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Specification and Implementation of IFC Based Performance Metrics to Support Building Life Cycle Assessment of Hybrid Energy Systems
No full textThe First National IBPSA-USA Conference (SimBuild 2004), Boulder, Colorado, United States of America, 4-6 August 2004Minimising building life cycle energy consumption is becoming of paramount importance. Performance metrics tracking offers a clear and concise manner of relating design intent in a quantitative form. A methodology is discussed for storage and utilisation of these performance metrics through an Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) instantiated Building Information Model (BIM). The paper focuses on storage of three sets of performance data from three distinct sources. An example of a performance metrics programming hierarchy is displayed for a heat pump and a solar array. Utilising the sets of performance data, two discrete performance effectiveness ratios may be computed, thus offering an accurate method of quantitatively assessing building performance.Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and TechnologySustainable Energy IrelandNational Development Plan (NDP), Irelan
The association between training load indices and upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in elite soccer players
No full textThis study aimed to investigate the association between training load indices and Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) across different lag periods in elite soccer players. Internal training load was collected from 15 elite soccer players over one full season (40 weeks). Acute, chronic, Acute:Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR), Exponentially Weighted Moving Averages (EWMA) ACWR, 2, 3 and 4-week cumulative load, training strain and training monotony were calculated on a rolling weekly basis. Players completed a daily illness log, documenting any signs and symptoms, to help determine an URTI. Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the associations between training load indices and URTIs across different lag periods (1 to 7-days). The results found a significant association between 2-week cumulative load and an increased likelihood of a player contracting an URTI 3 days later (Odds Ratio, 95% Confidence Interval: OR = 2.07, 95% CI = 0.026-1.431). Additionally, a significant association was found between 3-week cumulative load and a players’ increased risk of contracting an URTI 4 days later (OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 0.013–1.006). These results indicate that accumulated periods of high training load (2- and 3-week) associated with an increased risk of a player contracting an URTI, which may lead to performance decrements, missed training sessions or even competitions
Dairy processing sludge and co-products: a review of present and future re-use pathways in agriculture
No full textThe dairy industry is one of the largest global producers of wastewater and generates huge volumes of dairy processing sludge (DPS). There are two main types of DPS, lime-treated dissolved air floatation sludge and bio-chemically-treated activated sludge. These sludge types may also be converted to STRUBIAS (STRUvite, BIochar, AShes) products which have potential as fertilizers, secondary feedstocks for phosphate fertiliser granules, and soil amendments. A small number of studies indicate that these products have variable nutrient and metal contents, which differ across sludge and STRUBIAS product types. This is due to many factors such as the type of dairy plants, wastewater treatment process and production technologies. Although such products are commonly applied to land, their phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) fertilizer equivalency values (FEV) are understudied at field scale. Their contaminants including heavy metals, antimicrobial drugs, hormones, pesticides, disinfectants, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), microplastics and nano particles require quantification, as do their impact on soil and plant materials, and potential environmental impacts. This review concluded that while DPS and STRUBIAS products have potential in nutrient recycling, their uncertain plant-available nutrient content and the potential presence of emerging contaminants make them difficult to be used efficiently. Future research should focus on the characterisation, fertilising effects, environmental risks and the production technologies across all types before they can be a marketable fertiliser product.This project has received funding from the European Union\u27s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 814258
