Alternative Construction Research Articles

Establishing the Characteristic Compressive Strength Parallel to Fiber of Four Local Philippine Bamboo Species

Bamboo is considered a sustainable construction material due to its ability to grow quickly and its mechanical properties that are comparable to timber. Contributing to the current effort to establish structural bamboo standards in the National Structural Code of the Philippines (NSCP), this study establishes the characteristic compressive strength of four bamboo species: Bambusa vulgaris (36 samples), Dendrocalamus asper (36 samples), Bambusa blumeana (94 samples), and Guadua angustifolia Kunth (30 samples). The samples were subjected to compressive loading following ISO 22157-1 (2017). The characteristic compressive strength values obtained, according to ISO 12122-1 (2014), were 40.35 MPa for B. vulgaris, 40.21 MPa for D. asper, 46.63 MPa for B. blumeana, and 36.99 MPa for G. angustifolia Kunth. Simple linear analysis, one-way ANOVA, and Welch’s t-test were used to analyze the correlation models and establish a comparative analysis of the effects of nodes and geometric and physical properties on the compressive strength of bamboo samples. In comparisons of the characteristic compressive strengths obtained from this study to the strengths of unseasoned structural timber of Philippine woods, all bamboo species showed higher strength values than did other woods, and bamboos thus have great potential as an alternative construction material to timber.

Study on the cementation and engineering properties of ternary eco-binder mortar containing pulverized coal fly ash mixed with circulating fluidized bed co-fired fly ash

This study aimed to verify the role and feasibility of co-fired fly ash (CFA) as an alternative construction material. It also demonstrated the engineering properties of CFA mortar and compared them with those of pulverized coal fly ash (PCFA) mortar. Further, CFA-PCFA-cement mortar specimens were mixed to produce ternary eco-binder mortars and find the optimal application proportion. The results pointed out that the pozzolanic strength activity index of CFA was 76 %, with only a slight pozzolanic reaction. The sum of the chemical composition (SiO2+Al2O3+Fe2O3) of CFA was insufficient to meet ASTM C618 requirements, and it was deduced that a small amount of CFA should be used as the substitute for cement or fine aggregates. Specimens with CFA replacing fine aggregates contributed to lower water absorption, improved sulfate resistance, and increased compressive strength; Specimens with CFA replacing cement reduced shrinkage and improved sulfate resistance but decreased compressive strength and increased absorption. Blended CFA-cement mortars consisting of 5 % CFA as a replacement material for cement and fine aggregates had excellent engineering properties. Ternary blended CFA-PCFA-cement mortar exhibits superior engineering properties. The optimum proportion is an economy-friendly binder composed of 10 % CFA (5 % as cement and 5 % as fine aggregates) and 10% PCFA (as a replacement for cement).

Tasting the Soil and Mobilizing the Future: Pedagogies of Hope in Timor-Leste’s Permaculture Youth Camps

This article localizes the traveling concept of permaculture in Timor-Leste as a pathway into studying the juventude permakultura (permaculture youth) movement, its pedagogies of hope, sensory learning, and emotional mobilization. Focusing on permaculture-based community gardening and water conservation projects in Timor-Leste in relation to projects implemented by the nation’s significant government-NGO nexus opens up anthropological inquiries into various social, political, and ecological phenomena. It contrasts divergent imaginaries of shaping young persons’ selves and futures and taps into issues of food security, environmental awareness, and alternative knowledge construction. Although ongoing research localizes the traveling concept of “permaculture” in Timor-Leste through tracing, exploring, and juxtaposing methodologies, this article focuses on the practice-oriented sensorial pedagogy of permaculture youth camps. It inquires how the eco-social youth movement contests the marginalization of vulnerable communities by acknowledging local knowledge and connecting it with translocal permaculture techniques. More precisely, the article focuses on the sensory and affective dimensions of learning in vulnerable communities and disaster-prone landscapes. It zeroes in on tasting the soil and mobilizing the future as pedagogies of hope and considers these powerful ways of securing (future) livelihood.

