How to Meet the Minimum Energy Performance Requirements of Technical Conditions in Year 2021?

AbstractAccording to the Recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) from 31 December 2020 new buildings in the EU will have to consume ‘nearly zero’ energy (NZE) and the energy will be ‘to a very large extent’ from renewable sources. Each Member State has to define minimum energy performance requirements for NZEB. In accordance to polish Technical Conditions (TC) buildings envelope and installations have to design and constructed in a way that ensures low energy consumption. Achieving the required value of demand for non-renewable primary energy is however not easy. The paper presents solutions used by architects and designers, participating in contest of Murator “The available house of 2021”. The task of the contest was to design a single family building meeting the requirements of TC2021

Pre-war public utility buildings – results of surveys

The paper summarizes the results of surveys conducted in three pre-war public utility buildings: a children’s home, a forensic medicine department and a nursing home. The study examined the indoor air quality, airtightness, ventilation efficiency and thermal insulation of building envelope. The buildings were surveyed before, during or after modernization works were undertaken

Barriers to cervical cancer screening exist despite integrating HIV and gynaecological services for HIV-positive women in Poland

Objectives: HIV-positive women are at increased risk of HPV infection and cervical cancer. European and national guidelines advise yearly screening for cervical cancer, however due to the lack of a central registration of HIV infected persons there is a gap in offering such care through general healthcare services in many countries, including Poland. Material and methods: In response to the above limitations, integrated gynaecological care (IGC) was established at the HIV Out-Patient Clinic in Warsaw. We analysed data from January 2007 to May 2014. Logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with not using IGC by patients. Results: Two hundred and forty women were registered in the observation period:59.6% infected through sexual contact, 18.7% through IDUs, 19.2 % through unknown causes and 2.5% by other (two were vertically infected). The median follow-up time was 2.35 (IQR 0.9–4.5) years and 78.3% were on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). In total 145 of the women (60.4%) used IGC, from 72.1% of those registered in 2007 to 27.3% registered in 2014. There were in total 1075 gynaeco­logical visits and 254 cervical cytology tests performed. Seventy-five (51.7%) women were tested for HPV infection. Fac­tors decreasing the odds of not using IGC identified by multivariate regression models were being on cART (OR 0.25 [IQR: 0.10–0.59]; p = 0.003) and longer time of observation (0.69 [0.58–0.83]; p = 0.0001). Conclusions: The utilisation of IGC was very high, but with a delay in commencing the IGC. Women on cART and with longer periods of follow-up had lower odds of not using IGC. A screening approach for women not yet on cART, or newly registered in the clinics, needs special attention

Real-life study of dual therapy based on dolutegravir and ritonavir-boosted darunavir in HIV-1-infected treatment-experienced patients

<div><p>Background</p><p>Dual therapy based on dolutegravir and ritonavir-boosted darunavir (DTG/DRV/r) is a combination of well-known drugs with a high genetic barrier to HIV resistance.</p><p>Method</p><p>A retrospective analysis of all HIV-1 infected treatment-experienced patients who switched to DTG/DRV/r from May 2014 till March 2017 in 4 Polish centres–results of a 48-week treatment.</p><p>Results</p><p>The study group consisted of 59 men and 17 women. Median baseline parameters were: age– 42.7 years, CD4 cells count– 560.5 cells/μl, CD4 cells nadir– 150 cells/μl, <i>number</i> of prior antiretroviral <i>regimens–</i> 3. The introduction of dual therapy was primarily due to virologic failure (30 patients), adverse events on previous regimens (17 patients) and therapy simplification (27 patients). At week 48 the treatment <i>was continued</i> in 70/76 of patients and the median CD4 cells count increased from 560.5 to 641.0 cells/μl. The therapy was discontinued in six patients (1 –virologic failure, 1 –decrease of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), 1 –myalgia, 3 –lost to follow-up). At week 48 six patients had detectable viremia, but only in one patient viremia was higher than 200 copies/ml. At week 48 the level of serum total cholesterol of the investigated subjects was statistically significantly higher than at the moment of dual therapy introduction (185.8 mg/dl vs. 174.8 mg/dl- p<0.05). However, in patients previously not treated with TDF, there were no changes in lipid parameters during therapy. <i>Proteinuria</i> was observed in 13.2% of patients before the switch to dual therapy and in 7.1% of patients at week 48.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The investigated dual therapy was effective and safe. The observed increase in lipid parameters only concerned the patients who had used a TDF-based regimen prior to analysed dual treatment.</p></div

The spectrum of malignancies among adult HIV cohort in Poland between 1995 and 2012 : a retrospective analysis of 288 cases

