Strategy Guideline. Application of a Construction Quality Process to Existing Home Retrofits

The Home Innovation Research Labs developed a construction quality process for new and existing high performance homes (HPH) in which high performance goals are established, specifications to meet those goals are defined, and construction monitoring points are added to the construction schedule so that critical energy efficiency details are systematically reviewed, documented, and tested in a timely manner. This report follows the evolution of the construction quality process from its development for new homes, to its application in the construction of a high performance home with enhanced specifications, and its application in a crawlspace renovation

Evidence of spin disorder at the surface–core interface of oxygen passivated Fe nanoparticles

Hysteresis, thermal dependence of magnetization, and coercivity of oxide coated ultrafine Fe particles prepared by inert gas condensation and oxygen passivation have been studied in the 5–300 K range. The results are found to be consistent with a spin-glasslike state of the oxide layer inducing, through exchange interaction with the ferromagnetic core, a shift of the field cooled hysteresis loops at temperatures below the freezing at approximately 50 K.Dirección General de Investigación y Desarrollo. Gobierno de España-CICYT MAT95- 1042-C02-02Dirección General de Investigación y Desarrollo. Gobierno de España-PB96-0863-C02-02.Comisión Europea-ERBFMBI-CT95-0534

A DATABASE FOR THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE RECOVERY BETWEEN ITALY AND SWITZERLAND

The purpose of this paper is to show some results coming from the international Interreg-AlpStone project, a research whose main aim is the protection and valorisation of a rural Cultural Heritage, theme of recent growing interest. In particular the background of this contribute is the traditional stone architecture placed in the territory between Italy and Switzerland, while into the foreground is put the method to right document, archive and analyse information about the objects of study. The response comes from BIM technologies (acronym of Building Information Modeling) which objective is the creation of a dynamical and interoperable system allowing the share of information through a unique database. If these methods have been largely employed on new constructions, they still haven't been enough tested on the field of historical architecture. In order to fill this gap, the paper suggest a method leading to the creation of a Cultural Heritage information system, which arise during the survey phase and continue through the detection of different building information, the proposal of recovery solutions, the asset georeferentiation on the territory and finally the moment of sharing information on a web platform. The creation of an architectural database is made possible by a survey based on point clouds. The latter constitute then the input data for the creation of a 3D model made with a parametric software allowing the increase of various kind of information. The future work plans will complete this project by locating the Cultural Heritage models on a webGIS

Greenbelt Homes Pilot Energy Efficiency Program Phase 1 Summary: Existing Conditions and Baseline Energy Use

A multi-year pilot energy efficiency retrofit project has been undertaken by Greenbelt Homes, Inc, (GHI) a 1,566 co-operative of circa 1930 and '40 homes. The three predominate construction methods of the townhomes in the community are materials common to the area and climate zone including 8" CMU block, wood frame with brick veneer and wood frame with vinyl siding. GHI has established a pilot project that will serve as a basis for decision making for the roll out of a decade-long community upgrade program that will incorporate energy efficiency to the building envelope and equipment with the modernization of other systems like plumbing, mechanical equipment, and cladding

The stress-field variation on the italian active volcanic areas: the shear wave splitting monitoring

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Assessing environmental requirements effects on forest fragmentation sensitivity in two arboreal rodents

The study of the effect of habitat fragmentation on species that inhabit residual patches requires the investigation of the relationship existing between species distribution and landscape components. To understand which components of landscape mosaics are more influential for species’ persistence, we compared the distribution of two arboreal rodents proved to be sensitive to habitat fragmentation, the hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius and the red squirrel Sciurus vulgaris. Their occurrence in residual oak woods in central Italy was studied with nest-boxes and hair-tubes, developing a new method for hair analysis. Their distributions were analysed considering patch, matrix composition and configuration, and landscape vegetation variables. The two species showed a different degree of plasticity, with the squirrel being significantly more specialised at the landscape scale. The comparison of the two distribution patterns highlighted the influence of different ecological constraints and the existence of different strategies to cope with fragmentation. Patch size and patch attributes were generally weaker determinants of occurrence, compared to landscape metrics. The squirrel presence was significantly influenced by the presence of shared perimeter between hedgerows and woods and by the lack of isolation of the residual patches, suggesting the use of several fragments to compensate the low habitat quality. Conversely the hazel dormouse seemed to be more affected by the internal management of the woods, and in particular by the mean DBH. Our results highlight how the recognition of the extrinsic constraints and the influence of multi-scale habitat selection may help guiding land use management, to ensure species conservation in profoundly exploited landscapes

Microbiological surveillance of plasmid mediated colistin resistance in human Enterobacteriaceae isolates in Romagna (Northern Italy): August 2016–July 2017

