Biomimetic Potentials for Building Envelope Adaptation in Egypt

AbstractBiomimicry is a science that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature's time-tested 3.8 billion years of patterns and strategies. The paper is concerned with embodying the biomimetic strategies to building envelopes which shall offer a high potential to reduce the energy demand, save material and thus improve the sustainability of buildings, through accessing current practices process of natural ventilation biomimicry in buildings for a potential application in building envelope for environmental adaptation which could help for the emergence of a new generation of biomimetic building envelopes aiming at promoting biomimicry in Egypt by showing the benefits that could be harvested

Evaluation of the Workplace Environment in the UK, and the Impact on Users’ Levels of Stimulation

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a number of recently completed workplaces in the UK. The first aim is to assess the impact of various aspects of the workplace environment on users’ levels of stimulation. The body of previous research undertaken into the workplace environment, identified the aspects to be investigated. Samples of employees from the sixteen businesses were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the workplaces. The results were entered into a regression analysis, and the most significant predictors of perceived stimulation identified. The data also revealed a dramatic reduction in staff arousal levels from mornings to afternoons. Thus, there is a second aim to determine whether changes to significant aspects of the workplace environment during the day can counteract the reduction in users’ stimulation. Two further workplaces were studied to enable changes to be made over a 12-week period. A sample of employees completed questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews revealed the reasons behind the results. It was found that provision of artwork, personal control of temperature and ventilation and regular breaks were the most significant contributions to increasing stimulation after lunch; while user choice of layout, and design and décor of workspaces and break areas, were the most significant aspects at design stage

Introducing the international home dialysis consortium

The use of home dialysis, peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home hemodialysis (HHD), remains low despite the well-known benefits to the person on dialysis in terms of lifestyle and treatment satisfaction, and to the health care system because of lower financial costs and lesser dependence on trained professionals.1 With projections of doubling of the population of people receiving dialysis from 2010 to 2030,2 health care systems delivering dialysis therapy have the responsibility to ensure cost-effectiveness. Resources are limited, including qualified staff and finances to cover treatment costs. Remote patient monitoring holds promise of high quality follow up and improved clinical outcomes for home dialysis patients.3 Furthermore, shared decision making enables patients to choose and therefore benefit from the dialysis modality most suitable for the individual to improve their quality of life. Furthermore, by avoiding multiple journeys to a dialysis center, home dialysis is less disruptive for the environment and for those living in remote geographic areas, prevents individuals from having to relocate from their communities to urban areas for dialysis treatment. In addition, PD avoids use of large quantities of water for each treatment, which is critically important in regions with water scarcity. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when even “home dialysis sceptics” perceived the advantage of dialysis at home rather than in-center, an International Home Dialysis Roundtable was convened by industry leaders to consider practical steps for increasing access to home dialysis.4 Around the same time, Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes held a controversies conference on home dialysis, looking at multiple facets of improving the adoption and propagation of home dialysis globally.5 Building on this work, and in the light of the global importance and interests in home dialysis, the leadership of the International Society of Nephrology and the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis have joined forces to form the International Home Dialysis Consortium. This consortium aims to bring regional stakeholder forces together to drive home dialysis uptake globally, in a scientifically advised, structured, and accountable manner

Assessing the effectiveness of the Ramsar Convention in preserving wintering waterbirds in the Mediterranean

lthough biological conservation is based on international agreements, its effectiveness depends on how countries implement such recommendations as effective conservation tools. The Ramsar Convention is the oldest international treaty for wetland and waterbird conservation, establishing the world's largest network of protected areas. However, since it does not constitute any binding measure, its effectiveness in protecting wintering waterbird populations at an international scale has been questioned. Here, we use long-term (1991–2012) count data to assess the effectiveness of the Ramsar Convention in the Mediterranean Basin. We compared abundance and temporal trends of 114 waterbird species between 251 Ramsar wetlands and 3486 non-Ramsar wetlands. We found that the Ramsar network is critical for wintering waterbirds, concentrating nearly half of all waterbirds counted in the Mediterranean Basin in only 7% of monitored wetlands. Waterbird trends followed a northwestsoutheast gradient, with a population decrease in the East. A significant and positive Ramsar effect on population trends was only found for the species of higher conservation concern in the Maghreb, particularly when a management plan was implemented. The Ramsar Convention was previously used on very important wetlands for waterbirds in Southern Europe, but is now an underused conservation tool. Our study suggests weaknesses in the use of Ramsar as an effective conservation tool in most of the Mediterranean Basin. However, the Ramsar Convention effectiveness to enhance waterbird populations in the Maghreb should encourage strengthening the Ramsar Convention. It should be done particularly in countries with limited environmental agreements and by systematic implementation of management plans. Conservation measures International conventions Protected areas Protection status Monitoring WetlandsacceptedVersio

Screening of BRCA1 (c.5177_5180delGAAA rs80357867 and c.4986+6T>C rs80358086) and the BRCA2 (c.6445_6446delAT rs80359592) genes for breast cancer prevention in Burkina Faso

