A window opening algorithm and UK office temperature field results and thermal simulation

This investigation of the window opening data from extensive field surveys in UK office buildings investigates 1) how people control the indoor environment by opening windows, 2) the cooling potential of opening windows, and 3) the use of an “adaptive algorithm” for predicting window opening behaviour for thermal simulation in ESP-r. We found that the mean indoor and outdoor temperatures when the window was open were higher than when it was closed, but show that nonetheless there was a useful cooling effect from opening a window. The adaptive algorithm for window opening behaviour was then used in thermal simulation studies for some typical office designs. The thermal simulation results were in general agreement with the findings of the field surveys

The thermal simulation of an office building implementing a new behavioural algorithm for window opening and the use of ceiling fans

This investigation of the window opening data from extensive field surveys in UK office buildings investigates 1) how people control the indoor environment by opening windows, 2) the cooling potential of opening windows, and 3) the use of an “adaptive algorithm” for predicting window opening behaviour for thermal simulation in ESP-r. We found that the mean indoor and outdoor temperatures when the window was open were higher than when it was closed, but show that nonetheless there was a useful cooling effect from opening a window. The adaptive algorithm for window opening behaviour was then used in thermal simulation studies for some typical office designs. The thermal simulation results were in general agreement with the findings of the field surveys

A comparative study of gender differences in thermal comfort and environmental satisfaction in air-conditioned offices in Qatar, India, and Japan

Gender differences in the assessment of thermal comfort and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) have not previously been investigated, despite the prevalence of the overcooling of indoor spaces. This study investigated the effect of sex, age and body mass index on subjective thermal comfort perceptions, comfort temperature and IEQ satisfaction in offices using our thermal comfort surveys in Qatar, India, and Japan. Data from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) databases were used for comparison. We found that females were twice as likely to feel dissatisfied with thermal sensation than males in Doha. Overall, females felt colder than men, and were less satisfied with all IEQ parameters. In Doha, females, younger subjects, and high-BMI subjects had lower comfort temperatures than their counterparts. Increased indoor air speeds and the provision of personal environmental controls could effectively reduce female dissatisfaction and save energy in Qatar. Women's more stringent thermal comfort preferences could be used to evaluate occupant control provisions and IEQ standards. A robust IEQ complaint redressal system may also be required in offices. This study highlights the need to consider female perspectives and thermal expectations in the environmental design of workplaces as well, not merely privacy concerns.The authors acknowledge the support of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant number: JSPS/ FF1/ 246/ ID No. P 11372 ), Prof. Ryozo Ooka of the University of Tokyo, Japan, Prof. Hom Rijal of Tokyo City University, Japan and Qatar University, and all of the subjects for their respective contributions and online research databases. They also thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions. The authors also acknowledge the support of Qatar National Library for providing the open access funding for this article.Scopu

Considering the impact of situation-specific motivations and constraints in the design of naturally ventilated and hybrid buildings

A simple logical model of the interaction between a building and its occupants is presented based on the principle that if free to do so, people will adjust their posture, clothing or available building controls (windows, blinds, doors, fans, and thermostats) with the aim of achieving or restoring comfort and reducing discomfort. These adjustments are related to building design in two ways: first the freedom to adjust depends on the availability and ease-of-use of control options; second the use of controls affects building comfort and energy performance. Hence it is essential that these interactions are considered in the design process. The model captures occupant use of controls in response to thermal stimuli (too warm, too cold etc.) and non-thermal stimuli (e.g. desire for fresh air). The situation-specific motivations and constraints on control use are represented through trigger temperatures at which control actions occur, motivations are included as negative constraints and incorporated into a single constraint value describing the specifics of each situation. The values of constraints are quantified for a range of existing buildings in Europe and Pakistan. The integration of the model within a design flow is proposed and the impact of different levels of constraints demonstrated. It is proposed that to minimise energy use and maximise comfort in naturally ventilated and hybrid buildings the designer should take the following steps: 1. Provide unconstrained low energy adaptive control options where possible, 2. Avoid problems with indoor air quality which provide motivations for excessive ventilation rates, 3. Incorporate situation-specific adaptive behaviour of occupants in design simulations, 4. Analyse the robustness of designs against variations in patterns of use and climate, and 5. Incorporate appropriate comfort standards into the operational building controls (e.g. BEMS)

Advancements in the development of non-BET bromodomain chemical probes

The bromodomain and extra terminal (BET) family of bromodomain‐containing proteins (BCPs) have been the subject of extensive research over the past decade, resulting in a plethora of high‐quality chemical probes for their tandem bromodomains. In turn, these chemical probes have helped reveal the profound biological role of the BET bromodomains and their role in disease, ultimately leading to a number of molecules in active clinical development. However, the BET subfamily represents just 8/61 of the known human bromodomains, and attention has now expanded to the biological role of the remaining 53 non‐BET bromodomains. Rapid growth of this research area has been accompanied by a greater understanding of the requirements for an effective bromodomain chemical probe and has led to a number of new non‐BET bromodomain chemical probes being developed. Advances since December 2015 are discussed, highlighting the strengths/caveats of each molecule, and the value they add toward validating the non‐BET bromodomains as tractable therapeutic targets

