Rethinking User Behaviour Comfort Patterns in the South of Spain—What Users Really Do

Although energy analysis techniques can contribute to substantial energy savings in housing stock retrofitting operations, the outcomes often deviate significantly from the predicted results, which tend to overestimate potential savings by overestimating the starting energy baselines, particularly in southern Europe. This deviation can be largely attributed to occupant practice relating to the use of air conditioning facilities and the temperatures at which occupants feel comfortable. The patterns observed differed widely from standard values. In this study environmental variables, primarily indoor air temperature both with and without HVAC, were monitored in occupied dwellings for a full year. The data gathered were supplemented with surveys on occupants’ temperature-related behaviour to define comfort patterns. The findings show that the standards in place are not consistent with actual comfort-accepted patterns in medium- to low-income housing in southern Spain, where energy consumption was observed to be lower than expected, mostly because occupants endure unsuitable, even unhealthy, conditions over long periods of time. A new user profile, better adjusted to practice in southern Europe, particularly in social housing, is proposed to reflect the current situation

RECOVERY FROM ACUTE TOLUENE INTOXICATION IS FACILITATED BY THE NMDA RECEPTOR CO-AGONIST D-SERINE, BUT NOT THE GABAA RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST PICROTOXIN

Toluene is a volatile solvent found in many household products and when intentionally inhaled results in intoxication. In rats, acute inhalation of toluene results in sedation and neurological impairments, with marked increases in ambulation and vertical behaviour during the recovery period. Previous in vitro research has shown that toluene may exert its effects by inhibiting NMDA receptors, and / or by activating GABAA receptors. To test whether modulation of these receptors are also implicated in the changes in motor behaviour and neurological impairments resulting from toluene vapour inhalation, rats were injected with the NMDA receptor co-agonist D-serine (1000 mg/kg i.p.), the GABAA antagonist picrotoxin (0.05 mg/kg i.p.), or saline, and then received whole-body exposures to either 15 or 30 min of an abuse-relevant concentration of toluene vapour (~ 5000 ppm). Open field behaviours including locomotion, rearing, and grooming as well as neurological impairments were quantified before and after toluene vapour inhalation. The results indicate that D-serine increases the speed of recovery from ambulatory and neurological impairments following 30 min (but not 15 min) exposure to toluene, suggesting an important role for NMDA receptors in the behavioural impairments induced by prolonged toluene intoxication. In contrast, picrotoxin did not affect recovery from toluene intoxication, suggesting that GABAA receptors are not implicated in the effects of toluene vapor inhalation, at least at the dose of toluene and exposure durations tested

Equal Protection for Juveniles: the Present Status of Sex-Based Discrimination in Juvenile Court Laws

The authors of this Article are concerned with sex-based discrimination in juvenile court laws. They first analyze those state laws that are sexually discriminatory and then explore the possibility of attacking these laws under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. Finally, the potential impact of the Equal Rights Amendment upon these laws is discussed

Translation and Its Linguistic Implications for Yoruba/ English Bilinguals.

No doubt, translation has become an area of interest in linguistic research, especially, applied linguistics. Although, translation cuts across languages, yet, it is an ancient concept which is still relevant in day to day activities of people especially in media, politics, religion and education. It is against this background that this paper attempted to investigate major linguistic implications of translation on the linguistic system of individuals and society through the case study of students that are Yoruba-English bilinguals in Ondo State, Nigeria. In the course of our investigation, we observed that most of the challenges associated with translation are not problems as perceived by bilinguals but linguistic implications which cannot but manifest, at the same time, acknowledging that errors do manifest on the part of Yoruba-English bilinguals. The paper concluded on the note that the linguistic implications of translation are features associated with bilingualism. Keywords: Bilingualism, language, society, interference, codeswitching

The Moral, Social and Political Decadence in the Nigerian Society: A Case Study of Femi Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel.

