Non-technological barriers to the diffusion of energy-efficient HVAC&R solutions in the food retail sector

SuperSmart is an European Union (EU) project aiming at speeding up the uptake of energy-efficient re- frigeration, heating and cooling solutions for Europe\u2019s food retail sector, reducing its energy use, lowering its environmental footprint and increasing its economic benefits. The project pursues the removal of non- technological barriers to efficient heating & cooling in the European food retail sector and supports the introduction of a new EU Ecolabel for food retail stores. Non-technological barriers have been mapped and categorized by preliminary interviewing food re- tail sector stakeholders. While highlighting a general positive attitude towards energy efficiency of the sector stakeholders, the results of the survey reveal the need for specific actions focused on improving the knowledge level of technical staff, from the planning and design stage down to servicing and main- tenance. Raising awareness about available technology and financial support is also required. In general terms, barriers are always perceived as stronger when moving North to South, and West to East in Europe, thus emphasizing the need for homogenization of virtuous practices and attitudes throughout Europ

The amino-acid stress sensing eIF2α kinase GCN2 is a survival biomarker for malignant mesothelioma

BackgroundMalignant mesothelioma is a tumour that is strongly associated with a history of asbestos exposure, and which derives from mesothelial cells that line the serous cavities of the body. The tumour most commonly arises in the pleural cavity, but can also arise in the pericardium, peritoneum, and tunica vaginalis. At present the lesion has a very poor prognosis and is an incurable form of cancer with median survival times of up to 19 months being quoted for some histological subtypes. A large proportion of mesotheliomas have been shown to be arginine auxotrophic, leading to new research for therapeutics which might exploit this potential vulnerability.MethodsWe measured the levels of General Control Non-derepressible 2 (GCN2) protein in malignant mesothelioma tumour samples and determined whether these levels correlate with clinical outcomes.ResultsWe observed that the expression levels of GCN2 correlated with patient survival and was an independent prognostic variable in pairwise comparisons with all available clinical data.ConclusionThese findings suggest that GCN2 levels provides prognostic information and may allow for stratification of care pathways. It may suggest that targeting GCN2 is a viable strategy for mesothelioma therapy development

Determinação das Características Físico-Químicas e Sensoriais de Sucos Concentrados de Maracujá

 O consumo de maracujá como suco concentrado vem progredindo no mundo devido à praticidade de seu preparo. Neste trabalho, foram analisadas três marcas de suco concentrado de maracujá, adquiridas em supermercados de Curitiba, Paraná. O objetivo foi avaliar suas características físicas e químicas e a preferência sensorial do provador. Os resultados obtidos possibilitaram observar que as três marcas de suco analisadas seguem padrões semelhantes de qualidade e a diferença da marca preferida pelos sujeitos provadores foi o gosto ácido menos acentuado, que faz com que se perceba melhor o sabor da fruta.

Robust changes and sources of uncertainty in the projected hydrological regimes of Swiss catchments

Projections of discharge are key for future water resources management. These projections are subject to uncertainties, which are difficult to handle in the decision process on adaptation strategies. Uncertainties arise from different sources such as the emission scenarios, the climate models and their post-processing, the hydrological models and natural variability. Here we present a detailed and quantitative uncertainty assessment, based on recent climate scenarios for Switzerland (CH2011 data set) and covering catchments representative for mid-latitude alpine areas. This study relies on a particularly wide range of discharge projections resulting from the factorial combination of 3 emission scenarios, 10 to 20 regional climate models, 2 post-processing methods and 3 hydrological models of different complexity. This enabled us to decompose the uncertainty in the ensemble of projections using analyses of variance (ANOVA). We applied the same modeling setup to 6 catchments to assess the influence of catchment characteristics on the projected streamflow and focused on changes in the annual discharge cycle. The uncertainties captured by our setup originate mainly from the climate models and natural climate variability, but the choice of emission scenario plays a large role by the end of the century. The respective contribution of the different sources of uncertainty varied strongly among the catchments. The discharge changes were compared to the estimated natural decadal variability, which revealed that a climate change signal emerges even under the lowest emission scenario (RCP2.6) by the end of the century. Limiting emissions to RCP2.6 levels would nevertheless reduce the largest regime changes at the end of the 21st century by approximately a factor of two, in comparison to impacts projected for the high emission scenario SRES A2. We finally show that robust regime changes emerge despite the projection uncertainty. These changes are significant and are consistent across a wide range of scenarios and catchments. We propose their identification as a way to aid decision-making under uncertainty

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

Genital inflammatory status and the innate immune response to contraceptive initiation

PROBLEM : Data on the effects of contraceptives on female genital tract (FGT) immune mediators are inconsistent, possibly in part due to pre-existing conditions that influence immune mediator changes in response to contraceptive initiation. METHODS : This study included 161 South African women randomised to injectable depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-IM), copper intrauterine device (IUD), or levonorgestrel (LNG) implant in the Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) trial. We measured thirteen cytokines and antimicrobial peptides previously associated with HIV acquisition in vaginal swabs using Luminex and ELISA, before, and at 1 and 3 months after contraceptive initiation. Women were grouped according to an overall baseline inflammatory profile. We evaluated modification of the relationships between contraceptives and immune mediators by baseline inflammation, demographic, and clinical factors. RESULTS : Overall, LNG implant and copper IUD initiation were associated with increases in inflammatory cytokines, while no changes were observed following DMPA-IM initiation. However, when stratifying by baseline inflammatory profile, women with low baseline inflammation in all groups experienced significant increases in inflammatory cytokines, while those with a high baseline inflammatory profile experienced no change or decreases in inflammatory cytokines. CONCLUSION : We conclude that pre-contraceptive initiation immune profile modifies the effect of contraceptives on the FGT innate immune response.The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institute of Health, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, South African National Research Foundation (NRF), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the American people through the United States Agency for International Development, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the South Africa Medical Research Council and the United Nations Population Fund. Contraceptive supplies were donated by the Government of South Africa and US Agency for International Development.https://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ajiam2023Medical Microbiolog