Hygrothermal Assessment of Internally Insulation for Historic Half-Timbered Outer Wall

Internal insulation is generally considered a risky solution regarding the risk of moisture-induced damage such as mould growth and wood decay, and this might particularly be problematic for half-timbered buildings due to the extensive use of wooden elements in the walls. These would be particularly exposed in the case of internal insulation. This study investigates the hygrothermal performance and the theoretical risk of mould growth in critical locations in half-timbered walls fitted with internal insulation through 2D-dimensional hygrothermal simulations. Sev-eral types of insulation systems were investigated, including diffusion-open and diffusion-tight systems. Moreover, the effect of exterior plaster to reduce rain in-trusion was investigated. The results showed potentially critical relative humidity levels at several places inside the half-timbered walls, mainly when using diffu-sion-tight systems. However, the combination with exterior plaster positively af-fected the hygrothermal performance. The direction of the wall is important, as wind-driven rain influences the performance more than the possibility of drying out inwards

Microgel-Extracellular Matrix Composite Support for the Embedded 3D Printing of Human Neural Constructs

The embedded 3D printing of cells inside a granular support medium has emerged in the past decade as a powerful approach for the freeform biofabrication of soft tissue constructs. However, granular gel formulations have been restricted to a limited number of biomaterials that allow for the cost-effective generation of large amounts of hydrogel microparticles. Therefore, granular gel support media have generally lacked the cell-adhesive and cell-instructive functions found in the native extracellular matrix (ECM). To address this, a methodology has been developed for the generation of self-healing annealable particle-extracellular matrix (SHAPE) composites. SHAPE composites consist of a granular phase (microgels) and a continuous phase (viscous ECM solution) that, together, allow for both programmable high-fidelity printing and an adjustable biofunctional extracellular environment. This work describes how the developed methodology can be utilized for the precise biofabrication of human neural constructs. First, alginate microparticles, which serve as the granular component in the SHAPE composites, are fabricated and combined with a collagen-based continuous component. Then, human neural stem cells are printed inside the support material, followed by the annealing of the support. The printed constructs can be maintained for weeks to allow the differentiation of the printed cells into neurons. Simultaneously, the collagen continuous phase allows for axonal outgrowth and the interconnection of regions. Finally, this works provides information on how to perform live-cell fluorescence imaging and immunocytochemistry to characterize the 3D-printed human neural constructs

Feasibility analysis of clean utilization of kitchen waste oil and lignite by co-fermentation treatment

In order to improve the efficiency of biomethane production through lignite anaerobic fermentation and perform the treatment and application of kitchen waste oil (KWO), different KWO to lignite ratios were used for combined anaerobic fermentation of biomethane. Biogas production characteristics, fermentation broth, and solid residue utilization properties of co-fermentation were analyzed using liquid fatty acid, thermogravimetric (TG), and combustion flue gas tests. The experimental results show that the co-anaerobic fermentation of KWO and lignite can improve the biogenic methane production, and the ratio of the two will also affect the biogenic methane production. Among them, the biogenic methane production by the co-anaerobic fermentation of 1.2 g KWO and 20 g of lignite is the largest, which is 377.86% higher than that by the anaerobic fermentation of single lignite. According to the three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum analysis, the fermentation substrate with the highest biogenic methane production contains more fulvic acid, tryptophan, lysine, phenol hydroxyl, ketone carbonyl, carbonyl, and other groups. In the change of fatty acid content before and after anaerobic fermentation, the content of palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, and other non-degradable fatty acids contained in KWO significantly decreased, and the volatile fatty acids significantly increased. After anaerobic fermentation, the volatilization analysis temperature, ignition point, and combustion temperature of residual coal are advanced, and the combustion is more stable. At the same time, the emission of combustion pollution gas of residual coal after fermentation is significantly reduced, which is conducive to the clean utilization of lignite

Constituents of Human Particle, Microbial and Chemical Emissions and Exposures in Indoor Environments: An experimental overview

This study presents the preliminary findings on the human contribution to particle, microbe and gas-phase chemical burden of indoor air, as well as the effect of ozone on malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, a biomarker of lipid peroxidation

Validation of four resistivity mixing models on field time lapse geoelectrical measurements from fine-grained soil undergoing freeze-thaw cycles

