The paper deals with the three-dimensional theoretical and numerical investigation of the electrical performance of a Photovoltaic System (PV) with active fluid cooling (PVFC) in order to increase its efficiency in converting solar radiation into electricity. The paper represents a refinement of a previous study by the authors in which a one-dimensional theoretical model was presented to evaluate the best compromise, in terms of fluid flow rate, of net power gain in a cooled PV system. The PV system includes 20 modules cooled by a fluid circulating on the bottom, the piping network, and the circulating pump. The fully coupled thermal and electrical model was developed in a three-dimensional geometry and the results were discussed with respect to the one-dimensional approximation and to experimental tests. Numerical simulations show that a competitive mechanism between the power gain due to the cell temperature reduction and the power consumption of the pump exists, and that a best compromise, in terms of fluid flow rate, can be found. The optimum flow rate can be automatically calculated by using a semi-analytical approach in which irradiance and ambient temperature of the site are known and the piping network losses are fully characterized.

The high number of existing buildings in Italy without adequate seismic and thermal performances requires the definition of integrated retrofitting techniques in order to improve the seismic performance and to reduce energy losses at the same time. On one hand, an integrated approach appears mandatory considering that improving only the energy efficiency of nonseismic buildings leads to an increase of their exposure and, therefore, of their risk in the case of seismic events. On the other hand, seismic strengthening without an adequate thermal assessment and rehabilitation could compromise living comfort and energy maintenance costs. In this context, an application of integrated approach for the rehabilitation of reinforced concrete (RC) existing buildings has been proposed referring to a case study representative of the Italian building stock. Different configurations of infill panels have been considered in order to analyze both energy and seismic performance. Monthly quasi-steady state and hourly dynamic models have been used for the calculation of the energy need of buildings located in different Italian climate and seismic zones. Seismic performances have been evaluated by means of incremental nonlinear dynamic analysis (IDA). As-built and post-retrofit performances have been compared in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed intervention solutions.

BackgroundThe genetics of Behcet's disease: a novel variation of ERAP1 gene in an Italian cohortObjectivesThe objective of the present study was to evaluate the association of ERAP1 gene with BD in an Italian cohort by investigating not only tagSNPs but all gene regions searching for additional variations probably related to the BD phenotype.MethodsGenomic DNA was isolated from 21 BD patients whole blood by using a commercial kit. The patient cohort was recruited from the Rheumatology Departments of Lucania (San Carlo Hospital - Potenza and Madonna delle Grazie Hospital - Matera, Italy) and was formed by 11 males and 10 females with a mean age of 45 years. The purity of DNA was determined by means of NanoDrop spectrophotometer. Specific PCR primers was designed on the basis of ERAP1 NCBI RefSeq (NG_027839.1) in order to cover all 21 gene exons and used for in vitro amplification. PCR products were directly sequenced and bioinformatically analysed. The functional impact of the gene variants was evaluated by querying Polyphen 2 software.ResultsMutation analysis of the entire ERAP1 gene underlined a novel variation within exon 7. It was found in 3/21 patients (14%) and consists in the substitution p.Phe360Cys (NG_027839.1:g.25637T>G; NP_057526.3:p.Phe360Cys). Interestingly the novel mutation was identified in association with three known tagSNPs (p.Met349val, p.Lys528Arg and p.Gln730Glu) and was predicted to have damaging effects on protein (maximum score of pathogenicity).Figure 1ConclusionsERAP1 was recently considered a BD susceptibility gene. Five tagSNPs was previously reported to be related to BD phenotype. We firstly analysed an Italian BD patient cohort. In addition, we firstly investigated the entire ERAP1 gene, because searching only for common variants by GWAS allows to identify a fraction of the entire genetic burden of disease. In this study, three known gene variations were found in three patients belonging to our cohort, in association with our novel variation. This aspect suggests a significant role of the novel substitution in the pathogenesis of BD. The identification of novel functional variants of entire ERAP1 gene may lead to better stratification of BD patients by providing a diagnostic tool and a potential therapeutic target.ReferencesGul A. Current Opinion in Rheumatology 2014; 26:56-63.Conde-Jaldòn M, Montes-Cano MA, Garcìa-Lozano JR, Ortiz-Fernández L, Ortego-Centeno N, González-Leόn R, Espinosa G, Graña-Gil G, Sánchez-Bursόn J, González-Gay MA, Barnosi-Marín AC, Solans R, Fanlo P, Carballeira MR, Camps T, Castañeda S, Martín J, González-Escribano MA. 2014. PlosOne; 9: 1-6.Kirino Y1, Bertsias G, Ishigatsubo Y, Mizuki N, Tugal-Tutkun I, Seyahi E, Ozyazgan Y, Sacli FS, Erer B, Inoko H, Emrence Z, Cakar A, Abaci N, Ustek D, Satorius C, Ueda A, Takeno M, Kim Y, Wood GM, Ombrello MJ, Meguro A, Gül A, Remmers EF, Kastner DL. Nat Genet. 2013; 45(2): 202-207.Carmona FD1, Martín J, González-Gay MA. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2015; 27(1): 10-17.Reeves E, Elliott T, James E, Edwards CJ. 2014; 60(2-3): 257-69...