Thermal Performance of Exposed Composed Roofs in Very Hot Dry Desert Region in Egypt (Toshky)

Thermal performance for any building in hot dry region depend on the external climatic factor, the ability of the construction materials used in gained heat through day time and loss this heat through night time through the nocturnal radiation. Roof is considered the major part of the building envelop which exposed to high thermal load due to the high solar intensity and high outdoor air temperature through summer season which reach to 6 months. In Egypt the thermal effect of roof is increased as one go towards from north to south. This study evaluate the thermal performance of different test rooms with different roofs construction; uninsulated concrete, insulated concrete, double, plant, and active concrete roofs, constructed under the effect of external climatic condition of very hot and dry region in Egypt (Toshky region). The external climatic conditions and the temperature distribution inside the roof construction and the indoor air temperature were measured. The results of this study recognized that the thermal transmittance (UValue) has a major role in chosen the constructed materials. Also the thermal insulation considered the suitable manner for damping the thermal stresses through day time and makes the interior environment of the building near the comfort zone during most months of the year. Natural night and forced ventilation are more important in improving the internal conditions. The construction roof systems show that the indoor air temperature thermal damping reach to 96%, 90%, 89%, and 76% for insulated concrete, double, planted and uninsulated concrete roofs. The results also investigate the importance of using the earth as a cooling source through the active concrete system. Evaporative cooling and movable shading which are an integrated part of the guidelines for building design in hot dry region must be using

How was your day? : exploring a day in the life of probation workers across Europe using practice diaries

This paper presents a reflection upon the preliminary analysis of diary research conducted during the period 2014-2015 in five European countries (England and Wales, France, Norway, Romania and Slovakia). The authors gathered and analysed data from a pilot project which used semi-structured diaries to generate data on probation workers’ daily lives with a view to understanding ‘a day in the life’ of probation officers across jurisdictions. The findings open up questions in relation to diary research in probation practice (diary format, follow-up interview etc.) and we use this article to discuss the relative advantages and benefits of using diary research in this area. We conclude with the argument that diaries as a method of social research hold considerable potential for conducting research in the context of probation but acknowledge that the method we employed requires some development and greater clarification in terms of the aims of the research

Thermal Performance of Building Envelope in Very Hot Dry Desert Region in Egypt (Toshky)

Toshky region is a desert region located in the south east of Egyptian western desert at the Tropical Cancer (23.5 N). The following features characterized this region during the summer season; aridity, high summer day time temperatures reaches to above 40 C for about 6 hours, large diurnal temperature variation, low relative humidity, and high solar radiation reaches to about 1100W/m2 on horizontal surfaces. In such climate thermal human comfort is crucial to provide the reasonable environment for the people. As the building envelop has a major role in saving comfort for people and improve the consumption of energy in building. So this study is interested in studying the thermal performance for some building constructed from different building materials as; Nobaa sandstone, hollow clay brick, light sand block, and hollow and insulated bazelt blocks. The external climatic conditions and the temperature distribution inside the wall construction and the indoor air temperature were measured. The result shows that using Nobaa sandstone alone in building is not adequate with the external climatic conditions of this region. But using building materials with specific thermal characteristics, and using thermal insulation led to reduce the heat flow through the walls and help the building to be suitable with its external environment conditions. The study also show that hollow clay brick and light sand block valid the lowest indoor air temperature, and the thermal performance of hollow bazelt blocks can be improved by using thermal insulation, Natural and forced night ventilation help the indoor environment to be within the thermal comfort

Impact of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network: Accelerating the Translation of Research Into Practice

The Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) is a thematic network dedicated to accelerating the adoption of evidence-based cancer prevention and control practices in communities by advancing dissemination and implementation science. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute, CPCRN has operated at two levels: Each participating Network Center conducts research projects with primarily local partners as well as multicenter collaborative research projects with state and national partners. Through multicenter collaboration, thematic networks leverage the expertise, resources, and partnerships of participating centers to conduct research projects collectively that might not be feasible individually. Although multicenter collaboration often is advocated, it is challenging to promote and assess. Using bibliometric network analysis and other graphical methods, this paper describes CPCRN’s multicenter publication progression from 2004 to 2014. Searching PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science in 2014 identified 249 peer-reviewed CPCRN publications involving two or more centers out of 6,534 total. The research and public health impact of these multicenter collaborative projects initiated by CPCRN during that 10-year period were then examined. CPCRN established numerous workgroups around topics such as: 2-1-1, training and technical assistance, colorectal cancer control, federally qualified health centers, cancer survivorship, and human papillomavirus. The paper discusses the challenges that arise in promoting multicenter collaboration and the strategies that CPCRN uses to address those challenges. The lessons learned should broadly interest those seeking to promote multisite collaboration to address public health problems, such as cancer prevention and control

