A comparison study of Taiwanese He-Yuan Architecture between the ethically spatial order and the condition of physical environment

Since the 21st century, problems such as global warming and energy depletion have become important issues to scientists and architects. The architectural design nowadays often relies on large amount of mechanical equipment to create a comfortable environment for the users. However, it burdens and deteriorates the nature. On the other hand, some of the traditional architecture in the past can cope with the local humid and hot climate, achieving good passive heat control for the environment. Therefore, this study explores the relation between traditional residents in Taiwan’s use of space and the external environment and climate through modern environment measurement technique, restores and conducts quantitative analysis on the interior thermal environment and light environment of Lin-An-Tai Historical House in the past through Ecotect Analysis, and analyzes the results of the calculation in terms of its spatial allocation, openings, and outer walls, etc. This study also evaluates the effects of lighting and user’s sense of comfortable temperature under its environmental conditions according to the standards of residential quality nowadays. It further studies the ancestor of traditional architecture by reviewing its spatial order and compares to the current situation in order to feedback the modern architecture design. Part of the results of the simulation show that the variation of temperature indoors in each space is less dynamic than that of outdoors. The temperature in the space at the right of the main hall (northwestern side) is generally higher than that in the left (southeastern side). The highest temperature in the space farther away from the interior patio is usually higher than that in the space closer to the interior patio. The temperature near the outer side of the space above Hulong is higher than that in the middle. Accordingly, the location is closely related to the interior temperature. As to human’s sense of comfortable temperature, the results show that in summer, the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) in the space at the left of the main hall (southeastern side) is generally higher than that in the right (northwestern side). In winter, the sense of comfortable temperature in the rooms in the corner is lower than that in other rooms at the inner side, the comparison between the space ethical order and the evaluation result did not show any obvious relationship. For the evaluation of lighting, the main hall and the restaurant at the outer left Hulong have better lighting while other space does not have sufficient and even lighting. Artificial lighting is needed to make the space more functional, the results shows that lighting conditions of space did not metaphor to the space ethical order.     

Thermal conductivity measurement of erythritol,xylitol, and their blends for phase change material design: A methodological study

This work presents and discusses a detailed thermal conductivity assessment of erythritol, xylitol, and their blends: 25 mol% erythritol and 80 mol% erythritol using the transient plane source (TPS) method with a Hot Disk Thermal Constants Analyzer TPS‐2500S. Thereby, the thermal conductivities of xylitol, 25 mol% erythritol, 80 mol% erythritol, and erythritol were here found for respectively in the solid state to be 0.373, 0.394, 0.535, and 0.589 W m^?1 K^?1 and in the liquid state to be 0.433, 0.402, 0.363, and 0.321 W m^?1 K^?1. These obtained results are comprehensively and critically analyzed as compared to available literature data on the same materials, in the phase change materials (PCMs) design context. This study clearly indicates that these thermal conductivity data in literature have considerable discrepancies between the literature sources and as compared to the data obtained in the present investigation. Primary reasons for these disparities are identified here as the lack of sufficiently transparent and repeatable data and procedure reporting, and relevant standards in this context. To exemplify the significance of such transparent and repeatable data reporting in thermal conductivity evaluations in the PCM design context, here focused on the TPS method, a comprehensive measurement validation is discussed along various residual plots obtained for varying input parameters (ie, the heating power and time). Clearly, the variations in the input parameters give rise to various thermal conductivity results, where choosing the most coherent result requires a sequence of efforts per material, because there are no universally valid conditions. Transparent and repeatable data and procedure reporting are the key to achieve comparable thermal conductivity results, which are essential for the correct design of thermal energy storage systems using PCMs.     

Removal and inactivation of waterborne viruses using zerovalent iron

A daunting challenge facing the water industry and regulators is how to simultaneously control microbial pathogens, residual disinfectant, and disinfection byproducts in drinking water, and to do so at an acceptable cost. Of the different pathogens, viruses are especially problematic due to their small size, high mobility, and resistance to chlorination and filtration. In the past decade, zerovalent iron has been used to treat a wide variety of organic and inorganic contaminants from groundwater. However, iron has not been tested against biological agents. This study examined the effectiveness of commercial zerovalent iron to remove two viruses, phiX174 and MS-2, from water. Removal of these viruses by iron granules in batch reactors was first-order, and the rate was likely controlled by external mass transfer. Most of the viruses removed from solution were either inactivated or irreversibly adsorbed to iron. In a flow-through column containing zerovalent iron (with 20 min of iron contact time), the removal efficiency for both viruses was 4-log in an initial pulse test, and over 5-log in the second pulse test after passage of 320 pore volumes of artificial groundwater. We assume that the improved efficiency was due to continuous formation of new iron (oxyhydr)oxides which served as virus adsorption sites. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of biological agent removal from water by zerovalent iron. Results of this study suggest zerovalent iron may be potentially useful for disinfecting drinking water and wastewater, thereby reducing our dependence on chlorine and reducing the formation of disinfection byproducts.     

