Enhancing quality of life in residential high-rises by sustainable design responses

After the end of World War II, in England was observed a proliferation of high-rises, replacing the destroyed buildings by the bombing and the existing slums. However, their popularity variated with time, at first being seen as a great improvement of the living condition, but later the authorities faced many complain that these buildings were unfit for normal living and especially for families and children. Nowadays England has to cope with a great heritage of towers from the 60s’ and the 70s’, as well as an increase in the construction of new high-rise buildings especially in the capital London. This research recognises the need to improve the design of the existing and future high-rises so they are in the same time sustainable and provide a better quality of life for the occupiers. Therefor an overall aim of the study was formulated: to investigate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the impact of high-rise buildings on quality of life through four objectives. The first one is to evaluate the connection between sustainability and quality of life indicators in high-rise buildings. The second one it to analyse liveability of high-rise buildings for better quality of life. The third one is to analyse energy-efficient solutions and their impact on enhancing quality of life. The final objective is to produce a conceptual framework for designing sustainable high-rise residential buildings enhancing quality of life. The methodology adopts an interpretive and realist paradigm and the data for this research was gathered from primary and secondary sources: interviews, observations and archival data. After searching SkyscraperPage database, it was found that two types of high-rise persist around UK and are numerous in London and Manchester: 12-16 storey buildings with brick cladding and 22-30 storey buildings with concrete cladding, so a limited number of buildings with these characteristics were selected for the case study. Actually, an effort to interview 3 to 5 residents in the same building at low, middle and high floors was made, instead of interviewing single residents from numerous different high-rises, in order to evaluate the significance of the height. The preferred method was interviews, as questionnaires were found to provide superficial data, open to misinterpretation from the researcher. Interviews, on the other hand, provided in-depth information about the social phenomenon: high-rise living, many surprising answers and most importantly, attitudes and preferences that were not influenced by the formulation of the questions but were formulated by the interviewees themselves. Seventeen interviews with residents were conducted in two old high-rises in Manchester and four in London to include the users ‘needs into the research process. Twelve interviews with residents in new high-rises illustrated the existing variations for the design issues. Additionally, twelve architects shared their proven experience designing residential high-rises, offering invaluable expertise for the design of sustainable residential high-rises providing better quality of life. The data generated then were analysed by content analysis and dynamic simulations with DesignBuilder of an approximated model of one of the studied high-rise complemented the interviews, investigating different building envelops and HVAC scenarios. This quantitative method supported the somewhat subjective findings regarding thermal comfort and cost-efficiency from the interviews. The main findings showed that specific sustainable design solutions are adequate for enhancing the quality of life in residential high-rise buildings. Some alerting data from the interviews with the residents reveals difficulties imposed by the design on the social interactions, more common in the old high-rises lacking any amenities. Other important findings inform that both existing and contemporary designs are not orientated towards the needs of the families with children, a major weakness stated by both the architects and the residents. The observations provided support for a view that both modern and old high-rises often fail to enhance and improve the built environment by both appearance and mix of functions, a valuable facet of the high-rises’ social impact. The analysis led to the elaboration of a theoretical framework that can be used by professionals and academics to guide their design process and constitutes the major contribution to knowledge

Extending and exploring students\u27 problem solving via problem posing

Despite the fact that problem posing has been recommended as a useful mathematical activity in the curriculum documents of several countries, research about the types of problem-posing situations in which students could be involved, and about the effects of these problem-posing activities on students\u27 mathematical performance is limited. The application of problem posing in school mathematics has been hindered by the absence of a framework which links problem posing, problem solving and mathematics curricul

Digital Representation of Knitting Patterns in Traditional Costumes

The paper presents the application of a CAD system for digital representation of traditional knitting. The CAD system is oriented to hand knitting. As a software application the system is developed by using C# programming language and .NET platform. The paper focuses on the applied side of the software and its usage as a means of representing and storing ethnographic exhibits

Anemia, heart failure and treatment with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents

