839 research outputs found
Cooling is hotting up in the UK
The cooling of buildings is currently responsible for about 20% of total electricity use worldwide. It is estimated that the electricity needed for cooling will more than triple by 2050. Despite this concerning outlook, little attention has been paid to cooling demand in policy and research in the United Kingdom (UK). The demand for space cooling in the UK’s domestic and non-domestic buildings is currently small—about 10% of total electricity use. However, this has the potential to increase as the climate warms and expectations of comfort grow. This paper reviews UK cooling demand and how this has been considered in energy policy. Following a thorough review of the existing literature using a cooling decarbonisation framework (Avoid, Improve and Shift), it is clear there is a limited understanding of the future UK cooling demand for domestic buildings in a warmer future as well as how policy makers and households should act. More importantly, this sector appears under-represented in the UK research and policy landscape compared to heating despite obvious technological crossovers associated with electrification. Several policy and research recommendations have been made based on these findings
Developing a Research Agenda for Adult Palliative Care: A Modified Delphi Study
Background: Little is known about research priorities in adult palliative care. Identifying research priorities for adult palliative care will help in increasing research quality and translation. Objective: The aim was to identify the views of health professionals' research priorities in adult palliative care that lead to development of a palliative care research agenda in Australia. Design: A modified three-round Delphi survey. Setting/Subjects: Palliative care researchers and clinicians in Australia were invited to participate. Results: A total of 25 panelists completed round 1, 14 completed round 2, and 13 completed round 3. Round 1 resulted in 90 research priorities in 13 categories. Round 2 showed consensus agreement on 19/90 research priorities. Round 3 resulted in the top 10 research priorities of the 19 achieving consensus in round 2. Panelists agreed that research is needed on the transition to palliative care; improving communication about prognosis; increasing access to palliative care for indigenous communities, people who wish to remain at home, and people in aged care; addressing family caregivers' needs; promoting patients' and families' decision making; improving cross-cultural aspects of palliative care; determining the effects of assisted dying legislation; and improving bereavement care in rural, remote, and Aboriginal populations. Conclusions: The expert panelists identified the top 10 research priorities for adult palliative care. These identified research priorities are the most urgent topics requiring attention to increase the quality of life of patients requiring palliative care and their family members
Experimental evidence of a natural parity state in Mg and its impact to the production of neutrons for the s process
We have studied natural parity states in Mg via the
Ne(Li,d)Mg reaction. Our method significantly improves the
energy resolution of previous experiments and, as a result, we report the
observation of a natural parity state in Mg. Possible spin-parity
assignments are suggested on the basis of published -ray decay
experiments. The stellar rate of the Ne(,)Mg
reaction is reduced and may give rise to an increase in the production of
s-process neutrons via the Ne(,n)Mg reaction.Comment: Published in PR
The thermonuclear rate for the 19F(a,p)22Ne reaction at stellar temperatures
The F(,p)Ne reaction is considered to be one of the
main sources of fluorine depletion in AGB and Wolf-Rayet stars. The reaction
rate still retains large uncertainties due to the lack of experimental studies
available. In this work the yields for both exit channels to the ground state
and first excited state of Ne have been measured and several previously
unobserved resonances have been found in the energy range E=792-1993
keV. The level parameters have been determined through a detailed R-matrix
analysis of the reaction data and a new reaction rate is provided on the basis
of the available experimental information.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys Rev.
Dynamical complexity of discrete time regulatory networks
Genetic regulatory networks are usually modeled by systems of coupled
differential equations and by finite state models, better known as logical
networks, are also used. In this paper we consider a class of models of
regulatory networks which present both discrete and continuous aspects. Our
models consist of a network of units, whose states are quantified by a
continuous real variable. The state of each unit in the network evolves
according to a contractive transformation chosen from a finite collection of
possible transformations, according to a rule which depends on the state of the
neighboring units. As a first approximation to the complete description of the
dynamics of this networks we focus on a global characteristic, the dynamical
complexity, related to the proliferation of distinguishable temporal behaviors.
In this work we give explicit conditions under which explicit relations between
the topological structure of the regulatory network, and the growth rate of the
dynamical complexity can be established. We illustrate our results by means of
some biologically motivated examples.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figure
Mutant mitochondrial elongation factor G1 and combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency
Although most components of the mitochondrial translation apparatus are encoded by nuclear genes, all known molecular defects associated with impaired mitochondrial translation are due to mutations in mitochondrial DNA. We investigated two siblings with a severe defect in mitochondrial translation, reduced levels of oxidative phosphorylation complexes containing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)–encoded subunits, and progressive hepatoencephalopathy. We mapped the defective gene to a region on chromosome 3q containing elongation factor G1 (EFG1), which encodes a mitochondrial translation factor. Sequencing of EFG1 revealed a mutation affecting a conserved residue of the guanosine triphosphate (GTP)–binding domain. These results define a new class of gene defects underlying disorders of oxidative phosphorylation
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