This paper aims to propose a conceptual model to create and select smart home conceptions from the user-centric and sustainable perspective, using the Design Thinking approach. Although considerable ...research has been devoted to smart homes in the last two decades, gaps are evident in current research concerning the creation and selection of smart home conceptions from both user-centric and sustainable perspectives. A systematic literature review covering the period 2000–2020 indicated that Design Thinking (DT) has rarely been exploited in smart home projects. The applicability of the proposed model could be demonstrated in the context of a smart home project in Brazil (NO.V.A. Project) conducted by an energy distribution player in this country in cooperation with two local universities and other institutional partners. The replication of this approach in smart home projects will allow decision-makers and project managers to place future residents at the center of the smart home design, creating and selecting the best conceptions that will meet users’ desires, expectations, and needs that can be transformed into reality.
In addition to increasing β-amyloid plaque deposition and tau tangle formation, inhibition of neurogenesis has recently been observed in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study generated a cellular ...model that recapitulated neurogenesis defects observed in patients with AD, using induced pluripotent stem cell lines derived from sporadic and familial AD (AD iPSCs). AD iPSCs exhibited impaired neuron and oligodendrocyte generation when expression of several senescence markers was induced. Compound screening using these cellular models identified three drugs able to restore neurogenesis, and extensive morphological quantification revealed cell-line- and drug-type-dependent neuronal generation. We also found involvement of elevated Sma- and Mad-related protein 1/5/9 (SMAD1/5/9) phosphorylation and greater Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) expression in neurogenesis defects in AD. Moreover, BMP4 was elevated in AD iPSC medium during neural differentiation and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with AD, suggesting a BMP4-SMAD1/5/9-RUNX2 signaling pathway contribution to neurogenesis defects in AD under senescence-related conditions.
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•A cellular model recapitulating neurogenesis defects was generated using AD iPSCs•LDN-193189 (LDN), isotretinoin, and SAG restored AD iPSCs neurogenesis•Morphological analysis revealed cell-type- and drug-type-dependent recovery effects•LDN induced neurogenesis through SMAD1/5/9-RUNX2 suppression and BMP4 hyposecretion
Recent studies demonstrated the defects in neurogenesis in AD brains. Nakatsu et al. created a neuronal differentiation system in which sporadic and familial AD-derived iPSCs showed neurogenesis inhibition. They demonstrated that SMAD1/5/9 activation in AD iPSCs, which was induced by enhanced BMP4 secretion, inhibited neurogenesis and oligodendrogenesis via RUNX2 expression regulation while enhancing astrocyte differentiation.
With the increase in urban development intensity, the urban climate has become an important factor affecting sustainable development. The role of urban ventilation corridors in improving urban ...climate has received widespread attention. Urban ventilation identification and planning based on morphological methods have been initially applied. Traditional morphological methods do not adequately consider the dynamic process of air flow, resulting in a rough evaluation of urban ventilation patterns. This study proposes a new urban-scale ventilation corridor identification method that integrates the Lattice Boltzmann method and the K-means algorithm. Taking Wuhan, China as the research area, an empirical study in different wind directions was conducted on a 20 m grid. The results showed that three levels of ventilation corridors (245.47 km2 in total) and two levels of ventilation obstruction areas (658.09 km2 in total) were identified to depict the ventilation pattern of Wuhan’s central urban area. The method proposed in this study can meet the needs of urban-scale ventilation corridor identification in terms of spatial coverage, spatial distribution rate and dynamic analysis. Compared with the classic least cumulative ventilation cost method, the method proposed in this study can provide more morphologic details of the ventilation corridors. This plays a very important role in urban planning based on urban ventilation theory.
This protocol describes the automated imaging and a quantitative analysis of the morphology of small plants from the moss Physcomitrella patens. This method can be used for the analysis of growth ...phenotypes produced by transient RNA interference or for the analysis of stable mutant plants. Furthermore, we describe how to acquire higher resolution images via the acquisition of a collection of multiple overlapping tiles from the same image. Information is presented to guide the investigator in the choice of vectors and basic conditions to perform transient RNA interference in moss. Detailed directions and examples for fluorescence image acquisition of small regenerating moss plants are provided. Instructions for stitching image tiles and for using an ImageJ-based macro for the quantitative morphological analysis of moss plants are also provided.
Background: Progressive neurodegenerative impairment with central language features, primary progressive aphasia (PPA), can be further distinguished for many individuals into one of three variants: ...semantic, non-fluent/agrammatic, and logopenic variant PPA. Variants differ in their relative preservation and deficits of language skills, particularly in word finding and grammar. The majority of elicited language assessments used in this population focus on single noun and verb production, while modifiers and inflectional morphemes are far less commonly examined.
