Heat removal efficiency of stratum ventilation for air-side modulation

Stratum ventilation has significant thermal non-uniformity between the occupied and upper zones. Although the non-uniformity benefits indoor air quality and energy efficiency, it increases complexities and difficulties in the air-side modulation. In this study, a heat removal efficiency (HRE) model is first established and validated, and then used for the air-side modulation. The HRE model proposed is a function of supply air temperature, supply airflow rate and cooling load. The HRE model proposed has been proven to be applicable to stratum ventilation and displacement ventilation for different room geometries and air terminal configurations, with errors generally within ±5% and a mean absolute error less than 4% for thirty-three experimental cases and five simulated cases. Investigations into the air-side modulation with the proposed HRE model reveal that for both the typical stratum-ventilated classroom and office, the variable-air-volume system can serve a wider range of cooling load than the constant-air-volume system. The assumption of a constant HRE used in the conventional method could lead to errors in the room temperature prediction up to ±1.3 °C, thus the proposed HRE model is important to the air-side modulation for thermal comfort. An air-side modulation method is proposed based on the HRE model to maximize the HRE for improving energy efficiency while maintaining thermal comfort. Results show that the HRE model based air-side modulation can improve the energy efficiency of stratum ventilation up to 67.3%. The HRE model based air-side modulation is also promising for displacement ventilation

Generalised Umbral Moonshine

Umbral moonshine describes an unexpected relation between 23 finite groups arising from lattice symmetries and special mock modular forms. It includes the Mathieu moonshine as a special case and can itself be viewed as an example of the more general moonshine phenomenon which connects finite groups and distinguished modular objects. In this paper we introduce the notion of generalised umbral moonshine, which includes the generalised Mathieu moonshine [Gaberdiel M.R., Persson D., Ronellenfitsch H., Volpato R., Commun. Number Theory Phys. 7 (2013), 145-223] as a special case, and provide supporting data for it. A central role is played by the deformed Drinfel'd (or quantum) double of each umbral finite group $G$, specified by a cohomology class in $H^3(G,U(1))$. We conjecture that in each of the 23 cases there exists a rule to assign an infinite-dimensional module for the deformed Drinfel'd double of the umbral finite group underlying the mock modular forms of umbral moonshine and generalised umbral moonshine. We also discuss the possible origin of the generalised umbral moonshine

Possible TeV Source Candidates In The Unidentified EGRET Sources

We study the $\gamma$-ray emission from the pulsar magnetosphere based on outer gap models, and the TeV radiation from pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) through inverse Compton scattering using a one-zone model. We showed previously that GeV radiation from the magnetosphere of mature pulsars with ages of $\sim 10^5-10^6$ years old can contribute to the high latitude unidentified EGRET sources. We carry out Monte Carlo simulations of $\gamma$-ray pulsars in the Galaxy and the Gould Belt, assuming the pulsar birth rate, initial position, proper motion velocity, period, and magnetic field distribution and evolution based on observational statistics. We select from the simulation a sample of mature pulsars in the Galactic plane ($|b|\leq 5^\circ$) and in the high latitude ($|b|> 5^\circ$) which could be detected by EGRET. The TeV flux from the pulsar wind nebulae of our simulated sample through the inverse Compton scattering by relativistic electrons on the microwave cosmic background and synchrotron seed photons are calculated. The predicted fluxes are consistent with the present observational constraints. We suggest that strong EGRET sources can be potential TeV source candidates for present and future ground-based TeV telescopes.Comment: Minor changes, MNRAS in pres

Combining Genome Wide Association Studies and Differential Gene Expression Data Analyses Identifies Candidate Genes Affecting Mastitis Caused by Two Different Pathogens in the Dairy Cow

