Use of gestalt in wayfinding design and analysis of wayfinding process

The authors brought forward the definition of “Gestalt space” and indicated this kind of space can be easily cognized. Three experiments showed that “classification” and “grouping” are the human strategies to solve wayfinding problems. “Similarity” and “Legibility” of the space are advantageous to help people to complete wayfinding tasks. The designer should provide the essential “Legibility” in Gestalt space, by using some techniques such as “break” and “accession” to settle the wayfinding problem. __________ Translated from Architectural Journal, 2007, (5): 89–91 [译自: 建筑学报]     

Polyurethane foam: Some studies relating to its behavior in fires

According to one test, polyurethane foam is “self-extinguishing,” while another classifies it as a “surface of rapid flame spread.” The author has found that its burning rate is sensitive to the applied heat flux and suggests that the fire resistance of polyurethane foam be assessed in tests using more realistic heat flux levels. Note: This paper is Crown Copyright 1971.     

"Composition" and regularisation of architectural production in contemporary China

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the “Beaux-Arts” “composition” sustained the constitution of design principles for architectural production in China in the last two decades of the twentieth century. “Composition”, a key technique of the “Beaux-Arts” system, is not a simple act of “putting elements together” into a unified whole, but also relates to an array of different “constructions” of architectural knowledge which regulate and sustain the act of design. Through analysing the structure of three “textbooks” published in the early 1980s, this paper examines three aspects of the “constructions”: the setting up of the principles for governing architectural forms, regularisation of design methods and approaches for architectural practice, and the construction of a “tradition” for the expression of “Chineseness”.     

Field test and evaluation of residential sprinkler systems: Part III

A series of full-scale fire tests utilizing prototype “quick-response” sprinklers was conducted in a two-story residence in Los Angeles, CA, and a mobile home in Charlotte, NC. A prime objective of the program was to test the performance of alternative sprinkler designs to “control” the development of fire in single-family dwellings and mobile homes. Part of the mobile home test series focused on a study of the comparative activation times of sprinklers and smoke detectors installed in the same areas under a variety of test conditions. The results of that phase of the test program are given here. National Fire Protection Association REFERENCE: Cote, arthur E., “Field Test and Evaluation of Residential Sprinkler Systems”, Fire Technology, Vol. 20, No. 2, May 1984, p. 41. Mr. Cote is Assistant Vice President (Engineering & Technical Services) for the NFPA. He served as project manager for the test series insofar as the NFPA had overall management responsibilities for the program.     

Housing management matters: Citizenship and managerialism in the new welfare market

This paper addresses three neglected issues in the restructuring of housing policy and provision in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s: first, the relationship between welfare restructuring and management regimes; second, the nature of local variations in the impact of welfare restructuring; and third, the significance of human agency interpretations of change. The paper starts by summarizing the main features of welfare state restructuring and then considers recent manifestations of citizenship and managerialism in housing. Three competing conceptions of citizenship rights are used to examine changing notions of welfare: “market efficiency”, “institutionalized rights” and the “radical challenge” provided by social movements. A four-part typology of the main concepts and themes in the “new public management”—“efficiency”, “downsizing and decentralization”, “excellence” and “public service”—is used to present the main components of change in management regimes. The paper draws on literatures on housing management, citizenship and “the new public management” and on recent research into tenant participation, housing rights and housing advice services. Conclusions are drawn about how tensions between different conceptions of citizenship and public management are implicated with national and global influences at the local level to create particular welfare outcomes.     

Comparative analysis of drinking water quality of different origin based on the results of integrated bioassay

The quality of water from public drinking water supply system, from artesian wells in Kiev and bottled non-carbonated drinking water produced by various companies was investigated using a set of animal and plant test organisms. The integral index—a total toxicity index which allowed researchers to classify water into different categories from “safe” to “highly hazardous” served as a water quality evaluation criterion.     

Mechanisms of large-scale landslides in China

Large-scale landslides in western China are famous for their size, complex formation mechanism and serious destruction. Data were collected from some typical large-scale landslides in mainland China in the 20th century. A number of geo-mechanical models have been identified: the “three sections” model (sliding; tension cracking; shearing), “retaining wall collapse”, “horizontal-pushing” in horizontal strata; large-scale toppling in counter-inclined strata; the creep-bending–shearing model etc. Large-scale rock landslides are generally accompanied by sudden brittle failure of the “locking section” along the potential sliding surface. The paper discusses the importance of this “locking section” which is key to assessing slope geohazard and to the development of control/mitigation measures.     

Measuring the effects of air quality regulations on “dirty” firm births: Evidence from the neo- and mature-regulatory periods

In this article, we use annual (1980–90) county-level manufacturing plant location data for New York State to examine the effects of the 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments on the location decisions of new pollution-intensive manufacturing plants in the “:neo-regulatory” (1980-84) and “mature-regulatory” (1985–90) phases of the Act's implementation. Our results suggest that the temporal effects of regulation vary. Whereas the location decisions of pollution intensive manufacturing firms were unaffected by the Act's regulatory restrictions in the “neo-regulatory” period, the restrictions appear to have had a significant negative impact on the location decisions of these types of firms in the Act's “mature-regulatory” phase. The diversion of new pollution intensive plants to counties with less stringent environmental regulations suggests that current US environmental regulations may be leading to a “browning process” whereby counties historically free of pollution become havens for polluters. Received: 2 April 1999 / Accepted: 18 October 1999     

A design method for seepage barriers with allowance for the initial filtration gradient

A method is presented for calculation of the basic parameters of an anti-seepage “wall” with allowance for the initial filtration gradient of the filler material. The case of plane-radial seepage through a contour “wall” of the perfect and imperfect type, which is constructed by various modifications of the “wall-in-the-ground” method and using kinematic jet energy, is discussed. Computational analytical relationships and working equations for a number of special cases are derived in general form for the schemes under consideration. A software package, which makes it possible to make a rational projection of structural parameters of the “wall” and determine the position of the depression curve ahead of the “wall,” is developed. Translated from Osnovaniya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov, Nos. 4–5, pp. 37–42, July–October, 1998.     

