Bamboo as sustainable material used in design and civil construction: species, management, characterization and applications

The use of bamboo as construction and raw material for producing products can be considered a feasible alternative to the abusive use of steel, concrete and oil byproducts. Its use can also reduce the pressure on the use of wood from native and planted forests. Although there are thousands of bamboo species spread about the world and Brazil itself has hundreds of native species, the use and basic knowledge of its characteristics and applications are still little known and little disseminated. This paper's main objective is to introduce the species, the management phases, the physical and mechanical characteristics and the experiences in using bamboo in design and civil construction as per the Bamboo Project implemented at UNESP, Bauru campus since 1994. The results are divided into: a) Field activities - description of the technological species of interest, production chain flows, types of preservative treatments and clump management practices for the development, adaptation and production of different species of culms; b) Lab experiments - physical and mechanical characterization of culms processed as laminated strips and as composite material (glue laminated bamboo – glubam); c) Uses in projects - experiences with natural bamboo and glubam in design, architecture and civil construction projects. In the final remarks, the study aims to demonstrate, through practical and laboratory results, the material's multi-functionality and the feasibility in using bamboo as a sustainable material.

Lazer na terceira idade: desenvolvimento humano e qualidade de vida

The article aimed to understand the concept of leisure and understanding that older people have about their benefits to the quality of life as part of the idleness of the population. We used a sample of subjects living in the city of Bauru, SP, aged less than fifty years, of both sexes and economically disadvantaged class. It was used in literature, documentary and field. We developed an intervention project that aimed to education for leisure. It was the conclusion that public policies are necessary and qualified professionals for construction projects and equipment to expand the Recreation, spreading it and reaching the people of old age since previous stages of life. Materials with simple and low cost, the project of intervention, it reached the recreation-education and education for leisure satisfactorily.

Aplicação da Geoestatística Não-paramétrica para a compartimentação geomecânica de uma extensão típica do túnel do metrô - Linha 4, da cidade de São Paulo

In view of the limited number of drill holes, interpolation of the data becomes a relatively complex task. In this study, we sought to make estimates associated with lithological types, since a quantification based on lithology can be extracted from the empty spaces in the sampling. For example, QBarton is always below the median of the biotitic litotype, information which can be used in the elaboration of geostatistical models in situations where samples are lacking. To overcome bias in the data, required by geostatistical conceptualization, we worked with the residuals obtained from the adjustment of a surface and the observed values, for the variographic analysis. The final results made possible a more optimized evaluation of the final costs required for the construction project.

Viabilidade de sementes de Piptadenia moniliformis Benth. Pelo teste de tetrazólio

Piptadenia moniliformis Benth. is a tree species which is important for beekeeping, as well as being recommended for soil restoration, reforestation, wood production for small civil construction projects, and cattle and sheep forage. Information on how to evaluate seed physiological quality is still scarce and in this was the study aimed to adapt the procedures of the tetrazolium test to assess the viability of P. moniliformis seeds. Four seed lots were scarified in sulphuric acid for 30 min, and soaked between paper towels at 25 °C for 24 hours. The seed coat was then removed and the naked seeds immersed in tetrazolium solutions with concentrations of 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1% for 2, 3, and 4 hours at 35 oC in the dark. Each treatment consisted of four replications of 25 seeds. The embryos were classified according to viability based on the staining patterns. The previous soaking of the seeds for 24 hours at 25 oC between paper towels, followed by the removal of the seed coat and staining of the naked seeds for 4 hours in a 0.075% tetrazolium solution at 35 oC was the most efficient method for evaluating the viability of P. moniliformis Benth seeds.

Utilização do método AHP para análise de alterações de projetos, em instalações hospitalares

Customer focus , high competitiveness and striving for excellence in quality of service are some of the main features of the current market . Planned and make decisions with greater certainty is no longer an option a few years . The current managers are seeking ways to eliminate waste and increase financial and productive profitability of your company in order to achieve higher performance at a lower cost . The AHP is one of the main concepts of this goal by providing an analysis on multiple criteria , enhancing decision-making and enhancing the gains , with a technique that is designed to take into account all the key criteria for choosing an alternative , according to the perspective of the designer as both suppliers and customers . Emerging as a new way to minimize errors , and make an informed and consistent decision. The use of this method in construction projects is a recent phenomenon , which has much to be explored , an intense analysis of the processes is required to enable it to consider the concepts and present a consistent and grounded proposal

Análise de oportunidades de poligeração em edificações e cidades

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Planning and Projects of Secondary Electric Power Distribution Systems

This paper proposes a methodology to achieve integrated planning and projects for secondary distribution circuits. The planning model is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming problem (MINLP). In order to resolve this problem, a tabu search (TS) algorithm is used, with a neighborhood structure developed to explore the physical characteristics of specific geographies included in the planning and expansion of secondary networks, thus obtaining effective solutions as well as low operating costs and investments. The project stage of secondary circuits consists of calculating the mechanical efforts to determine the support structures of the primary and secondary distribution systems and determining the types of structures that should be used in the system according to topological and electrical parameters of the network and, therefore, accurately assessing the costs involved in the construction and/or reform of secondary systems. A constructive heuristic based on information of the electrical and topological conditions between the medium voltage and low voltage systems is used to connect the primary systems and secondary circuits. The results obtained from planning and design simulations of a real secondary system of electric energy distribution are presented.

Some particularities of dam rehabilitation projects

The number of dams, which need rehabilitation, is growing, not only in countries that have a long tradition in dam building and operation but,also in those regions where the infrastructure is still in full development. Though rehabilitation projects generally deal with problems that are common in dam engineering practice there are some peculiarities which are a characteristic of such projects and which must be duly taken into account to avoid unsuccess and/or unnecessary costs. Regular safety inspection is essential to forestall the development of structural, hydrological and operational unsafety. if need of major repair or overall rehabilitation of a dam becomes apparent design oft he rehabilitation project must be preceded by a comprehensive checkup of the structure and appurtenant works, as well as by an evaluation of its hydrological safety inclusive of all relevant environmental aspects. The availability of complete records on the clam's structural behaviour and on meteorological and hydrological data, as well as the knowledge of the materials properties of the existing structure are important for the successful design of a rehabilitation project. To this end the installation of monitoring devices in the existing structure may be necessary to generate representative data. While the criteria to be used in structural design should correspond to current standards, the definition of hydrological design criteria depends on considerations that vary widely from region to region or even from one country to another. Some basic hydrological safety requirements, however, are recommended for general acceptance. Dam rehabilitation projects demand very careful and detailed construction planning because of their dependence on river flow conditions, operational restrictions and, often, on procedures or limitations imposed to avoid harm to the environment. of utmost importance is the timely availability of the financial funds required to complete the project, in order to avoid delays which could result in structural or operational unsafety. Since every dam sooner or later will have to undergo major repair or updating of safety, rehabilitation may evolve to a speciality of dam engineering.

The construction of a juridical ontology

The need for the representation of both semantics and common sense and its organization in a lexical database or knowledge base has motivated the development of large projects, such as Wordnets, CYC and Mikrokosmos. Besides the generic bases, another approach is the construction of ontologies for specific domains. Among the advantages of such approach there is the possibility of a greater and more detailed coverage of a specific domain and its terminology. Domain ontologies are important resources in several tasks related to the language processing, especially in those related to information retrieval and extraction in textual bases. Information retrieval or even question and answer systems can benefit from the domain knowledge represented in an ontology. Besides embracing the terminology of the field, the ontology makes the relationships among the terms explicit. Copyright 2007 ACM.