Combination of solar collectors and ground-source heat pump for small buildings

The combination of solar heat and ground-source heat pumps in dwellings gives opportunities for optimising the use of renewable energy sources and minimize the share of bought energy. Solar collectors in the system may give advantages for the operational conditions both for the solar collectors and for the heat pump. The aim of this project was to analyse different variables such as energy demand, building types, climate, geological conditions, system design and control. The study has been carried out with TRNSYS simulations for Swedish climate and building conditions. The results from the computer simulations so far, shows that there is an obvious risk that the use of electricity for the circulation pumps is larger than the decrease of electricity use for the heat pump and the auxiliary heater. It is most important that the system is optimised in order to restrict the total use of electricity

Challenges for 10 nm MOSFET process integration, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2007, nr 2

An overview of critical integration issues for future generation MOSFETs towards 10 nm gate length is presented. Novel materials and innovative structures are discussed. The need for high-k gate dielectrics and a metal gate electrode is discussed. Different techniques for strain-enhanced mobility are discussed. As an example, ultra thin body SOI devices with high mobility SiGe channels are demonstrated

Physicians' attitudes towards ePrescribing – evaluation of a Swedish full-scale implementation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The penetration rate of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems in health care is increasing. However, many different EHR-systems are used with varying ePrescription designs and functionalities. The aim of the present study was to evaluate experienced ePrescribers' attitudes towards ePrescribing for suggesting improvements.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Physicians (n = 431) from seven out of the 21 Swedish health care regions, using one of the six most widely implemented EHR-systems with integrated electronic prescribing modules, were recruited from primary care centers and hospital clinics of internal medicine, orthopaedics and surgery. The physicians received a web survey that comprised eight questions on background data and 19 items covering attitudes towards ePrescribing. Forty-two percent (n = 199) of the physicians answered the questionnaire; 90% (n = 180) of the respondents met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A majority of the respondents regarded their EHR-system easy to use in general (81%), and for the prescribing of drugs (88%). Most respondents believed they were able to provide the patients better service by ePrescribing (92%), and regarded ePrescriptions to be time saving (91%) and to be safer (83%), compared to handwritten prescriptions. Some of the most frequently reported weaknesses were: not clearly displayed price of drugs (43%), complicated drug choice (21%), and the perception that it was possible to handle more than one patient at a time when ePrescribing (13%). Moreover, 62% reported a lack of receipt from the pharmacy after successful transmission of an ePrescription. Although a majority (73%) of the physicians reported that they were always or often checking the ePrescription a last time before transmitting, 25% declared that they were seldom or never doing a last check. The respondents suggested a number of improvements, among others, to simplify the drug choice and the cancellation of ePrescriptions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Swedish physicians in the group studied were generally satisfied with their specific EHR-system and with ePrescribing as such. However, identified weaknesses warrant improvements of the EHR-systems as well as of their implementation in the individual health care organisation.</p

Optic nerve hypoplasia: Risk factors and epidemiology.

OBJECTIVES: To study the epidemiology of optic nerve hypoplasia. DESIGN AND METHODS: Children with optic nerve hypoplasia and visual impairment were identified through the Swedish Register of Visually Impaired Children. Pre- and perinatal characteristics were obtained from the Medical Birth Registry and by scrutinizing pregnancy and delivery records. Clinical characteristics of children with optic nerve hypoplasia are described. The following risk factors were studied: maternal age, parity, maternal smoking, gestational duration, birth weight, delivery method, Apgar score, maternal disease during pregnancy, drugs used in early pregnancy. RESULTS: Young maternal age, first parity, maternal smoking, preterm birth and factors associated with preterm birth were risk factors for optic nerve hypoplasia. There was an indicated association with the use of fertility drugs and antidepressant drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Optic nerve hypoplasia is apparently associated not only with other anomolies, notably of the central nervous system, but also with signs of general disturbance in fetal development

No association between the aluminium content of trabecular bone and bone density, mass or size of the proximal femur in elderly men and women

