Fire Performance of Sustainable Materials Made from Renewable Sources

International audienceThis paper presents the results of a fire test on newly developed green materials made from renewable sources. It is known that fire resistance rating of a new material is an important factor for material selection in buildings. The fire-resistance rating of building elements, components or assemblies shall be determined in accordance with the test procedures set forth in ASTM E119 or UL 263 or in accordance with requirements specified in Clause 5 of BS 476. The material tested is a drywall partition system composed from 9 mm thick MgO board as the first layer on both sides and 9 mm thick patented bamboo ply-board as the finishes. The internal steel frame comprised of steel studs C channel fixed to the RSJ steel frame. The first layer of 9 mm thick MgO board was laid horizontally over the wall frame on both sides and fastened to the studs with screws. The test was terminated after a period of 120 minutes. The purpose of the test is to determine the fire resistance of the skin of wall panel partition system assembly when tested with BS 476: Part 22: 1987 "Method for determination of the fire resistance of non-load bearing elements of construction: Clause 5-Determination of fire resistance wall. This paper describes the outstanding results related to the specimen performance under the fire conditions. The results exceed the specified requirements of Clause 5 of BS 476: Part 22, for non-bearing wall, in term of integrity and insulation

The role of the Entrepreneurial Orientation for university Research ‎laboratories in the creation of small projects (A field study at the Faculty of ‎Economic, commercial and management sciences and the institute of veterinary ‎science, agricultural scien

تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى معرفة دور التوجه الريادي لمخابر البحث الجامعية في إنشاء المشاريع الصغيرة في الجزائر، وتهتم الدراسة بتقدير هذا الدور من وجهة نظر الأساتذة وطلبة الدراسات العليا المنضمين لمخابر البحث بكلية العلوم الاقتصادية والتجارية وعلوم التسيير ومعهد علوم البيطرة والعلوم الفلاحية بجامعة باتنة –الجزائر. حيث تم تناول التوجه الريادي من خلال أبعاده الثلاثة: الإبداع، المخاطرة والمبادرة. تم اختيار عينة لجمع البيانات الأولية لاختبار فرضية مساهمة التوجه الريادي لمخابر البحث الجامعية  بأبعاده في إنشاء المشاريع الصغيرة، وفرضية وجود اختلافات في إجابات المستوجبين حول متغير التوجه الريادي لمخابر البحث تعزى للمتغيرات الديمغرافية لعينة الدراسة. ومن أجل ذلك تم تصميم استمارة استبيان وزعت على عينة الدراسة ومن خلالها تم التعرف على النتائج وتقديم مجموعة من التوصيات.This study aims to find out the role of the Entrepreneurial Orientation for university research laboratories in the creation of small projects in Algeria, this study is concerned with estimating the role from the perspective of professors and graduate students who have joined the research laboratories of the Faculty of Economic, commercial and management sciences and the institute of veterinary science, agricultural science at the University of Batna –Algeria-. Entrepreneurial Orientation is described in terms of three dimensions: Innovativeness, Risk-taking, Proactiveness. The sample was selected for the collection of primary data to test the hypothesis of contribution Entrepreneurial Orientation for University Research Laboratories dimensions in the creation of small projects, and the hypothesis of the existence of differences in the answers of respondents about the Entrepreneurial Orientation for Research Laboratories due to demographic variables of the study sample variable. A questionnaire was distributed to the study sample which have been identified the results and provide a set of recommendations

Small Cell Carcinoma of Prostate: A Case Report of a Patient With Concomitant Transitional Cell Cancer of the Bladder

Small cell carcinomas (SCCs) are aggressive neoplasms commonly associated with a pulmonary origin. However, albeit rare, extrapulmonary SCC can occur in a variety of sites with an incidence in North America approximated to be 0.1% to 0.4%. Among these sites, approximately 10% of extrapulmonary SCC cases occur in the prostate and are associated with a poor mortality with a median survival of 10 months. Because of the rarity of the prostatic SCC, there is no formal treatment protocol. In this case report, we present a patient who was diagnosed with SCC in the prostate as primary origin. Adjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy was started, which he is tolerating so far. While the management of metastatic disease is well documented with the use of chemotherapy, specific data on nonmetastatic disease is lacking. As some studies suggest, a combined surgical and chemotherapeutic approach is helpful in localized disease. In our case, this approach has led to a good clinical outcome in a disease that does not usually allow such results

MRSA induced pulmonary-renal syndrome

We present a rare case of pulmonary-renal syndrome secondary to recurrent MRSA spondylodiscitis. The mechanism of involvement of each organ system is unique. The organs, lung and kidneys, have been affected by different pathologic processes that were induced, we think, by the chronic MRSA infection

Pembrolizumab reactivates pulmonary granulomatosis

Sarcoid like reaction is a well-known entity that occurs as a consequence to several malignancies or their therapies. Immunotherapy has gained a lot of interest in the past few years and has recently gained approval as first line therapy in multiple advanced stage malignancies. Pneumonitis has been described as complication of such therapy. Granulomatous inflammation has been only rarely reported subsequent to immunotherapy. We describe a case of granulomatous inflammation reactivation affecting the lungs in a patient previously exposed to Pembrolizumab and have evidence of a distant granulomatous infection. We discuss potential mechanisms of the inflammation and assert the importance of immunosuppression in controlling the dis-inhibited immune system

