Cognitive barriers during monitoring-based commissioning of buildings

Monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) is a continuous building energy management process used to optimize energy performance in buildings. Although monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) can reduce energy waste by up to 20%, many buildings still underperform due to issues such as unnoticed system faults and inefficient operational procedures. While there are technical barriers that impede the MBCx process, such as data quality, the focuses of this paper are the non-technical, behavioral and organizational, barriers that contribute to issues initiating and implementing MBCx. In particular, this paper discusses cognitive biases, which can lead to suboptimal outcomes in energy efficiency decisions, resulting in missed opportunities for energy savings. This paper provides evidence of cognitive biases in decisions during the MBCx process using qualitative data from over 40 public and private sector organizations. The results describe barriers resulting from cognitive biases, listed in descending order of occurrence, including: risk aversion, social norms, choice overload, status quo bias, information overload, professional bias, and temporal discounting. Building practitioners can use these results to better understand potential cognitive biases, in turn allowing them to establish best practices and make more informed decisions. Researchers can use these results to empirically test specific decision interventions and facilitate more energy efficient decisions

Identification and Optimization of miRNA Biomarkers for Body Mass Index (BMI) Estimation in Forensic Samples

DNA profiles do not provide as much evidentiary value when either all known samples can be excluded or when there is no known suspect. DNA phenotyping is a technique used for investigative purposes to predict externally visible characteristics (EVCs) based on specific markers found in the genome. Most phenotyping panels are currently restricted to markers stable over a lifetime within an individual and are not able to predict environmental or metabolic impacts on EVCs. It is known that miRNA expression levels change due to environmental and metabolic factors, such as BMI, and research has proven associations between circulating plasma miRNAs and BMI. In this project, 25 dried whole blood swabs were prepared from individuals with varying BMI values. To accommodate the typical forensic casework protocol, a DNA extraction method (QIAamp DNA Investigator Kit) was utilized followed by a cDNA synthesis reaction. Fifteen candidate miRNAs were examined for their expression levels and analyzed against both BMI and weight. It was found that the calculated change in quantification cycle from stable miRNA expression, or DCq, of miR-486-5p and miR-885-5p both individually showed negative associations with BMI. The DCq of miR-486-5p additionally showed a negative association with weight, along with the DCq of let-7i-5p and the Cq of miR-194-5p. The observed associations were found to be weak, but it is proposed that this is mostly due to the small sample size of this study. However, the data collected in this study, when analyzed using predictive models, was shown to have some success with a classification and regression tree analysis and a high level of success when utilizing a support vector machine model. This research demonstrates the possibility of adding environmentally impacted EVCs into current phenotyping panels. Recommendations for future work include the testing of additional markers and the use of a larger set of samples from the population

Advanced water window x-ray microscope design and analysis

The project was focused on the design and analysis of an advanced water window soft-x-ray microscope. The activities were accomplished by completing three tasks contained in the statement of work of this contract. The new results confirm that in order to achieve resolutions greater than three times the wavelength of the incident radiation, it will be necessary to use aspherical mirror surfaces and to use graded multilayer coatings on the secondary (to accommodate the large variations of the angle of incidence over the secondary when operating the microscope at numerical apertures of 0.35 or greater). The results are included in a manuscript which is enclosed in the Appendix

Pharmacokinetics of 111In-labeled OC-125 antibody in cancer patients compared with the 19-9 antibody

We recently reported on the pharmacokinetics in 14 cancer patients of the 19-9 antibody radiolabeled with 111In. We have now repeated this investigation in 18 cancer patients using the OC-125 antibody, in part to compare the in vivo behavior of two murine monoclonal antibodies of the same subclass administered as the F(ab\u27)2 fragments, by the same route and at the same dose. As in the earlier investigation, 1 mg of fragments was infused i.v., and organ quantitation was obtained for up to 72 h along with frequent blood and urine samples for chromatographic evaluation. Analysis of urine showed that activity clearance by this route amounted to 0.29%/h and consisted of labeled DTPA only in early samples and metabolic products thereafter. Analysis of serum samples often showed the presence of a high-molecular-weight species appearing within 24 h. This species is probably due to antibody binding to circulating antigen, although the percentage of circulating activity present as this species did not correlate well with circulating antigen levels. As before, organ accumulation was greatest in the liver, although levels were significantly reduced (12% compared to 20% of administered dose at 24 h, P less than 0.01). Plasma clearance was also significantly different: whereas the label in the case of the OC-125 antibody showed one-compartment clearance kinetics and remained in the plasma compartment, in the 19-9 case the label diffused to a second, unidentified compartment