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to search for mutations in the BRCA1 (c.5177_5180delGAAA and c.4986+6T>C) and BRCA2 genes (c.6445_6446delAT) in a population of women diagnosed with breast cancer.METHODS: This is a case-control study that involved 140 participants, including 70 patients with histologically diagnosed breast cancer and 70 healthy women without breast cancer. Mutations in the BRCA1 (rs80357867, rs80358086) and BRCA2 (rs80359592) genes were tested by real-time PCR. The 95% confidence interval Odds Ratio (OR) was used to estimate the associations between specific genotypes and breast cancer.RESULTS: The study revealed that no mutations were detected for rs80359592. Similarly, no reference allele (TTTC/TTTC) of rs80357867 was found in this study. However, the homozygous double mutant (-/) genotype of this rs80357867 was observed in 11.43% and 1.43% of patients and controls respectively, while 88.57% of patients and 98.57% of controls had a heterozygous deletion (TTTC/-). Concerning rs80358086, 8.57% of the patients had a heterozygous mutation (A/G) with no significantly risk association with occurrence of breast cancer (OR = 6.46; 95% CI: 0.75-55.21; p = 0.11). In addition, this heterozygous mutation was significantly associated with a family history of breast cancer (OR=128; 95% CI: 9.46-1730.93) and breast cancer risk in nonmultiparous women (OR=6; 95% CI: 1-35.90; p= 0.05) but no association with overweight/obesity (OR=1.66; 95% CI: 0.18-15.35; p=1).CONCLUSION: This study shows high frequencies of heterozygous mutation of rs80357867 and rs80358086 from patients. In Burkina Faso, these results could help with early diagnosis of breast cancer in patients

Two in one sweep: aluminum tolerance and grain yield in P-limited soils are associated to the same genomic region in West African Sorghum

Background Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) productivity is severely impeded by low phosphorus (P) and aluminum (Al) toxic soils in sub-Saharan Africa and especially West Africa (WA). Improving productivity of this staple crop under these harsh conditions is crucial to improve food security and farmer’s incomes in WA. Results This is the first study to examine the genetics underlying sorghum adaptation to phosphorus limitation in a wide range of WA growing conditions. A set of 187 diverse sorghum genotypes were grown in 29 –P and + P field experiments from 2006-2012 in three WA countries. Sorghum grain yield performance under –P and + P conditions was highly correlated (r = 0.85***). Significant genotype-by-phosphorus interaction was detected but with small magnitude compared to the genotype variance component. We observed high genetic diversity within our panel, with rapid linkage disequilibrium decay, confirming recent sequence based studies in sorghum. Using genome wide association mapping based on 220 934 SNPs we identified one genomic region on chromosome 3 that was highly associated to grain yield production. A major Al-tolerance gene in sorghum, SbMATE, was collocated in this region and SbMATE specific SNPs showed very high associations to grain yield production, especially under –P conditions, explaining up to 16% of the genotypic variance. Conclusion The results suggest that SbMATE has a possible pleiotropic role in providing tolerance to two of the most serious abiotic stresses for sorghum in WA, Al toxicity and P deficiency. The identified SNPs can help accelerate breeding for increased sorghum productivity under unfavorable soil conditions and contribute to assuring food security in WA

Structure and dynamics of the Martian lower and middle atmosphere as observed by the Mars Climate Sounder: Seasonal variations in zonal mean temperature, dust, and water ice aerosols

The first Martian year and a half of observations by the Mars Climate Sounder aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed new details of the thermal structure and distributions of dust and water ice in the atmosphere. The Martian atmosphere is shown in the observations by the Mars Climate Sounder to vary seasonally between two modes: a symmetrical equinoctial structure with middle atmosphere polar warming and a solstitial structure with an intense middle atmosphere polar warming overlying a deep winter polar vortex. The dust distribution, in particular, is more complex than appreciated before the advent of these high (~5 km) vertical resolution observations, which extend from near the surface to above 80 km and yield 13 dayside and 13 nightside pole-to-pole cross sections each day. Among the new features noted is a persistent maximum in dust mass mixing ratio at 15–25 km above the surface (at least on the nightside) during northern spring and summer. The water ice distribution is very sensitive to the diurnal and seasonal variation of temperature and is a good tracer of the vertically propagating tide

Calibration and Characterization of the IceCube Photomultiplier Tube

Over 5,000 PMTs are being deployed at the South Pole to compose the IceCube neutrino observatory. Many are placed deep in the ice to detect Cherenkov light emitted by the products of high-energy neutrino interactions, and others are frozen into tanks on the surface to detect particles from atmospheric cosmic ray showers. IceCube is using the 10-inch diameter R7081-02 made by Hamamatsu Photonics. This paper describes the laboratory characterization and calibration of these PMTs before deployment. PMTs were illuminated with pulses ranging from single photons to saturation level. Parameterizations are given for the single photoelectron charge spectrum and the saturation behavior. Time resolution, late pulses and afterpulses are characterized. Because the PMTs are relatively large, the cathode sensitivity uniformity was measured. The absolute photon detection efficiency was calibrated using Rayleigh-scattered photons from a nitrogen laser. Measured characteristics are discussed in the context of their relevance to IceCube event reconstruction and simulation efforts.Comment: 40 pages, 12 figure