Long-term simulation of the activated sludge process at the Hanover-Gümmerwald pilot WWTP

The aim of this study was to obtain a validated model, consisting of the Activated Sludge Model No. 3 (ASM3) and the EAWAG bio-P module, which could be used as a decision tool for estimating the maximum allowable peak flow to wastewater treatment plants during stormwater conditions. The databases used for simulations originated from the Hanover-Gummerwald pilot plant subjected to a series of controlled, short-term hydraulic shock loading experiments. The continuous influent wastewater composition was generated using on-line measurements of only three parameters (COD, N-NH4+, P-PO4 3-). Model predictions were compared with on-line data from different locations in the activated sludge system including the aerobic zone (concentrations of N-NH4+, N-NO3-) and secondary effluent (concentrations of P-PO4 3-). The simulations confirmed experimental results concerning the capabilities of the system for handling increased flows during stormwater events. No (or minor) peaks of N-NH4+ were predicted for the line with the double dry weather flowrate, whereas peaks of N-NH4+ at the line with the quadruple dry weather flowrate were normally exceeding 8 g Nm(-3) (similar to the observations).     

The appropriation and transformation of the landscape: the urbanization process resulting from the cultivation of the erva mate in Paraná (Brazil)

This paper aims to describe the landscape patterns and the urbanization process which evolved due to the mate tea (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hill) cultivation in the Brazilian state of Paraná. Drinking mate tea is an ancient tradition of the Guarani Indians who settled the southeastern region of South America. The large-scale cultivation of mate in Paraná has been taking place for centuries, mainly in the region around the city of Irati. Mate cultivation induced the development of settlements and influenced their growth; it stamped the economic and social character of the region, and shaped a rich and characteristic landscape. As other cultural landscapes, the ‘mate landscape’ is undergoing changes, with agriculture and urbanization being the most important drivers. To sustain its values it is necessary to call for attention to its environmental, economic, social and cultural virtues. We discuss the ecological and aesthetic value of mate culture, and the social and environmental demands of its future. We also offer arguments and some ideas to create from the landscape a significant community added value, bearing in mind that landscape is a key element of the quality of life and an important asset for future generations.     

Influence of process performance during the construction stage on achieving end‐project goals

Within a project environment, good process performance can be seen as indicative of eventual success of achieving end‐project goals. A model is proposed for identifying the links between process performance during construction and end‐project goals. The model is developed using process mapping technique to identify a number of process‐based key performance indicators (KPIs) designed for use in controlling process performance in the construction stage. These KPIs were then linked to generic project goals to measure the perceived degree of influence of process performance on the achievement of end‐project goals. The strength of these links within the model was established through a number of in‐depth interviews with respondents. Analysis of the results using methods of ranking and statistics has shown that some processes are perceived to have stronger relationships with the end‐project goals than others. The proposed process‐based KPIs hence offer an opportunity for control of the processes during the construction stage and eventually to influence the projects’ outcomes. In addition to the management of project time and cost, the model provides a broader focus of control that includes other multiple aspects such as the management of interactions between internal and external stakeholders as well as of information and quality management.     

Study on the seepage characteristics and degradation mechanism of a single-jointed sandstone under the cyclic dry–wet process in the Three Gorges reservoir

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - The hydro-fluctuation belt is the most sensitive part of the reservoir bank slope. The rock mass in the hydro-fluctuation belt has been...     

Mapping stakeholders’ cultural learning in the hospital briefing process

In the context of a major hospital redevelopment project, briefing is conceived as an organic and cyclical process of cultural learning whereby project and hospital representatives gradually converge upon a shared meaning of each other’s values, beliefs and needs over time. Using a comparative cause mapping that draws on a case study approach and interviews, it was found that the clinicians’ understanding of the key cultural concepts differed significantly from all other groups and that clinicians’ ability to influence hospital design outcomes is constrained by their relative social marginalization in the briefing process. It follows that hospital facilities would better meet client needs if the briefing process is managed as a process through which project participants interact to socially construct a common understanding of project objectives and requirements; and if knowledge about facility requirements is not merely ‘given’ information but is the result of cultural learning involving social processes among the briefing participants.     

