33 research outputs found
Convective Concrete: additive manufacturing to facilitate activation of thermal mass
Convective Concrete is about a research-driven design process of an innovative thermal mass concept. The goal is to improve building energy efficiency and comfort levels by addressing some of the shortcomings of conventional building slabs with high thermal storage capacity. Such heavyweight constructions tend to have a slow response time and do not make use of the available thermal mass effectively. Convective Concrete explores new ways of using thermal mass in buildings more intelligently. To accomplish this ondemand charging of thermal mass, a network of ducts and fans is embedded in the concrete wall element. This is done by developing customized formwork elements in combination with advanced concrete mixtures. To achieve an efficient airflow rate, the embedded lost formwork and the concrete itself function like a lung
155-day Periodicity in Solar Cycles 3 and 4
The near 155 days solar periodicity, so called Rieger periodicity, was first
detected in solar flares data and later confirmed with other important solar
indices. Unfortunately, a comprehensive analysis on the occurrence of this
periodicity during previous centuries can be further complicated due to the
poor quality of the sunspot number time-series. We try to detect the Rieger
periodicity during the solar cycles 3 and 4 using information on aurorae
observed at mid and low latitudes. We use two recently discovered aurora
datasets, observed in the last quarter of the 18th century from UK and Spain.
Besides simple histograms of time between consecutive events we analyse monthly
series of number of aurorae observed using different spectral analysis (MTM and
Wavelets). The histograms show the probable presence of Rieger periodicity
during cycles 3 and 4. However different spectral analysis applied has only
confirmed undoubtedly this hypothesis for solar cycle 3.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, to appear in New Astronom
Concepts and samples for force and function optimisation of steel knots and ceramic wall components
Imagine: RAPIDS 2.0
In 2014, a 3D-printed Canal House by DUS architects caught the attention of the world – including President Obama. The 3D Print Canal House proved the potentials of Additive Manufacturing for architecture and construction. Additive Manufacturing provides the architect with completely new solutions for realising tool-less production methods while allowing maximum freedom of design. Additive Manufacturing is ideally suited for Rapid Prototyping. It is possible to manufacture physical presentation and functional prototypes with complex shapes quickly and cost-efficiently without the need for manual processing – directly using three-dimensional CAD construction data. This makes the entire product development process considerably faster.
Imagine 10 explores the potentials of Additive Manufacturing for architecture by charting the current state of technology, discussing its implications for design and construction processes, and presents research projects as well as concept ideas for future Additive Manufacturing applications
Knowledge about Hand Hygiene and Related Infectious Disease Awareness among Primary School Children in Germany â€
Hand hygiene is a cornerstone of infection prevention. However, few data are available for school children on their knowledge of infectious diseases and their prevention. The aim of the study was to develop and apply a standardized questionnaire for children when visiting primary schools to survey their knowledge about infectious diseases, pathogen transmission and prevention measures. Enrolling thirteen German primary schools, 493 questionnaires for grade three primary school children were included for further analyses, comprising 257 (52.1%) girls and 236 (47.9%) boys with an age range of 8–11 years. Out of 489 children, 91.2% participants indicated that they knew about human-to-human transmissible diseases. Of these, 445 children responded in detail, most frequently mentioning respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases, followed by childhood diseases. Addressing putative hygiene awareness-influencing factors, it was worrisome that more than 40.0% of the children avoided visiting the sanitary facilities at school. Most of the children (82.9%) noted that they did not like to use the sanitary facilities at school because of their uncleanliness and the poor hygienic behavior of their classmates. In conclusion, basic infection awareness exists already in primary school age children. Ideas about the origin and prevention of infections are retrievable, however, this knowledge is not always accurate and adequately contextualized. Since the condition of sanitary facilities has a strong influence on usage behavior, the child’s perspective should be given more consideration in the design and maintenance of sanitary facilities