Selection method for sustainable building

For a sustainable building industry, not only should the environmental and economic indicators be evaluated but also the societal indicators for building. Current indicators can be in conflict with each other, thus decision making is difficult to clearly quantify and assess sustainability. For the sustainable building, the objectives of decreasing both adverse environmental impact and cost are in conflict. In addition, even though both objectives may be satisfied, building management systems may present other problems such as convenience of occupants, flexibility of building, or technical maintenance, which are difficult to quantify as exact assessment data. These conflicting problems confronting building managers or planners render building management more difficult. This paper presents a methodology to evaluate a sustainable building considering socio-economic and environmental characteristics of buildings, and is intended to assist the decision making for building planners or practitioners. The suggested methodology employs three main concepts: linguistic variables, fuzzy numbers, and an analytic hierarchy process. The linguistic variables are used to represent the degree of appropriateness of qualitative indicators, which are vague or uncertain. These linguistic variables are then translated into fuzzy numbers to reflect their uncertainties and aggregated into the final fuzzy decision value using a hierarchical structure. Through a case study, the suggested methodology is applied to the evaluation of a building. The result demonstrates that the suggested approach can be a useful tool for evaluating a building for sustainability.

Study on the method of freeway incident detection using wireless positioning terminal

Improving the performance of a incident detection system was essential to minimize the effect of incidents. A new method of incident detection was brought forward in this paper based on an in-car terminal which consisted of GPS module, GSM module and control module as well as some optional parts such as airbag sensors, mobile phone positioning system (MPPS) module, etc. When a driver or vehicle discovered the freeway incident and initiated an alarm report the incident location information located by GPS, MPPS or both would be automatically send to a transport management center (TMC), then the TMC would confirm the accident with a closed-circuit television (CCTV) or other approaches. In this method, detection rate (DR), time to detect (TTD) and false alarm rate (FAR) were more important performance targets. Finally, some feasible means such as management mode, education mode and suitable accident confirming approaches had been put forward to improve these targets.

A numerical method to quantify the axial shortening of vertical elements in concrete buildings

Differential axial shortening, distortion and deformation in high rise buildings is a serious concern. They are caused by three time dependent modes of volume change; “shrinkage”, “creep” and “elastic shortening” that takes place in every concrete element during and after construction. Vertical concrete components in a high rise building are sized and designed based on their strength demand to carry gravity and lateral loads. Therefore, columns and walls are sized, shaped and reinforced differently with varying concrete grades and volume to surface area ratios. These structural components may be subjected to the detrimental effects of differential axial shortening that escalates with increasing the height of buildings. This can have an adverse impact on other structural and non-structural elements. Limited procedures are available to quantify axial shortening, and the results obtained from them differ because each procedure is based on various assumptions and limited to few parameters. All these prompt to a need to develop an accurate numerical procedure to quantify the axial shortening of concrete buildings taking into account the important time varying functions of (i) construction sequence (ii) Young’s Modulus and (iii) creep and shrinkage models associated with reinforced concrete. General assumptions are refined to minimize variability of creep and shrinkage parameters to improve accuracy of the results. Finite element techniques are used in the procedure that employs time history analysis along with compression only elements to simulate staged construction behaviour. This paper presents such a procedure and illustrates it through an example. Keywords: Differential Axial Shortening, Concrete Buildings, Creep and Shrinkage, Construction Sequence, Finite Element Method.

Toward a fuzzy domain ontology extraction method for adaptive e-learning

With the widespread applications of electronic learning (e-Learning) technologies to education at all levels, increasing number of online educational resources and messages are generated from the corresponding e-Learning environments. Nevertheless, it is quite difficult, if not totally impossible, for instructors to read through and analyze the online messages to predict the progress of their students on the fly. The main contribution of this paper is the illustration of a novel concept map generation mechanism which is underpinned by a fuzzy domain ontology extraction algorithm. The proposed mechanism can automatically construct concept maps based on the messages posted to online discussion forums. By browsing the concept maps, instructors can quickly identify the progress of their students and adjust the pedagogical sequence on the fly. Our initial experimental results reveal that the accuracy and the quality of the automatically generated concept maps are promising. Our research work opens the door to the development and application of intelligent software tools to enhance e-Learning.

