Digital Erasmus - a pan-European approach to teaching building performance and resilient design

The global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has forced universities to completely rethink their teaching concepts to provide safe, remote teaching of students off-campus. One of the challenges of this rapid transition is ensuring that the quality of the learning experience remains high and that students are able to engage and thrive in this new and predominantly digital environment. This project, entitled 'Digital Erasmus-a roadmap to using building performance simulation to achieve resilient design', responds to this context by seeking to transform the learning experience of students in built environment disciplines using a continuous digital learning cycle. This paper outlines the concept of the program and the learning objectives that it responds to, as well as some initial results highlighting the programs opportunity for students to work collaboratively and transnationally. The program is still in its infancy but it is hoped that it can serve as a template for similar future online courses that will promote safe, interdisciplinary and engaging collaboration amongst students from different universities

Thermal history modeling of the H chondrite parent body

The cooling histories of individual meteorites can be empirically reconstructed by using ages from different radioisotopic chronometers with distinct closure temperatures. For a group of meteorites derived from a single parent body such data permit the reconstruction of the cooling history and properties of that body. Particularly suited are H chondrites because precise radiometric ages over a wide range of closure temperatures are available. A thermal evolution model for the H chondrite parent body is constructed by using all H chondrites for which at least three different radiometric ages are available. Several key parameters determining the thermal evolution of the H chondrite parent body and the unknown burial depths of the H chondrites are varied until an optimal fit is obtained. The fit is performed by an 'evolution algorithm'. Empirical data for eight samples are used for which radiometric ages are available for at least three different closure temperatures. A set of parameters for the H chondrite parent body is found that yields excellent agreement (within error bounds) between the thermal evolution model and empirical data of six of the examined eight chondrites. The new thermal model constrains the radius and formation time of the H chondrite parent body (possibly (6) Hebe), the initial burial depths of the individual H chondrites, the average surface temperature of the body, the average initial porosity of the material the body accreted from, and the initial 60Fe content of the H chondrite parent body.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Análise de incertezas físicas em simulação computacional de edificações residenciais

Resumo O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar incertezas físicas em simulação computacional de uma edificação residencial e sua implicação no desempenho térmico. O experimento foi elaborado com o método de Monte Carlo, que envolve as propriedades térmicas e físicas dos materiais da edificação. Foi analisada a sensibilidade das variáveis com coeficientes de regressão e correlação. Considerou-se o critério de graus-hora de desconforto por calor e por frio para o clima de Florianópolis, SC, conforme limites de conforto térmico adaptativo. Os resultados mostraram que as incertezas obtidas nos graus-hora são relativamente grandes, sendo de 32% no desconforto por frio e de 53% no desconforto por calor. Grande parte da incerteza é decorrente da temperatura média mensal do solo. Outras variáveis, como a absortância solar da cobertura e o calor específico da argamassa das paredes, resultam em impacto relevante no desconforto por calor, bem como a massa específica da argamassa e o calor específico da cerâmica das paredes no desconforto por frio. Essas variáveis precisam de maior precisão, seja por meio de bases de dados mais confiáveis, ou mesmo por medições em campo e/ou em laboratório

Life on Arginine for Mycoplasma hominis: Clues from Its Minimal Genome and Comparison with Other Human Urogenital Mycoplasmas

Mycoplasma hominis is an opportunistic human mycoplasma. Two other pathogenic human species, M. genitalium and Ureaplasma parvum, reside within the same natural niche as M. hominis: the urogenital tract. These three species have overlapping, but distinct, pathogenic roles. They have minimal genomes and, thus, reduced metabolic capabilities characterized by distinct energy-generating pathways. Analysis of the M. hominis PG21 genome sequence revealed that it is the second smallest genome among self-replicating free living organisms (665,445 bp, 537 coding sequences (CDSs)). Five clusters of genes were predicted to have undergone horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between M. hominis and the phylogenetically distant U. parvum species. We reconstructed M. hominis metabolic pathways from the predicted genes, with particular emphasis on energy-generating pathways. The Embden–Meyerhoff–Parnas pathway was incomplete, with a single enzyme absent. We identified the three proteins constituting the arginine dihydrolase pathway. This pathway was found essential to promote growth in vivo. The predicted presence of dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase suggested that arginine catabolism is more complex than initially described. This enzyme may have been acquired by HGT from non-mollicute bacteria. Comparison of the three minimal mollicute genomes showed that 247 CDSs were common to all three genomes, whereas 220 CDSs were specific to M. hominis, 172 CDSs were specific to M. genitalium, and 280 CDSs were specific to U. parvum. Within these species-specific genes, two major sets of genes could be identified: one including genes involved in various energy-generating pathways, depending on the energy source used (glucose, urea, or arginine) and another involved in cytadherence and virulence. Therefore, a minimal mycoplasma cell, not including cytadherence and virulence-related genes, could be envisaged containing a core genome (247 genes), plus a set of genes required for providing energy. For M. hominis, this set would include 247+9 genes, resulting in a theoretical minimal genome of 256 genes

Orexin Receptor Antagonism, a New Sleep-Enabling Paradigm: A Proof-of-Concept Clinical Trial

Peer reviewe

Neandertal and Denisovan DNA from Pleistocene sediments.

