Building Information Modelling in UK Construction Projects: A State of the Art Review

This paper aims to present a state-of-the-art review of the scope and practical implications of the Building Information Modelling (BIM) platform in the UK construction practice. Theoretical developments suggest that BIM is an integration of both product and process innovation, not just a disparate set of software tools. BIM provides effective collaboration, visual representation and data management, which enable the smooth flow of information throughout the project’s lifecycle. The most frequently reported benefits are related to Capital Cost (capex) and Operational costs (opex) and time savings. Key challenges, however, focus on the interoperability of software, capital installation costs, in-house experience, client preference and cultural issues within design teams and within the organisation. The paper concludes with a critical commentary on the changing roles and a process required to implement BIM in UK construction projects, and suggests areas for further research.

Secretome analysis of Trichoderma atroviride T17 biocontrol of Guignardia citricarpa

The fungal species Guignardia citricarpa is an important pathogen in citriculture. Members of the fungal genus Trichoderma are recognized as biocontrol agents but studies on the interactions between both fungi are scarce. This study aimed to identify extracellular proteins secreted by Trichoderma atroviride T17 that are related to the control of G. citricarpa. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D) was used to study the patterns of proteins secreted by T. atroviride T17 in medium containing glucose (control) and in medium containing G. citricarpa GC3 inactivated mycelium. We identified 59 of the 116 spots differentially expressed (50.86%) by LC–MS/MS. Of these, we highlight the presence of glycoside hydrolases (CAZy families 3, 43, 54, 76 and 93), chitinase, mutanase, a-1,3-glucanase, a-1,2-mannosidase, carboxylic hydrolase ester, carbohydrate-binding module family 13, glucan 1,3-b-glucosidase, a-galactosidase and Neutral protease 2. These proteins are related to mycoparasitism processes, stimuli and therefore to the biological control of pathogens. The results obtained are in agreement with reports describing an increase in the secretion of proteins related to mycoparasitism and biological control and a reduction in the secretion of proteins related to the metabolism of Trichoderma species grown in the presence of the pathogen. Moreover, these results are pioneer in understanding T. atroviride interaction with G. citricarpa. For the first time, we identified potential candidate proteins that may have a role in the antagonism mechanism of G. citricarpa by T. atroviride T17. Thus our results shed a light into the molecular mechanisms that T. atroviride use to control G. citricarpa.

Construction Innovation Futures - Industry and Environmental Opportunities.

During the next two decades global construction investment will top $100 trillion (US). New directions in construction innovation will be driven by industry to address challenges in skills, environmental regulations and maximise the benefits of low carbon building systems. Growth productivity catalysts such as offsite construction, higher BIM levels and multi-skill operatives will be instrumental contributors in achieving some of these aims. The increasing use of timber architecture across domestic, public and commercial buildings also opens new pathways. This event will discuss some of the key changes taking place in the UK and parallels with Hong Kong’s ambitions towards delivering a sustainable legacy in this sector.

Telomeres in aging and disease: lessons from zebrafish

Age is the highest risk factor for some of the most prevalent human diseases, including cancer. Telomere shortening is thought to play a central role in the aging process in humans. The link between telomeres and aging is highlighted by the fact that genetic diseases causing telomerase deficiency are associated with premature aging and increased risk of cancer. For the last two decades, this link has been mostly investigated using mice that have long telomeres. However, zebrafish has recently emerged as a powerful and complementary model system to study telomere biology. Zebrafish possess human-like short telomeres that progressively decline with age, reaching lengths in old age that are observed when telomerase is mutated. The extensive characterization of its well-conserved molecular and cellular physiology makes this vertebrate an excellent model to unravel the underlying relationship between telomere shortening, tissue regeneration, aging and disease. In this Review, we explore the advantages of using zebrafish in telomere research and discuss the primary discoveries made in this model that have contributed to expanding our knowledge of how telomere attrition contributes to cellular senescence, organ dysfunction and disease.

Cyto- and Genotoxicity assessment of manufactured nano cerium dioxide in the A549 cell line

