Wind-driven ventilation improvement with plan typology alteration: a CFD case study of traditional Turkish architecture

Aligned with achieving the goal of net-zero buildings, the implementation of energy-saving techniques in minimizing energy demands is proving more vital than at any time. As practical and economic options, passive strategies in ventilation developed over thousands of years have shown great potential for the reduction of residential energy demands, which are often underestimated in modern building’s construction. In particular, as a cost-effective passive strategy, wind-driven ventilation via windows has huge potential in the enhancement of the indoor air quality (IAQ) of buildings while simultaneously reducing their cooling load. This study aims to investigate the functionality and applicability of a common historical Turkish architectural element called “Cumba” to improve the wind-driven ventilation in modern buildings. A case study building with an archetypal plan and parameters was defined as a result of a survey over 111 existing traditional samples across Turkey. Buildings with and without Cumba were compared in different scenarios by the development of a validated CFD microclimate model. The results of simulations clearly demonstrate that Cumba can enhance the room’s ventilation rate by more than two times while harvesting wind from different directions. It was also found that a flexible window opening strategy can help to increase the mean ventilation rate by 276%. Moreover, the room’s mean air velocity and ventilation rate could be adjusted to a broad range of values with the existence of Cumba. Thus, this study presents important findings about the importance of plan typology in the effectiveness of wind-driven ventilation strategies in modern dwellings

The frequency of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolus in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Infection, pulmonary embolism caused by mostly deep venous thrombosis (DVT), hypoxaemia and drugs, used in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), related arrhythmia, aspiration are mostly responsible for acute exacerbations of COPD. The incidences of DVT and pulmonary embolus were investigated in 56 hospitalised cases with acute exacerbation of COPD. DVT was diagnosed in six (10.7%) cases with coloured doppler ultrasonography (CDU) and in two cases whose examinations were not sufficient enough to diagnose or refuse DVT Diagnosis of pulmonary embolus was investigated with ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy in eight cases of clinically medium-high-probable pulmonary embolus. Pulmonary embolus was determined in five cases (8.9%). Age, weight, height, disease course, pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gases and haematocrit values of the cases did not predict the diagnosis of DVT and pulmonary embolus in our cases. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd

Impact of Promising Biomarkers on Severity and Outcome of Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Gulseren Sagcan,1 Zeki Dogan,2 Hafize Uzun,3 Caglar Cuhadaroglu,1 Gulfer Okumus,4 Orhan Arseven4 1Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Acıbadem University, İstanbul, Turkey; 2Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul Atlas University, Istanbul, Turkey; 3Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul Atlas University, Istanbul, Turkey; 4Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, İstanbul, TurkeyCorrespondence: Gulseren Sagcan, Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Acıbadem University, İstanbul, Turkey, Tel +902166495751 ; +905323637953, Fax +902166495373, Email [email protected]: Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is a common clinical condition. Its severity ranges from asymptomatic radiological findings to fatal obstructive shock. The potential circulating biomarkers have been studied to predict APE outcomes. This study aimed to explore their predictive power on prognosis in APE.Material and Method: It was a prospective observational study between March 2008 and April 2010. All consecutive patients diagnosed with APE were categorized as massive/high-risk, submassive/moderate-risk, and non-massive/low-risk. Cardiac troponin T (cTnT), myoglobin, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP), growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), and D-dimer levels were measured.Results: Of these patients, 14 (29.8%), 16 (34.0%), and 17 (36.2%) patients were categorized as low-risk, moderate-risk, and high risk-patients, respectively. There was no significant difference between the patient groups categorized based on the risk stratification in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics. The cTnT, myoglobin, HFABP, and D-dimer levels have also not differed significantly between the groups. There was a significant difference between the groups in respect of NT-proBNP and GDF-15 levels (p=0.009 and p=0.037, respectively). Nine (19.1%) patients had died by the 3rd-month follow-up. Adverse events were seen in 26 (55.3%) patients. GDF-15 had the highest area under the curve (AUC) value for predicting any adverse event (cut-off value=9.3 ng/mL, AUC=0.796, CI (confidence interval) 95%: 0.653– 0.899). NT-ProBNP was determined as the best predictor for mortality (cut-off value=229.2 pg/mL, AUC=0.889, CI 95%: 0.756– 0.964).Conclusion: Higher levels of NT-proBNP and GDF-15 were found to be associated with more severe APE, worse outcomes, and mortality.Keywords: pulmonary embolism, biomarkers, adverse clinical outcome, natriuretic peptides, growth differentiation factor-1