Professional, policy and conceptual divides continue to throw up barriers to a shared understanding between the domains of urban design and development finance. Drawing on cross-Europe analysis, this ...paper explores the relationship between mechanisms of finance and tools of urban design governance, asking how they can work together to enhance urban quality. Practices were conceptualized and compared and those that combined tools were identified and evaluated. The results fed into an evolving typology of urban design governance and helped to establish clear principles for the effective combination of finance and design: adding 'design strings' to the finance of urban development.
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that can generate tissue damage through several pathways. Alteration and dysfunction of skeletal muscle are reported including respiratory muscles, which may ...compromise respiratory parameters in diabetic patients. We have aimed to evaluate the diaphragm muscle contractility, tissue remodeling, oxidative stress, and inflammatory parameters from 30 day streptozotocin-treated rats. The diaphragm contractility was assessed using isolated muscle, tissue remodeling using histology and zymography techniques, and tissue oxidative stress and inflammatory parameters by enzyme activity assay. Our data revealed in the diabetes mellitus group an increase in maximum tetanic force (4.82 ± 0.13 versus 4.24 ± 0.18 N/cm
2
(p = 0.015)) and fatigue resistance (139.16 ± 10.78 versus 62.25 ± 4.45 s (p < 0.001)), reduction of 35.4% in muscle trophism (p < 0.001), increase of 32.6% of collagen deposition (p = 0.007), reduction of 21.3% in N-acetylglucosaminidase activity (p < 0.001), and increase of 246.7% of catalase activity (p = 0.002) without changes in reactive oxygen species (p = 0.518) and tissue lipid peroxidation (p = 0.664). All observed changes are attributed to the poor glycemic control (471.20 ± 16.91 versus 80.00 ± 3.42 mg/dL (p < 0.001)), which caused defective tissue regeneration and increased catalase activity as a compensatory mechanism.
Abstract The effect of environmental gradients on the remarkable diversity of mountain‐associated plants and on the species' abilities to cope with climate change transcends species‐specific ...strategies. For instance, our understanding of the impact of thermal gradients on ecological divergences in populations of widely distributed species is limited, although it could provide important insights regarding species' response to climate change. Here, we investigated whether populations of an endemic species broadly distributed across an elevation gradient employ unique or multiple divergent ecological strategies according to specific environmental conditions. We hypothesised that populations employ distinct strategies, producing a tolerance‐avoidance trade‐off related to the thermal conditions they experience across elevations. We conducted our research with 125 individuals of Pitcairnia flammea (Bromeliaceae) sampled from various elevations spanning from sea level to ~2200 m and cultivated under the same conditions. To assess specific ecological strategies of P. flammea populations across elevations, we examined leaf temperature, heat and cold tolerances, as well as other structural/morphological, optical, physiological and biochemical leaf traits. We majorly observed that water‐saving traits diminish as elevation increases while membrane fluidity, majorly associated with unsaturated and very‐long‐chain lipids, enhances. Low‐elevation individuals of P. flammea invest in water storage tissues, which likely prevent excessive water loss through the intense transpiration rates under warming periods. Conversely, high‐elevation plants exhibit increased membrane fluidity, a possible response to the stiffening induced by low temperature. Our results revealed a tolerance‐avoidance trade‐off related to thermal strategies of populations distributed across an elevation gradient. Low‐elevation plants avoid excessive leaf temperature by investing in water‐saving traits to maintain transpiration rates. High‐elevation individuals, in turn, tend to invest in membrane properties to tolerate thermal variations, particularly cold events. Our findings challenge the conventional notion that plants' vulnerability to warming depends on species‐specific thermal tolerance by showing diverse thermal strategies on populations across an elevation gradient. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Resumo O efeito dos gradientes ambientais na grande diversidade de plantas associadas a montanhas transcende as estratégias específicas de cada espécie. Nosso entendimento sobre o impacto dos gradientes térmicos nas divergências ecológicas em populações de espécies amplamente distribuídas, por exemplo, é limitado, embora possa fornecer informações importantes sobre a resposta das espécies às mudanças climáticas. Aqui, investigamos se populações de uma espécie endêmica e amplamente distribuída em um gradiente altitudinal, empregam estratégias ecológicas únicas ou múltiplas de acordo com condições ambientais específicas. Nossa hipótese é que as populações empregam estratégias que resultam em um equilíbrio entre tolerância e evitação relacionado às condições térmicas que experimentam em diferentes altitudes. Analisamos 125 indivíduos de Pitcairnia flammea (Bromeliaceae) amostrados em diversas altitudes, desde o nível do mar até cerca de 2.200 metros, e cultivados nas mesmas condições. Para avaliar as estratégias ecológicas específicas das populações de P. flammea , examinamos temperatura foliar, tolerâncias ao calor e ao frio, além de outros traços foliares estruturais/morfológicos, óticos, fisiológicos e bioquímicos. Vimos que características de economia de água diminuem à medida que a altitude aumenta, enquanto a fluidez da membrana, associada principalmente a lipídios insaturados e de cadeia muito longa, aumenta. Indivíduos de baixa altitude investem em tecidos de armazenamento de água, provavelmente prevenindo a perda excessiva de água durante períodos de aquecimento e com taxas intensas de transpiração. Por outro lado, plantas de altas altitudes possuem maior fluidez de membrana, uma possível resposta ao enrijecimento induzido por baixas temperaturas. Nossos resultados revelaram um equilíbrio entre tolerância e evitação relacionado às estratégias térmicas de populações distribuídas ao longo de um gradiente de altitude. Plantas de baixa altitude evitam temperaturas foliares excessivas investindo em características de economia de água para manter as taxas de transpiração. Indivíduos de alta altitude, por sua vez, tendem a investir em membranas que toleram variações térmicas, especialmente eventos frios. Nossas descobertas desafiam a noção convencional de que a vulnerabilidade das plantas ao aquecimento depende da tolerância térmica específica da espécie, mostrando estratégias térmicas diversas em populações ao longo de um gradiente de altitude.
