BS EN ISO 14001: 2004: A critical review

This report reviews BS EN ISO 14001: 2004 to assess its use in making offices more energy efficient and generally more sustainable. It uses the implementation of the standard into the architects' practice, Aukett Fitzroy Robinson, as a case study as well as interviews with accredited assessors and other organisations who have been certified. ISO 14001: 2004 is an international standard detailing how to set up an environmental management system, BS EN ISO 14001: 2004 being the UK ratified version. It is possible but not necessary to be independently certified. Any body can provide certification but there are accredited certifiers, accredited for specific organization types and in specific countries. Existing UK accreditation certificates are available on the UKAS website. Architecture is covered under the 'construction' type. To qualify for certification, an organisation needs to have: an environmental policy, a register of environmental aspects, a register of applicable legal requirements, a list of objectives and targets and a framework for implementing, monitoring, reviewing, correcting and updating the above under the responsibility of a senior manager. There is limited guidance in the standard about setting the aspects and extensive knowledge of environmental issues is needed to determine them. To quantify significant aspects in relation to the casestudy's office activities, an audit was carried out. The intention is to carry out this audit annually. The results of the first audit for building energy, water and waste were all higher than typical and some excessively. Table 2 at the end of Part 4 used the information from the audit to set objectives and targets for each one and identifies how these are to be monitored and measured to indicate improvement. The targets are set deliberately low for the first year so that resources can be spent on assisting and improving implementation across the office. The next step is to appoint the accredited auditor and carry out a gap analysis with the intention of going for full certification in the new year, 2008. The standard does offer a comprehensive system, with the exception of social sustainability issues, but suffers from being so generic that it requires expert help to implement for those with little environmental knowledge. A certified system, supported by an accredited auditor, should give clients confidence that an organisation is doing its best to improve environmental impacts but this would depend on the competence of the auditor to both advise on implementation and monitor that it is being carried out. Finally, the current low cost of carbon trading could affect take up. Currently it would be cheaper to pay to offset all AFR's carbon emissions than implement the system. This should sort itself out in time as the price of carbon trading reaches a more meaningful level. For the standard to be easily used by small businesses, there needs to be country and organisation type specific information for all the managed elements of the standard available in a recognised location at low or no cost

The characteristics of and the corrosion rate in multi-phase slug flow

Thesis (B.S.) in Chemical Engineering -- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 18)Microfiche of typescript. [Urbana, Ill.]: Photographic Services, University of Illinois, U of I Library, [1990]. 1 microfiche (37 frames): negative.s 1990 ilu n

Parabeln stehen Modell

Die Parabel eignet sich besonders gut als mathematisches Modell für gekrümmte Formen, seien es parabelförmig konstruierte Brückenbögen oder die Brennpunkteigenschaft ausnutzende Spiegel und Reflektoren. Da quadratische Funktionen bereits im Sekundarbereich I behandelt werden, bieten sich schon hier vielfältige Möglichkeiten mithilfe von grafikfähigen Rechnern den Modellbildungsaspekt im Unterricht aufzugreifen

Parabelwerkstatt

Parabel – hinter diesem Begriff verbirgt sich mehr als nur der Graph einer quadratischen Funktion! Der Text präsentiert Stationen, angeordnet in zwei Lernzirkeln, die einen Einblick in die Vielfalt dieses Themas geben sollen. Ein übergeordnetes Ziel beider Varianten ist die Vernetzung zwischen Geometrie und Algebra bzw. Analysis. Der Werkstattgedanke begründet sich dadurch, dass an verschiedenen Stationen mit unterschiedlichen „Werkzeugen“ gearbeitet wird. Die jeweiligen „Produkte“ sollen durch ein Poster oder eine Präsentation öffentlich gemacht werden. Je nach Kenntnisstand der Schülerinnen und Schüler und je nach Zielsetzung können Stationen zur Parabel an unterschiedlichen Stellen im Unterricht eingesetzt werden. Auch Projekttage bieten sich hierfür an. Der Lernzirkel 1 eignet sich zur Einführung in das Thema und erfordert keine Vorkenntnisse. Als Anwendung, Vertiefung und Wiederholung kann der Lernzirkel 2 eingesetzt werden.</div

Die Parabelwerkstatt

Workshopbeitrag zur 3. T³-Regionaltagung "Computer im Mathematikunterricht. Wie verändert neue Technologie den Unterricht?" an der Universität Mainz (3./4. März 2006

