Heating Ventilating and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) equipment taxonomy

Past efforts to reduce carbon emissions from the non-domestic building sector have had limited success in the UK. One of the reasons for this is a general absence of data addressing the non-domestic building sector, leading further to a lack of transparent and validated methods for energy use benchmarks and both statistical and predictive energy use modelling. This paper addresses this issue by proposing a heating ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment taxonomy that will allow compatibility across building sector energy modelling, benchmarking and surveying. The paper presents a comprehensive, yet easily expandable, friendly to use HVAC equipment taxonomy. The main aim of the HVAC equipment taxonomy is to assist both predictive and statistical building energy end use modelling, surveying fieldwork and analysis of all building types and the allocation of energy to end uses. The HVAC equipment taxonomy developed also includes information about equipment energy efficiency in terms of efficiency coefficients or auxiliary energy consumption for both design and part load. This is supported by a review of what are sometimes contradicting and ill-defined energy efficiency indices, especially with regard to part-load operation

A Comparison of the ASHRAE Secondary HVAC Toolkit Detailed and Simple Cooling Coil Models with Manufacturers' Data

Modelling a complete HVAC system requires a detailed knowledge of the system component performance. One of the main components of the HVAC system is the air handling unit (AHU), the essence of which is the cooling coil, a complex component to model. The HVAC Secondary Toolkit, developed by ASHRAE, presents two cooling and dehumidifying coil models; detailed (CCDET) and simple (CCSIM). The CCDET model is suitable for coils for which detailed geometrical data are available, whereas the CCSIM model calculates coil performance based on the coil properties at its rating point. Data necessary for determining coil geometry have been collected from several manufacturers’ catalogues. In addition, some manufacturers also publish the coil characteristics at the rating point, but these data are very limited and cover only a few coils from the whole product range. When available, these data are compared to the CCDET model outputs calculated for the same inputs stated in the manufacturer catalogue. The CCSIM model uses CCDET outputs at the rating point for coil performance calculations. The paper compares the outputs from these two models over the whole range of input variables (mass flow rates, entering temperatures and humidity ratios). Some manufacturers also provide coil selection software which calculates the coil performance at different operating conditions. This paper also compares the outputs from the CCDET coil model using manufacturers’ geometrical data with CCSIM coil model outputs, hence providing practical guidance regarding the choice of an appropriate level of modelling when carrying out AHU simulations

Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring with Chemical Sensors

Water quality is one of the most critical indicators of environmental pollution and it affects all of us. Water contamination can be accidental or intentional and the consequences are drastic unless the appropriate measures are adopted on the spot. This review provides a critical assessment of the applicability of various technologies for real-time water quality monitoring, focusing on those that have been reportedly tested in real-life scenarios. Specifically, the performance of sensors based on molecularly imprinted polymers is evaluated in detail, also giving insights into their principle of operation, stability in real on-site applications and mass production options. Such characteristics as sensing range and limit of detection are given for the most promising systems, that were verified outside of laboratory conditions. Then, novel trends of using microwave spectroscopy and chemical materials integration for achieving a higher sensitivity to and selectivity of pollutants in water are described

Diversity of the genus Tuber from the West Balkan areas using molecular characterisation

Peer Reviewe

Influence of Sleeve Gastrectomy on NASH and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is present in up to 85% of adipose patients and may proceed to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). With insulin resistance and obesity being the main risk factors for NASH, the effect of isolated sleeve gastrectomy (ISG) on these parameters was examined. Methods. 236 patients underwent ISG with intraoperative liver biopsy from December 2002 to September 2009. Besides demographic data, pre-operative weight/BMI, HbA1c, AST, ALT, triglycerides, HDL and LDL levels were determined. Results. A significant correlation of NASH with higher HbA1c, AST and ALT and lower levels for HDL was observed (P < .05, <.0001, <.0001, <.01, resp.). Overall BMI decreased from 45.0 ± 6.8 to 29.7 ± 6.5 and 31.6 ± 4.4 kg/m2 at 1 and 3 years. An impaired weight loss was demonstrated for patients with NASH and patients with elevated HbA1c (plateau 28.08 kg/m2 versus 29.79 kg/m2 and 32.30 kg/m2 versus 28.79 kg/m2, resp.). Regarding NASH, a significant improvement of AST, ALT, triglyceride and HDL levels was shown (P < .0001 for all). A resolution of elevated HbA1c was observed in 21 of 23 patients. Summary. NASH patients showed a significant loss of body weight and amelioration of NASH status. ISG can be successfully performed in these patients and should be recommended for this subgroup

Probing lepton flavour violation via neutrinoless τ⟶3μ decays with the ATLAS detector

This article presents the sensitivity of theATLAS experiment to the lepton-flavour-violating decays of τ → 3μ. A method utilising the production of τ leptons via W → τν decays is used. This method is applied to the sample of 20.3 fb−1 of pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2012. No event is observed passing the selection criteria,and the observed (expected) upper limit on the τ lepton branching fraction into three muons,Br(τ → 3μ),is 3.76 × 10−7 (3.94 × 10−7) at 90 % confidence level

Needs assessment to strengthen capacity in water and sanitation research in Africa:experiences of the African SNOWS consortium

Despite its contribution to global disease burden, diarrhoeal disease is still a relatively neglected area for research funding, especially in low-income country settings. The SNOWS consortium (Scientists Networked for Outcomes from Water and Sanitation) is funded by the Wellcome Trust under an initiative to build the necessary research skills in Africa. This paper focuses on the research training needs of the consortium as identified during the first three years of the project

Improved Resolution Haplogroup G Phylogeny in the Y Chromosome, Revealed by a Set of Newly Characterized SNPs

Background: Y-SNP haplogroup G (hgG), defined by Y-SNP marker M201, is relatively uncommon in the United States general population, with only 8 additional sub-markers characterized. Many of the previously described eight sub-markers are either very rare (2–4%) or do not distinguish between major populations within this hg. In fact, prior to the current study, only 2 % of our reference Caucasian population belonged to hgG and all of these individuals were in sub-haplogroup G2a, defined by P15. Additional Y-SNPs are needed in order to differentiate between individuals within this haplogroup. Principal Findings: In this work we have investigated whether we could differentiate between a population of 63 hgG individuals using previously uncharacterized Y-SNPs. We have designed assays to test these individuals using all known hgG SNPs (n = 9) and an additional 16 unreported/undefined Y-SNPS. Using a combination of DNA sequence and genetic genealogy databases, we have uncovered a total of 15 new hgG SNPs that had been previously reported but not phylogenetically characterized. Ten of the new Y-SNPs are phylogenetically equivalent to M201, one is equivalent to P15 and, interestingly, four create new, separate haplogroups. Three of the latter are more common than many of the previously defined Y-SNPs. Y-STR data from these individuals show that DYS385*12 is present in (70%) of G2a3b1-U13 individuals while only 4 % of non-G2a3b1-U13 individuals posses the DYS385*12 allele. Conclusions: This study uncovered several previously undefined Y-SNPs by using data from several database sources. Th