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The conversion of natural environments to artificial surfaces has significant irreversible impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The European Union (EU) has set ambitious goals to combat land artificialisation, including achieving "no net land take" by 2050. It also plans to expand its network of protected areas, including the Natura 2000 (N2K) sites, to 30 % of its area by 2030. However, studies have shown that land artificialisation continues to occur even within N2K sites. It has not yet been examined, though, which habitats are most affected. To address this gap, we used a high-resolution spatial layer of the EU's habitats and layers showing impervious surfaces across the EU to quantify and compare the current levels of artificial surfaces within each habitat inside and outside N2K sites. We also compared the changes in impervious surfaces between 2012 and 2015 and 2015–2018. We found that the total extent of impervious surfaces, and their rates of change, were lower within the N2K sites for all habitats examined. However, patterns varied: coastal habitats, grasslands, and agricultural habitats had higher levels of artificial surfaces than others, even within N2K sites. Our findings indicate that although the planned expansion of the N2K network can help mitigate the artificialisation of threatened habitats, N2K sites do not entirely halt land conversion. Member States should further improve the management effectiveness of NK2 sites and promote financial and policy instruments addressing land artificialisation, e.g., through land recycling, to safeguard vulnerable habitats and achieve the EU's conservation objectives. • Artificial surfaces were less prevalent in N2K sites across all examined habitats. • However, certain habitats had higher levels of artificial surfaces than others. • N2K sites do not entirely prevent land artificialisation. • Member States should use additional instruments to safeguard important habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• MPCM slurry viscosity and thermal conductivity affect its heat transfer. • Spraying MPCM slurry weakens the above-mentioned adverse effects. • The working and phase change temperature ranges of the used MPCM slurry are matched. • Faster cooling yields more supercooling and a wider phase change temperature range. • Heat–mass transfer is better for MPCM slurry than for sprayed pure water. A spraying system was constructed with a microencapsulated phase change material (MPCM) slurry as the working medium to weaken the adverse effects of the slurry's high viscosity and low thermal conductivity on heat transfer in a wall tube heat exchanger. The temperature distributions of pure water and MPCM slurry were first obtained through infrared thermal imaging in spraying. Furthermore, the latent heat use of MPCM slurry was investigated through a new method based on the temperature properties of the phase change fluid, in which the working and phase change temperature ranges are matched. The heat-mass transfer characteristics are compared and discussed with those of the base fluid, and the latent heat use of 10wt% MPCM slurry containing the core material n-docosane (C 22 H 46). The experimental results indicate that the phase change enables the MPCM slurry droplets to maintain a higher temperature than a fluid with no phase change or base fluid. Different application modes (static and spraying) have correspondingly different phase change temperature ranges owing to supercooling, and the degree of matching between the working and phase change temperature ranges has a critical impact on the latent heat use of the MPCM slurry. Finally, comparing the heat transfer coefficients and Lewis numbers between the base liquid and MPCM slurry reveals that the phase change not only enhances the heat transfer but also slightly reduces water evaporation compared with pure water spraying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The boundary extension of a zero-energy building to integrate a new energy vehicle will facilitate the realization of the target set by the EU 2050 roadmap. In this study, either a hydrogen vehicle (HV) or an electric vehicle (EV) is integrated into a renewable-supported building system with appropriate control strategies. The focused variables in this study are renewable energy capacities, vehicle system options, extents to utilize vehicle storages for domestic purposes, and the Excess REe-HW recharging strategies. The analysing aspects include the energy and environmental impact as well as the energy matching and the grid interactions. The results show that the annual net-zero energy/emission balance can be met by a 16, 12, and 12 kW rated wind turbine, or by a 195.8, 160.2, and 142.4 m 2 PV, for the building with the HV, the EV and no vehicle (NV), respectively. The building with the HV will be more demanding in meeting the balance due to the less efficient HV system than that with the EV. Moreover, better matching for the zero-energy system can be achieved by relieving the condition to discharge the vehicle storages for domestic usages and by using the Excess REe-HW recharging strategy. However, their negative effect will be a slight increase in the annual net-energy consumption, due to an increased loss from both the HV/EV integrated system and the thermal storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common in heart failure (HF). It is unclear whether AF has an independent prognostic role in HF. The aim of the present study was to assess the prognostic role of AF in HF patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF). Methods HF patients were followed in 17 centers for 3.15 years (1.51–5.24). Study endpoints were the composite of cardiovascular (CV) death and heart transplant (HTX) and all-cause death. Data analysis was performed considering the entire population and a 1 to 1 match between sinus rhythm (SR) and AF patients. Match process was done for age ± 5, gender, left ventricle EF ± 5, peakVO 2 ± 3 (ml/min/kg) and recruiting center. Results A total of 3447 patients (SR = 2882, AF = 565) were included in the study. Considering the entire population, CV death and HTX occurred in 114 (20%) AF vs. 471 (16%) SR (p = 0.026) and all-cause death in 130 (23%) AF vs. 554 (19.2%) SR patients (p = 0.039). At univariable Cox analysis, AF was significantly related to prognosis. Applying a multivariable model based on all variables significant at univariable analysis (EF, peakVO 2 , ventilation/carbon dioxide relationship slope, sodium, kidney function, hemoglobin, beta-blockers and digoxin) AF was no longer associated with adverse outcomes. Matching procedure resulted