Objectives: To start a surveillance program to investigate the possible diffusion of mobilized colistin resistance genes in Enterobacteriaceae strains isolated in the Unit of Microbiology of the Great Romagna Hub Laboratory. Methods: All the colistin resistant Enterobacteriaceae, isolated from August 1st 2016 to July 31st 2017, were prospectively evaluated for mcr-1 and mcr-2. Backdated survey of mcr-3, mcr-4 and mcr-5 was performed on the same group of isolates. Species identification was achieved by Vitek MS and the antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed both with Vitek-2 and Sensititre systems. Colistin resistant isolates were screened by PCR for the presence of the plasmid-mediated colistin resistance genes and amplicons were verified by sequencing. All mcr-1 positive isolates were subjected to MLST analysis. Results: Over the total of 19053 isolates belonging to Enterobacteriaceae, 90 were colistin resistant. The presence of mcr-1 was detected in 26 Escherichia coli. The overall prevalence of mcr-1 was 0.14%. The mcr-1 positive E. coli strains were assigned to 13 distinct sequence types (STs) according to MLST. Conclusions: The prospective epidemiological survey carried out in our study gave a glimpse of the plasmid-mediated colistin resistance dissemination in Romagna. Since the prevalence rate of carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in some hospital wards in our area is alarming, we underline the importance of a Surveillance Program to monitor the spread of the plasmid-mediated colistin resistance genes into MDR Gram-negative bacteria

Mixing enhancement induced by viscoelastic micromotors in microfluidic platforms

Fine manipulation of fluid flows at the microscale has a tremendous impact on mass transport phenomena of chemical and biological processes inside microfluidic platforms. Fluid mixing in the laminar flow regime at low Reynolds number is poorly effective due to the inherently slow diffusive mechanism. As a strategy to enhance mixing and prompt mass transport, here, we focus on polyelectrolyte multilayer capsules (PMCs), embodying a catalytic polyoxometalate, as microobjects to create elastic turbulence and as micromotors to generate chaotic flows by fuel-fed propulsions. The effects of the elastic turbolence and of the artificial propulsion on some basic flow parameters, such as pressure and volumetric flow rate, are studied by a microfluidic set-up including pressure and flow sensors. Numerical-handling and physical models of the experimental data are presented and discussed to explain the measured dependence of the pressure drop on the flow rate in presence of the PMCs. As a practical outcome of the study, a strong decrease of the mixing time in a serpentine microreactor is demonstrated. Unlike our previous reports dealing with capillarity flow studies, the present paper relies on hydrodynamic pumping experiments, that allow us to both develop a theoretical model for the understanding of the involved phenomena and demonstrate a successful microfluidic mixing application. All of this is relevant in the perspective of developing microobject-based methods to overcome microscale processes purely dominated by diffusion with potential improvements of mass trasport in microfluidic platforms. \ua9 2019 Elsevier B.V

Comparison of four commercial screening assays for the detection of blakpc, blandm, blaimp, blavim, and blaoxa48 in rectal secretion collected by swabs

The spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) has been enabled by the lack of control measures directed at carriers of multidrug-resistant organisms in healthcare settings. Screening patients for asymptomatic colonization on the one hand, and implementation of contact precautions on the other hand, reduces patient-to-patient transmission. Screening plates represents a relatively low-cost method for isolating CRE from rectal swabs; however, molecular assays have become widely available. This study compared the performance of four commercial molecular platforms in detecting clinically significant carbapenemase genes versus routine screening for CRE. A total of 1015 non-duplicated rectal swabs were cultured on a chromogenic carbapenem-resistant selective medium. All growing Enterobacteriaceae strains were tested for carbapenemase-related genes. The same specimens were processed using the following molecular assays: Allplex\u2122 Entero-DR, Amplidiag\uae CarbaR + MCR, AusDiagnostics MT CRE EU, and EasyScreen\u2122 ESBL/CPO. The prevalence of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Enterobacteriaceae detected by swab culture was 2.2%, while organisms producing oxacillinase (OXA)-48 and metallo-\u3b2-lactamases were infrequent. The cost of CRE-related infection control precautions, which must be kept in place while waiting for screening results, are significant, so the molecular tests could become cost-competitive, especially when the turnaround time is decreased dramatically. Molecular assays represent a powerful diagnostic tool as they allow the rapid detection of the most clinically relevant carbapenemases

The Application of Quality of Life in Services for Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Lines of intervention in Spain and Italy

The concept of quality of life (QOL) has become a measurable construct of great value to all people, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In particular, the field of IDD is currently experiencing a paradigm shift related to beliefs, assumptions, policies, and practices concerning people with disabilities and their families and the place and role they play in society. This article starts by reconstructing the state of the art of the application of QOL in Social Services, reconstructing its research developments, operational declinations and influences in social policies in Spain and Italy