Progress on the implementation of Energy Performance Certificates in EU

Energy performance certificates (EPCs) are a key policy tool to inform about and to foster improvements to the energy performance of the building stock. Since their introduction in 2002 by the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), EPCs have been implemented across Member States (MSs) in different ways, depending on the political and legal context, the available technical capacities, as well as the characteristics of the buildings stock and buildings market in general. In 2021, in the context of ?Fit for 55? legislative package, the European Commission proposed the third revision of the EPBD. The proposal improves the provisions on EPCs, their issuing and display, and their databases. In particular, it pursues harmonisation across MSs through a mandatory template for EPCs and a harmonised scale of energy performance classes. This report presents the results of a survey conducted by JRC among MSs to collect information on how each MS has implemented the EPC scheme. It highlights differences among MSs regarding the energy uses included in the calculation, the floor area considered, the definition of energy classes, the main indicator(s), the number of EPCs issued, the availability of a national register, the mechanisms in place to ensure the quality of EPCs

Acute kidney injury promotes development of papillary renal cell adenoma and carcinoma from renal progenitor cells.

Acute tissue injury causes DNA damage and repair processes involving increased cell mitosis and polyploidization, leading to cell function alterations that may potentially drive cancer development. Here, we show that acute kidney injury (AKI) increased the risk for papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) development and tumor relapse in humans as confirmed by data collected from several single-center and multicentric studies. Lineage tracing of tubular epithelial cells (TECs) after AKI induction and long-term follow-up in mice showed time-dependent onset of clonal papillary tumors in an adenoma-carcinoma sequence. Among AKI-related pathways, NOTCH1 overexpression in human pRCC associated with worse outcome and was specific for type 2 pRCC. Mice overexpressing NOTCH1 in TECs developed papillary adenomas and type 2 pRCCs, and AKI accelerated this process. Lineage tracing in mice identified single renal progenitors as the cell of origin of papillary tumors. Single-cell RNA sequencing showed that human renal progenitor transcriptome showed similarities to PT1, the putative cell of origin of human pRCC. Furthermore, NOTCH1 overexpression in cultured human renal progenitor cells induced tumor-like 3D growth. Thus, AKI can drive tumorigenesis from local tissue progenitor cells. In particular, we find that AKI promotes the development of pRCC from single progenitors through a classical adenoma-carcinoma sequence

Logistic density-dependent growth of an Aurelia aurita polyps population

We show in this paper that the dynamics of an Aurelia aurita polyps population can be modeled by the basic density-dependent logistic, or Verhulst, ordinary differential equation. A laboratory experiment was conducted on polyps of A. aurita attached to oyster shells collected in 2013 from the Port of Koper, Slovenia (North Adriatic Sea). The purpose of the present work is twofold: to study how the substrate availability may affect the growth of the polyps (and consequently of the jellyfish) population, and to propose an example for the classic logistic equation, both in high density (over the equilibrium) and in low density (under the equilibrium)

The white marble of the cloister of the Real College-Seminar of Corpus Christi in Valencia (Spain): archival researches for de identification of its provenance and diagnostic studies for understanding its decay

White marble and Ribarroja stone are the stone materials employed for the columns, the balustrade and the façades of the cloister of the Real Colegio Seminario of Corpus Christi in Valencia (1586-1611) also called Colegio del Patriarca. The state of conservation of the marble elements of the balustrade is more critical than that of the columns. The lack of data concerning the type and provenance of the marble from both the balustrade and the columns and its chemical-physical characteristics, has probably been the cause of wrong interpretations and wrong choices adopted in the restoration works executed in the 1980s. The data reported in this paper are the preliminary results of an interdisciplinary study based on the analysis of the archival sources and on the diagnostic investigations performed on the constituent materials. The gathered data allowed us to define the provenance of the marble (Carrara, Italy) and to establish the main causes of decay of the elements of the cloister

The European Local ENergy Assistance (ELENA) Fund: The Relevance of Expected and Unexpected Partnerships

Energy efficiency investments are one of the relevant aspects of Energy Transition. The role of municipalities in the investment process is really relevant, since they directly own a lot of buildings and they can have a huge impact on the territory. The lack of competences in a technical aspects and lack of funding prevent the possibility to put in place huge investments. The ELENA Fund is one of the tool put in place by the EU to help in activating green investments in urban areas. During the funding process a lot of partnerships at different levels are put in place: without a proper regulation, the effect of these partnerships on projects\u2019 results is unpredictable