•Co-heating tests in Australia are most reliable between May-October.•Co-heating tests have larger windows for application in southern locations.•Co-heating tests may still provide reliable results ...in some locations north of the Tropic of Capricorn.•2-step regression analysis is shown to be more reliable than Siviour, Simple Linear or Multiple Regressions analyses.
Post construction evaluation of energy efficiency measures is not a mandatory requirement of Australia’s National Construction Code. Co-heating tests are one means of conducting post construction evaluation of a buildings’ thermal shell as a complete system. Australia is geographically large, and as such has many different climate zones. Using the Chenath thermal calculation engine, a simulation study was conducted, identifying where and when a Co-heating test can be applied in Australia and provide reliable results. The study compares results across 69 climate zones defined by the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) as well as four different calculation techniques to generate the Heat Transfer Coefficient (HTC) and compares this with an estimated ‘true’ HTC. While the co-heating test is found to provide most reliable results when used in winter, and has a larger window of application in the southern parts of Australia, the test is shown to be accurate in some hotter climates further north. Most reliable results were attained using a two-stage regression analysis. This shows potential for the co-heating test to be applied in Australia.
Fractures of the pelvic ring Wong, James Min-Leong; Bucknill, Andrew
Injury,
04/2017, Letnik:
48, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Abstract Traumatic disruptions of the pelvic ring are high energy life threatening injuries. Management represents a significant challenge, particularly in the acute setting in the presence of severe ...haemorrhage. Initial management is focused on preserving life by controlling haemorrhage and associated injuries. Advances in prehospital care, surgery, interventional radiology and the introduction of treatment algorithms to streamline decision making have improved patient survival. As more patients with unstable pelvic injuries survive, the poor results associated with nonoperative management and increasing patient expectations of outcome are making surgical management of these fractures increasingly common. The aim of operative fracture fixation is to correct deformity and restore function. The advent of percutaneous fixation techniques has reduced the morbidity previously associated with large operative exposures and internal fixation.
The effects of inulin and mannanoligosaccharide (MOS) on the growth performance and non-specific immunity of grass carp were studied. Two doses of prebiotic fiber with 0.2 or 2 % of the fibers are ...being mixed into fish feed pellets. Fish growth as well as selected non-specific immune parameters of grass carp were tested in a feeding trial, which lasted for 8 weeks. Fish was fed at 2.5 % body mass per day. INU02, INU2, and MOS2 significantly improved relative weight gain, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, and food conversion ratio of grass carp fed with food waste-based diet. In terms of non-specific immune response, grass carp showed significant improvement in all three tested parameters (total serum immunoglobin, bactericidal activity, and anti-protease activity). Adding 2 % of inulin (INU2) into food waste diets seemed to be more preferable than other supplemented experimental diets (INU02, MOS02, MOS2), as it could promote growth of grass carp as well as improving the non-specific immune systems of grass carp.
A Dilemma of Green Democracy Wong, James K
Political studies,
04/2016, Letnik:
64, Številka:
1_suppl
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Can democracy secure environmental sustainability? This article proposes a basic, yet substantial organising principle – the ‘dilemma of green democracy’ – which maps out the possibility of realising ...green decision outcomes under democratic constraints. The dilemma posits that there is no logical or unconditional relationship between democratic decisions and environmental sustainability. More specifically, three plausible conditions for collective environmental decision making – robustness to pluralism, consensus preservation and green outcomes – are mutually inconsistent, meaning that they cannot be satisfied simultaneously. To construct a logically possible environmental-democratic institution, we must avoid the dilemma by relaxing at least one of the conditions. This article explores a number of escape routes from the dilemma, and discusses each proposal by drawing on democratic theory and empirical examples in environmental politics. It concludes that as long as the dilemma of green democracy is resolved, democracy can, at least in principle, secure environmental sustainability.
Background and Objectives
Buprenorphine extended‐release (BUP‐XR) is a monthly injectable form of opioid agonist therapy. Before its administration, a minimum 7‐day induction period with a ...transmucosal buprenorphine‐containing product is recommended.
Methods
Case report (n = 1).
Results
A 16‐year‐old female with active, severe opioid use disorder (OUD) and stimulant use disorder, hepatitis C virus, co‐occurring mental health disorders, and complex social stressors had five recent overdoses requiring naloxone. She had previously been treated with methadone and several trials of sublingual buprenorphine/naloxone, but would quickly discontinue the treatment. Using a rapid micro‐induction protocol, buprenorphine/naloxone was administered for 3 days. On day 4, 300 mg BUP‐XR was administered subcutaneously. Minimal withdrawal symptoms occurred, despite recent fentanyl use.