THE AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the study was to evaluate the spectrum of AIDS-defining malignancies (ADMs) and non-AIDS-defining malignancies (NADMs) in HIV-infected patients in Poland. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted among HIV-infected adult patients who developed a malignancy between 1995 and 2012 in a Polish cohort. Malignancies were divided into ADMs and NADMs. Non-AIDS-defining malignancies were further categorised as virus-related (NADMs-VR) and unrelated (NADMs-VUR). Epidemiological data was analysed according to demographic data, medical history, and HIV-related information. Results were analysed by OR, EPITools package parameters and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: In this study 288 malignancies were discovered. The mean age at diagnosis was 41.25 years (IQR20-81); for ADMs 38.05 years, and for NADMs-VURs 46.42 years; 72.22% were male, 40.28% were co-infected with HCV. The risk behaviours were: 37.85% IDU, 33.33% MSM, and 24.31% heterosexual. Mean CD4+ at the diagnosis was 282 cells/mm(3) (for ADMs 232 and for NADMs-VUR 395). Average duration of HIV infection at diagnosis was 5.69 years. There were 159 (55.2%) ADMs and 129 (44.8%) NADMs, among whom 58 (44.96%) NADMs-VR and 71 (55.04%) NADMs-VUR. The most frequent malignancies were: NHL (n = 76; 26.39%), KS (n = 49; 17.01%), ICC (n = 34; 11.81%), HD (n = 23; 7.99%), lung cancer (n = 18; 6.25%) and HCC (n = 14; 4.86%). The amount of NADMs, NADMs-VURs in particular, is increasing at present. Male gender (OR = 1.889; 95% CI: 1.104–3.233; p = 0.024), advanced age: 50–60 years (OR = 3.022; 95% CI: 1.359–6.720; p = 0.01) and ≥ 60 years (OR = 15.111; 95% CI: 3.122–73.151; p < 0.001), longer duration of HIV-infection and successful HAART (OR = 2.769; 95% CI: 1.675–4.577; p = 0) were independent predictors of NADMs overall, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In a Polish cohort NHL was the most frequent malignancy among ADMs, whereas HD was the most frequent among NADMs. Increased incidence of NADMs appearing in elderly men with longer duration of HIV-infection and with better virological and immunological control was confirmed. As HIV-infected individuals live longer, better screening strategies, especially for NADMs-VUR, are needed. The spectrum of cancer diagnoses in Poland currently does not appear dissimilar to that observed in other European populations

Development of a comprehensive method to analyse glazing systems with Parallel Slat Transparent Insulation material (PS-TIM)

In order to provide enhanced levels of indoor comfort and building energy conservation, significant improvements have been made in the design of glazed facades and window systems, yielding increases in thermal resistance while simultaneously maintaining access to daylight. Some of these approaches result in glazing systems with relatively complex structures and it is difficult to characterise their optical and thermal properties for use in building simulation. In this research, a comprehensive model has been developed to accurately predict the thermal and optical properties of complex glazing systems, and a workflow developed to yield detailed daylight and energy performance (heating, cooling and lighting) predictions of these systems when applied in buildings. Through this approach, the thermal characteristics of complex fenestration systems are obtained from a validated Computational Fluid Dynamics model, and a ray-tracing technique is used to obtain Bidirectional Scattering Distribution Function (BSDF) data to represent their optical characteristics. These characterises may be used in building simulation software (in this case EnergyPlus) to obtain building heating, cooling and lighting energy estimates for a room incorporating complex glazing systems. Detailed visual comfort predictions including useful daylight illuminance, daylight uniformity and glare may also be made, using a complementary optical model run using RADIANCE simulations. This workflow is implemented to investigate a room served by different Parallel Slat Transparent Insulation Materials (PS-TIM), which represents an example of a complex fenestration system. The workflow is used to explore the effect of slat pitch (i.e. the distance between neighbouring slats) on performance and was found to provide reasonable daylight and energy performance prediction. The results indicate that use of glazing systems with PS-TIM can provide homogenous daylight distribution and up to 33.6% energy reduction when the simulation is run using weather data for London

Influence of air tightness of the building on its energy-efficiency in single-family buildings in Poland

This publication focuses on assessing the impact of the tightness of single-family houses with a higher energy standard on their energy demand for heating. To formulate conclusions quantitative and qualitative research, including tightness test (blower door) has been conducted in energy-efficient and passive houses. In the next step, energy demand for heating has been estimated. Based on the observation and results, the simulation of the impact of reducing the flow of infiltrated air through leaks in the buildings for energy demand for heating is calculated. The simulation results confirm the dependence between the tightness of the building and energy demand

Quality of outdoor and indoor environment during the cruise of the tall ship STS Fryderyk Chopin

The aim of this paper is to present the results of measurements, on the quality of internal and external environment, carried out during the cruise of the tall ship STS Fryderyk Chopin. The cruise took place between 16th and 30th September 2017 as part of the scientific seminar of the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) on the Wave, addressed to students of the WTU. After leaving the port of Edinburgh, crossing the North Sea, the Danish straits, stops in Copenhagen and Kołobrzeg, the tall ship reached Szczecin after two weeks. The measurements carried out on the deck included the temperature and relative humidity of the indoor air in three cabins and the men’s bathroom. In two cabins, the CO2 concentration was measured additionally. The outdoor temperature, relative humidity and concentration of PM 1.0, PM 2.5 and PM 10 were also measured. The obtained results allowed to assess the quality of the internal environment in accordance with the standards and to analyze the effectiveness of the mechanical ventilation system. Measurements of particulate matter have shown significant differences between outdoor air quality in the open sea and in ports or near major shipping routes. It turned out that the impact of emissions from passing ships using diesel engines is clearly visible