Utilización de materiales naturales y reciclados para alcanzar edificios de energía casi nula. Proyecto Life Renatural NZEB

CIES2020 - XVII Congresso Ibérico e XIII Congresso Ibero-americano de Energia SolarRESUMEN: El proyecto LIFE ReNatural NZEB promueve el uso de nuevos materiales de construcción naturales y reciclados para alcanzar edificios de Consumo de Energía Casi Nulo con baja huella de carbono, en España y Portugal. El proyecto plantea cuatro fases principales de ensayo y demostración: caracterización básica de materiales naturales, caracterización técnica y mecánica de materiales y productos de construcción, ensayos a escala real en los demostradores EDEA, y experiencias de demostración: construcción de cuatro nuevas viviendas sociales en Ribera del Fresno (Badajoz); rehabilitación de un bloque de 16 viviendas sociales en el barrio de San Lázaro de Mérida; rehabilitación de cuatro viviendas sociales en el barrio de Santa Engracia de Badajoz; y rehabilitación de un edificio de uso público en La Bazana (Badajoz).ABSTRACT: The LIFE ReNatural NZEB project promotes the use of new natural and recycled construction materials to achieve Nearly Zero Energy Buildings with low carbon footprint, in Spain and Portugal. The project involves four main phases of testing and demonstration: basic characterization of natural materials, technical and mechanical characterization of construction materials and products, test of technologies in EDEA’s real-scale construction laboratory, and demonstration projects: construction of four new social housing in Ribera del Fresno (Badajoz); rehabilitation of one block of 16 social housing in the neighborhood of San Lázaro, in Mérida; rehabilitation of four social housing in the neighborhood of Santa Engracia, in Badajoz; and rehabilitation of one public building in La Bazana (Badajoz).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Study of carbon-doped Mn3Ga thin films with enhanced magnetization

Carbon-doped Mn3Ga thin films were grown on Si/SiO2 substrates using rf magnetron sputtering technique and they present an enhancement of their magnetization. In this work we focus on the structural stress, theoretical calculations and magnetization analysis (using both Bloch's and Kneller's laws). The residual stress component has been calculated by means of x-ray diffraction in gracing incidence, using the ? method for multiple crystallographic reflections. We have observed an increase of the cell volume or positive (tensile) strain, which is higher near the surface of the film. The existence of induced magnetism in Mn3GaC0.25, with C entering in interstitial positions has been investigated by first-principles calculations, using the projector-augmented-wave method, within the generalized gradient approximation. Spin charge distributions and magnetic moments associated with each ion, were analyzed by performing a Bader charge analysis. Noteworthily, in spite of being a thin film, the magnetic behavior of the sample can be well described considering it formed by magnetic nanoparticles. Magnetic field and temperature dependence of the magnetization measurements were used to evaluate the Bloch and Kneller exponents, showing that dipolar interactions take place between Mn3GaC0.25 nanoparticle

Clinical subgroups in bilateral meniere disease

Meniere disease (MD) is a heterogeneous clinical condition characterized by sensorineural hearing loss, episodic vestibular symptoms, and tinnitus associated with several comorbidities, such as migraine or autoimmune disorders (AD). The frequency of bilateral involvement may range from 5 to 50%, and it depends on the duration of the disease. We have performed a two-step cluster analysis in 398 patients with bilateral MD (BMD) to identify the best predictors to define clinical subgroups with a potential different etiology to improve the phenotyping of BMD and to develop new treatments. We have defined five clinical variants in BMD. Group 1 is the most frequently found, includes 46% of patients, and is defined by metachronic hearing loss without migraine and without AD. Group 2 is found in 17% of patients, and it is defined by synchronic hearing loss without migraine or AD. Group 3, with 13% of patients, is characterized by familial MD, while group 4, that includes 12% of patients, is associated by the presence of migraine in all cases. Group 5 is found in 11% of patients and is defined by AD. This approach can be helpful in selecting patients for genetic and clinical research. However, further studies will be required to improve the phenotyping in these clinical variants for a better understanding of the diverse etiological factors contributing to BMD

