A ducted wind turbine simulation model for building simulation

Power production is shifting away from centralized generation plants to production of heat and power at the point of demand. A technology that may play a part in this shift is the ducted wind turbine (DWT). The emergence of small building integrated micro turbines opens up the possibility of utilizing the differential pressures occurring around buildings for local power production. This paper describes work to develop and test a simple mathematical model of a ducted wind turbine and its integration within a building simulation tool. A case study in which the simulation model will be used to analyse of the likely power output from a building incorporating ducted wind turbines within the façade is also presented

A viscoelastic deadly fluid in carnivorous pitcher plants

Background : The carnivorous plants of the genus Nepenthes, widely distributed in the Asian tropics, rely mostly on nutrients derived from arthropods trapped in their pitcher-shaped leaves and digested by their enzymatic fluid. The genus exhibits a great diversity of prey and pitcher forms and its mechanism of trapping has long intrigued scientists. The slippery inner surfaces of the pitchers, which can be waxy or highly wettable, have so far been considered as the key trapping devices. However, the occurrence of species lacking such epidermal specializations but still effective at trapping insects suggests the possible implication of other mechanisms. Methodology/Principal Findings : Using a combination of insect bioassays, high-speed video and rheological measurements, we show that the digestive fluid of Nepenthes rafflesiana is highly viscoelastic and that this physical property is crucial for the retention of insects in its traps. Trapping efficiency is shown to remain strong even when the fluid is highly diluted by water, as long as the elastic relaxation time of the fluid is higher than the typical time scale of insect movements. Conclusions/Significance : This finding challenges the common classification of Nepenthes pitchers as simple passive traps and is of great adaptive significance for these tropical plants, which are often submitted to high rainfalls and variations in fluid concentration. The viscoelastic trap constitutes a cryptic but potentially widespread adaptation of Nepenthes species and could be a homologous trait shared through common ancestry with the sundew (Drosera) flypaper plants. Such large production of a highly viscoelastic biopolymer fluid in permanent pools is nevertheless unique in the plant kingdom and suggests novel applications for pest control

Focused Deterrence and the Prevention of Violent Gun Injuries: Practice, Theoretical Principles, and Scientific Evidence

Focused deterrence strategies are a relatively new addition to a growing portfolio of evidence-based violent gun injury prevention practices available to policy makers and practitioners. These strategies seek to change offender behavior by understanding the underlying violence-producing dynamics and conditions that sustain recurring violent gun injury problems and by implementing a blended strategy of law enforcement, community mobilization, and social service actions. Consistent with documented public health practice, the focused deterrence approach identifies underlying risk factors and causes of recurring violent gun injury problems, develops tailored responses to these underlying conditions, and measures the impact of implemented interventions. This article reviews the practice, theoretical principles, and evaluation evidence on focused deterrence strategies. Although more rigorous randomized studies are needed, the available empirical evidence suggests that these strategies generate noteworthy gun violence reduction impacts and should be part of a broader portfolio of violence prevention strategies available to policy makers and practitioners

Translation and Community in the work of Elizabeth Cary

Explores the role of female community within Elizabeth Cary\u27s translations and her play, The Tragedy of Mariam

Sedimentology and isotope geochemistry of transitional evaporitic environments within arid continental settings: From erg to saline lakes

Arid continental basins typically contain a spectrum of coeval environments that coexist and interact from proximal to distal. Within the distal portion, aeolian ergs often border playa, or perennial, desert lakes, fed by fluvial incursions or elevated groundwaters. Evaporites are common features in these dryland, siliciclastic dominant settings. However, sedimentary controls upon evaporite deposition are not widely understood, especially within transitional zones between coeval clastic environments that are dominantly controlled by larger scale allocyclic processes, such as climate. The sulphur (δ34S) and oxygen (δ18O, Δ17O) isotope systematics of evaporites can reveal cryptic aspects of sedimentary cycling and sulphate sources in dryland settings. However, due to the lack of sedimentological understanding of evaporitic systems, isotopic data can be easily misinterpreted. This work presents detailed sedimentological and petrographic observations, coupled with δ34S, δ18O and Δ17O data, for the early Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone Formation (western USA). Depositional models for mixed evaporitic / clastic sedimentation, which occurs either in erg‐marginal or lacustrine‐marginal settings, are presented to detail the sedimentary interactions present in terms of climate variations that control them. Sedimentological and petrographical analysis of the evaporites within the Cedar Mesa Sandstone Formation reveal a continental depositional environment and two end member depositional models have been developed: erg‐margin and lake‐margin. The δ34S values of gypsum deposits within the Cedar Mesa Sandstone Formation are consistent with late Carboniferous to early Permian marine settings. However, a marine interpretation is inconsistent with sedimentological and petrographic evidence. Consequently, δ34S, δ18O and Δ17O values are probably recycled and do not reflect ocean‐atmosphere values at the time of evaporite precipitation. They are most likely derived from the weathering of older marine evaporites in the hinterland. Thus, the results demonstrate the need for a combination of both sedimentological and geochemical analysis of evaporitic systems to better understand their depositional setting and conditions

Traction for low-back pain with or without sciatica.

