Solar efficiency index of building envelopes and load matching in low energy buildings

Net-zero energy buildings oftentimes rely on solar-based building integrated technologies to offset energy use and achieve their goals. However, the value of a particular system is difficult to assess given that these technologies often bring about complex interactions with the indoor environment, and building energy management systems. The approach chosen in this study was to propose and test a simple index called the Solar Efficiency index (SE index), which makes it possible to characterize the performance of building envelopes with integrated solar systems. The index was used to investigate the effect of different configurations of a PV integrated shading device on an office building in Norway. The results provided by the index allowed estimating how much solar energy was converted and how useful that energy was to the building in terms of load matching. This provided a picture of the building’s energy autonomy

Gem-induced cytoskeleton remodeling increases cellular migration of HTLV-1-infected cells, formation of infected-to-target T-cell conjugates and viral transmission

Efficient HTLV-1 viral transmission occurs through cell-to-cell contacts. The Tax viral transcriptional activator protein facilitates this process. Using a comparative transcriptomic analysis, we recently identified a series of genes up-regulated in HTLV-1 Tax expressing T-lymphocytes. We focused our attention towards genes that are important for cytoskeleton dynamic and thus may possibly modulate cell-to-cell contacts. We first demonstrate that Gem, a member of the small GTP-binding proteins within the Ras superfamily, is expressed both at the RNA and protein levels in Tax-expressing cells and in HTLV-1-infected cell lines. Using a series of ChIP assays, we show that Tax recruits CREB and CREB Binding Protein (CBP) onto a c-AMP Responsive Element (CRE) present in the gem promoter. This CRE sequence is required to drive Tax-activated gem transcription. Since Gem is involved in cytoskeleton remodeling, we investigated its role in infected cells motility. We show that Gem co-localizes with F-actin and is involved both in T-cell spontaneous cell migration as well as chemotaxis in the presence of SDF-1/CXCL12. Importantly, gem knock-down in HTLV-1-infected cells decreases cell migration and conjugate formation. Finally, we demonstrate that Gem plays an important role in cell-to-cell viral transmission

Synthetic DDAVP for nocturnal enuresis and the risk of symptomatic hyponatremia: which treatment now? Which form?

Recently, several cases of seizure secondary to hyponatremia have been reported in children treated with intranasal DDAVP1), 2). This has rarely been reported with the oral form. Should the intranasal form be banned for the treatment of nocturnal enuresis (NE)? Or should any form of DDAVP be banned? What are the precautions to take to avoid such an event? We hereunder summarize the literature on the subject, and present the recommendations of the Swiss Group for Pediatric Nephrology and the current position of Swiss medic

Базовый алгоритм действия системы поддержки принятия решений

We consider two-player parity games played on transition graphs of higher order pushdown automata. They are ``game-equivalent'' to a kind of model-checking game played on graphs of the infinite hierarchy introduced recently by Caucal. Then in this hierarchy we show how to reduce a game to a graph of lower level. This leads to an effective solution and a construction of the winning strategies

Enurésie nocturne : quel traitement efficace non pharmacologique recommander ?

L'énurésie nocturne est une affection commune qui touche jusqu'à 20% des enfants de 5 ans. Cette prévalence diminue ensuite rapidement pour atteindre 7% à l'âge de 7 ans et pas plus de 2% à l'âge adulte. Quoique bénigne, elle est souvent source de stigmatisation sociale et peut affecter à la fois l'estime de soi et les relations avec les pairs. Les interventions de type comportemental (ICS) sont fréquentes et constituent souvent le premier choix des parents et de l'enfant. Une controverse persiste toutefois quant à leur efficacité. Le but de la mise à jour de cette revue est d'évaluer l'efficacité d'interventions comportementales simples (ICS : restriction hydrique, lever, réveil, récompenses, exercices de rétention), entre elles et par rapport à d'autres traitements