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Thermal performances of window frames and glazing represent a field of growing research efforts - worldwide - aiming to reduce energy consumption and achieve indoor comfort. A combination of newly designed super-insulated window frames and innovative glazing technologies may enhance the performance of windows. Aerogel-based “thermal breaks” for window frames, coupled with high-performing glazing, may lead to significant energy saving. In this work, yearly energy use for heating and cooling were assessed in several locations, for building models equipped with innovative technologies, for glazing and frames. The results of numerical simulations confirmed the opportunities offered by new technologies.

Pricing and reimbursement in the European Union (EU) are unified by Directive 89/105/EEC/21.12.1988. The directive has a framework nature; it defines deadlines for decision-making, legal protection, publicity of information, tacit consent, etc. The specific mechanisms are subject to national measures, leading to differences in Member States. The aim of the study is a comparative analysis of the regulatory measures for pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products in Bulgaria and Italy. We looked at four main pricing and reimbursement measures: positive drug lists, reference pricing, health technology assessment, and innovative schemes. We used documentary analysis and synthesis, comparative, and statistical methods. The two countries’ pricing and reimbursement systems are fundamentally different. Italy’s system has long traditions and guarantees stability in the availability and affordability of medicinal products for the population. Since 2000, the regulations concerning the pricing and reimbursement system in Bulgaria have been amended more than 42 times, which characterizes the Bulgarian pricing and reimbursement policy as regulatoryly unstable.

Accurately identifying life-threatening prostate cancer (PCa) at time of diagnosis remains an unsolved problem. We evaluated whether DNA methylation status of selected candidate genes can predict the risk of metastasis beyond clinical risk factors in men with untreated PCa. A nested case-control study was conducted among men diagnosed with localized PCa at Kaiser Permanente California between 01/01/1997–12/31/2006 who did not receive curative treatments. Cases were those who developed metastasis within 10 years from diagnosis. Controls were selected using density sampling. Ninety-eight candidate genes were selected from functional categories of cell cycle control, metastasis/tumour suppressors, cell signalling, cell adhesion/motility/invasion, angiogenesis, and immune function, and 41 from pluripotency genes. Cancer DNA from diagnostic biopsy blocks were extracted and analysed. Associations of methylation status were assessed using CpG site level and principal components-based analysis in conditional logistic regressions. In 215 cases and 404 controls, 27 candidate genes were found to be statistically significant in at least one of the two analytical approaches. The agreement between the methods was 25.9% (7 candidate genes, including 2 pluripotency markers). The DNA methylation status of several candidate genes was significantly associated with risk of metastasis in untreated localized PCa patients. These findings may inform future risk prediction models for PCa metastasis beyond clinical characteristics.

Abstract Background We used a genome‐wide discovery approach to identify methylation markers associated with metastasis in men with localized prostate cancer (PCa), as better identification of those at high risk of metastasis can inform treatment decision‐making. Methods We identified men with localized PCa at Kaiser Permanente California (January 1, 1997–December 31, 2006) who did not receive curative treatment and followed them for 10 years to determine metastasis status. Cases were chart review‐confirmed metastasis, and controls were matched using density sampling. We extracted DNA from the cancerous areas in the archived diagnostic tissue blocks. We used Illumina's Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip for methylation interrogation. We used conditional logistic regression and Bonferroni's correction to identify methylation markers associated with metastasis. In a separate validation cohort (2007), we evaluated the added predictive utility of the methylation score beyond clinical risk score. Results Among 215 cases and 404 controls, 31 CpG sites were significantly associated with metastasis status. Adding the methylation score to the clinical risk score did not meaningfully improve the c‐statistic (0.80–0.81) in the validation cohort, though the score itself was statistically significant (p

The decarbonisation objectives set for 2050 compel us to envisage any effective strategy in order to reduce the human impact on the planet, drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the effects of global warming [...]

IntroductionThe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic posed critical challenges in providing care to ovarian cancer (OC) patients, including delays in OC diagnosis and treatment initiation. To accommodate for delays in OC surgery, the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) recommended preferential use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy during the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of the COVID-19 pandemic with neoadjuvant chemotherapy use in patients diagnosed with OC.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included patients diagnosed with stage II-IV ovarian cancer of epithelial subtype between 01/01/2017-06/30/2021 at Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC), a large integrated healthcare system in the United States. Ovarian cancer patients diagnosed between 2017-2020 were identified from KPSC’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-affiliated cancer registry. Patients diagnosed in 2021 were identified from the electronic medical records (EMR) using ICD-10 diagnosis codes, followed by medical chart review to validate diagnosis and extract information on histology and stage at diagnosis. March 4, 2020 was used as the cut-off to define pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between OC diagnosis and treatment completion were excluded. Data on neoadjuvant chemotherapy use were extracted from the cancer registry and EMR, supplemented by chart review. Modified Poisson regression was used to evaluate the association of the pandemic with neoadjuvant chemotherapy use.ResultsOf 566 OC patients, 160 (28.3%) were diagnosed in the pandemic period. Patients diagnosed in the pandemic period were slightly younger (mean age 62.7 vs 64.9 years, p=0.07) and had a higher burden of Charlson comorbidities (p=0.05) than patients diagnosed in pre-pandemic period. No differences in time to treatment initiation were observed by pandemic periods. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy use was documented in 58.7% patients during the pandemic period compared to 47.3% in pre-pandemic period (p=0.01). After adjusting for covariates, patients diagnosed in the pandemic period were 29% more likely to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy than patients diagnosed in pre-pandemic period [RR(95%CI): 1.29(1.12-1.49)].DiscussionsOvarian cancer patients diagnosed in the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy than patients diagnosed before the pandemic. Future research on patient outcomes and trends in the post-pandemic period are warranted.

In recent times, the searches for alternative materials to plastic is a popular topic, due to the danger that synthetic materials cause to the environment and humans. Among the promising natural polymers, chitosan (CS) is certainly one of the most suitable since it it is edible, non-toxic and derives from crustacean waste.- However, it is necessary to improve its physical properties to be widely applied in food packaging, whose market is dominated by synthetic plastic. In this work we have synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using hot-plate and microwaves-based techniques, using Aloe Vera leaves extracts. The synthetic process follows the principles of green chemistry, since no toxic substance is used to obtain nanomaterials. These NPs, having dimensions

In this paper, we have carefully studied the scientific literature dealing with the use of passive radiative surfaces within the construction industry. The aim of this paper is to highlight technologies and materials for daylight radiative cooling under study today—or already on the market—and to report their main characteristics, performance and, where possible, costs. Following a review of the available scientific literature, the advantages and limitations of such an option were highlighted, seeking to capture opportunities and future lines of research development. This review also provides the physical laws that evaluate the energy balance of passive radiative surfaces as well as the criteria to quantify all the terms of these equations.