Nearly half the world's population must rely on solid fuels such as biomass (wood, charcoal, agricultural residues, and animal dung) and coal for household energy, burning them in inefficient open fires and stoves with inadequate ventilation. Household solid fuel combustion is associated with four million premature deaths annually; contributes to forest degradation, loss of habitat and biodiversity, and climate change; and hinders social and economic progress as women and children spend hours every day collecting fuel. Several recent studies, as well as key emerging national and international efforts, are making progress toward enabling wide-scale household adoption of cleaner and more efficient stoves and fuels. While significant challenges remain, these efforts offer considerable promise to save lives, improve forest sustainability, slow climate change, and empower women around the world.

Realistic metrics and methods for testing household biomass cookstoves are required to develop standards needed by international policy makers, donors, and investors. Application of consistent test practices allows emissions and energy efficiency performance to be benchmarked and enables meaningful comparisons among traditional and advanced stove types. In this study, 22 cookstoves burning six fuel types (wood, charcoal, pellets, corn cobs, rice hulls, and plant oil) at two fuel moisture levels were examined under laboratory-controlled operating conditions as outlined in the Water Boiling Test (WBT) protocol, Version 4. Pollutant emissions (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, total hydrocarbons, and ultrafine particles) were continuously monitored. Fine particle mass was measured gravimetrically for each WBT phase. Additional measurements included cookstove power, energy efficiency, and fuel use. Emission factors are given on the basis of fuel energy, cooking energy, fuel mass, time, and cooking task or activity. The lowest PM2.5 emissions were 74 mg MJ(delivered)(-1) from a technologically advanced cookstove compared with 700-1400 mg MJ(delivered)(-1) from the base-case open 3-stone cookfire. The highest thermal efficiency was 53% compared with 14-15% for the 3-stone cookfire Based on these laboratory-controlled test results and observations, recommendations for developing potentially useful metrics for setting international standards are suggested.

Addressing building energy use is the critical first step in any strategic plan for mitigating climate change. Buildings have a direct impact on estimated global climate change due to their large carbon footprint. Energy use in the building sector is the largest man-made contributor to climate change, and coincidentally a key sector to start mitigating climate change. To avoid revisiting problems such as sick building syndrome arising from aggressive building weatherization programs in the 1970s, it is critical that policy makers, regulators, and strategic planners remember that the primary function of buildings is not saving energy. The bottom line of why we build buildings is for safety and comfort in our homes, to enhance productivity in the workplace, and to ensure an optimal learning environment in our schools. The fundamental services of improving human health, comfort, productivity, and performance should not be compromised as we strive to minimize energy use in buildings. A one-dimensional focus on energy could result in unsustainable policies and practices. Much is understood about technologies, materials, and design techniques that can reduce energy use in buildings. However, much attention must be paid to recognizing how these approaches can enhance or damage human health and productivity as well as the environment. The focus of this chapter is not existing energy sectors and conservation technologies that have been extensively understood and considered in the literature, but on underutilized mitigation techniques that both increase the sustainability of our buildings while maintaining a focus on human health and the environment. A key intersection between climate change, buildings, and human health is building materials and products, and an effective testing and information transfer program is urgently needed so that building stakeholders have the information and tools they need to make good decisions during the design, construction, operation, and renovation phases of buildings.

Different thermal-optical methods used to measure OC/EC and EC/TC ratios in atmospheric aerosols often produce significantly different results due to variations within the temperature programming and optical techniques of each method. To quantify the thermal and optical effects on these ratios, various source (residential cookstoves and diesel exhaust) and atmospheric (rural and urban) aerosols were analyzed using 3 thermal protocols: (1) two modified versions of the Birch and Cary (1996, Elemental Carbon-Based Method for Monitoring Occupational Exposures to Particulate Diesel Exhaust. Aerosol Sci. Technol., 25:221–241) National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH 5040) protocol—designated in this paper as NIOSH and NIST-EPA protocols, and (2) the IMPROVE (the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments) protocol outlined by Chow et al. 1993 (The DRI Thermal/Optical Reflectance Carbon Analysis System: Description, Evaluation, and Applications in U.S. Air Quality Studies. Atmos. Environ., 27:1185–1201)—designated in this paper as IMPROVE protocol. The use of a dual-optical instrument permitted simultaneous monitoring of the transmission (TOT [thermal-optical transmission]) and reflectance (TOR [thermal-optical reflectance]) for each protocol. Results show that the aerosols containing components susceptible to charring (such as water-soluble organic compounds typical of cookstove and rural aerosols) had higher OC/EC variability among the methods when compared with diesel-impacted aerosols (diesel and urban), which showed little to no “instrumentally calculated” pyrolyzed carbon (PyC). Thermal effects on the OC/EC ratios among the 3 TOT methods were significantly lower for diesel-impacted aerosols. Similar OC/EC findings were observed for the 3 TOR methods. Optical effects (TOT/TOR ratio) for the OC/EC ratio ranged from 1.37–1.71 (residential cookstoves), 1.63–2.23 (rural), 1.05–1.24 (diesel exhaust), and 0.80–1.12 (urban) for the 3 methods, with IMPROVE (TOT and TOR) always significantly lower when compared with NIST-EPA (TOT and TOR) and NIOSH (TOT and TOR) for all sample types. Thermal and optical effects on the EC/TC ratios were similar to those observed for the OC/EC ratios. Due to their distinct aerosol characteristics, different sample types behave differently under various thermal and optical conditions. Hence, use of a single TOA method to define OC/EC ratios for all aerosol types may not be feasible. Copyright 2012 American Association for Aerosol Research