Shan-shui myth and history: the locally planned process of combining the ancient city and West Lake in Hangzhou, 1896–1927

In early modern China, several modern construction plans were carried out in Hangzhou's ancient city centre and West Lake, leading to the formation of a lake-city combined urban form, which is now valued for its uniqueness and characteristically Chinese cityscape aesthetic. The catalyst for this process of combining the ancient city and West Lake was a plan titled ‘Building a New Market’ (1914), developed on the basis of a draft presented in the Zhejiang provincial assembly during the late Qing Dynasty, striving for urban renewal by promoting West Lake. After the Xinhai Revolution, seizing the opportunity of physical and temporal changes, local officials successfully implemented this plan by using pioneering planning methods to strengthen the link between the ancient city and West Lake. The steps of this plan's implementation, namely ‘pull down the city wall – build roads – construct new market’, widely influenced other cities in the early 1920s. Also, this plan led to two subsequent projects, the Circling Road plan (1920) and West Lake Expo (1922/1927), furthering the urbanization reform of West Lake aimed at making it part of the city.     

A Primary Analysis of the Morphology Formation of the Market Towns in the Region of Rivers and Lakes to the South of the Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River

The market towns in the region of riv-ers and lakes to the south of the lowerreaches of the Yangtze River in China havelong focussed people's attention upon theirunique formal structures.In this region ofrivers and lakes,its natural morphology is in     

Applications of rock failure process analysis （RFPA） method

Brittle failure of rocks is a classical rock mechanical problem.Rock failure not only involves initiation and propagation of single crack,but also is associated with initiation,propagation and coalescence of many cracks.The rock failure process analysis(RFPA)tool has been proposed since 1995.The heterogeneity of rocks at a mesoscopic level is considered by assuming that the material properties follow the Weibull distribution.Elastic damage mechanics is used for describing the constitutive law of the meso-le...     

London 2012 Velodrome – integrating advanced simulation into the design process

The highly acclaimed London 2012 Velodrome indoor cycling arena, which has achieved BREEAM ‘excellent’, has been designed using a process which integrates considerable levels of complex building simulation across all design stages. This includes a wide range of airflow, thermal, daylight and energy models used to simultaneously support and drive the design as well as quantify the overall performance. Three building simulation competences associated with the integration of advanced simulation into the architectural design process have been identified: simulation competence, integration competence and holistic design competence. The Velodrome has been an exemplar in terms of the use of simulation to positively influence building orientation, form, detailing and performance.     

The evolution process of Chicago’s industrial land-use policy

Despite the industrial restructuring process that occurred between 1970s and 1980s in the Western World, the city of Chicago adopted an innovative land-use industrial policy for curbing the structural decline of manufacturing. The main aim was to preserve living wages manufacturing jobs for the Chicago residents that could not access the service sectors. Chicago’s industrial land-use policy experience, both in its historical and future perspectives, is an interesting top-down municipal policy that shows how the relationship between land-use planning and manufacturing shapes the city not only in spatial terms but also in social and economical terms.     

Use of Geophysical Techniques for the Localization of the Restricting Zones of Permeability in the Bottom of Basin： Forecasting the Zones of Clogging

Measurements of dielectric parameters followed by permeability tests are performed on soil samples of infiltration basin. The dielectric parameters are obtained by TDR （time domain reflectrometry） measurements from which it is found that the measurement of the permittivity, the electrical conductivity and the relaxation time of compacted soil allows the mapping of the values of the coefficient of permeability at the surface of an infiltration basin. With the distribution of the coefficient of permeability, the areas of water stagnation can be detected before the basin filling. The study proves that the TDR measurements for the detection of these zones can be used for the management of infiltration basins for sustainable working and their remediation can be undertaken before the rainy seasons.     

The Protection of the East Tombs of the Qing Dynasty and the Restoration of Historic Environment

The general planning is aimed to protect the historic relics and their environ-ment while paying attention to the overall restoration of historic environment onthe basis of historic and present characteristics of the East Tombs of the Qing Dyn-asty.Attention should also be paid to the coordinated development in other as-pects of socio-economic and tourist constructions.     

Analysis of the causality links between the growth of the construction industry and the growth of the macro‐economy in Ghana

A vibrant construction industry in a developing country, that mobilizes human and local material resources in the development and maintenance of buildings, housing and physical infrastructure, is an important means to promote increased local employment and accelerate economic growth. Ghana, a country of about 22 million people, currently has one of the fastest growing economies in West Africa. The Government of Ghana (GOG) has recently set a target of annual economic growth rate of 8% and above, up from annual growth rates of 5–6% in the past five years (2001–05). It intends to use the agricultural sector as the major vehicle for achieving such high growth rates in order for the country to reach the status of a middle income country by 2015. Surprisingly, the construction industry was left out from the list of major growth drivers of the economy. We contend that with the construction industry currently making up the third largest sector of the economy, special attention should be given to this industry as one of the main drivers of economic growth in Ghana. Therefore we conducted a study to analyse the causality links between the growth in the construction industry and the growth in the macro‐economy of Ghana, measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), to ascertain whether the construction industry can be used to lead the entire economy on a growth path. The analysis was based on a simple Granger causality test using time series data from 1968 to 2004. We showed that growth in the construction industry Granger‐caused growth in GDP, with a three‐year lag. The construction industry needs to be considered as one of the major drivers of economic growth in Ghana.     

