Search results

The purpose of the study is to observe the feasibility of missing middle housing’s (MMH) realization under density-based zoning, form-based zoning and a combination of both while simultaneously providing affordable housing, improving quality of life and making efficient use of land.

This study takes a theorist approach and designs three hypothetical cottage court projects that comply with all relevant official local zoning ordinances to showcase design feasibility, followed by an analytical component in the form of a financial model constructed using official local economic and demographic conditions.

MMH, and in particular cottage clusters, can be implemented under rigorous density-based, form-based and hybrid (density-based + form-based) zoning ordinances and provide affordable housing (Atlanta, GA), improve quality of life (Blackpool, UK) and make efficient use of land (Jinan, China). All hypothetical projects are financially feasible under reasonable conditions.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first in the body of knowledge to discuss how the MMH can be integrated into urban density-based zoning rather than converting density-based zoning into form-based so that the MMH can fit. The paper also takes a cross-national perspective and discusses the feasibility of MMH in the resolution of housing issues in the USA, China and the UK. The study also concludes that the issue of housing unaffordability in the UK was caused by high construction cost relative to median income.

The main purpose of this study is to examine whether macroeconomic variables could subsume the size and book‐to‐market (BM) anomalies for longer‐return intervals using Tokyo Stock Exchange‐listed stocks.

The Fama‐MacBeth cross‐sectional regressions of various models over time‐intervals ranging from one month to one year are performed.

The empirical results show that most macroeconomic variables explain short‐term returns within six months, with the industrial production as the only variable that persistently explains returns of all horizons ranging from one month to one year. Firm size does bear significant risk premium, but its significance diminishes for return‐intervals beyond three months when macroeconomic variables are included in the regression. BM is the only variable that significantly accounts for the cross‐section of stock returns for all horizons, regardless of the inclusion of macroeconomic variables.

These empirical findings suggest that stock returns are determined by both rational factors such as macroeconomic variables and behavioral factors such as BM.

The findings suggest that potential trading strategies indeed can be formed to exploit the persistent predictability, especially the BM regularity.

This paper is the first study that examines the competing explanatory power of various asset‐pricing models over different investment horizons.

This paper aims to study the effect of green lemon zest combined with sardine proteins in diabetic hypertensive rats (DHRs).

Male Wistar rats (n = 30) weighing 250 ± 10 g were divided into five groups. The first group consumed a diet containing 20 per cent casein (C). The other four groups are rendered diabetic by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (40 mg/kg body weight), then hypertensive by subcutaneous implantation controlled time-release pellet containing ouabain (0.25 mg/pellet). One untreated group (DHR) consumed 20 per cent casein and the three other groups consumed the same diet supplemented with 2 per cent green lemon zest (DHR-lz), or with 20 per cent of sardine protein (group DHR-sp) or with the combination of both sardine proteins and green lemon zest (group DHR-sp + lz).

DHRs feeding on the combination of both sardine protein (sp) and lemon zest (lz) induced a significant decrease of diastolic blood pressure and heart rates values compared with DHR (p < 0.05). The HDLC values were increased by +55 per cent in DHR-sp + lz compared with DHR group. Moreover, plasma non-HDLC concentrations were decreased significantly compared to DHR, DHR-lz, DHR-sp and C groups. In DHR-sp + lzvs DHR group, TBARS values were decreased by −25 per cent in the liver. Moreover, kidney TBARS were significantly reduced by −66, −51, −65 and −67 per cent compared with C, DHR, DHR-lz and DHR-sp, respectively.

These results suggest that consumption of green lemon zest combined with sardine proteins can reduce blood pressure and tissue oxidative damage and, therefore, help to prevent cardiovascular complications in hypertensive diabetic patients.

Images taken from construction site interiors often suffer from low illumination and poor natural colors, which restrict their application for high-level site management purposes. The state-of-the-art low-light image enhancement method provides promising image enhancement results. However, they generally require a longer execution time to complete the enhancement. This study aims to develop a refined image enhancement approach to improve execution efficiency and performance accuracy.

To develop the refined illumination enhancement algorithm named enhanced illumination quality (EIQ), a quadratic expression was first added to the initial illumination map. Subsequently, an adjusted weight matrix was added to improve the smoothness of the illumination map. A coordinated descent optimization algorithm was then applied to minimize the processing time. Gamma correction was also applied to further enhance the illumination map. Finally, a frame comparing and averaging method was used to identify interior site progress.

The proposed refined approach took around 4.36–4.52 s to achieve the expected results while outperforming the current low-light image enhancement method. EIQ demonstrated a lower lightness-order error and provided higher object resolution in enhanced images. EIQ also has a higher structural similarity index and peak-signal-to-noise ratio, which indicated better image reconstruction performance.

The proposed approach provides an alternative to shorten the execution time, improve equalization of the illumination map and provide a better image reconstruction. The approach could be applied to low-light video enhancement tasks and other dark or poor jobsite images for object detection processes.

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to use two industrial wastes; waste foundry sands (WFS) and molasses (M) along with lime (L) to improve the strength characteristics of clayey soil.

In the first part of the study, the optimum percentages of materials (WFS, molasses, lime) have been found out by conducting differential free swell (DFS) and consistency limit tests on clayey soil by adding various admixtures. The second and third part of the study investigates the compaction behaviour and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of clayey soil on addition of optimum amount of various materials alone and in combination with each other. Finally, the micro-structural behaviour of addition of optimum percentages of lime, WFS and molasses using Scanning electron microscopic technique has been discussed.

The laboratory results revealed that the addition of optimum content of lime along with WFS and molasses reduced DFS and plasticity index and increased maximum dry density and UCS values. The microstructural behaviour showed that the presence of lime and molasses filled the voids present in the soil and the addition of WFS helped in providing compact structure, thus improving the strength characteristics.