Failure characteristics and seismic behavior of steel basalt hybrid fiber reinforced concrete lining for the tunnel in strong earthquake areas

The effect of a high-intensity earthquake on a tunnel can be catastrophic. To minimize the damage of the earthquake to the tunnel, the mechanical properties of tunnel lining need to be improved in strong earthquake areas. Thereby, this paper proposes a steel basalt hybrid fiber reinforced concrete (SBHFRC) as an alternative construction material for the lining. Then, the failure characteristics and seismic performance of SBHFRC are studied and compared with that of plain concrete (PC) and steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC). The results show that the toughness of SFRC is better than that of SBHFRC. Furthermore, the initial crack load and failure load of SBHFRC lining are significantly higher than that of PC lining. The numbers of cracks observed in the SBHFRC lining and SFRC lining are more than that in the PC lining. But the distribution of cracks in SBHFRC lining is relatively uniform. The bearing capacity of SFRC lining and SBHFRC lining is basically the same, although significantly higher than that of PC lining. The seismic performance of different fiber concrete linings is further explored through numerical simulation. Under strong earthquakes, the damage areas of the lining are mainly concentrated at the tunnel vault bottom and vault near the fault, and the SBHFRC damage degree and range are the smallest. Compared with PC lining, the minimum safety factors of SFRC lining and SBHFRC lining are increased by 7.5 times and 11.2 times, respectively, which shows that SBHFRC lining has good seismic performance.

Assessing the maturity of alternative construction materials and their potential impact on embodied carbon for single-family homes in the American Midwest

Assessing the maturity of alternative construction materials and their potential impact on embodied carbon for single-family homes in the American Midwest

The overlap between randomised evaluations of recruitment and retention interventions: An updated review of recruitment (Online Resource for Recruitment in Clinical triAls) and retention (Online Resource for Retention in Clinical triAls) literature.

The Online Resource for Recruitment in Clinical triAls (ORRCA) and the Online Resource for Retention in Clinical triAls (ORRCA2) were established to organise and map the literature addressing participant recruitment and retention within clinical research. The two databases are updated on an ongoing basis using separate but parallel systematic reviews. However, recruitment and retention of research participants is widely acknowledged to be interconnected. While interventions aimed at addressing recruitment challenges can impact retention and vice versa, it is not clear how well they are simultaneously considered within methodological research. This study aims to report the recent update of ORRCA and ORRCA2 with a special emphasis on assessing crossover of the databases and how frequently randomised studies of methodological interventions measure the impact on both recruitment and retention outcomes. Two parallel systematic reviews were conducted in line with previously reported methods updating ORRCA (recruitment) and ORRCA2 (retention) with publications from 2018 and 2019. Articles were categorised according to their evidence type (randomised evaluation, non-randomised evaluation, application and observation) and against the recruitment and retention domain frameworks. Articles categorised as randomised evaluations were compared to identify studies appearing in both databases. For randomised studies that were only in one database, domain categories were used to assess whether the methodological intervention was likely to impact on the alternate construct. For example, whether a recruitment intervention might also impact retention. In total, 806 of 17,767 articles screened for the recruitment database and 175 of 18,656 articles screened for the retention database were added as result of the update. Of these, 89 articles were classified as 'randomised evaluation', of which 6 were systematic reviews and 83 were randomised evaluations of methodological interventions. Ten of the randomised studies assessed recruitment and retention and were included in both databases. Of the randomised studies only in the recruitment database, 48/55 (87%) assessed the content or format of participant information which could have an impact on retention. Of the randomised studies only in the retention database, 6/18 (33%) assessed monetary incentives, 4/18 (22%) assessed data collection location and methods and 3/18 (17%) assessed non-monetary incentives, all of which could have an impact on recruitment. Only a small proportion of randomised studies of methodological interventions assessed the impact on both recruitment and retention despite having a potential impact on both outcomes. Where possible, an integrated approach analysing both constructs should be the new standard for these types of evaluations to ensure that improvements to recruitment are not at the expense of retention and vice versa.