Discussion and Conclusions
A rapid sublingual buprenorphine/naloxone micro‐induction was successfully used to initiate BUP‐XR, thereby eliminating the abstinence period prior to buprenorphine/naloxone administration, shortening the induction period, and minimizing withdrawal.
Scientific Significance
This is the first reported case of using rapid micro‐induction as a bridge to initiate BUP‐XR. By reducing the length of induction to 4 days and minimizing withdrawal, this induction method can make BUP‐XR more accessible to patients who would otherwise refuse the medication due to concerns of enduring withdrawal. (Am J Addict 2020;29:531–535)
An inappropriate accumulation of fibrillar collagen is a common pathologic feature of early aged hypertensive heart disease, but little information regarding the effects of exercise training on ...cardiac fibrosis in hypertension is available. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of exercise training on cardiac fibrotic pathways in early aged hypertensive rats.
Masson's trichrome staining and Western blotting were performed on the excised left ventricle from twenty male spontaneously hypertensive rats at age of 48 weeks, which were randomly divided into either a sedentary hypertensive group (SHR) or exercise hypertensive group (SHR-EX, running on a treadmill running occurred 5 days/week for 60 min/day, for 12 weeks), and from age-matched male Wistar-Kyoto normotensive controls (WKY).
Interstitial fibrosis was reduced in the SHR-Ex group when compared with the SHR group. The fibrotic-related protein levels of AT
R, FGF23, LOX-2, TGF-β, CTGF, p-Smad 2/3, MMP-2/TIMP-2, MMP-9/TIMP-1, uPA and collagen I were decreased in the SHR-EX group, when compared with the SHR group.
Exercise training suppresses early aged hypertensive heart-induced LOX-2/TGF-β-mediated fibrotic pathways associated with decreasing AT
R and FGF23, which might provide a new therapeutic effect for exercise training to prevent adverse cardiac fibrosis and myocardial abnormalities in early aged hypertension.
S-sulfhydration is a signalling pathway of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which is suggested as an anti-atherogenic molecule that may protect against atherosclerosis. The identification of S-sulfhydrated ...proteins by proteomic approach could be a major step towards understanding the mechanisms of H2S in response to atherosclerosis. The present study studied targeted S-sulfhydrated proteins using the modified biotin switch method followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time of flight tandem mass spectrometry identification. The results showed that H2S can protect against atherosclerosis by reducing body weight gain and alleviating aortic plaque formation. In addition, H2S treatment can increase aortic protein S-sulfhydration. Seventy targeted S-sulfhydrated aortic proteins were identified, mainly involved in metabolism, stimulus response and biological regulation, as determined by gene ontology database analysis. H2S also induced S-sulfhydration of glutathione peroxidase 1 and further reduced lipid peroxidation and increased antioxidant defence in the aorta by prompting glutathione synthesis. Our data suggest that H2S is a cardiovascular-protective molecule that S-sulfhydrates a subset of proteins that are mainly responsible for lipid metabolism and exerts its cytoprotective effects to clear free radicals and inhibit oxidative stress through cysteine S-sulfhydration.
Background and aim
Some studies have shown that an increasing atmospheric CO
2
concentration reduces plant transpiration while others have demonstrated that it interacts with nutrients in soil to ...enhance plant transpiration and plant growth including an increase in leaf area. However, none of these studies has focused on plant-induced suction in vegetated soils. The objective of this study is to quantify transpiration induced soil suction by
Schefflera heptaphylla
in NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) nutrient supplied, heavily compacted silty sand under two different atmospheric CO
2
concentrations (400 ppm and 1000 ppm).
Method
Three replicates of the plant were grown in NPK nutrient supplied silty sand and their plant characteristics and soil matric suction were measured under 400 and 1000 ppm atmospheric CO
2
for three months.
Results
Due to the supply of nitrogen-rich nutrient in silty sand, leaf area index (LAI) of plant increased by 22% under 1000 ppm CO
2
compared to 400 ppm CO
2
. Thus, the larger LAI induced higher soil suction substantially since no significant difference in soil suction was found between current and elevated atmospheric CO
2
. LAI of
Schefflera heptaphylla
could be a reliable parameter to understand and predict soil suction as verified by strong correlation coefficient (
R
2
= 0.85–0.98; P value < 0.1
) of peak induced suction and atmospheric CO
2
concentration.
Conclusion
This study reveals that the use of vegetation in soil structures needs proper management with additional supply of nutrients to thrive under future atmospheric condition and to induce suction hence improve shear strength in vegetated soil structures.
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