Athletes from an array of sports and military personnel often desire weight gain, ideally as lean body mass (LBM), to improve performance in sport or military operations. These athletic individuals are commonly encouraged to increase energy intake by ~500 kcal/day with an emphasis on adequate protein and carbohydrate (CHO) and judicious inclusion of healthy fat-containing energy-dense foods (including nuts/nut butters), along with rigorous resistance training (RT). These guidelines target gains of ~0.23 kg/wk (0.5 lb/wk). However, little is known about the efficacy of such regimens, particularly in female athletes. Purpose: 1) to evaluate the outcomes of a 10-wk diet and exercise regimen designed to promote healthy weight gain with excess energy from protein- or CHO-dominant foods, 2) to determine the predictors of weight gain under these conditions, and 3) to survey the methods that athletes currently use to achieve weight gain for athletic purposes. Methods: Two projects included 19 male and 13 female athletes (from a variety of athletic backgrounds with previous RT experience; mean age 25±6 years) who were randomly assigned to receive 500 additional kcal/day above weight maintenance diet through provision of either peanut-based whole foods/snacks (PNT group) or a similar, high-CHO, peanut-free snack (CHO group) along with a supervised RT regimen (60 to 120 min, 3 day/wk targeting major muscle groups). Body composition (via dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry), basic anthropometric measurements, resting metabolic rate, hormonal profile, muscular strength, aerobic fitness (VO2max), and food intake records were assessed at baseline (BSL) and post-intervention with some measurements also assessed at weeks 3 and 7. Predictors of weight gain were determined following the intervention. A third project included an online survey with targeted questions regarding athletes' habits for promoting weight gain. Results: 1) Total body mass (TBM) increased 2.2±1.3 kg with 1.5±1.1 kg as LBM after week 10. The PNT group (n=16; 10 men, 6 women) gained less TBM than the CHO group (n=16; 9 men, 7 women) (1.6±1.1 kg vs 2.7±1.2 kg, respectively, P=0.007) with no differences in LBM (1.2±1.1 kg vs 1.9±1.0 kg, P=0.136). 2) 15 (47% women) of 32 participants gained at least 2.27 kg after 10 weeks with 70% as LBM. Over time, from linear mixed effects models, increased free thyroxine (T4) and increased blood urea nitrogen concentration (as a marker of protein intake) predicted TBM and LBM gains. From general linear models, the CHO energy surplus was a significant predictor of TBM and LBM gains, while the female sex alone was significant for LBM gains at study completion. 3) 168 athletic participants (mean age 24±5 years; 29% female, 71% male) completed the survey and were actively attempting or had attempted weight gain in the last 12 months to gain muscle mass (87.5%), for aesthetic reasons (66.1%), or to improve athletic performance (63.7%). The most prevalent dietary strategies reported to help promote weight gain were consuming more energy than usual (88.0%) from mainly protein foods (83.9%) and using protein powders (67.3). 9.6% of participants reported using anabolic hormones. The main exercise change was increased RT (81.5%). Conclusions: 1) These results suggest that the addition of 500 kcal/day from whole foods/snacks in combination with a rigorous RT program promotes a similar weight gain of ~0.22 kg/week, primarily as LBM, over 10 weeks in both male and female athletes. However, snack macronutrient content may impact the effectiveness of this regimen. 2) Factors that predict ability to gain body weight as expected under these circumstances are incorporating a CHO-dominant energy surplus, consuming overall adequate protein (~1.6 g/kg/day), and free T4 status. Furthermore, athletic women are able to gain LBM as effectively as athletic men. 3) Results confirm that both male and female athletic individuals intentionally attempt to gain weight. Nutrition and exercise professionals may use the findings to be aware of these common dietary and exercise strategies and to better educate their athletic clients on appropriate methods that are evidence-based and not detrimental to health. / Doctor of Philosophy / Athletes from different sports, including military members, often want to gain weight, mainly as muscle, to improve their athletic performance (for example, strength and power) or to match the opposing team's