Pharmacological blockade of PPARα exacerbates inflammatory pain-related impairment of spatial memory in rats
No full textPeroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-dependent transcription factors that exist in three isoforms: PPAR¿, PPARß/¿ and PPAR¿. Studies suggest that the PPAR signalling system may modulate pain, anxiety and cognition. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether endogenous signalling via PPARs differentially modulates innate anxiety responses and mnemonic function in the presence and absence of inflammatory pain. We examined the effects of intraperitoneal administration of GW6471 (PPAR¿ antagonist), GSK0660 (PPARß/¿ antagonist), GW9662 (PPAR¿ antagonist), and N-palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) on rat behaviour in the elevated plus maze (EPM), open field (OF), light-dark box (LDB), and novel object recognition (NOR) tests in the presence or absence of chronic inflammatory pain. Complete Freund\u27s Adjuvant (CFA)-injected rats exhibited impaired recognition and spatial mnemonic performance in the NOR test and pharmacological blockade of PPAR¿ further impaired spatial memory in CFA-treated rats. N-oleoylethanolamide (OEA) levels were higher in the dorsal hippocampus in CFA-injected animals compared to their counterparts. The results suggest a modulatory effect of CFA-induced chronic inflammatory pain on cognitive processing, but not on innate anxiety-related responses. Increased OEA-PPAR¿ signalling may act as a compensatory mechanism to preserve spatial memory function following CFA injection.This research was funded by Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq)—Brazil (#207530/2014-
9). JCG was funded by a PhD scholarship from Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq)—Brazil
Edge2Train: A framework to train machine learning models (SVMs) on resource-constrained IoT edge devices
No full textIn recent years, ML (Machine Learning) models that have been trained in data centers can often be deployed for use on edge devices. When the model deployed on these devices encounters unseen data patterns, it will either not know how to react to that specific scenario or result in a degradation of accuracy. To tackle this, in current scenarios, most edge devices log such unseen data in the cloud via the internet. Using this logged data, the initial ML model is then re-trained/upgraded in the data center and then sent to the edge device as an OTA (Over The Air) update. When applying such an online approach, the cost of edge devices increases due to the addition of wireless modules (4G or WiFi) and it also increases the cyber-security risks. Additionally, it also requires maintaining a continuous connection between edge devices and the cloud infrastructure leading to the requirement of high network bandwidth and traffic. Finally, such online devices are not self-contained ubiquitous systems. In this work, we provide Edge2Train, a framework which enables resource-scarce edge devices to re-train ML models locally and offline. Thus, edge devices can continuously improve themselves for better analytics results by managing to understand continuously evolving real-world data on the fly. In this work, we provide algorithms for Edge2Train along with its C++ implementations. Using these functions, on-board, offline SVM training, inference, and evaluation has been performed on five popular MCU boards. The results show that our Edge2Train-trained SVMs produce classification accuracy close to that of SVMs trained on high resource setups. It also performs unit inference for values with 64-dimensional features 3.5x times faster than CPUs, while consuming only 1/350th of the energy that CPUs consume.This publication has emanated from research supported by research
grants from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under Grant Number SFI/16/RC/3918 (Confirm) and SFI/12/RC/2289_P2 (Insight), cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund
Lean Six Sigma as an enabler for healthcare operational excellence in COVID-19
No full textPurpose -This paper aims to present the results of a qualitative research interview study on the utilization and importance of Lean Six Sigma methods in the Healthcare sector in COVID-19 and in pandemics in general.
Design/methodology/approach -a qualitative interview approach was utilised by interviewing leading Lean Six Sigma academics and practitioners who are expert in and have experience in Lean Six Sigma.
Findings – Lean Six Sigma methods are proven and can be utilised in pandemic situations to improve efficiency and resilience in the healthcare system and readiness for pandemics.
Research limitations/implications - One limitation of this research was that most of the interviewees who participated in this study come from Europe. Also, the interviews were short and at a high level. There is an opportunity for further detailed quantitative study and longitudinal case study analysis
Originality - The paper provides an excellent resource to get an insight into the value of the application of Lean Six Sigma methods in pandemic situations to aid Healthcare process improvement, operational excellence and enhance public and patient safet
In vitro digestibility and antioxidant activity of plant protein isolate and milk protein concentrate blends
No full textThe replacement of animal with plant proteins in human diets has been increasing in recent years. The impact of blending milk protein concentrate (MPC) with protein isolates from soy (SPI), rice (RPI) and pea (PPI) on the in vitro digestibility and antioxidant activity of the resultant blends was investigated. Different plant protein–MPC blends (i.e., SPI–MPC (25:75), RPI–MPC (50:50) and PPI–MPC (25:75)) were analyzed. The lowest protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) was associated with RPI (0.70), while the blends had PDCAAS values above 1.00 demonstrating the high digestibility of the proteins in the blends studied. An in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion was carried out on the samples. The degree of hydrolysis and gel permeation high performance liquid chromatography profiles showed that the SPI–MPC blend was more extensively digested in the gastric phase compared with the two other blends, while the PPI–MPC and RPI–MPC blends were mainly digested during the intestinal phase. The SPI–MPC digested blend had the highest 2,2\u27-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity having a half maximal effective concentration (EC50) of 0.10 ± 0.01 mg/mL. The findings show that blends of plant protein with MPC had higher in vitro digestibility and antioxidant activity compared to the individual plant protein isolates
Trauma-informed care psychoeducational group-based interventions for foster carers and adoptive parents: A narrative review
No full textTrauma-informed care (TIC) psychoeducational group-based interventions for foster carers and adoptive parents are growing, but evidence about their effects have not been integrated. A narrative review was undertaken of studies that evaluated the effects of these interventions. It found that they appear to increase carers\u27 capacity to provide children with TIC and reduce child trauma-related difficulties. Three core components â psychoeducation, reflective engagement and skills building â were identified as helping to explain how the interventions work. However, the evidence is weak due to the mixed findings, diverse research designs, varied measures and methodological deficiencies, so results should be interpreted with caution. This highlights the urgent need for more rigorous research. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed
Enhancing the productivity of ryegrass at elevated CO2is dependent on tillering and leaf area development rather than leaf-level photosynthesis
No full textWhilst a range of strategies have been proposed for enhancing crop productivity, many recent studies have focused primarily on enhancing leaf photosynthesis under current atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Given that the atmos-pheric CO2 concentration is likely to increase significantly in the foreseeable future, an alternative/complementary strategy might be to exploit any variability in the enhancement of growth/yield and photosynthesis at higher CO2concentrations. To explore this, we investigated the responses of a diverse range of wild and cultivated ryegrass genotypes, with contrasting geographical origins, to ambient and elevated CO2 concentrations and examined what genetically tractable plant trait(s) might be targeted by plant breeders for future yield enhancements. We found sub-stantial ~7-fold intraspecific variations in biomass productivity among the different genotypes at both CO2 levels, which were related primarily to differences in tillering/leaf area, with only small differences due to leaf photosynthesis. Interestingly, the ranking of genotypes in terms of their response to both CO2 concentrations was similar. However, as expected, estimates of whole-plant photosynthesis were strongly correlated with plant productivity. Our results sug-gest that greater yield gains under elevated CO2 are likely through the exploitation of genetic differences in tillering and leaf area rather than focusing solely on improving leaf photosynthesis
Making healthcare accessible for single adults with complex needs experiencing long-term homelessness: A realist evaluation protocol
No full textBackground: Over the last several years, homelessness has increased in Ireland and across Europe. Rates have recently declined since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but it is unclear whether emergency housing measures will remain in place permanently. Populations experiencing long-term homelessness face a higher burden of multi-morbidity at an earlier age than housed populations and have poorer health outcomes. However, this population also has more difficulty accessing appropriate health services. A realist review by the authors found that important health system contexts which impact access are resourcing, training, funding cycles, health system fragmentation, health system goals, how care is organised, culture, leadership and flexibility of care delivery. Using a realist evaluation approach, this research will explore and refine key system-level factors, highlighted in our realist review, in a local health care system.Aim: The aim of this study is to understand how funding procedures and health system performance management impact service settings, staff, providers and their ability to make services accessible to populations experiencing homelessness.Methods: A realist evaluation will be undertaken to explain how funding and health system performance management impact healthcare accessibility for populations experiencing homelessness. Data will be collected using qualitative and realist intervie