Proof of concept that requiring energy labels for dwellings can induce retrofitting

How to induce households to install energy efficient technology remains a puzzle. Could an energy labeling requirement for residential real estate help? We propose that the salient color-letter grades on the English Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) served as targets, motivating vendors to invest in energy efficiency. To test our hypothesis we look to a random sample of over 16,000 homes in England. In the post-EPC data we find a cluster of homes with energy efficiency scores just above the D-grade threshold. This cluster was not present prior to the requirement, replicates in an independently-drawn random sample and is significantly larger amongst properties that can be identified as treated by the EPC requirement. We conclude that the EPC requirement induced investment, and hence that energy efficiency labels have potential to green the housing stock. We infer from our analysis how the design of the EPC could be altered to motivate greater investment in energy efficiency

Mitral Annular and Coronary Artery Calcification Are Associated with Mortality in HIV-Infected Individuals.

BackgroundHIV infection increases cardiovascular risk. Coronary artery calcification (CAC) and mitral annular calcification (MAC) identify patients at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The purpose of this study was to examine the association between MAC, CAC and mortality in HIV-infected individuals.Methods and resultsWe studied 152 asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and computed tomography (CT). MAC was identified on TTE using standardized criteria. Presence of CAC, CAC score and CAC percentiles were determined using the modified Agatston criteria. Mortality data was obtained from the Social Security and National Death Indices (SSDI/NDI). The median age was 49 years; 87% were male. The median duration of HIV was 16 years; 84% took antiretroviral therapy; 64% had an undetectable viral load. CVD risk factors included hypertension (35%), smoking (62%) and dyslipidemia (35%). Twenty-five percent of individuals had MAC, and 42% had CAC. Over a median follow-up of 8 years, 11 subjects died. Subjects with CAC had significantly higher mortality compared to those with MAC only or no MAC. The Harrell's C-statistic of CAC was 0.66 and increased to 0.75 when MAC was added (p = 0.05). MAC, prior CVD, age and HIV viral load were independently associated with higher age- and gender-adjusted CAC percentiles in an adjusted model (p < 0.05 for all).ConclusionIn HIV patients, the presence of MAC, traditional risk factors and HIV viral load were independently associated with CAC. Presence of CAC and MAC may be useful in identifying HIV-infected individuals at higher risk for death

Spectral properties of a narrow-band Anderson model

We consider single-particle spectra of a symmetric narrow-band Anderson impurity model, where the host bandwidth $D$ is small compared to the hybridization strength $\Delta_{0}$. Simple 2nd order perturbation theory (2PT) in $U$ is found to produce a rich spectral structure, that leads to rather good agreement with extant Lanczos results and offers a transparent picture of the underlying physics. It also leads naturally to two distinct regimes of spectral behaviour, $\Delta_{0}Z/D\gg 1$ and $\ll 1$ (with $Z$ the quasi-particle weight), whose existence and essential characteristics are discussed and shown to be independent of 2PT itself. The self-energy $\Sigma_{i\omega}$ is also examined beyond the confines of PT. It is argued that on frequency scales of order $\omega\sim\sqrt{Delta_{0}D}$, the self-energy in {\em strong} coupling is given precisely by the 2PT result, and we point out that the resultant poles in $\Sigma_{i\omega}$ connect continuously to that characteristic of the atomic limit. This in turn offers a natural rationale for the known inability of the skeleton expansion to capture such behaviour, and points to the intrinsic dangers of partial infinite-order summations that are based on PT in $U$.Comment: 10 pages, 2 Postscript figures, uses RevTex 3.1; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B1

Health Effects and Life Stage Sensitivities in Zebrafish Exposed to an Estrogenic Wastewater Treatment Works Effluent