Although a rich record of Pleistocene human-associated archaeological assemblages exists, the scarcity of hominin fossils often impedes the understanding of which hominins occupied a site. Using targeted enrichment of mitochondrial DNA we show that cave sediments represent a rich source of ancient mammalian DNA that often includes traces of hominin DNA, even at sites and in layers where no hominin remains have been discovered. By automation-assisted screening of numerous sediment samples we detect Neandertal DNA in eight archaeological layers from four caves in Eurasia. In Denisova Cave we retrieved Denisovan DNA in a Middle Pleistocene layer near the bottom of the stratigraphy. Our work opens the possibility to detect the presence of hominin groups at sites and in areas where no skeletal remains are found

Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields and Sleep Quality: A Prospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: There is persistent public concern about sleep disturbances due to radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure. The aim of this prospective cohort study was to investigate whether sleep quality is affected by mobile phone use or by other RF-EMF sources in the everyday environment. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study with 955 study participants aged between 30 and 60 years. Sleep quality and daytime sleepiness was assessed by means of standardized questionnaires in May 2008 (baseline) and May 2009 (follow-up). We also asked about mobile and cordless phone use and asked study participants for consent to obtain their mobile phone connection data from the mobile phone operators. Exposure to environmental RF-EMF was computed for each study participant using a previously developed and validated prediction model. In a nested sample of 119 study participants, RF-EMF exposure was measured in the bedroom and data on sleep behavior was collected by means of actigraphy during two weeks. Data were analyzed using multivariable regression models adjusted for relevant confounders. RESULTS: In the longitudinal analyses neither operator-recorded nor self-reported mobile phone use was associated with sleep disturbances or daytime sleepiness. Also, exposure to environmental RF-EMF did not affect self-reported sleep quality. The results from the longitudinal analyses were confirmed in the nested sleep study with objectively recorded exposure and measured sleep behavior data. CONCLUSIONS: We did not find evidence for adverse effects on sleep quality from RF-EMF exposure in our everyday environmen

Proteomics Characterization of Cytoplasmic and Lipid-Associated Membrane Proteins of Human Pathogen Mycoplasma fermentans M64

Mycoplasma fermentans is a potent human pathogen which has been implicated in several diseases. Notably, its lipid-associated membrane proteins (LAMPs) play a role in immunomodulation and development of infection-associated inflammatory diseases. However, the systematic protein identification of pathogenic M. fermentans has not been reported. From our recent sequencing results of M. fermentans M64 isolated from human respiratory tract, its genome is around 1.1 Mb and encodes 1050 predicted protein-coding genes. In the present study, soluble proteome of M. fermentans was resolved and analyzed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. In addition, Triton X-114 extraction was carried out to enrich amphiphilic proteins including putative lipoproteins and membrane proteins. Subsequent mass spectrometric analyses of these proteins had identified a total of 181 M. fermentans ORFs. Further bioinformatics analysis of these ORFs encoding proteins with known or so far unknown orthologues among bacteria revealed that a total of 131 proteins are homologous to known proteins, 11 proteins are conserved hypothetical proteins, and the remaining 39 proteins are likely M. fermentans-specific proteins. Moreover, Triton X-114-enriched fraction was shown to activate NF-kB activity of raw264.7 macrophage and a total of 21 lipoproteins with predicted signal peptide were identified therefrom. Together, our work provides the first proteome reference map of M. fermentans as well as several putative virulence-associated proteins as diagnostic markers or vaccine candidates for further functional study of this human pathogen

Biotransformation of lanthanum by Aspergillus niger

Lanthanum is an important rare earth element and has many applications in modern electronics and catalyst manufacturing. However, there exist several obstacles in the recovery and cycling of this element due to a low average grade in exploitable deposits and low recovery rates by energy-intensive extraction procedures. In this work, a novel method to transform and recover La has been proposed using the geoactive properties of Aspergillus niger. La-containing crystals were formed and collected after A. niger was grown on Czapek-Dox agar medium amended with LaCl 3. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) showed the crystals contained C, O, and La; scanning electron microscopy revealed that the crystals were of a tabular structure with terraced surfaces. X-ray diffraction identified the mineral phase of the sample as La 2(C 2O 4) 3·10H 2O. Thermogravimetric analysis transformed the oxalate crystals into La 2O 3 with the kinetics of thermal decomposition corresponding well with theoretical calculations. Geochemical modelling further confirmed that the crystals were lanthanum decahydrate and identified optimal conditions for their precipitation. To quantify crystal production, biomass-free fungal culture supernatants were used to precipitate La. The results showed that the precipitated lanthanum decahydrate achieved optimal yields when the concentration of La was above 15 mM and that 100% La was removed from the system at 5 mM La. Our findings provide a new aspect in the biotransformation and biorecovery of rare earth elements from solution using biomass-free fungal culture systems. </p