Thermal characterisation of Bio Based Building Materials

The characterisation of indigenous renewable biomass sources applicable for making bio-based building (BBB) materials is crucial as it can significantly affect the cost of production and the quality of material. Nowadays in any specific area, wide ranges of biomass sources are usually available but only a few sources may be suitable for making BBB material. Therefore the suited sources should be determined. In this paper, the use of BBB materials is focused on Insulation Materials which are widely used in the buildings. Compared with currently used materials, these materials are bio-degradable. Insulation material with a good energy-adsorbing property and binder material have been developed as a mixture of renewable biomass and concrete under certain of reaction conditions. In detail, the BBB material can contribute to energy saving in terms of consumption of low energy during its production process, as well as of degradability. The experimental assessment of non steady-state thermal characteristics of a BBB material is presented here. The results will be useful to develop a database of the physical properties available for the building industry

XIPE: the X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer

X-ray polarimetry, sometimes alone, and sometimes coupled to spectral and temporal variability measurements and to imaging, allows a wealth of physical phenomena in astrophysics to be studied. X-ray polarimetry investigates the acceleration process, for example, including those typical of magnetic reconnection in solar flares, but also emission in the strong magnetic fields of neutron stars and white dwarfs. It detects scattering in asymmetric structures such as accretion disks and columns, and in the so-called molecular torus and ionization cones. In addition, it allows fundamental physics in regimes of gravity and of magnetic field intensity not accessible to experiments on the Earth to be probed. Finally, models that describe fundamental interactions (e.g. quantum gravity and the extension of the Standard Model) can be tested. We describe in this paper the X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer (XIPE), proposed in June 2012 to the first ESA call for a small mission with a launch in 2017 but not selected. XIPE is composed of two out of the three existing JET-X telescopes with two Gas Pixel Detectors (GPD) filled with a He-DME mixture at their focus and two additional GPDs filled with pressurized Ar-DME facing the sun. The Minimum Detectable Polarization is 14 % at 1 mCrab in 10E5 s (2-10 keV) and 0.6 % for an X10 class flare. The Half Energy Width, measured at PANTER X-ray test facility (MPE, Germany) with JET-X optics is 24 arcsec. XIPE takes advantage of a low-earth equatorial orbit with Malindi as down-link station and of a Mission Operation Center (MOC) at INPE (Brazil).Comment: 49 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables. Paper published in Experimental Astronomy http://link.springer.com/journal/1068

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to <90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], >300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of <15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P<0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years

VIII Encuentro de Docentes e Investigadores en Historia del Diseño, la Arquitectura y la Ciudad

Acta de congresoLa conmemoración de los cien años de la Reforma Universitaria de 1918 se presentó como una ocasión propicia para debatir el rol de la historia, la teoría y la crítica en la formación y en la práctica profesional de diseñadores, arquitectos y urbanistas. En ese marco el VIII Encuentro de Docentes e Investigadores en Historia del Diseño, la Arquitectura y la Ciudad constituyó un espacio de intercambio y reflexión cuya realización ha sido posible gracias a la colaboración entre Facultades de Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Diseño de la Universidad Nacional y la Facultad de Arquitectura de la Universidad Católica de Córdoba, contando además con la activa participación de mayoría de las Facultades, Centros e Institutos de Historia de la Arquitectura del país y la región. Orientado en su convocatoria tanto a docentes como a estudiantes de Arquitectura y Diseño Industrial de todos los niveles de la FAUD-UNC promovió el debate de ideas a partir de experiencias concretas en instancias tales como mesas temáticas de carácter interdisciplinario, que adoptaron la modalidad de presentación de ponencias, entre otras actividades. En el ámbito de VIII Encuentro, desarrollado en la sede Ciudad Universitaria de Córdoba, se desplegaron numerosas posiciones sobre la enseñanza, la investigación y la formación en historia, teoría y crítica del diseño, la arquitectura y la ciudad; sumándose el aporte realizado a través de sus respectivas conferencias de Ana Clarisa Agüero, Bibiana Cicutti, Fernando Aliata y Alberto Petrina. El conjunto de ponencias que se publican en este Repositorio de la UNC son el resultado de dos intensas jornadas de exposiciones, cuyos contenidos han posibilitado actualizar viejos dilemas y promover nuevos debates. El evento recibió el apoyo de las autoridades de la FAUD-UNC, en especial de la Secretaría de Investigación y de la Biblioteca de nuestra casa, como así también de la Facultad de Arquitectura de la UCC; va para todos ellos un especial agradecimiento

Ventilation rates and unsatisfied percentage from indoor CO2 concentration.

