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This Topical Section collects research and application papers contributed from the International Energy Agency's (IEA)-Energy in Buildings and Communities (EBC) Annex 81 -Data-Driven Smart Buildings, on the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in smart buildings. The selected papers in this Topical Section cover a broad range of AI applications in smart buildings, reflecting the broad scope of Annex 81, and provide a venue for research findings from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Annex 81 foresees a world where building-services IT infrastructure makes data accessible and discoverable, supporting advanced analytics, control automation, and AI-driven energy optimization. [Extracted from the article]

The alternations in the hypoxic and immune microenvironment are closely related to the therapeutic effect and prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Herein, a new nanocomposite, TiO 2 @Ru@siRNA is constructed from a ruthenium-based photosensitizer (Ru) modified- TiO 2 nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with siRNA of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). Under visible light irradiation, TiO 2 @Ru@siRNA can elicit both Type I and Type II photodynamic effects, which causes lysosomal damage, HIF-1α gene silencing, and OSCC cell elimination efficiently. As a consequence of hypoxia relief and pyroptosis induction, TiO 2 @Ru@siRNA reshapes the immune microenvironment by downregulation of key immunosuppressive factors, upregulation of immune cytokines, and activation of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. Furthermore, patient-derived xenograft (PDX) and rat oral experimental carcinogenesis models prove that TiO 2 @Ru@siRNA -mediated photodynamic therapy significantly inhibits the tumor growth and progression, and markedly enhances cancer immunity. In all, this study presents an effective hypoxia-adaptive photo-immunotherapeutic nanosystem with great potential for OSCC prevention and treatment. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible platform for on-chip frequency comb generation in the mid-infrared region based on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) microring resonator with ridge cross section. Flat dispersion tailoring is performed with dispersion variation of 4.04 × 10−6 ps/nm/km by adjusting the geometry parameter and the low-loss SOI microring resonator with total quality factor (Q) up to 106 can be realized at wavelengths from 3.3 to 3.6 µm. Furthermore, the thresholdless frequency combs consisting of 50 comb lines spanning from 3.1 to 4.0 µm (over 900 nm) can be realized using SOI microring resonator with 50 mW pump power. Besides, the study shows that the frequency interval of the comb is related to the selection of the dual-pumped wavelength. The influences of the coupling coefficient and the radius of microring on the bandwidth of mid-infrared OFC are also investigated numerically which shows that remarkable enhancement of mid-infrared OFC bandwidth can reach 449 nm when the coupling coefficient varies from 0.012 to 0.05. This research work is instructive for realizing highly integrated photonics and achieving the experimental generation of mid-infrared optical frequency combs, which could enable substantial progress in spectroscopy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment of 1,2-C 6 H 4 (SiH 3 )(SiH 3 ) ( 1 ) with [Pt(depe)(PEt 3 ) 2 ] (depe = Et 2 PCH 2 CH 2 PEt 2 ) in the ratio of 1:1 yields the complex [Pt II {1,2-C 6 H 4 (SiH 2 )(SiH 2 )}(depe)] ( 2 ), which has unique reactivity towards sterically unhindered alcohol to form an unusual tetra-alkoxy substituted silyl platinum(II) compound ( 3 ). Only 2 examples of bis(silyl)platinum(II) complexes prepared from this chelating hydrosilane ligand have been registered in the Cambridge Structural Database. The structure of complex ( 3 ) was unambiguously determined by multinuclear NMR spectroscopic studies and single crystal X-ray analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnS nanoparticles are fabricated via starch-assisted method. The effects of different starch amounts on structure and properties of samples are investigated, and the forming mechanism of ZnS nanoparticles is discussed. By X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy and fluorescence (FL) spectrometer, their phases, crystalline lattice structure, morphologies, chemical and optical properties are characterized. The results show that ZnS has polycrystalline spherical structure with the mean diameter of 130 nm. Sample without starch reveals irregular aggregates with particle size distribution of 0.5–2 μm. The band gap value of ZnS is 3.97 eV. The chemical interaction exists between starch molecules and ZnS nanoparticles by hydrogen bonds. The stronger FL emission peaks of ZnS synthesized with starch, indicate a larger content of sulfur vacancies or defects than ZnS synthesized without starch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pulse evolution of mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguides is numerically investigated. The properties of pulse evolution in the process of optical parametric oscillation have been described. The numerical results show that the threshold of the optical parametric oscillation cavity can be lowered due to the high nonlinearity of the waveguide. The parametric signals initiate to oscillate when the circle trip number is 5 with the appropriate length of the SOI waveguide 7 mm. Meanwhile the peak power of the output signal pulse can be reached to 400 W at the stable situation when the circle trip number is over 10 with the conversion efficiency as high as 5%. This research can supply a kind of way to generate the mid-infrared femtosecond pulse at the highly stable on-chip integration level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a Human and Building Interaction Toolkit (HABIT) for simulating the thermally adaptive behaviors and comfort of office occupants alongside building energy consumption. The toolkit uses the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB) to co-simulate a field-tested, agent-based behavior model with an EnergyPlus medium office model. The usefulness of the toolkit is demonstrated through a series of zone and building-level case study simulations that examine the wisdom of pairing local heating and cooling options with strategic thermostat set point offsets, judging from the energy, Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), and cost perspectives. Results generally suggest that trading efficient local heating/cooling options for whole space conditioning has both energy and comfort benefits, saving up to 28% of monthly HVAC energy while improving the acceptability of thermal conditions in a Philadelphia climate. Nevertheless, cost analysis shows that the fuel source of conserved energy must be considered – particularly in the case of personal heater use, which adds to electric plug loads and associated utility and CO 2 emissions cost penalties. Moreover, costs from even small changes in simulated occupant productivity tend to overwhelm energy costs, suggesting the need to improve the accuracy and precision of available productivity models across multiple seasons and climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A water-soluble cationic gallium corrole, 5,10,15-tris( N-methyl-4-pyridyl)corrolatogallium(III) ( 3), was prepared and characterized. The photocytotoxicity of 3 was investigated using Hep G2 cancer cell line. Upon treatment with corrole 3 and irradiation, of tumor cell nuclei was observed, which led to