A METHODOLOGY FOR ENERGY OPTIMIZATION OF BUILDINGS CONSIDERING SIMULTANEOUSLY BUILDING ENVELOPE HVAC AND RENEWABLE SYSTEM PARAMETERS

Energy is the vital source of life and it plays a key role in development of human society. Any living creature relies on a source of energy to exist. Similarly, machines require power to operate. Starting with Industrial Revolution, the modern life clearly depends on energy. We need energy for almost everything we do in our daily life, including transportation, agriculture, telecommunication, powering industry, heating, cooling and lighting our buildings, powering electric equipment etc. Global energy requirement is set to increase due to many factors such as rapid industrialization, urbanization, population growth, and growing demand for higher living standards. There is a variety of energy resources available on our planet and non-renewable fossil fuels have been the main source of energy ever since the Industrial Revolution. Unfortunately, unsustainable consumption of energy resources and reliance on fossil fuels has led to severe problems such as energy resource scarcity, global climate change and environmental pollution. The building sector compromising homes, public buildings and businesses represent a major share of global energy and resource consumption. Therefore, while buildings provide numerous benefits to society, they also have major environmental impacts. To build and operate buildings, we consume about 40 % of global energy, 25 % of global water, and 40 % of other global resources. Moreover, buildings are involved in producing approximately one third of greenhouse gas emissions. Today, the stress put on the environment by building sector has reached dangerous levels therefore urgent measures are required to approach buildings and to minimize their negative impacts. We can design energy-efficient buildings only when we know where and why energy is needed and how it is used. Most of the energy consumed in buildings is used for heating, cooling, ventilating and lighting the indoor spaces, for sanitary water heating purposes and powering plug-in appliances required for daily life activities. Moreover, on-site renewable energy generation supports building energy efficiency by providing sustainable energy sources for the building energy needs. The production and consumption of energy carriers in buildings occur through the network of interconnected building sub-systems. A change in one energy process affects other energy processes. Thus, the overall building energy efficiency depends on the combined impact of the building with its systems interacting dynamically all among themselves, with building occupants and with outdoor conditions. Therefore, designing buildings for energy efficiency requires paying attention to complex interactions between the exterior environment and the internal conditions separated by building envelope complemented by building systems. In addition to building energy and CO2 emission performance, there are also other criteria for designers to consider for a comprehensive building design. For instance, building energy cost is one of the major cost types during building life span. Therefore, improving building efficiency not only addresses the challenges of global climate change but also high operational costs and consequent economic resource dependency. However, investments in energy efficiency measures can be costly, too. As a result, the economic viability of design options should be analysed carefully during decision-making process and cost-effective design choices needs to be identified. Furthermore, while applying measures to improve building performance, comfort conditions of occupants should not be neglected, as well. Advances in science and technologies introduced many approaches and technological products that can be benefitted in building design. However, it could be rather difficult to select what design strategies to follow and which technologies to implement among many for cost-effective energy efficiency while satisfying equally valued and beneficial objectives including comfort and environmental issues. Even using the state-of-the-art energy technologies can only have limited impact on the overall building performance if the building and system integration is not well explored. Conventional design methods, which are linear and sequential, are inadequate to address the inter-depended nature of buildings. There is a strong need today for new methods that can evaluate the overall building performance from different aspects while treating the building, its systems and surrounding as a whole and provide quantitative insight information for the designers. Therefore, in the current study, we purpose a simulation-based optimization methodology where improving building performance is taken integrally as one-problem and the interactions between building structure, HVAC equipment and building-integrated renewable energy production are simultaneously and dynamically solved through mathematical optimization techniques while looking for a balanced combination of several design options and design objectives for real-life design challenges. The objective of the methodology is to explore cost-effective