Solar heat gains through train windows: a non-negligible contribution to the energy balance

The sector of transportation accounts for about one third of the total energy consumption in Switzerland. A monitoring campaign of the energy consumption of a regional train revealed the critical energy-consuming systems. Heating, cooling and ventilation were identified as major consumers. Windows are a source of non-controlled heat transfer. In summer, it may result in overheating leading to larger cooling loads while in winter, it is an important source of thermal losses. Selective double glazing and solar protection coatings can reduce these effects. Angular-dependent optical properties of a selective double glazing have been measured, and the solar heat gain coefficient (g value) was determined. An estimation of the solar gains received by a panoramic waggon was performed using the monitored solar irradiation and the measured properties of the glazing. These data were compared to the heating and cooling energy consumption monitored in this waggon. Solar gains were found to be in the same order of magnitude that the heating energy during some sunny days. They were also compared to the estimated thermal losses through the glazing and the entire envelope. These results show that the solar gains play a non-negligible role in the energy balance of the waggon. Furthermore, thermal simulations were performed to evaluate the solar gains in different conditions. It showed that 7 to 13% of energy can be saved using the glazing adapted to the climatic conditions. In addition, improving the thermal insulation of the train envelope or equipping the train with an efficient heat recovery system can lead to significant energy savings

Non-Visual Effects of Light on Melatonin, Alertness and Cognitive Performance: Can Blue-Enriched Light Keep Us Alert?

Light exposure can cascade numerous effects on the human circadian process via the non-imaging forming system, whose spectral relevance is highest in the short-wavelength range. Here we investigated if commercially available compact fluorescent lamps with different colour temperatures can impact on alertness and cognitive performance

Accelerated CMR using zonal, parallel and prior knowledge driven imaging methods

Accelerated imaging is highly relevant for many CMR applications as competing constraints with respect to spatiotemporal resolution and tolerable scan times are frequently posed. Three approaches, all involving data undersampling to increase scan efficiencies, are discussed in this review. Zonal imaging can be considered a niche but nevertheless has found application in coronary imaging and CMR flow measurements. Current work on parallel-transmit systems is expected to revive the interest in zonal imaging techniques. The second and main approach to speeding up CMR sequences has been parallel imaging. A wide range of CMR applications has benefited from parallel imaging with reduction factors of two to three routinely applied for functional assessment, perfusion, viability and coronary imaging. Large coil arrays, as are becoming increasingly available, are expected to support reduction factors greater than three to four in particular in combination with 3D imaging protocols. Despite these prospects, theoretical work has indicated fundamental limits of coil encoding at clinically available magnetic field strengths. In that respect, alternative approaches exploiting prior knowledge about the object being imaged as such or jointly with parallel imaging have attracted considerable attention. Five to eight-fold scan accelerations in cine and dynamic CMR applications have been reported and image quality has been found to be favorable relative to using parallel imaging alone

Demographic, clinical and antibody characteristics of patients with digital ulcers in systemic sclerosis: data from the DUO Registry

OBJECTIVES: The Digital Ulcers Outcome (DUO) Registry was designed to describe the clinical and antibody characteristics, disease course and outcomes of patients with digital ulcers associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: The DUO Registry is a European, prospective, multicentre, observational, registry of SSc patients with ongoing digital ulcer disease, irrespective of treatment regimen. Data collected included demographics, SSc duration, SSc subset, internal organ manifestations, autoantibodies, previous and ongoing interventions and complications related to digital ulcers. RESULTS: Up to 19 November 2010 a total of 2439 patients had enrolled into the registry. Most were classified as either limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc; 52.2%) or diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc; 36.9%). Digital ulcers developed earlier in patients with dcSSc compared with lcSSc. Almost all patients (95.7%) tested positive for antinuclear antibodies, 45.2% for anti-scleroderma-70 and 43.6% for anticentromere antibodies (ACA). The first digital ulcer in the anti-scleroderma-70-positive patient cohort occurred approximately 5 years earlier than the ACA-positive patient group. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides data from a large cohort of SSc patients with a history of digital ulcers. The early occurrence and high frequency of digital ulcer complications are especially seen in patients with dcSSc and/or anti-scleroderma-70 antibodies

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study on gold nanoparticles supported on diamond

By exploiting the self-organization of metal salt-loaded diblock copolymer micelles followed by a plasma-induced removal of the polymer matrix, well-separated gold particles ranging in size from 1.6 to 10 nm have been prepared on top of diamond substrates. X-ray-induced photoelectron spectra of the valence-band region demonstrate that the electronic properties of such nanoparticles essentially reflect the metallic behavior of the bulk material as can be inferred from the evolution of the d-band shape and the finite density of states at the Fermi energy. This experimentally extends the lower limit for the metallic state of supported Au particles down to a diameter of 1.6 nm

The self-organization of metal loaded micelles - an approach to prepare ordered arrays of metallic nanoislands

The preparation and characterization of hexagonally ordered pure Au nanoparticles is described. Self-assembly of diblock copolymers in solution is the driving force which leads to micellar structures. Starting, for example, with Au-salt loaded inverse micelles, monomicellar arrays exhibiting a significant hexagonal order can be prepared with taylored intermicellar distances and structure heights on top of various substrates. In order to remove the polymer matrix and to finally obtain arrays of pure Au nanoparticles, the micelles are first exposed to an oxygen plasma followed by an annealing process. Special attention is given to the chemical state of the nanoparticles applying photoelectron spectroscopy to control all preparational steps