De aantrekkingskracht van gebouwen

Hogescholen zijn de laatste jaren flink bezig met de ontwikkeling van gebouwen, met de nodige investeringen. In rap tempo worden er ultramoderne gebouwen neergezet of worden oude gebouwen gerenoveerd. Natuurlijk zijn deze ontwikkelingen in eerste instantie gericht op het nog beter ondersteunen van het primaire proces: het aanbieden van onderwijs. Maar wat is de invloed van deze gebouwen op de keuze van een potentiële student voor een hogeschool? Dit artikel geeft op deze vraag een antwoord.Real Estate & HousingArchitectur

Uncertainty analysis of Hydraulic Boundary Conditions of the Wadden Sea: Phase 1 of activity 2.3

The goal of the uncertainty analyses within the SBW Wadden Sea project is to find out which accuracy in HBC can be achieved, given the current state of scientific knowledge and technical instruments. Furthermore, we wish to quantify the contribution of the SWAN model and other components to the overall uncertainty in HBC. In order to answer these and related questions we first need to identify and quantify all the possible sources of uncertainty in the HBC calculation. This report gives an overview of the sources of uncertainty that contribute to the overall uncertainty of the HBC in the Wadden Sea. Most of the uncertainties can only be quantified roughly, for example by an estimate of the bandwidth or variance. For the present study this is sufficient. The next step is to analyse how the sources of uncertainty propagate in the resulting HBCs. This report gives a specification of the calculations that are expected to give insight in the error propagation of the relevant sources of uncertainty. The calculations themselves will be done in the second half of 2007 and the results will be reported in a follow-up document.SB

Haptic human–human interaction does not improve individual visuomotor adaptation

Haptic interaction between two humans, for example, a physiotherapist assisting a patient regaining the ability to grasp a cup, likely facilitates motor skill acquisition. Haptic human–human interaction has been shown to enhance individual performance improvement in a tracking task with a visuomotor rotation perturbation. These results are remarkable given that haptically assisting or guiding an individual rarely benefits their individual improvement when the assistance is removed. We, therefore, replicated a study that reported that haptic interaction between humans was beneficial for individual improvement for tracking a target in a visuomotor rotation perturbation. In addition, we tested the effect of more interaction time and a stronger haptic coupling between the partners on individual improvement in the same task. We found no benefits of haptic interaction on individual improvement compared to individuals who practised the task alone, independent of interaction time or interaction strength.Human-Robot InteractionBiomechatronics & Human-Machine Contro

Residual uncertainty estimation using instance-based learning with applications to hydrologic forecasting

A non-parametric method is applied to quantify residual uncertainty in hydrologic streamflow forecasting. This method acts as a post-processor on deterministic model forecasts and generates a residual uncertainty distribution. Based on instance-based learning, it uses a k nearest-neighbour search for similar historical hydrometeorological conditions to determine uncertainty intervals from a set of historical errors, i.e. discrepancies between past forecast and observation. The performance of this method is assessed using test cases of hydrologic forecasting in two UK rivers: the Severn and Brue. Forecasts in retrospect were made and their uncertainties were estimated using kNN resampling and two alternative uncertainty estimators: quantile regression (QR) and uncertainty estimation based on local errors and clustering (UNEEC). Results show that kNN uncertainty estimation produces accurate and narrow uncertainty intervals with good probability coverage. Analysis also shows that the performance of this technique depends on the choice of search space. Nevertheless, the accuracy and reliability of uncertainty intervals generated using kNN resampling are at least comparable to those produced by QR and UNEEC. It is concluded that kNN uncertainty estimation is an interesting alternative to other post-processors, like QR and UNEEC, for estimating forecast uncertainty. Apart from its concept being simple and well understood, an advantage of this method is that it is relatively easy to implement.Water Resource

A five-stage treatment train for water recovery from urine and shower water for long-term human Space missions

Long-term human Space missions will rely on regenerative life support as resupply of water, oxygen and food comes with constraints. The International Space Station (ISS) relies on an evaporation/condensation system to recover 74–85% of the water in urine, yet suffers from repetitive scaling and biofouling while employing hazardous chemicals. In this study, an alternative non-sanitary five-stage treatment train for one “astronaut” was integrated through a sophisticated monitoring and control system. This so-called Water Treatment Unit Breadboard (WTUB) successfully treated urine (1.2-L-d−1) with crystallisation, COD-removal, ammonification, nitrification and electrodialysis, before it was mixed with shower water (3.4-L-d−1). Subsequently, ceramic nanofiltration and single-pass flat-sheet RO were used. A four-months proof-of-concept period yielded: (i) chemical water quality meeting the hygienic standards of the European Space Agency, (ii) a 87-±-5% permeate recovery with an estimated theoretical primary energy requirement of 0.2-kWhp-L−1, (iii) reduced scaling potential without anti-scalant addition and (iv) and a significant biological reduction in biofouling potential resulted in stable but biofouling-limited RO permeability of 0.5 L-m−2-h−1-bar−1. Estimated mass breakeven dates and a comparison with the ISS Water Recovery System for a hypothetical Mars transit mission show that WTUB is a promising biological membrane-based alternative to heat-based systems for manned Space missions.Sanitary Engineerin