Improving the Energy Efficiency of Fero House Home of Alpha Delta Phi

As our country continues to grow and prosper we are faced with a growing number of environmental issues. While many of these issues were ignored in the pursuit of economic growth, we are now facing the harsh realities of our unmitigated expansion. The continual mining and use of fossil fuels has scarred our landscapes, polluted our air, and contaminated our waterways. Our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions are higher than ever and contributing heavily to global warming. With the United States’ population constantly on the rise and projected to hit 350 million in little over a decade1, it appears that our situation will only get worse unless some major changes are carried out. Unfortunately, change rarely comes when it is not profitable. Both companies and consumers are driven by profits. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Such a mentality has helped sculpt the United States into the most prosperous country in the world. If we did not continually aim to grow and develop we would not have many of the luxuries we have today in western civilization. While this has lead to massive amounts of environmental degradation in the past and to this day, we are now seeing a switch in mentality due to a switch in economics. People are beginning to understand the benefits of efficiency as well as conservation because it saves them money. The latest recession, while highly detrimental to our economy and our citizens, has further illustrated the value of conservation as people are becoming more conscious of their actions such as the food they purchase or the miles they drive.2 Increasing the efficiency of our everyday appliances and electronics does a great deal to save energy. Everyday more and more products are being labeled Energy Star, meaning they generally use 20-30% less energy than required by federal standards.3 These standards for energy efficiency did not come into existence in the United States until the early 1990s but have since been adopted by other countries such as Canada, Australia, and Japan. While Energy Star products typically cost more than their competition, they tend to be cheaper in the long run due to lower rates of energy consumption. The recent rise in energy prices only makes Energy Star products more economically viable in the marketplace. Besides increasing the efficiency of everyday devices, companies and families are beginning to realize both the economic and environmental benefits of increasing efficiency in their buildings. In 2009, residential buildings accounted for 22% of our nation’s total energy consumption while commercial buildings accounted for 19%.4 Buildings not only require an immense amount of energy and material to build, but after they are built require a constant input of energy in the form of heat and electricity. Using these inputs more efficiently has the potential to save billions of BTUs and thousands of megawatt hours which in turn would significantly curb the amount of greenhouse gases put into our atmosphere. Our nation has not had much experience with creating efficient housing. In the 1950’s after WWII there was a brief call for “solar homes” in the United States to help accommodate the soldiers returning home. These houses utilized south facing windows and tight framework in order to keep power consumption low, an idea sparked by the conserving attitude our nation adopted on the home front during the war. Unfortunately during this time electricity prices were ridiculously cheap and the “solar home” movement quickly died. In their place came large, inefficient houses that consumed much more heat and power. As electricity and heating prices are now rising, we see a call for such energy-efficient houses that were once regarded as unnecessary decades ago. “Solar homes” are a prime example of how the economy drives our development

Invasive Obstetric Procedures and Cesarean Sections in Women With Known Herpes Simplex Virus Status During Pregnancy.