apoptosis. Flow cytometric analysis clearly showed the efficient induction of apoptotic cell death, and corrole 3 exhibited high photocytotoxicity towards Hep G2 cancer cells (IC50 = 60 nM). Furthermore, the binding behavior of corrole 3 with c-MYC G-quadruplex DNA, a potent target for antitumor drugs, was investigated using spectroscopic methods and molecular docking simulation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal automatic operation of buildings and their subsystems in responding to signals from a smart grid is essential to reduce energy demand, and to improve the power resilience. In order to achieve such automatic operation, high fidelity and computationally efficiency whole building energy forecasting models are needed. Currently, data-driven (black box) models and hybrid (grey box) models are commonly used in model based building control. However, typical black box models often require long training period and are bounded to building operation conditions during the training period. On the other hand, creating a grey box model often requires (a) long calculation time due to parameter optimization process; and (b) expert knowledge during the model development process. This paper attempts to quantitatively evaluate the impacts of two significant system characteristics: system nonlinearity and response time, on the accuracy of the model developed by a system identification process. A general methodology for building energy forecasting model development is then developed. How to adapt the system identification process based on these two characteristics is also studied. A set of comparison criteria are then proposed to evaluate the energy forecasting models generated from the adapted system identification process against other methods reported in the literature, including Resistance and Capacitance method, Support Vector Regression method, Artificial Neural Networks method, and N4SID subspace algorithm. Two commercial buildings: a small and a medium commercial building, with varying chiller nonlinearity, are simulated using EnergyPlus in lieu of real buildings for model development and evaluation. The results from this study show that the adapted system identification process is capable of significantly improve the performance of the energy forecasting model, which is more accurate and more extendable under both of the noise-free and noisy conditions than those models generated by other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aileron actuators are pivotal components for aircraft flight control system. Thus, the fault diagnosis of aileron actuators is vital in the enhancement of the reliability and fault tolerant capability. This paper presents an aileron actuator fault diagnosis approach combining principal component analysis (PCA), grid search (GS), 10-fold cross validation (CV), and one-versus-one support vector machine (SVM). This method is referred to as PGC-SVM and utilizes the direct drive valve input, force motor current, and displacement feedback signal to realize fault detection and location. First, several common faults of aileron actuators, which include force motor coil break, sensor coil break, cylinder leakage, and amplifier gain reduction, are extracted from the fault quadrantal diagram; the corresponding fault mechanisms are analyzed. Second, the data feature extraction is performed with dimension reduction using PCA. Finally, the GS and CV algorithms are employed to train a one-versus-one SVM for fault classification, thus obtaining the optimal model parameters and assuring the generalization of the trained SVM, respectively. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach, four types of faults are introduced into the simulation model established by AMESim and Simulink. The results demonstrate its desirable diagnostic performance which outperforms that of the traditional SVM by comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a general approach for attaining the bottom morphology of block copolymer (BCP) thin films. In our former measurements on PS- b-PMMA films, surface morphology maps of the BCP films revealed distinct ordering regimes where the cylinders orient predominantly perpendicular or parallel to the interface and an 'intermediate' regime where these morphologies coexist. However, this earlier work did not explore the bottom morphology of BCP thin films. In this study, we investigated the block copolymer morphology near the solid substrate in the cast block copolymer film having a perpendicular cylinder morphology on the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment of 1,2-C6H4(SiMe2H)(SiH3) (1) with Pt(dcpe)(PEt3)2(dcpe = Cy2PCH2CH2PCy2) in dry toluene at room temperature in the ratio of 1 : 1 leads to {1,2-C6H4(SiMe2)(SiH2)}PtII(dcpe) (2), which can react with sterically unhindered alcohol to form a dimethoxy substituted silyl platinum(II) compound (3). There are only five examples of bis(silyl) platinum(II) complexes prepared from this silyl ligand with such structural features registered in the Cambridge Structural Database. The structures of2and3were unambiguously determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis and multinuclear NMR spectroscopic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Associations between thyroid function and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are unknown in chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-infected patients. Thus, the aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and its relationship with NAFLD in CHB. Methods: Consecutive naive CHB infected patients that had undergone liver biopsy and serum thyroid function tests between January 2007 and December 2011 were retrospective analyzed. NAFLD was diagnosed as at least 5% biopsy-proven hepatic steatosis without significant alcohol consumption. Results: A total of 1154 non-alcoholics with CHB were included, 270 (23.39%) patients were found to have NAFLD, most of them (88.5%) with mild steatosis. The prevalence of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism (including subclinical and overt) was 1.56% and 1.64%, respectively, both with similar rates in patients with and without NAFLD (1.85% vs 1.47%, 1.48% vs 1.69%, respectively, both P > 0.05). The serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level in NAFLD patients was significantly higher than that in patients without NAFLD (2.22 ± 2.13 vs 1.61 ± 1.20 mIU/L, P < 0.05). After adjustment for age and gender, the elevated TSH level was associated with increased odds of having steatosis (odds ratio1.54, 95% confidence interval 1.049-2.271) instead of viral factors and hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Conclusions: Thyroid dysfunction is not common in CHB-infected patients, and the prevalence of hypothyroidism in CHB individuals with or without NAFLD is similar. However, increased serum TSH concentration at the normal range is a significant predictor of hepatic steatosis in patients with CHB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate whether ursolic acid can inhibit breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP)-mediated transport of rosuvastatin in vivo and in vitro. Methods Firstly, we explored the pharmacokinetics of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU, a substrate of BCRP) in rats in the presence or absence of ursolic acid. Secondly, we studied the pharmacokinetics of rosuvastatin in rats in the presence or absence of ursolic acid or Ko143 (inhibitor of BCRP). Finially, the concentration-dependent transport of rosuvastatin and the inhibitory effects of ursolic acid and Ko143 were examined