Foam Mortar Layer in Soft Subgrade Embankment: A Review

Soils are the basis of the construction of civil engineering structures that are designed to support and withstand the weight of the structures above them. The main problems of soft soil include low bearing capacity and large settlement. In road pavements, the sub grade as the bottom layer of the road must have a good bearing capacity. Subgrade is a part that must be considered because of the weight of the pavement structure and the embankment above it. Soft soil conditions cause the need for reinforcement of the sub grade layer. Solving the problem of road construction is done by engineering so that the sub grade as the bottom layer of the road is safe and stable and has a good bearing capacity. The effort made to increase the bearing capacity of the subgrade is by reinforcing the soil (soil improvement). One of them is with lightweight material mortar-foam is an alternative construction material in soil reinforcement for road construction. Mortar-foam is formed from a mixture of foam, cement, sand and water. Research on foam mortars has been conducted in various places and countries in various ways and methods. This article will discuss the latest developments in the use of foam mortars as backfill in soft soils in the subgrade layer presented based on information provided by the author.

A CONSTRUCTION VIA FORCING OF A HEREDITARILY WEAKLY KOSZMIDER SPACE

We present an alternative construction – using forcing, instead of diamond principle – of a Hausdorff compactum K such that C(L) has few operators, for every closed L ⊂ K. Moreover, we prove a new result about the density of C(K) with few operators and present some open problems.

Enhancing Residential Construction Efficiency: Evaluating Interlock Blocks as a Sustainable Alternative to Traditional Brick Construction (A Case Study of Private Housing in Setipakha Height, Lalitpur)

In Nepal, traditional clay red bricks have been extensively used in residential and commercial construction, but their labour-intensive nature has prompted the exploration of alternative construction materials. This study investigates the feasibility of using interlocking blocks as a replacement for traditional bricks in residential housing, focusing on cost, strength, and socioeconomic acceptance. Through a combination of literature review, lab tests, and on-site observations, the properties of interlock blocks were evaluated and compared with traditional bricks. The study area, Setipakha Height in Lalitpur, provided a suitable context for data collection, given the prevalent use of interlock blocks in ongoing housing projects. Results from compressive strength tests revealed that interlock blocks exhibited comparable strength to both first- and second-class bricks, indicating their suitability for load-bearing applications. Additionally, interlock blocks demonstrated lower water absorption rates compared to clay bricks, suggesting enhanced durability and resistance to moisture-related issues. Furthermore, interlock blocks showed higher density and consistency, potentially offering greater structural integrity and material efficiency. Cost analysis indicated that interlock block masonry was more cost-effective than traditional brick masonry, with potential savings in construction time and labour requirements. Moreover, interlock blocks, when properly manufactured, could provide a sustainable alternative to traditional bricks, reducing environmental impact. In conclusion, interlock blocks present a promising alternative to traditional clay bricks in residential construction, offering advantages in terms of strength, durability, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability. Recommendations include the adoption of interlock blocks in construction projects, further research on their long-term performance, regulatory considerations, and increased awareness among stakeholders in the construction industry. Embracing interlock blocks has the potential to revolutionize residential construction practices in Nepal, contributing to sustainable development and meeting the housing needs of communities.

Designing efficient randstrobes for sequence similarity analyses.

Substrings of length k, commonly referred to as k-mers, play a vital role in sequence analysis. However, k-mers are limited to exact matches between sequences leading to alternative constructs. We recently introduced a class of new constructs, strobemers, that can match across substitutions and smaller insertions and deletions. Randstrobes, the most sensitive strobemer proposed in Sahlin (Effective sequence similarity detection with strobemers. Genome Res 2021a;31:2080-94. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.275648.121), has been used in several bioinformatics applications such as read classification, short-read mapping, and read overlap detection. Recently, we showed that the more pseudo-random the behavior of the construction (measured in entropy), the more efficient the seeds for sequence similarity analysis. The level of pseudo-randomness depends on the construction operators, but no study has investigated the efficacy. In this study, we introduce novel construction methods, including a Binary Search Tree-based approach that improves time complexity over previous methods. To our knowledge, we are also the first to address biases in construction and design three metrics for measuring bias. Our evaluation shows that our methods have favorable speed and sampling uniformity compared to existing approaches. Lastly, guided by our results, we change the seed construction in strobealign, a short-read mapper, and find that the results change substantially. We suggest combining the two results to improve strobealign's accuracy for the shortest reads in our evaluated datasets. Our evaluation highlights sampling biases that can occur and provides guidance on which operators to use when implementing randstrobes. All methods and evaluation benchmarks are available in a public Github repository at https://github.com/Moein-Karami/RandStrobes. The scripts for running the strobealign analysis are found at https://github.com/NBISweden/strobealign-evaluation.

