Preference for Plants in an Office Environment

Plants in the workplace are known to bring a number of benefits including psychological as well as aesthetic and air quality benefits. Therefore, plants can have an impact on overall organisational performance. However, findings of previous studies have rarely been applied in the FM context and yet strategic FM delivery in improving workplace productivity is essential for business survival. The paper explores the importance of interior plants in maintaining the physical and psychological well-being of office occupants utilising a survey of participants’ perceptions of photographs of an office with various levels of planting installed from no plants up to very high levels of planting. The paper provides preliminary results of a longer programme of research into the benefits of plants within the FM context. The work demonstrates that a reasonable level of interior planting in offices is preferred over offices with no plants. These perceived benefits may have a direct impact on overall organisational performance and therefore incorporating elements of nature within building design and management may in future be considered imperative to achieving the desired strategic outcomes of the organisation

Total Quality Facilities Management and Innovation: A Synergistic Approach

The ideas of quality and performance management and innovation in facilities management service provision are not new. Total Quality Management (TQM) is widely recognised throughout the world as a concept capable of providing competitive advantage. Innovation has also received considerable attention as having a crucial role in securing sustainable competitive advantage. However, there has been little consideration of the potential for integration of TQM practices with innovation principles in determining facilities management performance. TQM and innovation appear to corroborate each other and are becoming increasingly important in facilities management. This study takes a theoretical approach to critically review the relationship between TQM and innovation and to determine the relationship between TQM and Innovation in regard to facilities service provision. The theoretical implication is that FM service providers may adopt a synergistic approach to TQM and innovation, leading to sustained competitive advantage in terms of better positioning themselves within the saturated FM marketplace

The dual digestion of sewage sludge using air and pure oxygen

Dual Digestion is a two-stage system that combines autothermal thermophilic aerobic pre-treatment with conventional anaerobic digestion. The practicability of the system using pure oxygen is well proven. Disadvantages are the high cost of the pure oxygen and the absence of a detailed evaluation of anaerobic digester performance. This report discusses the results of a full-scale investigation into the dual digestion system (184m³ aerobic reactor and 1800m³ anaerobic digester), carried out in two phases: In the first using air alone for oxygenating the aerobic reactor and in the second using a combination of air and pure oxygen. During both phases the performance of the anaerobic digester was also monitored, but in greater detail in the second phase as far as the final sludge product is concerned. In phase I, with air, it was possible to maintain thermophilic temperatures in the aerobic reactor throughout the year. However, the required retention times were relatively long (3-6 days) in comparison with the pure oxygen reactor (~1 day) due to the high vapour heat losses. At long retention times, the volatile solids (VS) destruction was appreciable (~25%) and the reactor tended towards an autothermal thermophilic digester. Foaming, although unpredictable in its occurrence, significantly improved aerobic reactor performance by doubling the oxygen transfer efficiency. From liquid and gas mass and heat balances it was found that the specific biological heat yield and respiration quotient were approximately constant at 12.8 MJ/kg(O₂) and 0. 70 mol(CO₂)/mol(O₂) respectively over a wide range of operating conditions and consistent relationships between VS removal, heat generation, and oxygen utilisation could be established. Based on information collected, it was concluded that increased treatment capacity and greater temperature control of the aerobic reactor could be provided by supplementing air oxygenation with pure oxygen. In phase II, using a combination of air and pure oxygen, much higher loading rates on the aerobic reactor were possible. Thermophilic temperatures could be maintained at short retention times (1-2 days). Unfortunately, no foaming occurred during this period. Consequently, the benefit of improved oxygen transfer efficiency of the air oxygenation system, produced by the foam, could not be exploited. Liquid and gas mass and heat balances confirmed the specific heat yield and respiration quotient values and the relationship between oxygen utilisation, VS destruction and biological heating. During phase II, the anaerobic digester operated at a retention time of ~10 days. The sensible heat content of the hot sludge from the aerobic reactor was sufficient to force the digester into the thermophilic temperature range. The stability of the anaerobic process and final sludge product at this short retention time was monitored with % VS removal and residual specific oxygen utilisation rate tests and found to be similar to that of conventional mesophilic anaerobic digestion at 20 days retention time. Dewaterability as reflected by the specific resistance to filtration (SRF) was found to be poor, but 11ot much worse than for conventional mesophilic digestion. Sufficient information was obtained during phases I and II to allow a mathematical model to be compiled, which could reasonably reliably simulate all the main operating parameters of the dual digestion system. The model provided a means for assessing different system configurations with mesophilic or thermophilic digestion, with and without heat exchange or gas engine external heat sources, allowing technical and economical (capital and operating) feasibility to be evaluated and compared with that for conventional digestion. From both the experimental and modelled results, all the claimed benefits of the dual digestion system were verified with the exception of the claim that aerobic reactor heat pre-treatment of the sludge allows the anaerobic digester to operate at short retention times (~10 days). However, the digester can be operated at 10 days retention provided its temperature is in the thermophilic range, in which case a sufficiently stable sludge is produced; at mesophilic temperatures, a retention time of 15 days or longer is required to produce a sludge of equivalent stability to that from conventional mesophilic digestion. Consequently, it is not the stability of the anaerobic process per se that governs the minimum retention time but the quality required for the final sludge product. The aerobic reactor is an appropriate pre-treatment stage for the thermophilic digester because it provides the necessary temperature and pH buffering to allow stable operation in the thermophilic range. It is concluded that where application of conventional anaerobic digestion is contemplated, whether for new installations or for upgrading existing plants, the dual digestion system should be seriously considered as a possible option. It competes favourably both technically and economically with conventional mesophilic digestion and produces a superior sludge product which can be beneficially utilised in agriculture

