Simulation of Heritage Buildings: The Duke of Bedford’s Cottages in West Devon

Building performance simulation (BPS) is used to select and justify an energy-saving retrofit for the Duke of Bedford's cottages, aiming to improve performance sufficiently within the cottages' constraints, which include conservation concerns plus wider practical and economic constraints. Building data is passed from a building information model (BIM). Building energy simulation (BES) and hygrothermal modelling obtain results in the performance attributes of energy efficiency, thermal comfort and damp risk. Parametric analysis assesses performance ranges and sensitivity to long-term climate uncertainties. Moderate fabric upgrades, including window replacement and an insulating plaster, perform best within their constraints. Long-term, a heat pump is recommended to increase efficiency though is currently financially constrained. Ultimately, this sufficiently balances performance and heritage needs

Disease suppression of potting mixes amended with composted biowaste

Peat mining destroys valuable nature areas and contributes to the greenhouse effect. This warrants the search for alternatives for peat in potting mixes. Composted biowaste could provide such an alternative. An additional advantage of (partially) replacing peat by compost is the increased disease suppressiveness. In this study, nine commercial composted biowastes were tested for disease suppressiveness using the pathosystems Pythium ultimum-cucumber, Phytophthora cinnamomi-lupin and Rhizoctonia solani-carrot. Increased disease suppression was found in compost-amended potting mixes for all three pathosystems. The level of disease suppression ranged from slight stimulation of disease to strong suppression. Suppressiveness against one disease was not well correlated with that against the other diseases. The CO2 production, a measure of general microbial activity, was the parameter most strongly correlated with the level of disease suppression. Wetsieving the biowaste with tap water over a 4-mm sieve prior to composting yielded a compost with an 2.4-fold increase in organic matter and a twofold decrease in EC and Cl--concentration of the compost. The latter reductions allow for an increase of the amount of peat that can be replaced by compost. A linear relation was found between the amount of compost added to the potting mix and the level of disease suppression indicating the potential for increasing disease suppressiveness of potting mixes by replacing peat by high-quality composted biowastes

Magnetic behaviour of narrow track thin-film heads

The influence of the trackwidth on the performance of thin film heads has been tested. Results of experiments on the wafer have indicated an increase in the head efficiency with decreasing trackwidth. This was underlined by measurements of the head fringe field and tape recording experiments. A model which takes the domain structure into account has been developed to interpret this behaviour

Improving the quality management systems for energy-efficient social housing projects

Developing and implementing quality management systems (QMS) in construction is particularly difficult because of a lack of standardization, the use of transient workforce and the many parties involved. This paper discusses the challenges faced by social housing providers in the UK when implementing quality assurance programs in their effort to provide their tenants with energy-efficient dwellings. In particular, it focuses on the quality plans defined at the early stages of a project, their impact during the construction process and on the resulting building energy performance. Based on data collected from the project team and documentation, a comparative analysis of the QMS development process of two social housing developments is presented. The key findings show that the two case studies followed different quality management approaches to deliver energy efficient dwellings. The most significant discrepancies were found in defining the energy performance targets and detailing the quality assurance procedures. The contribution of this paper is to create awareness of the importance of defining Quality Assurance Systems with a focus on energy performance from the early stages of a project

An Exploratory Study of the Career Drivers of Accounting Students

The purpose of this study was to assess the relative importance of nine career drivers of undergraduate accounting students. Career drivers are motivational factors that influence students’ choices of careers. Faculty, academic advisors, and employment recruiters, among others, can benefit from knowing what accounting students consider to be important career factors. The three most important career drivers are expertise, security, and search for meaning. We also attempted to assess if there are significant differences in the career drivers of male and female students. Our results indicated that there are statistically significant differences between male and female respondents in the career drivers of expertise, security, and search for meaning

MISCELLANEOUS SOUTH EAST ASIAN CUCURBIT NEWS II

DE WILDE, W.J.J.O & DUYFJES, B.E.E. 2009. Miscellaneous South East Asian Cucurbit news II. Reinwardtia 12(5): 405–414. — This paper contains corrections, additions, new taxa, or new records in several genera, which became apparent since previous publications by the authors in these genera.(1) Diplocyclos (Endl.) Post & Kuntze: a new variety in Diplocyclos palmatus (L.) C. Jeffrey(2). Pilogyne Schrad.: re-instatement of this genus name for SE Asian species formerly in Zehneria Endl., with the description of a new species from the Philippines(3) Thladiantha Bunge: Thladiantha nudiflora Forbes & Hemsley, new for Malesia(4) Trichosanthes L.: three subspecies in Trichosanthes tricuspidata Lour

Molecular insights in cervical carcinogenesis with emphasis on hTERT

Snijders, P.J.F. [Promotor]Meijer, C.J.L.M. [Promotor]Steenbergen, R.D.M. [Copromotor