Proposed evolution technologies for Bluetooth

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An Energy Performance Evaluation of Commercially Available Window Glazing in Darwin’s Tropical Climate

A total of 40% of the world’s energy produced is utilized to maintain thermal comfort for the occupants of the building. Governments are taking measures collectively to regulate energy efficient buildings to reduce carbon emissions globally. Windows account for more than half of total energy losses in the buildings. The employment of energy efficient glazing in the construction industry is not common in Australia. This paper investigates several types of commercially available windows and their effectiveness in the hot and humid climate of Darwin. Although extensive literature is available for cold regions, these windows have not been studied in hot and humid climates such as the climate in Darwin. Building cooling loads of an academic building were calculated using Autodesk Revit Architecture and Carrier HAP. Double glazed variants offered approximately a 5% reduction in cooling loads and had a payback period of nearly 7 to 9 years, depending on the type of gas used to fill the pane cavity. The results indicate that triple glazed, or aerogel-based windows will provide about 11–12 % of energy saving in cooling loads. These can be a viable alternative and have a payback period of 11 years, while their average service life expectancy is 30 years. It was found that the feasibility of efficient glazing depends on market price, building usage, and energy efficiency of an overall building envelope

Restoration of visual function in advanced disease after transplantation of purified human pluripotent stem cell-derived cone photoreceptors

Age-related macular degeneration and other macular diseases result in the loss of light-sensing cone photoreceptors, causing irreversible sight impairment. Photoreceptor replacement may restore vision by transplanting healthy cells, which must form new synaptic connections with the recipient retina. Despite recent advances, convincing evidence of functional connectivity arising from transplanted human cone photoreceptors in advanced retinal degeneration is lacking. Here, we show restoration of visual function after transplantation of purified human pluripotent stem cell-derived cones into a mouse model of advanced degeneration. Transplanted human cones elaborate nascent outer segments and make putative synapses with recipient murine bipolar cells (BCs), which themselves undergo significant remodeling. Electrophysiological and behavioral assessments demonstrate restoration of surprisingly complex light-evoked retinal ganglion cell responses and improved light-evoked behaviors in treated animals. Stringent controls exclude alternative explanations, including material transfer and neuroprotection. These data provide crucial validation for photoreceptor replacement therapy and for the potential to rescue cone-mediated vision

Cost-Effectiveness of an Opportunistic Screening Programme and Brief Intervention for Excessive Alcohol Use in Primary Care

Effective prevention of excessive alcohol use has the potential to reduce the public burden of disease considerably. We investigated the cost-effectiveness of Screening and Brief Intervention (SBI) for excessive alcohol use in primary care in the Netherlands, which is targeted at early detection and treatment of ‘at-risk’ drinkers.We compared a SBI scenario (opportunistic screening and brief intervention for ‘at-risk’ drinkers) in general practices with the current practice scenario (no SBI) in the Netherlands. We used the RIVM Chronic Disease Model (CDM) to extrapolate from decreased alcohol consumption to effects on health care costs and Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) gained. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was employed to study the effect of uncertainty in the model parameters. In total, 56,000 QALYs were gained at an additional cost of €298,000,000 due to providing alcohol SBI in the target population, resulting in a cost-effectiveness ratio of €5,400 per QALY gained.Prevention of excessive alcohol use by implementing SBI for excessive alcohol use in primary care settings appears to be cost-effective

Serology based disease status of Pakistani population infected with Hepatitis B virus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The infection rate of hepatitis B virus is continuously increasing in Pakistan. Therefore, a comprehensive study of epidemiological data is the need of time.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 1300 individuals were screened for HBV infection markers including HBsAg, anti-HBsAg, HBeAg and anti-HBcAg. The association of these disease indicators was compared with patients' epidemiological characteristics like age, socio-economic status and residential area to analyze and find out the possible correlation among these variables and the patients disease status.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>52 (4%) individuals were found positive for HBsAg with mean age 23.5 ± 3.7 years. 9.30%, 33.47% and 12% individuals had HBeAg, antibodies for HBsAg, and antibodies for HBcAg respectively. HBsAg seropositivity rate was significantly associated (<it>p </it>= 0.03) with the residing locality indicating high infection in rural areas. Antibodies titer against HBsAg decreased with the increasing age reflecting an inverse correlation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results indicate high prevalence rate of Hepatitis B virus infection and nationwide vaccination campaigns along with public awareness and educational programs are needed to be practiced urgently.</p