Application of Building Typologies for Modelling the Energy Balance of the Residential Building Stock

Building typologies can serve as a basis for analysing the national housing sector. During the TABULA project which was introducing or further developing building typologies in thirteen EU countries, six of the European partners have carried out model calculations which aim at imaging the energy consumption and estimating the energy saving potentials of their national residential building stocks (IWU / Germany, NOA / Greece, POLITO / Italy, VITO / Belgium, STU-K / Czech Republic, SBi / Denmark). The results show that the model calculations can provide plausible projections of the energy consumption of the national residential buildings stock. The fit of model calculations and national energy statistics is satisfactory, deviations can often be explained and corrected by adapting standard boundary conditions of the applied calculation models to more realistic values. In general, the analysis shows that building typologies can be a helpful tool for modelling the energy consumption of national building stocks and for carrying out scenario analysis beyond the TABULA project. The consideration of a set of representative buildings makes it possible to have a detailed view on various packages of measures for the complete buildings stock or for its sub-categories. The effects of different insulation measures at the respective construction elements as well as different heat supply measures including renewable energies can be considered in detail. The quality of future model calculations will depend very much on the availability of statistical data. For reliable scenario analysis information is necessary about the current state of the building stock (How many buildings and heating systems have been refurbished until now?) and about the current trends (How many buildings and heating systems are being refurbished every year?). The availability and regular update of the relevant statistical data will be an important basis for the development and evaluation of national climate protection strategies in the building secto

A disilene base adduct with a dative Si–Si single bond.

An experimental and theoretical study of the base- stabilized disilene 1 is reported, whichforms at lowtemper- atures in the disproportionation reaction of Si 2 Cl 6 or neo- Si 5 Cl 12 with equimolar amounts of NMe 2 Et. Single-crystal X- ray diffraction and quantum-chemical bonding analysis dis- close an unprecedented structure in silicon chemistry featuring adative Si!Si single bond between two silylene moieties, Me 2 EtN!SiCl 2 !Si(SiCl 3 ) 2 .The central ambiphilic SiCl 2 group is linked by dative bonds to the amine donor and the bis(trichlorosilyl)silylene acceptor,which leads to push–pull stabilization. Based on experimental and theoretical examina- tions aformation mechanism is presented that involves an autocatalytic reaction of the intermediately formed anion Si(SiCl 3 ) 3 ¢ with neo-Si 5 Cl 12 to yield 1

Application of Building Typologies for Modelling the Energy Balance of the Residential Building Stock.

Building typologies can serve as a basis for analysing the national housing sector. During the TABULA project which was introducing or further developing building typologies in thirteen EU countries, six of the European partners have carried out model calculations which aim at imaging the energy consumption and estimating the energy saving potentials of their national residential building stocks (IWU / Germany, NOA / Greece, POLITO / Italy, VITO / Belgium, STU-K / Czech Republic, SBi / Denmark). The results show that the model calculations can provide plausible projections of the energy consumption of the national residential buildings stock. The fit of model calculations and national energy statistics is satisfactory, deviations can often be explained and corrected by adapting standard boundary conditions of the applied calculation models to more realistic values. In general, the analysis shows that building typologies can be a helpful tool for modelling the energy consumption of national building stocks and for carrying out scenario analysis beyond the TABULA project. The consideration of a set of representative buildings makes it possible to have a detailed view on various packages of measures for the complete buildings stock or for its sub-categories. The effects of different insulation measures at the respective construction elements as well as different heat supply measures including renewable energies can be considered in detail. The quality of future model calculations will depend very much on the availability of statistical data. For reliable scenario analysis information is necessary about the current state of the building stock (How many buildings and heating systems have been refurbished until now?) and about the current trends (How many buildings and heating systems are being refurbished every year?). The availability and regular update of the relevant statistical data will be an important basis for the development and evaluation of national climate protection strategies in the building sector

Habit reversal therapy in obsessive compulsive related disorders : A systematic review of the evidence and consort evaluation of randomized controlled trials

