Design and Analysis of Optimal Multi-Layer Walls for Time-Varying Thermal Excitation

U.S. buildings are a significant source of energy consumption (about 50%) and carbon emissions (about 40%), and providing conditioning to building interiors is a major portion of that expenditure. Improving building envelope performance can reduce the amount of energy used for heating and cooling, since external walls provide an important barrier between occupied building spaces and variable ambient conditions. In general, multi-layer exterior walls tend to perform better than single-layer walls, even for the same overall R-value and thermal capacitance. This work addresses practical choices in multi-layer wall design to minimize internal temperature swings that result from outside, or ambient, temperature fluctuations. An electrical analogy is used to model one-dimensional heat conduction using RC circuits. A frequency response analysis is conducted based on a period of one day. For a fixed wall thickness, four features are optimized: materials, proportion of materials, number of layers, and material distribution. Key design features include pairing insulating and thermally massive materials, distributing layers evenly, and positioning the insulating layers at the inner- and outer-most layers of the wall (i.e., near the indoor and outdoor environments). Methods for determining the optimal proportion of each material and number of layers are also presented. Combined, these easily implemented features can reduce interior temperature fluctuations by several orders of magnitude compared to ambient temperature variations. This helps maintain steady indoor temperatures, which is more comfortable for building occupants, and supports energy management strategies, like reducing peak heating and cooling loads

Avaliaçao de revestimentos soldados processados com materiais atomizados

Orientadora: Ana Sofia C.M.D'OliveiraTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Tecnologia, Programa de Pós-Graduaçao em Engenharia - PIPE. Defesa: Curitiba, 31/03/2008Inclui bibliografia e anexoÁrea de concentraçao: Engenharia e ciencias de materiai

Correlação entre microestrutura e variáveis de soldagem em ferro fundido cinzento /

Dissertação (Mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina,Centro Tecnológico

Teachers’ Experience of Blended English Language Learning

Abstracts: To address current Emiratization goals for teachers who teach English Medium Subjects, the Abu Dhabi Education Council partnered with a for-profit English language professional development provider to conduct a 6-week trial of a blended English language learning program for Emirati teachers. The current qualitative narrative study was undertaken to learn more about the lived experiences of 11 participants in the program. Participants had access to an online training program and spent 60 to 70% of the training program time in self-paced online learning, and attended face to face sessions with an English trainer for 30-40% percent of the training program time. Overall, most participants generally expressed satisfaction with the program, although some participants expressed concerns about the timing for the training, duration, rigor level, and lack of contextualization. The current research base on the efficacy of such programs in the MENA context is limited. Recommendations include further quantitative program evaluation, using learning outcomes data, and incorporating feedback from participants in the current program into planning for future blended language programs. Keynote: education, language learning, blended learning, professional development, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhab

Fro Wordes to Ymages: Reading Chaucer's Words with Morris's Visuals

This thesis examines how William Morris visually reimagines the works of Geoffrey Chaucer in The Kelmscott Chaucer. My focus is on how Chaucer uses the visual, rhetorically, and how Morris's integrated translation of Chaucer's text, through visual representation, intersects and/or interrupts the original work. I engage with theories of liminality to navigate the integration of Chaucer's original works with Morris's visual, written, and editorial aspects. I demonstrate how the text functions as a liminal space collectively yet also making the two texts inseparable disclaiming the void of a transitional space and rather identifying how these liminal spaces form bridges of access for intertextual connections of meaning and critique. In the process, I walk readers across the borders on the page and into the images to examine the meanings, or absence of meanings, therein. Drawing also on spectacle theory, I demonstrate how Morris uses the act of spectatorship in these liminal spaces created on the page to create an alternate text within a text that draws our attention to a more integrated meaning-making scene(s) embedded in the text yet not always visual to the reader's eye. The forced gaze(s) functions within the realm of liminality to create or deny new meaning between the text and the visual. This liminal space then allows a transtextual reading of both texts while negotiating meaning through and between each text simultaneously which is explicitly inherent with Morris's imaged text. These thresholds are multi-layered on any given illustrated page in The Kelmscott Chaucer, creating an increased number of boundaries to explore---boundaries that draw out the need for a reading within the reading; to read Chaucer with the text, and to be seen in the image which offers a textual transcendence of the text, collectively.I. INTRODUCTION 1 -- CHAUCER AND VISUAL CULTURE 2 -- Geoffrey Chaucer's England 2 -- William Morris's and Edward Burne-Jones's England 4 -- LIMINALITY AND LITERARY SPECTACLE 7 -- READING AS SEEING 20 -- CONCLUSION. 31 -- II. INTRODUCTION 32 -- TYPE 34 -- FRAMES AND BORDERS 36 -- IMAGES 37 -- MARGINS 38 -- ORNAMENT 40 -- ILLUSTRAED AND ILLUMINATED CHAUCER 40 -- ANALYSIS 43 --52 -- Historical Context. 52 -- Image and Art Historical Descriptions 53 -- Analysis 55 -- THE PARLEMENT OF FOULES 61 -- Historical Context 62 -- Image and Art Historical Descriptions 62 CONCLUSION 50 -- III. INTRODUCTION 51 -- THE TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE -- Analysis 69 -- IV. CONCLUSION 97 -- WORKS CITED AND REFERENCED 104Clegg-Hyer, MarenMiller, NicholasJames, ChristineM.A.Englis

The olive biophenols oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol selectively reduce proliferation, influence the cell cycle, and induce apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells

Current chemotherapy drugs for pancreatic cancer only offer an increase in survival of up to six months. Additionally, they are highly toxic to normal tissues, drastically affecting the quality of life of patients. Therefore, the search for novel agents, which induce apoptosis in cancer cells while displaying limited toxicity towards normal cells, is paramount. The olive biophenols, oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol, have displayed cytotoxicity towards cancer cells without affecting non-tumorigenic cells in cancers of the breast and prostate. However, their activity in pancreatic cancer has not been investigated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the anti-pancreatic cancer potential of oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol. Pancreatic cancer cells (MIA PaCa-2, BxPC-3, and CFPAC-1) and non-tumorigenic pancreas cells (HPDE) were treated with oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol to determine their effect on cell viability. Oleuropein displayed selective toxicity towards MIA PaCa-2 cells and hydroxytyrosol towards MIA PaCa-2 and HPDE cells. Subsequent analysis of Bcl-2 family proteins and caspase 3/7 activation determined that oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol induced apoptosis in MIA PaCa-2 cells, while oleuropein displayed a protective effect on HPDE cells. Gene expression analysis revealed putative mechanisms of action, which suggested that c-Jun and c-Fos are involved in oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol induced apoptosis of MIA PaCa-2 cells

Translating clinical and patient-reported data to tailored shared decision reports with predictive analytics for knee and hip arthritis

INTRODUCTION: New informatics tools can transform evidence-based information to individualized predictive reports to serve shared decisions in clinic. We developed a web-based system to collect patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and medical risk factors and to compare responses to national registry data. The system generates predicted outcomes for individual patients and a report for use in clinic to support decisions. We present the report development, presentation, and early experience implementing this PRO-based, shared decision report for knee and hip arthritis patients seeking orthopedic evaluation. METHODS: Iterative patient and clinician interviews defined report content and visual display. The web-system supports: (a) collection of PROs and risk data at home or in office, (b) automated statistical processing of responses compared to national data, (c) individualized estimates of likely pain relief and functional gain if surgery is elected, and (d) graphical reports to support shared decisions. The system was implemented at 12 sites with 26 surgeons in an ongoing cluster randomized trial. RESULTS: Clinicians and patients recommended that pain and function as well as clinical risk factors (e.g., BMI, smoking) be presented to frame the discussion. Color and graphics support patient understanding. To date, 7891 patients completed the assessment before the visit and 56% consented to study participation. Reports were generated for 98% of patients and 68% of patients recalled reviewing the report with their surgeon. CONCLUSIONS: Informatics solutions can generate timely, tailored office reports including PROs and predictive analytics. Patients successfully complete the pre-visit PRO assessments and clinicians and patients value the report to support shared surgical decisions

Improvements through Lean Thinking: a case study in a health insurance company

The Brazilian private health system has experienced an increase in the costs of providing services due to the current economic and political crisis, amid the multiple impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, this study aims to identify the existing waste in two departments of a Health Plan Insurance Provider the (Audit and Customer Service & Authorization departments), as well as to propose improvements in the respective processes with the help of Lean Thinking. To do so, a descriptive case study was conducted as a research method, in which researchers gathered data and mapped processes through SIPOC matrices, followed by training and workshops to the employees. As a result, waiting and overprocessing were the most recurrent types of waste. Additionally, it was also observed that the employees’ training was essential for identifying critical types of waste and developing the SIPOC matrices. The proposal for improvements included digitization and changes in the parameterization of the systems, which positively reduce employee’s interference in the process hence avoiding mistakes and delays in the process. These actions will help reduce expenses with printed documents, reanalysis of procedures and errors in analyses

Arrimer la bibliothèque de recherche à la stratégie institutionnelle

L’ Association des bibliothèques de recherche du Canada (ABRC / CARL) publie en collaboration avec l’ARL et Ithaka S+R le rapport final "Arrimer la bibliothèque de recherche à la stratégie institutionnelle". Ce rapport a été commandé pour identifier les priorités stratégiques des directions de l’enseignement supérieur et pour identifier ce que les bibliothèques de recherche peuvent faire pour les faire progresser