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Background: NASH is considered a contributor to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk; however, its contribution beyond traditional risk factors for CVD, particularly diabetes, is less clearly understood. This study aimed to quantify the cardiovascular-event risk associated with NASH, independent of diabetes status. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using the 2017–2020 NHANES pre-pandemic cycle. NASH was defined based on presence of steatosis without other causes of liver disease, and FibroScan+AST score from vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE). Significant fibrosis (stages F2-F4) was identified by liver stiffness measurement from VCTE. Predicted primary CV-event risk was estimated using both the Pooled Cohort Equations (PCE) and the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). NASH patients were matched with non-NASH controls on age, sex, race/ethnicity, and diabetes status. Weighted logistic regression was conducted, modeling elevated predicted CV risk (binary) as the dependent variable and indicators for NASH / fibrosis stages as independent variables. Results: A sample of 125 NASH patients was matched with 2585 controls. NASH with significant fibrosis was associated with elevated predicted 10-year CV risk, although this association was only statistically significant in PCE analyses (odds ratio and 95% CI 2.34 [1.25, 4.36]). Analyses restricting to ages <65 years showed similar results, with associations of greater magnitude. Conclusion: Independent of diabetes, a significant association was observed between NASH with significant liver fibrosis and predicted primary CV-event risk in US adults, particularly for those <65. These findings suggest the importance of accounting for NASH and liver-fibrosis stage in predicting CV-event risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Radiant cooling must remove more thermal energy from a space than all-air cooling. • Buildings with all-air cooling reject more heat by passive means than buildings with radiant cooling. • The peak space heat extraction rate for radiant cooling is larger than for all-air cooling. • These differences are larger where heat gains are highly radiant. • These differences are larger where there is large opportunity for passive cooling. For radiant cooling to maintain equivalent comfort conditions as all-air cooling it must remove more heat from a space, the peak space heat extraction rate must be larger, and the peak must occur earlier. In this article, we assess how the magnitudes of these differences are influenced by heat gain characteristics and by the use of natural ventilation night precooling. We present measurements from a series of multi-day side-by-side comparisons of radiant cooling and all-air cooling in a pair of experimental testbed buildings, with equal heat gains, and maintained at equivalent comfort conditions. In a five-day experiment with mixed internal heat gains, solar gains, and natural ventilation night precooling, radiant cooling had to remove 35% more heat than the all-air system in equivalent circumstances; and the peak heat extraction rate was 20% larger (median difference on multiple days). In a similar experiment with highly convective internal gains the differences were smaller (26% more thermal energy, 12% larger peak), while in an experiment with highly radiant gains the differences were larger (40% more thermal energy, and 21% larger peak). The differences were much smaller in an experiment without natural ventilation night precooling (7% more thermal energy, 5% larger peak). These findings have consequences for the choice, design, and control of mechanical cooling systems, especially in buildings that also use passive cooling strategies such as natural ventilation night precooling. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Interior surface temperatures are lower in buildings with radiant cooling. • Buildings with radiant cooling store less heat in non-active masses. • Buildings with all-air cooling systems reject more heat by passive means. • Radiant cooling must remove more heat to maintain equivalent comfort conditions. • The peak sensible space heat extraction rate for radiant surfaces must be larger than for all-air system. Abstract Radiant cooling systems extract heat from buildings differently than all-air cooling systems. These differences impact the time and rate at which heat is removed from a space, as well as the total amount of thermal energy that a mechanical system must process each day. In this article we present measurements from a series of multi-day side-by-side comparisons of radiant cooling and all-air cooling in a pair of experimental testbed buildings, with equal heat gains, and maintained at equivalent comfort conditions (operative temperature). The results show that radiant cooling must remove more heat than all-air cooling – 2% more in an experiment with constant internal heat gains, and 7% more with periodic scheduled internal heat gains. Moreover, the peak sensible space heat extraction rate for radiant cooling (heat transfer at the cooled surface, not the cooling plant) must be larger than the peak sensible space heat extraction rate for all-air systems, and it must occur earlier. The daily peak sensible space heat extraction rate for the radiant system was 1–10% larger than for the all air system, and it occurred 1–2 hours earlier. These findings have consequences for the design of radiant systems. In particular, this study confirms that cooling load estimates for all-air systems will not represent the space heat extraction rates required for radiant systems. Graphical