Meta-analysis of type 2 Diabetes in African Americans Consortium

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is more prevalent in African Americans than in Europeans. However, little is known about the genetic risk in African Americans despite the recent identification of more than 70 T2D loci primarily by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in individuals of European ancestry. In order to investigate the genetic architecture of T2D in African Americans, the MEta-analysis of type 2 DIabetes in African Americans (MEDIA) Consortium examined 17 GWAS on T2D comprising 8,284 cases and 15,543 controls in African Americans in stage 1 analysis. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) association analysis was conducted in each study under the additive model after adjustment for age, sex, study site, and principal components. Meta-analysis of approximately 2.6 million genotyped and imputed SNPs in all studies was conducted using an inverse variance-weighted fixed effect model. Replications were performed to follow up 21 loci in up to 6,061 cases and 5,483 controls in African Americans, and 8,130 cases and 38,987 controls of European ancestry. We identified three known loci (TCF7L2, HMGA2 and KCNQ1) and two novel loci (HLA-B and INS-IGF2) at genome-wide significance (4.15 × 10(-94)<P<5 × 10(-8), odds ratio (OR)  = 1.09 to 1.36). Fine-mapping revealed that 88 of 158 previously identified T2D or glucose homeostasis loci demonstrated nominal to highly significant association (2.2 × 10(-23) < locus-wide P<0.05). These novel and previously identified loci yielded a sibling relative risk of 1.19, explaining 17.5% of the phenotypic variance of T2D on the liability scale in African Americans. Overall, this study identified two novel susceptibility loci for T2D in African Americans. A substantial number of previously reported loci are transferable to African Americans after accounting for linkage disequilibrium, enabling fine mapping of causal variants in trans-ethnic meta-analysis studies.Peer reviewe

Fine-mapping of prostate cancer susceptibility loci in a large meta-analysis identifies candidate causal variants

Prostate cancer is a polygenic disease with a large heritable component. A number of common, low-penetrance prostate cancer risk loci have been identified through GWAS. Here we apply the Bayesian multivariate variable selection algorithm JAM to fine-map 84 prostate cancer susceptibility loci, using summary data from a large European ancestry meta-analysis. We observe evidence for multiple independent signals at 12 regions and 99 risk signals overall. Only 15 original GWAS tag SNPs remain among the catalogue of candidate variants identified; the remainder are replaced by more likely candidates. Biological annotation of our credible set of variants indicates significant enrichment within promoter and enhancer elements, and transcription factor-binding sites, including AR, ERG and FOXA1. In 40 regions at least one variant is colocalised with an eQTL in prostate cancer tissue. The refined set of candidate variants substantially increase the proportion of familial relative risk explained by these known susceptibility regions, which highlights the importance of fine-mapping studies and has implications for clinical risk profiling. © 2018 The Author(s).Prostate cancer is a polygenic disease with a large heritable component. A number of common, low-penetrance prostate cancer risk loci have been identified through GWAS. Here we apply the Bayesian multivariate variable selection algorithm JAM to fine-map 84 prostate cancer susceptibility loci, using summary data from a large European ancestry meta-analysis. We observe evidence for multiple independent signals at 12 regions and 99 risk signals overall. Only 15 original GWAS tag SNPs remain among the catalogue of candidate variants identified; the remainder are replaced by more likely candidates. Biological annotation of our credible set of variants indicates significant enrichment within promoter and enhancer elements, and transcription factor-binding sites, including AR, ERG and FOXA1. In 40 regions at least one variant is colocalised with an eQTL in prostate cancer tissue. The refined set of candidate variants substantially increase the proportion of familial relative risk explained by these known susceptibility regions, which highlights the importance of fine-mapping studies and has implications for clinical risk profiling. © 2018 The Author(s).Peer reviewe

Role of HDL function and LDL atherogenicity on cardiovascular risk: A comprehensive examination

Background: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) functionality and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) atherogenic traits can describe the role of both particles on cardiovascular diseases more accurately than HDL- or LDL-cholesterol levels. However, it is unclear how these lipoprotein properties are particularly affected by different cardiovascular risk factors. Objective: To determine which lipoprotein properties are associated with greater cardiovascular risk scores and each cardiovascular risk factor. Methods: In two cross-sectional baseline samples of PREDIMED trial volunteers, we assessed the associations of HDL functionality (N = 296) and LDL atherogenicity traits (N = 210) with: 1) the 10-year predicted coronary risk (according to the Framingham-REGICOR score), and 2) classical cardiovascular risk factors. Results: Greater cardiovascular risk scores were associated with low cholesterol efflux values; oxidized, triglyceride-rich, small HDL particles; and small LDLs with low resistance against oxidation (P-trend<0.05, all). After adjusting for the rest of risk factors; 1) type-2 diabetic individuals presented smaller and more oxidized LDLs (P<0.026, all); 2) dyslipidemic participants had smaller HDLs with an impaired capacity to metabolize cholesterol (P<0.035, all); 3) high body mass index values were associated to lower HDL and LDL size and a lower HDL capacity to esterify cholesterol (P<0.037, all); 4) men presented a greater HDL oxidation and lower HDL vasodilatory capacity (P<0.046, all); and 5) greater ages were related to small, oxidized, cytotoxic LDL particles (P<0.037, all). Conclusions: Dysfunctional HDL and atherogenic LDL particles are present in high cardiovascular risk patients. Dyslipidemia and male sex are predominantly linked to HDL dysfunctionality, whilst diabetes and advanced age are associated with LDL atherogenicity