energy saving options among a considered list of energy efficiency measures, which can provide comfort while limiting harmful environmental impacts in the long term therefore financial, environmental and comfort benefits are considered and assessed together. During the optimization-based search, building architectural features, building envelope features, size and type of HVAC equipment that belong to a pre-designed HVAC system and size and type of considered renewable system alternatives are explored simultaneously together for an optimal combination under given constraints. The developed optimization framework consists of three main modules: the optimizer, the simulator, and a user-created energy efficiency measures database. The responsibility of the optimizer is to control the entire process by implementing the optimization algorithm, to trigger simulation for performance calculation, to assign new values to variables, to calculate objective function, to impose constraints, and to check stopping criteria. The optimizer module is based on GenOpt optimization environment. However, a sub-module was designed, developed and added to optimization structure to enable Genopt to communicate with the user-created database module. Therefore, every time the value of a variable is updated, the technical and financial information of a matching product or system equipment is read from the database, written into simulation model, and fed to the objective formula. The simulator evaluates energy-related performance metrics and functional constraints through dynamic simulation techniques provided by EnergyPlus simulation tool. The database defines and organizes design variables and stores user-collected cost related, technical and non-technical data about the building energy efficiency measures to be tested during the optimization. An updated version of Particle Swarm Optimization with constriction coefficient is used as the optimization algorithm. The study covers multi-dimensional building design aims through a single-objective optimization approach where multi objectives are represented in a ε-Constraint penalty approach. The primary objective is taken as minimization of building global costs due to changes in design variables therefore it includes minimization of costs occur due to operational energy and water consumption together with ownership costs of building materials and building systems. Moreover, a set of penalty functions including equipment capacity, user comfort, CO2 emissions and renewable system payback period are added to the main objective function in the form of constraints to restrict the solution region to user-set design target. Consequently, multi-objective design aims are translated into a single-objective where the penalty functions acts as secondary objectives. The performance of the proposed optimization methodology was evaluated through a case study implementation where different design scenarios were created, optimized and analysed. A hypothetical base-case office building was defined. Three cities located in Turkey namely Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya were selected as building locations. Therefore, the performance of the methodology in different climatic conditions was investigated. An equipment database consists of actual building materials and system equipment commonly used in Turkish construction sector was prepared. In addition, technical and financial data necessary for objective function calculation were collected from the market. The results of the case studies showed that application of the proposed methodology achieved giving climate-appropriate design recommendations, which resulted in major cost reductions and energy savings. One of the most important contributing factors of this thesis is introducing an integrative method where building architectural elements, HVAC system equipment and renewable systems are simultaneously investigated and optimized while interactions between building and systems are being dynamically captured. Moreover, this research is distinctive from previous studies because it makes possible investigating actual market products as energy efficiency design options through its proposed database application and a sub-program that connect optimization engine with the data library. Therefore, application of the methodology can provide support on real-world building design projects and can prevent a mismatch between the optimization recommendations and the available market solutions. Furthermore, another contributing merit of this research is that it achieves formulating competing building design aims in a single objective function, which can still capture multi-dimensions of building design challenge. Global costs are minimized while energy savings are achieved, CO2-equivalent emission is reduced, right-sized equipment are selected, thermal comfort is provided to users and target payback periods of investments are assured. To conclude, the proposed methodology links building energy performance requirements to financial and environmental targets and it provides a promising structure for addressing real life building design challenges through fast and efficient optimization techniques