The moral, social and political decadence in the Nigerian society since independence in 1960 cannot be over emphasized.  Since attainment of independence, all the facets of the Nigerian nation are decayed, totally in shamble and in a sorry state.  At the age of fifty years plus, nothing can be said to be moving forward in the country whereas other developing countries like Nigeria are fast growing technologically, producing enormous goods for global consumption while our country still gropes in the dark as the text reveals “we are in for a long night”. This paper focuses on the decadence in the country, using Femi Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel as a case study.  The drama piece vividly captures most decay be it moral, social, political in the county

LINX®, a novel treatment for patients with refractory asthma complicated by gastroesophageal reflux disease: a case report.

BackgroundGastroesophageal reflux disease is one of the most common comorbidities in patients with asthma. Gastroesophageal reflux disease can be linked to difficult-to-control asthma. Current management includes gastric acid suppression therapy and surgical antireflux procedures. The LINX® procedure is a novel surgical treatment for patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease refractory to medical therapy. To the best of our knowledge, we report the first case of successful treatment of refractory asthma secondary to gastroesophageal reflux disease using the LINX® procedure.Case presentationOur patient was a 22-year-old white woman who met the American Thoracic Society criteria for refractory asthma that had remained poorly controlled for 5 years despite progressive escalation to step 6 treatment as recommended by National Institutes of Health-National Asthma Education and Prevention Program guidelines, including high-dose oral corticosteroids, high-dose inhaled corticosteroid plus long-acting β2-agonist, leukotriene receptor antagonist, and monthly omalizumab. Separate trials with azithromycin therapy and roflumilast did not improve her asthma control, nor did bronchial thermoplasty help. Additional consultations with two other university health systems left the patient with few treatment options for asthma, which included cyclophosphamide. Instead, the patient underwent a LINX® procedure after failure of maximal medical therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease with the additional aim of improving asthma control. After she underwent LINX® treatment, her asthma improved dramatically and was no longer refractory. She had normal exhaled nitric oxide levels and loss of peripheral eosinophilia after LINX® treatment. Prednisone was discontinued without loss of asthma control. The only immediate adverse effects due to the LINX® procedure were bloating, nausea, and vomiting.ConclusionsLINX® is a viable alternative to the Nissen fundoplication procedure for the treatment of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease and poorly controlled concomitant refractory asthma

Influence of Employee Recognition on Organizational Performance in FMCGs in Kenya

Globalization and other change drivers in the world mean that especially now more than ever, organizations have to strive to remain relevant, easily recognizable and profitable. FMCGs around the globe find they are just as vulnerable to changes in the market and the stake they hold could easily be lost to a competitor in a similar niche. The purpose of the study was to establish the influence of employee recognition on organizational performance in FMCGs in Kenya. A descriptive research design was adapted involving the staff of Nairobi Coca cola Bottlers Limited. The data obtained was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. The study established that employee recognition has significant influence on how organizations will perform and recommends that FMCGs who wish to get higher results from their human resources should consider how well they recommend their staff as this enhance s their organization performance. Keywords: FMCGs, Sub Saharan Africa, Organizational performance, Employee Recognition, Nairobi Coca Cola Bottlers Limite

Mathematical Tasks as Boundary Objects in Design-Based Implementation Research

This paper describes a collaboration involving school district curriculum supervisors, mathematics teachers, university researchers, and web engineers engaged in design-based implementation research of the adaptation of an Algebra 1 curriculum to meet the demands of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. In this effort, mathematical tasks operated as a boundary object, acting to organize cooperative work despite a lack of consensus regarding their meaning or purpose. Exposing and understanding this lack of consensus during joint work at community boundaries provided opportunities for learning in the form of changed practice and activity. Evidence for learning through coordination is presented, such as the communication of curricular vision and the routinization of a task rating process. Where lack of consensus led to potential conflict, as in the case of task adaptation, evidence for learning in the form of new practices was less evident