Student search behaviour in a digital library

This paper covers student search behaviour in a digital library. It was presented at the eighth international conference of engineering and product design education, in Salzburg, in 2006

Sustainable architectural design of the Central Mediterranean

The climate of the central Mediterranean archipelago of Malta is characterised by hot dry summers and cold humid winters. For centuries, the architecture of these geoheritage islands, erected in the local limestone, has addressed the physical characteristics arising from the topography. This industrial mineral, the source of dimension stones for the building construction industry since time immemorial, is being depleted at a rapid rate. The Islands have a significant stock of buildings which, due to growing public awareness, development planning policies and central government initiatives for heritage protection, are being restored, conserved and re-used. This paper explores contemporary sustainable residential architecture completed in recent years in existing urban contexts from environmental, technical and financial perspectives. Adopting a holistic approach to architectural design, bioclimatic and passive considerations would enhance the environmental quality of the existing built environment. Integrating them in the redevelopment through modifications and extensions to existing buildings in order to meet contemporary habitable standards rather than demolishing and developing new residential developments proved to be a viable option from all three perspectives. The resulting sustainable design solution optimizes on energy and land resources through minimising the impact/s on the natural environs which future generations will be enjoying. In addition to having healthier interiors, a prerequisite for the human wellbeing of users, such an approach is financially more remunerative. Based on case studies, this study concludes that energy site sensitive environmental design decisions integrated in existing residential properties is a secure socio-economic investment in the built heritage. The re-designed modifications and extensions are not only sustainable in terms of thermal and natural lighting but also in terms of building materials and construction techniques.peer-reviewe

Design Window Analysis for the Helical DEMO Reactor FFHR-d1

Conceptual design activity for the LHD-type helical DEMO reactor FFHR-d1 has been conducted at the National Institute for Fusion Science under the Fusion Engineering Research Project since FY2010. In the first step of the conceptual design process, design window analysis was conducted using the system design code HELIOSCOPE by the “Design Integration Task Group”. On the basis of a parametric scan with the core plasma design based on the DPE (Direct Profile Extrapolation) method, a design point having a major radius of 15.6 m and averaged magnetic field strength at the helical coil winding center of 4.7 T was selected as a candidate. The validity of the design was confirmed through the analysis by the related task groups (in-vessel component, blanket, and superconducting magnet)

Urban agriculture: a global analysis of the space constraint to meet urban vegetable demand

Urban agriculture (UA) has been drawing a lot of attention recently for several reasons: the majority of the world population has shifted from living in rural to urban areas; the environmental impact of agriculture is a matter of rising concern; and food insecurity, especially the accessibility of food, remains a major challenge. UA has often been proposed as a solution to some of these issues, for example by producing food in places where population density is highest, reducing transportation costs, connecting people directly to food systems and using urban areas efficiently. However, to date no study has examined how much food could actually be produced in urban areas at the global scale. Here we use a simple approach, based on different global-scale datasets, to assess to what extent UA is constrained by the existing amount of urban space. Our results suggest that UA would require roughly one third of the total global urban area to meet the global vegetable consumption of urban dwellers. This estimate does not consider how much urban area may actually be suitable and available for UA, which likely varies substantially around the world and according to the type of UA performed. Further, this global average value masks variations of more than two orders of magnitude among individual countries. The variations in the space required across countries derive mostly from variations in urban population density, and much less from variations in yields or per capita consumption. Overall, the space required is regrettably the highest where UA is most needed, i.e., in more food insecure countries. We also show that smaller urban clusters (i.e., <100 km2 each) together represent about two thirds of the global urban extent; thus UA discourse and policies should not focus on large cities exclusively, but should also target smaller urban areas that offer the greatest potential in terms of physical space

Geotextile incorporated permeable pavement system as potential source of irrigation water: Effects of re-used water on the soil, plant growth and development