size. Current sports nutrition recommendations include eating ~500 kcal more each day from carbohydrate (CHO), protein, and healthy fats in combination with hard weightlifting. These recommendations support a slow weight gain of about 0.5 lb to 1 lb per week, which should mostly be muscle. However, these recommendations have not been well studied, particularly in female athletes. Purpose: 1) to study purposeful overfeeding with weightlifting for 10 weeks to promote healthy weight gain with extra calories from either high-protein or high-CHO foods, 2) to figure out what factors are responsible for healthy weight gain under these conditions, and 3) to survey the methods that athletes currently use to achieve weight gain for athletic purposes. Methods: Two projects included 19 male and 13 female athletes (from a variety of athletic backgrounds with previous weightlifting experience; mean age 25±6 years) who overate 500 additional kcal/day from either peanut-based whole foods/snacks (PNT group) or a similar, high-CHO, peanut-free snack (CHO group) along with a supervised weightlifting regimen (60 to 120 min, 3 day/wk targeting major muscle groups). Body composition, metabolism, blood analyses, muscular strength, cardio fitness, and food intake records were done at the beginning and end with some measurements also done at weeks 3 and 7. Predictors of weight gain were studied later. A third project included an online survey with questions about athletes' habits for promoting weight gain. Results: 1) In all 32 participants, weight increased 4.8 lb (3.3 lb as muscle) after week 10. The PNT group (n=16; 10 men, 6 women) gained less weight than the CHO group (n=16; 9 men, 7 women) (3.5 lb vs 5.9 lb, respectively) with no differences in muscle (2.6 lb vs 4.2 lb). 2) An increased thyroid hormone (thyroxine) and increased blood urea nitrogen (as a marker of protein intake) predicted overall weight and muscle gains. From the beginning of the study, the CHO energy surplus was a significant predictor of weight and muscle gains, while the female sex alone was significant for muscle gains by the end of the study. 3) 168 athletic participants (mean age 24±5 years; 29% female, 71% male) completed the survey and were actively attempting or had attempted weight gain in the last 12 months to gain muscle (87.5%), to look better (66.1%), or to improve athletic performance (63.7%). The main dietary ways reported to help promote weight gain were eating more than usual (88.0%) from mainly protein-rich foods (83.9%) and using protein powders (67.3%). 9.6% of participants reported using anabolic hormones. The main exercise change was increased weightlifting (81.5%). Conclusions: 1) These results suggest that an extra 500 kcal/day from whole foods/snacks in combination with hard weightlifting promotes a similar weight gain of ~0.5 lb/week, mainly as muscle, over 10 weeks in both male and female athletes. 2) What affects healthy weight gain may be eating a CHO-dominant energy surplus, eating enough protein in general, and thyroid status. Furthermore, athletic women are able to gain muscle as effectively as athletic men. 3) Results confirm that both male and female athletic individuals try to gain weight. Nutrition and exercise experts may use these findings to be aware of these common nutrition and exercise strategies and to better educate their athletic clients on appropriate methods that are based on scientific experiments and not bad for health.

This chapter introduces a project-based learning lesson that integrates science, English language arts (ELA), and math through a study related to energy sources. Throughout the lesson, students are engaged in a real-world problem of determining the impact of a population on energy resources and discovering ways to build greener, more energy-efficient schools for students of the future. Within this chapter, the authors present a proposed project timeline that teachers can use for implementation within their own classrooms, including an entry event to engage students in the mission of the project. A connection between science, ELA, and math practices is addressed in order to provide students with an opportunity to understand the correlation between all three subject areas. Suggested teaching and learning tasks focused on the driving question of the project and related to all three subject areas are presented along with suggestions for a culminating product and assessment of student learning.

