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The Development of an Early Stage Design Tool to Assess the Risk of Overheating for UK Residential Buildings
No full textEvidence demonstrates that tackling indoor overheating is a key priority within the context of climate change adaptation, particularly for residential buildings, whose occupants are more likely to be highly exposed and vulnerable to it.
The overarching aim of the research is to provide guidance for building designers on how to minimise the overheating risk of new residential buildings in the UK, to ensure these can be capable of maintaining thermal comfort in a changing climate.
The first part of the research involved using two case studies to explore different aspects of the problem. A climate change adaptation study explored and assessed measures for future-proofing an extra-care scheme in the north of England, highlighting the importance of early-stage analysis and client’s engagement through effective communication. A post-occupancy study on a new social housing development helped to gain an understanding of the role of building occupants in perceiving and acting upon overheating, and emphasised discrepancies between design predictions and actual in-use performance.
In the second part of the research, the development a Rapid Overheating ASSessment Tool is presented, seeking to encourage practitioners to appropriately consider thermal comfort in a changing climate, by providing rapid feedback on the overheating risk associated with the early-stage design decisions. The focus is on flats in multi-storey buildings located in London.
An overheating risk database was populated with the results of a large number of parametric dynamic thermal simulations, which included iterative variations of design aspects corresponding to known over-heating risk factors. Statistical meta-models were developed by means of alternative regression techniques, allowing to quantify the relative importance of each risk factor and make ‘good-enough’ predictions with input available at the early-design stages.
Finally, the work to develop two types of user interface is presented, with the goal of allowing relevant and meaningful information to be extracted from the engine of the tool by its prospective users
Progressive Transformers for End-to-End Sign Language Production
No full textThe goal of automatic Sign Language Production (SLP) is to
translate spoken language to a continuous stream of sign language video at a level comparable to a human translator. If this was achievable, then it would revolutionise Deaf hearing communications. Previous work on predominantly isolated SLP has shown the need for architectures that
are better suited to the continuous domain of full sign sequences. In this paper, we propose Progressive Transformers, the first SLP model to translate from discrete spoken language sentences to continuous 3D sign pose sequences in an end-to-end manner. A novel counter decoding technique is introduced, that enables continuous sequence generation at training and inference. We present two model configurations, an end-to end network that produces sign direct from text and a stacked network that utilises a gloss intermediary. We also provide several data augmentation
processes to overcome the problem of drift and drastically improve the performance of SLP models.
We propose a back translation evaluation mechanism for SLP, presenting benchmark quantitative results on the challenging RWTH-PHOENIXWeather-
2014T (PHOENIX14T) dataset and setting baselines for future
research. Code available at https://github.com/BenSaunders27/
ProgressiveTransformersSLP
The relevance of critical flux concept in the concentration of skim milk using forward osmosis and reverse osmosis
No full textSkim milk was concentrated at 10 °C using forward osmosis (FO), reverse osmosis (RO) and pressure-assisted forward osmosis (PAFO). A pressure of 40 bar, in the form of draw solution osmotic pressure (FO and PAFO modes) or transmembrane hydraulic pressure (RO mode) was applied; an additional hydraulic pressure of 2 bar was applied in the PAFO mode. More severe protein fouling was observed in RO, followed by PAFO and then FO. This was credited to the difference in the initial permeate flux, induced by the different effective driving pressures, with RO having a greater deviation of the initial flux from the critical flux value. The critical flux was determined for the FO and RO modes using a step-wise increase of draw solution osmotic pressure or hydraulic pressure, at a constant milk solids content. The critical flux was between 5.4 L/m2h (1.5 × 10−6 m3/m2s) and 7.2 L/m2h (2 × 10−6 m3/m2s) for both the FO and RO modes at a cross flow velocity of 0.2 m/s. The similarities in the critical flux for FO and RO suggests that the critical flux does not depend on the nature of pressure applied on the system (hydraulic or osmotic). Therefore, when operated at the same flux and crossflow velocity, FO would not fundamentally provide a lower fouling environment compared to RO. An increase of the solids content from 8.7% to 17.3% caused a reduction in the critical flux from 5.4 L/m2h to 3.1 L/m2h (8.5 × 10−7 m3/m2s)
