Technical Support Document: Development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Medium to Big Box Retail Buildings - 50% Energy Savings

This Technical Support Document describes the process and methodology for the development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Medium to Big Box Retail Buildings: Achieving 50% Energy Savings Toward a Net Zero Energy Building (AEDG-MBBR) ASHRAE et al. (2011b). The AEDG-MBBR is intended to provide recommendations for achieving 50% whole-building energy savings in retail stores over levels achieved by following ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (Standard 90.1-2004) (ASHRAE 2004b). The AEDG-MBBR was developed in collaboration with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the U.S. Department of Energy

A Cation-π Interaction in the Binding Site of the Glycine Receptor Is Mediated by a Phenylalanine Residue

Cys-loop receptor binding sites characteristically contain many aromatic amino acids. In nicotinic ACh and 5-HT3 receptors, a Trp residue forms a cation-{pi} interaction with the agonist, whereas in GABAA receptors, a Tyr performs this role. The glycine receptor binding site, however, contains predominantly Phe residues. Homology models suggest that two of these Phe side chains, Phe159 and Phe207, and possibly a third, Phe63, are positioned such that they could contribute to a cation-{pi} interaction with the primary amine of glycine. Here, we test this hypothesis by incorporation of a series of fluorinated Phe derivatives using unnatural amino acid mutagenesis. The data reveal a clear correlation between the glycine EC50 value and the cation-{pi} binding ability of the fluorinated Phe derivatives at position 159, but not at positions 207 or 63, indicating a single cation-{pi} interaction between glycine and Phe159. The data thus provide an anchor point for locating glycine in its binding site, and demonstrate for the first time a cation-{pi} interaction between Phe and a neurotransmitter

Reasons why nurses decline influenza vaccination: a qualitative study

To explore reasons of non-vaccinated nursing staff for declining seasonal influenza vaccination. The annual influenza vaccination of healthcare workers reduces morbidity and mortality among vulnerable patients. Still, vaccination rates remain very low, particularly in nursing staff. While several studies have explored barriers for healthcare workers to get vaccinated, most have used a quantitative approach.; Data were collected by in-depth individual semi-structured interviews with 18 nurses from a range of fields, positions in organizational hierarchy, work experience and hospitals in two German-speaking cantons in Switzerland. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using conventional content analysis.; Three interconnected themes explaining why nurses decline influenza vaccination were identified: Firstly, the idea of maintaining a strong and healthy body, which was a central motif for rejecting the vaccine. Secondly, the wish to maintain decisional autonomy - especially over one's body and health. Thirdly, nurses' perception of being surrounded by an untrustworthy environment, which restricts their autonomy and seemingly is in opposition to their goal of maintaining a strong and healthy body.; Nurses tend to rely on conventional health beliefs rather than evidence based medicine when making their decision to decline influenza vaccination. Interventions to increase influenza vaccination should be tailored specifically for nurses. Empowering nurses by promoting decision-making skills and by strengthening their appraisal may be important factors to consider when planning future interventions to improve vaccination rates. The teaching of evidence-based decision-making should be integrated on different levels, including nurses' training curricula, their workspace and further education

Analysis of the EGFR mutation status in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma before treatment with Gefitinib

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of chemotherapy in metastatic and recurrent squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (HNSCC) remains unsatisfactory. Gefitinib offers a new therapeutic option with comparable results and better tolerability than chemotherapy. We conducted this study to see if mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) might predict the therapeutic benefit in HNSCC patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a pilot trial, 8 patients with metastatic or recurrent HNSCC were treated palliatively with gefitinib (500 mg/day orally). Forceps biopsies were taken to confirm tumor recurrence and to perform an EGFR mutation analysis. RESULTS: The EGFR status could be determined in 6 of the 8 patients. 5 patients had no EGFR gene mutation, and 1 patient showed a silent guanine-to-adenosine mutation in position 2607. Even without any relevant mutation in the EGFR, we observed partial remission in 3 of 6 patients treated with gefitinib. We also observed that an additional 4 patients had stable disease for at least 10 weeks. The median progression-free survival was 6.25 months, and the median overall survival was 7.39 months. CONCLUSION: In HNSCC, there are tumor responses to gefitinib without protein-altering mutations in the EGFR gene

Reducing Data Center Loads for a Large-Scale, Low-Energy Office Building: NREL's Research Support Facility (Book)

This publication detailing the design, implementation strategies, and continuous performance monitoring of NREL's Research Support Facility data center. Data centers are energy-intensive spaces that facilitate the transmission, receipt, processing, and storage of digital data. These spaces require redundancies in power and storage, as well as infrastructure, to cool computing equipment and manage the resulting waste heat (Tschudi, Xu, Sartor, and Stein, 2003). Data center spaces can consume more than 100 times the energy of standard office spaces (VanGeet 2011). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that data centers used 61 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2006, which was 1.5% of the total electricity consumption in the U.S. (U.S. EPA, 2007). Worldwide, data centers now consume more energy annually than Sweden (New York Times, 2009). Given their high energy consumption and conventional operation practices, there is a potential for huge energy savings in data centers. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is world renowned for its commitment to green building construction. In June 2010, the laboratory finished construction of a 220,000-square-foot (ft{sup 2}), LEED Platinum, Research Support Facility (RSF), which included a 1,900-ft{sup 2} data center. The RSF will expand to 360,000 ft{sup 2} with the opening of an additional wing December, 2011. The project's request for proposals (RFP) set a whole-building demand-side energy use requirement of a nominal 35 kBtu/ft{sup 2} per year. On-site renewable energy generation will offset the annual energy consumption. To support the RSF's energy goals, NREL's new data center was designed to minimize its energy footprint without compromising service quality. Several implementation challenges emerged during the design, construction, and first 11 months of operation of the RSF data center. This document highlights these challenges and describes in detail how NREL successfully overcame them. The IT settings and strategies outlined in this document have been used to significantly reduce data center energy requirements in the RSF; however, these can also be used in existing buildings and retrofits