Rapidly expanding thenar eminence ganglion: a case report

Introduction This study documents the first reported case of a rapidly growing (volar) thenar eminence ganglion arising form the first carpometacarpal joint, masquerading as a sarcoma. The discussion informs the hand surgeon on the evidence regarding the unusual presenting features. Case presentation An 85 year old left hand dominant female presented with a six week history of rapidly growing lump on the thenar eminence. Clinical examination revealed a non-tender large lobulated mobile swelling measuring 5 × 4 cm and involving the whole thenar eminence. Conclusion Ganglia may present from the thenar eminence and are a source of diagnostic confusion

Cross infection control measures and the treatment of patients at risk of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease in UK general dental practice

AIMS: To determine the suitability of key infection control measures currently employed in UK dental practice for delivery of dental care to patients at risk of prion diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects: Five hundred dental surgeons currently registered with the General Dental Council of the UK. Data collection: Structured postal questionnaire. Analysis: Frequencies, cross-tabulations and chi-squared analysis. RESULTS: The valid response rate to the questionnaire was 69%. 33% of practices had no policy on general disinfection and sterilisation procedures. Only 10 of the 327 responding practices (3%) possessed a vacuum autoclave. 49% of dentists reported using the BDA medical history form but less than 25% asked the specific questions recommended by the BDA to identify patients at risk of iatrogenic or familial CJD. However, 63% of practitioners would refer such patients, if identified, to a secondary care facility. Of the 107 practitioners who were prepared to provide dental treatment, 75 (70%) would do so using routine infection control procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the dental practices surveyed were not actively seeking to identify patients at risk of prion diseases. In many cases, recommended procedures for providing safe dental care for such patients were not in place

Endometrial stromal cells of women with recurrent miscarriage fail to discriminate between high- and low-quality human embryos

Background The aetiology of recurrent miscarriage (RM) remains largely unexplained. Women with RM have a shorter time to pregnancy interval than normally fertile women, which may be due to more frequent implantation of non-viable embryos. We hypothesized that human endometrial stromal cells (H-EnSCs) of women with RM discriminate less effectively between high-and low-quality human embryos and migrate more readily towards trophoblast spheroids than H-EnSCs of normally fertile women. Methodology/Principal Findings Monolayers of decidualized H-EnSCs were generated from endometrial biopsies of 6 women with RM and 6 fertile controls. Cell-free migration zones were created and the effect of the presence of a high-quality (day 5 blastocyst, n = 13), a low-quality (day 5 blastocyst with three pronuclei or underdeveloped embryo, n = 12) or AC-1M88 trophoblast cell line spheroid on H-ESC migratory activity was analyzed after 18 hours. In the absence of a spheroid or embryo, migration of H-EnSCs from fertile or RM women was similar. In the presence of a low-quality embryo in the zone, the migration of H-EnSCs of control women was inhibited compared to the basal migration in the absence of an embryo (P<0.05) and compared to the migration in the presence of high-quality embryo (p<0.01). Interestingly, the migratory response H-EnSCs of women with RM did not differ between high- and low-quality embryos. Furthermore, in the presence of a spheroid their migration was enhanced compared to the H-EnSCs of controls (p<0.001). Conclusions H-EnSCs of fertile women discriminate between high- and low-quality embryos whereas H-EnSCs of women with RM fail to do so. H-EnSCs of RM women have a higher migratory response to trophoblast spheroids. Future studies will focus on the mechanisms by which low-quality embryos inhibit the migration of H-EnSCs and how this is deregulated in women with RM

Age-related changes in global motion coherence: conflicting haemodynamic and perceptual responses

Our aim was to use both behavioural and neuroimaging data to identify indicators of perceptual decline in motion processing. We employed a global motion coherence task and functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). Healthy adults (n = 72, 18-85) were recruited into the following groups: young (n = 28, mean age = 28), middle-aged (n = 22, mean age = 50), and older adults (n = 23, mean age = 70). Participants were assessed on their motion coherence thresholds at 3 different speeds using a psychophysical design. As expected, we report age group differences in motion processing as demonstrated by higher motion coherence thresholds in older adults. Crucially, we add correlational data showing that global motion perception declines linearly as a function of age. The associated fNIRS recordings provide a clear physiological correlate of global motion perception. The crux of this study lies in the robust linear correlation between age and haemodynamic response for both measures of oxygenation. We hypothesise that there is an increase in neural recruitment, necessitating an increase in metabolic need and blood flow, which presents as a higher oxygenated haemoglobin response. We report age-related changes in motion perception with poorer behavioural performance (high motion coherence thresholds) associated with an increased haemodynamic response