Measuring energy savings using personal trend data

Twelve households are analyzed for details of their gas heating energy consumption before and after insulating to determine energy and dollar savings. These are standard, private insulation jobs done without house doctoring and not including any specific infiltration control measures. Our method uses utility bill data for several years before and after insulating; we discuss three methods of using such data. Average yearly energy savings (change in Normalized Annual Consumption) is 23%, ranging from 6% to 43%. Nine of the 12 households saved money; the payback time is no more than 9 years, even assuming no increase in the real price of natural gas. A simple heat load calculation does not accurately predict energy savings.     

Reviews

VALUED ENVIRONMENTS edited by John R. Gold and Jacquelin Burgess. 203 pages. George Allen and Unwin, 1982. £15.00 (hardback).

HANDBUCH STADTGRUN Landschaftsarchitektur im Stadtischen Freiraum by Gerhard Richter. 319 pages. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich, 1981. DM 115.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND AMENITY IN WOODLANDS edited by Katherine Hearn. Recreation Ecology Research Group, 1981.

BROADLEAVES IN BRITAIN edited by D. C. Malcolm, J. Evans and P. N. Edwards. 253 pages. Edinburgh University Press, 1982. £8.00 (hardback).     

Secondary char formation in the catalytic pyrolysis of biomass

Samples of four types of wood and pure cellulose, both untreated and impregnated with salt (Na₂CO₃, K₂CO₃, NaCl, KC1), were pyrolysed. Two experimental systems with different geometries and secondary reaction patterns were used, viz. a McBain thermogravimetric balance and a Gray-King retort. The substrates were pyrolysed under a stream of nitrogen in the thermobalance and in some of the Gray-King runs, using a modified retort. Salt impregnation was found to modify weight loss rates and to increase the charcoal yield in the presence of an inert carrier gas in both experimental systems. Longer residence times of volatiles in the hot zone gave rise to larger charcoal yields from untreated substrates. However, long residence times of volatile matter over Na₂CO₃-impregnated cellulose were found to be detrimental to char formation. These results indicate that primary volatiles may undergo secondary reactions through competitive pathways, either polymerizing to form char or cracking to form lighter volatiles. Long residence times of light volatiles appear to enhance the latter pathway in the presence of Na₂CO₃.     

Effects of two sesquiterpene lactones isolated fromArtemisia annua on physiology ofLemna minor

The effects of artemisinin and arteannuic acid extracted fromArtemisia annua on the physiology ofLemna minor were evaluated. Changes in frond production, growth, dry weight, and chlorophyll content ofL. minor were determined. Photosynthesis and respiration were evaluated with a differential respirometer. Artemisinin (5 µM) inhibitedL. minor frond production and dry weight 82 and 83%, relative to methanol controls. Chlorophyll content was reduced 44% by artemisinin (2.5 µM). Arteannuic acid (10 µM) was less active, inhibiting frond production 61% and reducing chlorophyll content 66% at 5 µM. Artemisinin (1 µM) reducedL. minor photosynthesis 30% and 2.5 µM reduced respiration 39%. Arteannuic acid had no significant effect on photosynthesis or respiration at the levels tested.This research was presented by the senior author as partial fulfillment for the Master of Arts degree, Biology Department, Hood College, Frederick, Maryland. Mention of a trade name or proprietary product does not constitute a guarantee or warranty by the USDA and does not imply its approval to the exclusion of other products that may be suitable.     

When more of a good thing is better: A reply to Hayes et al. (1996).

More of a good process component is better when clients are not already getting enough. Process components may be in short supply because of limited resources or ignorance, because they are evaluations themselves, or because they are difficult-to-attain subgoals on the way to valued outcomes. Levels of crucially important process components that are not in short supply (including most commonly used therapeutic interventions) are unlikely to be statistical predictors of outcome. Conversely, then, null correlations with outcome do not impugn a component's therapeutic importance. Many of A. M. Hayes, L. G. Castonguay, and M. R. Goldfried's (see record 84-08768) examples of positive correlations usefully illustrated clients' cognitive and emotional processes that were treatment subgoals or evaluative indexes. However, by focusing on the (relatively rare) positive correlations, they overlooked the more common null or inconsistent correlations of theoretically important process components with outcome, which are the central topic of the responsiveness critique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comprehensive process analysis of insight events in cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapies.

Comprehensive Process Analysis (CPA) is an interpretive, qualitative research method for analyzing significant therapy events. CPA was used to analyze 6 client-identified significant insight events in 2 treatments. Two events are presented in depth. The psychodynamic-interpersonal therapy event documented the existence of 2-part significant events and the value of key words. The cognitive-behavioral therapy event illustrated the role of context in transforming small therapy events into significant events. Events in both therapies involved therapist interpretations of recent difficult life events that were delivered in a firm but interactive style. Interpersonal therapy events were distinguished by links to themes from previous sessions and led to awareness of painful emotions. Cognitive therapy events were externalizing reattributions given to more clinically distressed clients. A revised 5-stage microprocess model of the insight is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patient exposition and provider explanation in routine interviews and hypertensive patients' blood pressure control.

Studied the effects of verbal behavior by the patient and the health care provider on the subsequent control of hypertension in a sample of 217 Ss and 9 health care providers. It was hypothesized that both exposition of symptoms by the patient and explanation of illness and treatment by the provider would enhance subsequent control. Patient exposition was significantly correlated with a reduction in blood pressure from the initial to the subsequent home visit, but not with clinic or home interview pressures themselves. Provider explanation was significantly correlated with lower blood pressure at home interview, but not with a change in blood pressure between interviews. The hypothesis was partially confirmed, with implications for hypertension treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Complete memory structures for approximating nonlineardiscrete-time mappings

This paper introduces a general structure that is capable of approximating input-output maps of nonlinear discrete-time systems. The structure is comprised of two stages, a dynamical stage followed by a memoryless nonlinear stage. A theorem is presented which gives a simple necessary and sufficient condition for a large set of structures of this form to be capable of modeling a wide class of nonlinear discrete time systems. In particular, we introduce the concept of a "complete memory". A structure with a complete memory dynamical stage and a sufficiently powerful memoryless stage is shown to be capable of approximating arbitrarily wide class of continuous, causal, time invariant, approximately-finite-memory mappings between discrete-time signal spaces. Furthermore, we show that any bounded-input bounded output, time-invariant, causal memory structure has such an approximation capability if and only if it is a complete memory. Several examples of linear and nonlinear complete memories are presented. The proposed complete memory structure provides a template for designing a wide variety of artificial neural networks for nonlinear spatiotemporal processing.