Biophysical and Subject-Based Assessment of the Effects of Topical Moisturizer Usage on Xerotic Skin—Part I: EpsilonTM 2D Skin Hydration

As new biophysical methods become available to the skin researcher, it is important to understand the type of information that they are capable of measuring, and how it relates to consumer perception of topical moisturizing products. This work was aimed at understanding how two-dimensional (2D) skin hydration mapping can be used to describe skin properties beyond the traditional ‘single number’ approach to skin hydration. Two-dimensional skin hydration measurement data were collected at baseline and after 1 week of in vivo usage of a topical moisturizing product. In addition, subject feedback regarding their skin condition obtained during the study was collected and assessed. Dividing the 2D hydration measurement device images into zones of different electrical permittivity scores enabled analysis of different aspects of the skin compared with traditional electrical skin hydration measurements. Improvement in skin flexibility as a result of use of the topical test product was demonstrated. Complete description of the skin’s hydration state through the creation of hydration histograms to describe its electrical characteristics was performed. Subject feedback data showed improvements in aspects of skin assessed using 2D hydration measurement.

Water Quality of Marshyangdi River, Nepal: An Assessment Using Water Quaity Index (WQI)

Water quality index (WQI) is a valuable arithmetic tool that depicts the overall status of water quality in a single number to prioritize for management interventions. This study aims to assess water quality based on the WQI to provide insights into the status of the aquatic ecosystems in the Marshyangdi River basin, a tributary of the Narayani River, originating from the Himalaya. Water samples were collected from twenty-one sampling locations in the Marshyangdi River covering four districts from upstream (Kangsar) to the downstream region (Mugling) during pre-monsoon season (May) 2019. Eight selected physico-chemical parameters (TDS, pH, EC, DO, Cl-, NH3, PO43-, NO3-) were analyzed and aggregated in the form of WQI. Results showed that WQI ranges from 32.5 to 46.9, indicating the excellent water quality suitable for the sustenance of the aquatic ecosystem at all the sampling locations. These study results are expected to provide the baseline information on the present status of water quality along the longitudinal section of the Marshyangdi River, which could be helpful for the concerned authorities to manage water quality for the sustenance of the aquatic ecosystem.

HODONYMIC VOCABULARY IN THE UDMURT LANGUAGE (BASED ON THE MATERIAL OF TOPONYMY)

The article considers geographical terms for designating streets and lanes in the Udmurt language based on the study of a large corpus of godonyms. In the study of microtoponyms collected by the author and other toponymists on the territory of Udmurtia and beyond of it - in the places of residence of Udmurts - the author managed to identify a significant number of words expressing these concepts. The words ulcha and uram are used to express the concept of ‘street’ in the Udmurt language, which is confirmed by the data of Udmurt toponymy. Special attention is paid to the description of common nouns with the meaning ‘lane’ recorded in microtoponyms, since this layer of vocabulary has not yet been considered in detail by anyone. The performed review indicates that a number of lexemes can act as common words used in this meaning. Taking into account different variants, the author identified 13 units in total. The etymological analysis of the analyzed geographical terms suggests that they are heterogeneous in origin. The common nouns borrowed from the Russian language are wide spread. Geographical terms of Udmurt and pre-Permian or Finno-Permian origin have a slightly lower frequency of use. A small number of lexemes are derived from the Turkic languages. Mixed Udmurt-Russian and Udmurt-Tatar formations are represented in a single number.

Air to Water Generator Integrated Systems: The Proposal of a Global Evaluation Index—GEI Formulation and Application Examples

Due to water scarcity, in the last few decades, air-to-water generator (AWG) technology, whose useful effect is the extraction of water from air, has been improved. In particular, in the last few years, advanced AWG integrated systems have been developed. Such systems permit, not only to condense water from air, but also the smart use of the by-side effects of the process in order to partially or totally cover the heating ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) needs of a building. Presently, there are no evaluation tools that permit a complete comparison among AWG machines, taking into account all the useful effects that can be obtained at the same time and with the same energy input. The current work, starting from the need for such a tool, proposes a global index whose formulation considers all useful effects of an integrated system, the energy required to obtain them, and the integration degree of the machine. The index translates into a single number the system global efficiency, by means of a particular combination of existing efficiency indicators. In its extended formulation, it can be applied, not only to AWGs, but also to other HVAC integrated systems, as well as to combinations of non-integrated and integrated solutions. In addition to equations, the paper provides calculation examples and a case study in order to show the practical application and advantages of GEI.