abstract Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the discipline of Pagan Studies has generated a wealth of research into the content, customs, historicity, and phenomenology of various Pagan traditions, the economic structure of Pagan religions remains mostly unstudied. This paper ventures into this lacuna in the discipline, prompted by a series of recent events in the British Pagan community, asking--what role have economic forces played in these events, and do they mean British Paganism is going into decline? The suggestion of this paper is that the development of Pagan traditions is inextricably linked to economic processes and institutions. Pagan traditions rely upon the market to distribute their teachings and materials. As such, the Pagan community's closest economic analogue is that of a "fandom." Through three semi-structured interviews with the owner-operators of Pagan bookshops, and a case study of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids, this paper explores how macroeconomic trends have had a detrimental impact on the Pagan community, while popular enchantment continues to flourish. This dynamic represents an important case of the complex relationship between enchantment, economics, and belief in "unbelieving" societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Railroads played a key role in developing resorts during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. However, few North American transportation museums emphasize this. This exhibition chronicles how rail links led to the development of amusement parks at an urban beach resort in New York. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupant presence and behavior can and should influence energy use in buildings. If occupancy is measured, predicted, or otherwise inferred, building controls can automatically adjust system operating parameters to use less energy without sacrificing user services. However, previous field evaluations and simulation studies appear to have overestimated the energy savings associated with this type of smart control. In this article we present results from a carefully controlled field evaluation of occupancy-responsive learning thermostats installed in every bedroom of three high-rise university residence halls. While a standard practice energy model developed prior to the retrofit estimated 10–25% savings for cooling and 20–50% savings for heating, measurements reveal that the control scheme only reduced energy consumption by 0–9% for cooling, and by 5–8% for heating for normal operation during academic periods. However, for non-academic periods when the residence halls were sparsely populated, the scheme reduced cooling energy consumption by 20–30%. We analyzed these observations in relation to occupancy patterns, room temperature records, ambient conditions, and equipment run time. The findings provide novel insight about how to improve field evaluations and refine model assumptions to better predict the impact of occupancy-responsive thermostat controls. Notably, while analysts often use fractional building occupancy trends to simulate building energy performance, this study highlights the importance of accounting accurately for both the temporal and spatial variation of vacancy events throughout a building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing the water needed to produce food for more than 9 billion people by 2050 seems simple: agriculture must produce more food with less water. However, three complex issues are involved: First, water, food production and rural development do not have a simple correlation. Second, there are interactions between processes at local, basin and global scales. Third, change involves people in complex networks of institutions. The Challenge Program on Water and Food brings together agriculturalists, hydrologists and development specialists in a global-to-local programme that focuses on change through institutions. We believe that this scale, complexity and involvement are necessary to deliver plausible change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to show how Patrick Süskind's Das Parfum is pervaded by a sense of the uncanny, with both characters and reader experiencing an uneasiness that can be traced back to the familiar and its repression. While this experience can partly be explained by the categories outlined by Freud in his influential essay of 1919, ‘Das Unheimliche’, the article seeks to look beyond these by considering the uncanniness of the body and its metamorphosis in the novel. The article argues that Süskind's evocation of the uncanny does not merely add to the entertaining character of the novel, but also needs to be seen as an integral part of his critique of the Enlightenment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at how one West German poet, Rolf Dieter Brinkmann, adapted the spontaneity found in American Beat writing as an ethical principle in his own work. Like many West German writers in the 1970s, Brinkmann wished to turn away from the highly moralistic literature that had been prevalent in the post-war years. His poems suggest that such moral values have become part of an overly rigid system, which is eliminating the individual's capacity for spontaneity. For this reason, ethics should not be seen as the duty to lay down moral standards, but rather as the questioning of any kind of predetermination or fixture. This article insists that it is vital to distinguish between authorial levels if one is to understand the ethical project in Brinkmann's work. While many poems seem to feature a narrator that is not clearly ethical, this is part of the implied author's strategy for eliciting a particular effect.