Background: Habit Reversal Therapy (HRT) has long been used in the treatment of Tourette Syndrome and Tic Disorders. It has more recently been used to treat Trichotillomania and skin picking behaviors, both considered as Obsessive Compulsive Related Disorders (OCRD). Objectives: This literature review sought to establish and quality assess the existing randomized controlled trial evidence supporting the use of HRT in the DSM-5 family of OCRDs. Search Methods: EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Cochrane databases were searched for key terms relating to each OCRD (as classified in the DSM-5), and HRT. Selection Criteria: Titles and abstracts were screened, and any literature matching pre-specified criteria were then selected to be reviewed further. Of these, 8 Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) relating to Trichotillomania, and 2 RCTs relating to Excoriation Disorder, were extracted and reviewed against the 2010 Consolidating Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement. Results: The review identified 10 RCTs of HRT, but these were limited to patients with a primary diagnosis of Trichotillomania or “excoriation behavior,” only. There were some reports of the use of HRT in Tourette Syndrome or Tic Disorder with secondary OCD, but the OCD symptoms were not reliably reported on. Conclusion: There is a gap in the current literature regarding the use of HRT in the DSM-5 OCRDs. In those RCTs that have been reported, the quality of study methodology was questionable as evaluated by CONSORT criteria. The implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research.Peer reviewe

Novel Approaches to Detect Serum Biomarkers for Clinical Response to Interferon-β Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis

Interferon beta (IFNβ) is the most common immunomodulatory treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). However, some patients fail to respond to treatment. In this study, we identified putative clinical response markers in the serum and plasma of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) treated with IFNβ. In a discovery-driven approach, we use 2D-difference gel electrophoresis (DIGE) to identify putative clinical response markers and apply power calculations to identify the sample size required to further validate those markers. In the process we have optimized a DIGE protocol for plasma to obtain cost effective and high resolution gels for effective spot comparison. APOA1, A2M, and FIBB were identified as putative clinical response markers. Power calculations showed that the current DIGE experiment requires a minimum of 10 samples from each group to be confident of 1.5 fold difference at the p<0.05 significance level. In a complementary targeted approach, Cytometric Beadarray (CBA) analysis showed no significant difference in the serum concentration of IL-6, IL-8, MIG, Eotaxin, IP-10, MCP-1, and MIP-1α, between clinical responders and non-responders, despite the association of these proteins with IFNβ treatment in MS

Structural and Electronic Properties of Small Neutral (MgO)n Clusters

Ab initio Perturbed Ion (PI) calculations are reported for neutral stoichiometric (MgO)n clusters (n<14). An extensive number of isomer structures was identified and studied. For the isomers of (MgO)n (n<8) clusters, a full geometrical relaxation was considered. Correlation corrections were included for all cluster sizes using the Coulomb-Hartree-Fock (CHF) model proposed by Clementi. The results obtained compare favorably to the experimental data and other previous theoretical studies. Inclusion of correlaiotn is crucial in order to achieve a good description of these systems. We find an important number of new isomers which allows us to interpret the experimental magic numbers without the assumption of structures based on (MgO)3 subunits. Finally, as an electronic property, the variations in the cluster ionization potential with the cluster size were studied and related to the structural isomer properties.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX, 7 figures in GIF format. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Altered distribution of mucosal NK cells during HIV infection

The human gut mucosa is a major site of HIV infection and infection-associated pathogenesis. Increasing evidence shows that natural killer (NK) cells play an important role in control of HIV infection but the mechanism(s) by which they mediate antiviral activity in the gut is unclear. Here we show two distinct subsets of NK cells exist in the gut, one localized to intraepithelial spaces (IEL) and the other to the lamina propria (LP). The frequency of both subsets of NK cells was reduced in chronic infection, whereas IEL NK cells remained stable in spontaneous controllers with protective KIR/HLA genotypes. Both IEL and LP NK cells were significantly expanded in immunologic non-responsive (INR) patients, who incompletely recovered CD4+ T cells on HAART. These data suggest that both IEL and LP NK cells may expand in the gut in an effort to compensate for compromised CD4+ T cell recovery, but that only IEL NK cells may be involved in providing durable control of HIV in the gut