scholarly journals ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF GREENING BUILDING ENVELOPES

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragan Gavrilovic ◽  
Marija Stamenković
Keyword(s):  
Green Roofs ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Ecological Benefits ◽  
Building Envelopes ◽  
Adverse Impacts ◽  
Building Surfaces ◽  
Urban Heat

Extensive urban development brings many adverse impacts which are reflected in degradation of quality of life and health of residents. Some of these impacts are related to increasing impermeable surfaces in city centers, made of concrete, asphalt, glass, etc. From environmental point of view, negative effects of urbanization include increased temperature and the effect of urban heat island which affects global warming, air pollution, flood risks and reduction of space for plants and animals. One of the ways to mitigate these effects is greening building envelope. This paper deals with ecological benefits which can be achieved by covering the building surfaces with greenery. Comparative analyses of buildings covered with greenery and with conventional materials were done based on data from certain studies conducted abroad. The results shown in the paper indicate a significant improvement in the living conditions in green covered buildings, and confirm that integration of vegetation represents a sustainable approach for the envelope of new and existing buildings. Key words: green roofs, green facades, urban environment, ecological benefits, sustainable design.

scholarly journals Lower Limb Kinematics in Individuals with Hip Osteoarthritis during Gait: A Focus on Adaptative Strategies and Interlimb Symmetry

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Micaela Porta ◽  
Massimiliano Pau ◽  
Bruno Leban ◽  
Michela Deidda ◽  
Marco Sorrentino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limb ◽  
Functional Limitations ◽  
Hip Osteoarthritis ◽  
Movement Analysis ◽  
Human Movement ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Gait Patterns ◽  
Limb Kinematics

Among the functional limitations associated with hip osteoarthritis (OA), the alteration of gait capabilities represents one of the most invalidating as it may seriously compromise the quality of life of the affected individual. The use of quantitative techniques for human movement analysis has been found valuable in providing accurate and objective measures of kinematics and kinetics of gait in individuals with hip OA, but few studies have reported in-depth analyses of lower limb joint kinematics during gait and, in particular, there is a scarcity of data on interlimb symmetry. Such aspects were investigated in the present study which tested 11 individuals with hip OA (mean age 68.3 years) and 11 healthy controls age- and sex-matched, using 3D computerized gait analysis to perform point-by-point comparisons of the joint angle trends of hip, knee, and ankle. Angle-angle diagrams (cyclograms) were also built to compute several parameters (i.e., cyclogram area and orientation and Trend Symmetry) from which to assess the degree of interlimb symmetry. The results show that individuals with hip OA exhibit peculiar gait patterns characterized by severe modifications of the physiologic trend at hip level even in the unaffected limb (especially during the stance phase), as well as minor (although significant) alterations at knee and ankle level. The symmetry analysis also revealed that the effect of the disease in terms of interlimb coordination is present at knee joint as well as hip, while the ankle joint appears relatively preserved from specific negative effects from this point of view. The availability of data on such kinematic adaptations may be useful in supporting the design of specific rehabilitative strategies during both preoperative and postoperative periods.

scholarly journals Performance of Retro-Reflective Building Envelope Materials with Fixed Glass Beads

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihui Yuan ◽  
Craig Farnham ◽  
Kazuo Emura
Keyword(s):  
Refractive Index ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Glass Beads ◽  
Urban Heat Islands ◽  
Refractive Indices ◽  
Building Envelopes ◽  
Heat Islands ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Weather Resistance

Urban heat islands (UHI) are growing in size and intensity, which is partly attributable to the large amount of anthropogenic waste heat. Moreover, heat emitted from building exterior walls accounts for a large portion of the total anthropogenic waste heat. Thus, strategies and technologies for preventing the emission of heat from building exterior walls are being pursued by researchers worldwide. Amongst these technologies, the potential of use of retro-reflective (RR) materials instead of diffuse highly reflective (HR) materials applied to building envelopes for UHI mitigation is being studied widely. However, RR materials haven’t been applied to building envelopes in practice due to their unproven weather resistance. In order to develop RR materials with high weather resistance for application to building envelopes, two types of micro glass beads with different refractive indices (1.5, 1.9) and five different colors of base layers were evaluated in this study. Their RR performance was measured by optical experiment and compared to two types of RR sheets commercially available in Japan. The results showed that the glass bead RR samples with a refractive index of 1.9 had much higher retro-reflectivity (better RR capacity) compared to those with a refractive index of 1.5.