Moderating drinking by correspondence : an evaluation of a new method of intervention

Recognizing the need to offer alternative methods of brief interventions, this study developed correspondence treatments for low-dependent problem drinkers and evaluated their impact. One hundred and twenty-one problem drinkers were recruited by media advertisements and were randomly allocated to a full cognitive behavioural treatment programme (CBT) or to a minimal intervention condition (MI) that gave information regarding alcohol misuse and instructions to record drinking. As predicted, CBT was more effective than MI in reducing alcohol consumption over the 4-month controlled trial period. CBT produced a 50% fall in consumption, bringing the average intake of subjects within recommended maximum levels. Treatment gains at 6 months were well maintained to 12 months. High levels of consumer satisfaction, a high representation of women and a substantial participation from isolated rural areas attested to the feasibility of the correspondence programme as an alternative treatment. However, some drinking occasions still involved high intake for a significant subgroup of subjects, and this issue will be addressed in future programmes. The results supported the use of correspondence delivery as a means of promoting early engagement and equity of access between city and country areas.

A differential kinetic spectrophotometric method for determination of three sulphanilamide artificial sweeteners with the aid of chemometrics

A simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the simultaneous determination of acesulfame-K, sodium cyclamate and saccharin sodium sweeteners in foodstuff samples has been researched and developed. This analytical method relies on the different kinetic rates of the analytes in their oxidative reaction with KMnO4 to produce the green manganate product in an alkaline solution. As the kinetic rates of acesulfame-K, sodium cyclamate and saccharin sodium were similar and their kinetic data seriously overlapped, chemometrics methods, such as partial least squares (PLS), principal component regression (PCR) and classical least squares (CLS), were applied to resolve the kinetic data. The results showed that the PLS prediction model performed somewhat better. The proposed method was then applied for the determination of the three sweeteners in foodstuff samples, and the results compared well with those obtained by the reference HPLC method.

Consonance in urban form : morphogenetic analysis of architectural elements within urban forms

"By understanding how places have evolved, we are better able to guide development and change in the urban fabric and avoid the incongruity created by so much of the modern environment" (MacCormac, R (1996), An anatomy of London, Built Environment, Dec 1996 This paper proposes a theory on the relevance of mapping the evolutionary aspects of historical urban form in order to develop a measure of evaluating architectural elements within urban forms, through to deriving parameters for new buildings. By adopting Conzen's identification of the tripartite division of urban form; the consonance inurban form of a particular palce resides in the elements and measurable values tha makeup the fine grain aggregates of urban form. The paper will demonstrate throughthe case study of Brisbane in Australia, a method of conveying these essential components that constitute a cities continuity of form and active usage. By presenting the past as a repository of urban form characteristics, it is argued that concise architectural responses that stem from such knowledge should result in an engaged urban landscape. The essential proposition is that urban morphology is a missing constituent in the process of urban design, and that the approach of the geographical discipline to the study of urban morphology holds the key to providing the evidence of urban growth characteristics, and this methodology suggests possibilities for an architectural approach that can comprehensively determine qualitative aspects of urban buildings. The relevance of this research lies in a potential to breach the limitations of current urban analysis whilst continuing the evolving currency of urban morphology as an integral practice in the design of our cities.

The present via the past : an archaelogical approach to analysing the design and use of a contemporary urban village

This research applies an archaeological lens to an inner-city master planned development in order to investigate the tension between the design of space and the use of space. The chosen case study for this thesis is Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV), located in inner city Brisbane, Australia. The site of this urban village has strong links to the past. KGUV draws on both the history of the place in particular along with more general mythologies of village life in its design and subsequent marketing approaches. The design and marketing approach depends upon notions of an imagined past where life in a place shaped like a traditional village was better and more socially sustainable than modern urban spaces. The appropriation of this urban village concept has been criticised as a shallow marketing ploy. The translation and applicability of the urban village model across time and space is therefore contentious. KGUV was considered both in terms of its design and marketing and in terms of a reading of the actual use of this master planned place. Central to this analysis is the figure of the boundary and related themes of social heterogeneity, inclusion and exclusion. The refraction of history in the site is also an important theme. An interpretive archaeological approach was used overall as a novel method to derive this analysis.