in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) II-BCRP421CC (wild type) cells and MDCK II -BCRP421AA (mutant type) cells. Results As a result, significant changes in pharmacokinetics parameters of 5-FU were observed in rats following pretreatment with ursolic acid. Both ursolic acid and Ko143 could significantly affect the pharmacokinetics of rosuvastatin. The rosuvastatin transport in the BCRP overexpressing system was increased in a concentration-dependent manner. However, there was no statistical difference in BCRP-mediated transport of rosuvastatin betweent the wild type cells and mutant cells. The same as Ko143, ursolic acid inhibited BCRP-mediated transport of rosuvastatin in vitro. Conclusion Ursolic acid appears to be a potent modulator of BCRP that affects the pharmacokinetic of rosuvastatin in vivo and inhibits the transport of rosuvastatin in vitro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Population aging is burdening the society globally, and the evaluation of functional networks is the key toward understanding cognitive changes in normal aging. However, the effect of age on default mode subnetworks has not been documented well, and age-related changes in many resting-state networks remain debatable. The purpose of this study was to propose more precise results for these issues using a large sample size. Methods We used group-level meta- ICA analysis and dual regression approach for identifying resting-state networks from functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 430 healthy elderly participants. Partial correlation was used to observe age-related correlations within and between resting-state networks. Results In the default mode network, only the ventral subnetwork negatively correlated with age. Age-related decrease in functional connectivity was also noted in the auditory, right frontoparietal, sensorimotor, and visual medial networks. Further, some age-related increases and decreases were observed for between-network correlations. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that only the ventral default mode subnetwork had age-related decline in functional connectivity and several reverse patterns of resting-state networks for network development. Understanding age-related network changes may provide solutions for the impact of population aging and diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the dynamic motions and peptidyl transferase activity seem to be embedded in the rRNAs, the ribosome contains more than 50 ribosomal proteins (r-proteins), whose functions remain largely elusive. Also, the precise forms of some of these r-proteins, as being part of the ribosome, are not structurally solved due to their high flexibility, which hinders the efforts in their functional elucidation. Owing to recent advances in cryo-electron microscopy, single-molecule techniques, and theoretical modeling, much has been learned about the dynamics of these r-proteins. Surprisingly, allosteric regulations have been found in between spatially separated components as distant as those in the opposite sides of the ribosome. Here, we focus on the functional roles and intricate regulations of the mobile L1 and L12 stalks and L9 and S1 proteins. Conformational flexibility also enables versatile functions for r-proteins beyond translation. The arrangement of r-proteins may be under evolutionary pressure that fine-tunes mass distributions for optimal structural dynamics and catalytic activity of the ribosome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scheme to enhance the efficiency and number of the cascaded four-wave mixing (FWM) products in chalcogenide planar waveguide is proposed and investigated numerically. Through introducing the optical feedback cavity and Mach-Zehnder interferometer, the modulated broadband cascaded FWM products can be obtained based on the high nonlinear chalcogenide planar waveguide. The numerical results show that the bandwidth of the modulated cascaded FWM is increased and the number of cascaded FWM products is improved compared with the single pass way of generating cascaded FWM products. Moreover, the feedback ratio plays an important role in the modulated cascaded FWM. This research can find important potential applications in nonlinear optics and integrated optics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We numerically investigate the dispersive wave emission and soliton trapping in the process of femtosecond soliton propagation in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide. The cross-correlation frequency resolved optical gating (X-FROG) technique is employed to analyze the spectral–temporal dynamics of the soliton at different propagation distances. The numerical results show that dispersive wave emission can be blue-shifted (around 1300 nm) or red-shifted (around 1900 nm), which is determined by the dispersion slope for the pump wavelength (1550 nm). In addition, it can be found that red-shifted dispersive wave can supply contribution to the flatness of the supercontinuum generation. Through increasing the peak power of the soliton to 100 W, the soliton trapping can be observed by the edge of dispersive wave, which can be visualized in the form of multi-peak oscillation structure in the spectrogram when not considering the two-photon absorption (TPA). This work opens up the possibility for the realization of dispersive wave emission device in highly integrated circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most common form of secondary hypertension, with its main manifestations including hypertension and hypokalemia. Early identification of PA is extremely important as PA patients can easily develop cardiovascular complications such as atrial fibrillation, stroke, and myocardial infarction. The past decade has witnessed the rapid advances in the genetics of PA, which has shed new light on PA treatment. While surgery is the first choice for unilateral diseases, bilateral lesions can be treated with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs). The next-generation non-steroidal MRAs are under investigations. New medications including calcium channel blockers, macrophage antibiotics, and aldosterone synthase inhibitors have provided a new perspective for the medical treatment of PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc homeostatic medicine is of great potential for cancer chemo‐immunotherapy; however, there are few reports on antitumor compounds that can trigger Zn2+‐mediated immune responses. In this work, we developed a novel cyclometalated PtIV‐terthiophene complex, Pt3, that not only induces DNA damage and cellular metabolism dysregulation, but also disrupts zinc homeostasis as indicated by the abnormal transcriptional level of zinc regulatory proteins, excess accumulation of Zn2+ in cytoplasm, and down‐regulation of metallothioneins (MTs), which further caused redox imbalance. The simultaneous disruption of zinc and redox homeostasis in response to Pt3 treatment activated gasdermin‐D mediated pyroptosis accompanied by cytoskeleton remodeling, thus releasing pro‐inflammatory cytokines to promote dendritic cell (DC) maturation and T cell tumor‐infiltration, eventually eliminating both primary and distant tumors in vivo. As far as we know, this is the first metal complex that can regulate zinc homeostasis to activate antitumor immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc homeostatic medicine is of great potential for cancer chemo‐immunotherapy; however, there are few reports on antitumor compounds that can trigger Zn2+‐mediated immune responses. In this work, we developed a novel cyclometalated PtIV‐terthiophene complex, Pt3, that not