Nazilli-143 Pamuk (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Genotipinde Farklı Bitki Büyüme Düzenleyicilerinin Hipokotil Eksplantlarından Kallus İndüksiyonu Üzerine Etkisi ve Somatik Embriyo Aracılığıyla Bitkicik Rejenerasyonu

A simple and reliable protocol has been developed for plantlet regeneration through somatic embryogenesis from suspension cultures of Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. Nazilli-143. Embryogenic callus was initiated from hypocotyl tissues of 7-day-old seedlings. High induction frequencies of the embryogenic callus were obtained on medium containing Murashige and Skoog (MS) salts, Gamborg’s B5 medium (B5) vitamins, 30 g L-1 glucose, 0.75 g L-1 MgCl2, 0.1 mg L-1 Kinetin and 0.1 mg L-1 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and the medium was solidified using 0.7% (w/v) agar (pH 5.8). Embryogenic calli were placed on plant growth regulator (PGR)-free liquid MS medium in order to establish suspension cultures for somatic embryo induction. Suspensions were sieved and the globular somatic embryos were collected and plated onto various types of semi-solid media. Embryo proliferation and maturation processes were best observed on medium containing 2/3 MS plus 1.3 g L-1 KNO3 free from PGR. Plantlets were recovered from 36 % of the matured embryos. Plantlets with a root system and true leaves were removed from the sterile culture and were transferred into a plant growth chamber.Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. Nazilli-143’ün hücre süspansiyon kültürlerinden somatik embriyo yolu ile bitkicik rejenerasyonu için basit ve güvenilir bir protokol geliştirilmiştir. Embriyogenik kallus 7 günlük fideciklerin hipokotil dokularından başlatılmıştır. En yüksek embriyogenik kallus oranı Murashige ve Skoog (MS) besin ortamının makro ve mikro elementleri, Gamborg (B5) besin ortamının vitaminleri ile 30 g L-1 glukoz, 0,75 g L-1 MgCl2, 0,1 mg L-1 Kinetin ve 0,1 mg L-1 2,4 Diklorofenoksi asetik asit (2,4-D) içeren ve % 0,7 (w/v) agar ile yarı katı hale getirilmiş besin ortamında (pH 5.8) elde edilmiştir. Somatik embriyo indüksiyonu için süspansiyon kültürlerini kurmak amacıyla, embriyogenik kalluslar bitki büyüme düzenleyicisi içermeyen sıvı MS besin ortamında kültüre alınmıştır. Süspansiyon kültürleri süzülmüş ve globular yapıdaki somatik embriyolar toplanarak çeşitli yarı katı besin ortamlarına aktarılmışlardır. Embriyo çoğaltımı ve olgunlaşması en iyi, 1,3 g L-1 KNO3 eklenmiş, bitki büyüme düzenleyicisi içermeyen 2/3 MS besin ortamında gözlenmiştir. Olgunlaşmış embriyoların % 36’sından bitkiciğe dönüşüm gerçekleşmiştir. Köklü ve gerçek yapraklara sahip bitkicikler steril kültürden uzaklaştırılmış ve bitki büyüme kabinine transfer edilmişlerdir

In vitro clonal micropropagation of vigna caracalla l. verdc.

Vigna caracalla L. Verdc., “İzmir sarmaşığı’’ olarak da adlandırılan, hoş kokulu güzel çiçekleriyle dikkat çeken bir süs bitkisidir. Bu çalışmada, Vigna caracalla L. Verdc. bitkisinde in vitro klonal mikroçoğaltımın gerçekleştirilmesi için etkili bir protokolün geliştirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Tohumlar, farklı sterilizasyon yöntemlerine maruz bırakıldıktan sonra MS besin ortamlarında kültüre alınmışlar. En yüksek sterilizasyon (%93.33) oranı (%93.33); 1 dk %70 etil alkol, 4 dk %0.1 HgCl2 uygulamasının ardından, 7 saat suda bekletilen tohumlarda elde edilmiştir. En yüksek çimlenme yüzdesi (%95.24), N6 besin ortamı içeren 250 mL’lik erlenlerde gözlenmiştir. En yüksek ortalama sürgün uzunluğu (5.05 cm) 1 mg/L IBA + 0.5 mg/L BAP içeren MS besin ortamında kültüre alınan sürgün ucu eksplantlarından elde edilmiştir. Jelleştirici ajan, ışık şiddeti ve eksplant tipinin sürgün rejenerasyonuna etkisinin belirlenmesi için yapılan denemelerde ise en yüksek çoğaltım katsayısı (1.71) ve yaprak boyu (0.82 cm), Duchefa agar ile katılaştırılmış N6 besin ortamında 4200 lüks ışık şiddetine maruz bırakılan nod eksplantlarından elde edilmiştir. Bu çalışma kapsamında, fazla hiperhidrisite göstermeyen ve çoğaltım oranı daha yüksek olan 16 adet klonun mikroçoğaltım denemelerinde uygun reaksiyon verdiği belirlenmiştir. En yüksek kök rejenerasyonu (%85.71), Fluka agar ile katılaştırılmış N6 besin ortamındaki 4200 lüks ışık şiddetine maruz bırakılan sürgün ucu eksplantlarında saptanmıştır. Köklü sürgünler, %70 başarı yüzdesi ile aklimatize edilmişlerdir.Vigna caracalla L. Verdc. is an ornamental plant, having with its beautiful odorous remarkable flowers, named as "İzmir's ivy". In this study, it was aimed to develop an effective protocol for in vitro clonal micropropagation in Vigna caracalla L. Verdc. plant. The seeds were cultured in MS medium after exposed to different sterilization methods. The highest percentage of sterilization (93.33%) were achieved when the seeds were soaked in 70% ethyl alcohol for 1 min, 0.1% HgCl2 for 4 min and then kept sterilized distilled water for 7 hours. The highest percentage of germination (95.24%) was observed in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks containing N6 medium. The highest shoot length (5.05 cm) was obtained from shoot tip explants cultured in MS medium containing 1 mg/L IBA + 0.5 mg/L BAP. In the experiments carried out to determine the effect of gelling agent, light intensity and explant type on shoot regeneration, the highest multiplication coefficient (1.71) and leaf length (0.82 cm) was achieved in node explants cultured in N6 medium solidified with Duchefa agar and exposed to 4200 lux light intensity. Within the scope of this study, it was determined that 16 clones that did not show much hyperhydricity and had higher multiplication rate gave appropriate responses for micropropagation experiments. The highest root regeneration (85.71%) was achieved from shoot tip explants cultured in N6 medium solidified with Fluka agar and exposed to 4200 lux light intensity. The rooted plantlets were acclimatized with 70% success