Chinese Mythological Elements and Contemporary Art Works

"Contemporary art" is an "alternative construction" that seeks a way out in the context of "modernity". It is a work of art constructed using the way of thinking of contemporary people; it is the development of post-modern art and continues after modern art and is derived from it; it is a new concept, new form, and new path. Chinese totem aesthetic art has substantial symbolic value and significance. Among the art categories, dance dramas with mythological themes deeply explore elements of various regions, ethnic groups, and dance types and incorporate traditional dance vocabulary. A large amount of vocabulary is used in dance dramas with mythological themes. This vocabulary not only makes the dance dramas present a unique national style but also sorts out and excavates the cultural relics of different mythological themes, effectively promoting the fullness of dance dramas with mythological themes.

Investigation on trommeled legacy waste from full-scale mining of old dumpsites: Suitable for valorization or scientific disposal?

The burgeoning interest in resource recovery from old dumpsites has significantly propelled the adoption of Landfill Mining (LFM) in recent years. This study is centred around evaluating the quality of materials recovered from the full-scale LFM activities at two major dumpsites in India, focusing on the valorization potential of the segregated legacy waste. A detailed analysis was conducted on the segregated waste fractions based on particle size (−30 mm, 30 to 6 mm, and −6 mm, as sourced from the sites), employing both batch and column leaching methods across a range of liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratios (0.1–10.0 L/kg).The findings reveal a pronounced concentration of contaminants within the −6 mm fraction compared to the 30 to 6 mm and −30 mm fractions. Column leaching tests revealed a reduction in contaminant concentration, correlating with incremental changes in L/S ratio. Notably, this trend remained consistent across varying particle sizes and specific type of contaminants assessed. Notably, color intensity of leachate reduced significantly from 720 to 1640 Platinum Cobalt Units (PCU) at an L/S ratio of 0.1 L/kg to a minimal 94–225 PCU at an L/S of 10 L/kg. Dissolved salts emerged as a primary concern, marking them as significant contaminants in both leaching methods. The analysis confirmed that the segregated fractions comply with the USEPA Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC), permitting their disposal in non-hazardous waste landfills. However, the elevated presence of dissolved salts, exceeding reuse limits by 5–35 times, limits their open or unrestricted reuse. Despite this, isolated reuse aligns with regulations from the Netherlands and Germany, suggesting viable pathways for compliant utilization. Geotechnical assessments indicate the potential for repurposing the −30 mm fraction as alternative earthfill and construction material. While heavy metal leaching does not pose significant concerns, the prevalent unscientific disposal practices near urban settlements highlight potential human health risks.This investigation enriches the understanding of the physicochemical properties, leaching behaviour, and reuse potential of segregated legacy waste, offering crucial insights for civic authorities in determining appropriate reuse and disposal strategies for such materials.