Residual strain effects on the two-dimensional electron gas concentration of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

Ga-face AlGaN/GaN heterostructures with different sheet carrier concentrations have been studied by photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy. Compared to bulk GaN, an energy shift of the excitonic emission lines towards higher energies was observed, indicating the presence of residual compressive strain in the GaN layer. This strain was confirmed by the shift of the E2 Raman line, from which biaxial compressive stresses ranging between 0.34 and 1.7 GPa were deduced. The spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations for each layer of the heterostructures have been also calculated. The analysis of these quantities clarified the influence of the residual stress on the sheet electron concentration (ns). Possible causes for the discrepancies between the calculated and experimentally determined sheet carrier densities are briefly [email protected] ; [email protected]

Sand River Headwaters Green Infrastructure Project, City of Aiken, South Carolina: A Collaborative Team Approach to Implementing Green Infrastructure Practices

2010 S.C. water Resources Conference - Science and Policy Challenges for a Sustainable Futur

Anti-TNF-α antibody allows healing of joint damage in polyarthritic transgenic mice

Anti-tumor-necrosis-factor-α (TNF-α) monoclonal antibody was used to treat Tg197 transgenic mice, which constitutively produce human TNF-α (hTNF-α) and develop a progressive polyarthritic disease. Treatment of both young (7- or 8-week-old) and aged (27- or 28-week-old) mice commenced when at least two limbs showed signs of moderate to severe arthritis. The therapeutic efficacy of anti-TNF-α antibody was assessed using various pathological indicators of disease progression. The clinical severity of arthritis in Tg197 mice was significantly reduced after anti-TNF-α treatment in comparison with saline-treated mice and in comparison with baseline assessments in both young and aged mice. The treatment with anti-TNF-α prevented loss of body weight. Inflammatory pathways as reflected by elevated circulating hTNF-α and local expression of various proinflammatory mediators were all diminished by anti-TNF-α treatment, confirming a critical role of hTNF-α in this model of progressive polyarthritis. More importantly, the amelioration of the disease was associated with reversal of existing structural damage, including synovitis and periosteal bone erosions evident on histology. Repair of cartilage was age dependent: reversal of cartilage degradation after anti-TNF-α treatment was observed in young mice but not in aged mice

Synthesis and Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship of Imidazotetrazine Prodrugs with Activity Independent of O6-Methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase, DNA Mismatch Repair and p53.

The antitumor prodrug Temozolomide is compromised by its dependence for activity on DNA mismatch repair (MMR) and the repair of the chemosensitive DNA lesion, O6-methylguanine (O6-MeG), by O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (EC 2.1.1.63, MGMT). Tumor response is also dependent on wild-type p53. Novel 3-(2-anilinoethyl)-substituted imidazotetrazines are reported that have activity independent of MGMT, MMR and p53. This is achieved through a switch of mechanism so that bioactivity derives from imidazotetrazine-generated arylaziridinium ions that principally modify guanine-N7 sites on DNA. Mono- and bi-functional analogs are reported and a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) study identified the p-tolyl-substituted bi-functional congener as optimized for potency, MGMT-independence and MMR-independence. NCI60 data show the tumor cell response is distinct from other imidazotetrazines and DNA-guanine-N7 active agents such as nitrogen mustards and cisplatin. The new imidazotetrazine compounds are promising agents for further development and their improved in vitro activity validates the principles on which they were designed