A labelling strategy to define airtightness performance ranges of naturally ventilated dwellings: An application in southern Europe

Energy efficiency and indoor air quality are frequently-two conflicting objectives when establishing the air change rate (ACH) of a dwelling. In Europe, the northern countries have a clear focus on energy conservation, leading to an obvious awareness of the importance of airtightness, which translates into a high level of regulation and implementation. Meanwhile, the southern counterparts experience a more com-plex challenge by having predominantly passive ventilation strategies and milder climates, which often results in a more permissive approach. This work proposes an innovative labelling methodology to classify the performance of naturally ventilated dwellings. A representative sample of a southern European national built stock is used in a stochastic process to create a pool of 43,200 unique dwellings. The simulation period refers to a month of the typical heating season in the southern European mild conditions. The results test the labelling methodology. With feature selection, ACH limits, and a labelling strategy, dwellings classify according to their ability to provide adequate ACHs. The terrain was the best splitter of the dataset from the applied categorical variables. Regarding continuous variables, the airtightness was the one explaining most of the variability of the outputted ACHs, followed by the floor area. From the best performing dwellings labelled as compliant (Com), the average airtightness level was 5.3 h(-1), with 4.9 h(-1) and 5.8 h(-1) in rural and urban locations. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work was financially supported by: Base Funding - UIDB/04708/2020 and Programmatic Funding - UIDP/04708/2020 of the CONSTRUCT - Instituto de I&D em Estruturas e Construcoes - funded by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). The author would like to acknowledge the support of FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, the funding of the Doctoral Grant PD/BD/135162/2017, through the Doctoral Programme EcoCoRe. This work is supported by the European Social Fund (ESF), through the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Norte 2020) [Funding Reference: NORTE-06-3559-FSE-000176]. The authors also acknowledge Dr. Ricardo Deus and the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere, I.P. (IPMA, IP) for providing the meteorological dataset for this work

Towards an airtightness compliance tool based on machine learning models for naturally ventilated dwellings

Physical models and probabilistic applications often guide the study and characterization of natural phenomena in engineering. Such is the case of the study of air change rates (ACHs) in buildings for their complex mechanisms and high variability. It is not uncommon for the referred applications to be costly and impractical in both time and computation, resulting in the use of simplified methodologies and setups. The incorporation of airtightness limits to quantify adequate ACHs in national transpositions of the Energy Performance Building Directive (EPBD) exemplifies the issue. This research presents a roadmap for developing an alternative instrument, a compliance tool built with a Machine Learning (ML) framework, that overcomes some simplification issues regarding policy implementation while fulfilling practitioners' needs and general societal use. It relies on dwellings' terrain, geometric and airtightness characteristics, and meteorological data. Results from previous work on a region with a mild heating season in southern Europe apply in training and testing the proposed tool. The tool outputs numerical information on the air change rates performance of the building envelope, and a label, accordingly. On the test set, the best regressor showed mean absolute errors (MAE) below 1.02% for all the response variables, while the best classifier presented an average accuracy of 97.32%. These results are promising for the generalization of this methodology, with potential for application at regional, national, and European Union levels. The developed tool could be a complementary asset to energy certification programmes of either public or private initiatives. (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).This work was financially supported by: Base Funding - UIDB/04708/2020 and Programmatic Funding - UIDP/04708/2020 of the CONSTRUCT - Instituto de I & D em Estruturas e Construcoes - funded by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). The author would like to acknowledge the support of FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, the funding of the Doctoral Grant PD/BD/135162/2017, through the Doctoral Programme EcoCoRe. This work is supported by the European Social Fund (ESF), through the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Norte 2020) [Funding Reference: NORTE-06-3559-FSE-000176]

Search for gluino mediated bottom- and top-squark production in multijet final states in pp collisions at 8 TeV

A search for supersymmetry is presented based on events with large missing transverse energy, no isolated electron or muon, and at least three jets with one or more identified as a bottom-quark jet. A simultaneous examination is performed of the numbers of events in exclusive bins of the scalar sum of jet transverse momentum values, missing transverse energy, and bottom-quark jet multiplicity. The sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.4 inverse femtobarns, consists of proton-proton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2012. The observed numbers of events are found to be consistent with the standard model expectation, which is evaluated with control samples in data. The results are interpreted in the context of two simplified supersymmetric scenarios in which gluino pair production is followed by the decay of each gluino to an undetected lightest supersymmetric particle and either a bottom or top quark-antiquark pair, characteristic of gluino mediated bottom- or top-squark production. Using the production cross section calculated to next-to-leading-order plus next-to-leading-logarithm accuracy, and in the limit of a massless lightest supersymmetric particle, we exclude gluinos with masses below 1170 GeV and 1020 GeV for the two scenarios, respectively.Peer Reviewe