BackgroundNeonatal herpes is a potentially devastating infection that results from acquisition of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 or 2 from the maternal genital tract at the time of vaginal delivery. Current guidelines recommend (1) cesarean delivery if maternal genital HSV lesions are present at the time of labor and (2) antiviral suppressive therapy for women with known genital herpes to decrease HSV shedding from the genital tract at the time of vaginal delivery. However, most neonatal infections occur in infants born to women without a history of genital HSV, making current prevention efforts ineffective for this group. Although routine serologic HSV testing of women during pregnancy could identify women at higher risk of intrapartum viral shedding, it is uncertain how this knowledge might impact intrapartum management, and a potential concern is a higher rate of cesarean sections among women known to be HSV-2 seropositive.MethodsTo assess the effects of prenatal HSV-2 antibody testing, history of genital herpes, and use of suppressive antiviral medication on the intrapartum management of women, we investigated the frequency of invasive obstetric procedures and cesarean deliveries. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of pregnant women delivering at the University of Washington Medical center in Seattle, Washington. We defined the exposure of interest as HSV-2 antibody positivity or known history of genital herpes noted in prenatal records. The primary outcome was intrapartum procedures including fetal scalp electrode, artificial rupture of membranes, intrauterine pressure catheter, or operative vaginal delivery (vacuum or forceps). The secondary outcome was incidence of cesarean birth. Univariate and multivariable logistic regressions were performed.ResultsFrom a total of 449 women included in the analysis, 97 (21.6%) were HSV-2 seropositive or had a history of genital herpes (HSV-2/GH). Herpes simplex virus-2/GH women not using suppressive antiviral therapy were less likely to undergo intrapartum procedures than women without HSV-2/GH (odds ratio [OR], 0.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25-0.95; P = .036), but this relationship was attenuated after adjustment for potential confounders (adjusted OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.34-1.41; P = .31). There was no difference in intrapartum procedures for women on suppressive therapy versus women without HSV-2/GH (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.66-2.07; P = .60). Similar proportions of cesarean sections were performed within each group of women: 25% without history of HSV-2/GH, 30% on suppressive treatment, and 28.1% without suppressive treatment (global, P = .73).ConclusionsIn this single-site study, provider awareness of genital herpes infection either by HSV serotesting or history was associated with fewer invasive obstetric procedures shown to be associated with neonatal herpes, but it was not associated with an increased rate of cesarean birth

Electrical transport properties of single-crystal CaB6, SrB6, and BaB6

The electrical resistivity and Hall effect of alkaline-earth-metal hexaboride single crystals are measured as a function of temperature, hydrostatic pressure, and magnetic field. The transport properties vary weakly with the external parameters and are modeled in terms of intrinsic variable-valence defects. These defects can stay either in (1) delocalized shallow levels or in (2) localized levels resonant with the conduction band, which can be neutral or negatively charged. Satisfactory agreement is obtained for electronic transport properties in a broad temperature and pressure range, although fitting the magnetoresistance is less straightforward and a combination of various mechanisms is needed to explain the field and temperature dependences.We acknowledge support from Grant No. MAT2012-38213-C02-01 from the Ministerio de Economía y Competividad of Spain. Additional support from Diputacion General de Aragon (DGA-CAMRADS) is also acknowledged. Work at Los Alamos was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Science and Engineering. P.F.S.R. acknowledges a Director’s Postdoctoral Fellowship through the LANL LDRD program. P.S. acknowledges the support by the U.S. Department of Energy (BES) under Grant No. DE-FG02-98ER45707.Peer Reviewe

Competition of IL-1 and IL-1ra determines lymphocyte response to delayed stimulation with PHA.

BACKGROUND: Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) left in microcultures for 24h without mitogen do not respond to subsequent stimulation with PHA. They regain reactivity if the native culture medium is absorbed with other party lymphocytes or partially replaced with the medium from a PHA-stimulated culture. The observations suggest that, during the incubation, some inhibitory agent had accumulated in the culture medium. AIM: The study was performed to determine the nature of the observed phenomenon in respect of the possible role of monocytes and their products IL-1 and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), and to test for immunodiagnostic purposes the significance of quantifying the lymphocyte response to delayed stimulation with PHA in patients suffering from inflammatory prosesses. METHODS: Lymphocyte response to delayed stimulation with PHA, calculated as the lymphocyte-monokine interaction (LM) index, was determined in the microcultures of PBMC isolated from the blood of healthy donors or of patients with acute tonsilitis. The values of LM indices were compared with the ratios of IL-1ra/IL-1beta concentration estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method in the culture supernatants. The influences of exogenous IL-1beta, IL-1ra, anti-IL1ra antibodies and antibiotic cefaclor on the monokine concentrations and on the values of LM index were tested. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the level of lymphocyte response to delayed stimulation with PHA (LM index) is inversely proportional to the ratio of IL-1ra/IL-1beta concentration in the culture. The low LM values at high IL-1ra/IL-1beta ratios in PBMC cultures from healthy donors, reversed proportions found in patients' PBMC (acute tonsilitis), and the cefaclor-induced reduction of LM value with correlated increase of the IL-1ra/IL-1beta ratio suggest that the LM assay may prove to be useful for immunodiagnostic purposes