Relations of subordination: Canada’s first indigenous dean of a law school

PurposeThe goal was emancipatory, to characterise and dislodge oppressive management practices, to allow for the possibility of seeking an alternative organisational construction free of postcolonial/subaltern subordination and discrimination in a local, well-documented narrative.Design/methodology/approachThe study was informed by a postcolonial/subaltern perspective and drew on the employment experience of an Aboriginal woman, Canada’s first Indigenous Dean of a law school. The researcher employed a combination of case study and critical discourse analysis with the aim of advancing rich analyses of the complex workings of power and privilege in sustaining Western, postcolonial relations.FindingsThe study made several conclusions: first, that the institution, a medium-sized Canadian university, carefully controlled the Indigenous subaltern to remake her to be palatable to Western sensibilities. Second, the effect of this control was to assimilate her, to subordinate her Indigeneity and to civilise in a manner analogous to the purpose of Indian residential schools. Third, that rather than management’s action being rational and neutral, focused on goal attainment, efficiency and effectiveness, it was an implicit moral judgement based on her race and an opportunity to exploit her value as a means for the university’s growth and status.Originality/valueThrough a postcolonial/subaltern perspective, this study demonstrated how management practices reproduced barriers to the participation of an Indigenous woman and the First Nations community that an organisation was intended to serve. The study demonstrated how a Western perspective – that of a university’s administration, faculty and staff – was privileged, or taken for granted, and the Indigenous perspective subordinated, as the university remained committed to the dispossession of Indigenous knowledge and values.

ANALISIS DESAIN BANGUNAN PENGAMAN PANTAI (SEAWALL) DI KECAMATAN BINAMU KABUPATEN JENEPONTO

One of the districts in South Sulawesi Province which has a coastal area is Jeneponto Regency. For the people of Jeneponto, this coastal area is important not only because of its rich diversity but also because of its economic activities, including fishing, seaweed cultivation and recreation. However, currently coastal erosion in Jeneponto Regency is very serious. Natural systems will deteriorate if prevention of sea water erosion is not implemented, altering coastlines in the process. The aim of this research is to evaluate the design of beach safety buildings that will be used at Tamarunang Beach and look for alternative countermeasures that will be built. The analysis process involves selecting replacement coastal protection structures and design calculations. Sea walls or hexagonal concrete supports are the treatment with the most points according to the matrix used in this research to select alternative coastal safety construction. However, when choosing beach treatment, you need to consider the various conditions along Tamarunang beach. In terms of community willingness, as long as security measures do not hinder the flow of boats carrying fishermen and seaweed farmers, then the community may be given protection along the Tamarunang coast. Based on the research results, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. The height of the sea wall is 2.44 meters; 2. The stone used for the sea wall weighs 27 kg; and 3. The diameter of the stone is 27 cm.

Territory in urban food policies: the case of Spain

Over the last few decades, cities have taken on an active role in the formulation of food policies in line with the transition toward local, sustainable food systems. These policies have been materialized through the formulation of systemic, holistic urban food strategies. By setting up spatial, relational and organizational proximity circuits, they aim to reconnect the places involved in the production and consumption of food within the territory. The objective is to do so by interaction between the networks of actors on the different geographical scales. This article analyzes the food policies of six Spanish cities that signed the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact. Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Vitoria, Valladolid and Zaragoza have fulfilled their promise by formulating food strategies that set out their commitment to the construction of new, urban food systems that reconsider, from a territorial perspective, the relationship between the city and food. Using a conceptual framework that spans two well-known theoretical systems (the local territorial systems (LoTS) and the sustainable food networks (SFN)); a systematic review of the documents generated in the formulation of the urban food policies is carried out. The territorial capital linked to food is examined; the systems of actors that make up the food strategies are identified; the models of governance that the said strategies deploy and their capacity for self-organization are typified; and the potential of the public agendas for encouraging the construction of localized alternatives and the territorial sustainability of the urban food systems are evaluated. The results suggest that the Spanish urban food strategies, although conceptually inspired by the principles of the Milan Pact, are still far from possessing similarly transformative capacities. Such capacities are directly linked to the characteristics of the place: the existence of relational goods connected to food, the attributes of the territorial food capital, the density of the social capital, and the culture of the territorial planning. Beyond the generic references to the commitment to food, it is the context that determines its personality and reach, the solidity of the food governance, and the political sustainability of the processes that one wishes to set up.

Lottery demand, weather and the cross-section of stock returns

We investigate the role that weather-induced mood plays in underperformance of lottery stocks. We hypothesize that during pleasant weather conditions, investors are more likely to become risk-taking and optimistic, and invest more in lottery stocks. This results in overpricing and lower expected return for these stocks. We use sky cloud cover as a proxy for the weather condition and show that the MAX effect mainly exists following sunny weather; however, there is less evidence for the MAX anomaly following cloudy weather. Our finding is robust to using alternative constructions of MAX and skewness measures as well as other proxies for weather condition such as rain, wind and temperature.