Elimination of Metastatic Melanoma Using Gold Nanoshell-Enabled Photothermal Therapy and Adoptive T Cell Transfer

Ablative treatments such as photothermal therapy (PTT) are attractive anticancer strategies because they debulk accessible tumor sites while simultaneously priming antitumor immune responses. However, the immune response following thermal ablation is often insufficient to treat metastatic disease. Here we demonstrate that PTT induces the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines and promotes the maturation of dendritic cells within tumor-draining lymph nodes, thereby priming antitumor T cell responses. Unexpectedly, however, these immunomodulatory effects were not beneficial to overall antitumor immunity. We found that PTT promoted the infiltration of secondary tumor sites by CD11b+Ly-6G/C+ myeloid-derived suppressor cells, consequently failing to slow the growth of poorly immunogenic B16-F10 tumors and enhancing the growth of distant lung metastases. To exploit the beneficial effects of PTT activity against local tumors and on antitumor immunity whilst avoiding the adverse consequences, we adoptively transferred gp100-specific pmel T cells following PTT. The combination of local control by PTT and systemic antitumor immune reactivity provided by adoptively transferred T cells prevented primary tumor recurrence post-ablation, inhibited tumor growth at distant sites, and abrogated the outgrowth of lung metastases. Hence, the combination of PTT and systemic immunotherapy prevented the adverse effects of PTT on metastatic tumor growth and optimized overall tumor control

The CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter Data Acquisition System at the 2006 Test Beam

The Electromagnetic Calorimeter of the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC is an homogeneous calorimeter made of about 80000 Lead Tungstate crystals. From June to November 2006, eleven barrel Supermodules (1700 crystals each) were exposed to beam at CERN SPS, both in stand-alone and in association with portions of the Hadron Calorimeter. We present the description of the system used to configure and readout the calorimeter during this period. The full set of final readout electronics boards was employed, together with the pre-series version of the data acquisition software. During this testbeam, the hardware and software concepts for the final system were validated and the successfull operation of all the ten supermodules was ensured

Prevalence of oral cancer self-examination among elderly people treated under Brazil's Unified Health System: household health survey

Este estudo objetivou identificar a prevalência do autoexame bucal entre idosos e constatar se essa prevalência foi maior entre usuários de serviços odontológicos prestados pelo Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Estudo transversal conduzido a partir de amostragem probabilística complexa por conglomerados, entre idosos (65-74 anos) de um município brasileiro de grande porte populacional. Foi realizada regressão logística binária, as estimativas foram corrigidas pelo efeito de desenho e por ponderações, utilizando-se o SPSS(r). Dentre os 740 avaliados, atenderam aos critérios de inclusão 492 idosos e, destes, 101 (22,4%) relataram a prática do autoexame bucal. Esta prática foi maior entre idosos usuários dos serviços odontológicos prestados no SUS, entre aqueles com maior renda per capita, os com maior escolaridade, aqueles que utilizavam prótese dentária removível e entre os que não tiveram impactos decorrentes das desordens bucais; foi menor entre os que usaram serviços odontológicos por rotina e os que não possuíam hábito etilista. A prevalência do autoexame bucal entre idosos foi baixa e maior entre aqueles usuários do SUS. O estímulo à adesão a este autocuidado deve ser considerado nas políticas de saúde do idoso vigentes, especialmente entre usuários de serviços particulares, supletivos e filantrópicos20410851098The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of oral cancer self-examinationamong the elderly and confirm whether prevalence was higher among users of the dental services provided by Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS, acronym in Portuguese). A transversal study of elderly people aged between 65 and 74 years living in a large-sized Brazilian municipality was conducted using simple random sampling. Logistic regression was conducted and results were corrected for sample design and unequal weighting using the SPSS(r) software. The study assessed 740 individuals. A total of 492 met the inclusion criteria, of which 101 (22.4%) reported having performed an oral cancer self-examination. Prevalence was higher among users of the dental services provided by the SUS, higher-income individuals, people with higher levels of education, individuals that used a removable dental prosthesis, and people who had not experienced discomfort attributed to oral condition, and lower among people who sought regular and periodic dental treatment and individuals who did not have a drinking habit. This type of self-care should be encouraged by public health policies which respond to the needs of the elderly, with emphasis on users of private and philanthropic services, and other services outside the public health networ

