Heat and moisture balance simulation of a building with vapor-open envelope system for subtropical regions

Global warming and the resource depletion induced discussions on sustainable developments within the construction sector. Also the rapid urbanization in subtropical regions is becoming one of the most important global issues. Appropriate measures must be taken in such developments to avoid further damage to the environment. In this study, the heat and moisture balance simulation of building with a sustainable building envelope system for subtropical climate was proposed. In the moisture balance simulation the moisture buffering by the interior materials was taken into account. The prediction of moisture buffer value (MBV) of the interior finishing materials was attempted and validated by measurements. Subsequently, the whole building calculation was carried out and the contribution of the moisture buffering to the indoor comfort and energy consumption was investigated. The MBVs of the mineral-based materials were predicted with high accuracy. However, that of wood-based composite was much higher than the experimental value. In order to create a more accurate model, nonlinear moisture conductance should be accounted when modeling wood-based materials. The heating and cooling demand of a test house was 9.4 kWh/m2 and 14.5 kWh/m2, respectively. It was concluded that the utilization of the building envelope system has a high potential to provide sustainable houses in subtropical regions. In order to enhance both energy efficiency and indoor comfort of buildings in subtropical regions, there still is a strong need to develop a holistic method to find the optimum building design considering not only moisture buffering but also all the relevant factors. The presented model will be validated by in-situ measurements in the near futur

Transforming growth factor-β1 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides block interstitial fibrosis in unilateral ureteral obstruction

Transforming growth factor-β1 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides block interstitial fibrosis in unilateral ureteral obstruction.BackgroundInterstitial expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is important in tubulointerstitial fibrosis, a common process in most progressive renal diseases. However, no effective therapy for progressive interstitial fibrosis is known. Recently, we developed an artificial viral envelope (AVE)-type hemagglutinating virus of Japan (HVJ) liposome-mediated retrograde ureteral gene transfer method, which allowed us to introduce the genetic material selectively into renal interstitial fibroblasts.MethodWe introduced antisense or scrambled oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) for TGF-β1 into interstitial fibroblasts in rats with unilateral ureteral obstruction, a model of interstitial fibrosis, to block interstitial fibrosis by retrograde ureteral injection of AVE-type HVJ liposomes.ResultsTGF-β1 and type I collagen mRNA increased markedly in the interstitium of untreated obstructed kidneys, and those were not affected by scrambled ODN transfection. Northern analysis and in situ hybridization revealed that the levels of TGF-β1 and type I collagen mRNA were dramatically decreased in antisense ODN-transfected obstructed kidneys. Consequently, the interstitial fibrotic area of the obstructed kidneys treated with antisense ODN was significantly less than that of the obstructed kidneys untreated or treated with scrambled ODN.ConclusionThe introduction of TGF-β1 antisense ODN into interstitial fibroblasts may be a potential therapeutic maneuver for interstitial fibrosis

Are Two z~6 Quasars Gravitationally Lensed ?

Several high-z (z > 5.7) quasars have been found in the course of Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The presence of such very high-z quasars is expected to give constraints on early structure formation. On one hand, it is suggested that these most luminous objects at high redshift are biased toward the highly magnified objects by gravitational lensing. To clarify the effect of gravitational lensing on the high-z quasars, we began the imaging survey of intervening lensing galaxies. Indeed our previous optical image showed that SDSSp J104433.04+012502.2 at z=5.74 is gravitationally magnified by a factor 2. In this paper, we report our new optical imaging of other two high-z quasars, SDSSp J103027.10+052455.0 at z=6.28 and SDSSp J130608.26+035626.3 at z=5.99. Since we find neither intervening galaxy nor counter image with i^{\prime} < 25.4-25.8 around each quasar, we conclude that they are not strongly magnified regardless that a lens galaxy is dusty.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for PAS

Foraging ecology of short-tailed shearwater in the Southern Ocean

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OB] Polar Biology, Wed. 4 Dec. / 3F Multipurpose conference room, National Institute of Polar Researc

Ultra-SAXS observation of fibril-sized structure formation after the necking of poly(ethylene terephthalate) and poly(phenylene sulfide) fibers

Fibril-sized structures, which exhibit a density fluctuation of several tens to hundreds of nanometers, are important because they influence many properties of fibers and films, particularly the strength and thermal shrinkage of synthetic fibers. We analyzed the formation of fibril-sized structures after necking using ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering (USAXS), which enables observation of the void and craze formations. Continuous laser-heated drawing and undulator synchrotron radiation were adopted to measure the structural development of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) fibers. Both fibers showed a clear increase in the meridional streak intensity just after necking and an increase in the equatorial streak after necking. These increases were distinctive for PPS. Moreover, a layer-lined streak appeared after necking only for PET. The intensity of the meridional streak increased with an increase in the draw ratio, whereas the intensity of the layer-lined scattering decreased with an increase in the draw ratio.ArticlePOLYMER JOURNAL.51(2):211-219(2018)journal articl

SDSSp J104433.04−-012502.2 at z=5.74z=5.74 is Gravitationally Magnified by an Intervening Galaxy

During the course of our optical deep survey program on L$\alpha$ emitters at $z \approx 5.7$ in the sky area surrounding the quasar SDSSp J104433.04$-$012502.2 at $z=5.74$, we found that a faint galaxy with $m_B$(AB) $\approx 25$ is located at \timeform{1".9} southwest of the quasar. Its broad-band color properties from $B$ to $z^\prime$ suggest that the galaxy is located at a redshift of $z \sim 1.5$ -- 2.5. This is consistent with no strong emission line in our optical spectroscopy. Since the counter image of the quasar cannot be seen in our deep optical images, the magnification factor seems not to be very high. Our modest estimate is that this quasar is gravitationally magnified by a factor of 2.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, PASJ, in pres

The Discovery of a Very Narrow-Line Star Forming Obat a Redshift of 5.66ject

We report on the discovery of a very narrow-line star forming object beyond redshift of 5. Using the prime-focus camera, Suprime-Cam, on the 8.2 m Subaru telescope together with a narrow-passband filter centered at $\lambda_{\rm c}$ = 8150 \AA with passband of $\Delta\lambda$ = 120 \AA, we have obtained a very deep image of the field surrounding the quasar SDSSp J104433.04$-$012502.2 at a redshift of 5.74. Comparing this image with optical broad-band images, we have found an object with a very strong emission line. Our follow-up optical spectroscopy has revealed that this source is at a redshift of $z=5.655\pm0.002$, forming stars at a rate $\sim 13 ~ h_{0.7}^{-2} ~ M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. Remarkably, the velocity dispersion of Ly$\alpha$-emitting gas is only 22 km s$^{-1}$. Since a blue half of the Ly$\alpha$ emission could be absorbed by neutral hydrogen gas, perhaps in the system, a modest estimate of the velocity dispersion may be $\gtrsim$ 44 km s$^{-1}$. Together with a linear size of 7.7 $h_{0.7}^{-1}$ kpc, we estimate a lower limit of the dynamical mass of this object to be $\sim 2 \times 10^9 M_\odot$. It is thus suggested that LAE J1044$-$0123 is a star-forming dwarf galaxy (i.e., a subgalactic object or a building block) beyond redshift 5 although we cannot exclude a possibility that most Ly$\alpha$ emission is absorbed by the red damping wing of neutral intergalactic matter.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. ApJ Letters, in pres