On Minimal Entanglement Wedge Cross Section for Holographic Entanglement Negativity

We demonstrate the equivalence of two different conjectures in the literature for the holographic entanglement negativity in AdS3/CFT2, modulo certain constants. These proposals involve certain algebraic sums of bulk geodesics homologous to specific combinations of subsystems, and the entanglement wedge cross section (EWCS) backreacted by a cosmic brane for the conical defect geometry in the bulk gravitational path integral. It is observed that the former conjectures reproduce the field theory replica technique results in the large central charge limit whereas the latter involves constants related to the Markov gap. In this context, we establish an alternative construction for the EWCS of a single interval in a CFT2 at a finite temperature to resolve an issue for the latter proposal involving thermal entropy elimination for holographic entanglement negativity. Our construction for the EWCS correctly reproduces the corresponding field theory results modulo the Markov gap constant in the large central charge limit.

Critical data studies with Latin America: Theorizing beyond data colonialism

The article aims to theorize about critical data studies with Latin America beyond the framework of data colonialism, arguing that the long history of social thought in the region can contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the datafication. It discusses views around dependence, oppressions, and liberation, debating how Latin American authors can be useful for current critical data studies, in a more nuanced and complex vision. It presents the theoretical contributions of Lelia Gonzalez, dependency theorists and Enrique Dussel. Dependency theorists criticize evolutionary frameworks of development and can contribute to discussions around data sovereignty and overexploitation of labor. Gonzalez contributes to a complex vision of Amefrica Ladina, articulating multiple forms of oppression. Enrique Dussel presents a theory of technology considering totality and proposes an ethics of liberation that can be related to alternatives toward data justice and data commons. All theoretical frameworks contribute to thinking about datafication with Latin America not as an isolated phenomenon, but in relation to other countries in the world, and as an analytical key for the construction of alternatives. All perspectives are related to current debates on critical data studies and can make an important contribution to the construction of critical theories about data that consider Latin America also as a site of knowledge production.

A qualitative inquiry into sustainable transitions and business models in Icelandic energy-related companies

In the face of escalating environmental and social crises, the potential for a sustainable transition within the current sociotechnical system has emerged through innovation and alternative technologies. Despite offering diverse perspectives, sustainable transitions remain uncertain in terms of their nature and pathways. The research aims to bridge theory and reality through a case study to investigate the potential for sector-specific businesses to contribute to a sustainable transition within the current sociotechnical system. This study focuses on five Icelandic energy-related companies and two governing bodies within the energy value chain, and examines the sustainability of companies' business models and their contributions to different futures, and contextualizes the results within economic theory. The study identified two alternative economic paradigms, Green Growth (GG) and Post Growth (PG), as potential frameworks for achieving sustainable futures. The findings suggest Icelandic energy-related companies align with GG and predominantly prioritize energy efficiency, transparency enhancement, and environmental impact reduction, reflecting contributions to medium-term tactical level changes within the sociotechnical system. Challenges arise in fully implementing PG principles due to the complexities of reconciling energy production, consumption, and growth goals. The findings underscore the pivotal role of energy-related companies in sustainable transitions but emphasize the need for policy interventions to guide macroeconomic activities towards environmental and social wellbeing. The theoretical contribution of this study is the identification of alternative economic paradigms and construction of a sustainable business model for energy related companies. The practical contribution of this study is the framework used in evaluating the business model of companies in the energy sector which can provide practical understandings of the implementation of sustainable business models and a company's sustainability performance.

A construction of the Shephard–Todd group $G_{32}$ through the Weyl group of type $\mathrm{E_6}$

It is well known that the quotient of the derived subgroup of the Shephard–Todd complex reflection group G_{32} (which has rank 4 ) by its center is isomorphic to the derived subgroup of the Weyl group of type \mathrm{E}_{6} . We show that this isomorphism can be realized through the second exterior power, and take the opportunity to propose an alternative construction of the group G_{32} .