Evaluation of the Interrater Reliability of End-of-Life Medical Orders in the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Form

IMPORTANCE Despite its spread in much of the United States and increased international interest, the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) paradigm still lacks supporting evidence. The interrater reliability of the POLST form to translate patients’ values and preferences into medical orders for care at the end of life remains to be studied. OBJECTIVE To assess the interrater reliability of the medical orders documented in POLST forms. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional study was conducted in a public university hospital in southeastern Brazil. Two independent researchers interviewed the same patients or decision-making surrogates (n = 64) during a single episode of hospitalization within a time frame of 1 to 7 days. Eligible participants were hospitalized adults aged 21 years or older who were expected to remain hospitalized for at least 4 days and whose attending physician responded no to the question, Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next year? Data collection occurred between November 1, 2015, and September 20, 2016, and first data analyses were performed on October 3, 2016. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Interrater reliability as measured by κ statistics. RESULTS Of the 64 participants interviewed in the study, 53 (83%) were patients and 11 (17%) were surrogates. Patients’ mean (SD) age was 64 (14) years, and 35 patients (55%) and 8 surrogates (73%) were women. Overall, in 5 cases (8%), disagreement in at least 1 medical order for life-sustaining treatment was found in the POLST form, changing from the first interview to the second interview. The κ statistic for cardiopulmonary resuscitation was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.80-1.00); for level of medical intervention, 0.89 (95% CI, 0.76-1.00); and for artificially administered nutrition, 0.92 (95% CI, 0.83-1.00). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The high interrater reliability of the medical orders in POLST forms appears to offer further support for this advance care planning paradigm; in addition, the finding that this interrater reliability was not 100% underscores the need to ensure that patients or their surrogates have decision-making capacity and to confirm that the content of POLST forms accurately reflects patients’ current treatment preferences

Gold Nanoparticle Delivery of Modified CpG Stimulates Macrophages and Inhibits Tumor Growth for Enhanced Immunotherapy

Gold nanoparticle accumulation in immune cells has commonly been viewed as a side effect for cancer therapeutic delivery; however, this phenomenon can be utilized for developing gold nanoparticle mediated immunotherapy. Here, we conjugated a modified CpG oligodeoxynucleotide immune stimulant to gold nanoparticles using a simple and scalable selfassembled monolayer scheme that enhanced the functionality of CpG in vitro and in vivo. Nanoparticles can attenuate systemic side effects by enhancing CpG delivery passively to innate effector cells. The use of a triethylene glycol (TEG) spacer on top of the traditional poly-thymidine spacer increased CpG macrophage stimulatory effects without sacrificing DNA content on the nanoparticle, which directly correlates to particle uptake. In addition, the immune effects of modified CpGAuNPs were altered by the core particle size, with smaller 15 nm AuNPs generating maximum immune response. These TEG modified CpG-AuNP complexes induced macrophage and dendritic cell tumor infiltration, significantly inhibited tumor growth, and promoted survival in mice when compared to treatments with free CpG

Position statement of the Brazilian Academy of Rhinology on the use of antihistamines, antileukotrienes, and oral corticosteroids in the treatment of inflammatory sinonasal diseases

