Sensitivity Analysis for Decisive Design Parameters for Energy and Indoor Visual Performances of a Glazed Façade Office Building

The large size of a glazed component allows greater access to natural light inside and a wider view of the outdoors while protecting the inside from extreme weather conditions. However, glazed components make buildings energy inefficient compared to opaque components if not designed suitably, and sometimes they create glare discomforts too. In order to protect against excessive natural light and direct sunlight and for privacy, dynamic shading devices are integrated into the glazed façade. In this study, the impact of various glazing and shading design parameters has been investigated by performing uncertainty and sensitivity analyses. The uncertainty analysis indicates that the variance coefficients for the source energy use, lighting energy use, useful daylight illuminance (UDI), and shade-deployed time fraction are in the ranges of 15.04–30.47, 39.05–45.06, 40.57–49.92, and 19.35–52%, respectively. The dispersion in the energy and indoor visual performance is evident by the large variation in the source energy consumption and UDI (500–2000), which vary in the ranges of 250–450 kWh/(m2-year) and 5–90%. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis identified the window-to-wall ratio (WWR), aspect ratio (ASR), glazing type (Gt), absorptance of the wall (Aw), and shade transmittance (ST) as major influences of the parameters. Each of the identified parameters has a different proportionate impact depending on the façade orientation and performance parameters

Evaluation and diversity analysis in Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss.] germplasm accessions on the basis of principal component analysis

Principal component analysis was carried out with 20 morphological traits (including quantitative as well as qualitative) among 96 germplasm lines of Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss.]. Principal factor analysis led to the identification of eight principal components (PCs) which explained about 70.41% variability. The first principal component (PC1) explained 16.21% of the total variation. The remaining PC’s explained progressively lesser and lesser of the total variation. Varimax Rotation enabled loading of similar type of variables on a common principal factor (PF) permitting to designate them as yield factor, maturity factor and oil factor etc. Based on PF scores and cluster mean values the germplasm accessions viz., RC2, RC32 and RC51 (cluster I), RC95 and RC96 (cluster X) were found superior for seed yield/plant and yield related factors like primary and secondary branches/plant; while the accessions RC34, RC185 and RC195 (cluster III) and RC53 (cluster VIII) were found superior for oil content. These accessions may further be utilized in breeding programmes for evolving mustard varieties having high seed yield and oil content. Hierarchical cluster analysis resulted into ten clusters containing two to 26 accessions. The results of cluster and principal factor analyses were in confirmation of each other

Proteomic analysis of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) pollen

In flowering plants, pollen grains are produced in the anther and released to the external environment with the primary function of delivering sperm cells to the female gametophyte. This study was conducted to identify proteins in tomato pollen and to analyse their roles in relation to pollen function. Tomato is an important crop which is grown worldwide and is an excellent experimental system. Proteins were extracted from pollen, separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), and identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and peptide mass fingerprinting. Of the 960 spots observed on Colloidal Coomassie Blue (CCB)-stained 2-DE gels, 190 were selected for analysis. Of these, 158 spots, representing 133 distinct proteins, were identified by searching the NCBInr and Expressed Sequence Tag databases. The identified proteins were classified based on designated functions and the majority included those involved in defence mechanisms, energy conversions, protein synthesis and processing, cytoskeleton formation, Ca(2+) signalling, and as allergens. A number of proteins in tomato pollen were similar to those reported in the pollen of other species; however, several additional proteins with roles in defence mechanisms, metabolic processes, and hormone signalling were identified. The potential roles of the identified proteins in the survival strategy of the small, independent, two-celled pollen grain of tomato, and subsequently in pollen germination and tube growth are discussed

Growth analysis of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) under various levels of farmyard manure and phosphorus

Field investigations were carried out during winter (rabi) season of 1996-97 and 1997-98 to study the effect of different levels of farmyard manure and phosphorus on growth of two fenugreek genotypes in sandy loam soils. The results indicated that genotype NLM was significantly superior to HM-65 in terms of plant height, LAI, LAD CGR and dry matter accumulation at all stages of crop growth, except at 30 DAS. These growth parameters in the genotype NLM resulted in higher seed yield. Plant height, LAI, LAD, CGR and dry matter accumulation were significantly higher with increase of FYM upto 15 t ha-1 at all stages of crop growth, except at 30 DAS. Seed yield was also enhanced significantly with the FYM up to 15 t ha-1. Increasing levels of phosphorus upto 40 kg ha-1 significantly increased the growth parameters and yield of fenugreek. &nbsp

Growth analysis of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) under various levels of farmyard manure and phosphorus

Field investigations were carried out during winter (rabi) season of 1996-97 and 1997-98 to study the effect of different levels of farmyard manure and phosphorus on growth of two fenugreek genotypes in sandy loam soils. The results indicated that genotype NLM was significantly superior to HM-65 in terms of plant height, LAI, LAD CGR and dry matter accumulation at all stages of crop growth, except at 30 DAS. These growth parameters in the genotype NLM resulted in higher seed yield. Plant height, LAI, LAD, CGR and dry matter accumulation were significantly higher with increase of FYM upto 15 t ha-1 at all stages of crop growth, except at 30 DAS. Seed yield was also enhanced significantly with the FYM up to 15 t ha-1. Increasing levels of phosphorus upto 40 kg ha-1 significantly increased the growth parameters and yield of fenugreek. &nbsp