Mastitis is a costly disease which hampers the dairy industry. Inflammation of the mammary gland is commonly caused by bacterial infection, mainly Escherichia coli, Streptococcus uberis and Staphylococcus aureus. As more bacteria become multi-drug resistant, one potential approach to reduce the disease incidence rate is to breed selectively for the most appropriate and potentially protective innate immune response. The genetic contribution to effective disease resistance is, however, difficult to identify due to the complex interactions that occur. In the present study two published datasets were searched for common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with similar changes in expression in mammary tissue following intra-mammary challenge with either E. coli or S. uberis. Additionally, the results of seven published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on different dairy cow populations were used to compile a list of SNPs associated with somatic cell count. All genes located within 2 Mbp of significant SNPs were retrieved from the Ensembl database, based on the UMD3.1 assembly. A final list of 48 candidate genes with a role in the innate immune response identified from both the DEG and GWAS studies was further analyzed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. The main signalling pathways highlighted in the response of the bovine mammary gland to both bacterial infections were 1) granulocyte adhesion and diapedesis, 2) ephrin receptor signalling, 3) RhoA signalling and 4) LPS/IL1 mediated inhibition of RXR function. These pathways comprised a network regulating the activity of leukocytes, especially neutrophils, during mammary gland inflammation. The timely and properly controlled movement of leukocytes to infection loci seems particularly important in achieving a good balance between pathogen elimination and excessive tissue damage. These results suggest that polymorphisms in key genes in these pathways such as SELP, SELL, BCAR1, ACTR3, CXCL2, CXCL6, CXCL8 and FABP may influence the ability of dairy cows to resist mastitis

Global Transcriptomic Profiling of Bovine Endometrial Immune Response In Vitro. I. Effect of Lipopolysaccharide on Innate Immunity

The dysregulation of endometrial immune response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been implicated in uterine disease and infertility in the postpartum dairy cow, although the mechanisms are not clear. Here, we investigated whole-transcriptomic gene expression in primary cultures of mixed bovine epithelial and stromal endometrial cells. Cultures were exposed to LPS for 6 h, and cellular response was measured by bovine microarray. Approximately 30% of the 1006 genes altered by LPS were classified as being involved in immune response. Cytokines and chemokines (IL1A, CX3CL1, CXCL2, and CCL5), interferon (IFN)-stimulated genes (RSAD2, MX2, OAS1, ISG15, and BST2), and the acute phase molecule SAA3 were the most up-regulated genes. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis identified up-regulation of many inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, which function to attract immune cells to the endometrium, together with vascular adhesion molecules and matrix metalloproteinases, which can facilitate immune cell migration from the tissue toward the uterine lumen. Increased expression of many IFN-signaling genes, immunoproteasomes, guanylate-binding proteins, and genes involved in the intracellular recognition of pathogens suggests important roles for these molecules in the innate defense against bacterial infections. Our findings confirmed the important role of endometrial cells in uterine innate immunity, whereas the global approach used identified several novel immune response pathways triggered by LPS in the endometrium. Additionally, many genes involved in endometrial response to the conceptus in early pregnancy were also altered by LPS, suggesting one mechanism whereby an ongoing response to infection may interfere with the establishment of pregnancy

A rapid cosmic-ray increase in BC 3372-3371 from ancient buried tree rings in China

Cosmic rays interact with the Earth's atmosphere to produce $^{14}$C, which can be absorbed by trees. Therefore, rapid increases of $^{14}$C in tree rings can be used to probe previous cosmic-ray events. By this method, three $^{14}$C rapidly increasing events have been found. Plausible causes of these events include large solar proton events, supernovae or short gamma-ray bursts. However, due to the lack of measurements of $^{14}$C by year, the occurrence frequency of such $^{14}$C rapidly increasing events is poorly known. In addition, rapid increases may be hidden in the IntCal13 data with five-year resolution. Here we report the result of $^{14}$C measurements using an ancient buried tree during the period between BC 3388 and 3358. We find a rapid increase of about 9\textperthousand~ in the $^{14}$C content from BC 3372 to BC 3371. We suggest that this event could originate from a large solar proton event.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, published in Nature Communication