Energy-efficient building management via model predictive control

The growing world population and energy consumption, along with the depletion of fossil energy resources and increasing concern regarding the pollution of the environment, make the world-energy problem the largest challenge for technology in the forthcoming decades [1]. Distributed generation could play a major role in the technological changes of the new electricity service paradigm. The use of localized energy sources is only one of the faces of energy management in buildings. A large part of the produced energy is used for heating and cooling systems, in order to maintain acceptable levels of comfort for the occupants of the apartments (hereafter referred to as "users"). Therefore, at a local level, there is a need for the definition and the testing of intelligent algorithms that can automatically manage distributed energy sources, at the same time taking into account the management of heating/ cooling systems

Energy-efficient building management via model predictive control

The growing world population and energy consumption, along with the depletion of fossil energy resources and increasing concern regarding the pollution of the environment, make the world-energy problem the largest challenge for technology in the forthcoming decades [1]. Distributed generation could play a major role in the technological changes of the new electricity service paradigm. The use of localized energy sources is only one of the faces of energy management in buildings. A large part of the produced energy is used for heating and cooling systems, in order to maintain acceptable levels of comfort for the occupants of the apartments (hereafter referred to as "users"). Therefore, at a local level, there is a need for the definition and the testing of intelligent algorithms that can automatically manage distributed energy sources, at the same time taking into account the management of heating/ cooling systems

High-level diversity of tailed phages, eukaryote-associated viruses, and virophage-like elements in the metaviromes of Antarctic soils

The metaviromes of two distinct Antarctic hyperarid desert soil communities have been characterized. Hypolithic communities, cyanobacterium-dominated assemblages situated on the ventral surfaces of quartz pebbles embedded in the desert pavement, showed higher virus diversity than surface soils, which correlated with previous bacterial community studies. Prokaryotic viruses (i.e., phages) represented the largest viral component (particularly Mycobacterium phages) in both habitats, with an identical hierarchical sequence abundance of families of tailed phages (Siphoviridae>Myoviridae>Podoviridae). No archaeal viruses were found. Unexpectedly, cyanophages were poorly represented in both metaviromes and were phylogenetically distant from currently characterized cyanophages. Putative phage genomes were assembled and showed a high level of unaffiliated genes, mostly from hypolithic viruses. Moreover, unusual gene arrangements in which eukaryotic and prokaryotic virus-derived genes were found within identical genome segments were observed. Phycodnaviridae and Mimiviridae viruses were the second-mostabundant taxa and more numerous within open soil. Novel virophage-like sequences (within the Sputnik clade) were identified. These findings highlight high-level virus diversity and novel species discovery potential within Antarctic hyperarid soils and may serve as a starting point for future studies targeting specific viral groups.IS

Autologous stem cell transplantation for aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas

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Targeting androgen-independent pathways: new chances for patients with prostate cancer?

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the mainstay treatment for advanced prostate cancer (PC). Most patients eventually progress to a condition known as castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), characterized by lack of response to ADT. Although new androgen receptor signaling (ARS) inhibitors and chemotherapeutic agents have been introduced to overcome resistance to ADT, many patients progress because of primary or acquired resistance to these agents. This comprehensive review aims at exploring the mechanisms of resistance and progression of PC, with specific focus on alterations which lead to the activation of androgen receptor (AR)-independent pathways of survival. Our work integrates available clinical and preclinical data on agents which target these pathways, assessing their potential clinical implication in specific settings of patients. Given the rising interest of the scientific community in cancer immunotherapy strategies, further attention is dedicated to the role of immune evasion in PC

Mortality in a population exposed to dioxin after the Seveso, Italy, accident in 1976 : 25 years of follow-up

The Seveso accident in 1976 caused a large, populated area north of Milan, Italy, to be contaminated by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). In this study, the authors followed up the exposed population for chronic effects; this paper reports the results of the mortality follow-up extension for 1997-2001. The study cohort includes 278,108 subjects resident at the time of the accident or immigrating/born in the 10 years thereafter in three contaminated zones with decreasing TCDD soil levels (zone A, very high; zone B, high; zone R, low) and in a reference territory comprising surrounding, noncontaminated municipalities. Vital status and cause-of-death ascertainment were 99% complete. Adjusted rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated by using Poisson regression. Results confirmed previous findings of excesses of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue neoplasms in zones A (six deaths; rate ratio = 2.23, 95% confidence interval: 1.00, 4.97) and B (28 deaths; rate ratio = 1.59, 95% confidence interval: 1.09, 2.33). These zones also showed increased mortality from circulatory diseases in the first years after the accident, from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and from diabetes mellitus among females. A toxic and carcinogenic risk to humans after high TCDD exposure is supported by the results of this study

