INTEGRATED ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR A ZERO-ENERGY BUILDING:Illinois Institute of Technology’s Design Entry for the 2018 U.S.Department of Energy Race to Zero(Solar Decathlon Design Challenge)

This paper describes the design of InterTech,a zero-energy mixed-use student residence hall,developed in 2018 by an interdisciplinary team of Illinois Institute of Technology(Illinois Tech)students for the U.S.Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Design Challenge,formerly known as Race to Zero.The main focus is the team’s integrated and iterative approach,which blended architectural design and engineering concepts and led to achieving the high-performance goal.InterTech aims to provide an innovative housing solution to Illinois Institute of Technology’s graduate students and their families.Located along State Street in between Illinois Tech’s main campus and downtown Chicago,it offers a mix of living options providing both independence and access to the campus and to the city.In addition to the residential program,the project includes a small grocery/cafe con-nected to an outdoor public plaza,and an underground garage.Energy modeling was introduced in the early design stages.The potential of on-site renewable energy generation defined the project’s target Energy Use Intensity(EUI)of 37 kBtu/sqft.Several passive and active strategies were implemented to reduce the building’s total energy needs and meet the target EUI.The implementation of energy conservation measures led to a 25%reduction of the building’s cooling load and a 33%reduction of the heating load.A design EUI of 28 kBtu/sqft was calculated,validating that this design met and exceeded the zero-energy goal.

Protective effects of two Lactobacillus plantarum strains in hyperlipidemic mice

AIM:To investigate the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum(L.plantarum) CAI6 and L.plantarum SC4 on hyperlipidemic mice.METHODS:Male Kunming mice were fed a highcholesterol diet for 28 d to construct hyperlipidemic models.Hyperlipidemic mice and normal mice were assigned to 3 groups which were separately treated with L.plantarum CAI6,L.plantarum SC4,and physiological saline through oral gavage for 28 d.Total cholesterol(TC),triglycerides(TG),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C),and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) levels were measured by commercially available enzyme kits.FACS Calibur flow cytometry was used to examine hepatic and renal nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2) expression.The morphology of livers was checked by hematoxylin and eosin staining and optical microscope observation.RESULTS:Compared with normal mice,hyperlipidemic mice possessed significantly higher TC(3.50 ± 0.43 vs 2.89 ± 0.36,P < 0.01),TG(1.76 ± 0.07 vs 1.10 ± 0.16,P < 0.01),and LDL-C(1.72 ± 0.20 vs 0.82 ± 0.10,P < 0.01) levels,resulting in an increase of atherogenic index(AI)(2.34 ± 1.60 vs 0.93 ± 0.55,P < 0.05) and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio(1.43 ± 0.12 vs 0.51 ± 0.16,P < 0.05).After treatment with L.plantarum CAI6/L.plantarum SC4,TG(1.43 ± 0.27/1.54 ± 0.10 vs 1.76 ± 0.07,P < 0.01/P < 0.05) and LDL-C(1.42 ± 0.07/1.47 ± 0.12 vs 1.72 ± 0.20,P < 0.01/P < 0.01) in hyperlipidemic mice significantly decreased.In addition,TC,HDL-C,AI,and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio were all positively changed.Meanwhile,the treatment markedly alleviated hepatic steatosis and significantly stimulated Nrf2 expression(73.79 ± 0.80/72.96 ± 1.22 vs 54.94 ± 1.84,P < 0.01/P < 0.01) in hepatocytes of hyperlipidemic mice.CONCLUSION:L.plantarum CAI6 and L.plantarum SC4 may protect against cardiovascular disease by lipid metabolism regulation and Nrf2-induced antioxidative defense in hyperlipidemic mice.

Mechanical Analysis and Performance Optimization for the Lunar Rover’s Vane-Telescopic Walking Wheel

It is well-known that optimizing the wheel system of lunar rovers is essential.However,this is a difficult task due to the complex terrain of the moon and limited resources onboard lunar rovers.In this study,an experimental prototype was set up to analyze the existing mechanical design of a lunar rover and improve its performance.First,a new vane-telescopic walking wheel was proposed for the lunar rover with a positive and negative quadrangle suspension,considering the complex terrain of the moon.Next,the performance was optimized under the limitations of preserving the slope passage and minimizing power consumption.This was achieved via analysis of the wheel force during movement.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed method was demonstrated by several simulation experiments.The newly designed wheel can protrude on demand and reduce energy consumption;it can be used as a reference for lunar rover development engineering in China.

Is tumor cell specificity distinct from tumor selectivity in vivo?A quantitative NIR molecular imaging analysis of nanoliposome targeting

The significance and ability for receptor targeted nanoliposomes(tNLs)to bind to their molecular targets in solid tumors in vivo has been questioned,particularly as the efficiency of their tumor accumulation and selectivity is not always predictive of their efficacy or molecular specificity.This study presents,for the first time,in situ near-infrared(NIR)molecular imaging-based quantitation of the in vivo specificity of tNLs for their target receptors,as opposed to tumor selectivity,which includes influences of enhanced tumor permeability and retention.Results show that neither tumor delivery nor selectivity(tumor-to-normal ratio)of cetuximab and IRDye conjugated tNLs correlate with epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR)expression in U251,U87,and 9L tumors,and in fact underrepresent their imaging-derived molecular specificity by up to 94.2%.Conversely,their in vivo specificity,which we quantify as the concentration of tNL-reported tumor EGFR provided by NIR molecular imaging,correlates positively with EGFR expression levels in vitro and ex vivo(Pearson’s r=0.92 and 0.96,respectively).This study provides a unique opportunity to address the problematic disconnect between tNL synthesis and in vivo specificity.The findings encourage their continued adoption as platforms for precision medicine,and facilitates intelligent synthesis and patient customization in order to improve safety profiles and therapeutic outcomes.

Carbon dioxide desorption behavior of potassium carbonate supported on gamma-alumina solid sorbent in wet fluidized bed under steam atmosphere

Since the carbon dioxide(CO_(2))capture using solid sorbent is a reversible reaction,the solid sorbent can be regenerated by the desorption process.Therefore,the desorption process is one of the key important processes for the CO_(2)capture system.Traditionally,most of the literature studies focus on the desorption of solid sorbent under an N_(2)atmosphere.However,the desorption process of the solid sorbent is inappropriate in the real system because the system will need another process to separate CO_(2)and nitrogen(N_(2))after the desorption process.This study focused on the CO_(2)desorption of potassium carbonate supported on gamma-alumina(K2CO3/γ-Al_(2)O_(3))in a wet fluidized bed under a steam atmosphere by using the multiphase computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulation.The effects of water thickness and dry restitution coefficient on CO_(2)desorption rate were investigated to provide a realistic particle collision behavior and to explore their effects on CO_(2)desorption phenomena.Moreover,the effect of steam velocity on the hydrodynamic behaviors of fluidization which on CO_(2)desorption rate was studied.The simulated results demonstrated that all the parameters,water thickness,dry restitution coefficient,and steam velocity had significantly affected system hydrodynamics and CO_(2)desorption rate in the wet fluidization desorption process.Furthermore,the effect of desorption temperature on CO_(2)desorption rate was evaluated for finding the appropriate temperature for CO_(2)desorption process of K2CO3/γ-Al_(2)O_(3).The results showed that the appropriate desorption temperature for CO_(2)desorption under steam atmosphere was the temperature over 150℃.