only induces DNA damage and cellular metabolism dysregulation, but also disrupts zinc homeostasis as indicated by the abnormal transcriptional level of zinc regulatory proteins, excess accumulation of Zn2+ in cytoplasm, and down‐regulation of metallothioneins (MTs), which further caused redox imbalance. The simultaneous disruption of zinc and redox homeostasis in response to Pt3 treatment activated gasdermin‐D mediated pyroptosis accompanied by cytoskeleton remodeling, thus releasing pro‐inflammatory cytokines to promote dendritic cell (DC) maturation and T cell tumor‐infiltration, eventually eliminating both primary and distant tumors in vivo. As far as we know, this is the first metal complex that can regulate zinc homeostasis to activate antitumor immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple-Shape memory polymers containing conductive particles are seen as potential soft actuators due to their superiority in remote operation and simple equipment. Though abundant conductive particles can reduce the actuating voltage, it has a risk of reducing the shape-memory effect. Bilayer structure is a good strategy to solve the above contradictions. Herein, a low-voltage, controllable-developed, and triple-shape actuator with bilayer structure is prepared successfully. The dense and thin conductive layer brings excellent electrical heating performance to the triple-shape carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/poly(ethyl vinyl acetate) (EVA)/polycaprolactone (PCL) composite without degradation of the actuation. Therefore, low voltages (15–18 V) can heat the CNT/EVA/PCL composite up to 60–100 °C to actuate multiple-shape transition. Various desired patterns upon actuation based on controllable and programming performance can be easily designed based on the resultant composite, such as retrorse and stepwise actuation. Moreover, the actuator could be designed into a "flower" shape to imitate blooming and withering. The low-voltage, controllable-developed and triple-shape actuator based on bilayer structure make it be potential in applications of soft robots and spaceflight fields. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The structure combines the advantages of cantilever beam and circular diaphragm. • The structure adopts single sensing element and single inertial mass block. • The sensitivity and lateral anti-interference ability are improved. To meet the requirements for low-frequency vibration monitoring, a new type of FBG (fiber Bragg grating) accelerometer based on diaphragm-type cantilever is proposed. The theory analysis of the structure was carried out and the finite element model was constructed to simulate and analyze the acceleration sensing characteristic of the sensor. Simultaneously, the tested results of sensing characteristic from the shaking table indicate that the system has excellent response to low-frequency acceleration excitation signal when the natural frequency of the system is 90 Hz. The frequency response range of the system is 5.0–60.0 Hz, in which the acceleration sensitivity is 485.75 pm/g. The acceleration sensor is designed with strong lateral immunity since the sensitivity in the transverse sensitivity is only 3.6% of the sensitivity in the working direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically investigate the optical transmission properties of a specific type of plasmonic metamaterial crystal layer that exhibits polarization and angle independence inside a band of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). The hybridization of the plasmons associated with two interleaved arrays of nanorings of different radii leads to destructive interference between their respective plasmon transmission modes. Both plasmon resonances produce bright modes associated with electric dipole oscillation. The EIT is produced by destructive interference between emitted fields of these modes. The presented metamaterial crystal offers new insights into designing optical metamaterials with wide field of view, quasi-omnidirectional polarization, and quasi-isotropic transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The melting curves of iron are determined up to 365 GPa via molecular dynamic (MD) simulations combining with the embedded atom model (EAM) potential developed by Ackland et al. We simulated the melting with three approaches, the hysteresis, two-phase and recently modified Z methods. All three techniques can produce satisfying results, consistent well with most of static compression measurements and shock experiments. Hence, we recommend that these three techniques and this EAM potential are reliable techniques and potential for simulating melting properties of iron. Fitting the well-known Simon equation to our two-phase data we yield the analytical melting curve for iron: 1825(1 + P /57.723) 0.654 , which gives a melting point at the inner core boundary of 6345 K, very close to the recent diamond anvil cell (DAC) extrapolated value and other ab initio calculations. Furthermore, the analyses of our entropy of melting and solid–liquid interfacial energy γ sl indicate that at high pressure, the entropy of fusion shows weak pressure effect. The γ sl increases monotonically with pressure, and can be described as a second-order polynomial relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) possesses a similar elastic modulus as bones but yet suffers from bio-inertness and poor osteogenesis. In this work, tantalum ions are implanted energetically into PEEK by plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) to form Ta 2 O 5 nanoparticles in the near surface. Nanoindentation reveals that the surface elastic modulus of the Ta ion implanted PEEK is closer to that of human cortical bones. In vitro cell adhesion, alkaline phosphatase activity, collagen secretion, extracellular matrix mineralization, and real-time PCR analyses disclose enhanced adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation of rat bone mesenchymal stem cells (bMSCs) on the Ta-PIII modified PEEK. In vivo evaluation of the cortico-cancellous rat femur model by means of micro-CT, sequential fluorescent labeling, and histological analysis after 8 weeks confirms significantly improved osteointegration. The bone-like elastic modulus and modified surface topography of the Ta-PIII modified PEEK synergistically induce osteogenic differentiation of bMSCs and the surface-modified materials have large potential in dental and orthopedic implants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Physical activity is generally considered to be effective in reducing the prevalence of depression and promoting remission of its symptoms. However, large-scale epidemiological research on this issue is lacking in older Chinese adults. We performed a nationwide epidemiological survey to determine the relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms in older Chinese veterans in the community, with adjustment for potential confounders. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a representative sample of 9,676 community-dwelling older Chinese veterans. Depressive symptoms were identified using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Physical activity was self-reported using a one-year physical activity questionnaire. Information about covariates was obtained by questionnaire-based interview. Relationships between study variables and symptoms of depression were estimated using unadjusted and adjusted analyses. Results: The median age was 82.29 (interquartile range 80.25-84.60) years. In total, 81.84% of the study participants engaged in physical activity that was predominantly light in intensity. In unadjusted analyses, physical activity was associated with a significantly decreased likelihood of depressive symptoms (5.43% versus 18.83%, P<0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression with adjustment and controlling for confounders, physical activity was still inversely associated with depressive symptoms and was the only independent protective factor (odds ratio 0.57, 95% confidence interval 0.44-0.72, P<0.0001) among the associated factors in this study. In a univariate general linear model, there was a significant difference in Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale score between subjects participating in active physical activity and those who did not (F=59.07, P<0.0001). Conclusion: This study found an inverse relationship between physical activity and symptoms of depression in older Chinese veterans in the community. It was also indicated that the antidepressant effect of physical activity probably extended to the oldest-old, and the light-intensity physical activity was probably available for the same protective effect. This information could be used to devise further interventions to prevent or ameliorate symptoms of depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southern Guangxi Province is one of the important areas for the study of the Silurian/Devonian boundary (SDB) in South China. Despite attempts to define the exact level of the SDB in the Yulin (Guangxi Province) area using biostratigraphy, no consensus has been reached as the indicator fossils (e.g. graptolite Monograptus uniformis uniformis, conodont Icriodus woschmidti woschmidti and trilobite Warburgella rugulosa rugosa) are not coexistent in South China. Since Mann et al. (2001: Dynamics of the Silurian/Devonian boundary sequence: sedimentary cycles vs. organic matter variation. Terra Nostra, 2001, 44-48) reported the first isotope curve based on organic carbon for the SDB at Klonk in the Czech Republic (GSSP), some comparable variation curves of δ13Corg across the SDB have been obtained at several locations including sections in Turkey and China. This distinct variation curve of the isotopic composition of organic carbon across the SDB provides a chemostratigraphic reference for a worldwide correlation of the SDB. In this study, organic geochemistry together with graptolite biostratigraphy is applied as a tool for identifying the SDB at the Changwantang Section in Yulin (Guangxi Province). The results suggest that the variations in some indexes of organic geochemistry can be correlated to the representative curve of the SDB in the Klonk and Esenyali sections. The exact level of the SDB in the Changwantang Section is positioned within the upper part of the Fangcheng Formation, which is consistent with the available palaeontological data from graptolites (e.g. Colonograptus colonus, Plectograptus sp., Monograptus uniformis, M. cf. M. praehercynicus and M. aequabilis). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Programmed ribosomal frameshifting produces alternative proteins from a single transcript. −1 frameshifting occurs on Escherichia coli ’s dnaX mRNA containing a slippery sequence AAAAAAG and peripheral mRNA structural barriers. Here, we reveal hidden aspects of the frameshifting process, including its exact location on the mRNA and its timing within the translation cycle. Mass spectrometry of translated products shows that ribosomes enter the −1 frame from not one specific codon but various codons along the slippery sequence and slip by not just −1 but also −4 or +2 nucleotides. Single-ribosome translation trajectories detect distinctive codon-scale fluctuations in ribosome-mRNA displacement across the slippery sequence, representing multiple ribosomal translocation attempts during frameshifting. Flanking mRNA structural barriers mechanically stimulate the ribosome to undergo back-and-forth translocation excursions, broadly exploring reading frames. Both experiments reveal aborted translation around mutant slippery sequences, indicating that subsequent fidelity checks on newly adopted codon position base pairings lead to either resumed translation or early termination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compact picosecond nondegenerate four-wave mixing mirrorless optical parametric oscillator based on multimode silicon waveguide is proposed and investigated numerically. Two counterpropagating picosecond pulses of fundamental mode can generate new pulses of second-order mode at different wavelengths due to the large modal dispersion between the fundamental mode and the second-order mode. The frequency of the newly generated waves can be tuned to 0.6 THz by adjusting the pump frequency difference of 5 THz. The output signal wave exhibits pulse width of 50 ps when the pump pulse is 100 ps. The proposed mirrorless optical parametric oscillator exhibits compact configuration and low threshold, which can find important applications in integrated optical source and ultrafast all-optical signal processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the force field (FF)-based molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been widely applied to rationalise the experimental observations and measurements in chemistry, physics, materials and life science for years, traditional FF suffers from the incapability for describing chemical reactions, which are crucial in many important transformation processes. In order to simulate the collective switching process in azobenzene-based self-assemble monolayers on Au(111) surface, reactive MD simulations with alternative FF were implemented. The classic torsion function has been modified to depict the diabatic potential energy curves forcisandtransisomers, respectively. A switching function is further introduced to connect two N = N rotation functions, and the surface hopping between thecisandtranscurves is allowed. By using the reactive rotation potential and switching function, the collective effect of numerous reaction centres and the influence of environment on the quantum yield in the complex system were explored at mesoscopic dimension and timescales. The reactive FF may be also applicable for other complicated systems containing stilbene derivatives. Limitation and perspective for further developments for the other complicated reactions are also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model based control has become a promising solution for building operation optimization and energy saving. Accuracy and computationally efficiency are two of the most important requirements for building energy models. Existing studies in this area have mostly been focusing on reducing computation burden using simplified physics based modeling approach. However, creating even the simplified physics based model is often challenging and time consuming. Pure date-driven statistical models have also been adopted in a lot of studies. Such models, unfortunately, often require long training period and are bounded to building operating conditions that they are trained for. Therefore, this study proposes a novel methodology to develop building energy estimation models for on-line building control and optimization using a system identification approach. Frequency domain spectral density analysis is implemented in this on-line modeling approach to capture the dynamics of building energy system and forecast the energy consumption with more than 90% accuracy and less than 2 min computational speed. A systematic analysis of system structure, system order and system excitation selection are also demonstrated. The forecasting results from this proposed model are validated against detailed