Development of a methodology for dormitory energy load estimation and analysis

In recent years interest in reducing energy consumption at the building levels has been increasing, especially in the higher education sector. Many examples exist of higher education institutions reducing their environmental impact through energy consumption reductions, however the majority of these are anecdotal examples and it is difficult to replicate these initiatives at other institutions, either due to resource constraints, financial constraints, or a lack of reproducible methodology. This issue is further compounded by the fact that a generalized methodology does not exist for the purposes of estimating building energy loads, especially in dormitories in the absence of expensive and sophisticated metering and sub-metering systems. A study was completed in which a generalized methodology was developed for the purposes of estimating dormitory energy loads and used to analyze the energy consumption of four representative residence halls on James Madison University campus. The purpose is to describe energy consumption using only building level metered data recorded every month as starting point for the determination of the most beneficial energy saving options for a university to focus their efforts on reducing total energy consumption. Total energy usage profiles over time, energy usage indexes, and total dormitory energy load profiles by end use contribution of total energy consumption analyses were generated and show that on the JMU campus, the vast majority of energy consumption, 69-76%, is as a result of providing heating and domestic hot water to the residence halls. The resulting 24-31% of energy consumption is as a result of electricity consumption in the residence halls. The results indicate that the most popular areas for reduction of energy consumption, namely lighting and plug loads, are not the most beneficial areas, but rather initiatives directed at reducing heating and domestic how water loads may provide the greatest reductions in energy consumption

Theory of Distance Relativity of Fractal Dimensions

The velocity of a moving object is different when measured from a stationary frame of reference and on a moving frame of reference (see the famous train experiment and the Michelson-Morley experiment). Because velocity is relative to the frame of reference, so do the concepts of “distance” and “time”. Thus, were born the concepts of relativistic mass, relativistic distance, and the notion of time dilation, which practically revolutionized Newton’s classical Physics (Muller, General Theory of Relativity, 1958). In this paper, we investigate how the fractal dimension of the same natural geometric object changes relative to the distance from which a picture of the object is taken. Keywords: Fractal dimension, Distance, Fracta

Commercialisation and Impacts of Pasture Legumes in Southern Australia–Lessons Learnt

Forage legumes are a key feature of temperate grasslands in southern Australia, valued for their ability to increase animal production, improve soil fertility and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Of the 36 temperate annual legume and 11 temperate perennial legume species with registered cultivars introduced or domesticated in Australia over the last 100 years, a third have made a major contribution to agriculture, a third have modest use and a third have failed to make any commercial impact. Highly successful species include subterranean clover, barrel medic, white clover, lucerne, French serradella and balansa clover. Species were assessed on the scale of their application, ease of seed production and specific requirements for agronomic management to determine critical factors for maximising commercial success. Of fundamental importance is the need to understand the farming systems context for legume technologies, particularly as it relates to potential scale of application and impact on farm profitability. Other factors included a requirement for parallel investment in rhizobiology, implementing an adequate ‘duty of care’ problem-solving framework for each new plant product and the need to construct a commercialisation model that optimises the trade-off between rapid adoption by farmers and profitability of the seed industry. Our experience to date indicates that seed industry engagement is highest when they have exclusive rights to a cultivar, can exercise some control over seed production and can market seed for a premium price without having to carry over significant seed quantities from one season to the next. A capability for non-specialist seed production on-farm (with lower associated seed costs) is a disincentive for the seed industry, but may be an appropriate commercialisation model for some public cultivars

Interactive effects of added L-carnitine and chromium picolinate on sow reproductive performance