Aнемията е често съпътстващо заболяване при пациентите със сърдечна недостатъчност и причина за влошаване на прогнозата и лошия изход от болестта. Aнемия сред популацията на пациентите със сърдечна недостатъчност е много по-често срещана от колкото в останалото население. Счита се, че тя варира между 17и 70% в зависмост от това дали става въпрос за хоспитализирани или амбулаторни болни. Честотата на анемията сред български пациенти, хоспитализирани за остра сърдечна недостатъчност, според едно проучване е 32,7%. Лечението на тази съпътстваща коморбидност се определя от етиологията , като чести причини са желязо-дефицитната анемия, анемията при хронично заболяване, наличие на хронично бъбречно заболяване. Лечението на анемия с еритропоетинови препарати, първоначално е било обещаващо, но последващите резултати се оказват разочароващи. Еритропоеза-стимулиращите агенти увеличават тромемболичния риск, честотата на инсултите, макар да се наблюдава покачване в стойността на хемоглобина.Anemia is a common concomitant disease in patients with heart failure and is a cause for deteriorating prognosis and poor outcome of the disease. Anemia in the population of patients with heart failure is much more common than in the general population. It is estimated that it varies between 17 and 70% depending on whether the patients are hospitalized or not. The incidence of anemia among the hospitalized for acute heart failure patients in one Bulgarian study is 32.7%. The treatment of this concomitant state is defined by its etiology. The most common causes of anemia in heart failure are iron defficiency, chronic inflamation and chronic kidney disease. The treatment of anemia with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents was initially promising, but the results that came out later showed disappointing data. Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents increase the thrombotic risk, the incidence of stroke, although an increase in the level of hemoglobin is found

МЕДИЦИНСКАЯ МЕТАФОРА В МЕДИЙНОМ ДИСКУРСЕ (НА МАТЕРИАЛЕ РУССКОГО И БОЛГАРСКОГО ЯЗЫКОВ)

The case in point in the article is the question of medical metaphor as one of the most active models in modern Russian and Bulgarian media discourses. Medical metaphor is not a new metaphorical model. It has been known since antiquity. It’s conceptual scope of the source is 'medicine, illness’. Today this metaphor demonstrates the problems and the painful conditions of the society, diagnosis and even prescribes treatment for them. With this metaphor modern media is drawing well the problems that arise in society and requires an immediate solution. Medical metaphor seems to be one of the most emotional forms of influence on readers. However, an equivalent representation of the model 'policy - a disease' in Russian and Bulgarian political discourse, the model 'policy - medicine' is more structured in Russian media texts

Migration and the 'children of the transition': unravelling the experiences of young, highly skilled Bulgarians in the UK

After years of European integration, Favell’s (2008a) ‘Eurostars’ have been joined by many, who perceive the freedom of movement as a right, rather than a privilege. The first and second wave of Eastern enlargement of the EU in 2004 and 2007 have thus changed the outlook of the European migratory regime, placing East-West migratory flows firmly at the centre of both public and academic immigration debates across Europe. This thesis aims to contribute to the growing literature on Central and Eastern European migration to the West by focusing on a relatively understudied group of people – young, highly skilled Bulgarians in the UK. Adopting a broad definition of the term ‘highly skilled’, the study focuses on university students and young professionals. The thesis draws on multi-sited ethnographic research with 37 young Bulgarians, born shortly before or after the democratic changes in 1989. Often referred to as ‘the children of the transition’, this group of people belongs to the first post-accession migratory flows from Bulgaria. By scrutinising young, highly skilled Bulgarians’ experiences of living, working and/or studying in the UK, the study focuses on what happens before, during and as a result of migration. More specifically, the thesis explores three interrelated aspects of the participants’ migratory experiences. Firstly, it analyses young Bulgarians’ pre-migratory context and the macro, meso and micro factors that underpin their decisions to choose Britain as a destination. Secondly, it looks at how they adjust to the host society and how they respond to processes of othering. The emotion-led approach focuses on the costs and benefits of migration as well as on the variety of everyday, counterbalancing strategies employed by young, highly skilled Bulgarians. Finally, the study scrutinises the implications that migration as a life event has upon their identities and plans for the future. Ultimately, the thesis argues that the tension created between migration as a project and as a reality unlocks a period of liminality, which impacts upon migrants’ identities and plans for the future. The exploration of the latter reveals the strong prominence of narratives of success with varying conceptualisations of return