BACKGROUND: Traction is used to treat low-back pain (LBP), often with other treatments. OBJECTIVES: To determine traction's effectiveness, compared to reference treatments, placebo, sham traction or no treatment for LBP. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library 2006, issue 4), MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL to October 2006, references in relevant reviews and personal files. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving traction to treat acute (less than four weeks duration), sub-acute (four to 12 weeks) or chronic (more than 12 weeks) non-specific LBP with or without sciatica. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Study selection, methodological quality assessment and data extraction were done independently by two authors. As there were insufficient data for statistical pooling, we performed a qualitative analysis. MAIN RESULTS: We included 25 RCTs (2206 patients; 1045 receiving traction). Five trials were considered high quality.For patients with mixed symptom patterns (acute, sub-acute and chronic LBP with and without sciatica) there is: strong evidence of no statistically significant difference in outcomes between traction as a single treatment and placebo, sham or no treatment; moderate evidence that traction as a single treatment is no more effective than other treatments; limited evidence of no significant difference in outcomes between a standard physical therapy program with or without continuous traction. For LBP patients with sciatica (with acute, sub-acute or chronic pain), there is conflicting evidence in several comparisons: autotraction compared to placebo, sham or no treatment; other forms of traction compared to other treatments; different forms of traction. In other comparisons, there were no statistically significant differences; the evidence is moderate for continuous or intermittent traction compared to placebo, sham or no treatment, and limited for light versus normal force traction. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Implications for practice: The results of the available studies involving mixed groups of acute, sub-acute and chronic patients with LBP with and without sciatica were quite consistent, indicating that continuous or intermittent traction as a single treatment for LBP is not likely effective for this group. Traction for patients with sciatica cannot be judged effective at present either, due to inconsistent results and methodological problems in most studies. We conclude that traction as a single treatment for LBP is probably not effective. Implications for research: Any future research on traction for patients with LBP should distinguish between symptom pattern and duration, and should be carried out according to the highest methodological standards

Time spent outdoors in childhood is associated with reduced risk of myopia as an adult

Myopia (near-sightedness) is an important public health issue. Spending more time outdoors can prevent myopia but the long-term association between this exposure and myopia has not been well characterised. We investigated the relationship between time spent outdoors in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood and risk of myopia in young adulthood. The Kidskin Young Adult Myopia Study (KYAMS) was a follow-up of the Kidskin Study, a sun exposure-intervention study of 1776 children aged 6–12 years. Myopia status was assessed in 303 (17.6%) KYAMS participants (aged 25–30 years) and several subjective and objective measures of time spent outdoors were collected in childhood (8–12 years) and adulthood. Index measures of total, childhood and recent time spent outdoors were developed using confirmatory factor analysis. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between a 0.1-unit change in the time outdoor indices and risk of myopia after adjusting for sex, education, outdoor occupation, parental myopia, parental education, ancestry and Kidskin Study intervention group. Spending more time outdoors during childhood was associated with reduced risk of myopia in young adulthood (multivariable odds ratio [OR] 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69, 0.98). Spending more time outdoors in later adolescence and young adulthood was associated with reduced risk of late-onset myopia (≥ 15 years of age, multivariable OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.64, 0.98). Spending more time outdoors in both childhood and adolescence was associated with less myopia in young adulthood

Migrations and habitat use of the smooth hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena) in the Atlantic Ocean

The smooth hammerhead shark, Sphyrna zygaena, is a cosmopolitan semipelagic shark captured as bycatch in pelagic oceanic fisheries, especially pelagic longlines targeting swordfish and/or tunas. From 2012 to 2016, eight smooth hammerheads were tagged with Pop-up Satellite Archival Tags in the inter-tropical region of the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, with successful transmissions received from seven tags (total of 319 tracking days). Results confirmed the smooth hammerhead is a highly mobile species, as the longest migration ever documented for this species (> 6600 km) was recorded. An absence of a diel vertical movement behavior was noted, with the sharks spending most of their time at surface waters (0-50 m) above 23 degrees C. The operating depth of the pelagic long-line gear was measured with Minilog Temperature and Depth Recorders, and the overlap with the species vertical distribution was calculated. The overlap is taking place mainly during the night and is higher for juveniles (similar to 40% of overlap time). The novel information presented can now be used to contribute to the provision of sustainable management tools and serve as input for Ecological Risk Assessments for smooth hammerheads caught in Atlantic pelagic longline fisheries.Oceanario de Lisboa through Project "SHARK-TAG: Migrations and habitat use of the smooth hammerhead shark in the Atlantic Ocean"; Investigador-FCT from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) [Ref: IF/00253/2014]; EU European Social Fund; Programa Operacional Potencial Human

Optimisation and molecular signalling of apoptosis in sequential cryotherapy and chemotherapy combination in human A549 lung cancer xenografts in SCID mice

We define the optimal parameters for combination of cryotherapy (nitrous oxide) with chemotherapy (vinorelbine ditartrate, VNB) treatment and characterise some of the signals involved for apoptosis activation. No advantage appeared when cryotherapy and VNB were combined simultaneously compared to cryosurgery alone. In contrast, tumour volumes were reduced after a sequential treatment schedule, where each individual treatment was separated by 48 h. No significant benefit appeared when the sequential treatment was separated by 24 h, although some individual mice showed a good response. The sequence of treatment had no impact on the observed tumour growth inhibition in mice. The number of apoptotic cells was significantly augmented in the sequential treatment schedule where VNB was administered 48 h before cryotherapy. In this sequential treatment, the number of apoptotic cells correlated with heightened expression of the BH3-only Puma, Noxa and Bim-EL, at both the mRNA and protein levels. No significant change in Bax, Bcl-xL and Bcl-2 mRNA expression was apparent, whereas Mcl-1 expression increased only slightly to a much lower level than BH3-only mRNAs. Our data indicate that 48 h sequential rather than simultaneous cryotherapy with VNB in future cancer cryochemotherapy schedules will enhance the tumour response, and argue that VNB administration, 48 h before cryotherapy, will provoke apoptosis more efficiently