This paper deals with the usage of photovoltaics in positive energy buildings. The European Union published in 2010 a directive about the energy performance of buildings in which article 9 states that all member States shall ensure that by the end of 2020 all new buildings should be “nearly zero-energy” buildings (by the end of 2018 for public buildings). This kind of nearly zero-energy buildings is starting to develop in France under the name “BEPOS” (which stands for POSitive Energy Building, in French), and this is the name that will be used in this document. 288 projects have been certified “BEPOS” as of 2012, according to the ADEME which published a map of all the BEPOS buildings in France (the ADEME is a French agency for the environment and the energy utilization, which is a major actor in the French energy policy, often deciding where to allocate funds). To be a BEPOS, these buildings need to produce electricity on site and photovoltaics are often considered as one of the most mature and competitive technology to do so, also the most used. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that photovoltaics are an economically viable means to reach the BEPOS quality label, and to provide data to quantify the cost and performance of a photovoltaic system. To achieve that, the technological and market conditions of photovoltaics in France are reviewed, and techno-economic calculations are made using data provided by solar and construction companies.

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Dans le but de réduire la consommation d’énergie et d’augmenter la part des énergies renouvelables, la conception optimale des futurs bâtiments (bâtiments intelligents) apparaît comme un facteur important. Cette thèse vise donc à développer des modèles, des méthodes innovantes d’aide à la conception pour ces bâtiments. Notre nouvelle approche de conception est une optimisation globale et simultanée de l’enveloppe, des systèmes énergétiques et de leurs stratégies de gestion dès la phase d’esquisse, qui prend en compte plusieurs critères de coût (investissement et exploitation) et de confort (thermique, visuel et aéraulique). Le problème d’optimisation multi-objectif est donc un problème de couplage fort de grande taille avec de nombreuses variables et contraintes, qui induisent des difficultés lors de sa résolution. Après avoir fait des analyses sur des cas tests, une méthode d’optimisation d’ordre 1 est choisie, en association à des modèles analytiques dérivés formellement de manière automatique. Notre méthodologie est appliquée à la conception de maisons individuelles, et plus particulièrement des maisons à énergie positive. Les résultats obtenus par cette approche globale apportent des informations importantes aux concepteurs pour l’aider à faire des choix en phase amont du processus de conception. / In order to reduce the energy consumption and to increase the use of renewable energy, the optimal design of future buildings (smart-buildings) appears as an important factor.This thesis aims to develop models, innovative methods aiding decision-making during the design of buildings. Our approach of design is a global and simultaneous optimization of envelope, energy systems and their management strategies from the sketch phase, which takes into account multi-criterions of costs (investment et exploitation) and comforts (thermal, visual, aeraulic). The multi-objective optimization problem is so a strong coupling problem of large scale with a lot of variables and constraints, which leads to difficulties to solve.After the tests, an optimization method of order 1 is chosen in combination with analytical models formally derived automatically. Our methodology is applied to the design of individual houses, especially positive energy houses. The results of this global approach provide important information to designers to help make choices from the preliminary phase of the design process.

