Lower system temperatures in district heating (DH) grids are important factors for system efficiency. Lower system temperatures lead, for example, to lower heat losses and higher production unit efficiency. One obstacle to lower supply temperatures are so-called bottlenecks in DH networks. Bottlenecks are areas in DH networks of very low differential pressure, which makes it difficult to supply th

With increasing emphasis on the control of greenhouse gases, power plants may move towards oxy-fuel technologies rather than air-fired plants. This move leads to a change in the feed to the desulfurization unit, which also needs to be adapted along with the power plant. Most existing plants already have functioning desulfurization units, which need to be retrofitted for the new conditions. In the

In a rapidly digitalizing world, the increasing importance of online information channels is repeatedly stated. But little is known about the procedure of online information search. This study examines the process of booking a journey via digital devices. It is based on a multi-method approach including interview and experiment. Results show that tourists’ online searching behaviour is less ration

Portugal is located in the southwest of Europe. From economic, cultural, social and environmental point of views, Portuguese coastal areas face multiple challenges related to the coastal management policy, the functionality of the governmental services and the responses to the society, in particular, to the affected citizens. Qualitative and quantitative understanding of the coastal morphological

There is evidence that anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition enhances carbon (C) sequestration in boreal forest soils. However, it is unclear how free-living saprotrophs (bacteria and fungi, SAP) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi responses to N addition impact soil C dynamics. Our aim was to investigate how SAP and EM communities are impacted by N enrichment and to estimate whether these changes infl

In order to provide a reliable evacuation design assessment, data showing the variation in pre-movement time is of vital importance. The pre-movement time is in many cases regarded as the main time period during an evacuation assessment. Therefore, forty unannounced evacuation experiments for six different occupancies were analysed to quantify pre-movement time during building evacuation, i.e., th

We consider a one-warehouse-multiple-retailer inventory system where the retailers face stochastic customer demand, modelled as compound Poisson processes. Deliveries from the central warehouse to groups of retailers are consolidated using a time based shipment consolidation policy. This means that replenishment orders have to wait until a vehicle departures, which increases the lead time for the

The aim of this work is to develop a novel green solvent based sustainable process to refine lignin into low molecular weight (LMW) and high molecular weight (HMW) fractions. Lignin dispersity reduction were experimentally determined using four solvent mixtures, and benchmarked against eight pure solvents. Data outputs were used for modelling the integrated fractionation process. Dispersity reduct

Olive (Olea europaea) processing results in large amounts of by-products that contain valuable molecules such as phenolic compounds and phytosterols. These molecules have demonstrated to reduce blood cholesterol levels. This work proposes the development of a method to obtain simultaneously phenolic compounds and phytosterols from the olive stone using CO2-expanded liquid extraction. Hansen solubi

Background: In recent years, there has been growing awareness of the distinct characteristics of adolescents and young adults (AYA) diagnosed with cancer. Soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) accounts for approximately 1% of all cancers diagnosed in adults and 8% of cancers diagnosed in AYA. To the best of our knowledge, only a few sarcoma registers include data regarding histological subtype, age at diagnos

We analyze the role of migrants in productivity growth in the three largest European countries—France, Germany and the United Kingdom—in the years 1994–2007, using Total Factor Productivity. Unlike previous research, which mainly employs a regional approach, our analysis is at the sectoral level: this allows to distinguish the real contribution of migrants to productivity from possible inter-secto

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate symptom prevalence, symptom relief, and palliative care indicators during the last week of life, comparing them for patients with motor neuron disease (MND), central nervous system tumors (CNS tumor), and other neurological diseases (OND). Material & Methods: Data were obtained from the Swedish Register for Palliative Care, which documents c

This paper discusses adaptive synchronization control for complex networks interacted in an undirected weighted graph, and aims to provide a novel and general approach for the design of distributed update laws for adaptively adjusting coupling weights. The proposed updating laws are very general in the sense that they encompass most weight update laws reported in the literature as special cases, a

Purpose: Epidemiologic evidence supports an association between high mammographic density and increased breast cancer risk yet etiologic mechanisms remain largely unknown. Mixed evidence exists as to whether circulating lipid levels influence mammographic density and breast cancer risk. Therefore, we examined these associations in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII),

Background & Aims: Excess liver iron content is common and is linked to the risk of hepatic and extrahepatic diseases. We aimed to identify genetic variants influencing liver iron content and use genetics to understand its link to other traits and diseases. Methods: First, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 8,289 individuals from UK Biobank, whose liver iron level had been

Background/objectives: Excess gestational weight gain (GWG) is a risk factor for maternal postpartum weight retention and excessive neonatal adiposity, especially in women with overweight or obesity. Whether lifestyle interventions to reduce excess GWG also reduce 12-month maternal postpartum weight retention and infant weight-for-length z score is unknown. Randomized controlled trials from the LI

Study objectives: Narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by loss of hypocretin-producing neurons. Increased NT1 incidence was observed in Sweden following mass-vaccination with Pandemrix®. Genetic association to HLA DQB1*06:02 implies an autoimmune origin, but target autoantigen remains unknown. Candidate autoantigens for NT1 have previously been identified in solid-phas