High-Gain On-Chip Antenna Design on Silicon Layer with Aperture Excitation for Terahertz Applications
No full textThis article investigates the feasibility of designing a high-gain on-chip antenna on silicon technology for sub-terahertz applications over a wide frequency range. High-gain is achieved by exciting the antenna using an aperture fed mechanism to couple electromagnetics energy from a metal slot-line, which is sandwiched between the silicon and polycarbonate substrates, to a 15-element array comprising circular and rectangular radiation patches fabricated on the top surface of the polycarbonate layer. An open ended microstrip line, which is orthogonal to the metal slot-line, is implemented on the underside of the silicon substrate. When the open ended microstrip line is excited it couples the signal to the metal slot-line which is subsequently coupled and radiated by the patch array. Measured results show the proposed on-chip antenna exhibits a reflection coefficient of less than -10 dB across 0.290 THz to 0.316 THz with a highest gain and radiation efficiency of 11.71 dBi and 70.8%, respectively, occurred at 0.3THz. The antenna has a narrow stopband between 0.292 THz to 0.294 THz. The physical size of the presented sub-terahertz on-chip antenna is 20×3.5×0.126mm3
“Check the grade, log out”: Students’ engagement with feedback in Learning Management Systems
No full textThere is growing recognition that socio-constructivist representations of feedback processes, where students build their own understanding through engaging with and discussing feedback information, are more appropriate than cognitivist transmission-oriented models. In parallel, practice has developed away from hard-copy handwritten or typed feedback comments, towards the provision of e-feedback in Learning Management Systems (LMS). Through thematic analysis of activity-oriented focus groups with 33 Undergraduate students, the present study aimed to explore 1) students’ experience of engaging with feedback in the LMS; 2) barriers to students’ engagement; and 3) students’ perceptions of the potential for technology to ameliorate these barriers. The data reveal particular barriers to engagement created by the LMS environment; grades and feedback are commonly separated spatially, limiting attention to the latter. Additionally, the distributed location of feedback from different tasks limits synthesis of feedback. Nevertheless, students perceived that the LMS environment affords opportunities for addressing such challenges, particularly in relation to the potential for a LMS tool to synthesise feedback information across modules, and to direct students to resources to develop their skills. The findings are discussed in the context of cycles of engagement with feedback, and implications for the principled use of technology in feedback processes are discussed
Contemporary Galician Women Writers
No full textGalician literature has historically played an integral role in the consolidation of Galician identity. Yet female novelists writing in Galician have only managed to achieve visibility in the Galician cultural sphere as recently as the turn of the twenty-first century; their contemporaries who opt to write in Spanish, moreover, are generally overlooked. This foundational study of contemporary narrative by Galician women in both languages examines the work of writers with disparate and often conflicting political and linguistic ideologies: Teresa Moure (b. 1969), Luisa Castro (b. 1966) and Marta Rivera de la Cruz (b. 1970). Catherine Barbour argues that the diverse manifestations of Galician identity in their novels, which defy institutional parameters in terms of language, politics and gender, suggest the need for a more porous understanding of Galician literature and identity that reflects the plurality of the Galician experience
Maternal Vitamin D Supplementation inhibits Bisphenol A-induced proliferation of Th17 cells in adult offspring