Resistivity mixing models relate porosity, phase composition and specific resistivities of ground materials to their bulk (effective) electrical properties. These models were typically derived for calculating hydrocarbon saturation from geophysical logs. In permafrost monitoring applications, they have been used to link ground electrical response to its phase composition, with focus on unfrozen water vs. ice content, and to derive changes in ground ice content from repeated resistivity acquisitions. Such quantitative interpretations rely on validity of the mixing models in a context different from the one they were derived in. To increase the reliability of the permafrost forecasts that are based on repeated resistivity surveys, we undertook validation of four selected resistivity mixing model formulations: i) the original Archie's law, ii) the Archie's law with an ice-content dependent cementation exponent m (Archie-M), iii) a modification of the Archie's law for multiple conducting phases (Archie-N), and iv) the geometric mean model (GM). The model application context was permafrost monitoring and fate forecasting on natural fine-grained soil undergoing cycles of freezing and thawing, based on indirect (geophysical), in-situ time-lapse resistivity measurements. The purpose of the calibrated resistivity models was to derive the phase composition of the ground from in-situ resistivity measurements, with acceptable quantitative reliability, notably with respect to the amount and changes of ice and water content. In our validation framework, daily temperature-dependent soil phase distribution was converted into an effective resistivity distribution of the ground using each of the four resistivity mixing models. From the effective resistivity model, an apparent resistivity response was forward calculated and compared to time-lapse field apparent resistivity measurements from a permafrost monitoring field site. The performance metrics were i) the root mean square error between the forward-calculated and field-measured apparent resistivities throughout the freeze-thaw season, ii) the percentage of field apparent resistivity data explained by each resistivity model, and iii) the plausibility of the calibrated model parameter estimates. We found that despite different current conducting mechanisms involved in each of the resistivity mixing model formulations, the quantitative performance of the four evaluated models was very similar. The four models typically reproduced the field-measured resistivity variations within one to two standard deviations (STD) of the field measurements, depending on the time of the year and depth in the soil profile. In the active layer, the Archie-M model most consistently reproduced the field data within 1 STD throughout the freezing and frozen periods of the year (September – May). Meanwhile, the GM best matched the actual values of resistivities during freezing. The GM also recovered porosities of the three model layers close to the true values measured on borehole samples. All the tested models were challenged by accurately simulating the thawing period – overestimating resistivities in the temperature range from −5 °C to −2 °C and underestimating them between −2 °C and thawing point. Consequently, the choice between the models should depend on the specifics of a particular application, such as available calibration data, desired parameters or ground properties to resolve, sensitivity of the modeling framework etc. An application-specific validation of several resistivity mixing models and quantification of performance of the chosen resistivity model may be called for. Additionally, the possibility of using different mixing model and water content parameterizations should be investigated, to adequately address complex ground resistivity structures and phase change processes typical of permafrost ground.</p

Life cycle assessment of lithium ion battery from water-based manufacturing for electric vehicles

Lithium ion batteries produced using the water-based manufacturing processes, as a greener technology, have great potential to be used in future electric vehicles (EVs). A cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment model configured for actual EV applications has been developed for the water-based manufactured lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC)-graphite battery pack. Experimental and modeling results cover raw material extraction and processing, water-based battery manufacturing processes, battery usage during EV driving, and direct recycling at End-of-Life. The ReCiPe method is employed to investigate the environmental impacts of the water-based battery pack and benchmark it against the impacts of a conventional N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)-based battery pack with the same mass. The cradle-to-grave energy consumption of the studied water-based battery pack is 0.976 MJ/km EV driving, equivalent to a 4.5% reduction over the NMP-based battery pack. Aside from energy usage, we find reductions in all environmental impact categories (3.0%∼85%) compared to the conventional battery pack

Does the outside view affect the luminous and thermal perception? A preliminary study

This study explores whether differences in urban views affect thermal and visual perception. Experimental sessions were conducted in two identical office rooms with controlled temperatures, naturally lit but with different window views. Split into two groups by temperature (between subjects), the participants were exposed to two window views (within subjects). The results of this preliminary study indicate that the thermal and visual perception were not significantly different between the window views

Analysis of model dimensionality, particle shrinkage, boundary layer reactions on particle-scale modelling of biomass char conversion under pulverized fuel combustion conditions

In this work, the effects of model dimensionality, particle shrinkage, and boundary layer reactions on particle-scale modelling of biomass char conversion under pulverized fuel combustion conditions have been analysed by using six models: zero-dimensional models with constant particle size (0D_Cons) or shrinking particle size (0D_SPM), one-dimensional models with/without considering particle shrinkage (1D_Cons/1D_SPM), and 1D_Cons and 1D_SPM with considering boundary layer reactions (1D_Cons_BH and 1D_SPM_BH). A comparison with existing experimental data shows that the 1D_SPM_BH model with consideration of intra-particle heat and mass transfer, particle shrinkage, and boundary layer reactions is an appropriate model to describe biomass char conversion over a wide range of conditions. The 0D_Cons model is a good approximation for the conditions of small particle size (&lt; 1 mm) at 1273–1473 K, but overestimates the char conversion rate for larger biomass char particle or at high temperatures (regime III). The 0D_SPM model gives a reasonable prediction on char conversion time but predicts a larger contribution of reaction between char and O2 as compared to the 1D_SPM_BH model. The consideration of intra-particle heat and mass transfer in particle-scale modelling (1D_Cons and 1D_SPM) is beneficial to improving the model prediction of char conversion time and the contributions of char oxidation and gasification reactions. The boundary layer reactions have a significant effect on the prediction of char conversion for large particles (&gt; 1 mm) and high temperatures (&gt; 1473 K). An implication for the selection of a particle-scale model in CFD modelling is also given

Surface engineering of metal-organic framework nanoparticles-based miRNA carrier:Boosting RNA stability, intracellular delivery and synergistic therapy

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that are critical for the regulation of multiple physiological and pathological processes, thus holding great clinical potential. However, the therapeutic applications of miRNAs are severely limited by their biological instability and poor intracellular delivery. Herein, we describe a dual-layers surface engineering strategy to design an efficient miRNA delivery nanosystem based on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) incorporating lipid coating. The resulting nanoparticle system was demonstrated to protect miRNA from ribonuclease degradation, enhance cellular uptake and facilitate lysosomal escape. These ensured effective miRNA mediated gene therapy, which synergized with MOF-specific photodynamic therapy and pre-encapsulated doxorubicin (Dox) chemotherapy to provide a multifunctional with therapeutic effectiveness against cencer cells The mechanisms of miRNA binding and Dox loading were revealed, demonstrating the potential of the present MOFs surface-engineered strategy to overcome their inherent pore-size restriction for macromolecular miRNA carrying, enableefficient co-delivery. In vitro studies revealed the potential of our multifunctional system for miRNA delivery and the demonstrated the therapeutic effectiveness against cancer cells, thereby providing a versatile all-in-one MOFs strategy for delivery of nucleic acids and diverse therapeutic molecules in synergistic therapy.</p