nZEB Design: Challenging between Energy and Economic Targets

Currently nZEB design represents a negotiation between energy targets and economic concerns. Whereby, it is indispensable that, staring from very preliminary phase of the project, a synergy between the building and system designers, the energy consultant and the economic valuer is set up. Cost-optimal methodology together with statistical analyses developed with Minitab software was applied to analyze a new high performing single-family house, in Northern Italy, in order to define how energy and economic aspects could influence the preliminary design phase of the project

Management of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons. We report a case of a 45-years-old patient with ALS to underline difficulties and challenges in ALS management. Even though ALS remains fatal, several advances have been made in improving the consequences of this disease: symptomatic treatments have an important role in controlling sialorrhea, bronchial secretions, pseudobulbar emotional lability, cramps, spasticity, depression and anxiety, insomnia and pain. An adequate management of ALS should be multidisciplinar, involving not only the neurologist, but also family physicians and many other specialists, such as pulmonologist, rehabilitation medicine physician, speech therapist, dietitian and psychologist. The multidisciplinary approach should be aimed at relieving specific problems associated with the disability of single patients and improving their quality of life

Common and rare variant association analyses in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identify 15 risk loci with distinct genetic architectures and neuron-specific biology

A cross-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) including 29,612 patients with ALS and 122,656 controls identifies 15 risk loci with distinct genetic architectures and neuron-specific biology. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease with a lifetime risk of one in 350 people and an unmet need for disease-modifying therapies. We conducted a cross-ancestry genome-wide association study (GWAS) including 29,612 patients with ALS and 122,656 controls, which identified 15 risk loci. When combined with 8,953 individuals with whole-genome sequencing (6,538 patients, 2,415 controls) and a large cortex-derived expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) dataset (MetaBrain), analyses revealed locus-specific genetic architectures in which we prioritized genes either through rare variants, short tandem repeats or regulatory effects. ALS-associated risk loci were shared with multiple traits within the neurodegenerative spectrum but with distinct enrichment patterns across brain regions and cell types. Of the environmental and lifestyle risk factors obtained from the literature, Mendelian randomization analyses indicated a causal role for high cholesterol levels. The combination of all ALS-associated signals reveals a role for perturbations in vesicle-mediated transport and autophagy and provides evidence for cell-autonomous disease initiation in glutamatergic neurons

Analysis of shared common genetic risk between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and epilepsy

Because hyper-excitability has been shown to be a shared pathophysiological mechanism, we used the latest and largest genome-wide studies in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (n = 36,052) and epilepsy (n = 38,349) to determine genetic overlap between these conditions. First, we showed no significant genetic correlation, also when binned on minor allele frequency. Second, we confirmed the absence of polygenic overlap using genomic risk score analysis. Finally, we did not identify pleiotropic variants in meta-analyses of the 2 diseases. Our findings indicate that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and epilepsy do not share common genetic risk, showing that hyper-excitability in both disorders has distinct origins