Niche-dependent genetic diversity in Antarctic metaviromes

The metaviromes from 2 different Antarctic terrestrial soil niches have been analyzed. Both hypoliths (microbial assemblages beneath transluscent rocks) and surrounding open soils showed a high level diversity of tailed phages, viruses of algae and amoeba, and virophage sequences. Comparisons of other global metaviromes with the Antarctic libraries showed a niche-dependent clustering pattern, unrelated to the geographical origin of a given metavirome. Within the Antarctic open soil metavirome, a putative circularly permuted, »42kb dsDNA virus genome was annotated, showing features of a temperate phage possessing a variety of conserved protein domains with no significant taxonomic affiliations in current databases.National Research Foundation (South Africa) and the Genomics Research Institute of the University of Pretoria (South Africa).http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/kbac202015-12-31hb201

A third generation regimen VACOP-B with or without adjuvant radiotherapy for aggressive localized non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: report from the Italian Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Co-operative Study Group

The objective of this multicenter prospective study was to determine the clinical efficacy and toxicity of a polychemotherapeutic third generation regimen, VACOP-B, with or without radiotherapy as front-line therapy in aggressive localized non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Ninety-three adult patients (47 males and 46 females, median age 45 years) with aggressive localized non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 43 in stage I and 50 in stage II (non-bulky), were included in the study. Stage I patients received VACOP-B for 6 weeks plus involved field radiotherapy and stage II patients received 12 weeks VACOP-B plus involved field radiotherapy on residual masses. Eighty-six (92.5%) achieved complete remission and 4 (4.3%) partial remission. Three patients (3.2%) were primarily resistant. Ten-year probability of survival, progression-free survival and disease-free survival were 87.3, 79.9 and 83.9%, respectively. Eighty-four patients are surviving at a median observation time of 57 months (range: 6-126). Statistical analysis showed no difference between stages I and II in terms of response, ten-year probability of survival, progression-free survival or disease-free survival. Side effects and toxicity were negligible and were similar in the two patient groups. The results of this prospective study suggest that 6 weeks of VACOP-B treatment plus radiotherapy may be the therapy of choice in stage I aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Twelve weeks of VACOP-B treatment with or without radiotherapy was shown to be effective and feasible for stage II. These observations need to be confirmed by a phase III study comparing first and third generation protocols in stage I-II aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.71972

Metagenomic analysis of the viral community in Namib desert hypoliths

Hypolithic microbial communities are specialized desert communities inhabiting the underside of translucent rocks where they are sheltered from harsh environmental conditions. Here, we present the first study of the viral fraction of these communities isolated from the hyperarid Namib Desert (coastal South Western Africa). Using next-generation sequencing of the isolated viral fraction, the diversity and taxonomic composition of hypolith communities was mapped and a functional assessment of the sequences determined. Phylotypic analysis showed that bacteriophages belonging to the order Caudovirales with the family Siphoviridae were most prevalent. A major fraction of phage types was linked by database homologies to Bacillus or Geobacillus sp. as a host. Phylogenetic analyses of terL and phoH marker genes indicated that many of the sequences were novel and distinct from known isolates and environments, an observation supported by the class distribution of identified ribonucleotide reductases. The composition of the viral hypolith fraction was not completely consistent with Namib hypolith phylotypic surveys, in which the cyanobacterial genus Chroococcidiopsis was found to be dominant. This could be attributed to lacking sequence information about hypolith viruses/bacteria in public databases or the hypothesis that hypolithic communities actively recruit viruses from the surrounding open soil in which Bacillaceae-infecting phages are more commonly found.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1462-2920hb201

Inherited polymorphisms in the RNA-mediated interference machinery affect microRNA expression and lung cancer survival

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRs) have an important role in lung carcinogenesis and progression. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in miR biogenesis may affect miR expression in lung tissue and be associated with lung carcinogenesis and progression. METHODS: we analysed 12 SNPs in POLR2A, RNASEN and DICER1 genes in 1984 cases and 2073 controls from the Environment And Genetics in Lung cancer Etiology (EAGLE) study. We investigated miR expression profiles in 165 lung adenocarcinoma (AD) and 125 squamous cell carcinoma tissue samples from the same population. We used logistic and Cox regression models to examine the association of individual genotypes and haplotypes with lung cancer risk and with lung cancer-specific survival, respectively. SNPs-miR expression associations in cases were assessed using two-sample t-tests and global permutation tests. RESULTS: a haplotype in RNASEN (Drosha) was significantly associated with shorter lung cancer survival (hazard ratio=1.86, 95% CI=1.19-2.92, P=0.007). In AD cases, a SNP within the same haplotype was associated with reduced RNASEN mRNA expression (P=0.013) and with miR expression changes (global P=0.007) of miRs known to be associated with cancer (e.g., let-7 family, miR-21, miR-25, miR-126 and miR15a). CONCLUSION: inherited variation in the miR-processing machinery can affect miR expression levels and lung cancer-specific survival