Innovative, Cost Effective and Energy Efficient Desgin for New Construction at a Texas High School

Energy conservation measures such as high efficiency equipment retrofits, controls upgrades, and commissioning have become popular ways to reduce existing buildings' operating costs. However, cost effective efficiency measures applied to new construction in the design phase can result in greater operating efficiency and environmental impact. These measures entail innovative design concepts and control schemes in addition to specification of premium efficiency equipment. This paper presents Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) design, with primary focus on the HVAC and Controls aspects for Laredo Independent School District's (LISD) Nixon High School in Texas. Energy and water conservation was considered in nearly every aspect of the design, which includes innovative dual-duct Variable Air Volume (VAV) systems for cooling and pre-treated ventilation air delivery integrated with occupancy sensors and digital controls, and optimized HVAC controls for dynamic balancing of air and hydronic sides. The project demonstrates how investment during the planning and design phase can potentially pay dividends by substantially reducing facility lifecycle costs

Analyses of variant human papillomavirus type-16 E5 proteins for their ability to induce mitogenesis of murine fibroblasts

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) E5 protein co-operates with epidermal growth factor to stimulate mitogenesis of murine fibroblasts. Currently, little is known about which viral amino acids are involved in this process. Using sequence variants of HPV-16 E5 we have investigated their effects upon E5 transcription, cell-cycling and cell-growth of murine fibroblasts. RESULTS: We demonstrate that: (i) introduction of Thr(64 )into the reference E5 sequence of HPV-16 abrogates mitogenic activity: both were poorly transcribed in NIH-3T3 cells; (ii) substitution of Leu(44)Val(65 )or, Thr(37)Leu(44)Val(65 )into the HPV-16 E5 reference backbone resulted in high transcription in NIH-3T3 cells, enhanced cell-cycle progression and high cell-growth; and, (iii) inclusion of Tyr(8 )into the Leu(44)Val(65 )backbone inhibited E5 induced cell-growth and repression of p21 expression, despite high transcription levels. CONCLUSION: The effects of HPV-16 E5 variants upon mitosis help to explain why Leu(44)Val(65 )HPV-16 E5 variants are most prevalent in 'wild' pathogenic viral populations in the UK

Effect of P-glycoprotein on flavopiridol sensitivity

Flavopiridol is the first potent inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) to enter clinical trials. Little is known about mechanisms of resistance to this agent. In order to determine whether P-glycoprotein (Pgp) might play a role in flavopiridol resistance, we examined flavopiridol sensitivity in a pair of Chinese hamster ovary cell lines differing with respect to level of Pgp expression. The IC 50 s of flavopiridol in parental AuxB1 (lower Pgp) and colchicine-selected CHRC5 (higher Pgp) cells were 90.2 ± 6.6 nM and 117 ± 2.3 nM, respectively (P< 0.01), suggesting that Pgp might have a modest effect on flavopiridol action. Consistent with this hypothesis, pretreatment with either quinidine or verapamil (inhibitors of Pgp-mediated transport) sensitized CHRC5 cells to the antiproliferative effects of flavopiridol. Because of concern that colony forming assays might not accurately reflect cytotoxicity, we also examined flavopiridol-treated cells by trypan blue staining and flow cytometry. These assays confirmed that flavopiridol was less toxic to cells expressing higher levels of Pgp. Further experiments revealed that flavopiridol inhibited the binding of [3H]-azidopine to Pgp in isolated membrane vesicles, but only at high concentrations. Collectively, these results identify flavopiridol as a weak substrate for Pgp. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign www.bjcancer.co

Strategic Facilities Management Using Public and Private Funding for Energy Projects: A Case Study

The Alamo Community College District (ACCD) in San Antonio, Texas has a long history of participating in public and private sector loan programs for facilities energy projects. In its most recent experience, the District has demonstrated the value of these loans beyond simple kWh savings. In 2002, The District received $3.0 million in private sector loans for projects including indoor lighting retrofits, cooling tower upgrades, and Continuous Commissioning®. Documented energy cost savings from this project exceeded the projected savings since its completion in early 2005. Now nearly a decade later, ACCD is participating in a State-funded revolving loan program for energy retrofits estimated at$10 million. A wide range of projects are proposed, including indoor and outdoor lighting retrofits, central plant upgrades, solar thermal pool heating, enhanced retrofit commissioning and installation of water based thermal storage systems. In addition, existing campus load profile analysis uncovered utility rate change options that yielded instant savings. In total, over $1 million per year in cost savings and 4 megawatts of mitigated power generation capacity are projected due to these projects. This paper presents the details of the loan procurement process as part of a state program designed for building energy efficiency retrofit projects, and how ACCD is using available resources to strategically integrate short-term systems upgrades with long-term infrastructure, energy management, and sustainability goals

Stochastic Assembly of Bacteria in Microwell Arrays Reveals the Importance of Confinement in Community Development

