Regulation of Hematopoiesis in Long Term Marrow Cultures: Role of Humoral Factors in the Proliferation and Differentiation of Stem Cells and Committed Progenitors

Established systems of long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC) have contributed to our understanding of the interrelationships between the adherent stromal cells and the stem cells, committed progenitors and mature terminally differentiated cells. While cell-mediated or short range stromal interactions appear to be a major source of homeostatic control between the stromal microenvironment and the stem cells, positive and negative humoral influences or long-range mechanisms also regulate stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Adherent stromal conditioned medium generates factors which can trigger CFU-s into DNA synthesis within 18 hours or inhibit incorporation of tritiated thymidine into rapidly proliferating CFU-s. Other adherent stromal factors reduce proliferation and terminal erythroid differentiation of BFU-e. Stromal cells also produce a synergistic activity which stimulates formation of giant macrophage colonies in conjunction with CSF. Continued examination of these factors should lead to better understanding of the mechanisms involved in control of hematopoietic stem cell proliferation and differentiation

Design and Evaluation of a Net Zero Energy Low-Income Residential Housing Development in Lafayette, Colorado

This abbreviated report outlines the lessons learned and sub-metered energy performance of an ultra low energy single family ranch home and duplex unit, called the Paradigm Pilot Project and presents the final design recommendations for a 153-unit net zero energy residential development called the Josephine Commons Project

Cross-polarisation discrimination-induced interference in dual-polarised high-capacity satellite communication systems

The design of spectrally-efficient, high-throughput satellite (HTS) systems with capacity approaching one terabit per second requires operating at Ka-band frequencies and above, where there are several gigahertz of allocated radio spectrum, using multiple spot beams with dual orthogonal polarisation mode. At these high frequencies, rain attenuation poses a major obstacle to the design of high-availability satellite links which are needed for the realisation of ubiquitous broadband multimedia communication services including high-speed Internet access at rural and remote locations. Furthermore, depolarisation-induced interference in such systems could have a performance-limiting impact if a co-channel cross-polar signal combines with system noise to drive the carrier-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (CNIR) below an acceptable threshold. This paper employs real measurement data to investigate the impact of depolarisation-induced interference on dual-polarised HTS systems for temperate and tropical climatic regions. Scenarios that cause significant system performance degradation are analysed, including the effects of signal frequency, antenna size, and regional rainfall rate. The impact of depolarisation on system performance is quantified by the reductions in the CNIR and link availability of a dual-polarised system when compared with those of a similarly-dimensioned single-polarised system

Projected Benefits of New Residential Evaporative Cooling Systems: Progress Report #2

The use of conventional evaporative cooling has rapidly declined in the United States despite the fact that it has high potential for energy savings in dry climates. Evaporative systems are very competitive in terms of first cost and provide significant reductions in operating energy use, as well as peak-load reduction benefits. Significant market barriers still remain and can be addressed through improved systems integration. This report investigates the first of these approaches, exploring innovative components. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building America research teams are investigating the use of two promising new pieces of residential cooling equipment that employ evaporative cooling as a part of their system design. The OASys unit, which is a combination of direct and indirect evaporative cooling stages developed by Davis Energy Group (DEG) and manufactured by Speakman CRS, is used to ultimately provide outside air to the living space. The outdoor air provided is indirectly and directly evaporatively cooled in two stages to a condition that can be below the wet-bulb (wb) temperature of the outside air, thus outperforming a conventional single-stage direct evaporative cooler

Evaluation of a High-Performance Solar Home in Loveland, Colorado: Preprint

Building America (BA) partner McStain Neighborhoods built the Discovery House in Loveland, Colorado, with an extensive package of energy-efficient features, including a high-performance envelope, efficient mechanical systems, a solar water heater integrated with the space-heating system, a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV), and ENERGY STAR appliances. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Building Science Consortium (BSC) conducted short-term field-testing and building energy simulations to evaluate the performance of the house. These evaluations are utilized by BA to improve future prototype designs and to identify critical research needs. The Discovery House building envelope and ducts were very tight under normal operating conditions. The HRV provided fresh air at a rate of about 35 l/s (75 cfm), consistent with the recommendations of ASHRAE Standard 62.2. The solar hot water system is expected to meet the bulk of the domestic hot water (DHW) load (>83%), but only about 12% of the space-heating load. DOE-2.2 simulations predict whole-house source energy savings of 54% compared to the BA Benchmark. The largest contributors to energy savings beyond McStain's standard practice are the solar water heater, HRV, improved air distribution, high-efficiency boiler, and compact fluorescent lighting package

Evaluation of a High-Performance Solar Home in Loveland, Colorado

Building America (BA) partner McStain Neighborhoods built the Discovery House in Loveland, Colorado, with an extensive package of energy-efficient features, including a high-performance envelope, efficient mechanical systems, a solar water heater integrated with the space-heating system, a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV), and ENERGY STAR? appliances. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Building Science Consortium (BSC) conducted short-term field-testing and building energy simulations to evaluate the performance of the house. These evaluations are utilized by BA to improve future prototype designs and to identify critical research needs. The Discovery House building envelope and ducts were very tight under normal operating conditions. The HRV provided fresh air at a rate of about 75 cfm (35 l/s), consistent with the recommendations of ASHRAE Standard 62.2. The solar hot water system is expected to meet the bulk of the domestic hot water (DHW) load (>83%), but only about 12% of the space-heating load. DOE-2.2 simulations predict whole-house source energy savings of 54% compared to the BA Benchmark [1]. The largest contributors to energy savings beyond McStain's standard practice are the solar water heater, HRV, improved air distribution, high-efficiency boiler, and compact fluorescent lighting package

Dew Point Evaporative Comfort Cooling: Report and Summary Report

The project objective was to demonstrate the capabilities of the high-performance multi-staged IEC technology and its ability to enhance energy efficiency and interior comfort in dry climates, while substantially reducing electric-peak demand. The project was designed to test 24 cooling units in five commercial building types at Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Cross-validation in PCA models with the element-wise k-fold (ekf) algorithm: Practical Aspects

This is the second paper of a series devoted to provide theoretical and practical results and new algorithms for the selection of the number of Principal Components (PCs) in Principal Component Analysis (PCA) using crossvalidation. The study is especially focused on the element-wise k-fold (ekf), which is among the most used algorithms for that purpose. In this paper, a taxonomy of PCA applications is proposed and it is argued that cross-validatory algorithms computing the prediction error in observable variables, like ekf, are only suited for a class of applications. A number of cross-validation methods, several of which are original, are compared in two applications of this class: missing data imputation and compression. The results showthat the ekf is especially suited for missing data applications while other traditional cross-validation methods, those by Wold and Eastment and Krzanowski, are not found to provide useful outcomes in any of the two applications. These results are of special value considering that the methods investigated are computed in the main commercial software packets for chemometrics. Finally, the choice of the missing data algorithm within ekf is also investigated.Research in this area was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and FEDER funds from the European Union through grants DPI2008-06880-C03-01, DPI2008-06880-C03-03 and TEC2011-22579 and the Juan de la Cierva program. The reviewers are gratefully acknowledged for their useful comments in both papers of the series.Camacho Páez, J.; Ferrer Riquelme, AJ. (2014). Cross-validation in PCA models with the element-wise k-fold (ekf) algorithm: Practical Aspects. Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems. 131:37-50. doi:10.1016/j.chemolab.2013.12.003S375013