physics based simulation results using a mid-size commercial building EnergyPlus model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat dwarf virus (WDV) is an economically important and widespread single-stranded DNA virus in the genus Mastrevirus, family Geminiviridae. So far, an RNA silencing suppressor in the genus Mastrevirus has not been reported. In this study, the viral replication-associated proteins of WDV, Rep and RepA proteins, were demonstrated to have RNA silencing suppressor activities when expressed in agro-infiltrated leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana line 16c, by their ability to inhibit posttranscriptional gene silencing (PTGS) of green fluorescent protein (GFP). On the basis of the analysis of GFP expression and siRNA accumulation, we concluded that both Rep and RepA proteins suppressed local silencing induced by either single-stranded GFP (ssGFP) or inverted repeat GFP (dsGFP) constructs, although their activity can be characterized as relatively weak in comparison to HC-Pro of tobacco etch virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three embedded atom method potentials have been applied to investigate the melting properties of nickel under compression. In these three potentials, Mendelev's potential can reproduce a satisfying melting curve, which accords well with the experiments and first-principles calculations. Thus, we recommend that the Mendelev's potential should be a reliable potential for simulating melting properties of nickel. Using Mendelev's potential, we calculated the melting of Ni with two approaches, i.e., hysteresis approach and two-phase method. Both approaches produce results in very close proximity, with the disagreement less than 4.35% at the applied pressures. Fitting the well-known Simon equation to our melting data yields the melting curves for Ni: 1651(1+P/35.172)0.607 (hysteresis approach) and 1725(1+P/39.812)0.617 (two-phase approach). Based on the hysteresis method, we investigated in detail the melting nucleation of nickel at high pressure, and found that with pressure increasing, the critical nucleus size r... increases fast first and then decreases, and again rises. When taking account of the Gibbs free energy barrier ΔG..., it found that the ΔG... increase monotonically with pressure up to 300GPa, and can be described as a third-order polynomial relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider 2D Heisenberg antiferromagnets on a triangular lattice with spatially anisotropic interactions in a high magnetic field close to the saturation. We show that this system possesses a rich phase diagram in a field or anisotropy plane due to competition between classical and quantum orders: an incommensurate noncoplanar spiral state, which is favored classically, and a commensurate coplanar state, which is stabilized by quantum fluctuations. We show that the transformation between these two states is highly nontrivial and involves two intermediate phases-the phase with coplanar incommensurate spin order and the one with noncoplanar double-Q spiral order. The transition between the two coplanar states is of commensurate-incommensurate type, not accompanied by softening of spin-wave excitations. We show that a different sequence of transitions holds in triangular antiferromagnets with exchange anisotropy, such as Ba3CoSb2O9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, using multi-scale and perturbation methods, a partial differential model of Rossby solitary waves with complete Coriolis force effect is obtained, which is called the combined ZK-mZK equation. This equation can reflect the propagation characteristics of Rossby waves in space, and is more suitable for real oceans and atmosphere than the (1+1)-dimensional model. According to the parameter composition of the new model, it can be seen that the effect of the complete Coriolis force affects not only the longitudinal structure of the model, but also the amplitude structure of the non-linear long wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on building Automatic Fault Detection and Diagnosis (AFDD) mainly focuses on simulated system data due to high expenses and difficulties of obtaining and analyzing real building data. There is a lack of validation on performances and scalabilities of data-driven AFDD approaches using simulated data and how it compares to that from real building data. In this study, we conduct two sets of experiments to seek answers to this question. We first evaluate data-driven fault detection strategies on real and simulated building data separately. We observe that the fault detection performances are not affected by fault detection strategies, sizes of training data, and the number of cross-validation folds when training and blind test data come from the same data source, namely, simulated or real building data. Next, we conduct a cross-dataset study, that is, develop the model using simulated data and tested on real building data. The results indicate the model trained on simulated data is not generalized to be applied for real building data for fault detection. Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test is conducted to confirm that there exist statistical differences between the simulated and real building data and identify a subset of features with similarities between the two datasets. Using the subset of the feature, cross-dataset experiments show fault detection improvements on most fault cases. We conclude that even if the system produces simulated data with the same fault symptoms from physical analysis perspectives, not all features from simulated datasets may not be beneficial for AFDD but only a subset of features contains valuable information from a machine learning perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excitatory-inhibitory imbalance (E/I) is a fundamental mechanism underlying autism spectrum disorders (ASD). TRIM32 is a risk gene genetically associated with ASD. The absence of TRIM32 causes impaired generation of inhibitory GABAergic interneurons, neural network hyperexcitability, and autism-like behavior in mice, emphasizing the role of TRIM32 in maintaining E/I balance, but despite the description of TRIM32 in regulating proliferation and differentiation of cultured mouse neural progenitor cells (NPCs), the role of TRIM32 in cerebral cortical development, particularly in the production of excitatory pyramidal neurons, remains unknown. The present study observed that TRIM32 deficiency resulted in decreased numbers of distinct layer-specific cortical neurons and decreased radial glial cell (RGC) and intermediate progenitor cell (IPC) pool size. We further demonstrated that TRIM32 deficiency impairs self-renewal of RGCs and IPCs as indicated by decreased proliferation and mitosis. A TRIM32 deficiency also affects or influences the formation of cortical neurons. As a result, TRIM32-deficient mice showed smaller brain size. At the molecular level, RNAseq analysis indicated reduced Notch signalling in TRIM32-deficient mice. Therefore, the present study indicates a role for TRIM32 in pyramidal neuron generation. Impaired generation of excitatory pyramidal neurons may explain the hyperexcitability observed in TRIM32-deficient mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inside Back Cover: A Carbonic Anhydrase IX (CAIX)-Anchored Rhenium(I) Photosensitizer Evokes Pyroptosis for Enhanced Anti-Tumor Immunity (Angew. CA-Re is the first metal-complex-based pyroptosis inducer, and this work provides a promising avenue for cancer metalloimmunotherapy. Keywords: anti-tumor immunity; carbonic anhydrase IX targeting; metallodrugs; photodynamic therapy; pyroptosis EN anti-tumor immunity carbonic anhydrase IX targeting metallodrugs photodynamic therapy pyroptosis 1 1 1 02/09/22 20220214 NES 220214 B Pyroptosis b is a unique form of programmed cell death that is essentially proinflammatory and critical for immunity. [Extracted from the article]