In the past decades the growing application of nanomaterials (NMs) in diverse consumer products has raised various concerns in the field of toxicology. They have been extensively used in a broad range of applications and cover most of the industrial sectors as well as the medicine and the environmental areas. The most common scenarios for human exposure to NMs are occupational, environmental and as consumers and inhalation is the most frequent route of exposure, especially in occupational settings. Cerium dioxide NMs (nano-CeO2) are widely used in a number of applications such as in cosmetics, outdoor paints, wood care products as well as fuel catalysts. For such reason, nano-CeO2 is one of the selected NMs for priority testing within the sponsorship program of the Working Party of Manufactured Nanomaterials of the OECD. In this context, the aim of this study is to assess the safety of nano-CeO2 (NM-212, Joint Research Center Repository) through the characterization of its cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in a human alveolar epithelial cell line. A dispersion of the NM in water plus 0.05% BSA was prepared and sonicated during 16 minutes, according to a standardized protocol. DLS analysis was used to characterize the quality of the NM dispersion in the culture medium. To evaluate the cytotoxicity of nano-CeO2 in the A549 cell line, the colorimetric MTT assay was performed; the capacity of cells to proliferate when exposed to CeO2 was also assessed with the Clonogenic assay. The genotoxicity of this NM was evaluated by the Comet Assay (3 and 24h of exposure) to quantify DNA breaks and the FPG-modified comet assay to assess oxidative DNA damage. The Cytokinesis-Block Micronucleus (CBMN) assay was used to further detect chromosome breaks or loss. The nano-CeO2 particles are spherical, displaying a diameter of 33 nm and 28 m2/g of surface area. The results of the MTT assay did not show any decreased in cells viability following treatment with a dose-range of nano-CeO2 during 24h. Nevertheless, the highest concentrations of this NM were able to significantly reduce the colony forming ability of A549 cells, suggesting that a prolonged exposure may be cytotoxic to these cells. Data from both genotoxicity assays revealed that nano-CeO2 was neither able to induce DNA breaks nor oxidative DNA damage. Likewise, no significant micronucleus induction was observed. Taken together, the present results indicate that this nano-CeO2 is not genotoxic in this alveolar cell line under the tested conditions, although further studies should be performed, e.g., gene mutation in somatic cells and in vivo chromosome damage (rodent micronucleus assay) to ensure its safety to human health.

The third dimension: new developments in cell culture models for colorectal research

Cellular models are important tools in various research areas related to colorectal biology and associated diseases. Herein, we review the most widely used cell lines and the different techniques to grow them, either as cell monolayer, polarized two-dimensional epithelia on membrane filters, or as three-dimensional spheres in scaffoldfree or matrix-supported culture conditions. Moreover, recent developments, such as gut-on-chip devices or the ex vivo growth of biopsy-derived organoids, are also discussed. We provide an overview on the potential applications but also on the limitations for each of these techniques, while evaluating their contribution to provide more reliable cellular models for research, diagnostic testing, or pharmacological validation related to colon physiology and pathophysiology.

Evaluation of the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of benchmark multi-walled carbon nanotubes in relation to their physicochemical properties

To contribute with scientific evidence to the grouping strategy for the safety assessment of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), this work describes the investigation of the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of four benchmark MWCNTs in relation to their physicochemical characteristics, using two types of human respiratory cells. The cytotoxic effects were analysed using the clonogenic assay and replication index determination. A 48h-exposure of cells revealed that NM-401 was the only cytotoxic MWCNT in both cell lines, but after 8-days exposure, the clonogenic assay in A549 cells showed cytotoxic effects for all the tested MWCNTs. Correlation analysis suggested an association between the MWCNTs size in cell culture medium and cytotoxicity. No induction of DNA damage was observed after any MWCNTs in any cell line by the comet assay, while the micronucleus assay revealed that both NM-401 and NM-402 were genotoxic in A549 cells. NM-401 and NM-402 are the two longest MWCNTs analyzed in this work, suggesting that length may be determinant for genotoxicity. No induction of micronuclei was observed in Beas-2B cell line and the different effect in both cell lines is explained in view of the size-distribution of MWCNTs in the cell culture medium, rather than cell's specificities.

Investigating mushroom LMW compounds as potential Bcl-2 inhibitors: docking studies using AutoDock4

The B cell CLL/lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) family is functionally classified as either anti-apoptotic or pro-apoptotic, and the regulation of its interactions dictates survival or commitment to apoptosis. Bcl-2 family is also implicated in a wide range of diseases. In some types of cancers, including lymphomas and epithelial cancers, protein overexpression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family, such as the Bcl-2 protein is indicative of cancer in an advanced stage, with a poor prognosis and resistant to chemotherapy [1]. Several reports indicate that mushrooms have the ability to promote apoptosis in tumour cell lines, but the mechanism of action is not fully understood. Inhibition of the interaction between Bcl-2 (anti-apoptotic protein) and proapoptotic proteins could be an important step in the mechanism of mushroom induced apoptosis. Therefore, the discovery of compounds with the capacity to inhibit Bcl-2 is an ongoing research topic on cancer therapy. In this work, docking studies were performed using a dataset of 40 low molecular weight (LMW) compounds present in mushrooms. The docking software AutoDock 4 was used and docking studies were performed using 5 selected Bcl-2 crystal structures as targets. Compounds with the lowest predicted binding energy (predΔG) are expected to be the more potent inhibitors. Among the tested compounds, steroids presented the lowest predΔG with several exhibiting values below -9 kcal/mol. The results are corroborated by several reports that state that steroids induce apoptosis in several tumor cells. It is thus feasible that they might act by preventing Bcl-2 from forming complexes with the respective proapoptotic protein interaction partners, namely Bak, Bax, and Bim. Moreover, previous studies on our research group demonstrated that 48 h treatment of MCF-7 cells (breast carcinoma) with Suillus collinitus methanolic extract caused a decrease in Bcl-2, highlighting the antitumor potential of this mushroom species [2]. In conclusion, the process of apoptosis promoted by mushroom extracts may be related to the inhibition of Bcl-2 by the steroid derivatives herein studied. However, further studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

