Agromere: how to integrate urban agriculture in the development of the Dutch city of Almere?

Urban agriculture produces green city areas with as an extra dimension providing food, energy, care, education or recreation for the civilians. And thus it can contribute to a more sustainable and liveable cities. The objective of the project Agromere is to create a process which will lead to a new residential quarter where agriculture is fully integrated in city live. Agromere is situated in the fast growing city of Almere, the Netherlands. In a combined stakeholder and design process a township is designed which integrates living (5,000 inhabitants) with urban agriculture on 250 ha. During this process an enthusiastic network of stakeholders has been established which developed innovating and unique ideas on urban farming. The potential for organic farming in the city is high because of its emphasis on animal welfare and consumer relations

In situ observations on deformation behavior and stretching-induced failure of fine pitch stretchable interconnect

Electronic devices capable of performing in extreme mechanical conditions such as stretching, bending, or twisting will improve biomedical and wearable systems. The required capabilities cannot be achieved with conventional building geometries, because of structural rigidity and lack of mechanical stretchability. In this article, a zigzag-patterned structure representing a stretchable interconnect is presented as a promising type of building block. In situ experimental observations on the deformed interconnect are correlated with numerical analysis, providing an understanding of the deformation and failure mechanisms. The experimental results demonstrate that the zigzag-patterned interconnect enables stretchability up to 60% without rupture. This stretchability is accommodated by in-plane rotation of arms and out-of-plane deformation of crests. Numerical analysis shows that the dominating failure cause is interfacial in-plane shear stress. The plastic strain concentration at the arms close to the crests, obtained by numerical simulation, agrees well with the failure location observed in the experiment

Experimental and numerical study of the energy absorption capacity of pultruded composite tubes

A numerical and experimental investigation was carried out in order to evaluate the response of composite tubes, made of poly-vinylester or polyester matrix reinforced unidirectionally with glass fibers, under quasistatic loading. The influence of triggering in failure and energy absorption was investigated. Also a series of finite element models was created using LS-DYNA3D and compared with experimental results. The correlation between simulations and experiments was relatively satisfactory and from the results of the study the energy absorbing suitability of each tube was evaluated. Results would provide more data that are needed for designing effective energy absorption mechanisms subjected under high speed loads

Different patterns of cerebral and muscular tissue oxygenation 10 years after coarctation repair

The purpose of this study was to assess whether the lower exercise tolerance in children after coarctation repair is associated with alterations in peripheral tissue oxygenation during exercise. A total of 16 children after coarctation repair and 20 healthy control subjects performed an incremental ramp exercise test to exhaustion. Cerebral and locomotor muscle oxygenation were measured by means of near infrared spectroscopy. The responses of cerebral and muscle tissue oxygenation index (cTOI, mTOI), oxygenated (O(2)Hb), and deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb) as a function of work rate were compared. Correlations between residual continuous wave Doppler gradients at rest, arm-leg blood pressure difference and local oxygenation responses were evaluated. Age, length, and weight was similar in both groups. Patients with aortic coarctation had lower peak power output (Ppeak) (72.3 +/- 20.2% vs. 106 +/- 18.7%, P < 0.001), VO(2)peak/kg (37.3 +/- 9.1 vs. 44.2 +/- 7.6 ml/kg, P = 0.019) and %VO(2)peak/kg (85.7 +/- 21.9% vs. 112.1 +/- 15.5%, P < 0.001). Cerebral O(2)Hb and HHb had a lower increase in patients vs. controls during exercise, with significant differences from 60 to 90% Ppeak (O(2)Hb) and 70% to 100% Ppeak (HHb). Muscle TOI was significantly lower in patients from 10 to 70% Ppeak and muscle HHb was significantly higher in patients vs. controls from 20 to 80% Ppeak. Muscle O(2)Hb was not different between both groups. There was a significant correlation between residual resting blood pressure gradient and Delta muscle HHb/Delta P at 10-20W and 20-30W (r = 0.40, P = 0.039 and r = 0.43, P = 0.034). Children after coarctation repair have different oxygenation responses at muscular and cerebral level. This reflects a different balance between O-2 supply to O-2 demand which might contribute to the reduced exercise tolerance in this patient population

Experimental and numerical study on axial crushing behaviour of pultruded composite tubes