A total of 599 sows were used to determine the effects of added L-carnitine and/or chromium picolinate on reproductive performance. Experimental treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial with main effects of added L-carnitine (0 or 50 ppm) and chromium picolinate (0 or 200 ppb). Starting on the first day of breeding, sows were provided a daily top dress containing the carnitine and(or) chromium along with the standard gestation diet. Dietary treatments were administered daily through the initial gestation, lactation, and through a second gestation period (2 parities). During the first parity, there was a carnitine × chromium interaction (P0.05) were observed in number of pigs born alive, still born, mummies, or total born in the first parity. Added dietary L-carnitine decreased (P<0.05) wean to estrus interval, and tended to increase (P<0.08) the number of sows in estrus by d 7. In the second parity, a tendency (P<.08) for a carnitine × chromium interaction was found for first service farrowing rate. Adding carnitine and chromium together in the diet increased first service farrowing rate compared to either product alone. Because of the change in wean-to-estrus interval and farrowing rate, feeding additional dietary carnitine and chromium increased (P<0.04) the percentage of sows that were weaned from parity 1 and farrowed in parity 2. When calculating the total number of pigs and number born alive based on all sows that were started on test, both added carnitine and chromium increased the number of pigs born and born alive. These results show that carnitine and chromium supplementation improved return-to- estrus interval and farrowing rate and, thus, total number born alive over two parities

On cycles of pairing-friendly abelian varieties

One of the most promising avenues for realizing scalable proof systems relies on the existence of 2-cycles of pairing-friendly elliptic curves. Such a cycle consists of two elliptic curves E/GF(p) and E\u27/GF(q) that both have a low embedding degree and also satisfy q = #E and p = #E\u27. These constraints turn out to be rather restrictive; in the decade that has passed since 2-cycles were first proposed for use in proof systems, no new constructions of 2-cycles have been found. In this paper, we generalize the notion of cycles of pairing-friendly elliptic curves to study cycles of pairing-friendly abelian varieties, with a view towards realizing more efficient pairing-based SNARKs. We show that considering abelian varieties of dimension larger than 1 unlocks a number of interesting possibilities for finding pairing-friendly cycles, and we give several new constructions that can be instantiated at any security level

On the Approximated Solution of a Special Type of Nonlinear Third-Order Matrix Ordinary Differential Problem

[EN] Matrix differential equations are at the heart of many science and engineering problems. In this paper, a procedure based on higher-order matrix splines is proposed to provide the approximated numerical solution of special nonlinear third-order matrix differential equations, having the form Y-(3)(x)=f(x,Y(x)). Some numerical test problems are also included, whose solutions are computed by our method.This research was partially funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad Grant TIN2017-89314-PDefez Candel, E.; Ibáñez González, JJ.; Alonso Abalos, JM.; Tung, MM.; Real-Herraiz, TP. (2021). On the Approximated Solution of a Special Type of Nonlinear Third-Order Matrix Ordinary Differential Problem. Mathematics. 9(18):1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/math9182262S11791

Teaching personal and social responsibility after school: A systematic review

Background: Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) has been studied and implemented through physical activity in different backgrounds for over three decades. However, there is no systematized review in the literature concerning the after-school context. Aim: Conducting a systematic review of literature on after-school interventions based on the TPSR model. Methods: This study was driven by the following research questions: Which were the conclusions regarding the implementation of TPSR in after-school settings? Which research methodologies have been used to assess TPSR in after-school time settings? Which results related to TPSR were reported in after-school time settings? Cochrane protocol guidelines were followed. Papers were selected by two independent researchers, with Cohen’s Kappa value of 81%. Results and discussion: Twenty-seven papers were selected, thirteen of which were reported with high scores. Most interventions were conducted in the USA on community-based after-school programs, lasting more than nine sessions, and led by school staff who prepared physical activities for youngsters from disadvantaged communities. Most of the reported studies resorted to qualitative methodologies. Some gaps were detected, such as lack of systematization of methods, lack of validity and reliability. Personal and social benefits were found. Other results were grouped into leadership, staff-youngsters relationship, values, transference, and impact on staff lives. We recommend future studies in the after-school context extend to extend to other countries, with more detailed descriptions of the specific used methods

Influence of dietary niacin on starter pig performance

Two experiments were conducted using 415 weanling pigs (175 in Exp. 1, 240 in Exp. 2) to determine the influence of dietary niacin inclusion on starter pig performance. Pigs were fed a control diet with no added niacin or the control diet with 25, 50, 75 or 100 g/ton of added niacin. From d 0 to 8, increasing dietary niacin increased ADG and ADFI up to 50 g/ton of added niacin. Overall, pigs fed increasing levels of niacin tended to have improved ADG. These results suggest feeding 50 g/ton of added dietary niacin to complex nursery pig diets to improve growth performance