ADAPTIVE COMFORT: PASSIVE DESIGN FOR ACTIVE OCCUPANTS

The adaptive model of thermal comfort shifts attention from engineered comfort solutions to architectural ones. As the concept of adaptive comfort displaces the old static model, architects are beginning to explore the opportunities to engage occupants in the provision of occupants’ comfort, which in turn has re-awakened an interest in natural ventilation

Measuring the effects of Austin’s Transit-Oriented Development zoning districts through multi-family property analysis

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) has become a popular technique for cities that are seeking to supplement public transportation investments with dense developments that serve to improve tax assessment values and increase ridership. The literature on TOD provides considerable insights on TOD implementation and value capture techniques, as well as numerous case studies that show the effects of TOD projects in other major cities. The literature also reveals problems with TOD implementation and the tendency of planners to overestimate the ability of TOD zoning to spur dense development and increase property values. Based upon a review of the successes and limitations of TOD strategies, this report assesses multi-family apartment communities near each of the three TOD station area regulating plans for the Red Line Commuter Rail in Austin, Texas. Evaluation of the data on multi-family rental housing indicates that there is not a significant rent or occupancy premium associated with newer properties near Red Line stations. In one of the three cases studied, older properties did benefit from the accessibility and infrastructure improvements associated with transit and TOD infrastructure improvements based on rent and rent per square foot premiums, although more research will be needed to determine whether this observation is coincidence or a trend. As transit infrastructure in Austin is improved, this study will provide a baseline for measuring the success of properties near stations. It is possible that transit infrastructure improvements will result in rent and occupancy premiums for station area properties in the future.Community and Regional Plannin

The stress phenotype makes cancer cells addicted to CDT2, a substrate receptor of the CRL4 ubiquitin ligase

CDT2/L2DTL/RAMP is one of the substrate receptors of the Cullin Ring Ubiquitin Ligase 4 that targets for ubiquitin mediated degradation a number of substrates, such as CDT1, p21 and CHK1, involved in the regulation of cell cycle and survival. Here we show that CDT2 depletion was alone able to induce the apoptotic death in 12/12 human cancer cell lines from different tissues, regardless of the mutation profile and CDT2 expression level. Cell death was associated to rereplication and to loss of CDT1 degradation. Conversely, CDT2 depletion did not affect non-transformed human cells, such as immortalized kidney, lung and breast cell lines, and primary cultures of endothelial cells and osteoblasts. The ectopic over-expression of an activated oncogene, such as the mutation-activated RAS or the amplified MET in non-transformed immortalized breast cell lines and primary human osteoblasts, respectively, made cells transformed in vitro, tumorigenic in vivo, and susceptible to CDT2 loss. The widespread effect of CDT2 depletion in different cancer cells suggests that CDT2 is not in a synthetic lethal interaction to a single specific pathway. CDT2 likely is a non-oncogene to which transformed cells become addicted because of their enhanced cellular stress, such as replicative stress and DNA damage

estudo de caso de um centro de habilitação e reabilitação no Rio Grande do Sul

A condição em que se encontram os deficientes visuais, atualmente, é um fator de grande preocupação, visto a falta de atenção dedicada a estas pessoas. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar a estrutura física arquitetônica da edificação e as peculiaridades do projeto arquitetônico desenvolvidos para a APADEV – Associação de Pais e Amigos dos Deficientes visuais, considerando ser um projeto de referência para a habilitação e reabilitação de pessoas com deficiência no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Os resultados destacam algumas peculiaridades e diferenciais do projeto arquitetônico a partir da aplicação de técnicas formais, funcionais e estéticas, para a concepção de espaços que possibilitam a saúde física e psicológica, a educação, a autonomia, a integração e a reabilitação de deficientes visuai

A comunicação dos requisitos de desempenho ao consumidor do mercado imobiliário

Real estate consumers rarely get involved in housing purchasing process during their lifetime. During this process, consumers use limited information to assess the value of a property because they lack access to complete information and lack of knowledge and experience. Information about building quality and performance is a fundamental consumer right, present in the Brazilian Consumer Protection Code and are also mandatory requirements in the Brazilian Performance Standard (ABNT, 2013). Thus, the objective of this research was to identify the perception of the actors involved in the purchasing process (brokers and customers) regarding the benefits of this information and the most appropriate forms of communication to guide the consumer in the process. The research is of a qualitative nature conducted through interviews in two distinct phases. The first phase was based on literature review and interviews with brokers and specialists of the Brazilian Performance Standard. In the second phase consumers were interviewed in order to get their perceptions on the topic. The results indicate the importance of passing on complete and clear information to consumers. It is suggested for future research verifying how technical information influences consumer decision making in the purchasing process and identify how this information should be presented to the customer.Os consumidores do mercado imobiliário envolvem-se poucas vezes durante a vida no processo de compra de imóveis. Durante esse processo, esses consumidores utilizam informações limitadas para avaliar o valor de um imóvel, em razão de não terem acesso a informações completas e por falta de conhecimento e experiência. As informações sobre a qualidade e desempenho de um imóvel no ato de venda são direito fundamental do consumidor, presente no Código de Defesa do Consumidor (CDC) e também são requisitos obrigatórios que constam na Norma Brasileira de Desempenho (ABNT, 2013). Assim, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi identificar a percepção dos envolvidos no processo de compra (corretores e clientes) quanto aos benefícios desta informação e as formas de comunicação mais adequadas para orientar o consumidor no processo de decisão de compra. A pesquisa é de cunho qualitativo realizada por meio de entrevistas em duas fases distintas. A primeira fase baseou-se na revisão da literatura e em entrevistas realizadas com corretores e especialistas da Norma de Desempenho. Na segunda fase foram entrevistados consumidores do mercado imobiliário, a fim de obter suas percepções sobre o tema. Os resultados indicam a importância do repasse de informações completas e claras dos imóveis ao consumidor. Sugere-se para pesquisas futuras verificar como as informações técnicas influenciam a tomada de decisão do consumidor no processo de compra e identificar como esta informação deve ser apresentada ao cliente