This is the final version. Available on open access from Frontiers media via the DOI in this recordData Availability Statement: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.A wide range of health effects in fish have been reported for exposure to wastewater treatment work (WwTW) effluents including feminized responses in males. Most of these exposure studies, however, have assessed acute health effects and chronic exposure effects are less well established. Using an Estrogen Responsive Element-Green Fluorescent Protein (ERE-GFP)-Casper transgenic zebrafish, we investigated chronic health effects and life stage sensitivities for exposure to an estrogenic WwTW effluent and the synthetic estrogen 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2). Exposure to the WwTW effluent (at full strength;100%) and to 10 ng/L (nominal) EE2 delayed testis maturation in male fish but accelerated ovary development in females. Exposure to 50% and 100% effluent, and to 10 ng/L EE2, also resulted in skewed sex ratios in favor of females. Differing patterns of green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression, in terms of target tissues and developmental life stages occurred in the ERE-GFP- zebrafish chronically exposed to 100% effluent and reflected the estrogenic content of the effluent. gfp and vitellogenin (vtg) mRNA induction were positively correlated with measured levels of steroidal estrogens in the effluent throughout the study. Our findings illustrate the importance of a fish’s developmental stage for estrogen exposure effects and demonstrate the utility of the ERE-GFP zebrafish for integrative health analysis for exposure to estrogenic chemical mixtures.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)University of ExeterEuropean Union FP

Effects of maternal exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of 17α-ethinyloestradiol in a live bearing freshwater fish, Xenotoca eiseni (Cyprinodontiformes, Goodeidae)

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record The viviparous teleost redtail splitfin (Xenotoca eiseni) is a live bearing fish that presents a novel freshwater model for investigating the effects of maternally derived micropollutants on vulnerable early developmental life stages. Here, adult female X. eiseni were exposed to 17α-ethinyloestradiol (EE2), a potent a contraceptive oestrogen, at environmentally relevant concentrations, to investigate for effects on sex partitioning and development. Pregnant and non-pregnant females were exposed for four-weeks to EE2 at measured concentrations of 0.9 and 3.4 ng/L EE2 and offspring from gravid females kept in clean water for a further four weeks. Only pregnant females were seen to respond to 3.4 ng/L EE2 with an increase in the transcription of hepatic vitellogenins (vtgA, vtgB and vtgC). Offspring of exposed mothers showed no obvious effects on somatic growth, gonadal development, sex partitioning or development. However, there was a higher rate of deformities and developmental abnormalities in offspring of EE2-exposed females. The work presented provides the foundation for the development of X. eiseni as a new freshwater model for studies on maternal transfer of chemical pollutants in live bearing animals.University of Exete

Post-Mortem Cardiac Device Retrieval for Re-Use in Third World Nations: Views of the General Public & Patient Population

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109410/1/postmortemgeneral.pdf61Description of postmortemgeneral.pdf : Presentatio

Ice Algae-Produced Carbon Is Critical for Overwintering of Antarctic Krill Euphausia superba

Antarctic krill Euphausia superba (“krill”) constitute a fundamental food source for Antarctic seabirds and mammals, and a globally important fisheries resource. The future resilience of krill to climate change depends critically on the winter survival of young krill. To survive periods of extremely low production by pelagic algae during winter, krill are assumed to rely partly on carbon produced by ice algae. The true dependency on ice algae-produced carbon, however, is so far unquantified. This confounds predictions on the future resilience of krill stocks to sea ice decline. Fatty acid (FA) analysis, bulk stable isotope analysis (BSIA), and compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of diatom- and dinoflagellate-associated marker FAs were applied to quantify the dependency of overwintering larval, juvenile, and adult krill on ice algae-produced carbon (αIce) during winter 2013 in the Weddell-Scotia Confluence Zone. Our results demonstrate that the majority of the carbon uptake of the overwintering larval and juvenile krill originated from ice algae (up to 88% of the carbon budget), and that the dependency on ice algal carbon decreased with ontogeny, reaching <56% of the carbon budget in adults. Spatio-temporal variability in the utilization of ice algal carbon was more pronounced in larvae and juvenile krill than in adults. Differences between αIce estimates derived from short- vs. long-term FA-specific isotopic compositions suggested that ice algae-produced carbon gained importance as the winter progressed, and might become critical at the late winter-spring transition, before the phytoplankton bloom commences. Where the sea ice season shortens, reduced availability of ice algae might possibly not be compensated by surplus phytoplankton production during wintertime. Hence, sea ice decline could seriously endanger the winter survival of recruits, and subsequently overall biomass of krill