Study on the application of cool paintings for the passive cooling of existing buildings in Mediterranean climates

Building roofs play a very important role in the energy balance of buildings, especially in summer, when they are hit by a rather high solar irradiance. Depending on the type of finishing layer, roofs can absorb a great amount of heat and reach quite high temperatures on their outermost surface, which determines significant room overheating. However, the use of highly reflective cool materials can help to maintain low outer surface temperatures; this practice may improve indoor thermal comfort and reduce the cooling energy need during the hot season.This technology is currently well known and widely used in the USA, while receiving increasing attention in Europe. In order to investigate the effectiveness of cool roofs as a passive strategy for passive cooling in moderately hot climates, this paper presents the numerical results of a case study based on the dynamic thermal analysis of an existing office building in Catania (southern Italy, Mediterranean area). The results show how the application of a cool paint on the roof can enhance the thermal comfort of the occupants by reducing the operative temperatures of the rooms and to reduce the overall energy needs of the building for space heating and cooling

Enhanced crystallinity and film retention of P3HT thin-films for efficient organic solar cells by use of preformed nanofibers in solution

We report the preparation of films of poly(3-hexylthiophene) nanofibers suitable for fabrication of efficient multilayer solar cells by successive deposition of donor and acceptor layers from the same solvent. The nanofibers are obtained by addition of di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP) to a solution of P3HT in chlorobenzene. Interestingly, by varying the concentration of DTBP we are able to control both crystallinity and film retention of the spin-cast films. We also investigate the influence of the DTBP-induced crystallization on charge transport by thin-film transistor measurements, and find a more than five-fold increase in the hole mobility of nanofiber films compared to pure P3HT. We attribute this effect to the synergistic effects of increased crystallinity of the fibers and the formation of micrometer-sized fiber networks. We further demonstrate how it is possible to make use of the high film retention to fabricate photovoltaic devices by subsequent deposition of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) from a chlorobenzene solution on top of the nanofiber film. The presence of a relatively large crystalline phase strongly affects the diffusion behavior of PCBM into the P3HT film, resulting in a morphology which is different from that of common bulk heterojunction solar cells and resembles a bilayer structure, as can be inferred from comparison of the external quantum efficiency spectra. However, a high power conversion efficiency of 2.3% suggests that there is still a significant intermixing of the two materials taking place

Comparative genomic hybridization on microarray (a-CGH) in constitutional and acquired mosaicism may detect as low as 8% abnormal cells

Abstract. Background: The results of cytogenetic investigations on unbalanced chromosome anomalies, both constitutional and acquired, were largely improved by comparative genomic hybridization on microarray (a-CGH), but in mosaicism the ability of a-CGH to reliably detect imbalances is not yet well established. This problem of sensitivity is even more relevant in acquired mosaicism in neoplastic diseases, where cells carrying acquired imbalances coexist with normal cells, in particular when the proportion of abnormal cells may be low. We constructed a synthetic mosaicism by mixing the DNA of three patients carrying altogether seven chromosome imbalances with normal sex-matched DNA. Dilutions were prepared mimicking 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 10% and 15% levels of mosaicism. Oligomer-based a-CGH (244 K whole-genome system) was applied on the patients' DNA and customized slides designed around the regions of imbalance were used for the synthetic mosaics. Results and conclusions. The a-CGH on the synthetic mosaics proved to be able to detect as low as 8% abnormal cells in the tissue examined. Although in our experiment some regions of imbalances escaped to be revealed at this level, and were detected only at 10-15% level, it should be remarked that these ones were the smallest analyzed, and that the imbalances recurrent as clonal anomalies in cancer and leukaemia are similar in size to those revealed at 8% level

Impact of the treatment of periodontitis on systemic health and quality of life: A systematic review

AIM: To investigate the effect of treatment of periodontitis on systemic health outcomes, pregnancy complications, and associated quality of life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Systematic electronic searches were conducted to identify randomized controlled trials with minimum 6-month follow-up and reporting on the outcomes of interest. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed as deemed suitable. RESULTS: Meta-analyses confirmed reductions of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) [0.56 mg/L, 95% confidence interval (CI) (−0.88, −0.25), p < .001]; interleukin (IL)-6 [0.48 pg/ml, 95% CI (−0.88, −0.08), p = .020], and plasma glucose [1.33 mmol/l, 95% CI (−2.41, −0.24), p = .016], and increase of flow-mediated dilation (FMD) [0.31%, 95% CI (0.07, 0.55), p = .012] and diastolic blood pressure [0.29 mmHg, 95% CI (0.10, 0.49), p = .003] 6 months after the treatment of periodontitis. A significant effect on preterm deliveries (<37 weeks) was observed [0.77 risk ratio, 95% CI (0.60, 0.98), p = .036]. Limited evidence was reported on quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes in the included studies. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of periodontitis results in systemic health improvements including improvement in cardiometabolic risk, reduction in systemic inflammation and the occurrence of preterm deliveries. Further research is however warranted to confirm whether these changes are sustained over time. Further, appropriate QoL outcomes should be included in the study designs of future clinical trials