This work reports the results of a survey carried out on a hall in a historic building in Palermo (Italy) with the aim of assessing the air quality by means of objective measurement of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and its subjective evaluation through a questionnaire. The measured values of CO2 concentration were compared with those evaluated using the Meckler equation under steady-state conditions, having verified necessary parameters such as the constancy of the indoor and outdoor CO2 levels and the uniformity of the CO2 generation rate for all the occupants. The positive correspondence between measured and calculated results allowed us to utilise, under differing circum- stances, the values of the natural ventilation rates achieved in steady-state conditions. By using measured and calculated data, an experimental assessment of the relationships between the CO2 concentration levels and the number of occupants and their level of satisfaction was performed. The indoor air quality level in the hall, evaluated by means of the experimental data, was compared with the subjective responses expressed through a specific multiple choice questionnaire handed out to the occupants. A comparison between the calculated ventilation rates and those required by the main American and European standards shows that natural ventilation in the hall is often insufficient according to these standards which have regard for the minimum requirements for air acceptability. In addition, some general observations on the thermal condition of the hall have been drawn from a compar- ison between microclimate parameters and the sub- jective opinions provided by the occupants

The preservation of the artistic heritage within the seat of the Chancellorship of the University of Palermo. A proposal on a methodology regarding an environmental investigation according to the Italian Standards

The correct maintenance of artworks of historical and artistic value requires a wide and detailed analysis of all the information relevant for preserving them, such as identification of the main deterioration factors, knowledge of the climatic history of the object, set-up of measuring methods and statistics of the guide parameters, and definition of a set of recommended environmental aspects to be controlled within a stable climate condition linked to the particular kind of object or its surface. In Italy, the basic laws UNI 10829 and UNI 10969 impose a reference methodology for the in-field measurement and data analysis. This paper reports the first results of a measuring campaign, carried out according to the indications of the aforesaid standards, aimed at the investigation of the environmental conditions of the wooden ceilings in two rooms of ‘‘Palazzo Steri’’, an ancient building in the city of Palermo. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

A survey on the thermal conditions experienced by a surgical team

The complex environment of the operating theatre is shared by a group of people having highly different needs: on one side, there is a surgical team whose work may last many hours and, on the other, an anaesthetized patient often subject to liquid infusion. Up to now, little consideration has been given to the different needs of the surgical team who may be affected according to their positions with respect to the scialytic lamp and their particular task. Clothing influences the comfort of the surgical team to a considerable degree: in fact, in some surgery (orthopaedics, neurosurgery and so on), surgeons and assistants must wear paper overalls beneath non-breathable plastic overalls and protective masks and caps; then, if X-rays are needed during surgery, the second surgeon and the assistants must also wear lead overalls and lead thyroid collars and gloves while the anaesthetists and nurses will keep on wearing non-breathable paper overalls. In consequence, the thermal resistance of the clothing of the surgical staff involved in the same surgical operation could be very different. The purpose of the present work is to report investigations carried out at the SS. Annunziata Hospital in Cento (Ferrara, Italy) and present some of the data obtained. The article describes experimental and theoretical research activities, both ongoing and proposed, inherent to the thermo-hygrometric comfort problems of medical personnel. This study falls within a larger research programme, concerning the microbiological, chemical and physical pollution phenomena and the patient’s hypothermia problems in an operating theatre

A Proposed Methodology to Control Body Temperature in Patients at Risk of Hypothermia by means of Active Rewarming Systems

Hypothermia is a common complication in patients undergoing surgery under general anesthesia. It has been noted that, during the first hour of surgery, the patient’s internal temperature (Tcore) decreases by 0.5–1.5°C due to the vasodilatory effect of anesthetic gases, which affect the body’s thermoregulatory system by inhibiting vasoconstriction. Thus a continuous check on patient temperature must be carried out. The currently most used methods to avoid hypothermia are based on passive systems (such as blankets reducing body heat loss) and on active ones (thermal blankets, electric or hot-water mattresses, forced hot air, warming lamps, etc.). Within a broader research upon the environmental conditions, pollution, heat stress, and hypothermia risk in operating theatres, the authors set up an experimental investigation by using a warming blanket chosen from several types on sale. Their aim was to identify times and ways the human body reacts to the heat flowing from the blanket and the blanket’s effect on the average temperature Tskin and, as a consequence, on Tcore temperature of the patient. The here proposed methodology could allow surgeons to fix in advance the thermal power to supply through a warming blanket for reaching, in a prescribed time, the desired body temperature starting from a given state of hypothermia

A survey on the microclimate in Palermo city using the public transport system

This work presentes the results of an extensive survey on the microclimate in Palermo city using the public transport syste