Properties Of Envelope Research Articles

Calibrating the Dynamic Energy Simulation Model for an Existing Building: Lessons Learned from a Collective Exercise

Calibration of the existing building simulation model is key to correctly evaluating the energy savings that are achievable through retrofit. However, calibration is a non-standard phase where different approaches can possibly lead to different models. In this study, an existing residential building is simulated in parallel by four research groups with different dynamic simulation tools. Manual/automatic methodologies and basic/detailed measurement data sets are used. The calibration is followed by a validation on two evaluation periods. Monitoring data concerning the windows opening by the occupants are used to analyze the calibration outcomes. It is found that for a good calibration of a model of a well-insulated building, the absence of data regarding the users’ behavior is more critical than uncertainty on the envelope properties. The automatic approach is more effective in managing the model complexity and reaching a better performing calibration, as the RMSE relative to indoor temperature reaches 0.3 °C compared to 0.4–0.5 °C. Yet, a calibrated model’s performance is often poor outside the calibration period (RMSE increases up to 10.8 times), and thus, the validation is crucial to discriminate among multiple solutions and to refine them, by improving the users’ behavior modeling.

Evaluation of passive envelope systems with radiative sky cooling and thermally insulated glazing materials for cooling

Passive envelope systems for building cooling are of great significance to achieve sustainable and low-energy buildings. Although promising advances in radiative sky cooling and enhanced glazing materials have been achieved recently, there still lacks performance evaluation on integrating these novel materials as passive building envelope systems for the cooling purpose. To this end, the study newly proposes a passive envelope system by synthetically incorporating radiative cooling roofs, colored cooling walls and thermally insulated glazing windows into a standard-compliant commercial building archetype. Comprehensive building thermal, energy, economic and environmental performance across a variety of typical climates in the United States was evaluated. The results were compared to the baseline model, in which the envelope properties are location-dependent and in accordance with ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (β = 0.3, βvis = 0.3, ε = 0.9 for exterior walls, β = 0.23–0.55, ε = 0.75–0.9 for roofs, and U = 1.9–2.8, SHGC = 0.23–0.38, VT = 0.253–0.418 for windows). The highly solar reflective and thermally emissive radiative cooling coating (β = 0.98, ε = 0.97) applied on roofs is able to achieve the cooling electricity savings ranging from 8.2% to 29.7% in response to different climate regions. In comparison, the colored (yellow) cooling paint (β = 0.72, βvis = 0.59, ε = 0.95) applied on walls can achieve annual cooling energy savings regionally from 3.5% to 9.3%. Besides, the thermally insulated windows with the improved visual comfort can save cooling energy from −2.1% to 3.7%. From the maximized cost saving perspective, the optimal design schemes of passive cooling building envelopes for each region were accordingly determined, by which the net cost saving ranges from 0.03 to 2.13 $/(m2·year) in response to climate variability. Notably, the optimal building envelopes regionally correspond to the net avoided CO2 emissions ranging from 0.11 to 16.72 kg/(m2·year)), indicating the noticeable carbon neutral potential induced by the proposed passive envelope system. This research is an effort to provide effective passive cooling envelope systems by combining the existing advanced cooling materials towards sustainable and energy-efficient buildings.

Type III Secretion System Repressor RhpR Induces GrlP, a Glycine-Rich Outer Membrane Lipoprotein with Functions in Regulating the Periplasmic Space and Pleiotropic Responses.