Large-scale unit commitment under uncertainty: an updated literature survey

The Unit Commitment problem in energy management aims at finding the optimal production schedule of a set of generation units, while meeting various system-wide constraints. It has always been a large-scale, non-convex, difficult problem, especially in view of the fact that, due to operational requirements, it has to be solved in an unreasonably small time for its size. Recently, growing renewable energy shares have strongly increased the level of uncertainty in the system, making the (ideal) Unit Commitment model a large-scale, non-convex and uncertain (stochastic, robust, chance-constrained) program. We provide a survey of the literature on methods for the Uncertain Unit Commitment problem, in all its variants. We start with a review of the main contributions on solution methods for the deterministic versions of the problem, focussing on those based on mathematical programming techniques that are more relevant for the uncertain versions of the problem. We then present and categorize the approaches to the latter, while providing entry points to the relevant literature on optimization under uncertainty. This is an updated version of the paper "Large-scale Unit Commitment under uncertainty: a literature survey" that appeared in 4OR 13(2), 115--171 (2015); this version has over 170 more citations, most of which appeared in the last three years, proving how fast the literature on uncertain Unit Commitment evolves, and therefore the interest in this subject

Development and Validation of a Risk Score for Chronic Kidney Disease in HIV Infection Using Prospective Cohort Data from the D:A:D Study

Ristola M. on työryhmien DAD Study Grp ; Royal Free Hosp Clin Cohort ; INSIGHT Study Grp ; SMART Study Grp ; ESPRIT Study Grp jäsen.Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health issue for HIV-positive individuals, associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Development and implementation of a risk score model for CKD would allow comparison of the risks and benefits of adding potentially nephrotoxic antiretrovirals to a treatment regimen and would identify those at greatest risk of CKD. The aims of this study were to develop a simple, externally validated, and widely applicable long-term risk score model for CKD in HIV-positive individuals that can guide decision making in clinical practice. Methods and Findings A total of 17,954 HIV-positive individuals from the Data Collection on Adverse Events of Anti-HIV Drugs (D:A:D) study with >= 3 estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) values after 1 January 2004 were included. Baseline was defined as the first eGFR > 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 after 1 January 2004; individuals with exposure to tenofovir, atazanavir, atazanavir/ritonavir, lopinavir/ritonavir, other boosted protease inhibitors before baseline were excluded. CKD was defined as confirmed (>3 mo apart) eGFR In the D:A:D study, 641 individuals developed CKD during 103,185 person-years of follow-up (PYFU; incidence 6.2/1,000 PYFU, 95% CI 5.7-6.7; median follow-up 6.1 y, range 0.3-9.1 y). Older age, intravenous drug use, hepatitis C coinfection, lower baseline eGFR, female gender, lower CD4 count nadir, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) predicted CKD. The adjusted incidence rate ratios of these nine categorical variables were scaled and summed to create the risk score. The median risk score at baseline was -2 (interquartile range -4 to 2). There was a 1: 393 chance of developing CKD in the next 5 y in the low risk group (risk score = 5, 505 events), respectively. Number needed to harm (NNTH) at 5 y when starting unboosted atazanavir or lopinavir/ritonavir among those with a low risk score was 1,702 (95% CI 1,166-3,367); NNTH was 202 (95% CI 159-278) and 21 (95% CI 19-23), respectively, for those with a medium and high risk score. NNTH was 739 (95% CI 506-1462), 88 (95% CI 69-121), and 9 (95% CI 8-10) for those with a low, medium, and high risk score, respectively, starting tenofovir, atazanavir/ritonavir, or another boosted protease inhibitor. The Royal Free Hospital Clinic Cohort included 2,548 individuals, of whom 94 individuals developed CKD (3.7%) during 18,376 PYFU (median follow-up 7.4 y, range 0.3-12.7 y). Of 2,013 individuals included from the SMART/ESPRIT control arms, 32 individuals developed CKD (1.6%) during 8,452 PYFU (median follow-up 4.1 y, range 0.6-8.1 y). External validation showed that the risk score predicted well in these cohorts. Limitations of this study included limited data on race and no information on proteinuria. Conclusions Both traditional and HIV-related risk factors were predictive of CKD. These factors were used to develop a risk score for CKD in HIV infection, externally validated, that has direct clinical relevance for patients and clinicians to weigh the benefits of certain antiretrovirals against the risk of CKD and to identify those at greatest risk of CKD.Peer reviewe

A knowledge-based genetic algorithm for unit commitment

NoA genetic algorithm (GA) augmented with knowledge-based methods has been developed for solving the unit commitment economic dispatch problem. The GA evolves a population of binary strings which represent commitment schedules. The initial population of schedules is chosen using a method based on elicited scheduling knowledge. A fast rule-based dispatch method is then used to evaluate candidate solutions. The knowledge-based genetic algorithm is applied to a test system of ten thermal units over 24-hour time intervals, including minimum on/off times and ramp rates, and achieves lower cost solutions than Lagrangian relaxation in comparable computational time

Solving the unit commitment problem in power generation by primal and dual methods

The unit commitment problem in power plant operation planning is addressed. For a real power system comprising coal- and gas- red thermal and pumped-storage hydro plants a large-scale mixed integer optimization model for unit commitment is developed. Then primal and dual approaches to solving the optimization problem are presented and results of test runs are reported