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This paper describes a free‐piston driven expansion tube and its instrumentation. The facility is used to generate rarefied flows at speeds of approximately 10 km/s. Although the flow in the tube itself is in the continuum regime, rarefied flow conditions are achieved by allowing the test gas to further expand as a free jet into the facility's test section. The test flow is surveyed to provide bar‐gauge pressure measurements. Numerical simulation is then used to describe more fully the test flow properties. The flows produced are suitable for the aerodynamic testing of small models at superorbital speeds and should provide data that are suitable for the calibration of Direct Simulation Monte‐Carlo codes.

Finite elements for the analysis of multilayered plates subjected to magneto‐electro‐elastic fields are developed in this work. An accurate description of the various field variables has been provided by employing a variable kinematic model which is based on the Unified Formulation, UF. Displacements, magnetic and electric potential have been chosen as independent unknowns. Equivalent single layer and layer‐wise descriptions have been accounted for. Plate models with linear up to fourth‐order distribution in the thickness direction have been compared. The extension of the principle of virtual displacements to magneto‐electro‐elastic continua has been employed to derive finite elements governing equations. According to UF these equations are presented in terms of fundamental nuclei whose form is not affected by kinematic assumptions. Results show the effectiveness of the proposed elements as well as their capability, by choosing appropriate kinematics, to accurately trace the static response of laminated plates subject to magneto‐electro‐elastic fields.

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the linear thermal buckling and vibration analysis of layered and multiphase magneto‐electro‐elastic (MEE) cylinders made of piezoelectric/piezomagnetic materials using finite element method.

The constitutive equations of MEE materials are used to derive the finite element equations involving the coupling between mechanical, electrical, magnetic and thermal fields. The present study is limited to clamped‐clamped boundary conditions. The linear thermal buckling is carried out for an axisymmetric cylinder operating in a steady state axisymmetric uniform temperature rise. The influence of stacking sequences and volume fraction of multiphase MEE materials on critical buckling temperature and vibration behaviour is investigated. The influence of coupling effects on critical buckling temperature and vibration behaviour is also studied.

The critical buckling temperature is higher for MEE axisymmetric cylinder as compared to elastic cylinder.

Linear thermal buckling and vibration analysis of MEE axisymmetric cylinders are studied using the finite element approach. The structure can be used for active vibration control, sensors and actuators. Studying the buckling and vibration behaviour of such structures and influence of coupling effect is extremely useful for the design of magnetoelectroelastic structures.

The UK government, in late 2019, announced new proposed targets for the energy efficiency legislation in the UK, MEES – Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards. The current suggestion is that all let properties, commercial or residential, need to be B rated by 2030. If this is implemented, it will have a significant impact upon the UK market property investment market.

This practice briefing is an overview of the 2018 legislation and comments on how market awareness has changed since its introduction and the potential impact upon prices of affected properties moving forward

This paper discusses how capital and rental values are beginning to be discounted in the market to allow for current and future liabilities under the MEES legislation. This has a significant impact on strategies for property investment.

This paper analyses the likelihood of (negative) capital and rental value changes under the proposed stricter energy efficiency guidelines.

This provides guidance on how valuations can be undertaken to reflect any impact of the likely changes to UK energy efficiency legislation.

This paper aims to contest Mees’ (2010) theory that publicly owned public transport operators normatively target their resources to maximize service rather than profit. Mees argues that neoliberal governments in the Anglosphere were mistaken to privatize their undertakings, yet it is shown that the British ethos of municipal trading meant that municipalities always saw public transport as more of a business than a service.

The author uses an archival microstudy of the municipal tramway undertaking of the English city of York, using municipal archives triangulated with local and industry media sources.

The paper proposes the refination of the Mees spectrum of public transport from public to private (2010, pp. 73-75) to note that public undertakings can be operated within a profit-maximizing framework.

This paper provides a rare historical explication of an individual municipal trading enterprise and tramway system placed in its economic context together with its wider theoretical implications.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problem of the existence and propagation of a surface SH wave at the interface of two magneto‐electro‐elastic half‐spaces.

Equations of motions for magneto‐electro‐elastic materials have been used with coupling between mechanical, electric and magnetic fields. The problem is solved for four different sets of boundary conditions.

The results show that, for appropriate choice of material parameters, a non dispersive surface wave can propagate at the interface of these media. The existence condition is easier to satisfy for an electrically closed contact or no electromagnetic contact between two half‐spaces. The existence conditions can be easily satisfied for all four sets of boundary conditions if the two half‐spaces have their main symmetry axis, both parallel to the interface and perpendicular to the propagation direction, directed in the opposite directions. In this case the SH surface wave can always propagate if the two media are identical.

The magneto‐electric coupling effect has extensive applications, for example in electronic packaging, acoustic devices and medical ultrasonic imaging. The results of this paper give better understanding of the effects of the boundary conditions on the propagation of SH surface waves in magneto‐electro‐elastic materials.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the overall alignment of undergraduate accounting degree programmes from all Certified Practicing Accountants Australia and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand accredited higher education providers in Australia with the profession’s minimum educational expectations (MEEs).

The paper uses a series of quantitative and qualitative analyses to determine whether or not the content and focus of these programmes prepares students for contemporary accounting practice.

The results of these analyses demonstrate that most accredited undergraduate accounting degrees in Australia are largely unaligned with the profession’s expectations, with 18 (out of 57) degree programmes showing no overlap between their learning outcomes and the profession’s MEEs. In addition, only two (out of 57) programmes are shown to address all of the profession’s minimum expectations. A subsequent analysis of the focus and structure of the evaluated degree-level learning outcomes revealed additional inconsistencies between the interpretation of individual MEEs by the profession and the higher education sector.

This paper demonstrates that accredited undergraduate degrees are predominantly unable to prepare students for entry into the accounting profession, and that the prior efforts to align accounting curricula with the profession’s needs and expectation have thus far been largely unsuccessful. The findings of this paper are relevant for higher education providers and the accounting profession because they reflect the current level of alignment between the content and focus of undergraduate accounting education and the profession’s expectations. In addition, the findings of this paper highlight that the current accreditation process of the professional accounting bodies in Australia does not generate the desired alignment between academia and accounting practice.

The paper investigates the initial impacts on asset management and valuation practice of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) introduced in England and Wales from April 2018 for new lettings.

The paper reports findings from a small-scale pilot study of valuers, asset managers, lawyers and building consultants. Interviews were conducted over the summer of 2019 and explored the impact on practice and market values and perceived links to the carbon reduction agenda. Data were analysed thematically manually and using NVivo software.

Participants welcomed MEES but many had doubts about the use of energy performance certificates (EPCs) as the appropriate baseline measure. Compliance was perceived as too easy; further, enforcement is not occurring. Vanguard investors have aligned portfolios for carbon reduction; others have not. Lease practices are changing with landlords seeking greater control over tenant behaviours. Valuers reported that whilst MEES consideration is embedded in due diligence processes, there is limited value impact.

The study is limited by its small-scale and that the MEES regulations are not yet fully implemented. However, the research provides early findings and lays out recommendations for future research by identifying areas in which the regulations are/are not proving effective to date.

The findings will inform investors, consultants and policy makers.

Achieving energy efficiency in buildings is critical to driving down carbon emission; it also has economic and social benefits through cost savings and reducing fuel poverty.

Believed to be the first post-implementation qualitative study of MEES.