First results from the INDRA-FAZIA apparatus on isospin diffusion in 58,64 Ni+58,64 Ni systems at Fermi energies

An investigation of the isospin equilibration process in the reactions 58;64Ni+58;64Ni at two bombarding energies in the Fermi regime (32 MeV/nucleon and 52 MeV/nucleon) is presented. Data have been acquired during the first experimental campaign of the coupled INDRA-FAZIA apparatus in GANIL. Selecting from peripheral to semi-central collisions, both the neutron content of the quasiprojectile residue and that of the light ejectiles coming from the quasiprojectile evaporation have been used as probes of the dynamical process of isospin diffusion between projectile and target for the asymmetric systems. The isospin transport ratio technique has been employed. The relaxation of the initial isospin imbalance with increasing centrality has been clearly evidenced. The isospin equilibration appears stronger for the reactions at 32 MeV/nucleon, as expected due to the longer projectile-target interaction time than at 52 MeV/nucleon. Coherent indications of isospin equilibration come from the quasiprojectile residue characteristics and from particles ascribed to the quasiprojectile decay.This work was partially supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF; Grant No. 2018R1A5A1025563) and by the Spanish Ministerio de Econom a y Empresa (PGC2018-096994-B-C22). We acknowledge support from R egion Normandie under R eseau d'Int er^et Normand FIDNEOS (RIN/FIDNEOS). Many thanks are due to the accelerator sta of GANIL for delivering a very good quality beam and to the technical sta for the continuous support

Daylighting Contribution for Energy Saving in a Historical Building

AbstractThe purpose of this study is assessing the reliability of the software DIALux 4.12 for daylighting design, comparing experimental data with simulation results; the comparison was performed for an office.The daylight illuminance distribution inside the room, the external zenith luminance and the external horizontal diffuse illuminance were measured during the weeks from January 19th to February 20th; the data gathered were further reduced to match conditions related to the CIE sky type #12 (CIE Standard Clear Sky, low luminance turbidity) and finally the comparison was carried in terms of daylight illuminance distribution and relative percentage error

DYNAMIC SIMULATION OF A SOLAR HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM INCLUDING A SEASONAL STORAGE SERVING A SMALL ITALIAN RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT

A centralized solar hybrid heating and cooling system satisfying the thermal, cooling and sanitary water demands of a typical Italian small district composed of six residential buildings situated in Naples (southern Italy) is modelled, simulated and analysed through the software TRNSYS over a period of 5 years. The plant is based on the operation of solar thermal collectors coupled with seasonal borehole storage; the solar field is also composed of photovoltaic solar panels connected with electric energy storage. An adsorption chiller powered by solar energy is adopted for cooling purposes, while a condensing boiler is used as an auxiliary unit. The performance of the proposed system has been assessed from energy, environmental and economic points of view and contrasted with the operation of a typical Italian heating and cooling plant, highlighting the following main results: saving of primary energy consumption up to 40.2%; (decrease of equivalent CO2 emissions up to 38.4%; reduction of operating costs up to 40.1%; and simple pay-back period of about 20 years

On the effect of measurementmodel misspecification in PLS Path Modeling: the reflective case

The specification of a measurement model as reflective or formative is the object of a lively debate. Part of the existing literature focuses on measurement model misspecification. This means that a true model is assumed and the impact on the path coefficients of using a wrong model is investigated. The majority of these studies is restricted to Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Regarding PLS-Path Modeling (PLS-PM), a few authors have carried out simulation studies to investigate the robustness of the estimates, but their focus is the comparison with SEM. The present paper discusses the misspecification problem in the PLSPM context from a novel perspective. First, a real application on Alumni Satisfaction will be used to verify whether different assumptions for the measurements models influence the results. Second, the results of a Monte-Carlo simulation study, in the reflective case, will help to bring some clarity on a complex problem that has not been sufficiently studied yet

Principal Components of Heritability for High Dimension Quantitative Traits and General Pedigrees

For many complex disorders, genetically relevant disease definition is still unclear. For this reason, researchers tend to collect large numbers of items related directly or indirectly to the disease diagnostic. Since the measured traits may not be all influenced by genetic factors, researchers are faced with the problem of choosing which traits or combinations of traits to consider in linkage analysis. To combine items, one can subject the data to a principal component analysis. However, when family date are collected, principal component analysis does not take family structure into account. In order to deal with these issues, Ott & Rabinowitz (1999) introduced the principal components of heritability (PCH), which capture the familial information across traits by calculating linear combinations of traits that maximize heritability. The calculation of the PCHs is based on the estimation of the genetic and the environmental components of variance. In the genetic context, the standard estimators of the variance components are Lange's maximum\ud likelihood estimators, which require complex numerical calculations. The objectives of this paper are the following: i) to review some standard strategies available in the literature to estimate variance components for unbalanced data in mixed models; ii) to propose an ANOVA method for a genetic random effect model to estimate the variance components, which can be applied to general pedigrees and high dimensional family data within the PCH framework; iii) to elucidate the connection between PCH analysis and Linear Discriminant Analysis. We use computer simulations to show that the proposed method has similar asymptotic properties as Lange's method when the number of traits is small, and we study the efficiency of our method when the number of traits is large. A data analysis involving schizophrenia and bipolar quantitative traits is finally presented to illustrate the PCH methodology