The role of simple elbow dislocations in cubitus valgus development in children

We investigated the functional and radiological outcomes of conservatively treated simple traumatic elbow dislocations and subsequent incidence of cubitus valgus development in children. Eleven patients (one female, ten male; mean age 9.8 years, range seven to 12 years) who presented to our hospital with simple elbow dislocations and were conservatively treated between July 2008 and September 2010 were included in the study. All were posterolateral closed dislocations. None of the patients had accompanying elbow fractures. All patients had pre- and postoperative radiographic examinations. The carrying angle of the involved elbow was measured and compared to the contralateral non-injured elbow during follow-up. The incidence and severity of cubitus valgus development was assessed. The functional and clinical outcomes were evaluated using the Mayo Elbow Performance Scale. The mean monitoring period was 24.3 months (range 19-30 months). All patients had satisfactory good and excellent results (85-100 points; mean 96.8 points) according to the Mayo Elbow Performance Scale. The final average elbow flexion was 137A degrees (range, 130-145A degrees) and average extension was 8.6A degrees (range 0-20A degrees) with full supination and pronation in traumatic elbow. Four patients (36.4 %) had an average increase (cubitus valgus) of 14.5A degrees (10-20A degrees) in carrying angle compared to the other elbow. While isolated traumatic dislocation of the elbow is uncommon among children, it can be successfully treated by urgent closed reduction, proper fixation of the elbow and appropriate timely rehabilitation. However, it should be considered that some patients may develop cubitus valgus deformity in a later period. Therefore, each patient with a simple traumatic elbow dislocation should be followed, and the parents should be informed of the potential for any deformity development

A hypokalemic muscular weakness after licorice ingestion: a case report

A 21-year-old male presented to the emergency department with the complaint of muscle weakness. The patient had used a powderized over-the-counter product named 'Tekumut' for 2 weeks to quit smoking. The granulated product was studied and determined to contain 'licorice' containing glycyrrhizic acid

Examining the generalizability of research findings from archival data

This initiative examined systematically the extent to which a large set of archival research findings generalizes across contexts. We repeated the key analyses for 29 original strategic management effects in the same context (direct reproduction) as well as in 52 novel time periods and geographies; 45% of the reproductions returned results matching the original reports together with 55% of tests in different spans of years and 40% of tests in novel geographies. Some original findings were associated with multiple new tests. Reproducibility was the best predictor of generalizability—for the findings that proved directly reproducible, 84% emerged in other available time periods and 57% emerged in other geographies. Overall, only limited empirical evidence emerged for context sensitivity. In a forecasting survey, independent scientists were able to anticipate which effects would find support in tests in new samples

Evaluation of nutritional status in pediatric intensive care unit patients: the results of a multicenter, prospective study in Turkey

IntroductionMalnutrition is defined as a pathological condition arising from deficient or imbalanced intake of nutritional elements. Factors such as increasing metabolic demands during the disease course in the hospitalized patients and inadequate calorie intake increase the risk of malnutrition. The aim of the present study is to evaluate nutritional status of patients admitted to pediatric intensive care units (PICU) in Turkey, examine the effect of nutrition on the treatment process and draw attention to the need for regulating nutritional support of patients while continuing existing therapies.Material and MethodIn this prospective multicenter study, the data was collected over a period of one month from PICUs participating in the PICU Nutrition Study Group in Turkey. Anthropometric data of the patients, calorie intake, 90-day mortality, need for mechanical ventilation, length of hospital stay and length of stay in intensive care unit were recorded and the relationship between these parameters was examined.ResultsOf the 614 patients included in the study, malnutrition was detected in 45.4% of the patients. Enteral feeding was initiated in 40.6% (n = 249) of the patients at day one upon admission to the intensive care unit. In the first 48 h, 86.82% (n = 533) of the patients achieved the target calorie intake, and 81.65% (n = 307) of the 376 patients remaining in the intensive care unit achieved the target calorie intake at the end of one week. The risk of mortality decreased with increasing upper mid-arm circumference and triceps skin fold thickness Z-score (OR = 0.871/0.894; p = 0.027/0.024). The risk of mortality was 2.723 times higher in patients who did not achieve the target calorie intake at first 48 h (p = 0.006) and the risk was 3.829 times higher in patients who did not achieve the target calorie intake at the end of one week (p = 0.001). The risk of mortality decreased with increasing triceps skin fold thickness Z-score (OR = 0.894; p = 0.024).ConclusionTimely and appropriate nutritional support in critically ill patients favorably affects the clinical course. The results of the present study suggest that mortality rate is higher in patients who fail to achieve the target calorie intake at first 48 h and day seven of admission to the intensive care unit. The risk of mortality decreases with increasing triceps skin fold thickness Z-score