Nous avons étudié les mécanismes adaptatifs induits par une surnutrition hyperlipidique (+757 kcal/j) de 56 jours sur le métabolisme énergétique et le muscle squelettique chez des sujets sains. En parallèle, nous avons étudié les mécanismes adaptatifs induits par une surnutrition en fructose de 7 jours sur le métabolisme énergétique et le muscle squelettique chez des sujets apparentés diabétiques de type 2 et nous avons réalisé des études in vitro sur myotubes humains afin d'identifier le médiateur contribuant aux effets du fructose. Ces deux surnutritions contribuent à augmenter le poids corporel. Ces modifications sont accompagnées par l'oxydation préférentielle des glucides au détriment des lipides. La surnutrition hyperlipidique induit, au niveau musculaire, une diminution de l'expression de PDK4 qui pourrait être la conséquence de la diminution de la concentration en NAD+ associée à la baisse de l'activité de SIRT1 comme supportée par l'hyperacétylation de PGC1alpha. Bien que l'activation de la voie SIRT1/PGC1alpha semble réduite, la surnutrition hyperlipidique est associée à une augmentation de l'expression des gènes liés à la mitochondrie. La surnutrition riche en fructose induit quant à elle, au niveau musculaire, une baisse de l'expression de nombreux gènes liés à l'oxydation des lipides et à la mitochondrie comme CPT1 et MLYCD. Les études in vitro suggèrent que le fructose agit de manière indirecte sur le muscle squelettique. Ce travail de thèse met en lumière les conséquences d'une balance énergétique positive induite par la surconsommation de lipides ou de fructose sur le métabolisme énergétique et l'expression génique du muscle squelettique / We studied the effects of a high-fat overfeeding (+757 kcal/d) during 56 days on energy metabolism and skeletal muscle of healthy subjects. ln parallel, we studied the effects of high fructose overfeeding during 7 days on energy metabolism and skeletal muscle of first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetic patients and we performed in vitro studies with human myotubes to identify the mediator contributing to the fructose effects. High-fat and high-fructose overfeeding both contribute to increase body. These changes are associated with a preferential oxidation of carbohydrates instead of lipid. High-fat overfeeding induces in skeletal muscle, a decrease in PDK4 expression that could be the consequences of decreased NAD+ concentration associated with a decreased SlRT1 activity as supported by the hyperacetylation of PGC1alpha. Although this reduction of the SlRT1/PGC-1alpha pathway appears, the high-fat overfeeding is associated with increased mitochondrial gene expression. The high-fructose overfeeding induces in skeletal muscle a decrease in many genes expression related to lipid oxidation and mitochondria as CPT1 and MLYCD. ln vitro experiments suggest an indirect action of fructose in skeletal muscle. This thesis highlights the consequences of a positive energy balance induced by over- consumption of lipid or fructose, which we can find in the general population, on energy metabolism and skeletal muscle gene expression

In recent years, knowledge graphs(KGs) have become essential tools for visualizing concepts and retrieving contextual information. However, constructing KGs for new and specialized domains like Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) presents unique challenges, particularly when dealing with unstructured texts and ambiguous concepts from academic articles. This study focuses on various strategies for constructing and inferring KGs, specifically incorporating entities related to PEDs, such as projects, technologies, organizations, and locations. We utilize visualization techniques and node embedding methods to explore the graph's structure and content and apply filtering techniques and t-SNE plots to extract subgraphs based on specific categories or keywords. One of the key contributions is using the longest path method, which allows us to uncover intricate relationships, interconnectedness between entities, critical paths, and hidden patterns within the graph, providing valuable insights into the most significant connections. Additionally, community detection techniques were employed to identify distinct communities within the graph, providing further understanding of the structural organization and clusters of interconnected nodes with shared themes. The paper also presents a detailed evaluation of a question-answering system based on the KG, where the Universal Sentence Encoder was used to convert text into dense vector representations and calculate cosine similarity to find similar sentences. We assess the system's performance through precision and recall analysis and conduct statistical comparisons of graph embeddings, with Node2Vec outperforming DeepWalk in capturing similarities and connections. For edge prediction, logistic regression, focusing on pairs of neighbours that lack a direct connection, was employed to effectively identify potential connections among nodes within the graph. Additionally, probabilistic edge predictions, threshold analysis, and the significance of individual nodes were discussed. Lastly, the advantages and limitations of using existing KGs(Wikidata and DBpedia) versus constructing new ones specifically for PEDs were investigated. It is evident that further research and data enrichment is necessary to address the scarcity of domain-specific information from existing sources.