Airtightness of Buildings in Slovakia

2013 ◽  
Vol 649 ◽  
pp. 3-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dušan Katunský ◽  
Maros Nemec ◽  
Martin Kamenský
Keyword(s):  
Energy Savings ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Building Envelopes ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
Energy Economy ◽  
Materials Used ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Made In

The actual trend of civil engineering leads to quality improving of housing and to saving of all participated energies. Airtightness of buildings´ envelope constructions has an important job in the point of view of energy savings and energy economy. Undesirable air flow occurs through joints, cracks and leaks in building envelopes. It has a significant influence to final quality of an indoor environment and energy demands and needs of warmth for heating resulting from it. The paper presents results of chosen airtightness measurements made in family and apartment buildings in the Slovak Republic, the achieved level of airtightness by various construction systems and outer walls, as well as which impact for air changes has location and selection of materials used for airtightness layer in the construction of outer walls at pressure difference of 50 Pa (n50).

scholarly journals Suspension of Care for Patients With Spasticity During COVID-19 Pandemic: Ethical and Medico-Legal Point of View Starting From an Italian Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio De Donno ◽  
Adriano Acella ◽  
Carmelinda Angrisani ◽  
Giulia Gubinelli ◽  
Gianluca Musci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronically Ill ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Perceived Quality Of Life ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Provision Of Care

The COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized the habits of entire communities, having even more profound negative effects on assistance for the chronically ill. The sudden demand for extraordinary resources caught all worldwide countries unprepared, highlighting shortages in provision of care services. This applies to all patients, affected by COVID-19 or not, as many need continuing access to chronic diseases treatments. Almost all of the energy available has been directed toward care of COVID-19 patients, and almost nothing has been done to continue therapy for patients with spasticity. This study builds on a recent article and discusses its results as a basis for highlighting the ethical dilemmas and unintended consequences of health systems changing their priorities during the pandemic. The above mentioned study has shown increased patient-perceived spasticity during lockdown (72.2%) with reductions in perceived quality of life (70.9%). Telemedicine tools have proved insufficient, with access by only 7.3% of these patients. Despite the health emergency, it cannot be denied that this situation is a violation of these patients' rights and dignity. The healthcare system will also have to bear increased costs in the future to recover the loss of previous therapies benefits, because of their interruption. The real challenge will be to exploit the critical issues emerged during the pandemic, and to resolve the measures needed to take the care to the patient, and not vice versa. This applies particularly to fragile patients, to respect their dignity and right to care.

scholarly journals Potential for Application of Retroreflective Materials instead of Highly Reflective Materials for Urban Heat Island Mitigation

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihui Yuan ◽  
Kazuo Emura ◽  
Craig Farnham
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Green Roofs ◽  
Heat Sinks ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Limited Effect ◽  
Building Envelopes ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Cool Roofs

Research on urban heat island (UHI) mitigation has been carried out globally. Several strategies have been proposed or developed to mitigate UHI, including highly reflective (HR) envelopes of buildings, green roofs, urban vegetation, shading, heat sinks, and air-conditioning efficiency. Among these techniques, HR envelopes have been extensively studied as an effective method to mitigate the UHI effect by reducing energy consumption. However, because most of HR materials are diffusive, HR envelopes applied to vertical surfaces can reflect both onto roads and nearby buildings. Additionally, HR roofs cannot reflect all incoming solar radiation to the sky if there are high buildings around it. Thus, HR materials applied as building envelopes have a limited effect against the solar contribution to the UHI. In order to solve this problem, retroreflective (RR) materials, which reflect the solar radiation back towards the source, have been studied and developed to be applied as building envelopes instead of HR materials. This paper summarizes several previous researches on HR envelopes and cool roofs and summarizes several current researches on RR materials. The potential for application of RR envelopes in cities is proposed with consideration of economic and environmental factors.

scholarly journals Green Systems Integrated to the Building Envelope: Strategies and Technical Solution for the Italian Case

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Santi ◽  
Angelo Bertolazzi ◽  
Emanuele Leporelli ◽  
Umberto Turrini ◽  
Giorgio Croatto
Keyword(s):  
Green Roofs ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Technical Solution ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Existing Structures ◽  
Italian Case ◽  
Heritage Buildings ◽  
The Moment

Green roofs and green and living walls are increasingly seen in cities, because they are an important strategy that addresses some key urban environmental issues and allows the achievement of different benefits. Among these, the most relevant ones are reduction of the “Urban Heat Island” effect, of rainfall contributions to the sewer system, of environmental impact and energy saving, and retention of harmful substance. The study aims to analyze different systems of greenery systems integrated (GSI), green roofs (GR), and green and living walls (GW-LW), as a possible retrofit technique of the envelope of heritage buildings and especially their applications in the context of historic cities in Italy, pointing out positive and negative aspects. Particularly, it pays attention to the green retrofitting of buildings and to the technical problems related to the installation of systems, since at the moment there are already several studies that show the environmental and microclimatic benefits of the integration of vegetation in architecture. This study tries to highlight the series of design procedures necessary both in the preliminary phase and then in the executive phase to relate the GSI to the existing building envelopes. The GR, from the results of the simulations conducted, demonstrate a greater simplicity in their construction, with improvements also from the point of view of the working loads on the existing structures, since the interventions are performed more easily than those on the facade. The study highlights the architectural needs that are not always considered such as the increase in the thickness of the roof and the related need to raise its edges, changing the perspective of the building. On the other hand, the GW and the LW show some complexity in their construction because they must deal with facades often rich in decorative elements and where openings affect the assemblage and connection works such as the tinsmiths of the intrados of the openings. It must be taken into consideration the necessity of having to drill masonry, often inhomogeneous, to connect fixings and the problems of stability this entails must be carefully analyzed.

scholarly journals A lean termelési rendszer munkásokra gyakorolt hatása (Effects of lean production on quality of working life from workers’ point of view)

2011 ◽  
pp. 53-63
Author(s):  
Dávid Losonci
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Lean Production ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Quality Of Working Life ◽  
Positive Effects

A lean termelési rendszer munkásokra gyakorolt hatásaival foglalkozó irodalomban nincsen egyetértés annak megítélésében, hogy a hatásokban a negatív vagy pozitív hatások dominálnak-e. A szerző tanulmánya ehhez a vitához a pszichológiai, egészségügyi, munkahelyi jellemzőkre és a dolgozói elégedettségre vonatkozó eredmények áttekintésével kapcsolódik. A munkások elégedettségének vizsgálata arra utal, hogy a lean termelési rendszer egyszerre növeli és csökkenti is az elégedettséget, így az összességében nem változik más termelési rendszerekhez képest. A lean termelés kritikusai azt hangsúlyozzák, hogy a többi tényező negatívan hat a munkásokra. Megállapításaik megalapozottsága a nagyon kevés empirikus munka miatt megkérdőjelezhető. Ugyanakkor a tevékenységmenedzsment kutatói érdemben nem tudják cáfolni a stressz, a sérülések és betegségek kockázatának növekedését és a munka intenzívebbé válását. A negatív hatások és a várt pozitív hatások hiányának kiemelése felveti, hogy a munkavállalók bevonásán alapuló lean termelési rendszer nehezen ültethető át a gyakorlatba, illetve hogy a lean termelés intenzifikáción alapuló modellje is elterjedt. _____________ This literature review contributes to the debate related to the effects of lean production on workers. The study reviews different dimensions of the debate and focuses on issues like worker’s satisfaction, psychological effects, health and safety aspects, and workplace characteristics. Findings of researches reviewed in this paper cannot confirm that from workers’ point of view lean production is better than other production initiatives. Lean production enhances and decreases worker’s satisfaction at the same time, altogether, the satisfaction of workers does not change significantly compared to other systems. The negative impact of the other factors (psychological etc.) on workers is usually emphasized in the critique of lean production. Although, the limited number of (empirical) studies doubts these critical voices. However, Operations Management can not reject negative effects like increasing level of stress, increased risks of health and safety problems or intensification of work. The emphasis of the negative effects and the lack of positive effects can refer to the difficult employment of lean involvement system, or simply reflect that the model of lean intensification system is widely spread.

