Overheating risk of UK dwellings under a changing climate

AbstractBuilding practitioners assess the overheating risk of buildings via dynamic thermal comfort simulation with hotter than average reference weather years. In the UK, the near-extreme hot summer years called Design Summer Years (DSY) offered by the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) are provided for fourteen locations for the purpose of estimating overheating risk of naturally ventilated buildings. The current DSY is selected based on the third warmest mean summer dry bulb temperature (DryT) during April to September. However, it has been proved that the simple method used for creating DSY leads to obvious problems into the thermal comfort simulations. In this research, a new design summer year termed as a Hot Summer Year (HSY) is created based on weather data generated from the UK Climate Projections weather generator and the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET). The effects of using the DSY and the HSY on indoor thermal comfort are analyzed based on a static overheating risk criterion recommended by CIBSE. With the aim of predicting future overheating risk, future HSYs are created for 2050s and 2080s under the high emission scenario for fourteen locations. These are created to investigate overheating risk of dwellings across the UK

Polyetheretherketone Cages Alone with Allograft for Three-Level Anterior Cervical Fusion

A total of 25 consecutive patients suffering from degenerative cervical disc disease who underwent three-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) including polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cages packed with allograft were followed up for at least two years. The fusion rate reached 72% (18/25), and asymptomatic pseudarthrosis was seen in 6 patients but without mobility on flexion-extension radiographs, and revision surgery was not needed. Cage subsidence occurred at one level (C67), but it was not progressive, and reoperation was not necessary. A significant increase (P < 0.001) in fused segment angle (FSA) and fused segment height (FSH) was observed postoperatively. Similarly, a significant clinical improvement (P < 0.001) was demonstrated postoperatively in terms of Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score and visual analog scales (VASs) score. PEEK cages alone with allograft proved to be a safe and effective surgical option in the treatment of three-level degenerative cervical disc disease. Although the fusion rate was not high, this technique may offer improvement of symptomatology and maintenance of cervical spine's sagittal profile

XAF1 expression and regulatory effects of somatostatin on XAF1 in prostate cancer cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Somatostatin prevents cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis. Downregulation of the <it>XAF1 </it>transcript may occur during the development of prostate cancer. It is interesting to evaluate the potential regulatory effects of somatostatin on <it>XAF1 </it>expression during the development of prostate cancer cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p><it>XAF1 </it>mRNA and protein expression in human prostate epithelial cells RWPE-1, androgen dependent prostate cancer LNCaP, and androgen independent DU145 and PC3 cells were evaluated using RT-PCR and Western blot. The regulation of <it>XAF1 </it>mRNA and protein expression by somatostatin and its analogue Octreotide was evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Substantial levels of <it>XAF1 </it>mRNA and proteins were detected in RWPE-1 cells, whereas prostate cancer cells LNCaP, DU145 and PC3 exhibited lower <it>XAF1 </it>expression. Somatostatin and Octreotide up-regulated <it>XAF1 </it>mRNA and protein expression in all prostate cancer cell lines.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>XAF1 </it>down-regulation may contribute to the prostate cancer development. The enhanced <it>XAF1 </it>expression by somatostatin indicates a promising strategy for prostate cancer therapy.</p

Molecular subgroups of adult medulloblastoma: a long-term single-institution study

Background Recent transcriptomic approaches have demonstrated that there are at least 4 distinct subgroups in medulloblastoma (MB); however, survival studies of molecular subgroups in adult MB have been inconclusive because of small sample sizes. The aim of this study is to investigate the molecular subgroups in adult MB and identify their clinical and prognostic implications in a large, single-institution cohort. Methods We determined gene expression profiles for 13 primary adult MBs. Bioinformatics tools were used to establish distinct molecular subgroups based on the most informative genes in the dataset. Immunohistochemistry with subgroup-specific antibodies was then used for validation within an independent cohort of 201 formalin-fixed MB tumors, in conjunction with a systematic analysis of clinical and histological characteristics. Results Three distinct molecular variants of adult MB were identified: the SHH, WNT, and group 4 subgroups. Validation of these subgroups in the 201-tumor cohort by immunohistochemistry identified significant differences in subgroup-specific demographics, histology, and metastatic status. The SHH subgroup accounted for the majority of the tumors (62%), followed by the group 4 subgroup (28%) and the WNT subgroup (10%). Group 4 tumors had significantly worse progression-free and overall survival compared with tumors of the other molecular subtypes. Conclusions We have identified 3 subgroups of adult MB, characterized by distinct expression profiles, clinical features, pathological features, and prognosis. Clinical variables incorporated with molecular subgroup are more significantly informative for predicting adult patient outcome

