Extracellular matrix (ECM) specifically undergoes degradation during the tissue repair and remodeling, morphogenesis, and various signaling activities through its unique biochemical and biomechanical properties. 1,2 Up to date, nearly about 200 Zn-dependent matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with
This paper presents a series of educational case studies for the BIM-enabled pedagogical approaches for learning building systems and technology in the early stages of architectural education and provides evidence-based arguments about the influence of BIM on the students’ learning processes. Using a dual-channel pedagogical framework the study employed an object-oriented ontological approach tightly integrated with the parameterization of building components and their behaviors. Students experienced a fully BIM-enhanced course for learning fundamental concepts of building systems and technology where the creation of parametric BIM models was the main vessel for comprehensive understanding. The results show significant conceptual and practical advantages of BIM-enabled learning as well as the observed challenges in an educational context. The study also suggests positive educational transformations due to carefully devised BIM-based pedagogical frameworks for the understanding of building systems through parametric thinking and modeling. Based on a grounded theory approach, the findings are synthesized in a theoretical learning model including the systemic relationships between building technology content and parametric BIM methodology.
Wnt/beta-catenin signaling may play an essential role in endometrial decidualization, placentation, and the establishment of pregnancy. We investigate here the possible roles, immunolocalizations, and synthesis of the Wnt3, Wnt7a, and betacatenin proteins in the rat endometrium during the estrous cycle and early postimplantation period. Wnt3 and Wnt7a had a similar localization and dynamic expression relative to the endometrial stages. Wnt7a immunostaining was not limited only to the luminal epithelial cells, but also to strong stainings in the stromal and endothelial cells. Wnt3, Wnt7a, and beta-catenin were highly synthesized and colocalized at the trophoblast-decidual interface; and were more obvious in the primary decidual zone, the GTCs, and the ectoplacental cone. Beta-catenin was strongly localized at the borders of the mature decidual cells; however, Wnt3 and Wnt7a immunolocalizations were decreased in those cells. As such, the immunolocalization of Wnt3, Wnt7a, and beta-catenin shifted with decidualization and placentation. The expression level of Wnt3, Wnt7a, and beta-catenin messenger RNAs increased in early pregnancy, and especially between Days 8.5 and 9.5. The dramatic changes in the expression of Wnt3, Wnt7a, and beta-catenin observed during the early days of pregnancy and the estrous cycle may indicate their roles in decidualization, stromal cell proliferation, and trophoblast invasion.
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