Rehabilitación de edificios bajo objetivos de reducción de impacto ambiental: un caso piloto de vivienda plurifamiliar en el área de Playa de Palma, Mallorca

This article presents briefly the work Pilot study to reduce environmental impact: evaluation and assessment of a sustainable refurbishment of an existing residential building in Playa de Palma carried out by the Consortium of Palma Beach. It will be explained by how the environmental impacts of the building can be reduced by 50% or more as a result of future refurbishment and subsequent management, referring to both its current situation and refurbishment standards in residential buildings. It also includes an approximated evaluation of the CO2 emission reduction achieved in the building life cycle and the projected costs for the various actions of the refurbishment model proposed by the Consortium, to be carried out in other renovation operations in Palma Beach.Este artículo resume el estudio Experiencia piloto para la reducción del impacto ambiental: evaluación y asesoramiento a la rehabilitación sostenible de un edificio de viviendas existente en Playa de Palma realizado para el Consorci de Platja de Palma. Se explica a través de qué medidas es posible reducir en un 50% o más los impactos ambientales del edificio como producto de su futura rehabilitación y posterior gestión respecto tanto de su situación actual como de los estándares de rehabilitación al uso en edificios de vivienda. Asimismo, se incluye también una aproximación a las reducciones de emisiones de CO2 que se consiguen en el ciclo de vida del edificio y a los costes previstos para las distintas actuaciones del modelo de rehabilitación que el citado consorcio propone para las operaciones de rehabilitación a llevarse adelante en Playa de Palma

Towards Zero Emissions CO2-Reduction in Mediterranean Social Housing

An in-depth study of the construction, use and deconstruction of a 60 apartment social housing complex to be built close to Barcelona revealed the importance of the application of life-cycle analysis, as the materials’ embodied energy showed to be responsible for half of the building’s life-cycle emissions. A 72% energy reduction compared to conventional housing projects is expected by implementation of centralised HVAC and DHW systems, based on ground source heat pumps and solar thermal energy, introducing an in Catalonia innovative facility management approach where energy and flow meters are installed in each flat for internet-based control of energy consumption, invoicing and supervision of the installation. A second study showed that up to 90% CO2 reduction considering the overall lifecycle is feasible at reasonable cost by giving priority to organic building materials like wood (CO2 storage effect), minimizing underground construction and increasing energy supply based on renewable energies

Multi-phenotype analyses of hemostatic traits with cardiovascular events reveal novel genetic associations

Background: Multi-phenotype analysis of genetically correlated phenotypes can increase the statistical power to detect loci associated with multiple traits, leading to the discovery of novel loci. This is the first study to date to comprehensively analyze the shared genetic effects within different hemostatic traits, and between these and their associated disease outcomes. Objectives: To discover novel genetic associations by combining summary data of correlated hemostatic traits and disease events. Methods: Summary statistics from genome wide-association studies (GWAS) from seven hemostatic traits (factor VII [FVII], factor VIII [FVIII], von Willebrand factor [VWF] factor XI [FXI], fibrinogen, tissue plasminogen activator [tPA], plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 [PAI-1]) and three major cardiovascular (CV) events (venous thromboembolism [VTE], coronary artery disease [CAD], ischemic stroke [IS]), were combined in 27 multi-trait combinations using metaUSAT. Genetic correlations between phenotypes were calculated using Linkage Disequilibrium Score Regression (LDSC). Newly associated loci were investigated for colocalization. We considered a significance threshold of 1.85 × 10−9 obtained after applying Bonferroni correction for the number of multi-trait combinations performed (n = 27). Results: Across the 27 multi-trait analyses, we found 4 novel pleiotropic loci (XXYLT1, KNG1, SUGP1/MAU2, TBL2/MLXIPL) that were not significant in the original individual datasets, were not described in previous GWAS for the individual traits, and that presented a common associated variant between the studied phenotypes. Conclusions: The discovery of four novel loci contributes to the understanding of the relationship between hemostasis and CV events and elucidate common genetic factors between these traits

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance for the Structural Study of

Abstract: NMR studies of bioactive semicarbazones are described

Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Promoter Mutations in Bladder Cancer: High Frequency Across Stages, Detection in Urine, and Lack of Association with Outcome

Background: Hotspot mutations in the promoter of the gene coding for telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) have been described and proposed to activate gene expression. Objectives: To investigate TERT mutation frequency, spectrum, association with expression and clinical outcome, and potential for detection of recurrences in urine in patients with urothelial bladder cancer (UBC). Design, setting, and participants: A set of 111 UBCs of different stages was used to assess TERT promoter mutations by Sanger sequencing and TERT messenger RNA (mRNA) expression by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The two most frequent mutations were investigated, using a SNaPshot assay, in an independent set of 184 non-muscle-invasive and 173 muscle-invasive UBC (median follow-up: 53 mo and 21 mo, respectively). Voided urine from patients with suspicion of incident UBC (n = 174), or under surveillance after diagnosis of non-muscle-invasive UBC (n = 194), was tested using a SNaPshot assay. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: Association of mutation status with age, sex, tobacco, stage, grade, fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) mutation, progression-free survival, disease-specific survival, and overall survival. Results and limitations: In the two series, 78 of 111 (70%) and 283 of 357 (79%) tumors harbored TERT mutations, C228T being the most frequent substitution (83% for both series). TERT mutations were not associated with clinical or pathologic parameters, but were more frequent among FGFR3 mutant tumors (p = 0.0002). There was no association between TERT mutations and mRNA expression (p = 0.3). Mutations were not associated with clinical outcome. In urine, TERT mutations had 90% specificity in subjects with hematuria but no bladder tumor, and 73% in recurrence-free UBC patients. The sensitivity was 62% in incident and 42% in recurrent UBC. A limitation of the study is its retrospective nature. Conclusions: Somatic TERT promoter mutations are an early, highly prevalent genetic event in UBC and are not associated with TERT mRNA levels or disease outcomes. A SNaPshot assay in urine may help to detect UBC recurrences. (C) 2013 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved