Time valued life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from buildings

The UK has adopted legally binding carbon reduction targets of 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 (measured against the 1990 baseline). Buildings are estimated to be responsible for more than 50% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the UK. These consist of both operational, produced during use, and embodied, produced during manufacture of materials and components, and during construction, refurbishments and demolition. A brief assessment suggests that it is unlikely that UK emission reduction targets can be met without substantial reductions in both Oc and Ec. Oc occurs over the lifetime of a building whereas the bulk of Ec occurs at the start of a building’s life. A time value for emissions could influence the decision making process when it comes to comparing mitigation measures which have benefits that occur at different times. An example might be the choice between building construction using low Ec construction materials versus building construction using high Ec construction materials but with lower Oc, although the use of high Ec materials does not necessarily imply a lower Oc. Particular time related issues examined here are: the urgency of the need to achieve large emissions reductions during the next 10 to 20 years; the earlier effective action is taken, the less costly it will be; future reduction in carbon intensity of energy supply; the carbon cycle and relationship between the release of GHG’s and their subsequent concentrations in the atmosphere. An equation is proposed, which weights emissions according to when they occur during the building life cycle, and which effectively increases Ec as a proportion of the total, suggesting that reducing Ec is likely to be more beneficial, in terms of climate change, for most new buildings. Thus, giving higher priority to Ec reductions is likely to result in a bigger positive impact on climate change and mitigation costs

Influence of occupants’ behaviour on energy and carbon emission reduction in a higher education building in the UK

This article focuses on one of the case studies in the Carbon Brainprint research project funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Chatterton, J., D. Parsons, J. Nicholls, P. Longhurst, M. Bernon, A. Palmer, F. Brennan, et al. 2015. “Carbon Brainprint – An Estimate of the Intellectual Contribution of Research Institutions to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” Process Safety and Environmental Protection 96: 74–81). The UK total CO2e emissions in 2010 amounted to 582MtCO2e. It is estimated that non-domestic buildings and domestic buildings were responsible for 18% (106MtCO2e) and 28% (165MtCO2e) of these emissions, respectively. A case study method was used to investigative the opportunity of using occupants’ awareness and behavioural interventions to reduce energy use and carbon emissions in a non-domestic building of a higher education institution. An action research approach, informed by the theory of planned behaviour, was argued for this case study. It has demonstrated 20% savings in lighting, office equipment and catering energy use, largely through user awareness and behaviour change. If this level of saving were to be reflected throughout the non-domestic building stock it would represent an annual reduction in the order of 7MtCO2e in the UK. These figures relate specifically to non-domestic buildings. However, some of the techniques involved are directly transferable to domestic buildings, with the potential for further emission reductions

19F NMR spectroscopy monitors ligand binding to recombinantly fluorine-labelled b'x from human protein disulphide isomerase (hPDI)

We report a protein-observe (19)F NMR-based ligand titration binding study of human PDI b'x with ?-somatostatin that also emphasises the need to optimise recombinant protein fluorination when using 5- or 6-fluoroindole. This study highlights a recombinant preference for 5-fluoroindole over 6-fluoroindole; most likely due to the influence of fluorine atomic packing within the folded protein structure. Fluorination affords a single (19)F resonance probe to follow displacement of the protein x-linker as ligand is titrated and provides a dissociation constant of 23 ± 4 ?M

Smart homes and their users:a systematic analysis and key challenges

Published research on smart homes and their users is growing exponentially, yet a clear understanding of who these users are and how they might use smart home technologies is missing from a field being overwhelmingly pushed by technology developers. Through a systematic analysis of peer-reviewed literature on smart homes and their users, this paper takes stock of the dominant research themes and the linkages and disconnects between them. Key findings within each of nine themes are analysed, grouped into three: (1) views of the smart home-functional, instrumental, socio-technical; (2) users and the use of the smart home-prospective users, interactions and decisions, using technologies in the home; and (3) challenges for realising the smart home-hardware and software, design, domestication. These themes are integrated into an organising framework for future research that identifies the presence or absence of cross-cutting relationships between different understandings of smart homes and their users. The usefulness of the organising framework is illustrated in relation to two major concerns-privacy and control-that have been narrowly interpreted to date, precluding deeper insights and potential solutions. Future research on smart homes and their users can benefit by exploring and developing cross-cutting relationships between the research themes identified

Surfactant Protein-D is essential for immunity to Helminth Infection

Author Summary Infections by parasitic worms are very common, and controlling them is a major medical and veterinary challenge. Very few drugs exist to treat them, and the parasites can develop resistance to these. In order to find new ways to control worm infections, understanding how our immune system responds to them is essential. Many important parasitic worm infections move through the host lung. In this study we show that a major secreted protein in the lung, Surfactant Protein D (SP-D), is essential for immunity to a parasitic worm infection. We found that this protein binds to worm larvae in the lung to help the immune system kill them. Infecting mice that do not express SP-D with worms demonstrates SP-D is important in this immune response. These mice are unable to launch an effective anti-worm immune response and have many more worms in their intestine compared to mice that do express SP-D. We also show that if we increase SP-D levels in the lung the mouse has better immunity to worms. Together this shows for the first time that SP-D is very important for immunity to worm infections

Playing the victim? Human trafficking, African youth, and geographies of structural inequality

This article explores the role of agency in determining who is and is not considered to be a legitimate victim of human trafficking. It draws on critical human trafficking scholarship and research on the life chances of West African youth. This is complemented by qualitative data from youth embroiled in football-related human trafficking. The insights from these analyses are brought into conversation with theoretical work on the geographies of commodities. This results in the concept of ‘unveiling the football trafficking fetish’, which is used to theorise how and why the agency of mobile youthful African male bodies undermines their claims of being trafficked human beings. The findings that emerge are significant in two ways. First, they generate theoretical insights on the coexistence of agency and exploitation in young lives, and how young people’s aspirations and agency can be (mis)read and work against them. Second, they provide a unique illustration of how human trafficking is a product of capitalism yet can be presented as a form of behaviour that lies outside of capitalist social relations. To centre these social relations and foster new forms of critical dialogue within and beyond population geography, the article concludes by recommending we consider the implications of conceptualising people as susceptible to rather than vulnerable to human trafficking

Protein disulfide-isomerase interacts with a substrate protein at all stages along its folding pathway

In contrast to molecular chaperones that couple protein folding to ATP hydrolysis, protein disulfide-isomerase (PDI) catalyzes protein folding coupled to formation of disulfide bonds (oxidative folding). However, we do not know how PDI distinguishes folded, partly-folded and unfolded protein substrates. As a model intermediate in an oxidative folding pathway, we prepared a two-disulfide mutant of basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) and showed by NMR that it is partly-folded and highly dynamic. NMR studies show that it binds to PDI at the same site that binds peptide ligands, with rapid binding and dissociation kinetics; surface plasmon resonance shows its interaction with PDI has a Kd of ca. 10−5 M. For comparison, we characterized the interactions of PDI with native BPTI and fully-unfolded BPTI. Interestingly, PDI does bind native BPTI, but binding is quantitatively weaker than with partly-folded and unfolded BPTI. Hence PDI recognizes and binds substrates via permanently or transiently unfolded regions. This is the first study of PDI's interaction with a partly-folded protein, and the first to analyze this folding catalyst's changing interactions with substrates along an oxidative folding pathway. We have identified key features that make PDI an effective catalyst of oxidative protein folding – differential affinity, rapid ligand exchange and conformational flexibility

The Effect of Water Immersion during Exercise on Cerebral Blood Flow

Introduction: Regular exercise induces recurrent increases in cerebrovascular perfusion. In peripheral arteries, such episodic increases in perfusion are responsible for improvement in arterial function and health. We examined the hypothesis that exercise during immersion augments cerebral blood flow velocity compared with intensity-matched land-based exercise. Methods: Fifteen normotensive participants were recruited (26 ± 4 yr, 24.3 ± 1.9 kg·m−2). We continuously assessed mean arterial blood pressure, HR, stroke volume, oxygen consumption, and blood flow velocities through the middle and posterior cerebral arteries before, during, and after 20-min bouts of water- and land-based stepping exercise of matched intensity. The order in which the exercise conditions were performed was randomized between subjects. Water-based exercise was performed in 30°C water to the level of the right atrium. Results: The water- and land-based exercise bouts were closely matched for oxygen consumption (13.3 mL·kg−1·min−1 (95% confidence interval (CI), 12.2–14.6) vs 13.5 mL·kg−1·min−1 (95% CI, 12.1–14.8), P = 0.89) and HR (95 bpm (95% CI, 90–101) vs 96 bpm (95% CI, 91–102), P = 0.65). Compared with land-based exercise, water-based exercise induced an increase in middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity (74 cm·s−1 (95% CI, 66–81) vs 67 cm·s−1 (95% CI, 60–74) P < 0.001), posterior cerebral artery blood flow velocity (47 cm·s−1 (95% CI, 40–53) vs 43 cm·s−1 (95% CI, 37–49), P < 0.001), mean arterial blood pressure (106 mm Hg (95% CI, 100–111) vs 101 mm Hg (95% CI, 95–106), P < 0.001), and partial pressure of expired CO2 (P ≤ 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that water-based exercise augments cerebral blood flow, relative to land-based exercise of similar intensity, in healthy humans