Long Term Performance Of Passive House Buildings

Long term experience with Passive House buildings is illustrated with two early large scale projects, a school and an office building located in Germany. Those were monitored in lump energy performance (school, commissioned 2004) and great detail (office, commissioned 2002) respectively. Moreover, they give an indication of the characteristics of such buildings subject to changes in usage intensity. Both buildings generally performed as expected with the school facing occasional overheating in the summer due to inflexible shading controls. Following an extension in schooling hours the addition of a canteen was required and the ventilation system was adapted to the changed usage. Nevertheless the building’s user comfort and energy performance remain high,despite exceeding the Passive House primary energy target slightly due to increased electricity consumption. The office likewise meets the calculated efficiency in operation. The ground coupled cooling worked well despite greatly increased internal heat gains due to unexpected usage. This extra heat input did not, however, exhaust the geothermal (passive) cooling capacity for the future. Thermal comfort proved near optimal at all times, despite a very simple control regime of the one-circuit concrete core activation system for heating and cooling. In the last section air tightness design and measurement experience in the UK and particularly the question of long-term stability of the airtight building envelope is assessed. It was found that measurement results are not only repeatable in relatively short intervals such as a few months. The data available suggests stability of the airtight envelope over many years. Attention is required as regards the leakage of party walls of terraced buildings which need to be integrated in the overall airtightness concept. A high permeability of party walls in terraced buildings with a common airtight envelope presents a challenge for measuring air tightness. Long-term series of airtightness measurements exist for the Kranichstein House in Darmstadt/Germany and prove the stability of the chosen airtightness concept. Moreover, results for 17 early Passive House buildings in Germany in eight locations and various construction types revisited in 2001 (1.4 to 10 years after the initial airtightness test) suggest stability of air tightness values over time. Great advances have since been made in materials and methods available and the general understanding in the industry. This is supported by a large sample of 2934 Passive House projects of varied construction materials, locations, sizes and usages that yielded an average air tightness test result as low as n50 = 0.41 h-1

Mixed planting with a leguminous plant outperforms bacteria in promoting growth of a metal remediating plant through histidine synthesis

<p>The effectiveness of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) in improving metal phytoremediation is still limited by stunted plant growth under high soil metal concentrations. Meanwhile, mixed planting with leguminous plants is known to improve yield in nutrient deficient soils but the use of a metal tolerant legume to enhance metal tolerance of a phytoremediator has not been explored. We compared the use of <i>Pseudomonas brassicacearum, Rhizobium leguminosarum</i>, and the metal tolerant leguminous plant<i> Vicia sativa</i> to promote the growth of <i>Brassica juncea</i> in soil contaminated with 400 mg Zn kg^–1, and used synchrotron based microfocus X-ray absorption spectroscopy to probe Zn speciation in plant roots.<i> B. juncea </i>grew better when planted with <i>V. sativa</i> than when inoculated with PGPB. By combining PGPB with mixed planting,<i> B. juncea</i> recovered full growth while also achieving soil remediation efficiency of >75%, the maximum ever demonstrated for <i>B. juncea.</i> μXANES analysis of <i>V. sativa</i> suggested possible root exudation of the Zn chelates histidine and cysteine were responsible for reducing Zn toxicity. We propose the exploration of a legume-assisted-phytoremediation system as a more effective alternative to PGPB for Zn bioremediation.</p

NIRS for vicine and convicine content of faba bean seed allowed GWAS to prepare for marker-assisted adjustment of seed quality of German winter faba beans

Die antinutritiven Inhaltsstoffe Vicin und Convicin (V, C) in Samen von Winterackerbohnen wurden einer GWAS unterzogen. V-, C- und V + C-Werte von 189 Inzuchtlinien (fünf Umwelten) wurden mittels NIRS ermittelt. In diesen Linien kommt das starke „vc-“-Allel (VC1-Locus) nicht vor. Labor-Resultate von 646 Proben führten zu unserer NIRS-Kalibration, die gut für V und V + C tauglich war allerdings nicht tauglich für C. Die Erblichkeit war hoch für V und V + C (0,911; 0,868) und niedriger für C (0,737). Von den 2542 kartierten SNPs waren 47 signifikant mit V und einer mit V + C assoziiert. Vier SNPs, die nahe beim VC1-Lokus kartierten, waren für V signifikant. Anscheinend trugen nicht-„vc-“-Allele an diesem Locus zur V-Variation bei. Markergestützte Züchtung in diesem Genpool kann die V + C-Gehalt auf etwa 0,44 % reduzieren, im Vergleich zur aktuell niedrigsten Linie mit 0,55 %. Weitere Forschung wird zeigen, wie diese Ergebnisse der Agronomie und Züchtung dienlich sein werden.GWAS was applied to the antinutritive compounds vicine and convicine (V, C) in winter faba bean. V, C and V + C data for 189 inbred lines (five environments) were predicted by NIRS. These lines do not carry the strong “vc-“ allele (locus VC1). Lab data for 646 samples enabled our NIRS calibration, which performed well for V and V + C yet poor for C. Heritability was high (0.911; 0.868) for V and V + C and lower for C (0.737). From the 2542 mapped SNPs, 47 were significantly associated with V and one with V + C. Four SNPs mapped near to the VC1 locus and were significant for V. Seemingly, non-“vc-“ alleles at that locus contributed to V variation. Marker-assisted breeding with this germplasm can reduce the V + C content to about 0.44%, compared to the current lowest line with 0.55%. Further research will show inasmuch this can serve agronomy and breeding