The two-component system RhpRS was initially identified as a regulator of genes encoding the type III secretion system (T3SS) in Pseudomonas syringae. Phosphorylated RhpR (P-RhpR) negatively regulates the T3SS genes by repressing the hrpR promoter, but directly activates the expression of a small gene named here as grlp. Here, we show that grlp is expressed higher in rich medium than in minimal medium in P. s. pv. tomato DC3000 and encodes a glycine rich lipoprotein (GrlP) located in the outer membrane (OM). The grlp gene has a pleiotropic effect on bacterial behaviors such as reductions in pathogenicity, swimming motility, biofilm formation, tolerance to various stresses and antibiotics, and long-term survival when overexpressed, but induces these responses when it is deleted in P. s. pv. tomato DC3000. Overexpression of grlp increases the size of periplasm while deletion of grlp decreases the periplasmic space. Further, GrlP interacts with OprI, the ortholog of E. coli OM lipoprotein Lpp, a key player in determining the size of periplasm and mechanic stiffness of the OM by tethering the OM to peptidoglycan (PG) in periplasm. As periplasmic space and OM mechanics play central roles in regulating bacterial physiology, we speculate that GrlP probably imposes its functions on bacterial physiology by regulating the periplasmic space and OM mechanics. These findings suggest that the T3SS gene regulation is closely coordinated with bacterial cell envelope properties by RhpRS in P. syringe. IMPORTANCE The OM of Gram-negative bacteria is the most front line in contact with extracellular milieu. OM is not only a protective layer, but also a structure that determines the envelope stiffness. Recent evidence indicated that components determining the periplasmic space and cross-links of lipopolysaccharide on the OM play key roles in regulating the mechanical properties of the OM. However, whether the OM composition and mechanical properties are coordinated with the expression of the T3SS genes is unknown. Here, we found that the two-component system (TCS) regulator P-RhpR, a direct repressor of the T3SS regulator hrpRS operon, directly activates the expression of the OM lipoprotein gene grlp bearing a function in regulating the periplasmic space. This finding suggests a coordination between the OM properties and the T3SS gene regulation and reveals a new target for control of the T3SS gene expression and bacterial pathogenicity.

ЧИСЛЕННОЕ МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЕ ПРЕДЕЛЬНЫХ СОСТОЯНИЙ ПЛАНЕТАРНОЙ АТМОСФЕРЫ12

The atmospheric general circulation plays an important role in the formation of weather and climate processes, providing transport and redistribution of heat, moisture, and angular momentum. Climate changes can have a significant effect on the elements of the atmospheric general circulation. To understand the general circulation patterns and possible future changes in its components, it is important to study its state under the limiting properties of the geographic envelope, in particular, the type of the active layer. The paper presents the results of numerical modeling of the atmospheric general circulation under simplified conditions of the underlying surface, namely oceanic and desert surfaces. The numerical experiment was performed on a global model transformed from the WRF-ARW model and it reproduced the atmosphere dynamics during one year. The limiting scenarios – either global ocean or global desert – reflected the role of phase transitions in the Earth's atmosphere. In the first case, due to the greenhouse effect, the circulation is not pronounced owing to the absence of a significant interlatitudinal gradient. In the second case, the sandy surface, unlike the ocean, cannot accumulate a large amount of heat, so the air near the Earth's surface cools rapidly in thewinter hemisphere and heats up rapidly in the summer hemisphere, as a result of which there are no trade winds. The combination of oceanic and desert zones (all homogeneous along the meridian) leads to the situation that the large-scale atmospheric circulationacquires features close to those of the Earth, which allows us to consider this configuration as a basic one for further numerical experiments. The experiments have shown the leading role of the absorbed part of solar radiation (insolation) and the contribution of water vapor (greenhouse effect, release of latent heat) in the formation of large-scale atmospheric currents. The implemented WRFARW model can be successfully used for modeling the general circulation of the atmosphere under different initial and boundary conditions.

Interactions of Surfactants with the Bacterial Cell Wall and Inner Membrane: Revealing the Link between Aggregation and Antimicrobial Activity.