No full textBisphenol A (BPA) exposure can increase the risk of immune-related diseases in later life. Vitamin D3 (Vit D3) has been shown to have multiple immunomodulatory actions and has been used to treat immune diseases. However, the potential beneficial effects of Vit D3 on BPA-induced adverse effects in the immune system have not explored. We hypothesize that VitD3 may ameliorate BPA-induced side effects in the immune system, even in offspring of VitD3-supplemented mothers. Here, we established our experimental model by exposing pregnant dams with 1000 nM BPA with or without VitD3 (0.25 μg/kg, 1 μg/kg and 4 μg/kg) treatment. We show that mother’s exposure to BPA increases proliferation of the spleen T helper 17 (Th17) cells and serum protein level of IL-17 in the offspring; however, VitD3 supplementation in mothers dose-dependently ameliorated these BPA-induced side effects on the immune system in the offspring as evidenced by attenuated upregulation of Th17 proliferation, and RORγt, IL-17, IL-6, and IL-23 expressions in the offspring. Our data provide the first evidence that maternal VitD3 supplementation offers benefits to the offspring by attenuating BPA-induced side effects on the immune system through vitamin D receptor (VDR)-dependent regulation of transcription factors and cytokines, suggesting its translational potential
WHAT AIRBNB DOES TO THE HOUSING MARKET
No full textBased on a microeconometic model, this paper examines the effect of Airbnb in rents and house prices. Using borough-level data from the city of London between 2016 and 2019, we estimate System GMM regression models that indicate that Airbnb presence has an upward effect on the prices of both house purchases and of rentals, even disaggregating by categories; but the effect is stronger on house prices than rents, as theorized by the model. This evidence confirms that Airbnb affects the housing market by increasing the value of real estate properties
Risk and Harm in Youth Sexting Young People’s Perspectives
No full textThis book explores young people’s perspectives on risk and harm in youth sexting, specifically privacy violations and unwanted, pressured and coerced sexting. This book engages with key debates, academic literature and evidence, as well as findings of a study into young people’s perceptions of, attitudes toward and experiences of sexting. It challenges predominant assumptions that youth sexting is inherently risky and deviant and sets out the specific contexts in which privacy violations and unwanted sexting occur. It explores the sociocultural contexts underpinning harm, including gender, sexism, sexuality, status and power, and associated constructs of risk and shame, as well as broader youth cultural contexts that create and giving meaning to sexters and sexting practices, particularly related to victim-blaming, social shaming, bullying, harassment and abuse. Finally, it discusses young people’s attitudes and beliefs about interventions to reduce the prevalence of youth sexting. In doing so, the book critically engages with young people’s perspectives in order make practical recommendations for encouraging a ‘digital sexual ethics’ based on rights to bodily and sexual expression, autonomy and integrity, positive bystander intervention, and anti-victim blaming and abuse messages. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of criminology, education, social care, sociology and health. It will also be a valuable resource for those working in educational and social care settings such as sex educators, youth and social workers, youth counsellors and mental health professionals
Experience of Ambulatory Cancer Care
No full textBackground: The move of cancer treatment into the outpatient setting can impact patient experience. Understanding how service delivery change impacts different people requires service feedback to inform future delivery development. The use of patient experience questionnaires often generates large amount of free-text data that are difficult to analyze.
Objective: The aim of this study was to describe a proof-of-concept study exploring the experiences and perceptions of people undergoing cancer treatment, using novel analysis techniques to provide rapid free-text data analysis.
Method: This was a mixed-methods qualitative analysis from qualitative questions gathered in Finland using the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (n = 92 of 208 patients) and supplemented with 7 focus groups (31 people with cancer). Data were analyzed using natural language processing, via an automated sentiment analysis algorithm and supported with focus groups to inform the initial thematic analysis.
Results: Participants were on average 65 years of age. Of the 196 free-text comments, 121 (73.6%) were positive about patient experiences and 75 (38.5%) negative with suggestions for improvement.
Conclusion: Communication between patients and clinicians was an indicator of quality, and lack of psychological support was a barrier to quality care provision. The methodology of using sentiment analysis for free content to review quality was demonstrated through this study as a novel and feasible method to look at large-scale qualitative data.
Implications for practice: Using the free content on experience of care questionnaire to review gaps or needs in services is valuable in developing future practice
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