Photohadronic scenario in interpreting the February-March 2014 flare of 1ES 1011+496

The extraordinary multi-TeV flare from 1ES 1011 +496 during February-March 2014 was observed by MAGIC telescopes for 17 nights and the average spectrum of the whole period has a non-trivial shape. We have used the photohadronic model and a template EBL model to explain the average spectrum which fits well to the flare data. The spectral index $\alpha$ is the only free parameter in our model. We have also shown that the non-trivial nature of the spectrum is due to the change in the behavior of the optical depth above $\sim 600$ GeV $\gamma$-ray energy accompanied with the high SSC flux.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, LaTe

Blazar origin of some IceCube events

Recently ANTARES collaboration presented a time dependent analysis to a selected number of flaring blazars to look for upward going muon events produced from the charge current interaction of the muon neutrinos. We use the same list of flaring blazars to look for possible positional correlation with the IceCube neutrino events. In the context of photohadronic model we propose that the neutrinos are produced within the nuclear region of the blazar where Fermi accelerated high energy protons interact with the background synchrotron/SSC photons. Although we found that some objects from the ANTARES list are within the error circles of few IceCube events, the statistical analysis shows that none of these sources have a significant correlation.Comment: Latex file, 6 pages, two columns, 1 Figur

Daylighting Performance of Solar Control Films for Hospital Buildings in a Mediterranean Climate

One of the main retrofitting strategies in warm climates is the reduction of the effects of solar radiation. Cooling loads, and in turn, cooling consumption, can be reduced through the implementation of reflective materials such as solar control films. However, these devices may also negatively affect daylight illuminance conditions and the electric consumption of artificial lighting systems. In a hospital building, it is crucial to meet daylighting requirements as well as indoor illuminance levels and visibility from the inside, as these have a significant impact on health outcomes. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the influence on natural illuminance conditions of a solar control film installed on the windows of a public hospital building in a Mediterranean climate. To this end, a hospital room, with and without solar film, was monitored for a whole year. A descriptive statistical analysis was conducted on the use of artificial lighting, illuminance levels and rolling shutter aperture levels, as well as an analysis of natural illuminance and electric consumption of the artificial lighting system. The addition of a solar control film to the external surface of the window, in combination with the user-controlled rolling shutter aperture levels, has reduced the electric consumption of the artificial lighting system by 12.2%. Likewise, the solar control film has increased the percentage of annual hours with natural illuminance levels by 100–300 lux

COINTEGRATION VECTOR ESTIMATION BY DOLS FOR A THREE-DIMENSIONAL PANEL

This paper extends the asymptotic results of the dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) cointegration vector estimator of Mark and Sul (2003) to a three-dimensional panel. We use a balanced panel of N and M lengths observed over T time periods. The cointegration vector is homogenous across individuals but we allow for individual heterogeneity using different short-run dynamics, individual-specific fixed effects and individual-specific time trends. Both individual effects are considered for the first two dimensions. This paper was motivated by the three-dimensional panel cointegration analysis used to estimate the total factor productivity for Colombian regions and sectors during 1975-2000 by Iregui, Melo and Ramírez (2007). They used the methodology proposed by Marrocu, Paci and Pala (2000); however, hypothesis testing is not valid under this technique. The methodology we are currently proposing allows us to estimate the long-run relationship and to construct asymptotically valid test statistics in the 3D-panel context.Cointegration, Dynamic OLS estimation, panel data in three dimensions. Classification JEL: C13; C33.

Indoor Air Quality Assessment: Comparison of Ventilation Scenarios for Retrofitting Classrooms in a Hot Climate

Current energy e ciency policies in buildings foster the promotion of energy retrofitting of the existing stock. In southern Spain, the most extensive public sector is that of educational buildings, which is especially subject to significant internal loads due to high occupancy. A large fraction of the energy retrofit strategies conducted to date have focused on energy aspects and indoor thermal comfort, repeatedly disregarding indoor air quality criteria. This research assesses indoor air quality in a school located in the Mediterranean area, with the objective of promoting di erent ventilation scenarios, based on occupancy patterns and carbon dioxide levels monitored on site. Results show that manual ventilation cannot guarantee minimum indoor quality levels following current standards. A constant ventilation based on CO2 levels allows 15% more thermal comfort hours a year to be reached, compared to CO2-based optimized demand-controlled ventilation. Nevertheless, the latter ensures 35% annual energy savings, compared to a constant CO2-based ventilation, and 37% more annual energy savings over that of a constant ventilation rate of outdoor air per person

Solar Decathlon Latin America and Caribbean: Comfort and the Balance between Passive and Active Design

This article contains an overall analysis of the results obtained by the four highest scoring teams in the Solar Decathlon Latin America and Caribbean 2015 collegiate sustainable habitat competition. Considering that the prototypes developed were based on energy self-su ciency when operational, it was considered necessary to propose this analysis based on the degree of suitability of each of these models based on their di erent performances from the perspective of comfort conditions. It was observed that the design of the prototypes did not manage to properly adjust the relationship between passive and active conditioning elements based on the location’s conditions. Accordingly, this article concludes that a balance of the two aforementioned conditioning modes recorded better results based on the measurements taken