PENGARUH MODEL PEMBELAJARAN COOPERATIVE INTEGRATED READING AND COMPOSITION (CIRC) TERHADAP KEMAMPUAN MENENTUKAN IDE POKOK PARAGRAF SISWA KELAS V SD NEGERI 003 PULAU KOPUNG KECAMATAN SENTAJO RAYA KABUPATEN KUANTAN SINGINGI

Reading is one of the important aspects of the communication process. Reading can make someone better understand the contents of the reading. In learning to make it easier for students to understand the contents of the reading it will be easier if it begins with the ability to determine the main ideas of the paragraph. Based on this, the researchers conducted a study by applying the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) learning model to the ability to determine the main idea of paragraphs in fifth-grade students of SD Negeri 003 Pulau Kopung. This study aims to determine the effect of the CIRC learning model on the ability to determine the main ideas of paragraphs of fifth-grade students of SD Negeri 003 Pulau Kopung. This research method is a quasi-experimental Nonequivalent Control Group Design. This study was conducted in two classes, namely the VA class as the control class and VB class as the experimental class with 22 students in each class. The results of the study showed that the CIRC learning model influenced the ability determine the main idea of the paragraph with the results of calculations sourced from the index gain, the experimental class using the CIRC learning model gets an increase in gain of 0.59 with the middle class and the control class with the ordinary learning model gets an increase of 0.31 with the middle class

Ammonia vs. Lactic Acid in Predicting Positivity of Microbial Culture in Sepsis: The ALPS Pilot Study

Objective: The use of serum ammonia as a novel marker for sepsis compared to lactic acid levels in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Design and Interventions: Single arm, prospective clinical trial to collect arterial blood samples from patients with sepsis. Serial ammonia and lactic acid levels were sent every six hours for a total of three days. Measurements and results: Compare mean levels of ammonia and lactic acid in terms of diagnosing sepsis and patient outcome, including length of stay and mortality. A total of 30 patients were enrolled in the pilot study. On admission, mean ammonia level was 35.7 μmol/L and lactic acid was 3.06 mmole/L. Ammonia levels checked at the end of day 2 (ammonia 2-4) and the beginning of day 3 (ammonia 3-1) were higher in patients who had a microbial culture-proven sepsis (p-values 0.029 and 0.002, respectively) compared to those without culture-positive sepsis. Ammonia levels did predict a longer hospital stay; ammonia level of more than 40 μmol/L had a mean hospital stay of 17.6 days vs. patients with normal levels who had a mean hospital stay of 9.62 days (p-value 0.0082). Conclusion: Elevated ammonia level can be a novel biomarker for sepsis, comparable to conventional markers. Ammonia levels have a prognostic utility as elevated levels were associated with longer hospital stay

Modelling personal thermal sensations using C-Support Vector Classification (C-SVC) algorithm

The personalised conditioning system (PCS) is widely studied. Potentially, it is able to reduce energy consumption while securing occupants’ thermal comfort requirements. It has been suggested that automatic optimised operation schemes for PCS should be introduced to avoid energy wastage and discomfort caused by inappropriate operation. In certain automatic operation schemes, personalised thermal sensation models are applied as key components to help in setting targets for PCS operation. In this research, a novel personal thermal sensation modelling method based on the C-Support Vector Classification (C-SVC) algorithm has been developed for PCS control. The personal thermal sensation modelling has been regarded as a classification problem. During the modelling process, the method ‘learns’ an occupant’s thermal preferences from his/her feedback, environmental parameters and personal physiological and behavioural factors. The modelling method has been verified by comparing the actual thermal sensation vote (TSV) with the modelled one based on 20 individual cases. Furthermore, the accuracy of each individual thermal sensation model has been compared with the outcomes of the PMV model. The results indicate that the modelling method presented in this paper is an effective tool to model personal thermal sensations and could be integrated within the PCS for optimised system operation and control

An Epistemic-Deontic-Axiologic (EDA) agent-based Energy Management System in office buildings

In the UK, buildings contribute about one third of the energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. Space heating and cooling systems are among the biggest energy consumers in buildings. This research aims to develop a novel Building Energy Management System (BEMS) to reduce the energy consumption of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system while fulfilling each occupant’ thermal comfort requirement. This paper presents a newly developed novel method, Epistemic-Deontic-Axiologic (EDA) Agent-based solution to support the Energy Management System meeting the dual targets of occupant thermal comfort and energy efficiency. The multi-agent solutions are applied to the BEMS. The problem decomposition method is used to define the architecture of the system. The Epistemic-Deontic-Axiologic (EDA) agent model is applied to develop the rational local and personal agents inside the system. These EDA-based agents select their optimal action plan by considering the occupants’ thermal sensations, their behavioural adaptations and the energy consumption of the HVAC system. The Newly-developed personal thermal sensation models and group-of-people-based thermal sensation models generated by support vector machine (SVM) based algorithms are applied to evaluate the occupants’ thermal sensations. These models are developed from the data collected in a real built environment. Simulation results prove that the newly-developed BEMS can help the HVAC system reduce the energy consumption by up to 10% while fulfilling the occupants’ thermal comfort requirements