Genetic population structure of the pen shell <em>Atrina pectinata</em> along the coastlines of China revealed by microsatellites

Background An ecologically and economically important species in East Asia, the natural resources of pen shell Atrina pectinate have suffered severe population declines due to habitat destruction, pollution, and overfishing. Assessing genetic diversity and population structure is the basis for establishing conservation programs for A. pectinate. Results Our data indicated that high genetic diversity was found in all six populations, with mean allelic richness (Ar) ranging from 8.255 to 9.734, mean observed heterozygosity (Ho) from 0.574 to 0.680, and mean expected heterozygosity (He) from 0.620 to 0.691. The five A. pectinate populations were divided into two clusters. This clustering result was partly consistent with their geographical origin; the RZ population did not cluster with the northern populations (DL, CD), suggesting that there is no genetic divergence and geographical differentiation between the North China Sea (CD, DL, and RZ) and the Southeast China Sea (HK and ST). Conclusion Our results show no significant genetic differentiation between samples from the North China Sea and the Southeast China Sea. High dispersal potential of larvae by passive drift with ocean currents may explain the lack of genetic differentiation between samples. The results suggest a weak level of genetic structure in A. pectinate with a long planktonic larval stage.</p

Synthesis and Characterization of Uniform Spherical Nanoporous TiO 2

The spherical nanoporous TiO2 aerogels were prepared by a simple ethanol-thermal method, using spherical cellulose alcohol-gel as the template. The morphology, crystalline structure, pore size, specific surface area, and the photocatalytic activity of obtained TiO2 aerogel were separately characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, and double beam UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The characteristics of TiO2 aerogels presented uniform sphere shape, good internal structural morphology, high specific surface area (ranging from 111.88 to 149.95 m2/g), and good crystalline anatase phase. Moreover, methyl orange dye was used as the target pollutant to characterize the photocatalytic activities and the adsorption performance. The photocatalytic experiment shows that the obtained spherical TiO2 aerogels had a higher degradation ratio of 92.9% on methyl orange dye compared with aspherical TiO2 aerogels prepared from other concentrations of tetrabutyl orthotitanate (TBOT)

Current and future test reference years at a 5 km resolution

Frequently, the computer modelling of the natural and human-made environment requires localised weather files. Traditionally, the weather files are based on the observed weather at a small number of locations (14 for the UK). Unfortunately, both the climate and the weather are known to be highly variable across the landscape, so the small number of locations has the potential to cause large errors. With respect to buildings, this results in incorrect estimates of the annual energy use (sometimes by a factor of 2), or of overheating risk. Here we use a validated weather generator running on a 5 × 5 km grid to create probabilistic test reference years (pTRYs) for the UK at 11,326 locations. We then investigate the spatial variability of these pTRYs and of annual energy estimates and temperatures in buildings generated by them, both now and in 2080. Further pTRYs targeted at understanding the impact of minimum and maximum temperatures are proposed and produced at the same locations. Finally, we place these pTRYs, which represent the first set of reference weather files at this spatial resolution in the world and that include the urban heat island effect, into a publicly accessible database so researchers and industry can access them. Practical applications: Insufficiently localised weather data for building simulations have limited the accuracy of previous estimations of energy use and overheating risk in buildings. This work produces localised probabilistic test reference years (pTRYs) across the whole UK for now and future climates. In addition, a new pTRY method has been proposed in order to overcome an unexpected shortcoming of traditional pTRYs in representing typical maximum and minimum temperatures. These current and future weather data will be of interest to various disciplines including those interested in low carbon design, renewable energy and climate resilience.</p

Probabilistic adaptive thermal comfort for resilient design

Adaptive thermal comfort theory has become the bedrock of much thinking about how to judge if a free-running environment is suitable for human occupation. In design work, the conditions predicted by a thermal model, when the model is presented with one possible annual weather time series (a reference year), are compared to the limits of human comfort. If the temperatures are within the comfort limits, the building is judged to be suitable. However, the weather in many locations can vary year-on-year by a considerable margin, and this begs the question, how robust are the predictions of adaptive comfort theory likely to be over the many years a building might be in use? We answer this question using weather data recorded for up to 30 years for locations within each of the five major Köppen climate classifications. We find that the variation in the annual time series is so great that the predicted comfort temperature frequently lies outside the acceptable range given by the reference year. Return periods for the excursions of the time series are calculated for each location. The results for one location are then validated using the world's longest temperature record. These results suggest that industry and academia would be best advised to move to a probabilistic methodology, like the proposed one, when using adaptive comfort theory to judge the likely conditions within a building. Extra pertinence is provided by concerns over increases in mortality and morbidity in buildings due to a rapidly warming climate