Introduction: Inflammatory conditions of the nose and paranasal sinuses are very prevalent in the general population, resulting in marked loss of quality of life in affected patients, as well as significant work, leisure, and social activity losses. These patients require specific and specialized treatment. A wide range of oral medications are available. Objective: The present document is aimed to clarify, for professionals treating patients with inflammatory sinonasal diseases, both specialists and general practitioners, specific oral therapies in noninfectious nasal inflammatory conditions. Methods: The methodology used to create this article included the search for the key words: oral corticosteroids, antihistamines, antileukotrienes, rhinitis, rhinosinusitis in the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases in the last 5 years. Since no relevant article was found for the text on the subject of interest in the last 5 years, the search was extended for another 5 years, and so on, according to the authors' needs. Results: Relevant literature was found regarding the use of antihistamines, antileukotrienes and oral corticosteroids in these conditions. The Brazilian Academy of Rhinology emphasizes, after extensive discussion by the collegiate, key points in the treatment with these drugs. Conclusion: There is support in the literature for the use of these drugshowever, final considerations about the role of each of them have been made. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. on behalf of Associacao Brasileira de Otorrino-laringologia e Cirurgia Cervico-Facial.Univ Sao Paulo, Disciplina Otorrinolaringol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Dept Otorrinolaringol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Fac Med Ribeirao Preto, Dept Otorrinolaringol, Ribeirao Preto, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Ciencias Saude, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Otorrinolaringol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Minas Gerais, Fac Med, Belo Horizonte, MG, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Fac Med Ribeirao Preto, Ribeirao Preto, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Bahia, Fac Med, Disciplina Otorrinolaringol, Salvador, BA, BrazilHosp Inst Paranaense Otorrinolaringol, Centro Rinite & Alergia, Curitiba, PR, BrazilUniv Estado Rio De Janeiro, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Brasilia, Fac Med, Brasilia, DF, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Otorrinolaringol & Cabeca & Pescoco, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Luterana Brasil, Fac Med, Otorrinolaringol, Canoas, RS, BrazilMt Sinai Hosp, Dept Othorhinolaryngol, Toronto, ON, CanadaUniv Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Ciencias, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Fac Med Ribeirao Preto, Dept Oftalmol Otorrinolaringol & Cirurgia Cabeca, Ribeirao Preto, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Ciencias Saude, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Otorrinolaringol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Otorrinolaringol & Cabeca & Pescoco, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Association between the use of total dental prosthesis (denture) and the type of oral health care service used by toothless elderly individuals

A reabilitação protética foi prevista pela política nacional de saúde bucal em função da alta prevalência de perda de todos os dentes e do baixo uso de prótese dentária entre idosos. Há necessidade de se avaliar o impacto dessa política de reabilitação. Portanto, objetivou-se investigar se o tipo de serviço odontológico utilizado foi um dos fatores associados ao uso de prótese dentária total entre idosos. Trata-se de um estudo transversal conduzido em uma amostra probabilística de idosos (60 anos ou mais) residentes na zona urbana de um município brasileiro de pequeno porte populacional por examinadores calibrados. Realizaram-se análises descritiva, bivariada e múltipla (Regressão logística - odds ratio - OR). Participaram 287 idosos, destes, 186 (64,8%) faziam uso de prótese dentária total. O uso de prótese dentária total foi associado a maiores chances de uso de serviços odontológicos supletivos ou particulares (OR = 4,19; p < 0,001) e a presença de lesão no palato (OR = 7,52; p = 0,002) e, também, a menores chances em idades maiores ou iguais a 73 anos (OR = 0,52; p = 0,023) e entre os com comprometimento na dimensão incapacidade física do OHIP-14 (OR = 0,20; p = 0,002). O uso de prótese dentária total foi associado ao tipo de serviço odontológico entre idosos, sendo maior o uso entre usuários dos serviços supletivos ou particulares24933453356Oral rehabilitation with dental prosthesis was mandated by national oral health policy in Brazil, due to the high prevalence of total teeth loss and low use of dental prosthesis among the elderly. There is a pressing need to assess the impact of this rehabilitation policy. An attempt was therefore made to investigate if the dental service used was one of the factors associated with the use of total dental prosthesis among the elderly. To achieve this, a cross-sectional study using a probabilistic sample of elderly (60 years and above) urban-area residents of a small city was conducted by qualified examiners. Descriptive, bivariate and multiple (logistic regression/odds ratio - OR) analyses were conducted on 287 elderly people, of which 186 (64.8%) used dental prosthesis. The use of total dental prosthesis was associated with a higher probability of being attended by private dental services (OR = 4.19; p < 0.001) and the presence of lesions on the palate (OR = 7.52; p = 0.002). Conversely, it was associated with lower probability in ages greater than or equal to 73 years (OR = 0.52; p = 0.023) and among those with impairment of OHIP-14 (OR = 0.20; p = 0.002) in the physical disability dimension. The use of total dental prosthesis was associated with the type of dental service used by the elderly, it being greater among private service user