Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university located in&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

VIT is one of the top ranked private universities in India according to NIRF, THE and QS Rankings.&nbsp;Govt. of India has recognized&nbsp;VIT, Vellore as an&nbsp;Institution of Eminence. This has allowed VIT to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

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VIT University

School of Architecture

World University root node

Department of Integrative Biology

School of Bio Sciences and Technology

Vellore Campus

Fulltext

Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science

Short Pulse of Clinical Concentration of Bevacizumab Modulates Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Functionality

Autologous transplantation of ex vivo cultured cells the treatment of choice for patients with limbal stem cell deficiency. The most commonly used cell sources for transplantation limbal, conjunctival or oral mucosal tissue. Protocols vary for culturing each tissue type, and there are no comparative studies on transplantation outcomes using these different culture techniques. To overcome this limitation, we devised a simple protocol that can uniformly promote growth and differentiation of cells from a limbal, conjunctival or oral mucosal biopsy into the corneal lineage.Biopsies were cultured as explants on de-epithelialized human amniotic membrane in the presence of recombinant epidermal growth factor and insulin. Cultured cells were characterized using immunohistochemistry and quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for stem/progenitor markers (ABCG2 and P63α) and differentiation markers (CK3, CK12, CK4, CK13, CK15 and CONNEXIN 43). Fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis was performed for ABCG2.The results revealed that cells of all three biopsies differentiated into the corneal lineage. Positivity of CK3/12, CK4, CK12 and CONNEXIN 43 immunostaining and the relative mRNA expression of CK3, CK4, CK12, CK13, CK15 and CONNEXIN 43 could be detected in the cultured biopsies.Unlike tissue-specific protocols, our protocol can unequivocally promote differentiation of cells from a limbal, conjunctival or oral mucosal biopsy into the corneal lineage. This simple standardized protocol can be adapted for ocular surface reconstruction using stem cell transplantation.

VIT Unitversity

Cytotherapy

One for all: A standardized protocol for ex vivo culture of limbal, conjunctival and oral mucosal epithelial cells into corneal lineage

This paper is the first two that report on the results of ASHRAE Research Project RP-1468. This paper presents an overview of the project and the three volumes of documentation included in the final report (Clayton et al. 2013). The purpose of the project was to produce reference models and guidelines for developing software to automate thermal model creation from a building information model into a building energy simulation (BES) for energy simulations. This paper describes the methods of the research and presents highlights of the guidelines. The variety of uses for energy simulation in the building design process leads to a differentiation of several different kinds of thermal models that may be extracted from a BIM. A Series 2, Level 1 model that addresses whole-building energy use at schematic stages of design is developed into a set of guidelines. A recommendation is to use the centerlines of enclosure elements to determine areas of thermal surfaces. Various recommendations are made for resolving curved surfaces, shading elements, and site elements. The guidelines are supported by detailed sensitivity studies and analysis, presented in the final report (Clayton et al. 2013). The investigations led to identification of future work to improve energy simulation tools and BIM tools. © 2016 ASHRAE.

ASHRAE Transactions

Development of a reference building information model for thermal model compliance testing - Part I: Guidelines for generating thermal model input files

Passive cooling refers to any technologies or design features adopted to reduce the indoor temperature of buildings without the need for conventional energy. Passive downdraft cooling (PDEC) system is an emerging system of passive technique and has proved to be successful in reducing the cooling load in buildings especially in hot and dry climates. The aim of this study is to explore the efficiency of PDEC systems in moderate and composite climatic regions of India, as well. The study is intended to understand the concept, spatial requirement, suitable climatic conditions and the mechanism of PDEC systems. The issues involved in design of PDEC towers have been addressed. The results suggest that effective design of PDEC towers could significantly reduce the energy bills and carbon footprints as well. This technique may therefore be widely relevant to non-residential buildings in hot climatic regions of India where more energy is required for mechanical cooling systems during the hot seasons; hence architects and engineers must initiate the importance of PDEC systems in their building design. © EM International.

Ecology, Environment and Conservation

An overview of passive downdraft evaporative cooling as an alternative to mechanical cooling systems in moderate and composite climatic zones of India

Green roof application on real residential buildings in Tamilnadu, India is very limited and mostly concentrated in major cities mainly for visual purposes. There is not enough research has been conducted to boost up the benefits of green roof system in Warm and Humid weather in India. Green roofs have the potential to improve the thermal performance of a roofing system through shading, insulation, evapotranspiration and thermal mass, thus reducing a building's energy demand for space conditioning. To quantify the thermal performance and energy efficiency of green roofs an experimental investigation was done in residential buildings of Madurai, Tamilnadu, India. This paper refers to the analysis of the thermal properties and indoor thermal performance study of the green roof. The investigation were implemented in two phases: during the first phase, extended surface, air temperature and relative humidity measurements were taken at the indoor and outdoor environment of the buildings where the green roof had installed and during the second phase of the study, the thermal properties of the green roof, as well as, the cooling potential were examined. Results showed vegetative roofs reduced heat gain compared to the white reflective roofs and conventional reinforced cement concrete due to the thermal mass, extra insulation, and evapo-transpiration associated with the vegetative roofing systems. The results also proved that green roofs provide acceptable indoor thermal performance with respect to the other conventional roofs while re-establishing the relationship between human and environment, which have been destroyed due to the rapid urbanization. © 2016 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.

