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| 2. |
- Abeysinghe, Kasun S., et al.
(författare)
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Mercury flow through an Asian rice-based food web
- 2017
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Ingår i: Environmental Pollution. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0269-7491 .- 1873-6424. ; 229, s. 219-228
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mercury (Hg) is a globally-distributed pollutant, toxic to humans and animals. Emissions are particularly high in Asia, and the source of exposure for humans there may also be different from other regions, including rice as well as fish consumption, particularly in contaminated areas. Yet the threats Asian wildlife face in rice-based ecosystems are as yet unclear. We sought to understand how Hg flows through rice-based food webs in historic mining and non-mining regions of Guizhou, China. We measured total Hg (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in soil, rice, 38 animal species (27 for MeHg) spanning multiple trophic levels, and examined the relationship between stable isotopes and Hg concentrations. Our results confirm biomagnification of THg/MeHg, with a high trophic magnification slope. Invertivorous songbirds had concentrations of THg in their feathers that were 15x and 3x the concentration reported to significantly impair reproduction, at mining and non-mining sites, respectively. High concentrations in specialist rice consumers and in granivorous birds, the later as high as in piscivorous birds,, suggest rice is a primary source of exposure. Spiders had the highest THg concentrations among invertebrates and may represent a vector through which Hg is passed to vertebrates, especially songbirds. Our findings suggest there could be significant population level health effects and consequent biodiversity loss in sensitive ecosystems, like agricultural wetlands, across Asia, and invertivorous songbirds would be good subjects for further studies investigating this possibility.
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| 3. |
- Abuimara, Tareq, et al.
(författare)
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Understanding the Needs and Challenges of Occupant-centric Building Design among Stakeholders: A Review
- 2019
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Ingår i: ZEMCH International Conference. - 2652-2926. ; , s. 348-354
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Designing high-performance buildings is a complex process that involves several stakeholders at different stages of design development. Design stakeholders need to work together to achieve design objectives and overcome the challenge that arises from inefficient collaboration and coordination. Among these challenges are occupant-related assumptions which are made throughout the design process, including schematic design, energy modelling, construction, and even operation. Accuracy of these assumptions is highly dependent on the design stakeholders' objectives and the time that they are engaged in the design process. Differences in occupant-related assumptions can lead to a considerable level of uncertainty, which probably leads to suboptimal design decisions. To this end, the current practice, including the challenges and the barriers, needs to be documented and understood in order to develop an improved occupant modelling approach during building design. Therefore, this paper highlights the current practices of communicating occupant-related assumptions in the building design process. In this paper, we also argue the need for in-depth consideration of communication among design stakeholders.
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| 4. |
- Clements-Croome, Derek, et al.
(författare)
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Research Roadmap for Intelligent and Responsive Buildings
- 2018
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Intelligence has three parts cognitive, emotional and practical. A building needs to reflect this. So an intelligent building will responsive to people in terms of not only being functional but to the human senses besides serving a community in the location. It will be resource effective in terms of energy , water and waste with low pollution. It will be smart in terms of technology selected to enable the systems to respond effectively but also make them easier for people to use. Today there is a focus on health and wellbeing and so intelligent buildings must produce a healing environment. Buildings need to be functional and practical but also expressive. Equally important is the infrastructure that services buildings and the people moving between them.
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| 5. |
- Cobaleda Cordero, Antonio, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Smart and Sustainable Offices (SSO). Showcasing a holistic approach to realise the next generation offices
- 2017
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Ingår i: Informes de la Construccion. - : Editorial CSIC. - 0020-0883 .- 1988-3234. ; 69:548, s. 1-10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Smart Sustainable Offices project (SSO) is a product of years of research with large sets of data collected from more than 30 office buildings in Switzerland, Sweden, and Spain. Based on scientific evidence, the concept of SSO, initially conceived as a research plan to address the interdependencies between office users and their working environment in a European context, is now used as a qualitative and quantitative mixed method approach for office diagnosis and ideation. At the current stage, the SSO methodology aims to implement a new paradigm of user-oriented, lower carbon footprint and resilient office design solutions. The main strategy is articulated around the “office DNA” of every organisation, decoded as a compound of work patterns, operational and individual needs, and their potential to define design criteria. The practical application of SSO and its tentative findings exemplified through three pilot test office-demonstrators are described in this paper.
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| 6. |
- Duanmu, Lin, et al.
(författare)
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Relationship between Human Thermal Comfort and Indoor Thermal Environment Parameters in Various Climatic Regions of China
- 2017
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Ingår i: Procedia Engineering. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-7058 .- 1877-7058. ; 205, s. 2871-2878
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Architectural design is based on the reliability and rationality of construction standards. The thermal comfort standard is a very important part of construction standards. In this study, Chinese researches about the field survey of various areas were summarized. The distribution range of thermal comfo rt temperature and neutral temperature were obtained by using the PMV evaluation index. The neutral temperature of different types of buildings in different seasons was summarized. Its relationship with indoor parameters was analyzed in detail. These findings provide a basis for the formulation of building specifications and architectural design in future.