A Summary of the Symposium of the International Housing Issue

The Ministry of Urban and Rural Con-struction and Environmental Protection(MURCEP) of China and the UN Centerfor Human Settlement jointly sponsored asymposium on the international housing is-sue from June 9 to 15,1987 in Kunming,China.The symposium was an importantevent co-sponsored by China and the U.N.Center for Human settlement in the Interna-tional Year of Shelter.lts main topic was:to     

Anticipating the “Bilbao effect”: Transformations of the city of Arles before the opening of the Luma Foundation

By analyzing data from the 2006/07 and 2013 French census as well as data extracted from the Yellow Pages, this paper seeks to understand how the French city of Arles is preparing for the arrival of Frank O. Gehry’s Luma Foundation landmark building in 2019, and how a big-scale construction site, still devoid of its future aesthetics and cultural function, impacts the urban core. To do this, we consider three hypotheses: (1) The Rise of New Audiences: a landmark building attracts the new populations to the pre-existing urban cultural core, (2) Residential Pattern: a landmark building induces social transformation of surrounding neighborhoods, (3) Mobility: a landmark building induces the arrival of the “most talented and educated” people. After testing these hypotheses with cartographical and statistical methods, our findings demonstrate strong support for Mobility, and mixed support for The Rise of New Audiences and Residential Pattern. Even though the causal links between the landmark building and new urban dynamics are difficult to prove, our results reveal that Arles is “customizing” itself to the forthcoming cultural and aesthetic dimensions of the Luma Foundation.     

Property-rights regime in transition: Understanding the urban regeneration process in China – A case study of Jinhuajie,Guangzhou

A variety of stakeholders have proposed different models of urban regeneration of China, and indicate an institutional arrangement that is more complex than a model dominated by the government or neoliberal interests. This study argues that the path to an effective property-rights regime for urban regeneration has become circuitous as it has needed to follow the trial-and-error process of institutional transition in China. Operational-level rights originally assigned to different actors have been gradually reclaimed by the land users and by the effect of market forces through ‘property-rights regime in transition’. Four rounds of regeneration were observed in Jinhuajie, Guangzhou over the past three decades, indicating the adoption of four property-rights regimes that have evolved sequentially, namely, a semi-open market for neighbourhood redevelopment, a semi-open market for land occupied by state-owned enterprises, an open market for redevelopment and an open market for both redevelopment and refurbishment. Each property-rights regime only reassigns one or two bundles of operational-level property rights from one actor to another to provide opportunities for older organisations to adapt to the new system. This inevitably led to an interweaving urban fabric and sub-optimal results of urban regeneration. This research suggests greater attention should be paid to cases of regeneration in different contexts as well as the interactions among the various stakeholders.     

Numerical analysis of thermal process in the near field around vertical disposal of high-level radioactive waste简

For deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in granite, the temperature on the HLW canisters is commonly designed to be lower than 100 °C. This criterion dictates the dimension of the repository. Based on the concept of HLW disposal in vertical boreholes, thermal process in the near field (host rock and buffer) surrounding HLW canisters has been simulated by using different methods. The results are drawn as follows: (a) the initial heat power of HLW canisters is the most important and sensitive parameter for evolution of temperature field; (b) the thermal properties and variations of the host rock, the engineered buffer, and possible gaps between canister and buffer and host rock are the additional key factors governing the heat transformation; (c) the gaps width and the filling by water or air determine the temperature offsets between them.     

On the Regionization of the Industrial Policy

Combining theory withpractice,this article expounded theintrinsic links between the industrialpolicy and the policy ofregionization and the necessity of du-al guides and restrictions for the con-duct of regional main body;the or-ganic combination of the unificationand principle of the persistency ofthe country's industrial policy as a     

An Exploration of the Thinking and Method of the Revision of Beijing''''s Master Planning

This article introduces the new thinking andmethod of the revision of Beijing's master plan.The plannersmade new exploration and breakthroughs in such aspects asthe involvement of the general public in planning,the intro-duction of value concept,unified planning of both urban andrural areas,how to link with the future goals of development,etc.