Cost-effective energy and carbon emissions optimization in building renovation (annex 56): executive summary for policy makers

This guidebook was compiled to raise awareness among the players that can influence policies and standard definition and to engage them in the subjects of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources in the context of building renovation. Existing buildings present a tremendous potential, not only to reduce energy use and emissions, but also on other areas of the political agenda. It is the objective of this guidebook to highlight how energy related building renovation is a policy tool to achieve broad benefits to societyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cost-effective energy and carbon emissions optimization in building renovation (annex 56): guidebook for professional home owners

This guidebook is particularly intended for professional home-owners, i.e. individuals or companies that own and manage residential buildings. It is assumed that these owners are responsible for ensuring maintenance, repair and general servicing tasks and lead the decisions on the improvements to be made regarding comfort, safety, saving energy or just uplifting the buildings to contemporary needs or style. The main goal is to help in the decision-making process towards the optimized renovation of the residential building stock. More specifically, the guidebook provides a framework for the understanding of the relationships between cost-effective building renovation, energy savings and the use of renewable energy sources, highlighting the total added value achieved with the interventions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Análise do conhecimento dos alunos de graduação, pós-graduação e estagiários da Faculdade de Odontologia de São José dos Campos – Unesp sobre Ética em Pesquisa Odontológica

The knowledge of the ethics and bioética and its applications are fundamental and wanted in the society. The study analyzed the students’ of the graduation and masters degree of the School of Dentistry of São José of Campos - UNESP knowledge on ethics in odontology research and its committee. The analysis was made through the application of a questionnaire on ethics research knowledge. The Resolution CNS 196/1996 was followed, applying the term of free and explainded consent, guaranteeing the confidential, the no badlly and the interviewees’ charity, it was wanted to know if the students that do or dont do research scientific had knowledge on those norms of the ethics in research. It was observed that, among the answers, 59,31% of the graduation students know what it is ethics in research, justified by the fact that 43,63% received some orientation on the theme. In spite of that small index, 88,73% know that they need to order projects for the Committee of Ethics in Research to accomplish a research. Among the trainees and students of the masters degree 100% know what is ethical in research and that it is necessary to send a project for the Committee of Ethics before accomplishing a research, in spite of 60% that have just received some orientation on the subject. It was concluded that the students have knowledge on ethics in research and the majority of than had already received orientations on how to proceed in relation to the Committee of Ethics.O conhecimento da ética e bioética e suas aplicações são fundamentais e desejados na sociedade. O estudo analisou o conhecimento dos alunos da graduação e pós graduação da Faculdade de Odontologia de São José dos Campos - UNESP sobre ética em pesquisa odontológica e seu comitê. A análise foi feita através da aplicação de um questionário sobre conhecimento de ética em pesquisa. Seguiu-se a Resolução CNS 196/1996, aplicando o termo de consentimento livre e esclarecido, garantindo a confidencialidade, a não maleficência e a beneficência dos entrevistados, e quis saber se os alunos que fazem ou não pesquisa científica tinham conhecimentos sobre essas normas da ética em pesquisa. Observou-se que, dentre as respostas, 59,31% dos alunos de graduação sabem o que é ética em pesquisa, justificada pelo fato de que 43,63% receberam alguma orientação sobre o tema. Apesar desse pequeno índice, 88,73% sabem que precisam mandar projetos para o Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa para realizar uma pesquisa. Dentre os estagiários e alunos da pós-graduação 100% sabe o que é ética em pesquisa e que é necessário enviar um projeto para o Comitê de Ética antes de realizar uma pesquisa, apesar de apenas 60% terem recebido alguma orientação sobre o assunto. Conclui-se que os alunos têm conhecimento sobre ética em pesquisa e a maioria já recebeu orientações sobre como proceder em relação ao Comitê de Ética. Essas informações são dadas aos alunos tanto na graduação quanto na pós graduação, mostrando que os alunos estão aptos a realizarem pesquisas cientificas