Citation: Hansen, R. H., Timm, A. C., Timm, C. M., Bible, A. N., Morrell-Falvey, J. L., Pelletier, D. A., . . . Retterer, S. T. (2016). Stochastic Assembly of Bacteria in Microwell Arrays Reveals the Importance of Confinement in Community Development. Plos One, 11(5), 18. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155080The structure and function of microbial communities is deeply influenced by the physical and chemical architecture of the local microenvironment and the abundance of its community members. The complexity of this natural parameter space has made characterization of the key drivers of community development difficult. In order to facilitate these characterizations, we have developed a microwell platform designed to screen microbial growth and interactions across a wide variety of physical and initial conditions. Assembly of microbial communities into microwells was achieved using a novel biofabrication method that exploits well feature sizes for control of innoculum levels. Wells with incrementally smaller size features created populations with increasingly larger variations in inoculum levels. This allowed for reproducible growth measurement in large (20 mu m diameter) wells, and screening for favorable growth conditions in small (5, 10 mu m diameter) wells. We demonstrate the utility of this approach for screening and discovery using 5 mu m wells to assemble P. aeruginosa colonies across a broad distribution of innoculum levels, and identify those conditions that promote the highest probability of survivial and growth under spatial confinement. Multi-member community assembly was also characterized to demonstrate the broad potential of this platform for studying the role of member abundance on microbial competition, mutualism and community succession

The DNA Methylation Inhibitor Zebularine Controls CD4(+) T Cell Mediated Intraocular Inflammation

CD4+ T cell mediated uveitis is conventionally treated with systemic immunosuppressive agents, including corticosteroids and biologics targeting key inflammatory cytokines. However, their long-term utility is limited due to various side effects. Here, we investigated whether DNA methylation inhibitor zebularine can target CD4+ T cells and control intraocular inflammation. Our results showed that zebularine restrained the expression of inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ and IL-17 in both human and murine CD4+ T cells in vitro. Importantly, it also significantly alleviated intraocular inflammation and retinal tissue damage in the murine experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) model in vivo, suggesting that the DNA methylation inhibitor zebularine is a candidate new therapeutic agent for uveitis

The impact of global economic crisis and austerity on quality of working life and work- life balance: a capabilities perspective

This paper draws on the capabilities approach as a framework for examining the impact of the global economic crisis and austerity on quality of working life and work-life balance. Our paper focuses on Greece, an extreme case of a country in economic crisis, characterised by a weak institutional basis. We build on the work of Barbara Hobson and colleagues who first applied the capabilities approach to explore work-life balance capabilities. Our study contributes to the development of theory by emphasising the sense of entitlement concept within the capabilities approach and by proposing a modified conceptual framework that encapsulates the link between capabilities, agency, and the sense of entitlement, where the latter acts as a cognitive ‘filter’ that enhances or weakens an individual’s perception of her/his agency to enact on her/his capabilities. Drawing on the accounts of twenty Greek professional and managerial workers, we illustrate how the crisis and austerity measures have eroded working conditions and thus the sense of entitlement, leading to the weakening of our participants’ agency and capabilities to achieve quality of working life and work-life balance

The impact of global economic crisis and austerity on quality of working life and work- life balance: a capabilities perspective

This paper draws on the capabilities approach as a framework for examining the impact of the global economic crisis and austerity on quality of working life and work-life balance. Our paper focuses on Greece, an extreme case of a country in economic crisis, characterised by a weak institutional basis. We build on the work of Barbara Hobson and colleagues who first applied the capabilities approach to explore work-life balance capabilities. Our study contributes to the development of theory by emphasising the sense of entitlement concept within the capabilities approach and by proposing a modified conceptual framework that encapsulates the link between capabilities, agency, and the sense of entitlement, where the latter acts as a cognitive ‘filter’ that enhances or weakens an individual’s perception of her/his agency to enact on her/his capabilities. Drawing on the accounts of twenty Greek professional and managerial workers, we illustrate how the crisis and austerity measures have eroded working conditions and thus the sense of entitlement, leading to the weakening of our participants’ agency and capabilities to achieve quality of working life and work-life balance

The impact of global economic crisis and austerity on quality of working life and work- life balance: a capabilities perspective

This paper draws on the capabilities approach as a framework for examining the impact of the global economic crisis and austerity on quality of working life and work-life balance. Our paper focuses on Greece, an extreme case of a country in economic crisis, characterised by a weak institutional basis. We build on the work of Barbara Hobson and colleagues who first applied the capabilities approach to explore work-life balance capabilities. Our study contributes to the development of theory by emphasising the sense of entitlement concept within the capabilities approach and by proposing a modified conceptual framework that encapsulates the link between capabilities, agency, and the sense of entitlement, where the latter acts as a cognitive ‘filter’ that enhances or weakens an individual’s perception of her/his agency to enact on her/his capabilities. Drawing on the accounts of twenty Greek professional and managerial workers, we illustrate how the crisis and austerity measures have eroded working conditions and thus the sense of entitlement, leading to the weakening of our participants’ agency and capabilities to achieve quality of working life and work-life balance