ThermoSense

Abstract

Buildings are often inefficiently conditioned. Rooms that are empty are needlessly conditioned and partially filled rooms are conditioned assuming maximum occupancy. In this demonstration, we describe a system that reduces energy consumption by opportunistically reducing energy consumption based on room usage; we only condition rooms currently occupied and condition the space based on realtime occupancy measurements. We will show how a thermal sensor array can be used measure occupancy in real-time and how this occupancy information can be integrated with a real building management system in order to control the heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting of a building to optimize energy usage.

Factors restraining the population growth of Varroa destructor in Ethiopian honey bees (Apis mellifera simensis)

“…This is consistent with some earlier reports [61, 62], but conflicts with others [63]. Consequently, we must look at the two mechanisms that try to explain the association between these two variables with a certain restraint, in particular 1) the reduced space between the pupae and the brood cell wall negatively affects the Varroa mite reproductive capacity [30] and 2) smaller brood cell sizes result in shortened honey bee developmental time [31, 32], and a reduced capping time potentially affects mite populations in honey bee colonies [64]. It seems that these two mechanisms do not explain entirely the relationship between brood cell size and Varroa -infestation level, whereby the association becomes circumstances-dependent.…”

“…A typical management factor that could contribute to the host-parasite equilibrium between the Varroa mite and the honey bee is the smaller comb cell size build by bees. A smaller comb cell size reduces the amount of space between the developing bee and the cell wall [30, 31] and shortens the honey bees’ developmental time in the capped brood [32], which consequently negatively influences the mites developmental success [33]. The beekeepers have control over this by offering empty frames without wax foundations as it will force the bees to build smaller brood cells.…”

Indoor Human Detection Based on Thermal Array Sensor Data and Adaptive Background Estimation

“…Erickson et al [7] use a Thermal Array Sensor Network in order to measure occupancy of a building. The provided information is used to control heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting of the building to optimize energy usage.…”