The impact of EU policies on energy use in and the evolution of the UK built environment

Energy use in buildings is influenced by a variety of factors in complex ways. Historically, in the UK the efficiency of energy use in buildings has not been a major consideration in their design. Now policy concern with climate change is changing this, because buildings have come to be perceived as the locus of energy use with the highest cost-effective energy savings potential. In the UK, the energy efficiency of the building stock is rather low. The paper focuses largely on energy use in the UK's existing building stock and the two main European Union Directives which affect it: the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive and the Energy Services Directive. The Directives are complex, and there are a number of supporting programmes set up by the European Commission to aid their implementation. Even so, they have been implemented in differing ways in different European countries, and implementation remains patchy. The Directives have the potential to be a major influence on the evolution of the UK's built environment, but their effect will depend on the details of the Directives’ implementation and enforcement, many of which are not yet clear.     

Formation of acetaldehyde from threonine by lactic acid bacteria.

Group N streptococci were found to cleave threonine to form acetaldehyde and glycine. Threonine aldolase, the enzyme catalysing this reaction, was found in all strains except Streptococcus cremoris Z8, an organism which had been shown previously to have a nutritional requirement for glycine. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by glycine and cysteine. The inhibition showed characteristics of allosteric inhibition and was pH-dependent. Inhibition by glycine, but not by cysteine, was highly specific. Analogues and derivatives of cysteine which contained a thiol group and a free amino group inhibited the activity of threonine aldolase. The presence of a carboxyl group was not necessary for inhibition. The cleavage of threonine by whole-cell suspensions was stimulated by either an energy source to aid transport or by rendering the cells permeable to substrate with oleate. Threonine did not appear to be degraded by enzymes other than threonine aldolase, as threonine dehydratase activity was low and NAD- and NADP-dependent threonine dehydrogenases were absent.     

The use of 18O as a tracer to study the growth mechanisms of oxide scales

A nuclear technique for the determination of ¹⁸O concentration as a function of depth is described. Examples are given of the application of this technique to studies of growth mechanisms of oxide scales.     

Assessment of total body stores of vitamin A in Guatemalan elderly by the deuterated-retinol-dilution method

BACKGROUND: Deuterated retinol dilution (DRD) gives quantitative estimates of total body stores of vitamin A. OBJECTIVES: In elderly people, we studied 1) the time when an oral dose of deuterated vitamin A equilibrates with body stores, 2) whether serum ratios of deuterated to nondeuterated retinol (D:H) at 3 or 6 d postdosing predicted body stores, and 3) the ability of DRD to detect changes in the size of the body vitamin A pool. DESIGN: A 10-mg oral dose of [2H4]retinyl acetate was administered to 60-81-y-old Guatemalans (n = 47); percentage enrichment of serum retinol with deuterated retinol was determined at 1-3 time points per subject at 3, 6, 7, 14, 20, 21, and 54 d. In subjects from whom blood was obtained at 3 and 21 d (n = 15) and at 6 and 20 d (n = 9), total body stores were calculated by using the formula of Furr et al (Am J Clin Nutr 1989;49:713-6) with 21- or 20-d data and correlated with serum D:H at 3 or 6 d postdosing. Nine subjects received diets containing 982+/-20 microg RE (x+/-SEM) plus 800 microg RE as retinyl acetate supplements for 32 d. DRD, serum retinol, and relative dose response were used to assess vitamin A status before and after the intervention. RESULTS: Deuterated retinol equilibrated with the body pool by 20 d postdosing. Vitamin A supplementation for 32 d increased body stores, although unexplained exaggerated increases were seen in some subjects. An inverse linear relation was found between estimates of body stores and serum D:H at 3 d postdosing (r = -0.75, P = 0.002); at 6 d postdosing, the correlation was weaker. CONCLUSIONS: DRD can detect changes in total body stores of vitamin A, although factors affecting serum D:H need to be elucidated. Serum D:H 3 d postdosing might be used as an early indicator of total body stores of vitamin A, although a predictive equation will need to be developed.     

Model-based identification of rotating machines

Over the decades, vibration-based condition monitoring has become well accepted and widely used to identify faults in rotating machines. However, the quantification of faults may require a significant number of tests to be carried out which may be time consuming and costly, if not impossible, by experiments alone. In the recent past, it has been observed that model-based identification has played a significant role in the rapid resolution and quantification of faults. The paper seeks to give an overview of the recent developments in this field which has considerable practical importance.     

Far-Infrared Laser Stark Spectroscopy of CH3OD

The high resolution Stark spectra of the singly deuterated methanol isotope, CH₃OD, have been studied using the HCN laser with Stark fields up to approximately 60 000 V/cm. Numerous families of absorption lines have been observed in both parallel and perpendicular polarizations, resulting in the following assignments: with the 311 μm line – J _K = 18₁ ← 18₀ E ₂, υ _t = 1; and with the 337 μm line – J _k = 6₄ ← 5₃ E ₂, υ _t = 0 and J _K = 14₆ ← 13₅ A, υ _t = 1. Zero-field frequencies for the assigned transitions are in agreement with Fourier transform measurements and those calculated from the available molecular constants.