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The present authors reply to the comment by Popov et al. (IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol.22, no.2, p.1261, April 2007) on the original paper by Ragavan and Satish (IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol.20, no.2, pt.1, p.780-8, April 2005)

The TOBUS software has been developed to facilitate the implementation of the TOBUS building diagnosis and decision-making method for retrofit studies. This user-friendly software runs under the Windows® operating system and includes several modules, each of which addresses a particular aspect of the diagnosis including: building description, dimensions, cost coefficients, building diagnosis of current physical state and functional obsolescence, indoor environmental quality (IEQ), energy use, elaboration of retrofit scenarios, cost analysis, reporting results. The software also includes comprehensive databases on the physical state of degradation, including hundreds of illustrations, retrofit work details, cost, etc.

Abstract To ensure long-term availability of mobility and to keep the effects of humanity on global climate limited, politics, research, and industry currently search for ways to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by it. A potential reduction could be achieved by transitioning towards more efficient transport modes, optimally powered by renewable energy. Based on mobility (commutes), population, and weather data from Switzerland, we present a model to compute energy savings due to a (hypothetical) widespread deployment of electric bicycles. In different scenarios, we analyze the dependence of the commuting energy demand on users’ preferences about when to take the bike, such as an aversion to biking on cold and rainy days. Our study shows that GHG emission reductions of up to approx. 10% of the total emissions from diesel and gasoline are possible. In combination with a widespread deployment of electric vehicles, further savings of up to 17.5% could be achieved. In particular, the willingness to drive longer commutes by e-bike influences the potential GHG emission reductions, followed by the willingness to use the bicycle at temperatures below 10°C. Using these results, we identify the spatial energy and greenhouse gas savings potential and thus regions that are particularly suited for e-bike use. The identification of regions with high saving potentials allows for targeted marketing, transition-supporting incentives, or infrastructural changes to maximize the reduction of emissions.

It has long been established that mature forests are mosaics of patches in different development phases but it has seldom explicitly been taken into account in ecological studies. We demonstrate here that these development phases, which are related to the population dynamics of trees, play an important role in the distribution of fauna based on observations on frugivorous birds. In an area close to the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, we studied the abundance of large forest bird species in relation to forest development phases, with a methodology that seems promising for ecological diagnosis and prognosis in forest management planning. Fine-scale forest mapping and bird counts were carried out in two block-transects of 40 m x 3000 m. Tree sampling in a sub-transect was used to generate population characteristics of trees, Large bird species preferred mature or senescent forest patches, whereas relatively young, growing forest patches were avoided. Important large tree species such as Manilkara zapota, Thouinia paucidentata, Guaiacum sanctum and Esenbeckia pentaphylla, characteristic of older forest patches, showed skewed size distributions indicating stress or overexploitation. The population of M. zapota, a key fruiting species that accounted for 26.5% of the total woody biomass, was most heavily affected by stress. A future collapse in the population of M. zapota, a decrease of the total area of older forest, and a decline in the abundance of large birds is likely if stress on the system continues at this level. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

AbstractThe change in the phenology of plants or animals reflects the response of living systems to climate change. Numerous studies have reported a consistent earlier spring phenophases in many parts of middle and high latitudes reflecting increasing temperatures with the exception of China. A systematic analysis of Chinese phenological response could complement the assessment of climate change impact for the whole Northern Hemisphere. Here, we analyze 1263 phenological time series (1960–2011, with 20+ years data) of 112 species extracted from 48 studies across 145 sites in China. Taxonomic groups include trees, shrubs, herbs, birds, amphibians and insects. Results demonstrate that 90.8% of the spring/summer phenophases time series show earlier trends and 69.0% of the autumn phenophases records show later trends. For spring/summer phenophases, the mean advance across all the taxonomic groups was 2.75 days decade−1 ranging between 2.11 and 6.11 days decade−1 for insects and amphibians, respectively. Herbs and amphibians show significantly stronger advancement than trees, shrubs and insect. The response of phenophases of different taxonomic groups in autumn is more complex: trees, shrubs, herbs and insects show a delay between 1.93 and 4.84 days decade−1, while other groups reveal an advancement ranging from 1.10 to 2.11 days decade−1. For woody plants (including trees and shrubs), the stronger shifts toward earlier spring/summer were detected from the data series starting from more recent decades (1980s–2000s). The geographic factors (latitude, longitude and altitude) could only explain 9% and 3% of the overall variance in spring/summer and autumn phenological trends, respectively. The rate of change in spring/summer phenophase of woody plants (1960s–2000s) generally matches measured local warming across 49 sites in China (R = −0.33, P < 0.05).

AbstractIn this work, the drying step for cathodes based on carbon‐coated LiFePO4 prepared in the temperature range of 60–120 °C has been investigated in detail. The microstructure of the cathode shows a homogeneous distribution of the active material and conductive additive particles independent of the drying temperature. However, the results of impedance spectroscopy and cycling voltammetry are affected by the drying temperature. The solvent evaporation temperature, therefore, affects the polymer binder distribution and its characteristics, which include the polar phase content of the polymer and its affinity with the other components of the cathode. The discharge capacity value after 50 cycles is 120 and 81 mAh g−1 for the samples dried at 80 and 60 °C, respectively, which show the best and worst battery performance, respectively. It was concluded that carbon‐coated LiFePO4 cathodes should be prepared at drying temperatures between 80 and 100 °C for optimized performance.

We present a total of 191 and 203 data points of the elastic neutron-protonspin correlation parameters Aookk and Aoosk , respectively. Both observables were measured in a large angular interval. The observable Aookk was measured from 0.312 to 1.10 GeV and Aoosk from 0.80 to 1.10 GeV. The SATURNE II polarized beam of free neutrons obtained from the break-up of polarized deuterons was scattered on the polarized Saclay frozen-spin proton target. The beam polarization was oriented either along the beam direction or sideways, the target polarization was oriented longitudinally. Data are compared with phase-shift analyses predictions and with the PSI, LAMPF and SATURNE II results. Present results provide an important contribution to any future theoretical or phenomenological analysis.

MRI examination revealed similar brain lesions in 5 alcoholic Korsakoff patients and 5 chronic alcoholics without cognitive impairment. Not only cerebral atrophy and demyelination, but also lesions thought to be specific for the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome were equally prominent in both groups. The morphological abnormalities thought to be typical of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome are probably common features of chronic alcoholism and malnutrition. Marked atrophy of the operculae was found in all Korsakoff patients and in 3 out of 5 chronic alcoholics. Alcohol amnestic disorder may not exclusively result from diencephalic lesions, but also from temporal lesions.