Surfactants with their intrinsic ability to solubilize lipid membranes are widely used as antibacterial agents, and their interactions with the bacterial cell envelope are complicated by their differential aggregation tendencies. We present a combined experimental and molecular dynamics investigation to unravel the molecular basis for the superior antimicrobial activity and faster kill kinetics of shorter-chain fatty acid surfactant, laurate, when compared with the longer-chain surfactants studied in contact time assays with live Escherichia coli (E. coli). From all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, translocation events across peptidoglycan were the highest for laurate followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate, myristate, palmitate, oleate, and stearate. The translocation kinetics were positively correlated with the critical micellar concentration, which determined the free monomer surfactant concentration available for translocation across peptidoglycan. Interestingly, aggregates showed a lower propensity to translocate across the peptidoglycan layer and longer translocation times were observed for oleate, thereby revealing an intrinsic sieving property of the bacterial cell wall. Molecular dynamics simulations with surfactant-incorporated bacterial inner membranes revealed the greatest hydrophobic mismatch and membrane thinning in the presence of laurate when compared with the other surfactants. The enhanced antimicrobial efficacy of laurate over oleate was further verified by experiments with giant unilamellar vesicles, and electroporation molecular dynamics simulations revealed greater inner membrane poration tendency in the presence of laurate when compared with the longer-chain surfactants. Our study provides molecular insights into surfactant translocation across peptidoglycan and chain length-induced structural disruption of the inner membrane, which correlate with contact time kill efficacies observed as a function of chain length with E. coli. The insights gained from our study uncover unexplored barrier properties of the bacterial cell envelope to rationalize the development of antimicrobial formulations and therapeutics.

On the Use of PN Ranging With High-Rate Spectrally-Efficient Modulations in Satellite Payload Telemetry Links

Pseudonoise (PN) ranging is a ranging technique that has been recently introduced in near-Earth space research missions. For these, at the state-of-the-art, the PN ranging signal is combined with a high-rate telemetry stream binary modulated in phase. The coupling of the two, together with the 10 MHz bandwidth constraint imposed for this class of missions, translates into a data rate bound of approximately 10 Mb/s. The purpose of this article is to prove the feasibility of overcoming the current data rate limitation by defining a communication architecture that foresees the coupling of the PN ranging signal with a high-order modulated telemetry stream. To achieve the goal, we study the feasibility of pairing the PN ranging with filtered high-order modulations that are standardized for satellite payload telemetry links and investigate the simultaneous demodulation of the telemetry stream while tracking the ranging sequence. Accordingly, we design a receiver scheme capable of performing a closed-loop parallel cancellation of the ranging and the telemetry signal reciprocally. From our analysis, we find that the nonconstant envelope property, characterizing the considered modulation set, causes an additional jitter on the PN ranging timing estimation that, on the other hand, can be controlled and reduced by properly sizing the receiver loop bandwidth without limiting the timing synchronization dynamic. Our study proves the use of filtered high-order modulations combined with PN ranging to outperform the state-of-the-art in terms of spectral efficiency and achievable data rate while having comparable ranging performance.

Solar application potential and thermal property optimization of a novel zero-carbon heating building

Building Integrated Heat Pipes (BIHP), specifically a novel passive solar house integrated with gravity heat pipes, realizes envelopes with variable thermal properties and makes effective and efficient use of solar energy to reach zero-carbon heating, and can greatly improve the indoor thermal environment in winter. In this paper, an efficient method based on particle swarm optimization for the optimization of thermal properties of the BIHP interior envelope is proposed. The key thermal properties of the heat pipe and the exterior and interior envelopes are optimized, and the solar application potential of improving indoor thermal discomfort by BIHP in five representative cities of northern China is obtained. The results show that the equivalent thermal conductivity of the heat pipe is suggested to be greater than 2 × 104 W/(m·K). The optimal BIHP should have exterior envelopes with high thermal resistance and interior envelopes with large thermal capacity. In the selected areas, the optimal BIHP improves indoor thermal discomfort by 36 %–100 % and increases the minimum indoor operative temperature by 5.1–10.5 °C compared to the reference building. BIHP is recommended in areas with the ratio of radiation to temperature difference greater than 5 W/(m2·K) and can reach zero-carbon heating in Lhasa and Yinchuan. This research provides a global matching and optimization method for the effective and efficient utilization of solar energy to reach zero-carbon heating and evaluates the application potential of BIHP.