Oxidiative lipidomics coming of age:advances in analysis of oxidized phospholipids in physiology and pathology

Significance: Oxidized phospholipids are now well-recognized as markers of biological oxidative stress and bioactive molecules with both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects. While analytical methods continue to be developed for studies of generic lipid oxidation, mass spectrometry (MS) has underpinned the advances in knowledge of specific oxidized phospholipids by allowing their identification and characterization, and is responsible for the expansion of oxidative lipidomics. Recent Advances: Studies of oxidized phospholipids in biological samples, both from animal models and clinical samples, have been facilitated by the recent improvements in MS, especially targeted routines that depend on the fragmentation pattern of the parent molecular ion and improved resolution and mass accuracy. MS can be used to identify selectively individual compounds or groups of compounds with common features, which greatly improves the sensitivity and specificity of detection. Application of these methods have enabled important advances in understanding the mechanisms of inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis, steatohepatitis, leprosy and cystic fibrosis, and offer potential for developing biomarkers of molecular aspects of the diseases. Critical Issues and Future Directions: The future in this field will depend on development of improved MS technologies, such as ion mobility, novel enrichment methods and databases and software for data analysis, owing to the very large amount of data generated in these experiments. Imaging of oxidized phospholipids in tissue MS is an additional exciting direction emerging that can be expected to advance understanding of physiology and disease

RSL ROVER: Robotic Systems Laboratory Rugged Offroad Vehicle for Experimental Research

The goal of this project was to build an autonomous vehicle testbed for the Robotics Systems Laboratory. This testbed will be used by undergraduate, graduate, and faculty researchers to test different control methods, sensor combinations, vehicle control laws, and eventually autonomous navigation. This paper documents our accomplishments to achieve this goal; we built a hierarchical control system, robust actuator mounts, and an effective safety system. The result is a capable 6-wheeled offroad vehicle that can be electronically controlled by remote or directly by wire. A feed-forward control law was incorporated for speed control, yielding predictable performance given a desired speed. Actuators were tuned for fast, reliable response and wiring was kept organized. The team believes the vehicle will be a useful asset to the Robotic Systems Lab for future research. To improve upon our testbed, global positioning and a compass should be integrated along with other sensors that came with the vehicle such as a Lidar unit. With these additional components, the vehicle should be able to run autonomously

Chemistry and analysis of HNE and other prominent carbonyl-containing lipid oxidation compounds

The process of lipid oxidation generates a diverse array of small aldehydes and carbonyl-containing compounds, which may occur in free form or esterified within phospholipids and cholesterol esters. These aldehydes mostly result from fragmentation of fatty acyl chains following radical oxidation, and the products can be subdivided into alkanals, alkenals (usually α,β-unsaturated), γ-substituted alkenals and bis-aldehydes. Isolevuglandins are non-fragmented di-carbonyl compounds derived from H2-isoprostanes, and oxidation of the ω−3-fatty acid docosahexenoic acid yield analogous 22 carbon neuroketals. Non-radical oxidation by hypochlorous acid can generate α-chlorofatty aldehydes from plasmenyl phospholipids. Most of these compounds are reactive and have generally been considered as toxic products of a deleterious process. The reactivity is especially high for the α,β-unsaturated alkenals, such as acrolein and crotonaldehyde, and for γ-substituted alkenals, of which 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal and 4-oxo-2-nonenal are best known. Nevertheless, in recent years several previously neglected aldehydes have been investigated and also found to have significant reactivity and biological effects; notable examples are 4-hydroxy-2-hexenal and 4-hydroxy-dodecadienal. This has led to substantial interest in the biological effects of all of these lipid oxidation products and their roles in disease, including proposals that HNE is a second messenger or signalling molecule. However, it is becoming clear that many of the effects elicited by these compounds relate to their propensity for forming adducts with nucleophilic groups on proteins, DNA and specific phospholipids. This emphasizes the need for good analytical methods, not just for free lipid oxidation products but also for the resulting adducts with biomolecules. The most informative methods are those utilizing HPLC separations and mass spectrometry, although analysis of the wide variety of possible adducts is very challenging. Nevertheless, evidence for the occurrence of lipid-derived aldehyde adducts in biological and clinical samples is building, and offers an exciting area of future research

