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Creases are marks that are created and left in a fabric during garment wear. Pressing is a process to flatten garment panels and sharpen garment edges and pleats. To minimize crease, the fabric should recover after pressing without creating a creased edge. Whereas, good pressing performance means the creased edge stays sharp after pressing. Good crease recovery and pressing performance appear contradictory. However, crease recovery and pressing performance are different as creases are formed during wear and pressing is carried out using pressing equipment such as iron, pressing machines, etc. The condition, i.e. temperature and humidity, under which the creases are formed in wear and pressing are very different. The latter has much higher temperature, pressure and humidity. This paper reports on an experimental investigation on the relationship between the crease recovery and pressing performance of wool and other fabrics. It was found that there are only generally weak to moderate relationships between the crease recovery as measured by the Shirley Crease Recovery Tester and the pressing performance as measured by the Siro‐Press Tester. The characteristics of wool fabrics, which have both good crease recovery and pressing performance, are identified. This study is a step towards fabric engineering.

A test method and instrumentation have been developed to facilitate the identification of potential appearance problems and for the development of improved fabric pressing performance. The method determines the fabric pressing performance with a greater degree of certainty than using a steam press. The weft “pressing performance” crease angle, as measured by the test method developed by CSIRO, in cooperation with IWS (Biella Technical Centre) and the Italian industries, combined with warp formability, as measured by SIROFAST, were found to be the two fabric properties most important for the prediction of the acceptability and appearance of a range of high quality men’s suits. It also appears that a good pressing performance can partly compensate for the seam pucker symptoms of low formability.

Double pressing systems have recently been introduced to speed up and improve the pressing step of porcelain stoneware tiles. This paper aims to analyze double pressing systems using discontinuous pre‐compaction, both technically and economically. Two operative conditions are considered: the traditional forming of tiles during pressing is compared with the innovative production of a unique large‐sized slab, subsequently customized according to market requirements. Furthermore, manufacturing conditions are explored with infrequent or frequent production runs, due to increasingly smaller production batches, in order to evaluate which production process is more suitable when changing operative conditions are managed.

The analysis is carried out experimentally, by collecting data in existing pilot plants, producing batches of products of different size and colour. Details are provided concerning the technical characteristics of the systems, along with costs per manufactured square metre for investments, personnel, maintenance, spare parts and electric power. A case in which some production days are reserved for each manufactured batch is compared to a case in which production runs are repeated more frequently in a day.

Manufacturing large‐sized slabs and customization has shown to be an efficient solution for companies operating in changing markets.

Further research should study double pressing systems using continuous pre‐compaction.

The proposed analysis, by presenting an evaluation process and sharing data collected experimentally, provides innovative support for addressing decision makers when new pressing systems for porcelain stoneware tiles are selected.

To provide and illustrate a structured engineering approach for conceptual design of enterprise performance measurement and management systems.

The paper proposes and utilizes a design approach based on combining an enterprise engineering process with a system dynamics (SD) modeling methodology. A research case application in a call center using real data serves as an illustration of these ideas.

This proposed approach provided clear guidance through all the steps of the research case developed. When compared to traditional alternatives, it especially enhanced considerations pertaining to causality relationships among performance metrics, both in a qualitative as well as in a quantitative way.

The explicit combination of enterprise engineering and SD methods creates new research and application opportunities. From a research perspective it establishes a framework for dealing with performance from a systems life‐cycle perspective as well as points to the need for developing integrated modeling techniques. From a practical perspective, the results achieved to this point provide a conceptual design guideline of immediate applicability.

Seeks out whether technical performance indicators may be challenged by perception data thereby forcing a paradigm shift in building assessment. Reports the development of a conceptual framework and thereby justification of methodological approaches for a currently undertaken research project. Employs a subjective approach, based on inhabitants’ perceptions of their own environments. Concludes the measure of productivity used herein may be questionable but the use of productivity as the performance variable (against cost) is recognition of peoples’ importance as occupiers and their views equally so.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of activity-based working (ABW), an office design and management system that has emerged in the past 20 years. It investigates its manifest and underlying agendas with a view to determining its degree of cost management focus and scientific management foundations.