Los Sistemas de Gestión Documental de Proyectos. Un análisis y optimización aplicada a los Proyectos de Ingeniería en Edificación

La presente memoria de Tesis Doctoral ha seguido un largo recorrido desde sus inicios allá por el año 2007, dado el interés del doctorando por la mejora de la gestión de los proyectos que se desarrollaban en aquellos momentos. La fortuna de haber conocido proyectos de edificación singular en multitud de países, especialmente provenientes del mundo anglosajón, centroamericano y francés, ha abierto el campo de investigación del doctorando hacia la estandarización de la documentación de los proyectos más allá de la actual tendencia en España. En la actualidad, la evolución de los proyectos en el mundo ha sido vertiginosa, apareciendo nuevos sistemas de gestión de proyectos y nuevas tecnologías de gestión de la información gráfica (BIM). A lo largo de la investigación hemos querido desarrollar un sistema novedoso de gestión de proyectos que hemos llamado SGDP que incluya no sólo una nueva forma de gestionar los documentos de un proyecto, sino de crearlos, mantenerlos y mejorarlos. Además, surge la necesidad de conocer cómo de productivos son y van a ser nuestros proyectos, por lo que hemos intentado aportar una sencilla pero operativa forma de definir la rentabilidad de un proyecto de ingeniería y herramientas prototipo que favorezcan el conocimiento de los costes de los proyectos. Para desarrollar estas ideas y herramientas se ha contado durante toda las fases de la investigación con la empresa piloto sobre la que se han implementado los prototipos de las herramientas de la gestión documental y de contabilidad de costes de los proyectos además de ser sobre la que se han generado las nuevas estructuras de proyectos, codificaciones y otras novedosas funciones del SGDP aquí descrito.

Collaborative Web-Based Simulation Platform for Construction Project Planning

Part 13: Virtual Reality and Simulation

Gestation and breastfeeding in schistosomotic mothers differently modulate the immune response of adult offspring to postnatal Schistosoma mansoni infection

Schistosoma mansoni antigens in the early life alter homologous and heterologous immunity during postnatal infections. We evaluate the immunity to parasite antigens and ovalbumin (OA) in adult mice born/suckled by schistosomotic mothers. Newborns were divided into: born (BIM), suckled (SIM) or born/suckled (BSIM) in schistosomotic mothers, and animals from noninfected mothers (control). When adults, the mice were infected and compared the hepatic granuloma size and cellularity. Some animals were OA + adjuvant immunised. We evaluated hypersensitivity reactions (HR), antibodies levels (IgG1/IgG2a) anti-soluble egg antigen and anti-soluble worm antigen preparation, and anti-OA, cytokine production, and CD4+FoxP3+T-cells by splenocytes. Compared to control group, BIM mice showed a greater quantity of granulomas and collagen deposition, whereas SIM and BSIM presented smaller granulomas. BSIM group exhibited the lowest levels of anti-parasite antibodies. For anti-OA immunity, immediate HR was suppressed in all groups, with greater intensity in SIM mice accompanied of the remarkable level of basal CD4+FoxP3+T-cells. BIM and SIM groups produced less interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-g. In BSIM, there was higher production of IL-10 and IFN-γ, but lower levels of IL-4 and CD4+FoxP3+T-cells. Thus, pregnancy in schistosomotic mothers intensified hepatic fibrosis, whereas breastfeeding diminished granulomas in descendants. Separately, pregnancy and breastfeeding could suppress heterologous immunity; however, when combined, the responses could be partially restored in infected descendants.

Investigating the role and function of Tribbles 2 (TRIB2) in drug resistance within cancer

Dissertação de Mestrado, Ciências Biomédicas, Departamento de Ciências Biomédicas e Medicina, Universidade do Algarve, 2014

Characterization of TRIB2-mediated resistance to anti-cancer drugs

Dissertação de Mestrado, Oncobiologia: Mecanismos Moleculares do Cancro, Departamento de Ciências Biomédicas e Medicina, Universidade do Algarve, 2016