Implementing the use of operational data in buildings

This paper considers how Operational Data might address both legislative and operational requirements from the viewpoint of an operational estate. It is framed within the context of the IEE iSERVcmb project procedures for describing operational energy data against the building activities and assets. The observations and findings from the paper show that there appear no practical reasons why the same operational data should not be used to show compliance with legislative procedures, if these were to be framed appropriately, and to provide the detailed information needed to enable action to achieve efficiency improvements in an Estate. The paper shows the significant measured energy savings possible from the use of Operational Data, as well as the ability to understand the physical estate more accurately. The work is based on characterizing utility use in an Operational Estate by reference to performance achieved in other operational buildings, but the procedure could be used to characterize any efficiency measure with practical derived metrics

Is tagging with visual implant elastomer a reliable technique for marking earthworms?

Visual implant elastomer (VIE) has recently been employed to investigate different aspects of earthworm ecology. However, a number of fundamental questions relating to the detection and positioning of the tag, its persistence and potential effects on earthworms remain unknown. Seven earthworm species belonging to three ecological groupings, with different pigmentation and burrowing behaviour, were tagged using different coloured VIE. External inspection after two days, one week and 1, 10 and 27 months were followed by preservation, dissection and internal inspection. Tags could be seen in living specimens to 27 months, and dissection revealed that in most cases they were lodged in the coelomic cavity, held in place by septa. However, over longer time periods (more than two years), the chlorogogenous tissue tended to bind to the tags and made external observation increasingly difficult. Migration of the VIE material towards the posterior of the earthworm and potential loss of the tag were only observed on rare occasions, and a recovery rate in excess of 98% was recorded. By introducing a reasonable amount of VIE into segments, just after the clitellum, this technique can become a valuable tool in earthworm ecology and life history studies, particularly in short-medium term laboratory and field experiments

Developmental programming modulates olfactory behavior in C. elegans via endogenous RNAi pathways

Environmental stress during early development can impact adult phenotypes via programmed changes in gene expression. C. elegans larvae respond to environmental stress by entering the stress-resistant dauer diapause pathway and resume development once conditions improve (postdauers). Here we show that the osm-9 TRPV channel gene is a target of developmental programming and is down-regulated specifically in the ADL chemosensory neurons of postdauer adults, resulting in a corresponding altered olfactory behavior that is mediated by ADL in an OSM-9-dependent manner. We identify a cis-acting motif bound by the DAF-3 SMAD and ZFP-1 (AF10) proteins that is necessary for the differential regulation of osm-9, and demonstrate that both chromatin remodeling and endo-siRNA pathways are major contributors to the transcriptional silencing of the osm-9 locus. This work describes an elegant mechanism by which developmental experience influences adult phenotypes by establishing and maintaining transcriptional changes via RNAi and chromatin remodeling pathways.1

Evolution of anterior Hox regulatory elements among chordates

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The <it>Hox </it>family of transcription factors has a fundamental role in segmentation pathways and axial patterning of embryonic development and their clustered organization is linked with the regulatory mechanisms governing their coordinated expression along embryonic axes. Among chordates, of particular interest are the <it>Hox </it>paralogous genes in groups 1-4 since their expression is coupled to the control of regional identity in the anterior nervous system, where the highest structural diversity is observed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To investigate the degree of conservation in <it>cis</it>-regulatory components that form the basis of <it>Hox </it>expression in the anterior nervous system, we have used assays for transcriptional activity in ascidians and vertebrates to compare and contrast regulatory potential. We identified four regulatory sequences located near the <it>CiHox1, CiHox2 </it>and <it>CiHox4 </it>genes of the ascidian <it>Ciona intestinalis </it>which direct neural specific domains of expression. Using functional assays in <it>Ciona </it>and vertebrate embryos in combination with sequence analyses of enhancer fragments located in similar positions adjacent to <it>Hox </it>paralogy group genes, we compared the activity of these four <it>Ciona cis</it>-elements with a series of neural specific enhancers from the amphioxus <it>Hox1-3 </it>genes and from mouse <it>Hox </it>paralogous groups 1-4.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This analysis revealed that Kreisler and Krox20 dependent enhancers critical in segmental regulation of the hindbrain appear to be specific for the vertebrate lineage. In contrast, neural enhancers that function as <it>Hox </it>response elements through the action of Hox/Pbx binding motifs have been conserved during chordate evolution. The functional assays reveal that these <it>Hox </it>response <it>cis</it>-elements are recognized by the regulatory components of different and extant species. Together, our results indicate that during chordate evolution, <it>cis</it>-elements dependent upon Hox/Pbx regulatory complexes, are responsible for key aspects of segmental <it>Hox </it>expression in neural tissue and appeared with urochordates after cephalochordate divergence.</p

Re-examining the decline in the US saving rate: The impact of mortgage equity withdrawal

In this paper we examine the role of mortgage equity withdrawal in explaining the decline of the US saving rate, since when house prices rise and mortgage rates are low, homeowners have an incentive to withdraw housing equity and this may affect the saving rate. We estimate a Vector Error Correction (VEC) model including the sav- ing rate, asset prices, equity withdrawal and interest rates and find that indeed mortgage equity withdrawal is a key determinant of the observed saving pattern

Business cycles, international trade and capital flows: Evidence from Latin America

This paper adopts a flexible framework to assess both short- and long-run business cycle linkages between six Latin American (LA) countries and the four largest economies in the world (namely the US, the Euro area, Japan and China) over the period 1980:I-2011:IV. The result indicate that within the LA region there are considerable differences between countries, success stories coexisting with extremely vulnerable economies. They also show that the LA region as a whole is largely dependent on external developments, especially in the years after the great recession of 2008 and 2009. The trade channel appears to be the most important source of business cycle comovement, whilst capital flows are found to have a limited role, especially in the very short run