The study will be helpful in designing low-cost pavement designs for rural roads.

The adverse effect of waste materials on environment may be solved by using them in improving the strength characteristics of clayey soils, thereby providing healthy environment to living beings.

The study will help to provide low-cost methods to improve strength characteristics of clayey soil along with the use of waste materials; the disposal of whose is a challenging task.

The most recent and prestigious scientific research shows that nitrogen leaching caused by over-used nitrogen fertilizer rapidly acidifies all soil types in China, revolutionizing the basic understanding of the mechanism of soil acidification. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of nitrogen on soil acidity over the long run, which is the shadow price of nitrogen.

In a discrete dynamic programming model, this paper compares the nitrogen application and soil pH between optimal nitrogen control that takes the shadow price of nitrogen into consideration and myopic nitrogen control that ignores that shadow price. Using a five-year panel experimental data on a rapeseed-rice rotation, this paper simulates and numerically solves the dynamic model.

Both theoretically and empirically, this paper shows that the over-use of nitrogen and the decline in soil pH are explained by ignorance of the shadow price of nitrogen. Compared with optimal nitrogen control, myopic nitrogen control applies more nitrogen in total, resulting in lower soil pH. In addition, over-use in the first season contributes to soil acidification and the carry-over effects mitigate that problem.

This paper enriches the literature by extending the study of the environmental impact of nitrogen leaching to its impact on the long-term loss in agricultural production, providing a new theoretical framework in which to study soil acidification rather than conventionally treating soil acidification as a secondary consequence of acid rain, and showing the possibility of using nitrogen control to mitigate soil acidification when lime applications are not feasible due to socio-economic constraints.

The purpose of this study is to fit an appropriate mathematical model to express response variables as functions of the proportions of the mixture components. One purpose of statistical modeling in a mixture experiment is to model the blending surface such that predictions of the response for any mixture component, singly or in combination, can be made empirically. Testing of the model adequacy will also be an important part of the statistical procedure.

A series of mortar using air lime, marble and ceramic sanitary waste aggregates were prepared for statistically designed combinations. The combinations were designed based on the mixture-design concept of design of experiments; this mortar is often used as a filler material in restoration projects. The aim of this work is to find an optimal composition of a paste for the manufacture of air lime mortar with ceramic and marble waste. This investigation aims to recommend mix design for air lime-based mortar, by optimizing the input combination for different properties, and to predict properties such as mechanical strength, thermogravimetric and x-ray diffraction analysis with a high degree of accuracy, based on a statistical analysis of experimental data.

This paper discusses those mortar properties that architects, contractors and owners consider important. For each of these properties, the influence of ceramic and marble waste in the air lime mortar is explored. The flexibility of lime-based mortars with waste materials to meet a wide range of needs in both new construction and restoration of masonry projects is demonstrated.

The objective of the present investigation is to recommend mixture design for air lime mortar with waste, by optimizing the input combination for different properties, and to predict properties such as compressive strength, flexural strength with a high degree of accuracy, based on the statistical analysis of experimental data. The authors conducted a mixture design study that takes into account dependent parameters such as the constituents of our air lime-based mortar where we have determined an experiment matrix to which we have connected the two responses, namely, compressive and flexural strength. By introducing the desirability criteria of these two responses, using JMP software, we were able to obtain a mixture optimal for air lime mortar with ceramic and marble waste.

The paper seeks to bridge the already familiar benefits of 3D printing (3DP) to the rehabilitation of cultural heritage, still based on the use of complex and expensive handcrafted techniques and scarce materials.

A compilation of different information on frequent anomalies in cultural heritage buildings and commonly used materials is conducted; subsequently, some innovative techniques used in the construction sector (3DP and 3D scanning) are addressed, as well as some case studies related to the rehabilitation of cultural heritage building elements, leading to a reflection on the opportunities and challenges of this application within these types of buildings.

The compilation of information summarised in the paper provided a clear reflection on the great potential of 3DP for cultural heritage rehabilitation, requiring the development of new mixtures (lime mortars, for example) compatible with the existing surface and, eventually, incorporating some residues that may improve interesting properties; the design of different extruders, compatible with the new mixtures developed and the articulation of 3D printers with the available mapping tools (photogrammetry and laser scanning) to reproduce the component as accurately as possible.

This paper sets the path for a new application of 3DP in construction, namely in the field of cultural heritage rehabilitation, by identifying some key opportunities, challenges and for designing the process flow associated with the different technologies involved.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a type of hybrid bearing lubricated with supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO₂) and to investigate the stiffness and damping characteristics of the bearing under hydrostatic status.

Established a test rig for radial bearings lubricated with S-CO₂ and used it to measure the dynamic coefficients by recording the relative and absolute displacements of bearing. Test bearing is mounted on a nonrotating, stiff shaft. Using static loading experiments to obtain structural stiffness. The dynamic coefficient regularities of the test bearing under hydrostatic status were revealed through dynamic loading experiments.

Experiment results indicate that test bearing displayed increased stiffness when subjected to high excitation frequencies and low excitation forces, as well as elevated damping when exposed to low excitation frequencies and low excitation forces. Additionally, an increase in either environmental pressure or hydrostatic recess pressure can elevate the dynamic coefficient. The effect of temperature on the dynamic coefficient is more pronounced around the critical temperature of S-CO₂.

Designed a type of hybrid bearing for use in the Brayton cycle that is lubricated with S-CO₂ and uses hydrostatic lubrication during start-stop and hydrodynamic lubrication during high-speed operation. The hybrid bearing reduces the wear and friction power consumption of gas bearing. However, few experimental analyses have been conducted by researchers in this field.