Thermal Performance of an Electric-Driven Smart Window: Experiments in a Full-Scale Test Room and Simulation Model

This paper reports the results of experimental tests and numerical simulations aimed at evaluating the performance of an electric-driven smart window with respect to solar control in buildings. The experimental performances of the electric-driven smart window were evaluated using a south oriented full scale experimental facility designed and realized. The tests were carried out during the summer under real sky conditions upon varying the state of the electricdriven smart window (clear and milky). In the first part of the paper, the experimental results are discussed in terms of surface temperature of glazings as well as indoor air temperature in order to highlight the potential benefits on thermal comfort associated to the application of electric-driven smart windows. In the second part of this paper, the experimental data are compared to the numerical results generated through a simulation model of the electric-driven smart window in order to assess its reliability under different operating scenarios. Finally, the simulation model is used to quantify the potential cooling load reduction deriving from the integration of electric-driven smart windows in an office façade located in Naples (Italy)

Virtual reality for smart urban lighting design: Review, applications and opportunities

More and more cities are evolving into smart cities, increasing their attractiveness, energy efficiency, and users satisfaction. Lighting systems play an important role in the evolution process, thanks to their ability to affect city life at night along with people s mood and behaviour. In this scenario, advanced lighting design methods such as virtual reality (VR) became essential to assess lighting systems from different points of view, especially those linked with the city users expectations. Initially, the review highlights a list of objective and subjective parameters to be considered for the lighting design of three main city areas/applications: roads, green areas and buildings. Besides, the state-of-Art in using VR for outdoor lighting design is established. Finally, the Unreal game engine is used to analyse the ability of VR to take into account the lighting parameters, not yet investigated in current literature and to highlight the VR potential for augmenting lighting design. The results confirm the benefit of using VR in lighting design, even if further investigations are needed to establish its reliability, especially from the photometrical point of view

Performance assessment and energy saving measures for outdoor lighting in an industrial district applilcation

This paper presents a methodology to assess the performance of an outdoor lighting system in an industrial district through an on-site audit and the subsequent definition of specific Performances Indices. The methodology aims to focus on outdoor area illumination in order to assess the current status of the lighting system and subsequently propose how to optimize the energy efficiency, costs as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The results relating to 11 outdoor areas of industrial districts were analysed and presented, focusing on the exterior lighting and comparing their performances. In this perspective, the external lighting system of an industrial district can be regarded as a potential “demonstrator” upon which a numerical/experimental methodology will be developed so as to evaluate the performance of a lighting system from the point of view of its energetic and environmental impact. Finally, appropriate energy efficiency measures are proposed

Elevation As A Barrier: Genetic Structure For An Atlantic Rain Forest Tree (bathysa Australis) In The Serra Do Mar Mountain Range, Se Brazil.

Distance and discrete geographic barriers play a role in isolating populations, as seed and pollen dispersal become limited. Nearby populations without any geographic barrier between them may also suffer from ecological isolation driven by habitat heterogeneity, which may promote divergence by local adaptation and drift. Likewise, elevation gradients may influence the genetic structure and diversity of populations, particularly those marginally distributed. Bathysa australis (Rubiaceae) is a widespread tree along the elevation gradient of the Serra do Mar, SE Brazil. This self-compatible species is pollinated by bees and wasps and has autochoric seeds, suggesting restricted gene dispersal. We investigated the distribution of genetic diversity in six B. australis populations at two extreme sites along an elevation gradient: a lowland site (80-216 m) and an upland site (1010-1100 m.a.s.l.). Nine microsatellite loci were used to test for genetic structure and to verify differences in genetic diversity between sites. We found a marked genetic structure on a scale as small as 6 km (F ST = 0.21), and two distinct clusters were identified, each corresponding to a site. Although B. australis is continuously distributed along the elevation gradient, we have not observed a gene flow between the extreme populations. This might be related to B. australis biological features and creates a potential scenario for adaptation to the different conditions imposed by the elevation gradient. We failed to find an isolation-by-distance pattern; although on the fine scale, all populations showed spatial autocorrelation until ∼10-20 m. Elevation difference was a relevant factor though, but we need further sampling effort to check its correlation with genetic distance. The lowland populations had a higher allelic richness and showed higher rare allele counts than the upland ones. The upland site may be more selective, eliminating rare alleles, as we did not find any evidence for bottleneck.51919-193

Energy, Environmental and Economic Performance of a Micro-trigeneration System upon Varying the Electric Vehicle Charging Profiles

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles and electric heat pumps would result in radically different household electrical demand characteristics, while also possibly posing a threat to the stability of the electrical grid. In this paper, a micro-trigeneration system (composed of a 6.0 kWel cogeneration device feeding a 4.5 kWcool electric air-cooled vapor compression water chiller) serving an Italian residential multi-family house was investigated by using the dynamic simulation software TRNSYS. The charging of an electric vehicle was considered by analyzing a set of seven electric vehicle charging profiles representing different scenarios. The simulations were performed in order to evaluate the capability of micro-cogeneration technology in: alleviating the impact on the electric infrastructure (a); saving primary energy (b); reducing the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (c) and determining the operating costs in comparison to a conventional supply system based on separate energy production (d)