Why is the city's responsibility for its air pollution often underestimated? A focus on PM_2.5

While the burden caused by air pollution in urban areas is well documented, the origin of this pollution and therefore the responsibility of the urban areas in generating this pollution are still a subject of scientific discussion. Source apportionment represents a useful technique to quantify the city's responsibility, but the approaches and applications are not harmonized and therefore not comparable, resulting in confusing and sometimes contradicting interpretations. In this work, we analyse how different source apportionment approaches apply to the urban scale and how their building elements and parameters are defined and set. We discuss in particular the options available in terms of indicator, receptor, source, and methodology. We show that different choices for these options lead to very large differences in terms of outcome. For the 150 large EU cities selected in our study, different choices made for the indicator, the receptor, and the source each lead to an average difference of a factor of 2 in terms of city contribution. We also show that temporal- and spatial-averaging processes applied to the air quality indicator, especially when diverging source apportionments are aggregated into a single number, lead to the favouring of strategies that target background sources while occulting actions that would be efficient in the city centre. We stress that methodological choices and assumptions most often lead to a systematic and important underestimation of the city's responsibility, with important implications. Indeed, if cities are seen as a minor actor, plans will target the background as a priority at the expense of potentially effective local actions.

Effects of Wall-to-Wall Supported Ceilings on Impact Sound Insulation for Use in Residential Buildings

In Korean residential buildings, floor impact sounds were reduced over the past few decades mainly through a floating floor system. However, ceiling constructions for impact sound reduction have not been applied actively because of a lack of useful information. This study focuses on the effects of wall-to-wall supported ceilings (WSC), which are designed with construction discontinuities between concrete slabs and ceilings, and the damping caused by porous absorbers for impact sound insulation. To examine the impact sound insulation according to ceiling conditions, measurements were performed in 25 floor–ceiling assemblies. The results indicate that ceiling treatment is mostly useful in reducing the floor impact sound. The floor impact sound owing to the WSC decreased by 2–7 dB and 2–8 dB in terms of the single number quantity for the tapping machine and rubber balls, respectively, compared with representative existing housing constructions wherein ceilings were attached on wooden sticks. Furthermore, the reduction effect of the WSC appeared to be more profound when it was applied to the floor–ceiling assembly with poor impact sound insulation. Thus, the WSC can be used to enhance the impact of sound insulation of existing housings without major repairs of floor structural layers.

Seakeeping index as generalized indicator of ship seakeeping performance

Object and purpose of research. This paper discusses the possibility of a ship design process that would consider seakeeping performance to the greatest extent possible. The purpose of this study was to work out a numerical indicator, an index, reflecting all the seakeeping properties relevant for suitability of given ship to its intended operational conditions. Materials and methods. The study was based on the data about various operational parameters of the ship under investigation. These data were further synthesized so as to obtain the most comprehensive picture of ship seakeeping behaviour in different operational conditions. Main results. The study yielded the method and the algorithm for the “seakeeping index” as an average annual probability that seakeeping performance of given ship will be adequate to the conditions of given water area. The method sug-gested in this paper for a generalized comparison of seakeeping properties can handle whatever variety of target parameters and whatever seakeeping standards for any kind of ship intended to operate in given water area, and the result of this comparison is given in form of a single number that can be further used to improve seakeeping parameters of given ship, as well as to estimate possible time of its fully-featured operation in given conditions, including cost efficiency analysis. Conclusion. For more accurate comparison, it is recommended to analyse target parameters as functions of both ship speed and wave heading angle keeping in mind that the assumption introduced, i.e. that these curves as functions of wave heading angle are cosines, is not necessarily true. In other words, it is recommended to rely on more accurate data, experimental or analytical, so as to take into account the effect of apparent frequencies upon these curves.

Development of a three-dimensional color rendition space for tunable solid-state light sources

The quality of building electric lighting systems can be assessed using color rendition metrics. However, color rendition metrics are limited in quantifying tunable solid-state light sources, since tunable lighting systems can generate a vast number of different white light spectra, providing flexibility in terms of color quality and energy efficiency. Previous research suggests that color rendition is multi-dimensional in nature, and it cannot be simplified to a single number. Color shifts under a test light source in comparison to a reference illuminant, changes in color gamut, and color discrimination are important dimensions of the quality of electric light sources, which are not captured by a single-numbered metric. To address the challenges in color rendition characterization of modern solid-state light sources, the development of a multi-dimensional color rendition space is proposed. The proposed continuous measure can quantify the change in color rendition ability of tunable solid-state light devices with caveats. Future work, discretization of the continuous color rendition space, will be carried out to address the shortcomings of a continuous three-dimensional space.

Evaluation of Multiyear Weather Data Effects on Hygrothermal Building Energy Simulations Using WUFI Plus

Transient building energy simulations are powerful design tools that are used for the estimation of HVAC demands and internal hygrothermal conditions of buildings. These calculations are commonly performed using a (often dated) typical meteorological year, generated from past weather measurements excluding extreme weather conditions. In this paper the results of multiyear building simulations performed considering coupled Heat and Moisture Transfer (HMT) in building materials are presented. A simple building is simulated in the city of Udine (Italy) using a weather record of 25 years. Performing a multiyear simulation allows to obtain a distribution of results instead of a single number for each variable. The small therm climate change is shown to influence thermal demands and internal conditions with multiyear effects. From this results it is possible to conclude that weather records used as weather files have to be periodically updated and that moisture transfer is relevant in energy and comfort calculations. Moreover, the simulations are performed using the software WUFI Plus and it is shown that using a thermal model for the building envelope could be a non negligible simplification for the comfort related calculations.