Spot Landing: Determining the Light and Solar Properties of Fritted and Coated Glass

The use of ceramic fritted architectural glazing is becoming increasingly popular. “Fritted glass”, which is also known as “enamelled glass”, is defined as glass with a surface covering made of glass frit[1] that is applied by a printing method and fused to the glass substrate at elevated temperatures. The enamel coating may be continuous or consist of a discontinuous pattern such as spots or stripes. Functional thin-film coatings on glass have been used in standard glazing units for many years to improve thermal insulation or for solar control.  Specification of light and solar properties for these standard glazing types is well-defined and can be calculated on the basis of the algorithms specified in EN 410:2011 or ISO 9050:2003.  This is not the case for glazing that incorporates fritted glass, alone or in combination with functional thin-film coatings.  The paper initially describes the different printing options for fritted glass and the fundamental principles of functional thin-film coatings. When glass surfaces are coated with glass frit, it is essential to note that the light-scattering coatings transmit and reflect incident radiation not only directly but also diffusely. The same applies when functional thin-film coatings are combined with frit coatings. Suitable measurement methods to collect the scattered radiation, measured transmittance and reflectance spectra, and the calculation of light and solar properties on the basis of the EN 410:2011 standard are presented. At the same time, the limits of this standard and the need for its extension are demonstrated.   [1] Frit: a durable mixture of glass and ceramic particles, which may act as pigments

Optical properties of solar absorbers : results on Round Robin and guidelines

ABSTRACT: The scope of the standard ISO 22975-3:2014 is the determination of the long term behavior and service life of selective solar absorbers for use in vented flat plate collectors used in typical solar domestic hot water systems or combisystems. With this scope, this standard can be the basis for the certification of solar absorbers in the framework of Solar Keymark European Certification Scheme. Measurements of optical properties are fundamental to support this certification. Six test laboratories participated in a Round Robin test for the measurement of solar absorptance and thermal emittance of different absorber coatings. The samples used were one PVD coating and two selective paint coatings all on aluminum substrates. The results were submitted anonymously and were analyzed according to standard ISO 13528:2015. The results obtained showed good agreement among the measurements made by the participants and allowed the preparation of guidelines to guarantee quality of the measurements of optical properties of solar absorbers. A proposal to include absorber coatings in the Solar Keymark certification scheme was prepared.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Toward a better understanding of fish‐based contribution to ocean carbon flux

publishedVersio

Tuberculosis diagnostics and biomarkers: needs, challenges, recent advances, and opportunities

Tuberculosis is unique among the major infectious diseases in that it lacks accurate rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests. Failure to control the spread of tuberculosis is largely due to our inability to detect and treat all infectious cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in a timely fashion, allowing continued Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission within communities. Currently recommended gold-standard diagnostic tests for tuberculosis are laboratory based, and multiple investigations may be necessary over a period of weeks or months before a diagnosis is made. Several new diagnostic tests have recently become available for detecting active tuberculosis disease, screening for latent M. tuberculosis infection, and identifying drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. However, progress toward a robust point-of-care test has been limited, and novel biomarker discovery remains challenging. In the absence of effective prevention strategies, high rates of early case detection and subsequent cure are required for global tuberculosis control. Early case detection is dependent on test accuracy, accessibility, cost, and complexity, but also depends on the political will and funder investment to deliver optimal, sustainable care to those worst affected by the tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus epidemics. This review highlights unanswered questions, challenges, recent advances, unresolved operational and technical issues, needs, and opportunities related to tuberculosis diagnostics

Development and preliminary validation of the 'Caring for Country' questionnaire: measurement of an Indigenous Australian health determinant

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>'Caring for Country' is defined as Indigenous participation in interrelated activities with the objective of promoting ecological and human health. Ecological services on Indigenous-owned lands are belatedly attracting some institutional investment. However, the health outcomes associated with Indigenous participation in 'caring for country' activities have never been investigated. The aims of this study were to pilot and validate a questionnaire measuring caring for country as an Indigenous health determinant and to relate it to an external reference, obesity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Purposively sampled participants were 301 Indigenous adults aged 15 to 54 years, recruited during a cross-sectional program of preventive health checks in a remote Australian community. Questionnaire validation was undertaken with psychometric tests of internal consistency, reliability, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory one-factor congeneric modelling. Accurate item weightings were derived from the model and used to create a single weighted composite score for caring for country. Multiple linear regression modelling was used to test associations between the caring for country score and body mass index adjusting for socio-demographic factors and health behaviours.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The questionnaire demonstrated adequate internal consistency, test-retest validity and proxy-respondent validity. Exploratory factor analysis of the 'caring for country' items produced a single factor solution that was confirmed via one-factor congeneric modelling. A significant and substantial association between greater participation in caring for country activities and lower body mass index was demonstrated. Adjusting for socio-demographic factors and health behaviours, an inter-quartile range rise in caring for country scores was associated with 6.1 Kg and 5.3 Kg less body weight for non-pregnant women and men respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study indicates preliminary support for the validity of the caring for country concept and a questionnaire designed to measure it. This study also highlights the importance of investigating Indigenous-asserted health promotion activities. Further studies in similar populations are merited to test the generalisability of this questionnaire and to explore associations with other important Indigenous health outcomes.</p