Can trust become a factor of economic growth? Dynamic changes in the level of trust of Russian youth

2020 ◽  
pp. 92-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. I. Bakhtigaraeva ◽  
A. A. Stavinskaya
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Generalized Trust ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Future ◽  
Analysis Of Dynamics

The article considers the role of trust in the economy, the mechanisms of its accumulation and the possibility of using it as one of the growth factors in the future. The advantages and disadvantages of measuring the level of generalized trust using two alternative questions — about trusting people in general and trusting strangers — are analyzed. The results of the analysis of dynamics of the level of generalized trust among Russian youth, obtained within the study of the Institute for National Projects in 10 regions of Russia, are presented. It is shown that there are no significant changes in trust in people in general during the study at university. At the same time, the level of trust in strangers falls, which can negatively affect the level of trust in the country as a whole, and as a result have negative effects on the development of the economy in the future. Possible causes of the observed trends and the role of universities are discussed. Also the question about the connection between the level of education and generalized trust in countries with different quality of the institutional environment is raised.

COMBINATORIAL POLYNOMIALLY COMPUTABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF SUBSTITUTIONS AND THEIR PROPERTIES

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-41
Author(s):  
VLADIMIR NIKONOV ◽  
◽  
ANTON ZOBOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Expectation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Computational Point ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bijective Function ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Element Base ◽  
Selection Of

The construction and selection of a suitable bijective function, that is, substitution, is now becoming an important applied task, particularly for building block encryption systems. Many articles have suggested using different approaches to determining the quality of substitution, but most of them are highly computationally complex. The solution of this problem will significantly expand the range of methods for constructing and analyzing scheme in information protection systems. The purpose of research is to find easily measurable characteristics of substitutions, allowing to evaluate their quality, and also measures of the proximity of a particular substitutions to a random one, or its distance from it. For this purpose, several characteristics were proposed in this work: difference and polynomial, and their mathematical expectation was found, as well as variance for the difference characteristic. This allows us to make a conclusion about its quality by comparing the result of calculating the characteristic for a particular substitution with the calculated mathematical expectation. From a computational point of view, the thesises of the article are of exceptional interest due to the simplicity of the algorithm for quantifying the quality of bijective function substitutions. By its nature, the operation of calculating the difference characteristic carries out a simple summation of integer terms in a fixed and small range. Such an operation, both in the modern and in the prospective element base, is embedded in the logic of a wide range of functional elements, especially when implementing computational actions in the optical range, or on other carriers related to the field of nanotechnology.

Physical capital stock, technological upgrading and modernisation in Hungary

2005 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Szalavetz
Keyword(s):  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Physical Capital ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Technology Generation ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Physical Capital Accumulation

This paper discusses the relation between the quality and quantity indicators of physical capital and modernisation. While international academic literature emphasises the role of intangible factors enabling technology generation and absorption rather than that of physical capital accumulation, this paper argues that the quantity and quality of physical capital are important modernisation factors, particularly in the case of small, undercapitalised countries that recently integrated into the world economy. The paper shows that in Hungary, as opposed to developed countries, the technological upgrading of capital assets was not necessarily accompanied by the upgrading of human capital i.e. the thesis of capital skill complementarity did not apply to the first decade of transformation and capital accumulation in Hungary. Finally, the paper shows that there are large differences between the average technological levels of individual industries. The dualism of the Hungarian economy, which is also manifest in terms of differences in the size of individual industries' technological gaps, is a disadvantage from the point of view of competitiveness. The increasing differences in the size of the technological gaps can be explained not only with industry-specific factors, but also with the weakness of technology and regional development policies, as well as with institutional deficiencies.

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