How Chaotic is the Stadium Billiard? A Semiclassical Analysis

The impression gained from the literature published to date is that the spectrum of the stadium billiard can be adequately described, semiclassically, by the Gutzwiller periodic orbit trace formula together with a modified treatment of the marginally stable family of bouncing ball orbits. I show that this belief is erroneous. The Gutzwiller trace formula is not applicable for the phase space dynamics near the bouncing ball orbits. Unstable periodic orbits close to the marginally stable family in phase space cannot be treated as isolated stationary phase points when approximating the trace of the Green function. Semiclassical contributions to the trace show an $\hbar$ - dependent transition from hard chaos to integrable behavior for trajectories approaching the bouncing ball orbits. A whole region in phase space surrounding the marginal stable family acts, semiclassically, like a stable island with boundaries being explicitly $\hbar$-dependent. The localized bouncing ball states found in the billiard derive from this semiclassically stable island. The bouncing ball orbits themselves, however, do not contribute to individual eigenvalues in the spectrum. An EBK-like quantization of the regular bouncing ball eigenstates in the stadium can be derived. The stadium billiard is thus an ideal model for studying the influence of almost regular dynamics near marginally stable boundaries on quantum mechanics.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, submitted to J. Phys.

A standardized protocol for blood and cerebrospinal fluid collection and processing for biomarker research in ataxia

The European Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3/Machado-Joseph Disease Initiative (ESMI) is a consortium established with the ambition to set up the largest European longitudinal trial-ready cohort of Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3/Machado Joseph disease (SCA3/MJD), the most common autosomal dominantly inherited ataxia worldwide. A major focus of ESMI has been the identification of SCA3/MJD biomarkers to enable future interventional studies. As biosample collection and processing variables significantly impact the outcomes of biomarkers studies, biosampling procedures standardization was done previously to study visit initiation. Here, we describe the ESMI consensus biosampling protocol, developed within the scope of ESMI, that ultimately might be translated to other neurodegenerative disorders, particularly ataxias, being the first step to protocol harmonization in the field

Translation and validation of the Brazilian version of the Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life Questionnaire for Children – child report

AbstractObjectiveTo verify the psychometric properties of the Cerebral Palsy: Quality of Life Questionnaire Children – child report (CPQol-Child) questionnaire, after it was translated and culturally adapted into Brazilian Portuguese.MethodsAfter the translation and cultural adaptation of the tool into Brazilian Portuguese, the questionnaire was answered by 65 children with cerebral palsy, aged 9–12 years. The intraclass correlation coefficient and Cronbach's alpha were used to assess the reliability and internal consistency of the tool and its validity was analyzed through the association between CPQol-Child: self-report tool and Kidscreen-10 using Pearson's correlation coefficient.ResultsInternal consistency ranged from 0.6579 to 0.8861, the intraobserver reliability from 0.405 to 0.894, and the interobserver from 0.537 to 0.937. There was a weak correlation between the participation domain and physical health of CPQol-Child: self-report tool and Kidscreen-10.ConclusionThe analysis suggests that the tool has psychometric acceptability for the Brazilian population

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

Asthma in an Urban Population in Portugal: A prevalence study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prevalence and incidence of asthma are believed to be increasing but research on the true incidence, prevalence and mortality from asthma has met methodological obstacles since it has been difficult to define and diagnose asthma in epidemiological terms. New and widely accepted diagnostic criteria for asthma present opportunities for progress in this field. Studies conducted in Portugal have estimated the disease prevalence between 3% and 15%. Available epidemiological data present a significant variability due to methodological obstacles.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>To estimate the true prevalence of asthma by gender and age groups in the population of the area covered by one urban Health Centre in Portugal.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>An observational study was conducted between February and July 2009 at the Horizonte Family Health Unit in Matosinhos, Portugal. A random sample of 590 patients, stratified by age and gender was obtained from the practice database of registered patients. Data was collected using a patient questionnaire based on respiratory symptoms and the physician's best knowledge of the patient's asthma status. The prevalence of asthma was calculated by age and gender.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data were obtained from 576 patients (97.6% response rate). The mean age for patients with asthma was 27.0 years (95% CI: 20.95 to 33.16). This was lower than the mean age for non-asthmatics but the difference was not statistically significant. Asthma was diagnosed in 59 persons giving a prevalence of 10.24% (95% CI: 8.16 to 12.32). There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of asthma by gender.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The prevalence of asthma found in the present study was higher than that found in some studies, though lower than that found in other studies. Further studies in other regions of Portugal are required to confirm these findings.</p