Low Energy Office: Design and Evaluation

The new government building with ca. 14.000 m2 gross floor area in Innsbruck/Tirol was designed as a low energy office building. As little technical installations as possible and as much room comfort as achievable: These were the two goals, set by the builder and user. An interdisciplinary team of architects, HVAC-planners and energy designers had already developed an integrated concept for the architectural competition. This was altered and adapted during the realization phase of the building. Detailed building simulations were used to determine the interactions of building, climate and users. The integration of three glass atria into the concept, unheated and naturally ventilated, was one of the main challenges in this planning process. These atria serve as thermal buffers and use the passive gains of solar energy. Only the internal areas are ventilated mechanically. The facades were optimized to combine daylighting and protection against high solar irradiation. Reduction of the cooling load, night ventilation of the atria and groundwater cooling in the offices secure moderate temperatures without any mechanical cooling. Despite a dense utilization the building offers attractive workplaces with a comfortable room climate. The energy consumption for heating in the first fully measured year was 35 kWh/m2, which is very close to the prediction. The consumption of primary energy is low also. The measured atria air temperatures comply in general with the simulated ones. A direct comparison of simulation and measurement is planned for the future

Nanoscale FasL Organization on DNA Origami to Decipher Apoptosis Signal Activation in Cells

Cell signaling is initiated by characteristic protein patterns in the plasma membrane, but tools to decipher their molecular organization and activation are hitherto lacking. Among the well-known signaling pattern is the death inducing signaling complex with a predicted hexagonal receptor architecture. To probe this architecture, DNA origami-based nanoagents with nanometer precise arrangements of the death receptor ligand FasL are introduced and presented to cells. Mimicking different receptor geometries, these nanoagents act as signaling platforms inducing fastest time-to-death kinetics for hexagonal FasL arrangements with 10 nm inter-molecular spacing. Compared to naturally occurring soluble FasL, this trigger is faster and 100x more efficient. Nanoagents with different spacing, lower FasL number or higher coupling flexibility impede signaling. The results present DNA origami as versatile signaling scaffolds exhibiting unprecedented control over molecular number and geometry. They define molecular benchmarks in apoptosis signal initiation and constitute a new strategy to drive particular cell responses

Quiescent Radio Emission from Southern Late-type M Dwarfs and a Spectacular Radio Flare from the M8 Dwarf DENIS 1048-3956

We report the results of a radio monitoring program conducted at the Australia Telescope Compact Array to search for quiescent and flaring emission from seven nearby Southern late-type M and L dwarfs. Two late-type M dwarfs, the M7 V LHS 3003 and the M8 V DENIS 1048-3956, were detected in quiescent emission at 4.80 GHz. The observed emission is consistent with optically thin gyrosynchrotron emission from mildly relativistic (~1-10 keV) electrons with source densities n_e ~ 10 G magnetic fields. DENIS 1048-3956 was also detected in two spectacular, short-lived flares, one at 4.80 GHz (peak f_nu = 6.0+/-0.8 mJy) and one at 8.64 GHz (peak f_nu = 29.6+/-1.0 mJy) approximately 10 minutes later. The high brightness temperature (T_B >~ 10^13 K), short emission period (~4-5 minutes), high circular polarization (~100%), and apparently narrow spectral bandwidth of these events imply a coherent emission process in a region of high electron density (n_e ~ 10^11-10^12 cm^-3) and magnetic field strength (B ~ 1 kG). If the two flare events are related, the apparent frequency drift in the emission suggests that the emitting source either moved into regions of higher electron or magnetic flux density; or was compressed, e.g., by twisting field lines or gas motions. The quiescent fluxes from the radio-emitting M dwarfs violate the Gudel-Benz empirical radio/X-ray relations, confirming a trend previously noted by Berger et al. (abridged)Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Blockade of T-cell activation by dithiocarbamates involves novel mechanisms of inhibition of nuclear factor of activated T cells.

Dithiocarbamates (DTCs) have recently been reported as powerful inhibitors of NF-kappaB activation in a number of cell types. Given the role of this transcription factor in the regulation of gene expression in the inflammatory response, NF-kappaB inhibitors have been suggested as potential therapeutic drugs for inflammatory diseases. We show here that DTCs inhibited both interleukin 2 (IL-2) synthesis and membrane expression of antigens which are induced during T-cell activation. This inhibition, which occurred with a parallel activation of c-Jun transactivating functions and expression, was reflected by transfection experiments at the IL-2 promoter level, and involved not only the inhibition of NF-kappaB-driven reporter activation but also that of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT). Accordingly, electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) indicated that pyrrolidine DTC (PDTC) prevented NF-kappaB, and NFAT DNA-binding activity in T cells stimulated with either phorbol myristate acetate plus ionophore or antibodies against the CD3-T-cell receptor complex and simultaneously activated the binding of AP-1. Furthermore, PDTC differentially targeted both NFATp and NFATc family members, inhibiting the transactivation functions of NFATp and mRNA induction of NFATc. Strikingly, Western blotting and immunocytochemical experiments indicated that PDTC promoted a transient and rapid shuttling of NFATp and NFATc, leading to their accelerated export from the nucleus of activated T cells. We propose that the activation of an NFAT kinase by PDTC could be responsible for the rapid shuttling of the NFAT, therefore transiently converting the sustained transactivation of this transcription factor that occurs during lymphocyte activation, and show that c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) can act by directly phosphorylating NFATp. In addition, the combined inhibitory effects on NFAT and NF-KB support a potential use of DTCs as immunosuppressants

Dynamical evolution of neutrino--cooled accretion disks: detailed microphysics, lepton-driven convection, and global energetics