Proteome profile and functional classification of proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana (Landsberg erecta) mature pollen

Proteome analysis of mature Arabidopsis thaliana (Landsberg erecta ecotype) pollen was conducted using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. A total of 960 spots were resolved on pH 4–7 IPG strips and 110 distinct proteins were identified from 150 spots analyzed. The identified proteins were categorized based on their functional role in the pollen, which included proteins involved in energy regulation, defense-related mechanisms, calcium-binding and signaling, cytoskeletal formation, pollen allergens, glycine-rich proteins (GRPs), and late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins. These proteins potentially play important roles in pollen function at maturity and during subsequent germination and tube growth. Some of the proteins identified were related to known pollen-specific transcripts, while some were similar to proteins found in the seed. In this study, 66 new proteins were identified which were not reported in two other recent studies on Arabidopsis pollen, 17 proteins were common in all three studies, and 35 or 26 proteins reported here had an overlap with one or the other two studies. These differences may be attributed to the methods of protein extraction, spot selection for analysis, and the ecotype used. Together, the three studies provide a broad spectrum of the Arabidopsis pollen proteome

Influence of sowing time and phosphorus on, phenology, thermal requirement and yield of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) genotypes

Experiments were conducted at Hisar (Haryana, India) to study the effect of sowing time and phosphorus on phenology, thermal requirement and yield of two genotypes of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum). Genotype HM-65 performed better than T-8 with respect to yield and was more efficient in utilizing heat units. Delayed sowing resulted in significant reduction in time taken for initiation of flowering and maturity in both the genotypes. Thermal requirement decreased with delay in sowing in both the genotypes. Increasing levels of phosphorus up to 60 kg/ha significantly enhanced the yield but heat unit consumption slightly declined in both file genotypes. &nbsp

Impact of salinity on physiological and biochemical traits in pearl millet

Salinity is one of the most severe environmental factors limiting the productivity of agricultural crops in arid and semi-arid regions..

Cryptosporidium Priming Is More Effective than Vaccine for Protection against Cryptosporidiosis in a Murine Protein Malnutrition Model

Cryptosporidium is a major cause of severe diarrhea, especially in malnourished children. Using a murine model of C. parvum oocyst challenge that recapitulates clinical features of severe cryptosporidiosis during malnutrition, we interrogated the effect of protein malnutrition (PM) on primary and secondary responses to C. parvum challenge, and tested the differential ability of mucosal priming strategies to overcome the PM-induced susceptibility. We determined that while PM fundamentally alters systemic and mucosal primary immune responses to Cryptosporidium, priming with C. parvum (106 oocysts) provides robust protective immunity against re-challenge despite ongoing PM. C. parvum priming restores mucosal Th1-type effectors (CD3+CD8+CD103+ T-cells) and cytokines (IFNγ, and IL12p40) that otherwise decrease with ongoing PM. Vaccination strategies with Cryptosporidium antigens expressed in the S. Typhi vector 908htr, however, do not enhance Th1-type responses to C. parvum challenge during PM, even though vaccination strongly boosts immunity in challenged fully nourished hosts. Remote non-specific exposures to the attenuated S. Typhi vector alone or the TLR9 agonist CpG ODN-1668 can partially attenuate C. parvum severity during PM, but neither as effectively as viable C. parvum priming. We conclude that although PM interferes with basal and vaccine-boosted immune responses to C. parvum, sustained reductions in disease severity are possible through mucosal activators of host defenses, and specifically C. parvum priming can elicit impressively robust Th1-type protective immunity despite ongoing protein malnutrition. These findings add insight into potential correlates of Cryptosporidium immunity and future vaccine strategies in malnourished children

USPOREDNA RAČUNOVODSTVENA STRUKTURNA ANALIZA FINANCUSKIH IZVJEŠTAJA U DJELATNOSTI "HOTELI I RESTORANI" U CILJU EFIKASNIJEG UPRAVLJANJA

Djelatnost "Hoteli i restorani" sastoji se od nekoliko poddjelatnosti od kojih je najznačajnija "Hoteli". U radu se utvrđuju strukturni odnosi između pojedinih poddjelatnosti i financijsko stanje i profitabilnost poslovanja na razini djelatnosti i poddjelatnosti. Financijsko je stanje kod većina poddjelatnosti uneravnoteženo, što znači da nije uspostavljena ni dugoročna ni kratkoročna uravnoteženost. Profitabilnost pojedinih poddjelatnosti u razmatranom razdoblju je negativna. Sve to upućuje na zaključak da je stanje u djelatnosti "Hoteli i restorani" teško što podrazumijeva hitnu intervenciju na makro i na mikro području. Računovodstvena analiza je temelj na osnovu kojeg je moguće donijeti adekvatne odluke