The Bacillus anthracis S-layer is an exoskeleton-like structure that imparts mechanical and osmotic stabilization to the cell wall.

Surface layers (S-layers) are 2D paracrystalline protein monolayers covering the cell envelope of many prokaryotes and archaea. Proposed functions include a role in cell support, as scaffolding structure, as molecular sieve, or as virulence factor. Bacillus anthracis holds two S-layers, composed of Sap or EA1, which interchange in early and late exponential growth phase. We previously found that acute disruption of B. anthracis Sap S-layer integrity, by means of nanobodies, results in severe morphological cell surface defects and cell collapse. Remarkably, this loss of function is due to the destruction of the Sap lattice structure rather than detachment of monomers from the cell surface. Here, we combine force nanoscopy and light microscopy observations to probe the contribution of the S-layer to the mechanical, structural, and functional properties of the cell envelope, which have been so far elusive. Our experiments reveal that cells with a compromised S-layer lattice show a decreased compressive stiffness and elastic modulus. Furthermore, we find that S-layer integrity is required to resist cell turgor under hypotonic conditions. These results present compelling experimental evidence indicating that the S-layers can serve as prokaryotic exoskeletons that support the cell wall in conferring rigidity and mechanical stability to bacterial cells.

Repeated exposure to heterologous hepatitis C viruses associates with enhanced neutralizing antibody breadth and potency.

A prophylactic hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine that elicits neutralizing antibodies could be key to HCV eradication. However, the genetic and antigenic properties of HCV envelope (E1E2) proteins capable of inducing anti-HCV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) in humans have not been defined. Here, we investigated the development of bNAbs in longitudinal plasma of HCV-infected persons with persistent infection or spontaneous clearance of multiple reinfections. By measuring plasma antibody neutralization of a heterologous virus panel, we found that the breadth and potency of the antibody response increased upon exposure to multiple genetically distinct infections and with longer duration of viremia. Greater genetic divergence between infecting strains was not associated with enhanced neutralizing breadth. Rather, repeated exposure to antigenically related, antibody-sensitive E1E2s was associated with potent bNAb induction. These data reveal that a prime-boost vaccine strategy with genetically distinct, antibody-sensitive viruses is a promising approach to inducing potent bNAbs in humans.

Statistical Analysis of the Variability of Energy Efficiency Indicators for a Multi-Family Residential Building

During the building design phase, a lot of attention is paid to the thermal properties of the external envelopes. New regulations are introduced to improve energy efficiency of a building and impose a reduction of the overall heat transfer coefficient; meanwhile, this efficiency is more influenced by the efficiency of the heating system and the type of fuels used. This article presents a complex analysis including the impact of: heat transfer coefficient of the envelope, efficiency of building service systems, the type of energy source, and the fuel. The analysis was based on the results of simulation tests obtained for an exemplary multi-family residential building located in Poland that is not equipped with a cooling system. The conducted calculations gave quantitative evaluation of the influence of particular parameters on building energy performance and showed that the decrease of heat transfer coefficient of building boundaries, in accordance to the Polish regulation for 2017 and 2021, gave only 11% of reduction on usable energy demand index. On the other hand, it was found that modification of the heating system and heat source can significantly influence the values of the final and primary energy consumption at the level of 70%. The application of heat pumps has a greater influence on the final and primary energy consumption for heating indices than other parameters, such as the building’s envelopes.

Advanced asteroseismic modelling: breaking the degeneracy between stellar mass and initial helium abundance

