado físico de los polluelos no mostraron diferencias entre las colonias. El tamaño de la nidada estuvo influenciado tanto por la asociación de la proporción de marismas naturales en el hábitat alimentario y el tamaño de la puesta, como por la asociación del tamaño de la puesta y el número total de parejas de garzas de la colonia. El efecto de la proporción de marismas naturales no se puede diferenciar del ejercido por el tamaño de la colonia. Se discute también la influencia potencial de otros parámetros que no se han tenido en cuenta en este estudio

Associating Metrics of Hunting Effort with Hunting Rate: A Case Study with the Wild Boar Sus scrofa

Wild boar Sus scrofa populations have increased dramatically in recent decades throughout Europe. While hunting is widely used in management activities; it rarely has an important role in regulating and reducing wild boar populations. Therefore, increasing the efficiency of hunting is a compelling issue. In this study, we used a three-year dataset (2016–2018) on a wild boar population living in Campania (southern Italy) as a case study to explore how the hunting effort made in collective drive hunts affected the hunting rate, estimated as the number of individuals culled per day. We fitted a Linear Mixed Model, in which we included the number of wild boars culled per drive hunt as the dependent variable, and the number of beaters, shooters and dogs and the month during which hunting occurred as the predictors. A mean of 1.81 wild boars were culled per drive hunt. The number of culled animals per hunt increased with the increasing number of hunting dogs and with the progression of the hunting season (i.e., from October to December), whereas the number of beaters and shooters had no effect. Overall, we observed a low hunting rate. We suggest that adjusting the hunting calendar and reorganising wild boar collective hunts, e.g., through an appropriate management of the number and training of hunting dogs, are essential to increase the hunting rate. Our results can be useful for wildlife managers to enhance hunting contribution in counteracting the negative impact of wild boar

Life's Joke: Bergson, Comedy, and the Meaning of Laughter

The present essay argues that Bergson’s account of the comic can only be fully appreciated when read in conjunction with his later metaphysical exposition of the élan vital in Creative Evolution and then by the account of fabulation that Bergson only elaborates fully three decades later in The Two Sources of Morality and Religion. The more substantive account of the élan vital ultimately shows that, in Laughter, Bergson misses his own point: laughter does not simply serve as a means for correcting human behavior but is rather the élan vital’s vital summons, the demand of life itself, that human beings challenge their obligations, question their societal forms, and thereby create new and, for Bergson, more ideal forms of life and community

Green Consumers, Greenwashing and the Misperception of Environmental Quality

In this paper we analyse a setup where consumers are heterogeneous in the perception of environmental quality. The equilibrium is verified in a setting with horizontal and vertical (green) differentiation. Profits are increasing in the misperception of quality, while, the investment in green quality decreases the more the goods are substitutes. We further consider the introduction of either an emission tax or an environmental standard. The former rises the investment in environmental quality due to the higher cost of production, whereas in equilibrium quality always improves after the introduction of the latter. We show that an optimal environmental standard is an effective regulatory instrument against greenwashing and that the efficacy of the interventions is conditioned to the damage distribution and the aggregate level of emission

Early Immunotherapy and Longer Corticosteroid Treatment Are Associated With Lower Risk of Relapsing Disease Course in Pediatric MOGAD