► Development of Finite Element Models based on monitoring data devoted to bridge management. ► Full-scale application on a concrete bridge built with a movable scaffolding system. ► Deviations are ...observed between the Eurocode 2 models and the measurements for shrinkage and creep. ► Predictions for sensors’ measurements for the structure lifetime of 100years were established.
The long-term assessment of large civil infrastructures such as prestressed concrete bridges is a challenging task. The real time history related to the phased construction, the influence of the adopted constructive method, the characterization of the employed concrete and the environmental conditions are crucial aspects for accurate predictions based on Finite Element Models. Data from long-term monitoring systems have been used to improve the quality of those predictions, namely to validate the design assumptions, to calibrate the structural model, and to update the safety coefficients.
The new bridge over the Tagus River in Portugal, the Lezíria Bridge, comprehends a 1700m long viaduct, which was erected using a movable scaffolding system. A long-term monitoring system was implemented and measurements were taken since the start of the construction. Based on these measurements, this work presents the analysis strategy adopted to compute the long-term behaviour based on a Finite Element Model. A detailed scanning of all information with relevance for the viaduct behaviour was performed. A full discussion concerning the real long-term behaviour is made, focusing the differences between the measurements and the results obtained with the numerical model, namely the trends due to shrinkage and creep and the variations due to the temperature. Finally, concerning to the viaduct lifetime, the predicted values for the measured parameters are updated, since the predictions based on the European standard rules presents significant bias to be used as reference values regarding the viaduct surveillance.
This paper applies the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration to investigate the dynamic causal relationships between CO2 emissions per capita, real GDP per ...capita, per capita non-renewable electricity production and per-capita renewable electricity production, and international trade in the case of Italy from 1960 to 2011. We find cointegration among these variables in the presence of possible structural breaks and we overcome the problem of multicollinearity in the research design. The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is validated analytically because the estimated pollution model indicates that economic growth leads to less pollution over time. Per capita renewable electricity production reduces the level of CO2 emissions per capita in the short-run and in the long-run, whereas international trade only impacts positively upon carbon dioxide emissions per capita in the long-run. International trade Granger causes CO2 emissions per capita and non-renewable electricity production per capita. Moreover the results depict the existence of the long-run unidirectional Granger causality relation running from output per capita to renewable electricity production per capita, and from non-renewable electricity production per capita to renewable electricity production per capita. The findings indicate that renewable electricity production is a key solution in reducing pollutant emissions over time. This result should be of concern to policy makers.
Non-papilionate and actinomorphic flowers have evolved independently in Papilionoideae, and few ontogeny studies are available about them. The objective of the present study was to better understand ...the ontogenetic processes that result in papilionate and non-papilionate flowers in a sister group of the Pterocarpus clade. Inflorescences, flower buds and flowers of
Discolobium pulchellum
and
Riedeliella graciliflora
were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, light microscopy and histochemistry of the secretory structures of floral organs. The differentiation of the petals is initiated by the petal standard followed by the keel petals and finally by the wing petals in
Discolobium
, in contrast to a unidirectional development of the petals in the corolla of
Riedeliella
. The order of sepals and antesepalous stamen is unidirectional in
D. pulchellum
and modified unidirectional in
R. graciliflora
; however, the order of petal and antepetalous stamen initiation, stamen symmetry and early appearance of carpel are similar in both species. Hypanthium and floral nectary are present only in
D. pulchellum
and colleters in
R. graciliflora
. Glandular trichomes and idioblasts are present in both species. The presence of secretory structures is possibly related to the protection against herbivores, to pollination and pollinator’s attraction since different secondary compounds are present in reproductive structures. The development of the actinomorphic corolla of
Riedeliella graciliflora
has no similarity in terms of floral development to the other representatives of actinomorphic symmetry in Papilionoideae.
