Energy retrofit infill panels for historic timber-framed buildings in the UK:physical test panel monitoring versus hygrothermal simulation

As we aim to decarbonise the built environment, care must also be taken to minimise the negative impact of retrofit actions on historic buildings’ fabric and cultural significance. Work to date in the UK has focused on the retrofit of historic solid masonry construction, with little research into historic timber-framed buildings. With these buildings, where infill panels are beyond repair or have previously been substituted with inappropriate materials, there exists the potential to retrofit panels with a higher thermal performance. The research presented in this article compares the monitoring of three physical test panels mounted between climate-controlled chambers with digital hygrothermal simulations in order to investigate the risk of increased moisture which may threaten the surrounding historic fabric. Results of previously unpublished cyclical testing are is also included. Whilst all prediction methods successfully identified interstitial condensation where measured, major discrepancies existed between simulated and measured results, and between different simulation methods

U-value monitoring of infill panels of a fifteenth-century dwelling in Herefordshire, UK

Monitoring timber-framed buildings reveals the importance of a holistic approach when considering the retrofit of historic properties

Relationship of Fungal Vaginitis Therapy to Prior Antibiotic Exposure

Objective: To address the putative association of antibiotic use and subsequent yeast vaginitis in a population of non-pregnant women. Methods: Three hundred and sixteen women who received medical care in rural family medicine clinics enrolled in this study. Participants were pre-menopausal and non-pregnant and were followed until they used a course of antifungal therapy for vaginitis, became pregnant or moved from the catchment area. At entry subjects were free of vaginitis symptoms and had taken no antibiotics for 30 days. Patients were followed by repeated review of clinic records, hospital records and telephone or personal interviews. Data collection included documentation of episodes of antifungal treatment for vulvovaginal candidiasis and confirmed antibiotic treatment or credible history of antibiotic use prior to the use of antifungal therapy. Physician-reported uses of antibiotic and antifungal as well as patient-reported uses of these were recorded. Results: There were four reported cases of antifungal therapy following within a month of antibiotic use, in contrast to 484 antibiotic uses not followed by antifungal use. If time of observation was extended to 6 months from antibiotic use, there were 13 uses of antifungal therapy after antibiotics and 475 uses of antibiotics not followed by antifungal therapy. Conclusion: Our results cast doubt on the association of antibiotics as a putative cause of yeast vulvovaginitis

Reflected glory and failure: the role of the medial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum in self vs other relevance during advice-giving outcomes

Despite the risks, people enjoy giving advice. One explanation is that giving beneficial advice can result in reflected glory, ego boosts or reputation enhancement. However, giving poor advice can be socially harmful (being perceived as incompetent or untrustworthy). In both circumstances, we have a vested interest in the advice follower's success or failure, especially when it reflects specifically on us compared with when it is diffused between multiple advisors. We examined these dynamics using an Advisor-Advisee Game, where subjects acted as an Advisor to a confederate Advisee who selected one of the three options when trying to win money: accept the subject's advice, accept the advice of a second confederate Advisor or accept both Advisors' advice. Results showed that having one's advice accepted, compared with being rejected, resulted in activity in the ventral striatum--a core reward area. Furthermore, the ventral striatum was only active when the subject's advice led to the advisee winning, and not when the advisee won based on the confederate's advice. Finally, the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) was more active when the Advisee won or lost money based solely on the subject's advice compared with when the second Advisor's advice was accepted. One explanation for these findings is that the MPFC monitors self-relevant social information, while the ventral striatum is active when others accept advice and when their success leads to reflected glory

Sugarcane Bagasse and Cellulose Polymer Composites

Waste recycling has been the main topic of various scientific researches due to environmental management. Renewable agricultural sources such as pineapple leaf, sisal, jute, piassava, coir, and sugarcane bagasse are among agro waste, normally known as biomass, which is recently used for reinforcing polymeric materials. Sugarcane bagasse fiber residues has been extensively investigated and employed as a source of reinforcement of polymers. The major residue is normally burnt for energy supply in the sugar and alcohol industries and as a result, tons of ash is created. The ash contained inorganic components which are valuable for reinforcement in polymeric materials. This chapter reports on the use of sugarcane bagasse, sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA) and its cellulose as reinforcing fillers for polymers

Micro-volume couette flow sample orientation for absorbance and fluorescence linear dichroism

Linear dichroism (LD) can be used to study the alignment of absorbing chromophores within long molecules. In particular, Couette flow LD has been used to good effect in probing ligand binding to DNA and to fibrous proteins. This technique has been previously limited by large sample requirements. Here we report the design and application of a new micro-volume Couette flow cell that significantly enhances the potential applications of flow LD spectroscopy by reducing the sample requirements for flow linear dichroism to 25 μL (with concentrations such that the absorbance maximum of the sample in a 1-cm pathlength cuvette is not, vert, similar1). The micro-volume Couette cell has also enabled the measurement of fluorescence-detected Couette flow linear dichroism. This new technique enables the orientation of fluorescent ligands to be probed even when their electronic transitions overlap with those of the macromolecule and conversely. The potential of flow-oriented fluorescence dichroism and application of the micro-volume Couette LD cell are illustrated by the collection of data for DNA with minor groove and intercalating ligands: DAPI, Hoechst, and ethidium bromide. As with conventional fluorescence, improved sensitivity compared with absorbance LD is to be expected after instrumentation optimization

