6664 research outputs found
Sort by
Impact of adding comfort cooling systems on the energy consumption and EPC rating of an existing UK hotel
Get PDFAbstract: In light of the recent launch of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard and its expected impact on the commercial buildings sector, this study investigated the impact of adding cooling systems on the annual energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of an existing UK hotel. Thermal Analysis Software (TAS) was used to conduct the study, and the baseline model was validated against the actual data. As is the current accepted procedure in EPC generating in the UK, the cooling set points of the guest rooms were set to 25 °C, resulting in a small increase in the annual energy consumption and emission rates, but not enough to change the energy performance certificate rating. Also, it was found that an improvement in energy consumption and energy performance certificate rating of the hotel would be achieved if the new systems replaced the existing heating systems in the guest rooms. Further simulations investigated more realistic situations, in which occupants may decide to keep their rooms at cooler temperatures. The results from this round of simulations showed considerable increase in the energy consumption and emissions of the building; however, these results would not be considered in the current approved procedure for EPC generating
Energy performance and cost analysis for the nZEB retrofit of a typical UK hotel
Get PDFIt is commonly known that commercial buildings contribute to a large proportion of energy consumption nationally and across Europe. The introduction of ‘nearly zero energy buildings’ (nZEBs) by the Energy Performance Building Directive [Recast] in 2010 has meant that a variety of active measures must be undertaken by the construction industry to define, shape, and meet the standard for both residential and commercial buildings. Hotels are typically ranked amongst the top five energy consumers in the tertiary sector. However, energy saving potential within the hotel industry is also significant. The aim of this study is to present an energy performance analysis and identify the primary energy consumption (PEC) level, post-retrofit, which could represent the cost-optimal level for a UK nZEB-hotel. Thermal Analysis Simulation software (Tas) is used to validate and assess the energy performance of the building pre- and post-retrofit. TasGenOpt is used to select individual EEMs that meet the nZEB targets and create the retrofit scenarios. Finally, building life cycle cost (BLCC) software is used to carry out the global cost calculations. It is found that whilst the nZEB target is technically feasible there is a 30 percent gap between the nZEB solution and the cost-optimal one. This is significant as it means that the current nZEB standard is not comparable to the best financial solution. The identified cost-optimal PEC level and recommendations provided may be used in the appraisal of other purpose-built UK nZEB hotel retrofits
How does obesity influence the risk of vertebral fracture? Findings from the UK Biobank participants
Get PDFObesity and osteoporotic-related fractures are two common public health problems, although it is unclear how obesity affects the risk of vertebral fractures. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between different measures of obesity and the risk of vertebral fracture, and to establish the various clinical factors that can predict such risk. We analysed the data obtained from 502,543 participants in the UK Biobank (229,138 men and 273,405 women) who were aged 40-69 years. Imaging information was available in a subset of this cohort (5,189 participants, 2,473 men and 2,716 women). We further examined how bone mineral density (BMD) and geometry of the vertebrae were related to body fat measures. It was shown that a larger waist circumference, but not body mass index (BMI), was associated with an increase in fracture risk in men, but in women, neither BMI nor waist circumference affected the risk. Trunk fat mass, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) mass and limb fat mass were negatively associated with vertebral body BMD and geometry in men and women. BMD and geometry are related to the vertebral strength, but may not be directly related to the risk of fractures which are also influenced by other factors. The binary logistic regression equation established in this study may be useful to clinicians for prediction of vertebral fracture risks, and may provide further information to supplement FRAX which assesses general fracture risks
Time-to-death approach in revealing chronicity and severity of COVID-19 across the world
Get PDFBackground
The outbreak of coronavirus disease, 2019 (COVID-19), which started from Wuhan, China,in late 2019, have spread worldwide. A total of 5,91,971 cases and 2,70,90 deaths were registered till 28th March, 2020. We aimed to predict the impact of duration of exposure to COVID-19 on the mortality rates increment.
Methods
In the present study, data on COVID-19 infected top seven countries viz., Germany, China, France, United Kingdom, Iran, Italy and Spain, and World as a whole, were used for modeling. The analytical procedure of generalized linear model followed by Gompertz link function was used to predict the impact lethal duration of exposure on the mortality rates.
Findings
Of the selected countries and World as whole, the projection based on 21st March, 2020 cases, suggest that a total (95% Cl) of 76 (65–151) days of exposure in Germany, mortality rate will increase by 5 times to 1%. In countries like France and United Kingdom, our projection suggests that additional exposure of 48 days and 7 days, respectively, will raise the mortality rates to 10%. Regarding Iran, Italy and Spain, mortality rate will rise to 10% with an additional 3–10 days of exposure. World’s mortality rates will continue increase by 1% in every three weeks. The predicted interval of lethal duration corresponding to each country has found to be consistent with the mortality rates observed on 28th March, 2020.
Conclusion
The prediction of lethal duration was found to have apparently effective in predicting mortality, and shows concordance with prevailing rates. In absence of any vaccine against COVID-19 infection, the present study adds information about the quantum of the severity and time elapsed to death will help the Government to take necessary and appropriate steps to control this pandemic
An integrated investigative approach in health monitoring of masonry arch bridges using GPR and InSAR technologies
Get PDFThis paper provides an overview of the existing health monitoring and assessment methods for masonry arch bridges. In addition, a novel “integrated” holistic non-destructive approach for structural monitoring of bridges using ground-based non-destructive testing (NDT) and the satellite remote sensing techniques is presented. The first part of the paper reports a review of masonry arch bridges and the main issues in terms of structural behaviour and functionality as well as the main assessment methods to identify structural integrity-related issues. A new surveying methodology is proposed based on the integration of multi-source, multi-scale and multi-temporal information collected using the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR – 200, 600 and 2000 MHz central-frequency antennas) and the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR – C-band SAR sensors) techniques. A case study (the “Old Bridge” at Aylesford, Kent, UK – a 13th century bridge) is presented demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method in the assessment of masonry arch bridges. GPR has proven essential at providing structural detailing in terms of subsurface geometry of the superstructure as well as the exact positioning of the structural ties. InSAR has identified measures of structural displacements caused by the seasonal variation of the water level in the river and the river bed soil expansions. The above process forms the basis for the “integrated” holistic structural health monitoring approach proposed by this paper
Guest editorial: recent advances in non-destructive testing methods for geophysical surveys
Get PDFA wide range of engineering and geoscience applications today rely on the extensive employment of specialist non-destructive testing (NDT) methods. The standalone use of these techniques has become established in many areas given the research progress achieved in the use of electrical, electromagnetic, optical and acoustic NDT methods. The capabilities and potential of these methods have been comprehensively explored and assessed, bringing research up to date. Research efforts have been mostly focussed on achieving new theoretical developments, the advancement of hardware and software components, and on finding new surveying and data processing methods and interpretations. As a result of this, the standard of quality is excellent, and data can be collected very accurately with available technology.
At the same time, the concept of integration between sensing methodologies, in terms of modelling data of different scale domains and resolutions, is becoming a real challenge within the scientific community, and is starting to be recognised as a key research area that could drastically enhance the capabilities of existing NDT technology when faced with new and complex scenarios. This trend is driven by an increase in the demand for more effective solutions for the investigation of non-conventional scenarios. These investigations need to be carried out while maintaining reasonable costs and within feasible time requirements, as multiple methods and equipment and interdisciplinary expertise are involved
Iridium oxide based potassium sensitive microprobe with anti-fouling properties
Get PDFHere, we present a new type of potassium sensor which possesses a combination of potassium sensing and anti-biofouling properties. Two major advancements were required to be developed with respect to the current technology; Firstly, design of surface linkers for this type of coating that would allow deposition of the potassium-selective coating on Iridium (Ir) wire or micro-spike surface for chronic monitoring for the first time. As this has never been done before, even for flat Ir surfaces, the material’s small dimensions and surface area render this challenging. Secondly, the task of transformation of the coated wire into a sensor. Here we develop and bench-test the electrode sensitivity to potassium and determine its specificity to potassium versus sodium interference. For this purpose we also present a novel characterisation platform which enables dynamic characterization of the sensor including step and sinusoidal response to analyte changes. The developed sensor shows good sensitivity (<1 mM concentrations of K+ ions) and selectivity (up to approximately 10 times more sensitive to K+ than Na+ concentration changes, depending on concentrations and ionic environment). In addition, the sensor displays very good mechanical properties for the small diameter involved (sub 150 μm), which in combination with anti-biofouling properties, renders it an excellent potential tool for the chemical monitoring of neural and other physiological activities using implantable devices
A novel geo-statistical approach for transport infrastructure network monitoring by persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI)
Get PDFPersistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) is an Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique based on a multi-temporal interferogram analysis of SAR images. The aim of the technique is to extract long-term high phase stability benchmarks of coherent point targets, namely Persistent Scatterers (PS). In the last decades, several approaches have been developed to obtain PSI point targets, proving their viability for applications to transport infrastructure monitoring and surveillance. However, SAR satellites can only detect displacements in the Line-of-Sight (LoS), with reference to the specific orbit-related incident angle. This work proposes a novel geo-statistical approach to ease post-processing of large datasets of PSs resulting from the application of the PSI algorithms over an area of interest. The approach aims at correcting the component of the displacement collected from the acquisition geometry of the sensor
Development and validation of a nomogram for assessing survival in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia
Get PDFBackground: The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 2019 has spread worldwide and continues to cause great threat to peoples’ health as well as put pressure on the accessibility of medical systems. Early prediction of survival of hospitalized patients will help the clinical management of COVID-19, but such a prediction model which is reliable and valid is still lacking.
Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 628 confirmed cases of COVID-19 using positive RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 in Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, China. These patients were randomly grouped into a training cohort (60%) and a validation cohort (40%). In the training cohort, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis were utilized to identify prognostic factors for in-hospital survival of patients with COVID-19. A nomogram based on the three variables was built for clinical use. Areas under the ROC curves (AUC), concordance index (C-index) and calibration curve were used to evaluate the efficiency of the nomogram in both the training and validation cohorts.
Results: Hypertension, higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and increased NT-proBNP value were found to be significantly associated with poorer prognosis in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The three predictors were further used to build a prediction nomogram. The C-index of the nomogram in the training and validation cohorts was 0.901 and 0.892, respectively. The AUC in the training cohort was 0.922 for 14- day and 0.919 for 21-day probability of in-hospital survival, while in the validation cohort was 0.922 and 0.881, respectively. Moreover, the calibration curve for 14- day and 21-day survival also showed high coherence between the predicted and actual probability of survival.
Conclusion: We managed to build a predictive model and constructed a nomogram for predicting in-hospital survival of patients with COVID-19. This model represents good performance and might be utilized clinically in the management of COVID-19.
Keywords:
Coronavirus; COVID-19; nomogram; prediction; surviva
Effective communication between nurses and patients: an evolutionary concept analysis
Get PDFCommunication can be considered as the basis of the nurse-patient relationship and is an essential element in building trust and comfort in nursing care. Effective communication is a fundamental but complex concept in nursing practice. This concept analysis aims to clarify effective communication and its impact on patient care using Rodgers’ (1989) evolutionary framework of concept analysis. Effective communication between nurses and patients is presented along with surrogate terms, attributes, antecedents, consequences, related concepts and a model case. Effective communication was identified to be a multifactorial concept and defines as a mutual agreement between nurses and patients. This influences the nursing process, clinical reasoning and decision-making. Consequently, promotes high-quality nursing care, positive patient outcome and patient’s and nurse’s satisfaction of care