•An innovative procedure for the flexure strengthening of RC beams is proposed.•A high performance fiber reinforced cement-based composite (HPFRCC) was developed.•The developed composite is able to ...constitute a better transition layer for CFRP sheets.•The premature debonding of the CFRP sheets is avoided with this new procedure.•The cracking pattern is also enhanced with the proposed methodology.
This paper presents a strengthening method using a combination of high performance fiber reinforced cement-based composite (HPFRCC) and carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP). For evaluating the performance of this approach, reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with CFRP sheets have been tested to failure. In order to better control the cracking of concrete and prevent/delay the debonding of the CFRP sheets, a high performance material based on HPFRCC with specially designed microfibers has been mixed to be applied in a transition layer. As a result, a material with pseudo strain-hardening behavior, high strength and fracture toughness has been obtained. The application of the CFRP in the transition layer surface constituted by HPFRCC significantly improved the performance of the tested specimens. Results show that this technique may provide a safer alternative for the flexure strengthening of RC beams.
Urban Design Governance takes a deep dive into the governance of urban design around Europe. It examines interventions in the means and processes of designing the built environment as devised by ...public authorities and other stakeholders across the continent. In particular, the focus is on the use of soft powers and allied financial mechanisms to influence design quality in the public interest. In doing so, the book traces the scope, use and effectiveness of the range of informal (non-regulatory) urban design governance tools that governments, municipalities and others have at their disposal. Developed from the Urban Maestro project, a joint initiative of the United Nations Human Settlement programme (UN-Habitat), UCL and the Brussels Bouwmeester Maître Architecte (BMA), Urban Design Governance offers the first panorama of informal urban design governance tools from across Europe, and places the tools within a theoretical and analytical framework with the potential to be applied locally and internationally. Last, the book discusses and reveals the essential pre-requisites for the effective governance of urban design. Governments everywhere are increasingly seeing these sorts of tools as part of a necessary investment in delivering the high-quality built environments that their residents, businesses and investors demand. This book shows how.
Abstract
The Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST) is the newest high-resolution spectrograph to be developed for a large-aperture telescope, recently deployed and commissioned at the ...Gemini-South telescope. In this paper, we present the first science results from the GHOST spectrograph taking during its commissioning runs. We have observed the bright metal-poor benchmark star HD 122563, along with two stars in the ultrafaint dwarf galaxy Reticulum II (Ret
ii
), one of which was previously identified as a candidate member, but did not have a previous detailed chemical abundance analysis. We find that this candidate (GDR3 0928) to be a bona fide member of Ret
ii
, and from a spectral synthesis analysis it is also revealed to be a CEMP-
r
star, with significant enhancements in several light elements (C, N, O, Na, Mg, and Si), in addition to featuring an
r
-process enhancement like many other Ret
ii
stars. The light-element enhancements in this star resemble the abundance patterns seen in the CEMP-no stars of other ultrafaint dwarf galaxies, and are thought to have been produced by an independent source from the
r
-process. These unusual abundance patterns are thought to be produced by faint supernovae, which may be produced by some of the earliest generations of stars.
We investigated long‐term environmental influences on morphology of microglia from the outer and middle thirds of molecular layer of the dentate gyrus (MolDG), and on microglia from dorsal and ...ventral dentate gyrus molecular layer. We also estimated the total number of MolDG microglia using stereology. For this purpose, microglia of the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus of 20‐month‐old female Swiss albino mice, housed from 21st postnatal day onwards, in the impoverished environment of the standard laboratory cages (SEA), or in a cage with an enriched environment (EEA), were reconstructed microscopically in three dimensions and compared with each other and with microglia of 6‐month‐old female Swiss albino mice, also housed from weaning onwards in an enriched cage (EEY). All mice had their brains sectioned and processed for immunolabeling for IBA‐1, a selective microglia marker. Random and systematic microglia samples were reconstructed in three dimensions and classified morphologically using hierarchical cluster analysis, followed by discriminant function analysis. SEA and EEY showed two morphological phenotypes of microglia in both the outer and middle thirds of MolDG. EEA mice showed such a reduction in the morphological diversity of microglia that essentially a single morphotype was found. EEA mouse microglia showed an intermediate morphological complexity between types I and II SE microglia. We suggest that type I and type II microglia in SE mice may have different physiological roles and that long‐term EE may be associated with adaptive responses of microglial phenotypes to somatomotor and cognitive stimuli.
Three‐dimensional reconstructions and corresponding dendrograms of type I and type II microglia of the middle (left) and external (right) thirds of the molecular layer of dentate gyrus of 20‐month‐old mice, maintained from weaning in standard cages (A and B) or in enriched cages (C). Type I and type II microglia in SE mice may have different physiological roles, and the reduction of EE microglia diversity may be an adaptive responses of microglial phenotypes to somatomotor and cognitive stimuli.
PDF
