Building Envelope Prefabricated with 3D Printing Technology

The Fourth Industrial Revolution represents the beginning of a profound change for the building sector. In the last decade, the perspective of shapes, materials, and construction techniques is evolving fast due to the additive manufacturing technology. On the other hand, even if the technology is growing fast and several 3D printed buildings are being developed worldwide, the potential of concrete 3D printing in building prefabrication remains unexplored. Consequently, the application of new digital fabrication technologies in the construction industry requires a redesign of the construction process and its components. This paper proposes a novel conception, design, and prototyping of a precast building envelope to be prefabricated with extrusion-based 3D concrete printing (3DCP). The new design and conception aim to fully exploit the potential of 3D printing for prefabricated components, especially in terms of dry assembly, speed of implementation, reusability, recyclability, modularity, versatility, adaptability, and sustainability. Beyond the novel conceptual design of precast elements, the research investigated the 3D printable cementitious material based on a magnesium potassium phosphate cement (MKPC), which was devised and tested to ensure good performances of the proposed component. Finally, a prototype has been realised in scale with additive manufacturing technology in order to verify the printability and to optimize the extruder path. This study leads us to believe that the combined use of prefabricated systems, construction automation, and innovative materials can decisively improve the construction industry's sustainability in the future

Entry, exit and market structure in a changing climate

Climate change has long run effects on the size and composition of a country's corporate sector. Using administrative data on the universe of Italian firms, we find that an increase in the incidence of very hot days over a multiyear period persistently reduces the growth rate of active firms in the market. This is due to a drop in firm entry and an increase in firm exit, with relocation playing a minor role. A firm-level investigation reveals a dichotomy between smaller firms, which suffer from high temperatures, and larger firms that successfully adapt, increasing production and net revenues. According to an average climatic scenario, the projected evolution of local temperatures will impact corporate demography further, also exacerbating the divergent effects across warmer and colder areas over the current decade

Role of intracellular and extracellular annexin A1 in migration and invasion of human pancreatic carcinoma cells

Background: Annexin A1 (ANXA1), a 37 kDa multifunctional protein, is over-expressed in tissues from patients of pancreatic carcinoma (PC) where the protein seems to be associated with malignant transformation and poor prognosis. Methods: The expression and localization of ANXA1 in MIA PaCa-2, PANC-1, BxPC-3 and CAPAN-2 cells were detected by Western Blotting and Immunofluorescence assay. Expression and activation of Formyl Peptide Receptors (FPRs) were shown through flow cytometry/PCR and FURA assay, respectively. To investigate the role of ANXA1 in PC cell migration and invasion, we performed in vitro wound-healing and matrigel invasion assays. Results: In all the analyzed PC cell lines, a huge expression and a variable localization of ANXA1 in sub-cellular compartments were observed. We confirmed the less aggressive phenotype of BxPC-3 and CAPAN-2 compared with PANC-1 and MIA PaCa-2 cells, through the evaluation of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) markers. Then, we tested MIA PaCa-2 and PANC-1 cell migration and invasiveness rate which was inhibited by specific ANXA1 siRNAs. Both the cell lines expressed FPR-1 and -2. Ac2-26, an ANXA1 mimetic peptide, induced intracellular calcium release, consistent with FPR activation, and significantly increased cell migration/invasion rate. Interestingly, in MIA PaCa-2 cells we found a cleaved form of ANXA1 (33 kDa) that localizes at cellular membranes and is secreted outside the cells, as confirmed by MS analysis. The importance of the secreted form of ANXA1 in cellular motility was confirmed by the administration of ANXA1 blocking antibody that inhibited migration and invasion rate in MIA PaCa-2 but not in PANC-1 cells that lack the 33 kDa ANXA1 form and show a lower degree of invasiveness. Finally, the treatment of PANC-1 cells with MIA PaCa-2 supernatants significantly increased the migration rate of these cells. Conclusion: This study provides new insights on the role of ANXA1 protein in PC progression. Our findings suggest that ANXA1 protein could regulate metastasis by favouring cell migration/invasion intracellularly, as cytoskeleton remodelling factor, and extracellularly like FPR ligand

