3,232 research outputs found
Numerical Analysis on the Optimisation of Thermal Comfort Levels in an Office Located inside a Historical Building
The present study examines the possibility of thermal comfort optimisation inside an office room where, due to historical heritage, it is possible to modify neither the energetic characteristic of the envelope nor the position of the inlet air vents. The distribution of global and local thermal comfort indices is evaluated in both heating and cooling conditions by establishing a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model validated against experimental data. The obtained results demonstrate a striking asymmetry of the air velocity and temperature distribution due to the low energy efficiency of the building. In heating mode, the predicted mean vote (PMV) values were improved if the discharged air from the fan coil was at its maximal velocity. However, at the same time, the vertical
air temperature gradient increased by around 0.5 C in each working station. In the cooling condition, in the absence of the solar radiation, the minimal air-flow rate satisfied the acceptable range of the draught rate (DR), whereas in the presence of a solar load, it could not meet the required cooling load in all positions, leading to higher floor temperature. The findings of this study allow for identifying and rearranging the optimal position of working stations in terms of thermal comfort
The Force Awakens: Artificial intelligence for consumer law
Recent years have been tainted by market practices that continuously expose us, as consumers, to new risks and threats. We have become accustomed, and sometimes even resigned, to businesses monitoring our activities, examining our data, and even meddling with our choices. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often depicted as a weapon in the hands of businesses and blamed for allowing this to happen. In this paper, we envision a paradigm shift, where AI technologies are brought to the side of consumers and their organizations, with the aim of building an efficient and effective counter-power. AI-powered tools can support a massive-scale automated analysis of textual and audiovisual data, as well as code, for the benefit of consumers and their organizations. This in turn can lead to a better oversight of business activities, help consumers exercise their rights, and enable the civil society to mitigate information overload. We discuss the societal, political, and technological challenges that stand before that vision
The Lambek calculus with iteration: two variants
Formulae of the Lambek calculus are constructed using three binary
connectives, multiplication and two divisions. We extend it using a unary
connective, positive Kleene iteration. For this new operation, following its
natural interpretation, we present two lines of calculi. The first one is a
fragment of infinitary action logic and includes an omega-rule for introducing
iteration to the antecedent. We also consider a version with infinite (but
finitely branching) derivations and prove equivalence of these two versions. In
Kleene algebras, this line of calculi corresponds to the *-continuous case. For
the second line, we restrict our infinite derivations to cyclic (regular) ones.
We show that this system is equivalent to a variant of action logic that
corresponds to general residuated Kleene algebras, not necessarily
*-continuous. Finally, we show that, in contrast with the case without division
operations (considered by Kozen), the first system is strictly stronger than
the second one. To prove this, we use a complexity argument. Namely, we show,
using methods of Buszkowski and Palka, that the first system is -hard,
and therefore is not recursively enumerable and cannot be described by a
calculus with finite derivations
High prevalence of BRCA1 deletions in BRCAPRO-positive patients with high carrier probability.
Mutation screening of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in probands with familial breast/ovarian cancer has been
greatly improved by the multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) assay able to evidence gene
rearrangements not detectable by standard screening methods. However, no criteria for selection of cases to
be submitted to the MLPA test have been reported yet. We used the BRCAPro software for the selection of
familial breast/ovarian cancer probands investigated with the MLPA approach after negative BRCA1/2
conventional mutation screening. One hundred and seventy-seven probands were investigated for germline
BRCA1/2 mutations after assessment of genetic risk using BRCAPro. Probands were classified as BRCAPro
positive (n = 67) when the carrier probability (CP) was >10% and as BRCAPro negative (n = 110), when the CP
was <10%. Conventional mutational analyses of the BRCA1/2 genes and, in one case, of p53 identified 22
pathogenetic germline mutations, 12 in BRCA1, 9 in BRCA2 and 1 in p53, in 22/177 (12.4%) probands. All the
mutations except one were detected in BRCAPro-positive patients. In the 46 BRCAPro-positive cases that
resulted negative by BRCA1/2 mutation, screening analysis of rearrangements within BRCA1/2 by MLPA was
carried out. Three patients with a very high CP showed BRCA1 deletions, consisting of deletions of exons 1–2 in
two probands and of exon 24 in the third proband. In one case, the exons 1–2 deletion was shown to
cosegregate with disease in the family. No BRCA2 rearrangements were detected, but one patient showed the
1100delC of the CHEK2 gene, whose probe is present in the BRCA2 kit. In our series, the highest carrier
detection rate of mutation screening plus MLPA analysis (52.3%) was in patients with a BRCAPro CP >50%
The Straw Tube Trackers of the PANDA Experiment
The PANDA experiment will be built at the FAIR facility at Darmstadt
(Germany) to perform accurate tests of the strong interaction through bar pp
and bar pA annihilation's studies. To track charged particles, two systems
consisting of a set of planar, closed-packed, self-supporting straw tube layers
are under construction. The PANDA straw tubes will have also unique
characteristics in term of material budget and performance. They consist of
very thin mylar-aluminized cathodes which are made self-supporting by means of
the operation gas-mixture over-pressure. This solution allows to reduce at
maximum the weight of the mechanical support frame and hence the detector
material budget. The PANDA straw tube central tracker will not only reconstruct
charged particle trajectories, but also will help in low momentum (< 1 GeV)
particle identification via dE/dx measurements. This is a quite new approach
that PANDA tracking group has first tested with detailed Monte Carlo
simulations, and then with experimental tests of detector prototypes. This
paper addresses the design issues of the PANDA straw tube trackers and the
performance obtained in prototype tests.Comment: 7 pages,16 figure
The tyrosine phosphatase CD148 is an essential positive regulator of platelet activation and thrombosis
Platelets play a fundamental role in hemostasis and thrombosis. They are also involved in pathologic conditions resulting from blocked blood vessels, including myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke. Platelet adhesion, activation, and aggregation at sites of vascular injury are regulated by a diverse repertoire of tyrosine kinase–linked and G protein–coupled receptors. Src family kinases (SFKs) play a central role in initiating and propagating signaling from several platelet surface receptors; however, the underlying mechanism of how SFK activity is regulated in platelets remains unclear. CD148 is the only receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatase identified in platelets to date. In the present study, we show that mutant mice lacking CD148 exhibited a bleeding tendency and defective arterial thrombosis. Basal SFK activity was found to be markedly reduced in CD148-deficient platelets, resulting in a global hyporesponsiveness to agonists that signal through SFKs, including collagen and fibrinogen. G protein–coupled receptor responses to thrombin and other agonists were also marginally reduced. These results highlight CD148 as a global regulator of platelet activation and a novel antithrombotic drug targe
Measurement of the production of the four-fermion final states mediated by neutral current processes
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