This book presents research on energy poverty alleviation, approaching the complex phenomenon topic holistically and with heterogeneity. It includes contributions from research teams studying the topic at a national, regional and local levels worldwide. The book is divided in two main blocks. The first part, New Approaches, involves novel assessments and concepts from a global and multidisciplinary point of view. The second part, Contexts, offers new theoretical diagnoses focused on case studies of different scales from around the world, and concepts for future trends. Energy Poverty Alleviation will be of interest to policy makers, stakeholders, academics and researchers with knowledge in the energy poverty field.

This book provides up-to-date guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of the most important complex fractures of the limbs, including fractures of the proximal and distal humerus, fractures and dislocations of the elbow, fractures of the distal radius, pelvis, acetabulum, distal femur, proximal tibia, tibial pilon, calcaneus and osteoporotic knee fractures. The most complex articular fractures are analyzed, soft tissue coverage is reviewed, and the management of open fractures and nonunions is described and illustrated. Other chapters consider damage control management and immediate bone fixation in the polytrauma patient, skeletal reconstruction and rehabilitation of complex fractures of the limbs. The book offers guidance to orthopaedic surgeons on which treatment options afford the best preservation of fully functional joints around the fractured bone. With this goal in mind, the authors have developed strategies that can restore full articular function of the limbs in both the short and the long term. Complex Fractures of the Limbs will be an invaluable aid to orthopaedic surgeons in treating patients with this very common and important clinical problem.

This book presents research on energy poverty alleviation, approaching the complex phenomenon topic holistically and with heterogeneity. It includes contributions from research teams studying the topic at a national, regional and local levels worldwide. The book is divided in two main blocks. The first part, New Approaches, involves novel assessments and concepts from a global and multidisciplinary point of view. The second part, Contexts, offers new theoretical diagnoses focused on case studies of different scales from around the world, and concepts for future trends. Energy Poverty Alleviation will be of interest to policy makers, stakeholders, academics and researchers with knowledge in the energy poverty field.

This book is structured in four parts: First, it analyzes the sustainability objectives established for the building stock and the importance of thermal comfort in this aspect. Second, the existing adaptive thermal comfort models and the main energy-saving measures associated with these models are analyzed. Third, the energy savings obtained with these measures are analyzed in several case studies, comparing the results obtained with other energy conservation measures, such as the improvement of the facade. The analysis is carried out from an energy and economic perspective. Finally, a decision-making process based on fuzzy logic is established. As an expected result, the content of the book contributes to assist architects in designing more efficient buildings from the perspective of user behavior.

This book is about the optimization of the characterization of the thermal properties of building envelopes, through experimental tests and the use of artificial intelligence. It analyses periodic and stationary thermal properties using measurement approaches based on the heat flow meter method and the thermometric method. These measurements are then analysed using advanced artificial intelligence algorithms. The book is structured in four parts, beginning with a discussion of the importance of thermal properties in the energy performance of buildings. Secondly, theoretical and experimental methods for characterizing thermal properties are analysed. Then, the methodology is developed, and the characteristics and properties of the algorithms used are explored. Finally, the results obtained with the algorithms are analysed and the most appropriate approaches are determined. This book is of interest to researchers, civil and industrial engineers, energy auditors and architects, by providing a resource which improves energy audit tasks in existing buildings.

This book explains how energy demand and energy consumption in new buildings can be predicted and how these aspects and the resulting CO2 emissions can be reduced. It is based upon the authors' extensive research into the design and energy optimization of office buildings in Chile. The authors first introduce a calculation procedure that can be used for the optimization of energy parameters in office buildings, and to predict how a changing climate may affect energy demand. The prediction of energy demand, consumption and CO2 emissions is demonstrated by solving simple equations using the example of Chilean buildings, and the findings are subsequently applied to buildings around the globe. An optimization process based on Artificial Neural Networks is discussed in detail, which predicts heating and cooling energy demands, energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Taken together, these processes will show readers how to reduce energy demand, consumption and CO2 emissions associated with office buildings in the future. Readers will gain an advanced understanding of energy use in buildings and how it can be reduced.

A neobaroque novel that immerses the reader in a bedazzling and surrealistic vortex where a search for an idealized goal often turns into a mirage. The four protagonists, Li-Tzu, Candy Slice, Dhalia Meanor and Adela Carroza anxiously await the arrival of Mr. Ioso, the Greek who will fulfill their dreams. It is during this anxious wait that they recount the story of their turbulent lives which are often distorted by desire, ambition and revenge. (Spanish)
Una novela neobarroca que sumerge al lector en un vrtice espejeante y surrealista, donde la bsqueda de una meta idealizada con frecuencia se convierte en un espejismo. Las cuatro protagonistas, Li-Tzu, Candy Slice, Dhalia Meanor y Adela Carroza ansiosamente aguardan la llegada de Mr. Ioso, el griego que completar sus sueos. Es durante esta ansiosa espera que cuentan la historia de sus vidas turbulentas, casi siempre distorsionadas por el deseo, la ambicin, o la venganza.

Arraigada en el folklore afrocubano tan bien captado por Fernando Ortiz, Lydia Cabrera y Alejo Carpentier, Orisha dibuja una elipse que magistralmente enlaza el mbito primigenio de la isla con el contemporneo. Desde el punto de vista anecdtico, toda esta nueva novela de Rubio traza el desenlace del vaticinio de un babalao lucum que anuncia con detalles el nacimiento y futuro de Ignacio Bentez, alias Agua Dulce. Mulato de ojos azules, Ignacio es el elegido sucesor del brujo lucum y el encargado de ratificar la veracidad del pronstico de los caracoles cours sobre su propio destino. Desplazndose desde la Cuba originaria hasta la revolucin fidelista de 1959 y el subsiguiente xodo a tierras floridanas, Orisha describe y recoge sensualmente la riqueza del paisaje guajiro, el sabor de su tierra tostada y suculenta, el mundo alucinante y fogoso de la zafra, la decadente vida nocturna de la capital cubana y el Miami comercializado de la emigracin. El autor se regocija en la confeccin de barrocas descripciones en las que se injertan a menudo breves e inslitos smiles que enriquecen la narracin con sensuales y briosas imgenes comparativas. Gran parte de la novela se regodea en un extenso retozo intertextual con personajes de otras novelas de Rubio as como de otros provenientes de textos de Severo Sarduy y Lezama Lima, sin excluir tcnicas y descripciones mgicas o fantsticas muy propias del maestro del Realismo Mgico, Gabriel Garca Mrquez. Orisha es, en su totalidad, un ldico experimento artstico que mantiene el inters del lector de principio a fin al mismo tiempo que lo reta a explorar los diversos vnculos que la unen a la polifactica cultura cubana.