Green furniture: sustainable design guidelines for the Irish furniture and wood products industry.

This thesis presents the research and development of sustainable design guidelines for the furniture and wood products industry, suitable for sustainably enhancing design, manufacturing and associated activities. This sustainable guideline is based on secondary research conducted on subject areas such as ‘eco’ design, ‘green’ branding and ‘green’ consumerism, as well as an examination of existing certifications and sustainable tools techniques and methodologies, national and international drivers for sustainable development and an overview of sustainability in the Irish furniture manufacturing context. The guideline was further developed through primary research. This consisted of a focus group attended by leading Irish designers, manufacturers and academics in the area of furniture and wood products. This group explored the question of ‘green branding’ saturation in the market and the viability of investing in sustainability just yet. Participants stated that they felt the market for ‘green’ products is evolving very slowly and that there is no metric or legal framework present to audit whether or not companies are producing products that really embody sustainability. All the participants believed that developing and introducing a new certification process to incorporate a sustainable design process was a viable and necessary solution to protecting Irish furniture and wood manufacturers going forward. For the purposes of the case study, the author investigated a ‘sustainable’ design process for Team woodcraft, Ltd., through the design and development of a ‘sustainable’ children’s furniture range. The case study followed a typical design and development process; detailing customer design specifications, concept development and refinement and cumulating in final prototype, as well as associated engineering drawings. Based on this primary and secondary research, seven fundamental core principles for this sustainable guideline have been identified by the author. The author then used these core principles to expand into guidelines for the basis of proposed new Irish sustainable design guidelines for the furniture and wood products industry, the concept of which the author has named ‘Green Dot’. The author suggests that the ‘Green Dot’ brand or logo could be used to market an umbrella network of Irish furniture designers and manufactures who implement the recommended sustainable techniques.

Computer integrated testing for the transport refrigeration systems industry.

This is a study of a state of the art implementation of a new computer integrated testing (CIT) facility within a company that designs and manufactures transport refrigeration systems. The aim was to use state of the art hardware, software and planning procedures in the design and implementation of three CIT systems. Typical CIT system components include data acquisition (DAQ) equipment, application and analysis software, communication devices, computer-based instrumentation and computer technology. It is shown that the introduction of computer technology into the area of testing can have a major effect on such issues as efficiency, flexibility, data accuracy, test quality, data integrity and much more. Findings reaffirm how the overall area of computer integration continues to benefit any organisation, but with more recent advances in computer technology, communication methods and software capabilities, less expensive more sophisticated test solutions are now possible. This allows more organisations to benefit from the many advantages associated with CIT. Examples of computer integration test set-ups and the benefits associated with computer integration have been discussed.

Annual record of science and industry.

1872

Annual record of science and industry.

1878

Annual record of science and industry.

1877

Annual record of science and industry.

1874

Annual record of science and industry.

1871

Annual record of science and industry.

1876

Annual record of science and industry.

1875

Annual record of science and industry.

1873

Tracer studies in the coffee plant (Coffea arabica L.)

Due to the great importance of coffee to the Brazilian economy, a good deal of the work carried out in the "Laboratório de Isótopos", E. E. A. "Luiz de Queiroz", Piracicaba, S. Paulo, Brazil, was dedicated to the study of some problems involving that plant. The first one was designed to verify a few aspects of the control of zinc deficiency which is common in many types of soils in Brazil. An experiment conducted in nutrient solution showed that the leaf absorption of the radiozinc was eight times as high as the root uptake; the lower surface of the leaves is particularly suited for this kind of absorption. Among the heavy metal micronutrients, only iron did not affect the absorption of the radiozinc; manganese, copper, and molybdenum brought about a decrease of fifty per cent in total uptake. In another pot experiment in which two soils typical of the coffee growing regions were used, namely, a sandy soil called "arenito de Bauru" and a heavy one, "terra roxa", only O.l and 0.2 per cent of the activity supplied to the roots was recovered", respectively. This indicates that under field conditions the farmer should not attempt to correct zinc deficiency by applying zinc salts to the soil: leaf sprays should be used wherever necessary. In order to find out the most suitable way to supply phosphatic fertilizers to the coffee plant, under normal farm conditions, an experiment with tagged superphosphate was carried out with the following methods of distribution of this material: (1) topdressed in a circular area around the trees; (2) placed in the bottom of a 15 cm deep furrow made around the plant; (3) placed in a semicircular furrow, as in the previous treatment; (4) sprayed directly to the leaves. It was verified that in the first case, circa 10 per cent of the phosphorus in the leaves came from the superphosphate; for the other treatments, the results ware, respectively: 2.4, 1.7, and 38.0 per cent. It is interesting to mention that the first and the last methods of distribution were those less used by the farmers; now they are being introduced in many coffee plantations. In a previous trial it was demonstrated that urea sprays were an adequate way to correct nitrogen deficiency under field conditions. An experiment was then set up in which urea-C14 was used to study the metabolism of this fertilizer in coffee leaves. In was verified that in a 9 hours period circa 95 per cent of the urea supplied to the leaves had been absorbed. The distribution of the nitrogen of the urea was followed by standard chemical procedures. On the other hand the fate of the carbonic moiety was studied with the aid of the radiochromatographic technique. Thus, the incorporation of C14 in aminoacids, sugars and organic acids was ascertained. Data obtained in this work gave a definite support to the idea that in coffee leaves, as in a few other higher plants, a mechanism similar to the urea cycle of animals does exist.

Effects of ethephon and urea on ripening of fruits and leaf abscission of coffee (Coffea arábica L.)

A field experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of ethephon and urea on ripening of fruits and leaf abscission of coffee plant. Ethephon (2-chloroethane phosphonic acid) sprays were applied to green Coffea arábica berries 26 days before counting date in concentrations of 0.5 and 0.25 ml/1 from Ethrel (240 a.i./l). The chemical accelerated the onset of fruit ripening at both concentrations. The efficacy of ethephon was increased adding urea. Ethephon 0.5 ml/1 promoted abscission of leaves and low concentration reduced shedding of leaves. The treatments did not affect the growth and production on the next harvest.

American spiders and their spinningwork. A natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits. By Henry C. McCook.

v.1 1889

Inventory of seeds and plants imported / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry.

62-73, 1923-1924