Individual athletes’ biomechanical features of interaction with objects in art gymnastics

Purpose: To design a biomechanical model of interaction of athlete with the subject, as well as the development of areas of its use in practice. Material: The study involved 10 students - athletes. Results: The presented computational schemes create direction of flight of different items (rope, hoop, ball, ribbon, clubs). The characteristics of the time of flight trajectories and with regard for the resistance force of the air environment. Shows the influence of initial parameters on departure flight time items. Graphic characteristics are presented trajectories of objects depending on the parameters of their departure. Conclusions: It is recommended to improve the judicial assessment and effective implementation gymnast exercises during the flight characteristics of the various items to consider trajectories of objects. Note that age, height and distance from the athletes at the end of the flight object defined biomechanical characteristics that can realize an athlete: absolute initial velocity of departure, departure angle, height of the center of mass manufacture items

Synchrotron radiation photoionization mass spectrometry of laser ablated species

The present paper describes an experimental apparatus suitable to create and study free clusters by combining laser ablation and synchrotron radiation. First tests on sulfur samples, S, showed the production, through laser ablation, of neutral Sn clusters (n = 1–8). These clusters were ionized using synchrotron radiation at photon energies from 160 eV to 175 eV, across the S 2p core edge. The feasibility of such combined ablation–synchrotron radiation experiments is demonstrated, opening new possibilities on the investigation of free clusters and radical

On-site early-warning system for bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)

<p>In this work, the development of an on-site early warning system for Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) is outlined. Several low cost sensors equipped with MEMS accelerometers are installed in eight buildings distributed within the urban area. The different sensing units communicate each other via wireless links and the seismic data are streamed in real-time to the data center using internet. Since each single sensing unit has computing capabilities, software for data processing can be installed to perform decentralized actions. In particular, each sensing unit can perform event detection task and run software for on-site early warning. If a description for the vulnerability of the building is uploaded in the sensing unit, this piece of information can be exploited to introduce the expected probability of damage in the early-warning protocol customized for a specific structure.</p

Primary structure and electrophysiological characterization of two almost identical isoforms of toxin from Isometrus vittatus (family: Buthidae) scorpion venom.

Two almost identical proteins with 70 amino acid residues each, closely packed by four disufide bridges, and molecular masses of 7899.5 and 7884.7 were isolated and sequenced from the venom of the scorpion Isometrus vittatus from Pakistan. They differ by an acidic amino acid residue (glutamic or aspartic) at the same position 55 of the peptide chain, however, they exhibit the same length, the same charge and are undistinguishable when separated by C(18) reverse phase HPLC. The mixture of the two proteins called IsomTx1 depolarizes the cockroach isolated axon; artificial repolarization is followed by sustained repetitive activity, artificial hyperpolarization facilitates bursting activity observed as an answer to rapid depolarization to -60 mV. The depolarization is antagonized by TTX. In voltage-clamp experiments IsomTx1 increases axonal sodium permeability which has a particular importance between resting and threshold potentials and moderately slows down the fast inactivation. These characteristics closely resemble those of other anti-insect scorpion toxins classified as contractive toxins from Androctonus and Buthotus venoms

Field-Induced Magnetization Steps in Intermetallic Compounds and Manganese Oxides: The Martensitic Scenario

Field-induced magnetization jumps with similar characteristics are observed at low temperature for the intermetallic germanide Gd5Ge4and the mixed-valent manganite Pr0.6Ca0.4Mn0.96Ga0.04O3. We report that the field location -and even the existence- of these jumps depends critically on the magnetic field sweep rate used to record the data. It is proposed that, for both compounds, the martensitic character of their antiferromagnetic-to-ferromagnetic transitions is at the origin of the magnetization steps.Comment: 4 pages,4 figure