Anti-short-circuit device: A new solution for short-circuiting in windcatcher and improvement of natural ventilation performance

Windcatcher is an effective technique for naturally ventilating a space and improving indoor air quality. A common problem for modern and traditional windcatchers is air short-circuiting. Air-short-circuiting in windcatchers occurs when the air entering through the supply channel immediately exits through the exhaust channel without circulating and mixing inside the enclosed space. Several previous works on windcatchers have observed the “short-circuiting” effect and concluded that it has a negative impact on the ventilation performance however, no work have provided a solution to eliminate this effect. The present study will address this issue by incorporating a component called the anti-short-circuiting device (ASCD) and investigating its potential to eliminate air short-circuiting in windcatchers and improve ventilation performance. Two methods were employed in this research: experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study. For the experimental work, three scaled models were studied in a wind tunnel. The CFD modelling was validated using the air velocity measurements and good correlation was observed with average error below 10%. The results showed that the ASCD windcatcher with angles between 20° and 80° prevented air-short-circuiting while supplying up to 40–51 l/s per occupant, which is higher than the minimum recommendations of ASHRAE62.2 and BS5925. In addition, the windcatcher without ASCD showed 8% higher CO2 concentration in the room, indicating that the ASCD windcatcher was more effective in removing stale air out of the room. Furthermore, the average air velocity in the room at sitting height with the ASCD windcatcher was 19–28% higher than windcatcher without ASCD

Accelerating greedy coordinate descent methods

We introduce and study two algorithms to accelerate greedy coordinate descent in theory and in practice: Accelerated Semi-Greedy Coordinate Descent (ASCD) and Accelerated Greedy Co-ordinate Descent (AGCD). On the theory side, our main results are for ASCD: We show that ASCD achieves 0(l/k[superscript 2]) convergence, and it also achieves accelerated linear convergence for strongly convex functions. On the empirical side, while both AGCD and ASCD outperform Accelerated Randomized Coordinate Descent on most instances in our numerical experiments, we note that AGCD significantly outperforms the other two methods in our experiments, in spite of a lack of theoretical guarantees for this method. To complement this empirical finding for AGCD, we present an explanation why standard proof techniques for acceleration cannot work for AGCD, and we introduce a technical condition under which AGCD is guaranteed to have accelerated convergence. Finally, we confirm that this technical condition holds in our numerical experiments

Congenital Sensorineural Deafness in Australian Stumpy-Tail Cattle Dogs Is an Autosomal Recessive Trait That Maps to CFA10

Congenital sensorineural deafness is an inherited condition found in many dog breeds, including Australian Stumpy-tail Cattle Dogs (ASCD). This deafness is evident in young pups and may affect one ear (unilateral) or both ears (bilateral). The genetic locus/loci involved is unknown for all dog breeds. The aims of this study were to determine incidence, inheritance mechanism, and possible association of congenital sensorineural deafness with coat colour in ASCD and to identify the genetic locus underpinning this disease.A total of 315 ASCD were tested for sensorineural deafness using the brain stem auditory evoked response (BAER) test. Disease penetrance was estimated directly, using the ratio of unilaterally to bilaterally deaf dogs, and segregation analysis was performed using Mendel. A complete genome screen was undertaken using 325 microsatellites spread throughout the genome, on a pedigree of 50 BAER tested ASCD in which deafness was segregating. Fifty-six dogs (17.8%) were deaf, with 17 bilaterally and 39 unilaterally deaf. Unilaterally deaf dogs showed no significant left/right bias (p = 0.19) and no significant difference was observed in frequencies between the sexes (p = 0.18). Penetrance of deafness was estimated as 0.72. Testing the association of red/blue coat colour and deafness without accounting for pedigree structure showed that red dogs were 1.8 times more likely to be deaf (p = 0.045). The within family association between red/blue coat colour and deafness was strongly significant (p = 0.00036), with red coat colour segregating more frequently with deafness (COR = 0.48). The relationship between deafness and coat speckling approached significance (p = 0.07), with the lack of statistical significance possibly due to only four families co-segregating for both deafness and speckling. The deafness phenotype was mapped to CFA10 (maximum linkage peak on CFA10 -log10 p-value = 3.64), as was both coat colour and speckling. Fine mapping was then performed on 45 of these 50 dogs and a further 48 dogs (n = 93). Sequencing candidate gene Sox10 in 6 hearing ASCD, 2 unilaterally deaf ASCD and 2 bilaterally deaf ASCD did not reveal any disease-associated mutations.Deafness in ASCD is an incompletely penetrant autosomal recessive inherited disease that maps to CFA10