A new method for seed oil body purification and examination of oil body integrity following germination

Plant seeds store triacylglycerols as energy sources for germination and postgerminative growth of seedlings. The triacylglycerols are preserved in small, discrete, intracellular organelles called oil bodies. A new method was developed to purify seed oil bodies. The method included extraction, flotation by centrifugation, detergent washing, ionic elution, treatment with a chaotropic agent, and integrity testing by use of hexane. These processes subsequently removed non-specifically associated or trapped proteins within the oil bodies. Oil bodies purified by this method maintained their integrity and displayed electrostatic repulsion and steric hindrance on their surface. Compared with the previous procedure, this method allowed higher purification of oil bodies, as demonstrated by SDS-PAGE using five species of oilseeds. Oil bodies purified from sesame were further analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and revealed two potential oleosin isoforms. The integrity of oil bodies in germinating sesame seedlings was examined by hexane extraction. Our results indicated that consumption of triacylglycerols reduced gradually the total amount of oil bodies in seedlings, whereas no alteration was observed in the integrity of remaining oil bodies. This observation implies that oil bodies in germinating seeds are not degraded simultaneously. It is suggested that glyoxisomes, with the assistance of mitochondria, fuse and digest oil bodies one at a time, while the remaining oil bodies are preserved intact during the whole period of germination.     

Emotional costs of inaccurate self-assessments: Both self-effacement and self-enhancement can lead to dejection.

Despite the popularity of the idea in American culture that self-enhancement confers psychological benefits, the evidence for this idea is mixed. In the present research, we tested the contention that overly positive self-assessments could lead to psychological distress. In two correlational studies (Studies 1 and 2), we addressed some previous problems related to the measurement of self-enhancement. By measuring self-enhancement through the discrepancy between self-assessments of relative task performance and actual relative task performance, we found that self-enhancement, like self-effacement, was associated with greater vulnerability to depression. In two subsequent experiments (Studies 3 and 4), we found that leading low (or high) performers to perceive their performance as high (or low) through providing bogus performance feedback produced analogous effects on the magnitude of experienced dejection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Safety Evaluation and Anti-Inflammatory Efficacy of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei PS23

Lacticaseibacillus paracasei strain PS23 (PS23) exhibits some probiotic properties. In this study, a genomic analysis of PS23 revealed no genes related to virulence or antibiotic resistance. Moreover, ornithine decarboxylase activity was not detected in vitro. In addition, PS23 was sensitive to the tested antibiotics. Genotoxicity tests for PS23 including the Ames test and chromosomal aberrations in vitro using Chinese hamster ovary cells and micronuclei in immature erythrocytes of ICR mice were all negative. Moreover, following a 28-day study involving repeated oral dose toxicity tests (40, 400, and 4000 mg/kg equal 1.28 × 10¹⁰, 1.28 × 10¹¹, and 1.28 × 10¹² CFU/kg body weight, respectively) using an ICR mouse model, no adverse effects were observed from any doses. In addition, supplementation with live or heat-killed PS23 ameliorates DSS-induced colonic inflammation in mice. Our findings suggest that PS23 is safe and has anti-inflammatory effects and may therefore have therapeutic implications.     

Simultaneous purification and site-specific modification of pyrroline-carboxy-lysine proteins

Sticky residue: Pyrroline-carboxy-lysine (Pcl) can be readily incorporated into proteins expressed in E. coli and mammalian cells by using the pyrrolysyl tRNA/tRNA synthetase pair. Pcl can be used as a single amino acid purification tag and can be site-specifically modified with functional probes during the elution process.     

Mechanical properties and morphology of crosslinked PP/PE blends and PP/PE/propylene–ethylene copolymer blends

Blending is an effective method for improving polymer properties. However, the problem of phase separation often occurs due to incompatibility of homopolymers, which deteriorates the physical properties of polyblends. In this study, isotactic polypropylene was blended with low-density polyethylene. Crosslinking agent and copolymers of propylene and ethylene (either random copolymer or block copolymer) were added to improve the interfacial adhesion of PP/LDPE blends. The tensile strength, heat deflection temperature, and impact strength of these modified PP/PE blends were investigated. The microstructures of polyblends have been studied to interpret the mechanical behavior through dynamic viscoelasticity, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, picnometry, and scanning electron microscopy. The properties of crosslinked PP/PE blends were determined by the content of crosslinking agent and processing method. For the material blended by roll, a 2% concentration of peroxide corresponded to a maximum tensile strength and minimum impact strength. However, the mechanical strength of those products blended by extrusion monotonously decreased with increasing peroxide content because of serious degradation. The interfacial adhesion of PP/PE blends could be enhanced by adding random or block copolymer of propylene and ethylene, and the impact strength as well as ductility were greatly improved. Experimental data showed that the impact strength of PP/LDPE/random copolymer ternary blend could reach as high as 33.3 kg · cm/cm; however, its rigidity and tensile strength were inferior to those of PP/LDPE/block copolymer blend.