A psychological and communitarian perspective of early attention to psychoses

The authors discuss the characteristics and the preliminary findings of the Prevention in Mental Health ‑ EAPPP (Early Detection & Attention of Patients with Risk of Psychosis), a team inserted in the public Primary Health Care System of Barcelona, Spain. Special attention is given to the four core domains of the team work: selection of target populations, the system for detection of first episode psychosis (FEP) and at‑risk mental state (ARMS) subjects in the community, the close relationship with the social and educational systems, and the psychoanalytic components of the inter‑paradigmatic framework. The community focused work and the psychological and inter‑paradigmatic framework are core differential components of the EAPPP unit in the field of EPA (early psychosis attention)

Productivity of three sugarcane cultivars under dry and drip irrigated management

O objetivo neste trabalho foi estudar o efeito da tecnologia de irrigação por gotejamento, em cultivares de cana-de-açúcar, em dois ciclos de produção (cana-planta e cana-soca). O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições, constituídos pela combinação de três cultivares de cana-de-açúcar: RB867515; RB855536 e SP80-3280, e dois manejos da cultura: sistema de irrigação por gotejamento subterrâneo e sistema de sequeiro, totalizando seis tratamentos. O primeiro ciclo teve duração de 336 dias, ocorrendo precipitação de 1.480 mm. O volume de água disponibilizado pelo sistema de irrigação por gotejamento foi de 400 mm, totalizando 1.880 mm. O segundo ciclo teve duração de 365 dias, cujo volume de água por meio de precipitação foi de 1.394 mm; somados aos 320 mm fornecidos pelo sistema de irrigação, totalizaram 1.714 mm. Ocorreu interação entre manejo e cultivar para as variáveis: produtividade de colmos (TCH) e produtividade de açúcar (TPH) em que a maior diferença foi observada para a cultivar SP80-3280. As cultivares apresentaram respostas diferenciadas na eficiência de utilização da água. No manejo irrigado por gotejamento houve elevação de 24% na produtividade de colmos e de 23% na produtividade de açúcar, em relação ao manejo de sequeiro.This study aimed to evaluate the effect of drip irrigation technology in different sugarcane varieties in two crop cycles (plant cane and ratoon). The experimental design was in completly randomized blocks, in split-plot with four replications, constituted by three sugarcane genotypes: RB867515; RB855536 and SP80-3280 and two crop management: drip irrigation system and rainfed system, totalizing six treatments. The first cycle lasted for 336 days, with rainfall of 1,480 mm. The volume of water provided by the system of drip irrigation was 400 mm, totaling 1,880 mm. The second cycle lasted for 365 days, the volume of water through rainfall was 1,394 mm, added to 320 mm provided by the system of irrigation, totaled 1,714 mm. Interaction between management and cultivars was found significant for the variables: productivity of stalks (TCH) and sugar yield (TPH), in which the largest difference was observed for cultivar SP80-3280. There was significant response to drip irrigation, on average the increase of production of stalks and sugar was 24 and 23%, respectively

Hygrothermal monitoring of replacement infill panels for historic timber-frame buildings: initial findings

Energy retrofits aim to improve the thermal performance of buildings’ external envelopes. With buildings of traditional construction there exists the risk that these improvements may lead to interstitial condensation and moisture accumulation. For historic timber-framed buildings, this potentially exposes the embedded historic timbers to conditions favouring fungal decay and insect infestation. Hygrothermal digital simulations can assess this risk, but these have limitations, especially regarding the study of historic and traditional materials, due to a lack of accurate material data. The research presented in this paper therefore uses the monitoring of physical test panels to examine the performance of four different infill solutions. These are, traditional wattle and daub, a composite of wood fibre and wood wool boards, expanded cork board, and hempcrete. The article focuses on the design and construction of the test cell and presents initial results from the first year of monitoring, following the initial drying phase. These showed no evidence of interstitial condensation in any of the panel build-ups, with increases in moisture content correlating directly with climatic measurements of wind-driven rain. Infill materials with low moisture permeability were seen to produce higher moisture contents at the interface with the external render due to the concentration of moisture at this point. Those panels finished in the more moisture permeable lime-hemp plaster, overall present lower moisture contents, with reduced drying times. The use of perimeter, non-moisture permeable, sealants would appear to potentially trap moisture at the junction between infill and historic timber-frame. The monitoring work is ongoing