The Aftermath

Multiple activity, comprehensive lesson plan includes background information, grading rubric, information on associated learning standards and assessment, as well as links to additional external resources. Activity explores the concepts of a hurricane's impact on the environment, society, and economics of a given community. Students map the potential storm surge and flooding on a topographic map and locate and report on past hurricanes in a specific geographical region. Educational levels: Middle school, High school

K-5 Elementary Alternative Program: A Case Study

The purpose of this case study was to examine how the K-5 elementary alternative program All Students Can Thrive (ASCT) used student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. There is a lack of research on K-5 elementary alternative programs, such as ASCT, and specifically those that integrate student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. Literature does not contain universally accepted interventions that are effective in the elementary alternative setting to help students return to the mainstream classroom setting better prepared to display appropriate behaviors when a student is removed from a mainstream classroom setting due to disruptive behaviors. The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) has determined five major tenets that measure how educators influence the whole child and those are: healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged (ASCD, 2022). These five tenets will serve as the theoretical framework for this research on the whole child and ASCD will function as the scientific authority on the whole child for the purposes this case study. Data collection strategies included interviews, field notes, and a document review. Analysis of data occurred in three phases: (a) coding themes from participant responses during interviews (b) analysis of interview field notes (c) document review. The analysis of the case study data was based on the theoretical proposition that educating the whole child involves children being healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged (ASCD, 2022). The credibility of the analysis was protected by triangulation of data through the coding of interviews, interview field notes, and a document review. The results revealed that that all five tenets of the whole child were identified as a common theme or sub-theme from participant responses. Five common themes: (1) Engaged (2) Space to Thrive/Choices (3) Identify Needs/Skills (4) Confidence/Hope (5) Relationship and five sub-themes emerged from the analysis of data: (1) Challenged (2) Supported (3) Safe (4) Healthy (5) Communication

Iron deposition and increased alveolar septal capillary density in nonfibrotic lung tissue are associated with pulmonary hypertension in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has potential prognostic and therapeutic implications but can be difficult due to the lack of specific clinical manifestations or accurate non-invasive tests. Histopathologic parameters correlating with PH in IPF are also not known. Remodeling of postcapillary pulmonary vessels has been reported in the nonfibrotic areas of explanted lungs from IPF patients. We hypothesized that iron deposition and increased alveolar capillaries, the findings often seen in postcapillary PH, might predict the presence of clinical PH, independent of the severity of fibrosis or ventilatory dysfunction in IPF patients. To test this hypothesis, we examined the association between these histologic parameters and the degree of PH, with consideration of the severity of disease in IPF.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Iron deposition and alveolar septal capillary density (ASCD) were evaluated on histologic sections with hematoxylin-eosin, iron, elastin and CD34 stainings. Percentage of predicted forced vital capacity (FVC%) was used for grading pulmonary function status. Fibrosis score assessed on high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was used for evaluating overall degree of fibrosis in whole lungs. Right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) by transthoracic echocardiography was used for the estimation of PH. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A cohort of 154 patients was studied who had the clinicopathological diagnosis of IPF with surgical lung biopsies or explants during the period of 1997 to 2006 at Mayo Clinic Rochester. In univariate analysis, RVSP in our IPF cases was associated with both iron deposition and ASCD (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis with FVC% and HRCT fibrosis score included, iron deposition (p = 0.02), but not ASCD (p = 0.076), maintained statistically significant association with RVSP. FVC% was associated with RVSP on univariate analysis but not on multivariate analysis, while fibrosis score lacked any association with RVSP by either univariate or multivariate analyses.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Iron deposition and ASCD in non fibrotic lung tissue showed an association with RVSP, suggesting that these features are possible morphologic predictors of PH in IPF.</p

Students with Disabilities and the Common Core

In lieu of an abstract, here are the article\u27s first two paragraphs: The adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards purports increased learning for all students. The Common Core, through the provision of rigorous standards, provides benchmarks for what students are expected to know or learn, to prepare them for college and the work force (http://www.corestandards.org). Providing opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in the Common Core allows access to higher level curriculum. The Common Core standards provide a framework of what content should come before and after current standards, assert Saunders, Spooner, Browder, Wakeman and Lee (2013, p. 22,) and indicates what should be taught, not how to teach it (p. 32). This provides flexibility to teachers who possess in-depth knowledge of instructional strategies, how students\u27 best learn, and how to differentiate, making learning and materials assessable to each student (Haager & Vaughn, 2013, p. 6). This is particularly pertinent for special education students in states where access to the general education curriculum has been limited. Access to general education curriculum is a plus for special educators as well, who in theory, should have increased opportunity for professional development in the content areas