ABSTRACT Current stellar model predictions of adiabatic oscillation frequencies differ significantly from the corresponding observed frequencies due to the non-adiabatic and poorly understood near-surface layers of stars. However, certain combinations of frequencies – known as frequency ratios – are largely unaffected by the uncertain physical processes as they are mostly sensitive to the stellar core. Furthermore, the seismic signature of helium ionization provides envelope properties while being almost independent of the outermost layers. We have developed an advanced stellar modelling approach in which we complement frequency ratios with parameters of the helium ionization zone while taking into account all possible correlations to put the most stringent constraints on the stellar internal structure. We have tested the method using the Keplerbenchmark star 16 Cyg A and have investigated the potential of the helium glitch parameters to constrain the basic stellar properties in detail. It has been explicitly shown that the initial helium abundance and mixing-length parameters are well constrained within our framework, reducing systematic uncertainties on stellar mass and age arising for instance from the well-known anticorrelation between the mass and initial helium abundance. The modelling of six additional Kepler stars including 16 Cyg B reinforces the above findings and also confirms that our approach is mostly independent of model uncertainties associated with the near-surface layers. Our method is relatively computationally expensive, however, it provides stellar masses, radii and ages precisely in an automated manner, paving the way for analysing numerous stars observed in the future during the ESA PLATO mission.

Thermal performance optimization of a semi-nested building coupled with an earth-to-air heat exchanger using iterative Taguchi method

In this paper, a semi-nested building coupled with an earth-to-air heat exchanger is investigated to maintain indoor thermal comfort and reduce building energy consumption. Firstly, the computer models on the semi-nested building coupled with earth-to-air heat exchanger were developed under the TRNSYS environment. Secondly, the simulation results from the computer models were validated with experimental data from open literature. Finally, iterative Targuchi method was employed to find the optimal design values for the envelope properties and earth-to-air heat exchanger configurations. The optimal values of the design parameters were found to be A1 (window-to-wall ratio of 10%), B3 (triple-layer Low-E glazing window), C3(insulation thickness of 200 mm for external wall),D3 (concrete slab thickness of 250 mm for external wall), E3(absorption of solar radiation for external walls of 0.75), F3(absorption of solar radiation for the roof of 0.75),G5 (earth tube inner diameter and air gap of 300 mm and 400 mm, respectively), H2 (earth tube length of 50 m), and I3 (duct air velocity of 1.5 m/s).

Significance of Occupant Behaviour on the Energy Performance Gap in Residential Buildings

Buildings are an important part of worldwide efforts to reduce energy consumption and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Despite recent technological developments in the area of energy consumption reduction, energy use is on the rise, highlighting the significance of considering occupant behavior with regard to controlling energy consumption and supporting climate resilience. Energy performance of residential buildings is a function of various aspects such as properties of the building envelope, climatic location characteristics, HVAC system, and, more importantly, occupant behavior and activities towards energy utilization. This study carries out a comprehensive review of the impact of occupant behavior on reducing the energy performance gap in residential buildings since residential buildings account for 70% of building floor area around the globe. Findings have revealed that a dearth of literature on occupants’ behavior scholarship leads to inaccurate simplifications in building modeling and design. Thus, there is a strong need to obtain appropriate occupant behavioral data to develop strategies to close the energy performance gap as much as possible to achieve better energy efficiency in residential buildings to contribute to resilience and sustainability. Findings have also revealed a lack of objective and subjective data on occupants’ behavior towards energy efficiency in residential buildings. In response to these gaps, the current paper has proposed a conceptual framework for occupant behavior toward a modification of thermal comfort to reduce energy use. Based on the findings of this paper, understanding the variety of factors influencing occupants’ behavior should be considered a major influential factor in the design and retrofit of residential buildings with a view toward long-term resilience and sustainability.

The Effect of Fat Grafting on Expansion Pressures in Expander-Based Postmastectomy Breast Reconstruction: Outcomes in Normal and Irradiated Tissues.