Examines the literary works of German poets Wolf Wondratschek, Rolf Dieter Brinkmann and Jorg Fauser and their allusions to the Beat Movement. Americanization of the West German society and culture; Why Wondratschek referred the writers in the United States as being father figures; Analysis of Brinkmann's poem `Hearing One of Those Classic'; Beat generation's influence in the writings of Fauser.

The paper presents a curve-fitting-based calculation of the thermal contact resistance and other parameters (absorbed energy and material properties) from laser flash measurements considering a two-layer specimen (aluminum substrate and stainless-steel film). Sensitivity analysis of different cases was used to examine the sensitivities of the unknown parameters: thermal contact resistance, absorbed energy, specific heat of the film, and thermal conductivity of the film. A nonlinear curve-fitting method was applied to perform the estimation of the unknown parameters using simulated measurements generated by the solution of the direct problem. An extensive analysis was performed to examine which parameters might be estimated simultaneously with the contact resistance for different noise levels of the simulated measurement. It was concluded that in the noiseless case all four unknown parameters can be estimated simultaneously with high accuracy. The noise has a significant effect on the accuracy of the parameter estimation, but even when a reasonable noise level is present, it is still possible to accurately estimate one or two parameters together with the thermal contact resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the research and development of a prototype of a planar electromagnetic sensor for use in nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of saxophone reeds. Analytical modeling and experimental research have been employed, leading to very promising results that could serve as a starting point for development of a commercial-grade sensor. In addition to the reed testing, the sensor could have wide applications in NDE and testing of several other products such as meat, dairy products, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Assessed the difference between t r ¯ and t a from over 200000 pairs of measurements. • Median absolute difference between t r ¯ and t a is 0.4 °C. • t a is an appropriate estimate of t r ¯ in mechanically-conditioned offices. • Spatial and temporal variations in air temperature can be greater than t a − t r ¯. • Operative temperature sensors would not likely benefit thermal comfort. We assessed the difference between mean radiant temperature ( t r ¯) and air temperature (t a) in conditioned office buildings to provide guidance on whether practitioners should separately measure t r ¯ or operative temperature to control heating and cooling systems. We used measurements from 48 office buildings in the ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database, five field studies in radiant and all-air buildings, and five test conditions from a laboratory experiment that compared radiant and all-air cooling. The ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database is the largest of these three datasets and most representative of typical thermal conditions in an office; in this dataset the median absolute difference between t r ¯ and t a was 0.4 ∘C (with 5th, 25th, 75th, and 95th percentiles = 0.2, 0.2, 0.6, and 1.6 °C). More specifically, the median difference shows that t r ¯ was 0.4 ∘ C warmer than t a (with 5th, 25th, 75th, and 95th percentiles = −0.4 °C, 0.2 °C, 0.6 °C, and 1.6 °C). The laboratory experiments revealed that in a radiant cooled space t r ¯ was significantly (p < 0.05) cooler than t a (average difference −0.1 ∘C), while in the all-air cooled space t r ¯ was significantly (p < 0.05) warmer than t a (average difference +0.3 ∘C). These observations indicate that t r ¯ and t a are typically closer in radiant cooled spaces than in all-air cooled spaces. Although the differences are significant, the effect sizes are negligible to small based on Cohen's d and Spearman's rho. Therefore, we conclude that measurement of t a is sufficient to estimate t r ¯ under typical office conditions, and that separate measurement of t r ¯ or operative temperature is not likely to have practical benefits to thermal comfort in most cases – this is especially true for buildings with radiant systems. Furthermore, spatial and temporal variations in t a can be greater than or equal to the difference between t r ¯ and t a at any one location in a thermal zone, thus we expect that such variations typically have a greater impact on occupant thermal comfort than the differences between t r ¯ and t a. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare water availability, water use, water productivity and poverty across the diverse river basins studied by the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food. Water productivity tends to be higher in drier areas and where livestock grazing is integrated with rainfed crop production. We find that links among water, food security and poverty are best understood within a historical perspective. We identify opportunities to reduce poverty through water-related interventions. The way in which water-related investments affect poverty is influenced by changes in demography, climate, and rural society. In most basins, these trends involve trade-offs that require good governance at local, regional and basin scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]