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With buildings contributing significantly to electricity usage, enabling demand flexibility becomes a challenge, especially when accounting for occupant comfort. This study introduces an innovative co-simulation framework integrating multiple models: heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, building zone load, indoor airflow, supervisory control, and occupant comfort and behavior. Uniquely, this framework allows for a comprehensive and dynamic analysis of building systems and occupant interactions in demand response events. Using this framework, we conducted a case study using a typical small office building model. Specifically, we focused on three areas: (1) the impact of indoor airflow modeling on energy use, occupant comfort, and behaviors forecasting, (2) the impact of occupant behaviors on demand flexibility, and (3) occupant comfort and behaviors under demand response events. Key performance indicators such as energy use, flexibility factor, durations of occupant discomfort and occupant behaviors were analyzed. Our findings indicated variations in energy usage and occupant comfort within demand flexibility events, marked by uncertainty boundaries, with variability in demand shedding up to 57.9%. We concluded that this framework is suitable for analyzing typical commercial buildings and their HVAC systems in terms of demand flexibility potential under the impact of occupant behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pearl millet is the principal staple food crop in large portions of Western Sub-Sahelian Africa and the millet head miner (Heliocheilus albipunctella) is one of its most devastating insect pests. Since 2006, augmentative mass releases of the larval ectoparasitoid, Habrobracon hebetor, have been conducted in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger as part of minimizing pearl millet grain losses imposed by millet head miners. These ongoing mass releases are based on low-cost mass-rearing of both host larvae and parasitoids. A release of parasitoids consists of placing jute bags containing pearl millet grain and flour and parasitized host larvae near pearl millet fields. The total production costs of a single jute bag with parasitized rice moth larvae are US$ 3-4. Based on a study of 6634 individual pearl millet heads collected at harvest in 12 farmers' fields in southern Niger in 2010, we demonstrated (i) a strong negative correlation between pearl millet head damage (mining) and grain yield and (ii) that parasitism by H. hebetor reduced grain losses by, on average, 34% (comparison of infested millet heads with/without parasitism) within the given growing season. Additional benefits may include reduction in millet head miners in subsequent generations. Data from 900 pearl millet heads collected in nine farmers' fields in 2011 were used to confirm data trends observed in the 2010 data and to characterize the dispersal of parasitoids in upwind and downwind directions from a release site. This study provided a quantitative description of the negative impact of millet head miner infestations on pearl millet grain yields and of benefits on grain yield of parasitism by H. hebetor. Our findings strongly support (i) intensification of mass-rearing of H. hebetor, (ii) expansion of educational activities to increase local empowerment and understanding of the potential of augmentative biological control and (iii) optimization of H. hebetor mass release programmes among smallholders in Sub-Sahelian Africa. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Drawing on interpretations of Foucault's techniques of power, we explored the discourses and power relations operative between groups of girls that appeared to influence their participation in Physical Education (PE) and outside of school in sport and physical activity (PA) in rural and regional communities. Interviews and focus groups were conducted in eight secondary schools with female students from Year 9 (n = 22) and 10 (n = 116). Dominant gendered and performance discourses were active in shaping girls' construction of what it means to be active or "sporty", and these identity positions were normalised and valued. The perceived and real threat of their peer's gaze as a form of surveillance acted to further perpetuate the power of performance discourses; whereby girls measured and (self) regulated their participation. Community settings were normalised as being exclusively for skilled performers and girls self-regulated their non-participation according to judgements made about their own physical abilities. These findings raise questions about the ways in which power relations, as forged in broader sociocultural and institutional discourse-power relations, can infiltrate the level of the PE classroom to regulate and normalise practices in relation to their, and others, PA participation.

Physical activity (PA) is important for lifelong health; however, participation is lower in rural compared with metropolitan areas and declines during adolescence, particularly for girls. It is likely that this decline is related to the number of life transitions that occur during adolescence. This qualitative study examined the views of active rural living girls regarding the factors affecting their sport and PA participation, using the socioecological model. Twenty-seven girls aged 16-17 from four schools participated in semi-structured focus group discussions. Content and thematic analysis was conducted from verbatim transcripts using NVivo. The girls enjoyed involvement in community club sport with friends and they reported living in communities where participation in sport was a major form of social interaction. However, the desire to succeed educationally was a critical factor affecting their participation in sport and PA and influenced their movement from structured club sport to more flexible, but socially isolated individual activities. It is recommended that future longitudinal research should track rural living adolescent females as they complete secondary school, in order to better understand the influence of educational priorities upon sport and PA participation and to identify practical strategies for both schools and community organizations to foster continuing participation throughout this crucial period of life transition.

1. Introduction Vibration monitoring of machinery or components has been recognized as a way to prevent premature or catastrophic failures. The use of vibration monitoring, however, has been historically limited […]