The impact of fat grafting on the viscoelasticity of irradiated tissues is poorly defined. We investigate the effect of subcutaneous fat grafting on postmastectomy tissue expansion in patients undergoing delayed breast reconstruction. We quantify observed viscoelastic and trophic changes of the skin envelope. We hypothesize that fat grafting changes the trophic and viscoelastic properties of the breast soft tissue envelope. Postmastectomy defects delayed more than 2 years and reconstructed with subpectoral tissue expanders were prospectively studied. Control (no irradiation, no fat grafting, n = 7), fat grafted (no irradiation, fat grafting n = 8), and irradiated plus fat grafting (irradiation, fat grafting, n = 9) groups were included. Hydrostatic pressures of the tissue expanders were measured before and immediately after expansion, and again postexpansion day 1. Pressure changes calculated as "postexpansion-relaxation interval": difference between maximal pressure at each expansion and the minimal pressure before the next expansion session. Differences were analyzed between groups. Hydrostatic pressure plots reflect the soft tissue ability to accommodate sequential expansion. Fat grafted breasts demonstrated a statistically significant increased postexpansion-relaxation interval versus the nongrafted control group (P < 0.0001). Irradiated plus fat grafting breasts achieve similar postexpansion relaxation interval to the control group (P = 0.597). These changes are observed at postoperative week 6. Viscoelastic changes impact the overall expansion time: the fat grafted group achieved total expansion 2 weeks earlier than the nongrafted control group (P = 0.019). The fat grafted, radiated group completed expansion in similar time interval as nongrafted control group. Observed viscoelastic changes impact the overall expansion time. Fat grafting in nonradiated mastectomy defects allows for shorter expansion period. Fat grating in radiated postmastectomy defects allows expansion durations equivalent to nonradiated, nonfat grafted control defects. There is a delayed effect of fat grafting observed at postoperative week 6.

BECOP: A New Metric for Measuring the Energy Performance of the Building Envelope

Thermal properties of the building envelope (BE) prescribed by codes and standards do not provide a consistent and comprehensive measure of its performance. Qualitative comparative analysis employed by the codes to assess energy savings is deterrent to technology development as the potential energy savings are never realized. A new metric, referred to as the building envelope coefficient of performance (BECOP), is proposed, which compares the BE performance to an ideal system. BECOP, which is invariant to calculation methods and applicable to all building types and climate zones, is a comprehensive metric for assessing the thermal performance of building envelopes while accounting for the various building characteristics. The sensitivity and range of BECOP were assessed for Canadian climate and construction methods. Using case studies, BECOP results revealed that current practices and regulations pertaining to the building envelope are inconsistent and fail to provide any measure of efficiency. It was also found that current building envelope technologies are not energy efficient. A max BECOP value of 35% is obtained for the best building envelope technology, revealing inefficiencies and energy saving potentials.

Ab initio development of generalized Lennard-Jones (Mie) force fields for predictions of thermodynamic properties in advanced molecular-based SAFT equations of state.

A methodology for obtaining molecular parameters of a modified statistical associating fluid theory for variable-range interactions of Mie form (SAFT-VR Mie) equation of state (EoS) from ab initio calculations is proposed for non-associative species that can be modeled as single spherical segments. The methodology provides a strategy to map interatomic or intermolecular potentials obtained from ab initio quantum-chemistry calculations to the corresponding Mie potentials that can be used within the SAFT-VR Mie EoS. The inclusion of corrections for quantum and many-body effects allows for an excellent, fully predictive description of the vapor-liquid envelope and other bulk thermodynamic properties of noble gases; this description is of similar or superior quality to that obtained using SAFT-VR Mie with parameters regressed in the traditional way using experimental thermodynamic-property data. The methodology is extended to an anisotropic species, methane, where similar levels of accuracy are obtained. The efficacy of using less-accurate quantum-chemistry methods in this methodology is explored, showing that these methods do not provide satisfactory results, although we note that the description is nevertheless substantially better than those obtained using the conductor-like screening model for describing real solvents (COSMO-RS), the only other fully predictive ab initio method currently available. Overall, the reliance on thermophysical data is completely dispensed with, providing the first extensible, wholly predictive SAFT-type EoSs.