"Gemlik" ve "Domat" zeytin (Olea Europaea L.) çeşitlerinin in vitro koşullarda rejenerasyon potansiyellerinin belirlenmesi

Bu çalışma kapsamında, köklenmesi kolay olan (Gemlik) ve köklenmesi zor olan (Domat) iki zeytin (Olea europaea L.) çeşidinin in vitro koşullarda çeşitli bitki büyüme düzenleyicileri içeren farklı besin ortamlarında sürgün ve kallus rejenerasyon tepkilerinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Gemlik çeşidinin seradaki fidanlarına ait nod eksplantlarında yapılan sterilizasyon uygulamalarında, bahçede yetiştirilen ağaçların nod eksplantlarına göre daha iyi sterilizasyon yüzdeleri elde edilmiştir (ağaç nod eksplantları: %93.3 ve fidan nod eksplantları: %97.3). Fidanlara ait nod eksplantların çoğunluğunun (%82.7) uygulanan sterilizasyon yöntemlerinden sonra kararmadıkları saptanmıştır. Test edilen beş temel besin ortamı (OMb, WPM, DKW, OMs ve modifiye OMs) arasında WPM besin ortamının seradaki Gemlik fidanlarına ait tek nodlu eksplantlardan sürgün rejenerasyonu için en uygun ortam olduğu belirlenmiştir. Gemlik çeşidinde maksimum sürgün rejenerasyon yüzdesi (%93.3) ve eksplant başına maksimum sürgün sayısı (1.87 adet) 4 mg/l BA içeren WPM besin ortamından elde edilmiştir. 0.5 mg/l BA içeren WPM besin ortamında en düşük vitrifikasyon yüzdesi %70.6 olarak bulunmuştur. In vitro koşullarda Gemlik sürgünlerinin uzama-çoğaltma aşaması için OMs ortamı 5mg/l KNO3 ve 2 mg/l ZEA ile zenginleştirilmiştir. Domat çeşidinde nod eksplantları geçici daldırma sistemine dayalı RITA® biyoreaktöründe kültüre alındıklarında, en düşük kararma oranı %60, en yüksek sürgün rejenerasyonu %60 ve eksplant başına sürgün sayısı 1.09 adet olarak belirlenmiştir. 1 mg/l NAA+0.5 mg/l BA içeren OMb besin ortamında petiol eksplantlarından karanlık koşullarda %80 oranında kallus oluşumları elde edilmiştir

Micropropagation of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni Using RITA (R) Bioreactor

WOS: 000469237500022Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is used for medicinal and food purposes. The effectiveness of different culture systems in Stevia micropropagation was evaluated. Node explants were cultured in semisolid or RITA (R) bioreactor containing woody plant medium (WPM) without plant growth regulators (PGRs). The effect of three medium volumes (100, 200, and 300 mL) and four immersion frequencies (10 seconds every 1, 4, 6, or 8 hours) were assessed. The shoots and roots developed simultaneously in the RITA (R) bioreactor treatment containing 100 mL of WPM at 10 seconds/4 hours immersion frequency and the healthiest plantlets were obtained from this RITA (R) treatment using 5 mL of medium per explant. The root induction rate was 100% in nonhyperhydrated shoots obtained from both semisolid and RITA (R) bioreactor, and all of them were successfully acclimatized. Thus, an economical and viable protocol was developed by performing the micropropagation in one step, eliminating the use of agar and PGRs, and decreasing the amount of medium used per explant