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To decarbonize Europe achieving almost zero emissions in 2050, more stringent regulations are going to be applied. Particularly, Europe is investing in the emissions’ re-duction of buildings (existing and new ones), and strong improvements in energy performance of building are expected according to novel energy performance of building directive (at last phase of negotiation). At the same time, the production and use of fluorinated gases will be further reduced with the novel F-Gas regulation (under Parliament approval). New F-Gas will affect remarkably the small size, air-to-air split systems for air-conditioning, since no fluorinated gases will be used after 2035, forcing manufacturers to the use of natural refrigerants. Being propane the most efficient among the non-toxic natural refrigerants, less refrigerant would be charged into systems according to current safety standards: this would potentially reduce the heat transfer surfaces and, consequently, for the same capacity, the energy efficiency or, for the same efficiency, the capacity would decrease. In this paper, some scenario analyses, complying with actual and future plausible dispositions, are presented, in order to showing the margins for de-sign and commenting criticalities. In particular, the optimal design options are proposed for different fluids, in terms of costs vs energy performance, under representative cases, in terms of weather conditions and building types in Italy (existing ones and new ones respecting high-efficiency standards, trying to meet the requirements of hypothesized national law following the draft of the novel EPBD).

Hydrogel nanocomposites have lately taken part in the biomaterials scenario for several applications in the biomedical field, e. g., drug delivery, biosensing and cancer therapy. The inclusion of a broad variety of nanomaterials inside the hydrogel matrix leads to the successful development of hybrid platforms with superior and advantageous features. In this way, finely designed nano‐systems can be obtained, which are able to overcome the intrinsic limitations of conventional hydrogels, such as weak mechanical properties, burst drug delivery, extremely high hydrophilicity and lack of multifunctionality. This review aims to outline the last advances in the manufacturing of nanocomposite systems and their novel applications to the biomedical field, providing an overview of the most used nanoparticles with a special focus on gold nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodontitis is a dysbiosis‐driven inflammatory disease affecting the tooth‐supporting tissues, characterized by their progressive resorption, which can ultimately lead to tooth loss. A step‐wise therapeutic approach is employed for periodontitis. After an initial behavioral and non‐surgical phase, intra‐bony or furcation defects may be amenable to regenerative procedures. This review discusses the regenerative technologies employed for periodontal regeneration, highlighting the current limitations and future research areas. The search, performed on the MEDLINE database, has identified the available biomaterials, including biologicals (autologous platelet concentrates, hydrogels), bone grafts (pure or putty), and membranes. Biologicals and bone grafts have been critically analyzed in terms of composition, mechanism of action, and clinical applications. Although a certain degree of periodontal regeneration is predictable in intra‐bony and class II furcation defects, complete defect closure is hardly achieved. Moreover, treating class III furcation defects remains challenging. The key properties required for functional regeneration are discussed, and none of the commercially available biomaterials possess all the ideal characteristics. Therefore, research is needed to promote the advancement of more effective and targeted regenerative therapies for periodontitis. Lastly, improving the design and reporting of clinical studies is suggested by strictly adhering to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) 2010 statement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) are exploited to concentrate light, provide local heating and enhance drug release when coupled to smart polymers. However, the role of NP assembling in these processes is poorly investigated, although their superior performance as nanoheaters has been theoretically predicted since a decade. Here we report on a compound hydrogel (agarose and carbomer 974P) loaded with gold NPs of different configurations. We investigate the dynamics of light-heat conversion in these hybrid plasmonic nanomaterials via a combination of ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy and hot-electrons dynamical modeling. The photothermal study ascertains the possibility to control the degree of assembling via surface functionalization of the NPs, thus enabling a tuning of the photothermal response of the plasmon-enhanced gel under continuous wave excitation. We exploit these assemblies to enhance photothermal release of drug mimetics with large steric hindrance loaded in the hydrogel. Using compounds with an effective hydrodynamic diameter bigger than the mesh size of the gel matrix, we find that the nanoheaters assemblies enable a two orders of magnitude faster cumulative drug release toward the surrounding environment compared to isolated NPs, under the same experimental conditions. Our results pave the way for a new paradigm of nanoplasmonic control over drug release.