Keywords: anti-tumor immunity; carbonic anhydrase IX targeting; metallodrugs; photodynamic therapy; pyroptosis EN anti-tumor immunity carbonic anhydrase IX targeting metallodrugs photodynamic therapy pyroptosis 1 1 1 02/09/22 20220214 NES 220214 B Pyroptose b ist eine einzigartige Form des programmierten Zelltods, die im Wesentlichen proinflammatorisch und entscheidend für die Immunität ist. Anti-tumor immunity, carbonic anhydrase IX targeting, metallodrugs, photodynamic therapy, pyroptosis Innenrücktitelbild: A Carbonic Anhydrase IX (CAIX)-Anchored Rhenium(I) Photosensitizer Evokes Pyroptosis for Enhanced Anti-Tumor Immunity (Angew. [Extracted from the article]

Cationic meso(4- N-methylpyridyl)-based metallocorroles, μ-oxo iron corrole dimer ( 1b) and manganese corrole monomer ( 2b), were synthesized and characterized. The interactions of these two metal corrole complexes with CT-DNA were studied by UV-visible, fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopic methods, as well as by viscosity measurements. The results revealed that 1b interacts with CT-DNA in a difunctional binding mode, i.e. non-classical intercalation and outside groove binding with H-aggregation, while 2b can interact with CT-DNA via an outside groove binding mode only. The binding constants Kb of 1b and 2b were 4.71 × 105 m−1 and 2.17 × 105 m−1, respectively, indicating that 1b can bind more tightly to CT-DNA than 2b. Furthermore, both complexes may cleave the supercoiled plasmid DNA efficiently in the presence of or tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP), albeit 1b exhibited a little higher efficiency. The inhibitor tests suggested that singlet oxygen and high-valent (oxo)iron(VI) corrole or (oxo)manganese(V) corrole might be the active intermediates responsible for the oxidative DNA scission. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Team-based approaches to patient care are a relatively recent innovation in health care delivery. The effectiveness of these approaches on patient outcomes has not been well documented. This paper reports a systematic review of the relationship between team-based care and patient satisfaction. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and PSYCHOINFO for eligible studies dating from inception to October 8, 2012. Eligible studies reported (1) a randomized controlled trial, (2) interventions including both team-based care and non-team-based care (or usual care), and (3) outcomes including an assessment of patient satisfaction. Articles with different settings between intervention and control were excluded, as were trial protocols. The reference lists of retrieved papers were also evaluated for inclusion. Results: The literature search yielded 319 citations, of which 77 were screened for further full-text evaluation. Of these, 27 articles were included in the systematic review. The 26 trials with a total of 15,526 participants were included in this systematic review. The pooling result of dichotomous data (number of studies: 10) showed that team-based care had a positive effect on patient satisfaction compared with usual care (odds ratio, 2.09; 95% confidence interval, 1.54 to 2.84); however, combined continuous data (number of studies: 7) demonstrated that there was no significant difference in patient satisfaction between team-based care and usual care (standardized mean difference, −0.02; 95% confidence interval, −0.40 to 0.36). Conclusions: Some evidence showed that team-based care is better than usual care in improving patient satisfaction. However, considering the pooling result of continuous data, along with the suboptimal quality of included trials, further large-scale and high-quality randomized controlled trials comparing team-based care and usual care are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a hybrid air handling unit (AHU) fault detection strategy based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method and Pattern Matching method. The basic idea of the pattern matching method is to locate periods of operation from a historical data set whose operational conditions are similar to the target operating condition. The proposed Pattern Matching-PCA method uses two similarity factors, PCA similarity factors and Distance similarity factors, to characterize the degree of similarity between historical data window and current snapshot data. PCA model is then built using the historical AHU operation dataset that are identified to be similar to current snapshot operation data. The method is validated by operational data of an AHU system in real building. The results show that the sensibility of PCA models is enhanced by preprocessing the training data with the Pattern Matching method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with the two embedded atom method (EAM) potentials to calculate the melting curves of cobalt over a wide range of pressure. Zhou׳s EAM potential can produce satisfying results, in better agreement with the experiment compared with Pun׳s. Based on Zhou׳s potential, we simulated the melting of Co with two approaches, i.e., the one-phase (hysteresis) method and two-phase (solid–liquid coexistence) method. Both approaches can effectively reduce the superheating, and their results are in the close proximity at the applied pressures. With the one-phase method, during the investigation of the entropy of fusion of Co, we found that with the pressure increasing, the entropy of fusion decreases rapidly first and then oscillates with pressure; when the pressure is beyond 100GPa, the entropy of fusion shows less pressure effect. When taking account of the solid–liquid interfacial energy at different pressures, we found that it increases monotonically with pressure, and can be well described as a fifth-order polynomial relation. Moreover, the thermal equation of state (EOS) and the temperature dependence of atomic structures of Co have been obtained successfully. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A dogma for DNA polymerase catalysis is that the enzyme binds DNA first, followed by MgdNTP. This mechanism contributes to the selection of correct dNTP by Watson–Crick base pairing, but it cannot explain how low-fidelity DNA polymerases overcome Watson–Crick base pairing to catalyze non-Watson–Crick dNTP incorporation. DNA polymerase X from the deadly African swine fever virus (Pol X) is a half-sized repair polymerase that catalyzes efficient dG:dGTP incorporation in addition to correct repair. Here we report the use of solution structures of Pol X in the free, binary (Pol X:MgdGTP), and ternary (Pol X:DNA:MgdGTP with dG:dGTP non-Watson–Crick pairing) forms, along with functional analyses, to show that Pol X uses multiple unprecedented strategies to achieve the mutagenic dG:dGTP incorporation. Unlike high fidelity polymerases, Pol X can prebind purine MgdNTP tightly and undergo a specific conformational change in the absence of DNA. The prebound MgdGTP assumes an unusual syn conformation stabilized by partial ring stacking with His115. Upon binding of a gapped DNA, also with a unique mechanism involving primarily helix aE, the prebound syn-dGTP forms a Hoogsteen base pair with the template anti-dG. Interestingly, while Pol X prebinds MgdCTP weakly, the correct dG:dCTP ternary complex is readily formed in the presence of DNA. H115A mutation disrupted MgdGTP binding