title: A warm and dry place to live: Energy efficiency and rental accommodation

authors: Barton, Barry

abstract: In residential tenancies, it is usual for the landlord to be responsible for the fabric of the building and the main appliances, and for the tenant to be responsible for paying for electricity, gas and other fuel. It is also the tenant who is affected by the building’s heating and ventilation performance – whether it can be kept warm and dry without undue expense. A landlord has no financial incentive to invest in extra insulation or better appliances, because the benefits will be reaped by the tenant in lower energy bills and higher levels of comfort, and because the improvements do not have a direct influence on the rent that the landlord can charge. The result is that energy efficiency investments tend not to get made. In policy terms, the interests of the landlord and tenant are not aligned; the incentives are split. It is a classic example of a principal-agent gap, and as the “landlord-tenant problem” is one of the market failures that affects efficiency in markets for energy and energy products.1 The energy use affected by the principal-agent problem in the United States residential sector for refrigerators, space heating, water heating and lighting has been estimated as 31.4 per cent of the total sectoral energy use;2 so the issue is a substantial one. The problem of energy efficiency in rental accommodation is therefore the subject of this article.

text: A warm and dry place to live: Energy efficiency and rental accommodation In residential tenancies, it is usual for the landlord to be responsible for the fabric of the building and the main appliances, and for the tenant to be responsible for paying for electricity, gas and other fuel. It is also the tenant who is affected by the building’s heating and ventilation performance – whether it can be kept warm and dry without undue expense. A landlord has no financial incentive to invest in extra insulation or better appliances, because the benefits will be reaped by the tenant in lower energy bills and higher levels of comfort, and because the improvements do not have a direct influence on the rent that the landlord can charge. The result is that energy efficiency investments tend not to get made. In policy terms, the interests of the landlord and tenant are not aligned; the incentives are split. It is a classic example of a principal-agent gap, and as the “landlord-tenant problem” is one of the market failures that affects efficiency in markets for energy and energy products.1 The energy use affected by the principal-agent problem in the United States residential sector for refrigerators, space heating, water heating and lighting has been estimated as 31.4 per cent of the total sectoral energy use;2 so the issue is a substantial one. The problem of energy efficiency in rental accommodation is therefore the subject of this article.

year: 2013

title: From pillow to podium: a review on understanding sleep for elite athletes

authors: O'Donnell, Shannon Lea

subjects: exercise

abstract: Sleep is considered vital to human health and well-being, and is critical to physiological and cognitive functioning. Elite athletes experience high training and competition demands, and are often exposed to various factors, situations, and environments that can cause sleep impairments. Previous research has shown that athletes commonly experience sleep loss in the lead up to and following competition, which could have significant impacts on their preparation, performance, and recovery. In particular, the results from previous research show significant reductions in total sleep time (~1:40 h:min) and significant increases in sleep latency (~45 minutes) following evening competition. Napping is common in both the training and competition setting in athletes; however, research on the effect of napping on physiology and performance is limited. In contrast, research on strategies and interventions to improve sleep are increasing in the athletic population, with sleep hygiene research resulting in significant improvements in key sleep indices. This review investigates the physiological importance of sleep in athletes, current tools to monitor athletes’ sleep, the role of sleep for cognitive functioning and athletic performance, the prevalence of sleep disturbances and the potential mechanisms causing sleep disturbances, the role of napping, and different intervention strategies to improve sleep.

text: From pillow to podium: a review on understanding sleep for elite athletes Sleep is considered vital to human health and well-being, and is critical to physiological and cognitive functioning. Elite athletes experience high training and competition demands, and are often exposed to various factors, situations, and environments that can cause sleep impairments. Previous research has shown that athletes commonly experience sleep loss in the lead up to and following competition, which could have significant impacts on their preparation, performance, and recovery. In particular, the results from previous research show significant reductions in total sleep time (~1:40 h:min) and significant increases in sleep latency (~45 minutes) following evening competition. Napping is common in both the training and competition setting in athletes; however, research on the effect of napping on physiology and performance is limited. In contrast, research on strategies and interventions to improve sleep are increasing in the athletic population, with sleep hygiene research resulting in significant improvements in key sleep indices. This review investigates the physiological importance of sleep in athletes, current tools to monitor athletes’ sleep, the role of sleep for cognitive functioning and athletic performance, the prevalence of sleep disturbances and the potential mechanisms causing sleep disturbances, the role of napping, and different intervention strategies to improve sleep.

year: 2018

title: Holding a mirror to society? Sociodemographic diversity within clinical psychology training programmes across Aotearoa.

authors: Scarf, Damian

subjects: Education, Medical

abstract: It has recently been demonstrated by Crampton et al that there has been a marked increase in the sociodemographic diversity of the University of Otago’s health professional programmes between 2010 and 2016.1 This change is evidenced by the fact that a historic 76 health professional Māori graduates crossed the Dunedin Town Hall stage in December 2018. A key driver of this change was the University of Otago’s Division of Health Sciences Mirror on Society selection policy. Here, by documenting the sociodemographic diversity of an equally important professional programme, clinical psychology, we highlight the need for similar selection policies to be implemented Aotearoa/New Zealand wide.

text: Holding a mirror to society? Sociodemographic diversity within clinical psychology training programmes across Aotearoa. It has recently been demonstrated by Crampton et al that there has been a marked increase in the sociodemographic diversity of the University of Otago’s health professional programmes between 2010 and 2016.1 This change is evidenced by the fact that a historic 76 health professional Māori graduates crossed the Dunedin Town Hall stage in December 2018. A key driver of this change was the University of Otago’s Division of Health Sciences Mirror on Society selection policy. Here, by documenting the sociodemographic diversity of an equally important professional programme, clinical psychology, we highlight the need for similar selection policies to be implemented Aotearoa/New Zealand wide.

year: 2019