Aims: The purpose of the present study is to determine whether there was an interaction between PPA variant and production of high-frequency nouns, proper names, modifiers, and bound inflectional morphemes to better understand how the variants differ.
Methods & Procedures: Forty-six people with PPA and 47 individuals with no known neurological diagnoses completed a morphosyntactic generation assessment designed to target differential production of high-frequency nouns, proper names, modifiers (number, size, color), and bound inflectional morphemes (plural -s and possessive 's), the Morphosyntactic Generation test (MorGen). Performance is averaged for each of the seven morphosyntactic targets independently, resulting in seven separate performance scores.
Outcomes & Results: Individuals with PPA performed significantly more poorly than controls on the assessed morphemes in a repeated-measures analysis of variance, as well as on each morpheme considered independently via t-test.
In a multivariable analysis of variance among PPA variants, the interaction of morpheme and PPA variant was significant, suggesting different variants produced the morphemes with a significantly different pattern of success. When morphemes were considered independently, only production of colour resulted in a significant difference between variants, driven by the performance of individuals with nfavPPA, who performed near-ceiling. When MorGen performance was used to predict PPA variant in a multinomial logistic regression the model was significant, with age, plural -s, noun, and number contributing significantly to the prediction. In a discriminate function analysis, classification of cases was best for agrammatic variant with 70% accuracy.
Conclusions: Individuals with PPA, particularly semantic and logopenic variants, demonstrated difficulty on the MorGen compared to controls. The MorGen proved useful in predicting PPA variant. These findings highlight the potential benefit of examining a broader range of morphemes, particularly bound morphemes and modifiers, in addition to the more frequently investigated classes of nouns and verbs when understanding PPA.
This paper examines the semantic factors involved in three crucial questions about suppletion in verbs: what verbs develop suppletion, what verbs contribute to suppletive paradigms, and how roots are ...distributed in suppletive paradigms. My analysis shows that the development of suppletion is more orderly than commonly believed. Specifically, semantic distance and other semantic factors facilitate explanations of suppletive patterns that earlier studies focusing on typological and morphological considerations could not account for. I apply semantic maps to well‐known cases of suppletion in addition to underreported and previously unreported patterns, including Hungarian data displaying a previously unknown type of suppletion—non‐aligned overlapping suppletion—where forms shared by separate lexemes belong to distinct parts of their paradigms. I contextualize semantic factors in the relationships between synchronic types and diachronic sources. My analysis refines our understanding of suppletion types and shows the logic behind suppletive distributions.
Infections by ectoparasitic trichodinid ciliates cause epidermal damages to artificially reared juvenile barfin flounder Verasper moseri of mariculture fisheries in Hokkaido, northern Japan. In the ...present study, morphological observation and molecular phylogenetic analysis using the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rDNA) were performed to identify the trichodinid ciliates. Morphological analysis of denticles and adoral ciliary spiral demonstrated that the trichodinid ciliate belongs to the genus Trichodina within ten genera of Trichodinidae. Denticles of the trichodinid ciliate were clearly distinguishable from those of other Trichodina species by small denticle span, and extensive elongation of the central conical part and anterior ray apophysis. All the isolated ciliate had the same 1,699 base pair SSU rDNA nucleotide sequences, which revealed that the trichodinid ciliates comprised a single species. The SSU rDNA of the trichodinid ciliate showed the highest homology with that of T. pectenis (98.5%) among 30 species of trichodinid ciliates, and the two species formed a single clade in the phylogenetic tree. However, no identical sequence with the present trichodinid ciliate was found in the database. We propose Trichodina hokkaidoensis n. sp. for the ciliate infecting artificially reared juvenile barfin flounder, based on both morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses.
The current study aimed to investigate whether exposure to spellings would boost memory of meanings and spellings of morphologically complex words, and when spellings are present, whether drawing ...attention to the morphology of derivative words would activate morphological analysis and therefore enhance word learning. Participants were 36 fourth and fifth graders (20 Spanish speakers, and 16 English speakers) from an elementary school in the Southeastern U.S. students were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: (a) group A, simple spelling exposure group; and (b) group B, drawing attention to morphology group. Each group learned 12 low-frequency morphologically complex words (e.g.,
odorous
) in two orthographic conditions: with the presence of spelling (1) and with the absence of spelling (2). Three learning trials and three test trials were interweaved. After each learning trial, students were prompted to meaning and spelling recall for each target word. Results have extended the evidence of orthographic facilitation effect to morphologically complex words. Students with both higher and lower word reading skills benefitted from spelling presence. Drawing attention to morphology did not enhance the memory of meanings and spellings of morphologically complex words, in comparison to spelling exposure only condition. Implications for vocabulary learning theories and instruction for linguistically diverse students were discussed.
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