BACKGROUND: Aluminium is considered a bone toxic metal since poisoning can lead to aluminium-induced bone disease in patients with chronic renal failure. Healthy subjects with normal renal function retain 4% of the aluminium consumed. They might thus also accumulate aluminium and eventually be at risk of long-term low-grade aluminium intoxication that can affect bone health. METHODS: We therefore examined 62 patients with femoral neck fractures or osteoarthritis of the hip (age range 38–93), with the aim of examining whether aluminium in bone is associated with bone-mineral density (BMD), content (BMC) or width of the femoral neck measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). During operations bone biopsies were taken from the trabecular bone of the proximal femur. The samples were measured for their content of aluminium using a mass spectrometer. RESULTS: No significant association between the aluminium content in bone and femoral neck BMD, BMC or width could be found after multivariate adjustment. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the accumulated aluminium content in bone during life does not substantially influence the extent of osteoporosis

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Calculation and Measurement Methods for the Performance of Solar Collectors. Models of Flat Plate Collectors, Transparent Insulation and Efficiency Factors.

This thesis deals with models of flat plate collectors, transparent insulation and efficiency factors. An equation for the energy output from a glazed flat plate collector is derived by modelling the collector efficiency factor, F´ as the sum of a constant and a temperature dependent part. An alternative way of testing a flat plate collector, based on this model, is suggested. A complete set of algorithms for calculating the energy output for a flat plate collector with flat films or honeycombs between the cover and the absorber is presented. Algorithms for calculating the radiation heat exchange between the different sheets or layers in a honeycomb glazing are given. Formulas for calculating the absorbed solar energy in each layer are also given. The algorithms can be used in a computer program for determining the energy output, the efficiency and collector characteristic parameters. Measurements of heat conductivity and total heat loss coefficients of glazings, performed for different transparent insulation materials, are presented and compared with calculations. Measurements of directional-hemispherical solar transmittance are also presented. For a concentrating collector with an uneven irradiation on the absorber, the efficiency factor for the gain term of the energy output equation, here called the optical efficiency factor, F´c, is different from F´ and is a function of the irradiation distribution on the absorber. Formulas for calculating F´c(x) for the location x on a fin absorber with constant fin thickness are derived. The average optical efficiency factor, F´c,a, can then be calculated from F´c(x) and the absorbed intensity distribution. Formulas for calculating the temperature distribution across the absorber for the case of uneven irradiation are also derived. A method for accurate measurements of F´ is presented and tested. The method uses accurate temperature measurements across the absorber plate, in the heat carrier fluid and in the ambient air for heat losses without irradiation. Two absorbers of different types were tested. For laminar flow, the measured values of F´ for both absorbers were slightly higher than the calculated values, while in the transition region, the measured values were slightly lower

Derivation of efficiency factors for uneven irradiation on a fin absorber

In the equation for thermal energy output from a flat-plate solar collector (written as a function of the collector mean heat carrier temperature), both the gain and the loss terms are multiplied by the collector efficiency factor, F'. For a concentrating collector with an uneven (non-uniform) irradiation on the absorber, the efficiency factor for the gain term, here called the optical efficiency factor, F-c', is different from F' and is a function of the irradiation distribution on the absorber. If the heat loss coefficient is assumed to be constant across the fin, the optical efficiency factor for absorbed irradiation at a certain distance from the edge of the absorber is independent of absorbed irradiation at other locations and can therefore be expressed F-c'(x), where x is the distance from the edge of the absorber. Close to the edge, F-c'(x) F'. In this paper formulas are derived for calculating F-c'(x) for a fin absorber with constant fin thickness. By weighting F-c'(x) with the absorbed irradiance, S-c(x), and integrating across the absorber, an absorber average optical efficiency factor, F-c,F-a', is obtained. This value replaces F' in the gain term of the equation for thermal energy output. If, instead, the energy output equation is expressed as a function of the inlet temperature, F-c,F-a' can be used for calculating a corresponding heat removal factor for uneven irradiation, F-R,F-c. Formulas for calculating the temperature distribution across the absorber for the case of uneven irradiation are also derived. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved