Building lighting energy consumption modelling with hybrid neural-statistic approaches

"In the proposed work we aim at modelling building lighting energy consumption. We compared several classical methods to the latest Artificial Intelligence. modelling technique: Artificial Neural Networks Ensembling (ANNE). Therefore, in this study we show how we built the ANNE and a new hybrid model based on the. statistical-ANNE combination. Experimentation has been carried out over a three. months data set coming from a real office building located in the ENEA ‘Casaccia’. Research Centre. Experimental results show that the proposed hybrid statistical-ANNE approach can get a remarkable improvement with respect to the best classical method(the statistical one).

Adaptive Street Lighting Predictive Control

Abstract In this paper an implementation of a smart predictive monitoring and adaptive control system for the public lighting have been carried out. The vehicular traffic flow acquired using a smart camera has been analyzed and several predictive methods have been studied. Then, a control strategy based on the given traffic forecasts and on the dynamical street class downgrade allowed by the law, has been implemented. Experimental results provided by a real life testbed showed that the proposed strategy has high potential energy savings without affecting safety

Low Order Grey-box Models for Short-term Thermal Behavior Prediction in Buildings

Abstract Low order grey-box models are suitable to be used in predictive controls. In real buildings in which the measured quantities are few the reliability of these models is crucial for the control performance. In this paper an identification procedure is analyzed to investigate the accuracy of different order grey-box models for short-term thermal behavior prediction in a real building, part of a living smart district. The building has a low number of zones and a single indoor temperature measuring point. The models are identified on the data acquired in 31 days during the winter 2015. The second order model shows the best performance with a root-mean-square error (RMSE) less than 0.5°C for a prediction horizon of 1-hour and a RMSE less than 1 °C for a prediction horizon of 3-hours

CONTROL STRATEGY FOR THE OPTIMAL OPERATION OF A SOLAR COOLING INSTALLATION

ABSTRACT In this paper, a solar cooling installation is analyzed with the aim of optimizing its performances. The system consists of vacuum solar collectors, which supply hot water to a LiBr absorption chiller. A boiler can be used to supply an additional amount of hot water in the case of insufficient solar radiation. In addition, a vapor compression chiller operates as a backup system and integrates the solar driven system in the case of large cooling request. Such system gives multiple operating options, especially at partial load. A model of the system is presented and applied to the real plant. It is shown that if a multi-objective optimization is performed, considering minimum primary energy consumption from fossil fuel and maximum utilization of the absorption system, a Pareto front is obtained. This occurs because the two objective functions are competing. A control strategy based on the use of neural networks is presented. Input variables are the solar radiation, ambient temperature and the cooling request. In this work the control strategy is adjusted in order to reach the minimum fossil energy consumption, but the same approach can be applied with other objective functions

Whole exome sequencing in an Italian family with isolated maxillary canine agenesis and canine eruption anomalies

Objective: The aim of this study was the clinical and molecular characterization of a family segregating a trait consisting of a phenotype specifically involving the maxillary canines, including agenesis, impaction and ectopic eruption, characterized by incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity. Design: Clinical standardized assessment of 14 family members and a whole-exome sequencing (WES) of three affected subjects were performed. WES data analyses (sequence alignment, variant calling, annotation and prioritization) were carried out using an in-house implemented pipeline. Variant filtering retained coding and splice-site high quality private and rare variants. Variant prioritization was performed taking into account both the disruptive impact and the biological relevance of individual variants and genes. Sanger sequencing was performed to validate the variants of interest and to carry out segregation analysis. Results: Prioritization of variants “by function” allowed the identification of multiple variants contributing to the trait, including two concomitant heterozygous variants in EDARADD (c.308C>T, p.Ser103Phe) and COL5A1 (c.1588G>A, p.Gly530Ser), specifically associated with a more severe phenotype (i.e. canine agenesis). Differently, heterozygous variants in genes encoding proteins with a role in the WNT pathway were shared by subjects showing a phenotype of impacted/ectopic erupted canines. Conclusions: This study characterized the genetic contribution underlying a complex trait consisting of isolated canine anomalies in a medium-sized family, highlighting the role of WNT and EDA cell signaling pathways in tooth development

Does Bone Marrow Edema Influence the Clinical Results of Intra-Articular Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections for Knee Osteoarthritis?

