Thermal comfort in residential buildings with water based heating systems: a tool for selecting appropriate heat emitters when using µ-cogeneration

As a consequence of people becoming more aware of their impact on the environment, there is an increasing demand for low energy buildings. Forced by regulation, building envelopes are improving and heating and cooling systems with higher efficiencies are being installed. The public are willing to embrace these new technologies, as long as they do not affect the quality of their indoor environment. In this paper, an introduction to research on the realisation of the indoor thermal comfort in residential buildings with water based, low-energy heating systems is given. The basis for this work is a more realistic definition of comfort temperatures for residential buildings. Subsequently, appropriate heat emitters to realise that thermal comfort in an efficient way are identified, taking into account the limitations of the production system under consideration. An example of a µ-cogeneration system is presented as a case study

Affective Engagement with Research Evidence about Young People’s Sex Education in Kenya

Sex and relationships have a big impact on young people’s lives. For most young people in the world getting information about sexual pleasure, apart from pornography, can be difficult. And it’s even harder if you live in parts of the world where you often aren’t able to decide who to date or marry, or how many children you want to have. For this reason online information on sexuality is hugely popular. Research suggests that young people are arriving at sex education sites mostly through campaigns on social media. As not all young people are using these sites it is essential to find creative ways to engage with them in a way that strengthens and builds on existing online sex education. Our recent study used affective engagement as part of a multi-layered and multi-me- thod participatory action research process on online sex education for young Kenyans online. We worked with a group of students from the Sauti music academy, to explore the meaning and relevance of themes that emerged from analysis of online behaviour on the Love Matters sex education platform and off-line research on gender roles and sexuality by young people. Young musicians wrote songs based on the research analysis and recorded these on YouTube. We found that the issues raised by young people using online platforms were also relevant to Kenyan offline non-users. Interpersonal exchange between the young people directly involved in the study, the sexual health experts and international creative team were key to stimulating critical reflection on meanings of sex and love, and creativity in the production of the 15 original songs that were produced during the project. The musicians involved said they had learned how to communicate effectively about sexuality, expectations and affection. Participants also learned how to use their own experiences to connect with people, and most said they realized their responsibility and potential as artists to make progressive social change. Learning on reaching audiences was one of the main unintended benefits for the artists of this project

Patient-led home-based follow-up after surgery for colorectal cancer:the protocol of the prospective, multicentre FUTURE-primary implementation study

INTRODUCTION: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common type of cancer in the Netherlands. Approximately 90% of patients can be treated with surgery, which is considered potentially curative. Postoperative surveillance during the first 5 years after surgery pursues to detect metastases in an early, asymptomatic and treatable stage. Multiple large randomised controlled trials have failed to show any (cancer-specific) survival benefit of intensive postoperative surveillance compared with a minimalistic approach in patients with CRC. This raises the question whether an (intensive) in-hospital postoperative surveillance strategy is still warranted from both a patient well-being and societal perspective. A more modern, home-based surveillance strategy could be beneficial in terms of patients' quality of life and healthcare costs. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The multicentre, prospective FUTURE-primary study implements a patient-led home-based surveillance after curative CRC treatment. Here, patients are involved in the choice regarding three fundamental aspects of their postoperative surveillance. First regarding frequency, patients can opt for additional follow-up moments to the minimal requirement as outlined by the current Dutch national guidelines. Second regarding the setting, both in-hospital or predominantly home-based options are available. And third, concerning patient-doctor communication choices ranging from in-person to video chat, and even silent check-ups. The aim of the FUTURE-primary study is to evaluate if such a patient-led home-based follow-up approach is successful in terms of quality of life, satisfaction and anxiety compared with historic data. A successful implementation of the patient-led aspect will be assessed by the degree in which the additional, optional follow-up moments are actually utilised. Secondary objectives are to evaluate quality of life, anxiety, fear of cancer recurrence and cost-effectiveness. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was given by the Medical Ethics Review Committee of Erasmus Medical Centre, The Netherlands (2021-0499). Results will be presented in peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05656326.</p

On the effect of multiple parallel nonlinear absorbers in palliation of torsional response of automotive drivetrain

Torsional vibrations transmitted from the engine to the drivetrain system induce a plethora of noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) concerns, such a transmission gear rattle and clutch in-cycle vibration, to name but a few. The main elements of these oscillations are variations in the inertial imbalance and the constituents of combustion power torque, collectively referred to as engine order vibration. To attenuate the effect of these transmitted vibrations and their oscillatory effects in the drive train system, a host of palliative measures are employed in practice, such as clutch pre-dampers, slipping discs, dual mass flywheel and others, all of which operate effectively over a narrow band of frequencies and have various unintended repercussions. These include increased powertrain inertia, installation package space and cost. This paper presents a numerical study of the use of multiple Nonlinear Energy Sinks (NES) as a means of attenuating the torsional oscillations for an extended frequency range and under transient vehicle manoeuvres. Frequency–Energy Plots (FEP) are used to obtain the nonlinear absorber parameters for multiple NES coupled in parallel to the clutch disc of a typical drivetrain configuration. The results obtained show significant reduction in the oscillations of the transmission input shaft, effective over a broad range of response frequencies. It is also noted that the targeted reduction of the acceleration amplitude of the input shaft requires significantly lower NES inertia, compared with the existing palliative measures

Realization of a Tunable Artificial Atom at a Supercritically Charged Vacancy in Graphene

The remarkable electronic properties of graphene have fueled the vision of a graphene-based platform for lighter, faster and smarter electronics and computing applications. One of the challenges is to devise ways to tailor its electronic properties and to control its charge carriers. Here we show that a single atom vacancy in graphene can stably host a local charge and that this charge can be gradually built up by applying voltage pulses with the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The response of the conduction electrons in graphene to the local charge is monitored with scanning tunneling and Landau level spectroscopy, and compared to numerical simulations. As the charge is increased, its interaction with the conduction electrons undergoes a transition into a supercritical regime 6-11 where itinerant electrons are trapped in a sequence of quasi-bound states which resemble an artificial atom. The quasi-bound electron states are detected by a strong enhancement of the density of states (DOS) within a disc centered on the vacancy site which is surrounded by halo of hole states. We further show that the quasi-bound states at the vacancy site are gate tunable and that the trapping mechanism can be turned on and off, providing a new mechanism to control and guide electrons in grapheneComment: 18 pages and 5 figures plus 14 pages and 15 figures of supplementary information. Nature Physics advance online publication, Feb 22 (2016