Permeable pavement systems are important part of the sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS). Over a decade ago, it was proposed that the pervious pavement system (PPS) has the capability to store water for reuse, the possibility of using the SUDS device simultaneously in source control and water recycling applications have not been holistically investigated by previous studies. This paper reports experiments where water from geotextile incorporated permeable pavement system models on which 24 mL/m2 of hydrocarbon was applied as a pollutant. A single dose of 17 g of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium slow release nutrients (applied to encourage biodegradation) was administered to the surface. The PPS recycled water was used to irrigate tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum (Fantasio hybrid)) and rye grass (Lolium perenne) for ten weeks. The growth, development, and heavy metal content of the organs of these plants were compared to that of plants from untreated rigs and with plants treated with de‐ionized water (DI) as well as the pH, sodium adsorption ratio, and electrical conductivity. The comparative performance of the plants indicated that the water from the treated rigs supported plant growth more than the water from the untreated test rigs and DI. Heavy metal analysis of the plants organs indicated that the metals were at normal levels and below toxicity levels for plants and livestock. Soil structure tests showed that there were no salinity or soil structure issues. Heavy metal analysis of soil also indicated that the metals were within normal range and below toxicity levels. These results further demonstrate the water recycling capability of the PPS and its potential use for irrigation purposes

Improving contemporary approaches to the master planning process.

Master-planning has had a strong revival in recent years. However, significant demographic and social changes are on-going amidst the constraints of the current economic stagnation, the policy of reduced public spending and the drive to respond to environmental imperatives. These conditions challenge the feasibility of the application of past master-planning practice. The way we conceive of master-planning now requires re-visiting. The traditional perspective of master-planning as a design-led activity concerned with the architectural form of buildings, spaces and infrastructures is out-dated and inadequate to coordinating the plural processes of negotiating sustainable place development which, in addition to realising a visually pleasing townscape, critically satisfies social, functional, economic and environmental requirements. Masterplanning requires both a business planning component, without which there is no delivery, and a governance component, without which the physical strategy has no legitimacy. A more adaptive master-planning approach is required. The paper proposes how a flexible master-planning process can provide a basis of a suitable approach for the development of sustainable settlements. Published in Proceedings of the ICE - Urban Design and Planning, Vol 167, Issue 1, October 2013. Permission is granted by ICE Publishing to print one copy for personal use. Any other use of this PDF file is subject to reprint fees.</p

Best Practices for Biostatistical Consultation and Collaboration in Academic Health Centers

Given the increasing level and scope of biostatistics expertise needed at academic health centers today, we developed best practices guidelines for biostatistics units to be more effective in providing biostatistical support to their institutions, and in fostering an environment in which unit members can thrive professionally. Our recommendations focus on the key areas of: 1) funding sources and mechanisms; 2) providing and prioritizing access to biostatistical resources; and 3) interacting with investigators. We recommend that the leadership of biostatistics units negotiate for sufficient long-term infrastructure support to ensure stability and continuity of funding for personnel, align project budgets closely with actual level of biostatistical effort, devise and consistently apply strategies for prioritizing and tracking effort on studies, and clearly stipulate with investigators prior to project initiation policies regarding funding, lead time, and authorship

Barriers and opportunities for evidence-based health service planning: the example of developing a Decision Analytic Model to plan services for sexually transmitted infections in the UK

Decision Analytic Models (DAMs) are established means of evidence-synthesis to differentiate between health interventions. They have mainly been used to inform clinical decisions and health technology assessment at the national level, yet could also inform local health service planning. For this, a DAM must take into account the needs of the local population, but also the needs of those planning its services. Drawing on our experiences from stakeholder consultations, where we presented the potential utility of a DAM for planning local health services for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the UK, and the evidence it could use to inform decisions regarding different combinations of service provision, in terms of their costs, cost-effectiveness, and public health outcomes, we discuss the barriers perceived by stakeholders to the use of DAMs to inform service planning for local populations, including (1) a tension between individual and population perspectives; (2) reductionism; and (3) a lack of transparency regarding models, their assumptions, and the motivations of those generating models