Development of a low-maintenance measurement approach to continuously estimate methane emissions: a case study

The chemical breakdown of organic matter in landfills represents a significant source of methane gas (CH4). Current estimates suggest that landfills are responsible for between 3% and 19% of global anthropogenic emissions. The net CH4 emissions resulting from biogeochemical processes and their modulation by microbes in landfills are poorly constrained by imprecise knowledge of environmental constraints. The uncertainty in absolute CH4 emissions from landfills is therefore considerable. This study investigates a new method to estimate the temporal variability of CH4 emissions using meteorological and CH4 concentration measurements downwind of a landfill site in Suffolk, UK from July to September 2014, taking advantage of the statistics that such a measurement approach offers versus shorter-term, but more complex and instantaneously accurate, flux snapshots. Methane emissions were calculated from CH4 concentrations measured 700 m from the perimeter of the landfill with observed concentrations ranging from background to 46.4 ppm. Using an atmospheric dispersion model, we estimate a mean emission flux of 709 μg m−2 s−1 over this period, with a maximum value of 6.21 mg m−2 s−1, reflecting the wide natural variability in biogeochemical and other environmental controls on net site emission. The emissions calculated suggest that meteorological conditions have an influence on the magnitude of CH4 emissions. We also investigate the factors responsible for the large variability observed in the estimated CH4 emissions, and suggest that the largest component arises from uncertainty in the spatial distribution of CH4 emissions within the landfill area. The results determined using the low-maintenance approach discussed in this paper suggest that a network of cheaper, less precise CH4 sensors could be used to measure a continuous CH4 emission time series from a landfill site, something that is not practical using far-field approaches such as tracer release methods. Even though there are limitations to the approach described here, this easy, low-maintenance, low-cost method could be used by landfill operators to estimate time-averaged CH4 emissions and their impact downwind by simultaneously monitoring plume advection and CH4 concentrations

PARP1 Co-regulates EP300–BRG1-dependent transcription of genes involved in breast cancer cell proliferation and DNA repair

BRG1, an active subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex, enables the EP300-dependent transcription of proliferation and DNA repair genes from their E2F/CpG-driven promoters in breast cancer cells. In the current study, we show that BRG1–EP300 complexes are accompanied by poly-ADP-ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1), which emerges as the functional component of the promoter-bound multiprotein units that are capable of controlling gene expression. This enzyme is co-distributed with BRG1 at highly acetylated promoters of genes such as CDK4, LIG1, or NEIL3, which are responsible for cancer cell growth and the removal of DNA damage. ADP-ribosylation is necessary to maintain active transcription, since it ensures an open chromatin structure that allows high acetylation and low histone density. PARP1-mediated modification of BRG1 and EP300 does not affect the association of enzymes with gene promoters; however, it does activate EP300, which acetylates nucleosomes, leading to their eviction by BRG1, thus allowing mRNA synthesis. Although PARP1 was found at BRG1 positive/H3K27ac negative promoters of highly expressed genes in a transformed breast cancer cell line, its transcriptional activity was limited to genes simultaneously controlled by BRG1 and EP300, indicating that the ADP-ribosylation of EP300 plays a dominant role in the regulation of BRG1–EP300-driven transcription. In conclusion, PARP1 directs the transcription of some proliferation and DNA repair genes in breast cancer cells by the ADP-ribosylation of EP300, thereby causing its activation and marking nucleosomes for displacement by BRG1. PARP1 in rapidly dividing cells facilitates the expression of genes that confer a cancer cell phenotype. Our study shows a new mechanism that links PARP1 with the removal of DNA damage in breast cancer cells via the regulation of BRG1–EP300-dependent transcription of genes involved in DNA repair pathways