Hybrid cascade heat pump and thermal-electric energy storage system for residential buildings: experimental testing and performance analysis

The need for innovative heating and cooling systems to decarbonize the building sector is widely recognized. It is especially important to increase the share of renewables at building level by maximizing self-consumption and reducing the primary energy demand. Accordingly, in the present paper, the results on a wide experimental campaign on a hybrid system are discussed. The system included a sorption module working as the topping cycle in a cascade configuration with a DC-driven vapor compression heat pump. A three-fluids heat exchanger with a phase change material (PCM), i.e., RT4 with nominal melting temperature of 4 °C, was installed on the evaporator side of the heat pump, for simultaneous operation as thermal storage and heat pumping purposes. The heat pump was connected to a DC-bus that included PV connection and electricity storage (batteries). Results showed that the energy efficiency of the heat pump in cascade operation was double compared to compression-only configuration and that, when simultaneously charging and discharging the latent storage in cascade configuration, no penalization in terms of efficiency compared to the compression-only configuration was measured. The self-sufficiency of the system was evaluated for three reference weeks in summer conditions of Athens climate and it was found that up to 100% of the electricity needed to drive the system could be self-produced for a modest cooling demand and up to 67% for the warmer conditions with high cooling demand.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 768824 (HYBUILD). This work was partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades de España (RTI2018-093849-B-C31) and by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades—Agencia Estatal de Investi-gación (AEI) (RED2018-102431-T). GREiA is certified agent TECNIO in the category of technology developers from the Government of Catalonia. This work is partially supported by ICREA under the ICREA Academia program

News from the Muon (g-2) Experiment at BNL

The magnetic moment anomaly a_mu = (g_mu - 2) / 2 of the positive muon has been measured at the Brookhaven Alternating Gradient Synchrotron with an uncertainty of 0.7 ppm. The new result, based on data taken in 2000, agrees well with previous measurements. Standard Model evaluations currently differ from the experimental result by 1.6 to 3.0 standard deviations.Comment: Talk presented at RADCOR - Loops and Legs 2002, Kloster Banz, Germany, September 8-13 2002, to be published in Nuclear Physics B (Proc. Suppl.); 5 pages, 3 figure

Sequence Comparisons of Odorant Receptors among Tortricid Moths Reveal Different Rates of Molecular Evolution among Family Members

In insects, odorant receptors detect volatile cues involved in behaviours such as mate recognition, food location and oviposition. We have investigated the evolution of three odorant receptors from five species within the moth genera Ctenopseustis and Planotrotrix, family Tortricidae, which fall into distinct clades within the odorant receptor multigene family. One receptor is the orthologue of the co-receptor Or83b, now known as Orco (OR2), and encodes the obligate ion channel subunit of the receptor complex. In comparison, the other two receptors, OR1 and OR3, are ligand-binding receptor subunits, activated by volatile compounds produced by plants - methyl salicylate and citral, respectively. Rates of sequence evolution at non-synonymous sites were significantly higher in OR1 compared with OR2 and OR3. Within the dataset OR1 contains 109 variable amino acid positions that are distributed evenly across the entire protein including transmembrane helices, loop regions and termini, while OR2 and OR3 contain 18 and 16 variable sites, respectively. OR2 shows a high level of amino acid conservation as expected due to its essential role in odour detection; however we found unexpected differences in the rate of evolution between two ligand-binding odorant receptors, OR1 and OR3. OR3 shows high sequence conservation suggestive of a conserved role in odour reception, whereas the higher rate of evolution observed in OR1, particularly at non-synonymous sites, may be suggestive of relaxed constraint, perhaps associated with the loss of an ancestral role in sex pheromone reception

3D phase contrast MRI in models of human airways: Validation of computational fluid dynamics simulations of steady inspiratory flow

