Moisture Buffer Value of Building Materials

Building materials and furnishing used in contact with indoor air may have a positive effect to moderate the variations of indoor humidity seen in occupied buildings. Thus, very low humidity can be alleviated in winter, as well as can high indoor humidity in summer and during high occupancy loads. This way, materials can be used as a passive means of establishing indoor climatic conditions, which are comfortable for human occupancy, or for safe storing of artefacts which are sensible to humidity variation. But so far there has been a lack of a standardized figure to characterize the moisture buffering ability of materials. It has been the objective of a recent (ongoing until mid-2005) Nordic project to come up with such a definition, and to declare it in the form of a NORDTEST method. Apart from the definition of the term Moisture Buffer Value, there will also be a declaration of a test protocol which expresses how materials should be tested. Finally as a part of the project, some Round Robin Tests will be carried out on various typical building materials. The paper gives an account on the definition of the Moisture Buffer Value, it will outline the content of the test protocol, and it will give some examples of results from the Round Robin Tests

The association between air travel and deep vein thrombosis: Systematic review & meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Air travel has been linked with the development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) since the 1950s with a number of plausible explanations put forward for causation. No systematic review of the literature exploring this association has previously been published. METHODS: A comprehensive search was undertaken (Data bases searched were: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library) for studies that estimated both the incidence and the risk of DVT in air travellers relative to non-air travellers. RESULTS: In total 254 studies were identified but only six incidence studies and four risk studies met inclusion criteria justifying their use in a systematic review. Incidence of symptomatic DVT ranged from (0%) in one study to (0.28%) which was reported in pilots over ten years. The incidence of asymptomatic DVT ranged from (0%) to (10.34%). Pooled odds ratios for the two case control studies examining the risk of DVT following air travel were 1.11 (95% CI: 0.64–1.94). Pooled odds ratios for all models of travel including two studies of prolonged air travel (more than three hours) were 1.70 (95% CI: 0.89–3.22). CONCLUSION: We found no definitive evidence that prolonged (more than 3-hours) travel including air travel, increases the risk of DVT. There is evidence to suggest that flights of eight hours or more increase the risk of DVT if additional risk factors exist

A method for status determination and risk assessment of energy measures in historic buildings

Implementing energy efficiency measures in historic buildings is a challenging task and require knowledge in a number of different disciplines. The measures to reduce energy use must create a good indoor environment without jeopardizing the loss of important cultural historical values or entailing damages to building materials or load-bearing structures. Building antiquarian-, building biological- and building physical aspects are central, and must be taken into account in the entire process, from planning to implementation of energy update measures in historic buildings. This paper presents a methodology for status determination and risk assessment of energy measures in historic buildings. The method (KuReRA) has been developed in collaboration between curators, building biologists and building physicists

Polysaccharide characterization by flow field-flow fractionation-multiangle light scattering: Initial studies of modified starches

Chemically modified starches are commonly used for various purposes. Depending on the type of derivatization, a chemical degradation of the original polymeric structure may occur, resulting in a change of molar mass. It is therefore always of interest to know the molar mass and possibly the conformation of the derivative. Four commercially available hydroxypropyl and hydroxyethyl modified starches were examined by asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation combined with multiangle laser light scattering. The weight-average molar mass and the molar mass distribution were determined, with emphasis put on the rapid analysis and studies of the suitable experimental conditions regarding flow rates so that accurate data were obtained. The molar mass distribution determinations showed good reproducibility, and repeatability and were fast. Efforts to obtain conformational information are described