A pilot study utilising cross-age peer tutoring as a method of intervention for anxious adolescents

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychopathology experienced by young people, with up to 18% of adolescents developing an anxiety disorder. The consequences of these disorders, if left untreated, include impaired peer relationships, school absenteeism and self-concept problems. In addition, anxiety disorders may play a causal role in the development of depression in young people, precede eating disorders and predispose adolescents to substance abuse disorders. While the school is often chosen as a place to provide early intervention for this debilitating disorder, the fact that excessive anxiety is often not recognised in school and that young people are reluctant to seek help, makes identifying these adolescents difficult. Even when these young people are identified, there are problems in providing sensitive programs which are not stigmatising to them within a school setting. One method which may engage this adolescent population could be cross-age peer tutoring. This paper reports on a small pilot study using the “Worrybusters” program and a cross-age peer tutoring method to engage the anxious adolescents. These anxious secondary school students planned activities for teacher-referred anxious primary school students for a term in the high school setting and then delivered those activities to the younger students weekly in the next term in the primary school. Although the secondary school students decreased their scores on anxiety self-report measures there were no significant differences for primary school students’ self-reports. However, the primary school parent reports indicated a significant decrease in their child’s anxiety.

Practice as method : the ex/centric fixations project

In the past decade, scholars have proposed a range of terms to describe the relationship between practice and research in the creative arts, including increasingly nuanced definitions of practice-based research, practice-led research and practice-as-research. In this paper, I consider the efficacy of creative practice as method. I use the example of The Ex/Centric Fixations Project – a project in which I have embedded creative practice in a research project, rather than embedding research in a creative project. The Ex/Centric Fixations project investigates the way spectators interpret human experiences – especially human experiences of difference, marginalisation or discrimination – depicted onstage. In particular, it investigates the way postmodern performance writing strategies, and the presence of performing bodied to which the experience depicted can be attached, impacts on interpretations. It is part of a broader research project which examines the performativity of spectatorship, and intervenes in emergent debates about performance, ethics and spectatorship in the context of debate about whether live performance is a privileged site for the emergence of an ethical face-to-face encounter with the Other. Using the metaphor of the Mobius strip, I examines the way practice – as a method, rather than an output – has informed, influenced and problematised the broader research project.

Fast searching algorithm for candidate satellite-node set in NLMG

The Node-based Local Mesh Generation (NLMG) algorithm, which is free of mesh inconsistency, is one of core algorithms in the Node-based Local Finite Element Method (NLFEM) to achieve the seamless link between mesh generation and stiffness matrix calculation, and the seamless link helps to improve the parallel efficiency of FEM. Furthermore, the key to ensure the efficiency and reliability of NLMG is to determine the candidate satellite-node set of a central node quickly and accurately. This paper develops a Fast Local Search Method based on Uniform Bucket (FLSMUB) and a Fast Local Search Method based on Multilayer Bucket (FLSMMB), and applies them successfully to the decisive problems, i.e. presenting the candidate satellite-node set of any central node in NLMG algorithm. Using FLSMUB or FLSMMB, the NLMG algorithm becomes a practical tool to reduce the parallel computation cost of FEM. Parallel numerical experiments validate that either FLSMUB or FLSMMB is fast, reliable and efficient for their suitable problems and that they are especially effective for computing the large-scale parallel problems.

Metal oxide nanofibres membranes assembled by spin-coating method

Ceramic membranes are of particular interest in many industrial processes due to their ability to function under extreme conditions while maintaining their chemical and thermal stability. Major structural deficiencies under conventional fabrication approach are pin-holes and cracks, and the dramatic losses of flux when pore sizes are reduced to enhance selectivity. We overcome these structural deficiencies by constructing hierarchically structured separation layer on a porous substrate using larger titanate nanofibres and smaller boehmite nanofibres. This yields a radical change in membrane texture. The differences in the porous supports have no substantial influences on the texture of resulting membranes. The membranes with top layer of nanofibres coated on different porous supports by spin-coating method have similar size of the filtration pores, which is in a range of 10–100 nm. These membranes are able to effectively filter out species larger than 60 nm at flow rates orders of magnitude greater than conventional membranes. The retention can attain more than 95%, while maintaining a high flux rate about 900 L m-2 h. The calcination after spin-coating creates solid linkages between the fibres and between fibres and substrate, in addition to convert boehmite into -alumina nanofibres. This reveals a new direction in membrane fabrication.

Numerical method and analytical technique of the modified anomalous subdiffusion equation with a nonlinear source term

In this paper, we consider a modified anomalous subdiffusion equation with a nonlinear source term for describing processes that become less anomalous as time progresses by the inclusion of a second fractional time derivative acting on the diffusion term. A new implicit difference method is constructed. The stability and convergence are discussed using a new energy method. Finally, some numerical examples are given. The numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of theoretical analysis