The paper uses historical and website analysis methodologies for investigating historical office management philosophies and practices, as well as contemporary office design and management philosophies and related ABW practices and discourse. These are examined through the theoretical lenses of governmentality and impression management theories.

Despite a rhetoric of staff empowerment, ABW’s dominant agenda is overhead cost reduction and operating cost management. This reflects scientific management principles of early twentieth-century office design and management. Cost efficiencies and productivity emerge as key ABW output foci. While ABW adopters and advocates present ABW as a desirable staff satisfaction and operations facilitator, the cost agenda nonetheless commands centre stage.

Accounting research into the office and its processes is much needed. This has been largely neglected in favour of line management and factory floor costing and accountability systems. In a world dominated by service industries, the office as a centre of organisational and economic activity merits researchers’ greater attention.

Contemporary office design and functioning developments merit greater recourse to and acknowledgement of their historic roots. Then, practitioners can better design and implement systems that build on past knowledge and learnings. While such innovations as ABW may carry potential for improved organisational performance, care is needed with respect to their balancing of agendas and suitability for their institutional and cultural environments.

Organisational work has become a dominant part of social life in most economies today. Such innovations as ABW must be considered in terms of the societal culture into which they are introduced: how they reflect and adapt to that culture and what impacts they may also have on the culture itself. This includes dimensions such as organisational and self-control, as well as personal and organisational accountability.

This study presents itself as one of the very few refereed research studies of ABW currently available in the accounting, management or property research literatures. It also represents one of the very few studies of the office in the accounting research literature internationally.

Are the effects of school size transmitted in measurable quantities to the personalities of pupils? Having argued that the learning environments of small and large schools could differ in predictable ways, the authors examined the effects of these differences on the personality development of pupils. Multiple regression analysis revealed the effects of school size to be reflected in only two of eight personality outcomes — sense of cohesion and concern for persons. Two variables — attitude towards school and fear of failure — are regarded as “not proven” and four variables — functional identity, sense of internal control over events, breadth of role constructs, and cognitive complexity showed no evidence of the effects of school size.

The press performance of a range of wool and wool blend fabrics has been investigated with the aid of a temperature adjustable hand steam iron, a domestic ironing board and a thermocouple digital temperature display.It was found that for a press duration of 10 seconds, the fabric crease angle is reduced with the increasing press temperature. The sharpest reduction in crease angle was found in the temperature range of 80°C to 120°C for all fabrics tested.At 100°C iron temperature, the fabric crease angle was reduced with increasing press duration until 20 seconds for wool fabrics and until 30 seconds for wool blend fabrics.The initial regain, or in other words, the relative humidity of the ambient atmosphere used to precondition the samples, has an important influence on the press performance. It was also found that the fabric crease recovery was greater for increasing ambient relative humidity.The fabric regain was greatly reduced during the first 10 seconds pressing time with further very slow reduction in fabric regain until 80 seconds pressing time. The regain in the upper layer of the fabric specimen was always lower than that in the lower layer.

The paper aims to describe the effects of caffeine intake on exercise performance as well on diabetes, cirrhosis and asthma.

The review includes the most updated studies found in Pub‐Med all of which are in relation to caffeine and exercise performance as well as its effects on disease issues.

The majority of studies show that caffeine ingestion of about 6 mg of body weight mass may have a positive effect on endurance and anaerobic exercise performance. In addition, if it is consumed together with carbohydrates, it may also improve post‐recovery glycogen synthesis. Intake of caffeine was also found to have a positive effect on the prevention of liver cirrhosis, reducing asthma attacks and lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The paper gives information to nutritionists, clinical dietitians and sports nutritionists on the newest data about the effects of caffeine on exercise performance and disease issues.

A simple measurement of fabric pressing performance as indicated by crease angle has been developed and applied to the prediction of appearance of wool and wool blend tailored jackets. Industrial and laboratory trials have measured by the FAST system to give an assessment of garment appearance of lightweight fabrics after they are pressed.