Polyfunctional CD4 T-cells correlate with in vitro mycobacterial growth inhibition following Mycobacterium bovis BCG-vaccination of infants

Background: Vaccination with Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) protects infants against childhood tuberculosis however the immune mechanisms involved are not well understood. Further elucidation of the infant immune response to BCG will aid with the identification of immune correlates of protection against tuberculosis and with the design of new improved vaccines. The purpose of this study was to investigate BCG-induced CD4+ T-cell responses in blood samples from infants for cytokine secretion profiles thought to be important for protection against tuberculosis and compare these to PBMC-mediated in vitro mycobacterial growth inhibition. Methods: Blood from BCG-vaccinated or unvaccinated infants was stimulated overnight with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) purified protein derivative (PPD) or controls and intracellular cytokine staining and flow cytometry used to measure CD4+ T-cell responses. PBMC cryopreserved at the time of sample collection were thawed and incubated with live BCG for four days following which inhibition of BCG growth was determined. Results: PPD-specific IFNc+TNFa+IL-2+CD4+ T-cells represented the dominant T-cell response at 4 months and 1 year after infant BCG. These responses were undetectable in age-matched unvaccinated infants. IL-17+ CD4+ T-cells were significantly more frequent in vaccinated infants at 4 months but not at 1-year post-BCG. PBMC-mediated inhibition of mycobacterial growth was significantly enhanced at 4 months post-BCG as compared to unvaccinated controls. In an analysis of all samples with both datasets available, mycobacterial growth inhibition correlated significantly with the frequency of polyfunctional (IFNc+TNFa+IL-2+) CD4+ T-cells. Conclusions: These data suggest that BCG vaccination of infants induces specific polyfunctional T-helper-1 and T-helper-17 responses and the ability, in the PBMC compartment, to inhibit the growth of mycobacteria in vitro. We also demonstrate that polyfunctional T-helper-1 cells may play a role in growth inhibition as evidenced by a significant correlation between the two.This work was supported by the European Commission within the 7th framework program (FP7) NEWTBVAC (Grant No. HEALTH-F3-2009-241745), by the European Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (Grant No. TBVI-12 NORAD) and by the European Commission within Horizon2020 TBVAC2020 (Grant No. H2020 PHC- 643381)

Ten-year mortality, disease progression, and treatment-related side effects in men with localised prostate cancer from the ProtecT randomised controlled trial according to treatment received

Background The ProtecT trial reported intention-to-treat analysis of men with localised prostate cancer randomly allocated to active monitoring (AM), radical prostatectomy, and external beam radiotherapy. Objective To report outcomes according to treatment received in men in randomised and treatment choice cohorts. Design, setting, and participants This study focuses on secondary care. Men with clinically localised prostate cancer at one of nine UK centres were invited to participate in the treatment trial comparing AM, radical prostatectomy, and radiotherapy. Intervention Two cohorts included 1643 men who agreed to be randomised and 997 who declined randomisation and chose treatment. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Analysis was carried out to assess mortality, metastasis and progression and health-related quality of life impacts on urinary, bowel, and sexual function using patient-reported outcome measures. Analysis was based on comparisons between groups defined by treatment received for both randomised and treatment choice cohorts in turn, with pooled estimates of intervention effect obtained using meta-analysis. Differences were estimated with adjustment for known prognostic factors using propensity scores. Results and limitations According to treatment received, more men receiving AM died of PCa (AM 1.85%, surgery 0.67%, radiotherapy 0.73%), whilst this difference remained consistent with chance in the randomised cohort (p = 0.08); stronger evidence was found in the exploratory analyses (randomised plus choice cohort) when AM was compared with the combined radical treatment group (p = 0.003). There was also strong evidence that metastasis (AM 5.6%, surgery 2.4%, radiotherapy 2.7%) and disease progression (AM 20.35%, surgery 5.87%, radiotherapy 6.62%) were more common in the AM group. Compared with AM, there were higher risks of sexual dysfunction (95% at 6 mo) and urinary incontinence (55% at 6 mo) after surgery, and of sexual dysfunction (88% at 6 mo) and bowel dysfunction (5% at 6 mo) after radiotherapy. The key limitations are the potential for bias when comparing groups defined by treatment received and changes in the protocol for AM during the lengthy follow-up required in trials of screen-detected PCa. Conclusions Analyses according to treatment received showed increased rates of disease-related events and lower rates of patient-reported harms in men managed by AM compared with men managed by radical treatment, and stronger evidence of greater PCa mortality in the AM group. Patient summary More than 95 out of every 100 men with low or intermediate risk localised prostate cancer do not die of prostate cancer within 10 yr, irrespective of whether treatment is by means of monitoring, surgery, or radiotherapy. Side effects on sexual and bladder function are better after active monitoring, but the risks of spreading of prostate cancer are more common