Exergy as a measure of sustainable retrofitting of buildings

This study presents a novel optimization methodology for choosing optimal building retrofitting strategies based on the concept of exergy analysis. The study demonstrates that the building exergy analysis may open new opportunities in the design of an optimal retrofit solution despite being a theoretical approach based on the high performance of a Carnot reverse cycle. This exergy-based solution is different from the one selected through traditional efficient retrofits where minimizing energy consumption is the primary selection criteria. The new solution connects the building with the reference environment, which acts as “an unlimited sink or unlimited sources of energy”, and it adapts the building to maximize the intake of energy resources from the reference environment. The building hosting the School of Architecture at the University of Navarra has been chosen as the case study building. The unique architectural appearance and bespoke architectural characteristics of the building limit the choices of retrofitting solutions; therefore, retrofitting solutions on the façade, roof, roof skylight and windows are considered in multi-objective optimization using the jEPlus package. It is remarkable that different retrofitting solutions have been obtained for energy-driven and exergy-driven optimization, respectively. Considering the local contexts and all possible reference environments for the building, three “unlimited sinks or unlimited sources of energy” are selected for the case study building to explore exergy-driven optimization: the external air, the ground in the surrounding area and the nearby river. The evidence shows that no matter which reference environment is chosen, an identical envelope retrofitting solution has been obtaine

CLARC: A Cognitive Robot for Helping Geriatric Doctors in Real Scenarios

International audienceComprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is an integrated clinical process to evaluate the frailty of elderly persons in order to create therapy plans that improve their quality of life. For robotizing these tests, we are designing and developing CLARC, a mobile robot able to help the physician to capture and manage data during the CGA procedures, mainly by autonomously conducting a set of predefined evaluation tests. Built around a shared internal representation of the outer world, the architecture is composed of software modules able to plan and generate a stream of actions, to execute actions emanated from the representation or to update this by including/removing items at different abstraction levels. Percepts, actions and intentions coming from all software modules are grounded within this unique representation. This allows the robot to react to unexpected events and to modify the course of action according to the dynamics of a scenario built around the interaction with the patient. The paper describes the architecture of the system as well as the preliminary user studies and evaluation to gather new user requirements

The Metagenomic Composition and Effects of Fecal-Microbe-Derived Extracellular Vesicles on Intestinal Permeability Depend on the Patient's Disease.

peer reviewedThe composition and impact of fecal-microbe-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) present in different diseases has not been analyzed. We determined the metagenomic profiling of feces and fecal-microbe-derived EVs from healthy subjects and patients with different diseases (diarrhea, morbid obesity and Crohn's disease (CD)) and the effect of these fecal EVs on the cellular permeability of Caco-2 cells. The control group presented higher proportions of Pseudomonas and Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group and lower proportions of Phascolarctobacterium, Veillonella and Veillonellaceae_ge in EVs when compared with the feces from which these EVs were isolated. In contrast, there were significant differences in 20 genera between the feces and EV compositions in the disease groups. Bacteroidales and Pseudomonas were increased, and Faecalibacterium, Ruminococcus, Clostridium and Subdoligranum were decreased in EVs from control patients compared with the other three groups of patients. Tyzzerella, Verrucomicrobiaceae, Candidatus_Paracaedibacter and Akkermansia were increased in EVs from the CD group compared with the morbid obesity and diarrhea groups. Fecal EVs from the morbid obesity, CD and, mainly, diarrhea induced a significant increase in the permeability of Caco-2 cells. In conclusion, the metagenomic composition of fecal-microbe-derived EVs changes depending on the disease of the patients. The modification of the permeability of Caco-2 cells produced by fecal EVs depends on the disease of the patients

Human immunodeficiency virus continuum of care in 11 european union countries at the end of 2016 overall and by key population: Have we made progress?

Background. High uptake of antiretroviral treatment (ART) is essential to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission and related mortality; however, gaps in care exist. We aimed to construct the continuum of HIV care (CoC) in 2016 in 11 European Union (EU) countries, overall and by key population and sex. To estimate progress toward the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 target, we compared 2016 to 2013 estimates for the same countries, representing 73% of the population in the region. Methods. A CoC with the following 4 stages was constructed: number of people living with HIV (PLHIV); proportion of PLHIV diagnosed; proportion of those diagnosed who ever initiated ART; and proportion of those ever treated who achieved viral suppression at their last visit. Results. We estimated that 87% of PLHIV were diagnosed; 92% of those diagnosed had ever initiated ART; and 91% of those ever on ART, or 73% of all PLHIV, were virally suppressed. Corresponding figures for men having sex with men were: 86%, 93%, 93%, 74%; for people who inject drugs: 94%, 88%, 85%, 70%; and for heterosexuals: 86%, 92%, 91%, 72%. The proportion suppressed of all PLHIV ranged from 59% to 86% across countries. Conclusions. The EU is close to the 90-90-90 target and achieved the UNAIDS target of 73% of all PLHIV virally suppressed, significant progress since 2013 when 60% of all PLHIV were virally suppressed. Strengthening of testing programs and treatment support, along with prevention interventions, are needed to achieve HIV epidemic control