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is increasingly used for the intra-articular treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, clinical studies on PRP injections reported controversial results. Bone marrow edema (BME) can cause symptoms by affecting the subchondral bone and it is not targeted by intra-articular treatments. The aim of this study was to investigate if the presence of BME can influence the outcome of intra-articular PRP injections in knee OA patients. A total of 201 patients were included in the study, 80 with and 121 without BME at the baseline MRI. BME area and site were evaluated, and BME was graded using the Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (WORMS). Patients were assessed with International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) subscales, the EuroQol-Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS), and the Tegner score at baseline, 2, 6, and 12 months. Overall, the presence of BME did not influence the clinical results of intra-articular PRP injections in these patients treated for knee OA. Patients with BME presented a similar failure rate and clinical improvement after PRP treatment compared to patients without BME. The area and site of BME did not affect clinical outcomes. However, patients with a higher BME grade had a higher failure rate

Functional analysis of splicing mutations in exon 7 of NF1 gene

BACKGROUND: Neurofibromatosis type 1 is one of the most common autosomal dominant disorders, affecting about 1:3,500 individuals. NF1 exon 7 displays weakly defined exon-intron boundaries, and is particularly prone to missplicing. METHODS: In this study we investigated the expression of exon 7 transcripts using bioinformatic identification of splicing regulatory sequences, and functional minigene analysis of four sequence changes [c.910C>T (R304X), c.945G>A/c.946C>A (Q315Q/L316M), c.1005T>C (N335N)] identified in exon 7 of three different NF1 patients. RESULTS: Our results detected the presence of three exonic splicing enhancers (ESEs) and one putative exonic splicing silencer (ESS) element. The wild type minigene assay resulted in three alternative isoforms, including a transcript lacking NF1 exon 7 (NF1ΔE7). Both the wild type and the mutated constructs shared NF1ΔE7 in addition to the complete messenger, but displayed a different ratio between the two transcripts. In the presence of R304X and Q315Q/L316M mutations, the relative proportion between the different isoforms is shifted toward the expression of NF1ΔE7, while in the presence of N335N variant, the NF1ΔE7 expression is abolished. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, it appears mandatory to investigate the role of each nucleotide change within the NF1 coding sequence, since a significant proportion of NF1 exon 7 mutations affects pre-mRNA splicing, by disrupting exonic splicing motifs and modifying the delicate balance between aberrantly and correctly spliced transcripts

Quality of life assessment in elderly patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma treated with anthracycline-containing regimens. Report of a prospective study by the Intergruppo Italiano Linfomi

Background and Objectives. The aim of this study was to evaluate quality of life (QOL) in a group of elderly patients ( > 65 years) with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) treated with chemotherapy regimens containing anthracyclines. Design and Methods. QOL was evaluated in a population of elderly patients with aggressive NHL enrolled in a phase III clinical trial run by the Intergruppo Italiano Linfomi (11L) from 1996 to 1999 to compare two different anthracycline-containing regimens (mini-CEOP vs P-VEBEC). The EORTC-QLQ-C30 questionnaire, which has already been validated in oncology, was used. The questionnaire was administered at the time of diagnosis, half way through the chemotherapy and at the time of restaging. Results. Ninety-one patients completed pre-therapy and post-therapy questionnaires and they are the subject of this report. Baseline QOL assessment showed a strong correlation of poor values of QOL with anemia and high risk according to the International Prognostic Index (IPI). At the end of treatment no functional scales showed worse values. A significant improvement was observed for pain (p = 0.003), appetite (p = 0.006), sleep (p = 0.015) and global health (p = 0.027). Considering only the 50 patients who achieved a complete remission (CR), an improvement was also recorded for emotional state (p = 0.10), role (P = 0.05), constipation (p = 0.04) and global QOL (p = 0.05). Interpretation and Conclusions. The EORTC-QLQ-C30 is feasible even in a population of elderly patients, in whom it had never been tested before. The improvement of QOL at the end of the treatment demonstrated that the symptoms of the disease have a greater negative influence on the patient's life than do the side effects of the therapy

Beyond BRCA1 and BRCA2: deleterious variants in DNA repair pathway genes in italian families with breast/ovarian and pancreatic cancers

The 5-10% of breast/ovarian cancers (BC and OC) are inherited, and germline pathogenic (P) variants in DNA damage repair (DDR) genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 explain only 10-20% of these cases. Currently, new DDR genes have been related to BC/OC and to pancreatic (PC) cancers, but the prevalence of P variants remains to be explored. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spectrum and the prevalence of pathogenic variants in DDR pathway genes other than BRCA1/2 and to correlate the genotype with the clinical phenotype. A cohort of 113 non-BRCA patients was analyzed by next-generation sequencing using a multigene panel of the 25 DDR pathways genes related to BC, OC, and PC. We found 43 unique variants in 18 of 25 analyzed genes, 14 classified as P/likely pathogenic (LP) and 28 as variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Deleterious variants were identified in 14% of index cases, whereas a VUS was identified in 20% of the probands. We observed a high incidence of deleterious variants in the CHEK2 gene, and a new pathogenic variant was detected in the RECQL gene. These results supported the clinical utility of multigene panel to increase the detection of P/LP carriers and to identify new actionable pathogenic gene variants useful for preventive and therapeutic approaches