Antiproliferative activity of synthetic fatty acid amides from renewable resources

AbstractIn the work, the in vitro antiproliferative activity of a series of synthetic fatty acid amides were investigated in seven cancer cell lines. The study revealed that most of the compounds showed antiproliferative activity against tested tumor cell lines, mainly on human glioma cells (U251) and human ovarian cancer cells with a multiple drug-resistant phenotype (NCI-ADR/RES). In addition, the fatty methyl benzylamide derived from ricinoleic acid (with the fatty acid obtained from castor oil, a renewable resource) showed a high selectivity with potent growth inhibition and cell death for the glioma cell line—the most aggressive CNS cancer

Electron Spin Resonance and Thermoluminescence dating of shells and sediments from Sambaqui (shell mound) Santa Marta II, Brazil

In Tupi, the word Sambaqui means “mound of shells”. These archaeological sites are cultural vestiges left by the prehistoric occupation of the Brazilian coast from five to six thousand years ago. Mollusks, fishes, and other marine edible foods were important for the survival of this population. The remains of foods, mainly shells, were heaped up, giving a mound of different proportions, which became part of the landscape of the Brazilian coastal plain. Due to the large number of Sambaquis in Brazil and considering that Sambaqui Santa Marta II, Laguna, SC, has not yet been dated, Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) measurements were performed in aragonite shells collected from different layers of Sambaqui Santa Marta II, starting from the base to the center of the Sambaqui. Radiocarbon analysis by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at Beta Analytic laboratory were also performed for comparison with ESR results. Before measurements, shells were chemically etched, after drying, were pulverized and sieved. The sediments were separated into small portions which were irradiated with gamma radiation from a 60Co source with doses from 5 up to 120 Gy. Ages around 2,000 to 4,000 years have been obtained. The results obtained are consistent with the dates of others Sambaquis of the region, possibly were built at the same time

Human Factor and Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Motivating End-Users Behavioural Change

Energy efficiency in buildings does not only rely on efficient technical solutions and design of the building features, but is also highly dependent on how occupants decide to set their comfort criteria, as well as on their energy-related and environmental lifestyles. In this perspective, raising user awareness among occupants by training them to adopt a more “green” and energy-friendly behaviour has become a crucial aspect for reaching energy efficiency goals in buildings. Motivating occupants to change their behaviour can become a challenging task, especially if they are expected to internalize and adopt the new behaviour on a long term. This means that information and feedback provided to the occupants must be stimulating, easy to understand, and easy to adopt in the daily routine. In this context, first methodological progresses are here presented within an European project, designed to raise user awareness, reduce energy consumptions and improve health and IEQ conditions in different typologies of demonstration case studies by providing combined feedback on energy, indoor environmental quality, and health. In particular, this paper presents one out of five MOBISTYLE demonstration testbeds – a residence hotel - located in central Turin (IT). In detail, this paper describes the setup of a tailored engagement campaign for hotel apartments and the reception area. Based on selected monitored variables, user-friendly feedback was defined to provide the users with real-time information on energy use and environmental quality, as well as guidance on how to save energy and optimize consumption profiles while creating an acceptably comfortable and healthy indoor environment

Occupant behavior models: A critical review of implementation and representation approaches in building performance simulation programs

Occupant behavior (OB) in buildings is a leading factor influencing energy use in buildings. Quantifying this influence requires the integration of OB models with building performance simulation (BPS). This study reviews approaches to representing and implementing OB models in today’s popular BPS programs, and discusses weaknesses and strengths of these approaches and key issues in integrating of OB models with BPS programs. Two key findings are: (1) a common data model is needed to standardize the representation of OB models, enabling their flexibility and exchange among BPS programs and user applications; the data model can be implemented using a standard syntax (e.g., in the form of XML schema), and (2) a modular software implementation of OB models, such as functional mock-up units for co-simulation, adopting the common data model, has advantages in providing a robust and interoperable integration with multiple BPS programs. Such common OB model representation and implementation approaches help standardize the input structures of OB models, enable collaborative development of a shared library of OB models, and allow for rapid and widespread integration of OB models with BPS programs to improve the simulation of occupant behavior and quantification of their impact on building performance

Occupant behavior models: A critical review of implementation and representation approaches in building performance simulation programs

Occupant behavior (OB) in buildings is a leading factor influencing energy use in buildings. Quantifying this influence requires the integration of OB models with building performance simulation (BPS). This study reviews approaches to representing and implementing OB models in today’s popular BPS programs, and discusses weaknesses and strengths of these approaches and key issues in integrating of OB models with BPS programs. Two key findings are: (1) a common data model is needed to standardize the representation of OB models, enabling their flexibility and exchange among BPS programs and user applications; the data model can be implemented using a standard syntax (e.g., in the form of XML schema), and (2) a modular software implementation of OB models, such as functional mock-up units for co-simulation, adopting the common data model, has advantages in providing a robust and interoperable integration with multiple BPS programs. Such common OB model representation and implementation approaches help standardize the input structures of OB models, enable collaborative development of a shared library of OB models, and allow for rapid and widespread integration of OB models with BPS programs to improve the simulation of occupant behavior and quantification of their impact on building performance

Generalizable occupant-driven optimization model for domestic hot water production in NZEB

The primary objective of this paper is to demonstrate improved energy efficiency for domestic hot water (DHW) production in residential buildings. This is done by deriving data-driven optimal heating schedules (used interchangeably with policies) automatically. The optimization leverages actively learnt occupant behaviour and models for thermodynamics of the storage vessel to operate the heating mechanism - an air-source heat pump (ASHP) in this case - at the highest possible efficiency. The proposed algorithm, while tested on an ASHP, is essentially decoupled from the heating mechanism making it sufficiently robust to generalize to other types of heating mechanisms as well. Simulation results for this optimization based on data from 46 Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) in the Netherlands are presented. These show a reduction of energy consumption for DHW by 20% using a computationally inexpensive heuristic approach, and 27% when using a more intensive hybrid ant colony optimization based method. The energy savings are strongly dependent on occupant comfort level. This is demonstrated in real-world settings for a low-consumption house where active control was performed using heuristics for 3.5 months and resulted in energy savings of 27% (61 kW h). It is straightforward to extend the same models to perform automatic demand side management (ADSM) by treating the DHW vessel as a flexibility bearing devic

The influence of occupant's behaviour in a high performing building

Green buildings are now at the forefront of building research and climate change mitigation scenarios. The successful delivery of green buildings requires balancing energy and resource efficiency while providing a comfortable and healthy environment. Since the success of a high-performance building (HPB) depends on how it is designed, built, and managed, occupant comfort and behaviour can have a significant impact on the green building performance. Individual occupants and the choices they make (opening and closing windows, turning up and down the thermostats, etc.) directly affect the amount of energy used in every type of building. This paper focuses on the possible profiles of occupant behavior and their resulting effects on energy consumption in a high performing building. Stochastic profiles of window opening and indoor temperature preferences were implemented in a dynamic building energy simulation tool. The study mainly addresses at the evaluation of the impact of probabilistic occupants profiles on energy consumption in HPB comparing the obtained results with a regular deterministic use of the building energy imulation too