A series of phenyl sulfone substituted quinoxaline were prepared and the lead compound 13 (WYE-672) was shown to be a tissue selective LXR Agonist. Compound 13 demonstrated partial agonism for LXRbeta in kidney HEK-293 cells but did not activate Gal4 LXRbeta fusion proteins in huh-7 liver cells. Although 13 showed potent binding affinity to LXRbeta (IC(50) = 53 nM), it had little binding affinity for LXRalpha (IC(50) > 1.0 microM) and did not recruit any coactivator/corepressor peptides in the LXRalpha multiplex assay. However, compound 13 showed good agonism in THP-1 cells with respect to increasing ABCA1 gene expression and good potency on cholesterol efflux in THP-1 foam cells. In an eight-week lesion study in LDLR -/- mice, compound 13 showed reduction of aortic arch lesion progression and no plasma or hepatic triglyceride increase. These results suggest quinoxaline 13 may have an improved biological profile for potential use as a therapeutic agent.

A series of 4-(3-biaryl)quinolines with sulfone substituents on the terminal aryl ring (8) was prepared as potential LXR agonists. High affinity LXRbeta ligands with generally modest binding selectivity over LXRalpha and excellent agonist potency in LXR functional assays were identified. Many compounds had LXRbeta binding IC(50) values <10 nM while the most potent had EC(50) values <1.0 nM in an ABCA1 mRNA induction assay in J774 mouse cells with efficacy comparable to T0901317. Sulfone 8a was further evaluated in LDL (-/-) mice and shown to reduce atherosclerotic lesion progression.

A potent, highly insoluble, GnRH antagonist with a 2-phenyl-4-piperazinylbenzimidazole template and a quinoxaline-2,3-dione pharmacophore was modified to maintain GnRH antagonist activity and improve in vitro pharmaceutical properties. Structural changes to the quinoxaline-2,3-dione portion of the molecule resulted in several structures with improved properties and culminated in the discovery of 6-([4-[2-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1H-benzimidazol-4-yl]piperazin-1-yl] methyl)quinoxaline (WAY-207024). The compound was shown to have excellent pharmacokinetic parameters and lowered rat plasma LH levels after oral administration.

A series of potent and binding selective LXRβ agonists was developed using the previously reported non-selective LXR ligand WAY-254011 as a structural template. With the aid of molecular modeling, it was found that 2,3-diMe-Ph, 2,5-diMe-Ph, and naphthalene substituted quinoline acetic acids (such as quinoline 33, 37, and 38) showed selectivity for LXRβ over LXRα in binding assays.

A series of phenyl acetic acid based quinolines was prepared as LXR modulators. An SAR study in which the C-3 and C-8 positions of the quinoline core were varied led to the identification of two potent LXR agonists 23 and 27. Both compounds displayed good binding affinity for LXRbeta and LXRalpha, and increased expression of ABCA1 in THP-1 cells. These two compounds also had desirable pharmacokinetic profiles in mice and displayed in vivo efficacy in a 12-week Apo E knockout mouse lesion model.

We prepared analogs of potent thiazolidinone-based follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) agonists 1, that is, 3 that contained an additional 5-alkyl substituent. This extra substituent was added to reduce synthetic problems that arose during preparation of analogs of 1. These compounds (3) were evaluated in a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line that expressed recombinant human FSH receptor (FSHR) and a luciferase reporter gene regulated by a cAMP response element (CRE). Selected compounds were also tested on a CHO-cell line that over expressed the FSHR for the ability to induce cAMP production. When the 5-alkyl substituent was a methyl group as in analog 16a, similar FSH activity (i.e., EC50 = 51 nM, 100% efficacy relative to hFSH) to the analogous 5-hydrogen series compound (e.g., 2) was observed; thus, proving that a small 5-alkyl substituent was well tolerated. New derivatives of 3, in which the potentially hydrolytically labile secondary amide function of 1 (-CONH-) was modified to other moieties (e.g., -CH2NH-, -CH2S-, and -CH2O-CONH-), were also prepared and evaluated. These congeners (namely 21, 22, and 24) also displayed good potency in the CRE-luciferase assay. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of expedient sheltering in place in commercial buildings for protection against airborne hazards, as described in U. S. Government guidance to the public. Expedient sheltering measures (plastic sheeting and duct tape) were applied to four different rooms inside commercial buildings. In two rooms, additional tests were performed with ceilings covered, and one room was tested with persons entering and exiting the shelter. Measured air exchange rates for the shelter rooms and literature values for air exchange rates for large buildings were used to determine protection factors for various scenarios. Protection factors were compared for leaky, typical, and tight buildings and shelters under various occupancy times and plume pass- over times for hazardous airborne contaminants. Protection factors ranged from 1.0 to 3960, depending on the conditions. Results reinforced the importance of timing for effective sheltering in place. Sheltering in place can be most beneficial if people enter shelters before the arrival of a hazardous plume and people exit shelters as soon as the plume passes over. However, sheltering in place can be detrimental if people enter or exit shelters too late. CO2 and O-2 concentrations were calculated for a tight shelter with maximum recommended occupancy.