The performance and economical analysis of grid-connected photovoltaic systems in Daegu, Korea

The distribution of the photovoltaic systems is faced with technological and economic problems, and the businesses and corporations feel burdened by the photovoltaic system's dubious economic value and high construction costs. Thus, not too many enterprises or private citizens have been participating in the business of installing photovoltaic systems. Moreover, because of lack of skills in integrating engineering and architectural design, they are experiencing difficulties even in using the technologies that have already been developed and available for application. To provide the basic information and specific data required for making the guidelines for developing photovoltaic technologies, this paper evaluates the system types, the actual state of operation, and performance of the two photovoltaic systems that are installed in Kiemyung University's Osan Building and Dongho Elementary School in Daegu Metropolitan City.Photovoltaic system Grid-connected system Performance analysis Economical analysis Korea

Influence of design and installation of emergency exit signs on evacuation speed

Emergency exit signs have an important role in the fire safety of buildings. Exit signs help evacuees rapidly escape fire by following the fastest and safest escape routes immediately after the detection of fire. In other words, evacuation can greatly vary according to environmental factors regarding evacuation within the building. In this study, change in the evacuation speed by exit signs and environmental conditions was analyzed through experiments with 138 subjects. Four environmental factors in the experiment are visibility, distance between exit sign and evacuees, spatial configuration, and size and brightness of exit sign. In conclusion, changes in the spatial conditions around exit signs influenced the evacuation speeds of the subjects in poor visibility, and the changes in physical conditions of exit signs exerted more influence when the visibility was relatively better

Genome-wide analyses of early-onset acute myocardial infarction identify 29 novel loci by whole genome sequencing

Early-onset acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may have a higher genetic predisposition than late-onset AMI. The present study aimed to identify and characterize germline variants that affect early-onset AMI using whole-genome sequencing (WGS). We performed a genome-wide association study based on the WGS of 1239 Koreans, including 596 early-onset AMI patients and 643 healthy individuals. Patients with AMI who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) caused by atherothrombotic occlusive lesions were included in the study. A total of 29 novel loci were found to be associated with early-onset AMI. These loci are involved in thrombosis, fibrinolysis, inflammation, and lipid metabolism. One of the associated single nucleotide variants (SNVs), rs1614576, located upstream of PRKCB, is known to be associated with thrombus formation. Additionally, the results revealed a novel locus, rs78631167, located upstream of PLAUR which plays a critical role in regulating plasminogen activation and is related to fibrinolysis. The association between early-onset AMI and rs9357455, which is located upstream of PHACTR1 and regulates inflammation in AMI, was found. Moreover, we identified a lipid metabolism related genetic risk locus, rs5072, in the APOA1-AS gene. This study provides new evidence supporting the genetic association between early-onset AMI and thrombosis and fibrinolysis, as well as inflammation and lipid metabolism, by analyzing the whole-genome of 596 patients with early-onset AMI who have been treated with PCI. Our findings highlight potential genetic markers for the prediction and management of AMI, as well as for understanding the etiology of AMI

Solid-organ malignancy as a risk factor for tuberculosis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The effective control of tuberculosis (TB) requires that people at high risk for the reactivation of TB are identified. Haematological malignancy has been shown to be a risk factor for the development of TB, either through immune suppression by the tumour or through the effects of chemotherapy. This study assessed the hypothesis that solid-organ malignancy is a risk factor for the development of TB. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed to determine the incidence of TB in patients with solid-organ malignancy and in control subjects without malignancy. Risk factors for the development of TB among patients with cancer were also assessed. RESULTS: The study recruited 1809 cases with cancer and 1809 control subjects and followed them for 3 years. The incidence of active TB per 1000 person-years was 3.07 in patients with cancer and 0.77 in controls (P = 0.009). Compared with the control group, patients with cancer had an increased risk of developing TB (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 4.69, 95% CI: 1.52-14.46). Proportional hazards regression analysis showed that the risk factors for development of TB were chronic renal failure (IRR 9.91, 95% CI: 1.17-83.60), old healed TB on CXR (IRR 45.05, 95% CI: 5.74-353.88), and anticancer chemotherapy (IRR 4.32, 95% CI: 1.10-16.89). An interaction between old healed TB and anticancer chemotherapy was observed. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that immune suppression by cancer or by anticancer chemotherapy increases vulnerability to reactivation of TB, especially in cancer patients with old healed TB.This study was funded by grant 04-2006-098-0 from the Seoul National University College of Medicine Research Fund (Seoul, Korea)