Key Engineering Materials

Thermal performance evaluation of green roofs in warm humid climates: A case of residential buildings in Madurai, India

This study focuses on the thermal performance of a selected of residential buildings in Madurai a warm humid climatic region in India. This study describes the impact on thermal performance alternative building material used in building envelopes of residential buildings in Madurai, Tamilnadu, India. These systems included walls with mud, brick, clay tile and roofs with thatch, clay tile, and reinforced concrete with filler materials. After thorough on-site investigation and data collection, the information, along with regional weather data were input into the Ecotect energy simulation software for thermal performance evaluation. The objective of this research was to search for energy-efficient construction techniques suitable for settlements and incorporating traditional cultural values in a warm humid region characterized very hot summers with mild winters and low diurnal (day/night) temperature range. This was pursued by analyzing temperature and measurements within buildings constructed from a variety of traditional and modern materials. The thermal behavior and comfort, the patterns of energy use and the appropriateness of the different building techniques and materials were analyzed, compared and discussed. A demonstration was done to show how a building envelope reacts to outdoor conditions through graphic illustration and show ways in which the research can be extended by the creation of simulations using Ecotect software. This study shows that it is possible to provide a thermally comfortable space in warm humid region without using mechanical air-conditioning systems. © 2014 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved.

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering

A comparative study of the thermal comfort of different building materials in madurai

Daylighting is an important aspect in designing high performance buildings. Many simulation tools have been developed to study the daylighting performance of buildings. These tools primarily use CAD environments for creating architectural models, which are then converted into daylighting models to run on the daylighting simulation engines. Once the architect defines the architectural model in CAD, a simulation expert creates the simulation input file to perform daylighting analysis. Each tool has its own rules that the architect and the engineer have to follow to prepare the simulation input files, and the complexity depends on the tools. Currently, Building Information Modeling (BIM) is widely used in the AECO industries and BIM models are used as a means of exchanging data among different professionals involved in the design and construction of buildings. The present paper discusses the use of BIM for building performance simulations and mainly focuses on how daylighting analysis can be incorporated into a BIM environment, and what challenges and benefits exist in the process of integrating BIM with daylighting simulation tools. The paper presents the development and validation of a prototype to integrate the BIM tool, Revit with the daylighting simulation tools, Radiance and DAYSIM. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Energy and Buildings

Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based daylighting simulation and analysis

Air conditioning energy consumption in summer represents a challenge in many areas with hot and humid climates. Passive cooling with thermal storage in phase change materials (PCMs) is a very effective way to improve thermal stability of the rooms with light-weight envelope. The main objective of this research is to demonstrate experimentally that it is possible to improve the thermal comfort and reduce the energy consumption of a building without substantial increase in the weight of the construction materials with the inclusion of PCM. This work aims at presenting an overview of the key researches in the field of use of PCMs in buildings and presenting a green approach for their uses in building envelopes with specific implementation on the case of hot humid regions. Thermal behaviour of wall integrated with two different types of PCMS Polyethylene glycol (PEG) E600 and Capric Acid (C10 H20 O 2) was compared by measurements and calculations. Three test cells were built for comparative investigation of the efficiency of passive cooling with the use of the PCMs. This paper deals with the results of experiments carried out in the test cells and possibilities of activation of PCMs for effective passive cooling.

Energy and Environment

Energy efficiency in buildings in hot humid climatic regions using phase change materials as thermal mass in building envelope

Roof thermal performance is one of the most important factors for achieving indoor thermal comfort in tropical houses designed for natural cross ventilation. This research aims to find the suitable roof constructions for naturally ventilated residential buildings in warm humid climates of India. The research has been carried out at Madurai, Tamilnadu, India. The roof constructions included the types which are widely used in Residential Buildings in Madurai and also the new ones. This study, based on field study data, discusses roof design strategies for a warm-humid climate by investigating the impacts of roof thermal performance on indoor thermal comfort in naturally ventilated houses. This study is aimed to find the roof constructions which gain the least amount of heat during the hottest days of summer and to find how much thermal comfort is provided though out the year. In this respect the Traditional Madras terrace roofs and the Sloped Reinforced concrete roofs with clay tile roof showed the best performance. It was experimentally demonstrated that it is possible to maintain the indoor temperature 2°C -6°C lower than the outdoor temperature using passive roofing in a warm humid climate. This study uses an experimental approach in which the measurements of outdoor and indoor environments are conducted on residential buildings during extreme summer days. The Thermo physical properties of the roofs are also analyzed. © IDOSI Publications, 2014.

World Applied Sciences Journal

Sustainable roofs for warm humid climates -a case study in residential buildings in Madurai, Tamilnadu, India

This paper presents our research and development of system interfaces between Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Building Energy Modeling (BEM), for supporting integrated architectural design and energy simulation. Our methods utilize the BIM authoring tools' Application Programming Interface (API) to translate BIM into Object-Oriented Physical Models (in Modelica) for building thermal simulation, and input files of ray-tracing software (Radiance) for daylighting simulation. Based on the methods, we have created two prototypes: Revit2Modelica and Revit2Radiance. Using these prototypes, when BIM (Revit models) are created for building design, multi-domain simulations (thermal and daylighting) can be conducted immediately. BIM becomes a common user interface for architectural design and building performance simulations. Copyright © 2011 by IPAC'11/EPS-AG.