3D printed concrete blocks made with sustainable recycled material

The use of recovered materials in building construction is one of the most effective strategies for reducing the environmental impacts of the construction sector. Innovative technologies such as 3D construction printing can be applied in combination with recycling strategies in order to optimise their performances also from an environmental point of view. In fact, several studies have proposed the processing of waste material into printable material. At the same time, performance studies must be conducted on the building components produced by these methods. This study proposes a methodological approach to design a 3D printable building component made with recycled materials considering the improvement of thermal performances. In particular, the approach is based on three steps: reuse strategy conception; target performance definition, modelling and iterative simulation; 3D printing setting. The methodological approach has been applied to a 3D printable block using as printable material a cement-based mortar with recycled aggregates and recycled insulating material. As a result, the component’s shape (interlocking and inspired by honeycombs) can be customised to achieve the required thermal performance by using recycled materials in the printing process

Sex-dependent changes of hippocampal synaptic plasticity and cognitive performance in C57BL/6J mice exposed to neonatal repeated maternal separation

The repeated maternal separation (RMS) is a useful experimental model in rodents to study the long-term influence of early-life stress on brain neurophysiology. We here investigated the influence of RMS exposure on hippocampal inhibitory and excitatory synaptic transmission, long-term synaptic plasticity and the related potential alterations in learning and memory performance in adult male and female C57Bl/6J mice. Mice were separated daily from their dam for 360 min, from postnatal day 2 (PND2) to PND17, and experiments were performed at PND60. Patch-clamp recordings in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons revealed a significant enhancement of GABAergic miniature IPSC (mIPSC) frequency and a decrease in the amplitude of glutamatergic mEPSCs in male mice exposed to RMS. Only a slight but significant reduction in the amplitude of GABAergic mIPSCs was observed in females exposed to RMS compared to the relative controls. A marked increase in long-term depression (LTD) at CA3-CA1 glutamatergic synapses and in the response to the CB1r agonist win55,212 were detected in RMS male but not female mice. An impaired spatial memory and a reduced preference for novelty were observed in males exposed to RMS but not in females. A single injection of -ethynyl estradiol at PND2 prevented the changes observed in RMS male mice, suggesting that estrogens may play a protective role early in life against the exposure to stressful conditions. Our findings strengthen the idea of a sex-dependent influence of RMS on long-lasting modifications in synaptic transmission, effects that may be relevant to cognitive performance

Role of Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ-NOP Receptor System in the Regulation of Stress-Related Disorders

Nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) is a 17-residue neuropeptide that binds the nociceptin opioid-like receptor (NOP). N/OFQ exhibits nucleotidic and aminoacidics sequence homology with the precursors of other opioid neuropeptides but it does not activate either MOP, KOP or DOP receptors. Furthermore, opioid neuropeptides do not activate the NOP receptor. Generally, activation of N/OFQ system exerts anti-opioids effects, for instance toward opioid-induced reward and analgesia. The NOP receptor is widely expressed throughout the brain, whereas N/OFQ localization is confined to brain nuclei that are involved in stress response such as amygdala, BNST and hypothalamus. Decades of studies have delineated the biological role of this system demonstrating its involvement in significant physiological processes such as pain, learning and memory, anxiety, depression, feeding, drug and alcohol dependence. This review discusses the role of this peptidergic system in the modulation of stress and stress-associated psychiatric disorders in particular drug addiction, mood, anxiety and food-related associated-disorders. Emerging preclinical evidence suggests that both NOP agonists and antagonists may represent a effective therapeutic approaches for substances use disorder. Moreover, the current literature suggests that NOP antagonists can be useful to treat depression and feeding-related diseases, such as obesity and binge eating behavior, whereas the activation of NOP receptor by agonists could be a promising tool for anxiety