Measuring sensitivity to envelope interaural time differences by adapting modulation depth

Listeners are sensitive to interaural time differences carried in the envelope of high-frequency sounds (ITDENV), but the salience of this cue depends on several envelope properties. Making use of the fact that sensitivity to ITDENV varies systematically with the depth of modulation of sinusoidally amplitude-modulated tones, we devised a task in which modulation depth is varied adaptively to measure ITDENV sensitivity. In our task, the stimulus is a 4 kHz tone modulated at rates of 32, 64, or 128 Hz, with a fixed ITD of ±500 μs. Modulation depth is adaptively varied (in dB) and listeners make left-right judgements. The data are used to obtain a psychometric function and threshold value. For listeners with normal hearing, we find that thresholds vary with modulation rate and with sensation level as expected. This task provides us with a convenient means for investigating ITDENV sensitivity in listeners with sensorineural hearing loss. Given that this population shows enhanced sensitivity to amplitude modulation under certain conditions, generally attributed to a loss of cochlear compression, we will test the hypothesis that this translates into superior ITDENV sensitivity under similar conditions.

Thermal performance of the building envelope integrated with phase change material for thermal energy storage: an updated review.

• Working principle of PCM as thermal energy storage material in buildings. • Suitable incorporation technique of PCM in building material. • Thermo physical properties of PCM and conventional building material. • Comprehensive summary of up-to-date studies on incorporation of PCM in buildings. One of the major sources of end-use of energy in buildings is consumed in space cooling for improving indoor thermal comfort. Climate extremities like heat waves and extreme temperature events have further pushed the demand for energy in buildings. Therefore, the need of the hour is to develop energy-efficient building envelope for optimizing the end-use of energy in buildings.Enhancing the thermal energy storage capacity of the building envelope by incorporating PCM is one of the sustainable methodsof regulating indoor temperature. This work focuses on the applicability of PCM as a thermal energy storage building material. A detailed discussion on the importance of building envelope and thermophysical properties of the building material is presented in this study. This study highlights the fundamental concept of Phase Change Material, types, and thermophysical properties of Phase Change materials commonly used in building envelopes. Techniques used for the incorporation of the PCM and the principle of working of the PCM in the building envelope were also presented in this study. A comprehensive summary of up-to-date published literature in which PCM is directly incorporated in the building material is also conducted. Lastly, future recommendations based on identified research gaps were suggested.

The VLA/ALMA Nascent Disk and Multiplicity (VANDAM) Survey of Orion Protostars. VI. Insights from Radiative Transfer Modeling

We present Markov Chain Monte Carlo radiative transfer modeling of a joint ALMA 345 GHz and spectral energy distribution data set for a sample of 97 protostellar disks from the VLA and ALMA Nascent Disk and Multiplicity Survey of Orion Protostars. From this modeling, we derive disk and envelope properties for each protostar, allowing us to examine the bulk properties of a population of young protostars. We find that disks are small, with a median dust radius of au and a median dust mass of M ⊕. We find no statistically significant difference between most properties of Class 0, Class I, and flat-spectrum sources with the exception of envelope dust mass and inclination. The distinction between inclination is an indication that the Class 0/I/flat-spectrum system may be difficult to tie uniquely to the evolutionary state of protostars. When comparing with Class II disk dust masses in Taurus from similar radiative transfer modeling, we further find that the trend of disk dust mass decreasing from Class 0 to Class II disks is no longer present, though it remains unclear whether such a comparison is fair owing to differences in star-forming region and modeling techniques. Moreover, the disks we model are broadly gravitationally stable. Finally, we compare disk masses and radii with simulations of disk formation and find that magnetohydrodynamical effects may be important for reproducing the observed properties of disks.

Control of nuclear size by osmotic forces in fission yeast

The size of the nucleus scales robustly with cell size so that the nuclear-to-cell volume ratio (N/C ratio) is maintained during cell growth in many cell types. The mechanism responsible for this scaling is still mysterious. The N/C ratio is not determined merely by DNA amount, but is influenced by factors such as properties of the nuclear envelope and nuclear transport. Here, we develop a physical-based model for nuclear size control based upon osmotic pressure. The nuclear envelope can be regarded as a semi-permeable barrier that allows water and small ions to pass, but is relatively impermeable to large macromolecules.