Evaluating the impact of indoor insulation on historic build-ings: A multilevel approach involving heat and moisture simulations

The energy refurbishment of historic buildings is a complex task for building envelope designers who need to carefully consider building conservation guidelines and principles. In most cases, external wall insulation techniques can determine an unacceptable alteration of the historical value of a building. For this reason, internal wall insulation techniques have been used widely in the last few decades. Nevertheless, dealing with internal wall insulation requires a complex design to avoid the risk of condensation and moisture-related pathologies. Moreover, an internal wall insulation may have a relevant impact on indoor comfort conditions. In this paper, the Monastery of Santa Maria de Monfero in Galicia (Spain) has been adopted as a building case study to compare different technological solutions based on: (i) an insulating plaster layer, (ii) dry counter wall systems. In the first step, heat and moisture transfer simulations of the wall components were performed to analyze the hygrothermal behavior of the different alternatives considering two different climate conditions. In a second step, a simulation of the whole building was performed to analyze the impact of the retrofitting strategies on the indoor climate and on the building heating and cooling demand. The obtained results show that the counter wall solution leads to higher energy savings during the heating season in the colder winter climate. However, the use of insulating thermal plaster could also be a viable solution since they lead to several advantages in summer because of their higher thermal inertia. Therefore, the selection of the most appropriate insulation technique has to be evaluated carefully considering the outdoor/indoor climate and using a case-by-case approach

Exosome determinants of physiological aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases

Aging is consistently reported as the most important independent risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. As life expectancy has significantly increased during the last decades, neurodegenerative diseases became one of the most critical public health problem in our society. The most investigated neurodegenerative diseases during aging are Alzheimer disease (AD), Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and Parkinson disease (PD). The search for biomarkers has been focused so far on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood. Recently, exosomes emerged as novel biological source with increasing interest for age-related neurodegenerative disease biomarkers. Exosomes are tiny Extracellular vesicles (EVs; 30\u2013100 nm in size) released by all cell types which originate from the endosomal compartment. They constitute important vesicles for the release and transfer of multiple (signaling, toxic, and regulatory) molecules among cells. Initially considered with merely waste disposal function, instead exosomes have been recently recognized as fundamental mediators of intercellular communication. They can move from the site of release by diffusion and be retrieved in several body fluids, where they may dynamically reflect pathological changes of cells present in inaccessible sites such as the brain. Multiple evidence has implicated exosomes in age-associated neurodegenerative processes, which lead to cognitive impairment in later life. Critically, consolidated evidence indicates that pathological protein aggregates, including A\u3b2, tau, and \u3b1-synuclein are released from brain cells in association with exosomes. Importantly, exosomes act as vehicles between cells not only of proteins but also of nucleic acids [DNA, mRNA transcripts, miRNA, and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs)] thus potentially influencing gene expression in target cells. In this framework, exosomes could contribute to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underneath neurodegenerative diseases and could represent a promising source of biomarkers. Despite the involvement of exosomes in age-associated neurodegeneration, the study of exosomes and their genetic cargo in physiological aging and in neurodegenerative diseases is still in its infancy. Here, we review, the current knowledge on protein and ncRNAs cargo of exosomes in normal aging and in age-related neurodegenerative diseases

Serum IL-17 after one course of sublingual immunotherapy in allergic rhinitis to birch

Recently, it has been reported that IL-17 may be involved in allergic reaction. Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is the unique curative treatment for allergic rhinitis. This study aims at investigating whether one course of birch SLIT could affect serum IL-17 levels. The findings provided show that some IL-17 producer patients had a reduction of serum IL-17 levels after one SLIT course. Therefore, this preliminary study shows that a single pre-seasonal SLIT course may induce a significant decreasing trend in serum IL-17 levels; further study should be carried out to define the role exerted by IL-17 in allergic rhinitis

CD38 and anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies in AL amyloidosis: Targeting plasma cells and beyond

Immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis (AL amyloidosis) is a rare systemic disease characterized by monoclonal light chains (LCs) depositing in tissue as insoluble fibrils, causing irreversible tissue damage. The mechanisms involved in aggregation and deposition of LCs are not fully understood, but CD138/38 plasma cells (PCs) are undoubtedly involved in monoclonal LC production.CD38 is a pleiotropic molecule detectable on the surface of PCs and maintained during the neoplastic transformation in multiple myeloma (MM). CD38 is expressed on T, B and NK cell populations as well, though at a lower cell surface density. CD38 is an ideal target in the management of PC dyscrasia, including AL amyloidosis, and indeed anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) have promising therapeutic potential. Anti-CD38 MoAbs act both as PC-depleting agents and as modulators of the balance of the immune cells. These aspects, together with their interaction with Fc receptors (FcRs) and neonatal FcRs, are specifically addressed in this paper. Moreover, the initiallyavailable experiences with the anti-CD38 MoAb DARA in AL amyloidosis are reviewed