Depressive-like behavior is paired to monoaminergic alteration in a murine model of Alzheimer's disease

BACKGROUND: Neuropsychiatric signs are critical in primary caregiving of Alzheimer patients and have not yet been fully investigated in murine models. METHODS: 18-month-old 3×Tg-AD male mice and their wild-type male littermates (non-Tg) were used. The open field test and the elevated plus maze test were used to evaluate anxiety-like behaviors, whereas the Porsolt forced swim test, the tail suspension test, and the sucrose preference test for antidepressant/depression-coping behaviors. Neurochemical study was conducted by microdialysis in freely-moving mice, analyzing the basal and K(+)-stimulated monoamine output in the frontal cortex and ventral hippocampus. Moreover by immunohistochemistry, we analysed the expression of Tyrosin hydroxylase and Tryptophan hydroxylase, which play a key role in the synthesis of monoamines. RESULTS: Aged 3×Tg-AD mice exhibited a higher duration of immobility in the forced swim and tail suspension tests (predictors of depression-like behavior) which was not attenuated by a noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, desipramine. In the sucrose preference test, 3×Tg-AD mice showed a significantly lower sucrose preference compared to the non-Tg group, without any difference in total fluid intake. In contrast, the motor functions and anxiety-related emotional responses of 3×Tg-AD mice were normal, as detected by the open-field and elevated plus-maze tests. To strengthen these results, we then evaluated the monoaminergic neurotransmissions by in vivo microdialysis and immunohistochemistry. In particular, with the exception of the basal hippocampal dopamine levels, 3×Tg-AD mice exhibited a lower basal extracellular output of amines in the frontal cortex and ventral hippocampus and also a decreased extracellular response to K(+) stimulation. Such alterations occur with obvious local amyloid-β and tau pathologies and without gross alterations in the expression of Tyrosin and Tryptophan hydroxylase. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that 3×Tg-AD mice exhibit changes in depression-related behavior involving aminergic neurotrasmitters and provide an animal model for investigating AD with depression

In-lab characterization of HYPSOS, a novel stereo hyperspectral observing system: first results

HYPSOS (HYPerspectral Stereo Observing System, patented) is a novel remote sensing instrument able to extract the spectral information from the two channels of a pushbroom stereo camera; thus it simultaneously provides 4D information, spatial and spectral, of the observed features. HYPSOS has been designed to be a compact instrument, compatible with small satellite applications, to be suitable both for planetary exploration as well for terrestrial environmental monitoring. An instrument with such global capabilities, both in terms of scientific return and needed resources, is optimal for fully characterizing the observed surface of investigation. HYPSOS optical design couples a pair of folding mirrors to a modified three mirror anastigmat telescope for collecting the light beams from the optical paths of the two stereo channels; then, on the telescope focal plane, there is the entrance slit of an imaging spectrograph, which selects and disperses the light from the two stereo channels on a bidimensional detector. With this optical design, the two stereo channels share the large majority of the optical elements: this allowed to realize a very compact instrument, which needs much less resources than an equivalent system composed by a stereo camera and a spectrometer. To check HYPSOS actual performance, we realized an instrument prototype to be operated in a laboratory environment. The laboratory setup is representative of a possible flight configuration: the light diffused by a surface target is collimated on the HYPSOS channel entrance apertures, and the target is moved with respect to the instrument to reproduce the in- flight pushbroom acquisition mode. Here we describe HYPSOS and the ground support equipment used to characterize the instrument, and show the preliminary results of the instrument alignment activities

MORFEO enters final design phase

MORFEO (Multi-conjugate adaptive Optics Relay For ELT Observations, formerly MAORY), the MCAO system for the ELT, will provide diffraction-limited optical quality to the large field camera MICADO. MORFEO has officially passed the Preliminary Design Review and it is entering the final design phase. We present the current status of the project, with a focus on the adaptive optics system aspects and expected milestones during the next project phase