Pre-Columbian lead pollution from Native American galena processing and land use in the midcontinental United States

The presence and sources of pre-Columbian (before 1492 CE) lead (Pb) pollution in the midcontinental United States were investigated using geochemical and Pb isotope analyses on sediment cores recovered from Avery Lake, a floodplain lake located directly adjacent to the Kincaid Mounds archaeological site on the lower Ohio River, Illinois. Geochemical results indicate the presence of Pb pollution during the Baumer (300 BCE to 300 CE) and Mississippian (1150–1450 CE) occupations, and since the 1800s. Pb isotope results link Mississippian Pb pollution to the processing and use of galena primarily from southeastern and/or central Missouri, and to a lesser extent the upper Mississippi River valley, with ∼1.5 t (metric tons) of galena-derived Pb deposited in Avery Lake during this time. Pb pollution during the Baumer phase, equating to ∼0.4 t of Pb, was not accompanied by a Pb isotope excursion and most likely originated from local biomass burning. These results provide new information about the environmental impacts associated with pre-Columbian Native Americans’ interaction with and utilization of their landscape and its resources

Using derivative logic to speculate on the future of the social investment market

This article pries open the black box of the social impact bond (SIB), the novel financial instrument at the heart of social investment. We discover that concrete information is currently limited and our method is thus more speculative. We address the obfuscation of the nomenclature of the instrument and explore the mechanics of SIBs to suggest that they are not simple bonds but rather also bear properties akin to those associated with derivative contracts. We speculate on possible developments of the market in these bonds by considering the history of some previous financial innovations, namely, collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) underpinned by microfinance loans and the short-lived policy analysis market. Our discussion leads us to reevaluate Goodhart’s law and the ways in which it operates in relation to SIBs. We conclude by suggesting that SIBs' inherent indifference to the underlying state of the world renders them ultimately unlikely to delivery improvements in public services

Baseline Leptin Levels Predict Change in Leptin Levels During Weight Loss in Obese Breast Cancer Survivors

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73051/1/j.1524-4741.2007.00397.x.pd

No effect of 24 h severe energy restriction on appetite regulation and ad libitum energy intake in overweight and obese males

Background/Objectives: Long-term success of weight loss diets might depend on how the appetite regulatory system responds to energy restriction (ER). This study determined the effect of 24 h severe ER on subjective and hormonal appetite regulation, subsequent ad libitum energy intake and metabolism. Subjects/Methods: In randomised order, eight overweight or obese males consumed a 24 h diet containing either 100% (12105 (1174 kJ; energy balance; EB) or 25% (3039 (295) kJ; ER) of estimated daily energy requirements (EER). An individualised standard breakfast containing 25% of EER (3216 (341) kJ) was consumed the following morning and resting energy expenditure, substrate utilisation and plasma concentrations of acylated ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-17–36), glucose-dependant insulinotropic peptide (GIP1–42), glucose, insulin and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) were determined for 4 h after breakfast. Ad libitum energy intake was assessed in the laboratory on day 2 and via food records on day 3. Subjective appetite was assessed throughout. Results: Energy intake was not different between trials for day 2 (EB: 14946 (1272) kJ; ER: 15251 (2114) kJ; P=0.623), day 3 (EB: 10580 (2457) kJ; 10812 (4357) kJ; P=0.832) or day 2 and 3 combined (P=0.693). Subjective appetite was increased during ER on day 1 (P0.381). Acylated ghrelin, GLP-17–36 and insulin were not different between trials (P>0.104). Post-breakfast area under the curve (AUC) for NEFA (P<0.05) and GIP1–42 (P<0.01) were greater during ER compared with EB. Fat oxidation was greater (P<0.01) and carbohydrate oxidation was lower (P<0.01) during ER, but energy expenditure was not different between trials (P=0.158). Conclusions: These results suggest that 24 h severe ER does not affect appetite regulation or energy intake in the subsequent 48 h. This style of dieting may be conducive to maintenance of a negative EB by limiting compensatory eating behaviour, and therefore may assist with weight loss