Eco-design of technological systems in buildings

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Deletion of chromosome 20 in bone marrow of patients with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome, loss of the EIF6 gene and benign prognosis

Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome (SDS; On-line Mendelian Inheritance in Man database number 260400) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the SBDS gene in at least 90% of cases (Boocock et al, 2003). It is characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, skeletal anomalies, and bone marrow failure with variable severity of neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and anaemia (Rothbaum et al, 2002). Acquired clonal chromosome anomalies are commonly found in the bone marrow (BM), being an isochromosome for the long arms of a 7, i(7)(q10), and a deletion of the long arms of a 20, del(20)(q11), the most frequent. The relationship between these chromosome changes and the risk of patients with SDS to develop myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukaemia (MDS/AML) has been discussed (Dror, 2005). This risk increases with the age (Shimamura, 2006), and we have also shown that the acquisition of BM clonal anomalies is age-related (Maserati et al, 2009)

Different loss of material in recurrent chromosome 20 interstitial deletions in Shwachman-Diamond syndrome and in myeloid neoplasms

Abstract BACKGROUND: An interstitial deletion of the long arms of chromosome 20, del(20)(q), is frequent in the bone marrow (BM) of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), and it is recurrent in the BM of patients with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS), who have a 30-40% risk of developing MDS and AML. RESULTS: We report the results obtained by microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (a-CGH) in six patients with SDS, and we compare the loss of chromosome 20 material with one patient with MDS, and with data on 92 informative patients with MDS/AML/MPN and del(20)(q) collected from the literature. CONCLUSIONS: The chromosome material lost in MDS/AML/MPN is highly variable with no identifiable common deleted regions, whereas in SDS the loss is more uniform: in 3/6 patients it was almost identical, and the breakpoints that we defined are probably common to most patients from the literature. In some SDS patients less material may be lost, due to different distal breakpoints, but the proximal breakpoint is in the same region, always leading to the loss of the EIF6 gene, an event which was related to a lower risk of MDS/AML in comparison with other patients

Complications and treatment errors in periodontal therapy in medically compromised patients

Patients who are medically compromised may be at an increased risk of complications and treatment errors following periodontal therapy. A review of the evidence on the topic is presented, in relation to the type of complication reported, of periodontal treatment, and of patients' medical status. Further, a framework for risk assessment and appropriate treatment modifications is introduced, with the aim of facilitating the management of patients with existing comorbidities and reducing the incidence of treatment complications

Recurrence and progression of periodontitis and methods of management in long-term care: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: To systematically review the literature to evaluate the recurrence of disease of people in long-term supportive periodontal care (SPC), previously treated for periodontitis, and determine the effect of different methods of managing recurrence. The review focused on stage IV periodontitis. Materials and methods: An electronic search was conducted (until May 2020) for prospective clinical trials. Tooth loss was the primary outcome. Results: Twenty-four publications were retrieved to address recurrence of disease in long-term SPC. Eight studies were included in the meta-analyses for tooth loss, and three studies for disease progression/recurrence (clinical attachment level [CAL] loss ≥2 mm). For patients in SPC of 5–20 years, prevalence of losing more than one tooth was 9.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 5%–14%), while experiencing more than one site of CAL loss ≥2 mm was 24.8% (95% CI 11%–38%). Six studies informed on the effect of different methods of managing recurrence, with no clear evidence of superiority between methods. No data was found specifically for stage IV periodontitis. Conclusions: A small proportion of patients with stage III/IV periodontitis will experience tooth loss in long-term SPC (tendency for greater prevalence with time). Regular SPC appears to be important for reduction of tooth loss. No superior method to manage disease recurrence was found

Preventing corona effects: multi-phosphonic acid poly(ethylene glycol) copolymers for stable stealth iron oxide nanoparticles

When disperse in biological fluids, engineered nanoparticles are selectively coated with proteins, resulting in the formation of a protein corona. It is suggested that the protein corona is critical in regulating the conditions of entry into the cytoplasm of living cells. Recent reports describe this phenomenon as ubiquitous and independent of the nature of the particle. For nanomedicine applications however, there is a need to design advanced and cost-effective coatings that are resistant to protein adsorption and that increase the biodistribution in vivo. In this study, phosphonic acid poly(ethylene glycol) copolymers were synthesized and used to coat iron oxide particles. The copolymer composition was optimized to provide simple and scalable protocols as well as long-term stability in culture media. It is shown that polymers with multiple phosphonic acid functionalities and PEG chains outperform other types of coating, including ligands, polyelectrolytes and carboxylic acid functionalized PEG. PEGylated particles exhibit moreover exceptional low cellular uptake, of the order of 100 femtograms of iron per cell. The present approach demonstrates that the surface chemistry of engineered particles is a key parameter in the interactions with cells. It also opens up new avenues for the efficient functionalization of inorganic surfaces.Comment: 21 page, 7 figures,Biomacromolecules 201