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of airflow patterns in the large airways is of interest in obstructive airways disease and in the development of inhaled therapies. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are used to study airflow in realistic airway models but usually need experimental validation. PURPOSE: To develop MRI-based methods to study airway flow in realistic 3D-printed models. STUDY TYPE: Case control. PHANTOM: Two 3D-printed lung models. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 1.5-3T, flow MRI. ASSESSMENT: Two human airway models, respectively including and excluding the oral cavity and upper airways derived from MR and CT imaging, were 3D-printed. 3D flow MRI was performed at different flow conditions corresponding to slow and steady airflow inhalation rates. Water was used as the working fluid to mimic airflow. Dynamic acquisition of 1D velocity profiles was also performed at different locations in the trachea to observe variability during nonsteady conditions. STATISTICAL TESTS: Linear regression analysis to compare both flow velocity fields and local flow rates from CFD simulations and experimental measurement with flow MRI. RESULTS: A good agreement was obtained between 3D velocity maps measured with flow MRI and predicted by CFD simulations, with linear regression R-squared values ranging from 0.39 to 0.94 when performing a pixel-by-pixel comparison of each velocity component. The flow distribution inside the lung models was also similar, with average slope and R-squared values of 0.96 and 0.99, respectively, when comparing local flow rates assessed at different branching locations. In the model including the upper airways, a turbulent laryngeal jet flow was observed with both methods and affected remarkably the velocity profiles in the trachea. DATA CONCLUSION: We propose flow MRI using water as a surrogate fluid to air, as a validation tool for CFD simulations of airflow in geometrically realistic models of the human airways. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018

Optimierte His-tags für Aufreinigung und Phasierung

Several affinity protein tags consisting of short peptides or whole domains have been developed, which are included as an additive protein sequence on the C- or/and N-terminus. Their highly specific strong affinity affords a one-step purification with minimal effect on biological activity. On the other hand, protein tags are often disordered in the crystal structure and complicate protein crystallisation. Experimental phasing of macromolecules by anomalous dispersion requires well ordered atoms in the crystal lattice. A pre-organised protein tag with metal chelating properties can bind anomalous scatterers in a predefined way and enhance SAD and MAD data quality using synchrotron radiation. As a welcome side-effect such protein tags could adopt stable conformation in crystals and help the crystallisation process. Here we report polypeptides synthesised by solid phase peptide synthesis which may prove useful for both metal affinity chromatography and macromolecular phasing as well. Their chelating properties could be proved by metal ion affinity chromatography. A distinct secondary structure is induced by metal ion chelation. The beta-hairpin structure could be confirmed by circular dichroism spectroscopy and NMR. Fusion proteins made of the Maltose-binding protein fused with our polypeptides were used to check IMAC behaviour under real conditions and to validate crystal growth promotion. First crystal structures from native protein could be solved but shows partly unfolded protein tags. To separate the structural impact of the fusion protein on the tag various linker sequences were taken into account

Conflict Detection and Resolution in Access Control Policy Specifications

Graph-based speci cation formalisms for Access Control (AC) policies combine the advantages of an intuitive visual framework with a rigorous semantical foundation. A security policy framework speci es a set of (constructive) rules to build the system states and sets of positive and negative (declarative) constraints to specify wanted and unwanted substates. Models for AC (e.g. role-based, lattice-based or an access control list) have been speci ed in this framework elsewhere. Here we address the problem of inconsistent policies within this framework

Striated Abrasions From A Knife With Non-Serrated Blade—Identification Of The Instrument Of Crime On The Basis Of An Experiment With Material Evidence

This paper presents an experiment with a knife seized as material evidence in a homicide case. The reason for the experiment was the necessity to determine whether the injuries of the deceased could have been inflicted with this instrument since in the course of the investigation doubt arose as to the origin of linear, parallel scratches around one of the wounds and on the abdominal integuments suggesting a serrated blade. The knife found near the crime scene had a smooth blade and small serrations only on the borderline between its blade and hilt. However, the performed experiment showed that if the knife is directed towards the integuments of the body in a special way, its serrations, even though not located on the blade itself, may leave such striated marks on the body, as those found during the autopsy, suggesting their origin from a serrated blade.PubMedWo