and dG:dGTP ternary complex formation but not dG:dCTP ternary complex formation. The results demonstrate the first solution structural view of DNA polymerase catalysis, a unique DNA binding mode, and a novel mechanism for non-Watson–Crick incorporation by a low-fidelity DNA polymerase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ixeris sonchifolia Hance, a normal perennial herb, has effects on appendicitis, headache, menstruation, blood circulation, blood stasis, pain, fibrinolytic enzymes, thrombus formation, coronary artery, myocardial infarct size, PGI2, ET, TXA2, TNF-,αIL-6 and IL-8, etc. However, there was no full coverage about the molecular basis and gene targets of Ixeris sonchifolia injection. PubChem Database and DAVID Database had been used conjunctively to detect the gene IDs, gene targets and their functions. There were 3008 genes found in the final results, 16 kinds of definite functions had been detected, 9 of which had been proved and the effects were focused on the psychological, immune, neurological, metabolic, cardiovascular and cancer functions. Ixeris sonchifolia had a wide effects on various symptoms, which had been reported by previous experiments and verified by this research; however its influences on aging, chemdependency, developmental, normalvariation, reproduction, pharmacogenomic and psychologic functions should be confirmed in the future experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A simple, selective, highly sensitive, and label-free electrochemical immunosensor for atrazine detection was developed by immobilizing gold nanoparticles (GNPs) on the gold electrode surface. The modified gold electrode exhibited good electrochemical activity. The high sensitive detection was achieved by increased the surface area of work electrode resulting in capturing more anti-atrazine monoclonal antibodies. The whole immunosensor fabrication process was characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) with the use of ferricyanide as an electrochemical redox indicator, respectively. The signal was triggered based on the interaction between anti-atrazine monoclonal antibody and atrazine via differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Under the optimal conditions, a limit of detection for atrazine as low as 0.016ng/mL was obtained in buffer, and the linear working range was between 0.05ng/mL and 0.5ng/mL. The recovery of 95.5–119.8% was obtained in maize. The proposed immunosensor has acceptable stability and reproducibility, thus could be applied to other pesticides analysis of crop samples in practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article with its companion paper (Liu et al. 2013), summarizes the findings of ASHRAE Research Project 1353 (Stability and Accuracy of VAV Box Control at Low Flows). This project aims to identify the major factors that cause the airflow measurement in a variable air volume system to be inaccurate and unstable, especially at low airflow conditions. Both a laboratory test (including variable air volume sensor test, controller test, and system test) and field test were conducted; the companion work discussed the variable air volume sensor test. In this article, findings from the controller test, system test, and field test are summarized. The controller tests involved testing of four controllers from four different manufacturers. Testing was performed for accuracy, stability, resolution, and ambient temperature effect. For the system test, the variable air volume box and the controller were operated together and tested as terminal unit systems. Two terminal units were tested, and it was found that the performance of a variable air volume terminal unit is highly dependent upon on controller performance. Zeroing and balancing at a low airflow rate 560 fpm (2.84 m/s) or 200 cfm (0.09 m3/s) for an 8-in. (0.2-m) box were effective for achieving high system accuracy at low airflow ranges. For the field tests, five variable air volume terminal units were tested in real commercial buildings. It was found that system balancing was not always an effective way to reduce the variable air volume airflow sensor error in the field due to the uncertainty of reference airflow measurement methods commonly adopted in the field testing and balancing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variable air volume systems with direct digital controllers have been widely adopted in the HVAC system of commercial, industrial, and large residential buildings because they provide better energy efficiency and occupant comfort. Normally, a variable air volume terminal unit defines a minimum airflow rate to satisfy the space ventilation requirement and/or the proper operation of a terminal heating coil, if so equipped. However, it has been found that variable air volume terminal units often fail to perform as expected at the minimum airflow range (below 500 fpm [2.5 m/s]). Under such a flow range, the embedded airflow sensor becomes inaccurate, and the designed minimum airflow rate is less than the minimum controllable airflow rate. This results in a series of problems, including lack of ventilation, uneven airflow control, reduced damper and operator life, and energy waste. Through designed laboratory and field tests, this study (ASRHAE Research Project RP-1353) aims to identify the major factors that cause inaccuracy and instability issues in variable air volume terminal units and the relationship between the major factors and performance of the airflow sensor, controller, and terminal unit system. Laboratory tests performed in this study included a variable air volume sensor test, controller test, and system test. Four variable air volume boxes from three manufacturers and four controllers from four manufacturers were tested systematically. Two identical test beds with high accuracy (±0.5%) reference airflow meters were designed and constructed in the test facility. The size of the reference airflow measuring stations was carefully selected to provide maximum airflow measuring accuracy and maximum available system pressure drop. This article describes the laboratory test setup and summarizes the variable air volume sensor test results. A companion article summarizes the controller test, system test, and field test results. From the variable air volume sensor test, three factors, namely, inlet conditions, low variable air volume damper positions, and low airflow rates, are identified as strongly impacting variable air volume terminal unit performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transmission characteristics for 85Rb and 87Rb laser-induced dichroism atomic filters operating on rubidium D1 lines (795 nm) transitions are analyzed. By means of semiclassical density matrix equations of motion, a three-level model for the transmission characteristics of the ground state laser-induced dichroism atomic filter is presented. Calculative results show that this filter, using two counterpropagating pump and probe beams, can obtain higher transmission, narrower bandwidth and larger tuning capability than that using two copropagating pump and probe beams; with the aid of counterpropagating pump, the Rb ground state laser-induced dichroism atomic filter can be more effective to achieve higher peak transmission (>34%) and larger tunability (>1 GHz) than the 87Rb ground state laser-induced dichroism atomic filter in the same operation parameters. This result may be helpful for improving peak transmission (14.6%) of Rb ground state laser-induced dichroism atomic filter reported (CERÈ A. et al., Opt. Lett. 34(7), 2009, pp. 1012-1014). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]