The Health-e Babies App for antenatal education: Feasibility for socially disadvantaged women

Background The use of mobile technology such as phone applications (apps) has been proposed as an efficient means of providing health and clinical information in a variety of healthcare settings. We developed the Health-e Babies app as an Android smart phone application for pregnant women attending a tertiary hospital in a low socio-economic community, with the objective of providing health information about early pregnancy that would increase maternal confidence and reduce anxiety. Based on our earlier research, this form of health communication was viewed as a preferred source of information for women of reproductive age. However, the pilot study had a poor participation rate with 76% (n = 94) not completing the study requirements. These initial findings raised some very important issues in relation to the difficulties of engaging women with a pregnancy app. This paper analyses the characteristics of the participants who did not complete the study requirements in an attempt to identify potential barriers associated with the implementation of a pregnancy app. Methods This retrospective review of quantitative and qualitative data collected at the commencement of the Health-e Babies App trial, related to the participant’s communication technology use, confidence in knowing where to seek help and mental health status, maternal-fetal attachment and parenting confidence. Engagement and use of the Health-e Babies App was measured by the completion of a questionnaire about the app and downloaded data from participant’s phones. Mental health status, confidence and self-efficacy were measured by questionnaires. Results All women were similar in terms of age, race, marital status and level of education. Of the 94 women (76%) who did not complete the trial, they were significantly more anxious as indicated by State Trait Anxiety Inventory (p = 0.001 Student T-test) and more likely to be unemployed (50% vs 31%, p = 0.012 Student T-Test). Conclusion This study provides important information about the challenges associated with the implementation of a pregnancy app in a socially disadvantaged community. The data suggests that factors including social and mental health issues, financial constraints and technological ability can affect women’s engagement with a mobile phone app

Radio and IR interferometry of SiO maser stars

Radio and infrared interferometry of SiO maser stars provide complementary information on the atmosphere and circumstellar environment at comparable spatial resolution. Here, we present the latest results on the atmospheric structure and the dust condensation region of AGB stars based on our recent infrared spectro-interferometric observations, which represent the environment of SiO masers. We discuss, as an example, new results from simultaneous VLTI and VLBA observations of the Mira variable AGB star R Cnc, including VLTI near- and mid-infrared interferometry, as well as VLBA observations of the SiO maser emission toward this source. We present preliminary results from a monitoring campaign of high-frequency SiO maser emission toward evolved stars obtained with the APEX telescope, which also serves as a precursor of ALMA images of the SiO emitting region. We speculate that large-scale long-period chaotic motion in the extended molecular atmosphere may be the physical reason for observed deviations from point symmetry of atmospheric molecular layers, and for the observed erratic variability of high-frequency SiO maser emissionComment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Proc. IAU Symp. 287 "Cosmic masers - from OH to H_0", R.S. Booth, E.M.L. Humphreys, W.H.T. Vlemmings (eds.), invited pape

On fundamental domains and volumes of hyperbolic Coxeter-Weyl groups

We present a simple method for determining the shape of fundamental domains of generalized modular groups related to Weyl groups of hyperbolic Kac-Moody algebras. These domains are given as subsets of certain generalized upper half planes, on which the Weyl groups act via generalized modular transformations. Our construction only requires the Cartan matrix of the underlying finite-dimensional Lie algebra and the associated Coxeter labels as input information. We present a simple formula for determining the volume of these fundamental domains. This allows us to re-produce in a simple manner the known values for these volumes previously obtained by other methods.Comment: v2: to be published in Lett Math Phys (reference added, typo corrected

Variation of plagioclase shape with size in intermediate magmas : a window into incipient plagioclase crystallisation

This work was funded by UK Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/T000430/1.Volcanic rocks commonly display complex textures acquired both in the magma reservoir and during ascent to the surface. While variations in mineral compositions, sizes and number densities are routinely analysed to reconstruct pre-eruptive magmatic histories, crystal shapes are often assumed to be constant, despite experimental evidence for the sensitivity of crystal habit to magmatic conditions. Here, we develop a new program (ShapeCalc) to calculate 3D shapes from 2D crystal intersection data and apply it to study variations of crystal shape with size for plagioclase microlites (l 5–10 µm) show progressively more tabular habits. Crystal growth modelling and experimental constraints indicate that this trend reflects shape evolution during plagioclase growth, with initial growth as prismatic rods and subsequent preferential overgrowth of the intermediate dimension to form tabular shapes. Because overgrowth of very small crystals can strongly affect the external morphology, plagioclase microlite shapes are dependent on the available growth volume per crystal, which decreases during decompression-driven crystallisation as crystal number density increases. Our proposed growth model suggests that the range of crystal shapes developed in a magma is controlled by the temporal evolution of undercooling and total crystal numbers, i.e., distinct cooling/decompression paths. For example, in cases of slow to moderate magma ascent rates and quasi-continuous nucleation, early-formed crystals grow larger and develop tabular shapes, whereas late-stage nucleation produces smaller, prismatic crystals. In contrast, rapid magma ascent may suppress nucleation entirely or, if stalled at shallow depth, may produce a single nucleation burst associated with tabular crystal shapes. Such variation in crystal shapes have diagnostic value and are also an important factor to consider when constructing CSDs and models involving magma rheology.Peer reviewe