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| 7. |
- Földváry Ličina, Veronika, et al.
(författare)
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Development of the ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II
- 2018
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Ingår i: Building and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-1323. ; 142, s. 502-512
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recognizing the value of open-source research databases in advancing the art and science of HVAC, in 2014 the ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II project was launched under the leadership of University of California at Berkeley's Center for the Built Environment and The University of Sydney's Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Laboratory. The exercise began with a systematic collection and harmonization of raw data from the last two decades of thermal comfort field studies around the world. The ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II (Comfort Database), now an online, open-source database, includes approximately 81,846 complete sets of objective indoor climatic observations with accompanying “right-here-right-now” subjective evaluations by the building occupants who were exposed to them. The database is intended to support diverse inquiries about thermal comfort in field settings. A simple web-based interface to the database enables filtering on multiple criteria, including building typology, occupancy type, subjects' demographic variables, subjective thermal comfort states, indoor thermal environmental criteria, calculated comfort indices, environmental control criteria and outdoor meteorological information. Furthermore, a web-based interactive thermal comfort visualization tool has been developed that allows end-users to quickly and interactively explore the data.
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| 8. |
- Jin, L. Y., et al.
(författare)
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Long noncoding RNA MEG3 regulates LATS2 by promoting the ubiquitination of EZH2 and inhibits proliferation and invasion in gallbladder cancer
- 2018
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Ingår i: Cell Death & Disease. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-4889. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is the most common type of biliary tract cancer worldwide. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play essential roles in physiological and pathological development. LncRNA MEG3, a tumor suppressor, has been reported to play important roles in some cancers, but the role of MEG3 in GBC remains largely unknown. The purpose of the present study was to explore the role of MEG3 in proliferation and invasion and the potential molecular mechanism in GBC. We found that MEG3 was downregulated in GBC tissues and cells, and low expression of MEG3 was correlated with poor prognostic outcomes in patients. Overexpression of MEG3 inhibited GBC cell proliferation and invasion, induced cell apoptosis and decreased tumorigenicity in nude mice. Moreover, we found that MEG3 was associated with EZH2 and attenuated EZH2 by promoting its ubiquitination. Furthermore, MEG3 executed its functions via EZH2 to regulate the downstream target gene LATS2. Taken together, these findings suggest that MEG3 is an effective target for GBC therapy and may facilitate the development of lncRNA-directed diagnostics and therapeutics against GBC.
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| 9. |
- Jin, Quan, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Assessments of indoor environmental quality on occupant satisfaction and physical parameters in office buildings
- 2016
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Ingår i: The 14th International Conference of Indoor Air Quality and Climate. - 9780984685554
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The indoor environmental quality is of major interest for occupants in office buildings. This study is to identify the benchmarking values of physical parameters for indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of office buildings and explore the influences of outer climate conditions on the perceived IEQ. The recommended values from selected research articles are compared and classified in different hierarchies against thermal environment satisfaction level, air quality, illuminance and acoustic. A case study in five office buildings carried out in Switzerland is analysed from onsite physical measurements and occupant questionnaires. The results summarize the optimal ranges of selected physical parameters with three IEQ comfort levels. The differential and consistent outcomes in previous studies are verified. Outer climate parameters show potential correlations and influences with the satisfaction of IEQ aspects and weighting factors. In conclusion, it is lacking a standardized index and clear benchmarking values regarding both criteria requirements and local information.
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| 10. |
- Jin, Quan, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Experimental study of thermal sensation and physiological response during step changes in non-uniform indoor environment
- 2016
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Ingår i: Science and Technology for the Built Environment. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2374-474X .- 2374-4731. ; 22:2, s. 237-247
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To examine thermal comfort and the corresponding physiological responses in non-uniform and dynamic indoor thermal environments,this article presents the investigation of thermal sensations and skin temperatures during step changes between the ambient environment and the workstation where local ventilation devices supplied air motion around the subjects’ heads. Twenty-three labtests with human subjects were conducted to provide summer cooling in a controlled-environment chamber. Overall thermal sensations and skin temperatures were collected and analyzed. Data collected as subjects stepped between the ambient environment and the controlled-environment workstation displayed hysteresis and overshooting. That facial skin temperature correlates with thermal sensation provides a causal explanation of the overshooting and hysteresis. Further, the minimum change on facial skin temperature required to register a just-noticeable difference on thermal sensation was calculated to explore the correlation between facial skintemperature and overall thermal senation. In conclusion, thermal sensation data provide a sound quantifiable foundation for comfortpositive non-uniform indoor thermal environments. Facial skin temperature explains thermal sensation’s changing characteristics during step changes in non-uniform thermal environments under varying local cooling methods.
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