Without decarbonizing cities energy and climate objectives cannot be achieved as cities account for approximately two thirds of energy consumption and emissions. This goal of decarbonizing cities has to be facilitated by promoting net-zero/positive energy buildings and districts and replicating them, driving cities towards sustainability goals. Many projects in smart cities demonstrate novel and groundbreaking low-carbon solutions in demonstration and lighthouse projects. However, as the historical, geographic, political, social and economic context of urban areas vary greatly, it is not always easy to repeat the solution in another city or even district. It is therefore important to look for the opportunities to scale up or repeat successful pilots. The purpose of this paper is to explore common trends in technologies and replication strategies for positive energy buildings or districts in smart city projects, based on the practical experience from a case study in Leipzig—one of the lighthouse cities in the project SPARCS. One of the key findings the paper has proven is the necessity of a profound replication modelling to deepen the understanding of upscaling processes. Three models analyzed in this article are able to provide a multidimensional representation of the solution to be replicated.

This research presents an innovative approach to extracting information from Positive Energy Districts (PEDs), urban areas generating surplus energy. PEDs are integral to the European Commission's SET Plan, tackling housing challenges arising from population growth. The study refines BERT to categorize PED-related entities, producing a cutting-edge NER model and an integrated pipeline of diverse NER tools and data sources. The model achieves an accuracy of 0.81 and an F1 Score of 0.55 with notably high confidence scores through pipeline evaluations, confirming its practical applicability. While the F1 score falls short of expectations, this pioneering exploration in PED information extraction sets the stage for future refinements and studies, promising enhanced methodologies and impactful outcomes in this dynamic field. This research advances NER processes for Positive Energy Districts, supporting their development and implementation.

Climate change is a global phenomenon that strongly affect cities and urban areas. Due to the intensive industrial activities and global population growth leading to more fossil energy demands for the last century, the global warming effect appeared to have been significantly exacerbated. To overcome the issues related to the increase of greenhouse emissions amplifying the global warming, multiple initiatives and engagements have appeared for the last 10 years in order to reduce our global energy demands and reduce the dependency to fossil energy and engage a transition to renewable energy. One way to achieve these objectives is to engage a technological and societal shift in the building industry by reducing energy demands and increasing local energy productions based on renewable energy or, at least, carbon neutral systems. In order to qualify these new types of construction, the concept of positive energy district (PED) has arisen through multiple initiative around the world. This thesis aims to assess the possibility to meet the PED requirements for the new Jakobsgardarna district extension project proposed by Sweco in Borlange, Sweden. This project is based on 144 buildings composed of schools, residentials, retails shop, and offices spread on an 80 ha of land. The Building Energy Modelling (BEM) has been performed on IDA ICE to assess the energy demands and energy production of the entire district following multiple scenarios. These simulations have been performed with either a district heating system or a heat pump as base system. Then, the models have been extended with photovoltaic (PV) panel in multiple configurations in order to find the bes tsolution to meet the PED requirements. First results of the baseline configuration (district heating) shows that the yearly energy demand was around 14,227 MWh which represent almost 69 kWh/m2, mainly dominated up to 75% by the heating demands including domestic hot water (DHW). Moreover, an uncomfortable situation has been met in almost all residential building during summer with temperature reaching up to 31°C. The second configuration considering a heat pump with bore holes in replacement of the district heating shows an overall yearly energy demands of 9,738 MWh representing 47.2kWh/m2 per heated area. This results in a 67% reduction of the energy demands in comparison with the base case. This is due to the high coefficient of performance (COP=4) of the heat pump compared to the district heating system’s (COP=1). In this configuration the heating demands still corresponds to 70% of the overall energy demands. The addition of PV panels compensated the entire electrical needs of the district when combined with district heating and even allowed to reach the positive energy requirements when combined with heat pumps with bore holes. The latter case generates up to 20% of electrical energy in excess of what it produced, even while considering solar panels at a15° of tilt angle in a region where the optimal inclination is defined at 45°. According to the preliminary results obtained in this study, positive energy requirements could be met by the combination of heat pump and PV panels according to our assumptions. This work could then be used to further refine the district design and propose suggestions to improve both the thermal modeling of the district and the design rules for architects and local stakeholders.