gains and internal gains from appliances,heat gains from occupants are an importantsource contributing to space heating indomestic buildings. It is necessary toconsciously consider all of these heat gainswhen aiming at accurately estimating theheat loss coefficient (HLC) of a building.Whilst sensor technology and algorithms areavailable to quantify the contribution of theheating system, solar gains and electricalappliances, the accurate estimation of thesensible heat gain from occupants ischallenging due to its stochastic character.
MULTIFILE
In the Netherlands municipalities are searching for guidelines for a heat resilient design of the urban space. One of the guidelines which has recently been picked up is that each house should be within a 300 meter of an attractive cool spot outside. The reason is that houses might get too hot during a heat wave and therefor it is important that inhabitants have an alternative place to go. The distance of 300 m has been adopted because of practical reasons. This guideline has been proposed after a research of the University of Amsterdam of applied sciences and TAUW together with 15 municipalities.To help municipalities to take cool spots into account in their urban design the national organization for disseminating climate data has developed a distance to coolness map for all Dutch built up areas. This map shows the cool spots with a minimum of 200 m2 based on a map of the PET for a hot summer day (2*2 m2 spatial resolution). Furthermore the map shows the walking distance for each house (via streets and foot paths) to the nearest cool spot.This map helps as a starting point. Because not all cool spots are attractive cool spots. A research in 2021 showed what further basis and optional characteristics those cool spots should have: e.g. sufficiently large, combination of sun and shadow, benches, quiet, safe and clean. In fact those places should be attractive places to stay for most days of the year.With the distance to attractive cool spots municipalities can easily see which areas lack attractive cool spots. The distance to cool spot maps is therefore a way to simplify complex climate data into an understandable and practical guideline. This is an improvement as compared to using thresholds for temperatures and thresholds for duration of exceedance of those temperatures in a guideline.: Municipalities like this practical approach that combines climate adaptation with improving the livability of a city throughout the year.
A cappuccino is prepared by adding about 50 mL frothing, foaming milk to a cup of espresso. Whole milk is best for foaming and the ideal milk temperature when adding it to the espresso is 65 °C. The espresso itself may be warmer than that. During the heating the milk should not burn, as that would spoil the taste. The best way is to heat the milk slowly while stirring to froth the milk and create foam. But modern cappuccino machines in restaurants do not have time for slow heating. Could we heat the milk by just adding hot water? That’s the question we pose to our high school students first. How many mL of 90 °C hot water would be needed to heat 50 mL of milk from a refrigerator temperature (say 4 °C) to 65 °C? Assume that the specific heat of milk is the same as that of water. Students answer the question on a worksheet and practice their computation skills. The answer: 122 g. This would mean an unacceptable dilution of the milk, 2.5 mL of water for every mL of milk. What would the answer be if we use boiling hot water of 100 °C? Students calculate again, then the answer is 87 g, still an unacceptable dilution. What then? What if we use steam?
Our unilateral diet has resulted in a deficiency of specific elements/components needed for well-functioning of the human body. Especially the element magnesium is low in our processed food and results in neuronal and muscular malfunctioning, problems in bone heath/strength, and increased chances of diabetes, depression and cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, it has also been recognized that magnesium plays an important role in cognitive functioning (impairment and enhancement), especially for people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson disease, Alzheimer, etc). Recently, it has been reported that magnesium addition positively effects sleep and calmness (anti-stress). In order to increase the bioavailability of magnesium cations, organic acids such as citrate, glycerophosphate and glycinate are often used as counterions. However, the magnesium supplements that are currently on the market still suffer from low bio-availability and often do not enter the brain significantly.The preparation of dual/multiple ligands of magnesium in which the organic acid not only functions as a carrier but also has synergistically/complementary biological effects is widely unexplored and needs further development. As a result, there is a strong need for dual/multiple magnesium supplements that are non-toxic, stable, prepared via an economically and ecologically attractive route, resulting in high bioavailability of magnesium in vivo, preferably positively influencing cognition/concentration
Chemical preservation is an important process that prevents foods, personal care products, woods and household products, such as paints and coatings, from undesirable change or decomposition by microbial growth. To date, many different chemical preservatives are commercially available, but they are also associated with health threats and severe negative environmental impact. The demand for novel, safe, and green chemical preservatives is growing, and this process is further accelerated by the European Green Deal. It is expected that by the year of 2050 (or even as soon as 2035), all preservatives that do not meet the ‘safe-by-design’ and ‘biodegradability’ criteria are banned from production and use. To meet these European goals, there is a large need for the development of green, circular, and bio-degradable antimicrobial compounds that can serve as alternatives for the currently available biocidals/ preservatives. Anthocyanins, derived from fruits and flowers, meet these sustainability goals. Furthermore, preliminary research at the Hanze University of Applied Science has confirmed the antimicrobial efficacy of rose and tulip anthocyanin extracts against an array of microbial species. Therefore, these molecules have the potential to serve as novel, sustainable chemical preservatives. In the current project we develop a strategy consisting of fractionation and state-of-the-art characterization methods of individual anthocyanins and subsequent in vitro screening to identify anthocyanin-molecules with potent antimicrobial efficacy for application in paints, coatings and other products. To our knowledge this is the first attempt that combines in-depth chemical characterization of individual anthocyanins in relation to their antimicrobial efficacy. Once developed, this strategy will allow us to single out anthocyanin molecules with antimicrobial properties and give us insight in structure-activity relations of individual anthocyanins. Our approach is the first step towards the development of anthocyanin molecules as novel, circular and biodegradable non-toxic plant-based preservatives.
The seaweed aquaculture sector, aimed at cultivation of macroalgal biomass to be converted into commercial applications, can be placed within a sustainable and circular economy framework. This bio-based sector has the potential to aid the European Union meet multiple EU Bioeconomy Strategy, EU Green Deal and Blue Growth Strategy objectives. Seaweeds play a crucial ecological role within the marine environment and provide several ecosystem services, from the take up of excess nutrients from surrounding seawater to oxygen production and potentially carbon sequestration. Sea lettuce, Ulva spp., is a green seaweed, growing wild in the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea. Sea lettuce has a high nutritional value and is a promising source for food, animal feed, cosmetics and more. Sea lettuce, when produced in controlled conditions like aquaculture, can supplement our diet with healthy and safe proteins, fibres and vitamins. However, at this moment, Sea lettuce is hardly exploited as resource because of its unfamiliarity but also lack of knowledge about its growth cycle, its interaction with microbiota and eventually, possible applications. Even, it is unknown which Ulva species are available for aquaculture (algaculture) and how these species can contribute to a sustainable aquaculture biomass production. The AQULVA project aims to investigate which Ulva species are available in the North Sea and Wadden Sea which can be utilised in onshore aquaculture production. Modern genomic, microbiomic and metabolomic profiling techniques alongside ecophysiological production research must reveal suitable Ulva selections with high nutritional value for sustainable onshore biomass production. Selected Ulva spp lines will be used for production of healthy and safe foods, anti-aging cosmetics and added value animal feed supplements for dairy farming. This applied research is in cooperation with a network of SME’s, Research Institutes and Universities of Applied Science and is liaised with EU initiatives like the EU-COST action “SeaWheat”.