Cytokines in tear fluid of patients with ocular graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Purpose: To investigate the profile of cytokines in tear fluid of patients after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) and determine their relation to the presence and manifestations of ocular graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). Methods: In this cross sectional study tear fluid was collected in 34 consecutive adult patients that previously underwent allo-SCT (16 with ocular GvHD and 18 without) and 16 age- and gender-matched healthy controls using the Schirmer test under local anesthesia. Tear fluid was analyzed by multiplex immunoassay for the presence of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interferon (IFN)-gamma. Levels of measured cytokines were correlated with the find Results: The levels of IL-6 and IFN-gamma in tear fluid in ocular GvHD patients were significantly elevated in comparison to patients without ocular GvHD and healthy controls (p<0.005 for each) The levels of IFN-gamma correlated with the Schirmer score (r=-0.48, p<0.0001) and tear break up time (TBUT; r=-0.38, p=0.03). Tear IL-6 levels correlated with complaints of dry eyes (r=0.39, p=0.02), tear production (r=-0.59, p<0.0001), fluorescent staining of the cornea (r=0.42, p=0.01), and with the OS Conclusions: IL-6 and IFN-gamma were elevated in tear fluid of patients with ocular GvHD and correlated with different symptoms of dry eye disease, suggesting that IFN-gamma is elevated during the early stages and IL-6 is involved in later stages of ocular GVHD and exhibits moreover an association with its severity

Oregonin from Alnus incana bark affects DNA methyltransferases expression and mitochondrial DNA copies in mouse embryonic fibroblasts

Oregonin is an open-chain diarylheptanoid isolated from Alnus incana bark that possesses remarkable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, inhibits adipogenesis, and can be used in the prevention of obesity and related metabolic disorders. Here, we aimed to investigate the effects of oregonin on the epigenetic regulation in cells as well as its ability to modulate DNA methylating enzymes expression and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copies. Our results show that oregonin altered the expression of DNA methyltransferases and mtDNA copy numbers in dependency on concentration and specificity of cells genotype. A close correlation between mtDNA copy numbers and mRNA expression of the mtDnmt1 and Dnmt3b was established. Moreover, molecular modeling suggested that oregonin fits the catalytic site of DNMT1 and partially overlaps with binding of the cofactor. These findings further extend the knowledge on oregonin, and elucidate for the first time its potential to affect the key players of the DNA methylation process, namely DNMTs transcripts and mtDNA

Migration and the 'children of the transition': unravelling the experiences of young, highly skilled Bulgarians in the UK

After years of European integration, Favell’s (2008a) ‘Eurostars’ have been joined by many, who perceive the freedom of movement as a right, rather than a privilege. The first and second wave of Eastern enlargement of the EU in 2004 and 2007 have thus changed the outlook of the European migratory regime, placing East-West migratory flows firmly at the centre of both public and academic immigration debates across Europe. This thesis aims to contribute to the growing literature on Central and Eastern European migration to the West by focusing on a relatively understudied group of people – young, highly skilled Bulgarians in the UK. Adopting a broad definition of the term ‘highly skilled’, the study focuses on university students and young professionals. The thesis draws on multi-sited ethnographic research with 37 young Bulgarians, born shortly before or after the democratic changes in 1989. Often referred to as ‘the children of the transition’, this group of people belongs to the first post-accession migratory flows from Bulgaria. By scrutinising young, highly skilled Bulgarians’ experiences of living, working and/or studying in the UK, the study focuses on what happens before, during and as a result of migration. More specifically, the thesis explores three interrelated aspects of the participants’ migratory experiences. Firstly, it analyses young Bulgarians’ pre-migratory context and the macro, meso and micro factors that underpin their decisions to choose Britain as a destination. Secondly, it looks at how they adjust to the host society and how they respond to processes of othering. The emotion-led approach focuses on the costs and benefits of migration as well as on the variety of everyday, counterbalancing strategies employed by young, highly skilled Bulgarians. Finally, the study scrutinises the implications that migration as a life event has upon their identities and plans for the future. Ultimately, the thesis argues that the tension created between migration as a project and as a reality unlocks a period of liminality, which impacts upon migrants’ identities and plans for the future. The exploration of the latter reveals the strong prominence of narratives of success with varying conceptualisations of return