An Investigation Into Thermal Comfort In Residential Buildings In The Hot Humid Climate Of Sub-Saharan Africa: A Field Study In Abuja-Nigeria

A field study was conducted to understand the real and preferred conditions of thermal comfort in low-income residential buildings in Abuja, Nigeria. Knowing the temperatures people are experiencing in their houses and the limits which residents can tolerate is a first step to proffer passive solutions to reduce discomfort. During the study, 40 people responded to a post occupancy questionnaire and two households were issued a comfort survey questionnaire. Physical measurements were taken simultaneously during the comfort survey in both an air-conditioned and naturally ventilated residential building. The ASHRAE and air flow sensation scale were chosen as voting scales. The results from this study show that during the monitoring period the average and maximum temperatures in an air conditioned residential building were 31°C and 34°C; and 33°C and 36°C for natural ventilated buildings in Abuja. This compares with the external average and maximum air temperatures of 31°C and 39°C

Accurate modeling approach for the structural comparison between monolayer polymer tubes and single-walled nanotubes

In a recent computational study, we found highly structured ground states for coarse-grained polymers adsorbed to ultrathin nanowires in a certain model parameter region. Those tubelike configurations show, even at a first glance, exciting morphological similarities to known atomistic nanotubes such as single-walled carbon nanotubes. In order to explain those similarities in a systematic way, we performed additional detailed and extensive simulations of coarse-grained polymer models with various parameter settings. We show this here and explain why standard geometrical models for atomistic nanotubes are not suited to interpret the results of those studies. In fact, the general structural behavior of polymer nanotubes, as well as specific previous observations, can only be explained by applying recently developed polyhedral tube models.Comment: Proceedings of the 24th Workshop on Recent Developments in Computer Simulation Studies in Condensed Matter Physics, Feb 21-25, 2011, Athens, Georgia, US

Treating people fairly: a socio-legal approach to administrative justice

This thesis consists of a critical review of a portfolio of eight journal articles and book chapters on normative aspects of decision making in education and social security (Chapter 1); an overview of the most important research on procedural fairness and administrative justice that I have undertaken (Chapter 2); and the portfolio of papers referred to above (Chapters 3 -10). Chapter 2 develops a socio -legal approach to procedural fairness, which sees it in terms of the `trade -offs' that are made between a number of competing conceptions of administrative justice, and illustrates its power by outlining empirical research on the computerisation of social security in the UK, discretionary decision -making in Scottish prisons, the assessment of special educational needs in Scotland and England, and the aims and consequences of computerisation of social security in 13 OECD countries.Chapters 3 =5 are concerned with education and are based on a programme of research on the socio -legal and policy implications of parental choice legislation in Scotland which concluded that it had not produced an optimal balance between the rights of parents to choose schools for their own children and the duties of education authorities to promote the education of all children of school age. Chapter 3 outlines an alternative approach which takes choice seriously but avoids some of the adverse consequences of the existing legislation. Chapter 4 puts forward a set of institutional changes which would, it is argued, produce a better balance between the legitimate concerns of all the interested parties by involving teachers in the process of deciding which school would best facilitate a given child's learning and thus promote that child's interests. Chapter 5 provides some critical reflections on the programme of research, reviews subsequent policy developments, and considers how further research could respond to them.Chapters 6 -10 are concerned with social security. Chapter 6 gives a critical account of Titmuss' analysis of the relationship between rights and discretion in social security; develops an alternative approach; and suggests that the problem which needs to besolved is one of achieving a balance between rules, discretion and rights. This approach is applied to analysing the shifting balance between these three principles in the social security system since the publication of Titmuss' article in 1971, and to criticising proposals for reforming the system of adjudication set out in a recently -published consultation paper. Chapter 7 examines these proposals against the background of the `Change Programme', which aimed to cut the Department of Social Security's administrative costs by 25 per cent over a three -year period. Chapter 8 contrasts the Labour Government's decision to end the long tradition of lay membership of appeal tribunals in social security with the previous Conservative Government's proposals to remove the requirement that all appeal tribunals should have legally -qualified chairmen, and considers the wider implications of this change. Chapter 9 examines the relationship between substantive justice and procedural fairness in social security; reviews empirical evidence relating to changes in substantive justice and procedural fairness since 1979; and concludes that reductions in the level of social security benefits relative to average incomes and in the extent of procedural protection afforded to those who depend on social security weakened their rights as citizens. The final chapter, Chapter 10, contrasts Ferge's analysis of different normative models of social protection schemes with my analysis of the different normative models of how they should be run. It concludes that her preference for `messy contracts' based on a plurality of principles has much in common with my preference for administrative procedures that attempt to achieve a balance between several models of administrative justice

The Overseas Dimension: What Can Canada and the United States Learn from the United Kingdom

The United States and, to a slightly lesser extent, Canada have come to regard personal bankruptcy as a routine method of discharging debts, enabling the debtor to make a fresh start. By contrast, in the United Kingdom, bankruptcy is still seen as a remedy of last resort, and creditors may retain the right to enforce debts. The difference in approach is due to the fact that the United States and Canada have traditionally given priority to risk taking over security, while the United Kingdom has continued to give priority to security over risk taking. However, the British government\u27s enthusiasm for flexible labour markets and entrepreneurship suggests that this may be about to change. While many people in the United States are having second thoughts about their liberal approach to bankruptcy, and the American government is coming under intense pressure from the credit industry to make it harder for people to protect their assets, the British government has recently set in train a review of the legal and social framework of bankruptcy to see whether Britain can learn from the American experience

Noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis with aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index (APRI)

SCOPUS: le.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

The Overseas Dimension: What Can Canada and the United States Learn from the United Kingdom

The United States and, to a slightly lesser extent, Canada have come to regard personal bankruptcy as a routine method of discharging debts, enabling the debtor to make a fresh start. By contrast, in the United Kingdom, bankruptcy is still seen as a remedy of last resort, and creditors may retain the right to enforce debts. The difference in approach is due to the fact that the United States and Canada have traditionally given priority to risk taking over security, while the United Kingdom has continued to give priority to security over risk taking. However, the British government\u27s enthusiasm for flexible labour markets and entrepreneurship suggests that this may be about to change. While many people in the United States are having second thoughts about their liberal approach to bankruptcy, and the American government is coming under intense pressure from the credit industry to make it harder for people to protect their assets, the British government has recently set in train a review of the legal and social framework of bankruptcy to see whether Britain can learn from the American experience