Transformability in post-earthquake houses:towards a more sustainable design approach in Iran

Earthquake is one of the most calamitous disasters in Iran. The hazardsof earthquake are always catastrophic not only during the disaster time but also for a long time after the disaster. Since Iran has particular financial and time constraints, hurriedly made post-earthquake emergence shelters often fail in complying with the minimum needs of the occupants.Thereby, such shelters have always been either abandoned or transformed substantially. Since the initial designs are not thoroughly tailored as to address the future‟s transformational needs, such transformations need comprehensive replacements in terms of structure and construction. Regardless of the other issues that could be brought by these redundant works, they are always associated with an overwhelming waste of resources. In other words, the carbon-footprint of the buildings is often increased significantly only due to not so informed initial decisions by the designers. This study explored the difficulties of the post-disaster housing transformations in Lar city, Iran as a real-life case of study. This paper reports the needs and difficulties of people for transforming their post-earthquake houses. Due to the particular economic and socio-cultural conditions of Iran, the paper proposes to integrate “short-term” and “long-term” housing reconstruction models in order to help the victims have basic but transformable houses immediately after the disaster. In other words, the paper suggests that the potential transformation must be taken into account during very early design and construction stages. The paper contributes to design research and practice and opens new avenues towards more sustainable design with respect to post-earthquake housing projects

Transformability in post-earthquake houses:towards a more sustainable design approach in Iran

Earthquake is one of the most calamitous disasters in Iran. The hazards of earthquake are always catastrophic not only during the disaster time but also for a long time after the disaster. Since Iran has particular financial and time constraints, hurriedly made post-earthquake emergence shelters often fail in complying with the minimum needs of the occupants. Thereby, such shelters have always been either abandoned or transformed substantially. Since the initial designs are not thoroughly tailored as to address the future's transformational needs, such transformations need comprehensive replacements in terms of structure and construction. Regardless of the other issues that could be brought by these redundant works, they are always associated with an overwhelming waste of resources. In other words, the carbon-footprint of the buildings is often increased significantly only due to not so informed initial decisions by the designers. This study explored the difficulties of the post-disaster housing transformations in Lar city, Iran as a real-life case of study. This paper reports the needs and difficulties of people for transforming their post-earthquake houses. Due to the particular economic and socio-cultural conditions of Iran, the paper proposes to integrate “short-term” and “long-term” housing reconstruction models in order to help the victims have basic but transformable houses immediately after the disaster. In other words, the paper suggests that the potential transformation must be taken into account during very early design and construction stages. The paper contributes to design research and practice and opens new avenues towards more sustainable design with respect to post-earthquake housing projects

Genomics of perivascular space burden unravels early mechanisms of cerebral small vessel disease

Perivascular space (PVS) burden is an emerging, poorly understood, magnetic resonance imaging marker of cerebral small vessel disease, a leading cause of stroke and dementia. Genome-wide association studies in up to 40,095 participants (18 population-based cohorts, 66.3 ± 8.6 yr, 96.9% European ancestry) revealed 24 genome-wide significant PVS risk loci, mainly in the white matter. These were associated with white matter PVS already in young adults (N = 1,748; 22.1 ± 2.3 yr) and were enriched in early-onset leukodystrophy genes and genes expressed in fetal brain endothelial cells, suggesting early-life mechanisms. In total, 53% of white matter PVS risk loci showed nominally significant associations (27% after multiple-testing correction) in a Japanese population-based cohort (N = 2,862; 68.3 ± 5.3 yr). Mendelian randomization supported causal associations of high blood pressure with basal ganglia and hippocampal PVS, and of basal ganglia PVS and hippocampal PVS with stroke, accounting for blood pressure. Our findings provide insight into the biology of PVS and cerebral small vessel disease, pointing to pathways involving extracellular matrix, membrane transport and developmental processes, and the potential for genetically informed prioritization of drug targets.Etude de cohorte sur la santé des étudiantsStopping cognitive decline and dementia by fighting covert cerebral small vessel diseaseStudy on Environmental and GenomeWide predictors of early structural brain Alterations in Young student

Deletion of Asxl1 results in myelodysplasia and severe developmental defects in vivo

Somatic Addition of Sex Combs Like 1 (ASXL1) mutations occur in 10-30% of patients with myeloid malignancies, most commonly in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs), and are associated with adverse outcome. Germline ASXL1 mutations occur in patients with Bohring-Opitz syndrome. Here, we show that constitutive loss of Asxl1 results in developmental abnormalities, including anophthalmia, microcephaly, cleft palates, and mandibular malformations. In contrast, hematopoietic-specific deletion of Asxl1 results in progressive, multilineage cytopenias and dysplasia in the context of increased numbers of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, characteristic features of human MDS. Serial transplantation of Asxl1-null hematopoietic cells results in a lethal myeloid disorder at a shorter latency than primary Asxl1 knockout (KO) mice. Asxl1 deletion reduces hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal, which is restored by concomitant deletion of Tet2, a gene commonly co-mutated with ASXL1 in MDS patients. Moreover, compound Asxl1/Tet2 deletion results in an MDS phenotype with hastened death compared with single-gene KO mice. Asxl1 loss results in a global reduction of H3K27 trimethylation and dysregulated expression of known regulators of hematopoiesis. RNA-Seq/ChIP-Seq analyses of Asxl1 in hematopoietic cells identify a subset of differentially expressed genes as direct targets of Asxl1. These findings underscore the importance of Asxl1 in Polycomb group function, development, and hematopoiesisclos

Origin and evolution of the bread wheat D genome

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a globally dominant crop and major source of calories and proteins for the human diet. Compared with its wild ancestors, modern bread wheat shows lower genetic diversity, caused by polyploidisation, domestication and breeding bottlenecks. Wild wheat relatives represent genetic reservoirs, and harbour diversity and beneficial alleles that have not been incorporated into bread wheat. Here we establish and analyse extensive genome resources for Tausch’s goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii), the donor of the bread wheat D genome. Our analysis of 46 Ae. tauschii genomes enabled us to clone a disease resistance gene and perform haplotype analysis across a complex disease resistance locus, allowing us to discern alleles from paralogous gene copies. We also reveal the complex genetic composition and history of the bread wheat D genome, which involves contributions from genetically and geographically discrete Ae. tauschii subpopulations. Together, our results reveal the complex history of the bread wheat D genome and demonstrate the potential of wild relatives in crop improvement

Comparison The Effects of Two Monocyte Isolation Methods, Plastic Adherence and Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting Methods, on Phagocytic Activity of Generated Dendritic Cells Citation: Delirezh N, Shojaeefar E, Parvin P, Asadi B. Comparison the effects of t

Abstract Objective: It is believed that monocyte isolation methods and maturation factors affect the phenotypic and functional characteristics of resultant dendritic cells (DC). In the present study, we compared two monocyte isolation methods, including plastic adherence-dendritic cells (Adh-DC) and magnetic activated cell sorting-dendritic cells (MACS-DC), and their effects on phagocytic activity of differentiated immature DCs (immDCs). Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, immDCs were generated from plastic adherence and MACS isolated monocytes in the presence of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin 4 (IL-4) in five days. The phagocytic activity of immDCs was analyzed by fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated latex bead using flow cytometry. One way ANOVA test was used for statistical analysis of differences among experimental groups, including Adh-DC and MACS-DC groups. Results: We found that phagocytic activity of Adh-DC was higher than MACS-DC, whereas the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of phagocytic cells was higher in MACS-DC (p<0.05). Conclusion: We concluded that it would be important to consider phagocytosis parameters of generated DCs before making any decision about monocyte isolation methods to have fully functional DCs