We present a detailed, two dimensional numerical study of the microphysical conditions and dynamical evolution of accretion disks around black holes when neutrino emission is the main source of cooling. Such structures are likely to form after the gravitational collapse of massive rotating stellar cores, or the coalescence of two compact objects in a binary (e.g., the Hulse--Taylor system). The physical composition is determined self consistently by considering two regimes: neutrino--opaque and neutrino--transparent, with a detailed equation of state which takes into account neutronization, nuclear statistical equilibrium of a gas of free nucleons and alpha particles, blackbody radiation and a relativistic Fermi gas of arbitrary degeneracy. Various neutrino emission processes are considered, with electron/positron capture onto free nucleons providing the dominant contribution to the cooling rate. We find that important temporal and spatial scales, related to the optically thin/optically thick transition are present in the disk, and manifest themselves clearly in the energy output in neutrinos. This transition produces an inversion of the lepton gradient in the innermost regions of the flow which drives convective motions, and affects the density and disk scale height radial profiles. The electron fraction remains low in the region close to the black hole, and if preserved in an outflow, could give rise to heavy element nucleosynthesis. Our specific initial conditions arise from the binary merger context, and so we explore the implications of our results for the production of gamma ray bursts.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures, to appear in Ap

On the rotational evolution of solar- and late-type stars, its magnetic origins, and the possibility of stellar gyrochronology

We propose a simple interpretation of the rotation period data for solar- and late-type stars. The open cluster and Mt. Wilson star observations suggest that rotating stars lie primarily on two sequences, initially called I and C. Some stars lie in the intervening gap. These sequences, and the fractional numbers of stars on each sequence evolve systematically with cluster age, enabling us to construct crude rotational isochrones allowing `stellar gyrochronology', a procedure, upon improvement, likely to yield ages for individual field stars. The age and color dependences of the sequences allow the identification of the underlying mechanism, which appears to be primarily magnetic. The majority of solar- and late-type stars possess a dominant Sun-like, or Interface magnetic field, which connects the convective envelope both to the radiative interior of the star and to the exterior where winds can drain off angular momentum. These stars spin down Skumanich-style. An age-decreasing fraction of young G, K, and M stars, which are rapid rotators, possess only a Convective field which is not only inefficient in depleting angular momentum, but also incapable of coupling the surface convection zone to the inner radiative zone, so that only the outer zone is spun down, and on an exponential timescale. These stars do not yet possess large-scale dynamos. The large-scale magnetic field associated with the dynamo, apparently created by the shear between the decoupled radiative and convective zones, (re)couples the convective and radiative zones and drives a star from the Convective to the Interface sequence through the gap on a timescale that increases as stellar mass decreases. (Abstract is truncated here.)Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures (4 in color), accepted by Ap

Femoral fracture following knee ligament reconstruction surgery due to an unpredictable complication of bioabsorbable screw fixation: a case report and review of literature

We report an unusual case of femoral fracture from minimal trauma, due to the rapid disappearance of a bioabsorbable interference screw used for reconstruction of the posterolateral corner of the knee. The literature on bone tunnel fractures following knee ligament reconstruction surgery is also reviewed

Interference of flavonoids with enzymatic assays for the determination of free fatty acid and triglyceride levels

Flavonoids are bioactive food compounds with potential lipid-lowering effects. Commercially available enzymatic assays are widely used to determine free fatty acid (FFA) and triglyceride (TG) levels both in vivo in plasma or serum and in vitro in cell culture medium or cell lysate. However, we have observed that various flavonoids interfere with peroxidases used in these enzymatic assays, resulting in incorrect lower FFA and TG levels than actually present. Furthermore, addition of isorhamnetin or the major metabolite of the flavonoid quercetin in human and rat plasma, quercetin-3-O-glucuronide, to murine serum also resulted in a significant reduction of the detected TG levels, while a trend was seen for FFA levels. It is concluded that when applying these assays, vigilance is needed and alternative analytical methods, directly assessing FFA or TG levels, should be used for studying the biological effects of flavonoids on FFA and TG levels

The case for a distributed solar dynamo shaped by near-surface shear

Arguments for and against the widely accepted picture of a solar dynamo being seated in the tachocline are reviewed and alternative ideas concerning dynamos operating in the bulk of the convection zone, or perhaps even in the near-surface shear layer, are discussed. Based on the angular velocities of magnetic tracers it is argued that the observations are compatible with a distributed dynamo that may be strongly shaped by the near-surface shear layer. Direct simulations of dynamo action in a slab with turbulence and shear are presented to discuss filling factor and tilt angles of bipolar regions in such a model.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, Astrophys. J. 625 (scheduled for the 1 June 2005 issue

Development of a core outcome set for idiopathic clubfoot management.

AIMS: This study aims to define a set of core outcomes (COS) to allow consistent reporting in order to compare results and assist in treatment decisions for idiopathic clubfoot. METHODS: A list of outcomes will be obtained in a three-stage process from the literature and from key stakeholders (patients, parents, surgeons, and healthcare professionals). Important outcomes for patients and parents will be collected from a group of children with idiopathic clubfoot and their parents through questionnaires and interviews. The outcomes identified during this process will be combined with the list of outcomes previously obtained from a systematic review, with each outcome assigned to one of the five core areas defined by the Outcome Measures Recommended for use in Randomized Clinical Trials (OMERACT). This stage will be followed by a two round Delphi survey aimed at key stakeholders in the management of idiopathic clubfoot. The final outcomes list obtained will then be discussed in a consensus meeting of representative key stakeholders. CONCLUSION: The inconsistency in outcomes reporting in studies investigating idiopathic clubfoot has made it difficult to define the success rate of treatments and to compare findings between studies. The development of a COS seeks to define a minimum standard set of outcomes to collect in all future clinical trials for this condition, to facilitate comparisons between studies and to aid decisions in treatment. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2021;2(4):255-260