Background and Objectives We sought to identify early factors associated with relapse and outcome in paediatric-onset myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disorders (MOGAD). Methods In a multicenter retrospective cohort of pediatric MOGAD (≤18 years), onset features and treatment were compared in patients with monophasic vs relapsing disease (including cases with follow-up ≥12 months after onset or relapse at any time) and in patients with final Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) 0 vs ≥1 at last follow-up (including cases with followup >3 months after last event or EDSS0 at any time). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate factors associated with relapsing disease course and EDSS ≥ 1 at final follow-up. Results Seventy-five children were included (median onset age 7 years; median 30 months of follow-up). Presentation with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis was more frequent in children aged 8 years or younger (66.7%, 28/42) than in older patients (30.3%, 10/33) (p = 0.002), whereas presentation with optic neuritis was more common in children older than 8 years (57.6%, 19/33) than in younger patients (21.4%, 9/42) (p = 0.001). 40.0% (26/65) of patients relapsed. Time to first relapse was longer in children aged 8 years or younger than in older patients (median 18 vs 4 months) (p = 0.013). Factors at first event independently associated with lower risk of relapsing disease course were immunotherapy <7 days from onset (6.7-fold reduced odds of relapsing course, OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.03–0.61, p = 0.009), corticosteroid treatment for ≥5 weeks (6.7-fold reduced odds of relapse, OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.03–0.80, p = 0.026), and abnormal optic nerves on onset MRI (12.5-fold reduced odds of relapse, OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.01–0.50, p = 0.007). 21.1% (15/71) had EDSS ≥ 1 at final follow-up. Patients with a relapsing course had a higher proportion of final EDSS ≥ 1 (37.5%, 9/24) than children with monophasic disease (12.8%, 5/39) (p = 0.022, univariate analysis). Each 1-point increment in worst EDSS at onset was independently associated with 6.7-fold increased odds of final EDSS ≥ 1 (OR 6.65, 95% CI 1.33–33.26, p = 0.021). Discussion At first attack of pediatric MOGAD, early immunotherapy, longer duration of corticosteroid treatment, and abnormal optic nerves on MRI seem associated with lower risk of relapse, whereas higher disease severity is associated with greater risk of final disability (EDSS ≥ 1)

S -Adenosyl- l -homocysteine in brain

Administration of methionine sulfoximine (MSO) to rats and mice significantly decreased cerebral levels of S -adenosyl- l -homocysteine (AdoHcy). Concurrent administration of methionine prevented this decrease and, when methionine was given alone, significantly elevated AdoHcy levels resulted in both species. Regionally, AdoHcy levels varied from 20 nmol/g in rat cerebellum and spinal cord to about 60 nmol/g in hypothalamus and midbrain. MSO decreased AdoHcy in all regions tested except striatum, midbrain, and spinal cord. AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios (methylation index) varied from 0.48 in hypothalamus to 2.4 in cerebellum, and MSO administration decreased these ratios in all regions except hypothalamus. AdoHcy hydrolase activity was lowest in hypothalamus, highest in brainstem and, generally, varied inversely with regional AdoHcy levels. MSO decreased AdoHcy hydrolase activity in all regions except hypothalamus and spinal cord. Cycloleucine administration resulted in significantly decreased levels of mouse brain AdoHcy, whereas the administration of dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) failed to affect AdoHcy levels. It is concluded that (a) cerebral AdoHcy levels are more tightly regulated than are those of AdoMet after MSO administration, (b) slight fluctuations of AdoHcy levels may be important in regulating AdoHcy hydrolase activity and hence AdoHcy catabolism in vivo, (c) the AdoMet/AdoHcy ratio reflects the absolute AdoMet concentration rather than the transmethylation flux, (d) the decreased AdoMet levels in midbrain, cortex, and striatum after MSO with no corresponding decrease in AdoHcy suggest an enhanced AdoMet utilization, hence an increased transmethylation in the MSO preconvulsant state.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45411/1/11064_2004_Article_BF00966019.pd

Transmethylation inhibitors decrease chemotactic sensitivity and delay cell aggregation in Dictyostelium discoideum

In Dictyostelium discoideum, extracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) induces chemotaxis and cell aggregation. Suspensions of cAMP-sensitive cells respond to a cAMP pulse with a rapid, transient increase of protein carboxyl methylation. The transmethylation inhibitors cycloleucine, L-homocysteine thiolactone, and coformycin decrease chemotactic sensitivity and delay cell aggregation when administered in concentrations which do not influence cAMP binding to cell surface receptors or the activity of total phosphodiesterase. The ability of the drugs to inhibit chemotaxis could be correlated with their capacity to convert the initial transient positive response of carboxyl methylation to cAMP into a negative one. This suggests that both protein O-methyltransferase and protein methylesterase are activated after stimulation of aggregative cells with cAMP, the net effect being a transient, positive response of methylation. In the presence of a sufficiently large dose of inhibitor, methyltransferase is inhibited, whereas methylesterase activity is much less affected, so that a transient negative response of methylation to cAMP is observed. The slow, positive response of carboxyl methylation to cAMP which occurs ca. 2.5 to 5 min after stimulus administration is not affected by inhibitors of transmethylation. These results suggest that methylation reactions are involved in the chemotactic response of D. discoideum cells to cAMP