Steel façade systems follow the actual tendencies in construction offering robust and sustainable solutions, able to answer to actual conditions and to offer adequate interior thermal comfort. The modern sandwich panels provided by the current façade system producers combine the required thermal resistance by varying the thermal insulation material and its thickness with the required structural demands. In addition, the façade layer could be over-coated with different materials, thus offering the required architectural aspect. Other advantages of the systems rely on industrialized prefabrication, fast installation and adaptability. They could also be disassembled and reused. The study presents an analysis of some envelope solutions existing on the market for buildings made of thin-walled cold-formed steel structural systems. The study consists in an annual energetic analysis of Mineral Wool (MW)-based system and a more sustainable recycled-PET thermal wadding-system. The analysis includes for input the own-produced energy by power grids and additional national grid energy while for output heating / cooling and electric appliances are considered. The study is completed by a life-cycle environmental analysis. The study revealed that when the thermal insulations have nearly the same U-value, the environmental impact of the recycled-PET thermal wadding-based system is smaller than that of MW-based system. Although the environmental impact of the recycled-PET thermal wadding is higher in the production stage, the insulation quantity of the material needed for PET-recycled thermal wadding to accomplish the required thermal resistance is much smaller than that of MW. Moreover, the original material for the recycled-PET thermal wadding is 100% recycled which implies a certain benefit of circularity to the material. The study also proves that the glazing ratio has also an impact on the thermal performances of studied systems: by reducing the overall glazing ratio of the envelope, the solar gain drops significantly, which leads to an increased heating energy demand, in order to meet indoor thermal comfort.

Rezumat Decompresia digestivã în prevenåia fistulelor digestive dupã rezecåia gastricã pentru neoplasmIntroducere: Riscul de fistulã digestivã la pacienåii operaåi pentru neoplasm gastric este crescut datoritã dezechilibrelor biologice generate de evoluåia cancerului, de stadiile avansate la prezentare aei de amploarea intervenåiei. În aceste condiåii utilizarea unor metode tehnice care sã protejeze suturile digestive la aceaeti pacienåi este utilã. Scop: Analiza eficienåei mijloacelor tehnice de protejare a suturilor digestive la pacienåii operaåi în diferite stadii de evoluåie a cancerului gastric. Material aei metodã: Am efectuat un studiu retrospectiv pentru un lot format din 130 pacienåi operaåi pentru cancer gastric în Clinica de Chirurgie Generalã aei Oncologicã I IOB, între 2010-2014. Rezultate: În lotul studiat 38,46% dintre pacienåi au fost în stadiul IV cu complicaåii aei multiple dezechilibre biologice. S-au efectuat 52 de gastrectomii totale, 40 de rezecåii gastrice, iar la 34 pacienåi s-au efectuat "excizii tumorale" paliative sau alte tipuri de intervenåii chirurgicale paliative. La 15 pacienåi dintre cei cu rezecåii gastrice s-a utilizat sondã de decompresie duodenalã, iar la 13 pacienåi dintre cei cu gastrectomie totalã s-a utilizat sonda de aspiraåie esojejunalã alãturi de sonda de alimentaåie jejunalã ca mãsuri tehnice suplimentare de prevenire a fistulei. Incidenåa fistulei de bont duodenal a fost de 7,69%, cea a fistulei de anastomoza esojejunalã de 2,3%, cu o mortalitate generalã de 3,07%, iar la anastomoza gastro-jejunalã a fost de 0,76%. Concluzie: Având în vedere riscul de fistulã la pacienåii cu cancer gastric precum aei creaeterea acestui risc în stadiile avansate de evoluåie, apreciem cã utilizarea mijloacelor tehnice de protecåie a suturilor digestive este beneficã aei oportunã ducând la scãderea incidenåei fistulelor, la scãderea debitului aei a efectelor fiziopatologice ale acestora precum aei la reducerea mortalitãåii.

The building sector continues to register a significant rise in energy demand and environmental impact, notably in developing countries. A considerable proportion of this energy is required during the operational phase of buildings for interior heating and cooling, leading to a necessity of building performance improvement. A holistic approach in building design and construction represents a step to moderate construction costs in conjunction with reduced long-term operating costs and a low impact on the environment. The present paper presents an experimental evaluation of the energy efficiency of a building under real climate conditions; the building, which represents a holistically designed modular laboratory, is located in a moderate continental temperate climate, characteristic of the south-eastern part of the Pannonian Depression, with some sub-Mediterranean influences. Considerations for the holistic design of the building, including multi-object optimization and integrated design with a high regard for technology and operational life are described. The paper provides a genuine overview of the energy efficiency response of the building during six months of operational use through a monitored energy management system. The energetic analysis presented in the paper represents an intermediary stage as not all the energetic users were installed nor all the energetic suppliers. However, the results showed a reliable thermal response in the behaviour of recycled-PET thermal wadding used as insulation material in the building and for the intermediary stage in which the building has only secondary energy users, the energetic balance proves its efficiency, keeping the buffer stock of energy high values over 90%.

Within the last decade, much attention has been focused on determining viable techniques for producing sustainable asphalt mixtures and minimizing fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, warm mix asphalt (WMA) has become a topic of significant interest among road specialists as it offers a potential solution for reducing the environmental impact of the asphalt mixtures due to the decreased temperatures they require for mixing and compaction compared to hot mix asphalt (HMA). The present study is focused on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), according to a “Cradle-to-Gate” approach, of hot mix asphalt and warm mix asphalt prepared with locally available materials and different warm mix additives such as organic additives, chemical additive, and synthetic zeolite. For the analysis of the environmental impact of the warm mix asphalts was used a dedicated software for modeling and evaluating the LCA. The WMA prepared with chemical additive or organic additive led to a decrease of the environmental impact, in the production phase, compared to HMA. The study reveals that the raw materials extraction has the greatest impact on the environment in all studied cases, followed by the actual production phase of the asphalt mixture. For WMA produced with additives there was a decrease in the global impact on the environment compared to HMA.

Wedge or tapered foundations of buildings, which have greater top cross-sections than bottom ones, are not often considered as a design option due to their shape. However, precast wedge foundations could be considered as “quick foundation systems” in case of light structures which should be rapidly installed. Similar to tapered piles, this foundation shape can offer besides the bottom base resistance, a good lateral contact between the inclined concrete faces and the surrounding soil. The paper presents the experimental results of two wedge foundation specimens subjected to axial compression tests conducted in accordance to actual standards. The results recorded on sites are presented under the form of pressure-settlement diagrams and are compared with similar values recorded for usual prismatic foundations. The study is completed by an environmental impact analysis made on the two systems along with potential benefits and loads, beyond the system boundary, at the foundations’ end-of-life.