in 338 couples. CV death and HTX occurred in 63 (18.6%) AF vs. 74 (21.9%) SR (p = 0.293) and all-cause death in 71 (21%) AF vs. 80 (23.6%) SR (p = 0.406), with no survival differences between groups. Conclusion In systolic HF AF is a marker of disease severity but not an independent prognostic indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Six indices are defined to aid the matching analysis of the on-site energy system. [•] These indices cover electrical, heating, and cooling energy forms. [•] The conversions between different energy forms can be illustrated and evaluated. [•] Impact of single or hybrid storages on matching can be analysed by these indices. [•] On-site energy system with bi-directionally connected hybrid grids can be analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: One important category of non-ideal conditions for iris recognition is off-angle iris images. Practically it is very difficult for images to be captured with no offset. It then becomes necessary to account for off angle information in order to maintain robust performance. A biorthogonal wavelet based iris recognition system, previously designed at our lab, is modified and demonstrated to perform off-angle iris recognition. Biorthogonal wavelet network (BWN) are developed and trained for each class. The non-ideal factors are adjusted by repositioning the BWN. To test, along with the real data, synthetic iris images are generated by using affine and geometric transforms of 0°, 10° and experimentally collected images. The tests were carried out on the experimentally collected off-angle data and synthetically generated data for angles from 0° to with a resolution of . This approach is shown to have less constraints than a transformation based iris recognition approach. Iris images off-angle by up to for synthetic data and up to for experimental data are successfully recognized. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The operation and performances of an innovative small scale polygeneration system (BIO_MGT), which combines biomass and natural gas in a micro gas turbine, has been simulated in the present work by means of a thermodynamic matching analysis. The BIO_MGT unit matches an externally fired cycle with a commercial Micro Gas Turbine (MGT, 100kWe). A significant share of the total energy input (∼70%) is supplied by solid biomass: the remaining is provided by natural gas. The system is therefore characterised by a dual combustion system. The configuration of the plant has been conceived so to require only minor modifications to conventional MGTs and biomass furnaces available on the market. This paper describes the design of the proposed bioenergy plant as well as the structure and the application of the in-house developed simulation model AMOS which has been used as computer-aid design tool. The design activity compared various plant schemes available from literature or past research works. The thermodynamic matching analysis of the selected configuration was then carried out, with the aim to verify compressor and turbine working points and to compare these with those typical of the MGT working under standard natural gas conditions. The steady-state matching analysis was based on the performance maps (i.e. characteristic lines) of each component. The design specifications and operating range for main and sub-components were defined, and the BIO_MGT performance maps were computed. Results showed that both the turbine as well as the compressor will work within the acceptable limits, and plant performances have also been calculated at part load conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Microencapsulated phase change material (MPCM) slurries are energy-carrier fluids. Their latent heat utilization has been investigated by a new method based on the temperature properties of the phase-change fluid, in which match of the working and phase-change temperature ranges is considered. Based on the working-temperature range (3–15 °C) in heat-exchange circulation, the dynamic heat-transfer characteristics and utilization of the MPCM slurry with the core material n -docosane (C 22 H 46) are discussed. The experimental results indicate that the effects of the stirring rate and flow rate on the dynamic heat-transfer characteristics are similar to those of water, and they have little influence on utilization of the 10% MPCM slurry, whereas the corresponding effect of the concentration is relatively large. When investigating the effect of the concentration, it was found that a low phase-change ratio suppressed movement of the phase-change-temperature range owing to the residual solid core material acting as a crystal nucleus, while the heat-transfer performance and latent heat utilization of the MPCM slurry suppressed each other. The 10% MPCM slurry is the most suitable energy carrier fluid, but supercooling still needs to be resolved. The experimental results provide a reference for practical efficient application of MPCM slurries as energy carrier fluids. • Matching analysis of the working and phase-change temperature ranges used to evaluate MPCM slurry utilization. • Apparent specific heat capacity of the MPCM slurry measured in static and dynamic tests. • Heat-exchange circulation used to obtain the dynamic heat-transfer characteristics. • MPCM slurry's latent-heat utilization and heat-transfer coefficient are mutually restricted. • Residual solid core material is conducive to eliminating supercooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Most regional differences in ESL are attributed to population composition. • However, the analysis reveals that three regions behave better in tackling ESL. • Equity-based policies and better funding could explain the differential performance. • Matching analysis permit to better account differences in ESL across regions. As early school leaving has been shown to have a substantial impact on later life outcomes, it has received considerable attention in policy debates. However, national and regional differences in early school leaving are not necessarily due to differences in policymaking but might be the consequence of underlying differences in the economic and social structure of a region. This paper develops a procedure to account for regional differences in assessing performance in regard to early school leaving. The application focusses on Spain, which has a high rate of early school leaving and significant differences between regions. The results show that most regional differences can be attributed to population composition. However, three regions perform better once population characteristics are accounted for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]