An extensive experimental investigation was carried out to study the energy absorbing characteristics and progressive deformation behavior of unidirectional pultruded composite tubes subjected to an axial impact load. Pultruded square and circular profiles with glass-polyester and glass-vinylester combinations were used to study the specific energy absorption characteristics. Two types of triggering profiles were incorporated to investigate the effect of triggering on energy absorption. All the above combinations were investigated for three impact velocities. The effects of geometry profile, triggering and strain rate on energy absorption of composite tubes were studied in detail. A numerical simulation using finite element method was carried out to assess the energy absorption capability of composite tubes. To model the delamination between the composite plies, a new approach was adopted using cohesive elements. The progressive failure modes and crushing characteristics of the composite tubes are presented. From these studies, the composite tubes can be considered as energy absorbing members for impact applications

Numerical energy absorption study of composite tubes for axial impact loadings

This paper focuses on the numerical energy absorption behaviour of pultruded composite tubes under an axial impact loading case. The circular and square cross sectional glass-polyester composite tubes are considered for the study. In order to capture the typical failure modes such as delaminations, lamina bending, axial cracks and fibre fracturing, a new innovative approach was used using multiple shell elements, cohesive elements and pre-defined seams. To predict the correct peak crush load and the corresponding energy absorption, the importance of the numerical modelling of multiple delaminations and triggering are discussed. Two types of triggering were chosen for the study (45⁰ deg chamfering around the edges and a tulip pattern with an included angle between the edges of 60⁰). Finally, the results of this numerical investigation are compared with experimental data. The commercially available finite element code ABAQUS V6.7-3 Explicit was used for this study

The study of religious change with reference to selected African societies.

In the introductory chapter the twofold aim of the thesis is stated. In the first place it tries to show that the three main streams in modem anthropological thought: the historical, the typological, and the logical-structural approach, are not mutually exclusive, but complementary. In the second place the thesis attempts to gain a better understanding of processes of religious change. Anthropologists have tried to do so, by comparing exotic and spectacular aspects of these processes from all over the world. In this thesis equal attention is paid to less spectacular aspects, and processes of religious change are put into a context, the analysis of which brings out three sets of factors, which must always be considered: 1. the traditional social system and religion: 2. the economic, political, and social changes, which take place at the time of the religious changes; 3. the internal dynamics of new religious associations and movements. The next part of the thesis describes processes of religious change among the Kongo, Ganda, and Zulu. The chapter on the Kongo describes the prophetic movement known as Ngunzism. The chapter on the Ganda gives a detailed account of the introduction of the new religions, and of the further development of the Anglican Church, and some religious movements connected with this development. The chapter on the Zulu reviews the early missionary enterprise, and the emergence and growth of different types of independent churches. The concluding chapter compares first the different historical developments to bring out their unique character. Then a typology is developed to facilitate a systematic comparison of common elements of new religious associations and movements. Another typology is given to help to understand better the actual processes of change. Lastly a definition of religion is given, which shows that the category of religious change is a logically sound generalization

Religious innovation and social change among the Bukusu.

The problem of this thesis is the relation between the acceptance of religious innovation and other processes of social change among the Bukusu of Western Kenya. The theoretical framework which was adopted was borrowed from Mary Douglas who recently introduced the terms 'group' and 'grid' to denote two independent variables which characterize any social system. It appeared the only approach which could explain the incidence of a millenarian movement in a satisfactory manner and it also allowed a better description and fuller explanation of other facts. Traditionally Bukusu society had strong grid and weak group. There were no corporate groups or state-like institutions, but social organization depended on the manipulation of roles based on ego-centred categories. These characteristics facilitated the introduction of a hierarchy of political offices through which a handful of British administrators could control many of hundreds of thousands of Africans. This new system was differentiated through the need to introduce further checks and balances. Independent courts of justice and representative councils which assumed responsibility for public services curbed the discretionary powers of the chiefs and allowed greater African participation in decision making. Bukusu took advantage of the new opportunities which the system offered and tried to change criteria for recruiting chiefs and allocation of money for education to make it even more advantageous for themselves. Christianity was important for these developments because African participation in denominational competition gave Bukusu the experience and the organizational framework to agitate for the replacement of alien chiefs in Bukusu locations. Missionaries also encouraged semi-political welfare organizations which acquainted Bukusu with techniques necessary to set up and operate large scale formal organizations effectively. Thus they could form the Bukusu Union which wanted to use Bukusu wealth for Bukusu development. The emergence of a millenarian movement focussed the attention of the administration on these aspirations and resulted in the setting up of a new district in which the Bukusu were dominant. The first education provided by the missionaries helped individual Bukusu to qualify for the new posts in the administrative system created by the British. Enduring commitment to mocogamy enabled Christians to save money which they could invest in commercial farming. Money saved in the form of bridewealth cattle and/or earned from the sale of cash crops helped to pay for expensive boarding school education of children in the nineteen forties and fifties. These children were therefore proportionately more important among the national elite which emerged in the nineteen sixties than children with a different background