Location-allocation aspects of Tinbergen-Bos systems

Tinbergen-Bos Systems (TBS) operationalise L?sch's general spatial economic equilibrium model in terms of “centers” (clusters of activities) and “systems” (combinations of centers). The initial specifications are generalised to a non-discrete metric, and a method is derived to solve the resulting location-allocation problem by linear programming. Applications are presented, the conclusion being that the way is paved to handle large quasi-dynamic TBS, allowing to study the evolution of “economic landscapes”. Received: December 1997/Accepted: May 1998     

Field test and evaluation of residential sprinkler systems: Part II

A series of National Fire Protection Association full-scale tests involving sprinkler installations was conducted in a two-story residence in Los Angeles, CA, and in a mobile home in Charlotte, NC. Previous laboratory tests, including full-scale room fire tests, had indicated that a prototype “quick-response” sprinkler was effective in controlling residential home fires. More full-scale fire tests under less controlled and more operational conditions were considered necessary to confirm or deny this conclusion. Part I of this three-part series (November 1983) explained the objectives of the tests and the test procedures that were to be followed. This second part describes the criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of sprinkler systems using the “quick response” sprinkler in the series of seventy-six tests and the results of those tests. Part III will cover that phase of the test program that focused on a comparison of sprinkler and smoke detector activation times in the mobile home test structure. National Fire Protection Association Mr. Cote is Assistant Vice President (Engineering & Technical Services) for the NFPA. He served as project manager for the test series insofar as the NFPA had overall management responsibilities for the program. Reference: Cote Arthur E., “Field Test and Evaluation of Residential Sprinkler Systems: Part II” Fire Technology, Vol. 20, No. 1, February 1984, p. 48.     

Simulation of a building and its HVAC system with an equation solver: Application to benchmarking

The today-availability of powerful engineering equation solvers is opening very new possibilities in technical component modelling and in system simulation. The simulation models, the “user guide” and the “reference guide” are all included in a same file. Reliable “reference” and “simplified” models are currently available for the building zone and for most (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) HVAC components. Focus is given here on “simplified” models and on a simulation tool, called “Benchmark”. This tool should help an auditor to make the best use of the limited information usually available about actual fuel and electricity consumptions and to get a very first evaluation of the actual performances of a given HVAC system. An example of such use is presented. Another simulation tools and more information about the modelling of HVAC components will be presented in a further paper.     

Relationship between office workers'' staying and workstation attributes in a non-territorial office using ultra wide band sensor network

This paper investigates the staying and moving characteristics of office workers in a non-territorial office using an ultra wide band (UWB) impulse radio sensor network. The differences between office workers’ staying and moving are clarified according to the individual workstation type that they select. The study determines the characteristics of each type of workstation. By clarifying office workers’ preference for staying and moving with regard to individual workstation types and office worker post, the reasons why office workers in different posts tended to select different types of workstations were revealed. Specifically, leaders tended to select workstations at the “inner meeting corner side” most frequently, as they had a greater need to stay in other areas. In contrast, ordinary staff needed to visit office workers in other areas less often, and as such, they tended to select individual workstations at the “middle meeting corner side.” Barring this, they tended to select individual workstations at the “middle corridor side” or “outer-meeting corner side.” Temporary staff members had little need to visit or stay at other places so they tended to select individual workstations at the “window side,” which is seldom visited or stayed at by other office workers and they could be disturbed less often from their solo work.     

Evolution, interaction and welfare An introduction

A jubilee often triggers backward-oriented reflections, sometimes nostalgic. A jubilee can also be used as an excuse for looking forward. This special issue is composed in honour of ?ke E. Andersson, delayed in the sense that the anniversary (60 years) dates back to 1996. The contributions to this volume have also gone through a maturing process in the form of reviews and revisions. The contributions are organised in three thematic groups. The themes appear in the sequence “Evolution”, “Welfare”, and “Interaction”.     

Negatives in symmetric input–output tables: the impossible quest for the Holy Grail

In the Supply-Use (or Make-Use) input–output models, “product-technology” (PT) or “fixed-industry-sales-structure” (FISS) assumptions are more widely adopted (SNA, Eurostat) for deriving symmetric input–output tables (SIOT) than “industry-technology” or “fixed-product-sales-structure” assumptions, but generate negatives in the SIOT. A SIOT deduced from the Supply-Use model is considered as satisfactory as soon as it contains no more negatives; scholars have focused on the negatives in the SIOT and on how to remove them. However, as a SIOT may include no negatives even if there are some negatives in the inverse Supply matrix, we have completely reversed the reasoning. A counter-example demonstrates that computing the inverse Supply matrix, as imposed by PT or FISS assumptions, is mathematically a nonsense operation even when the symmetric input–output tables do not include any negative; this result is new. Hence, deriving a SIOT under PT or FISS assumption must be rejected. Three applications are provided: Austria 2000 and 2005 and USA 2007.     

The trouble with fire intensity

The author discusses the inadequacies and limitations of the term “fire intensity” as it is used to describe the severity of forest fires and suggests that the term “fire front power” is more appropriate. General Physical Scientist, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, USDA, Forest Service, Macon, Georgia.     

Upper bounds of the bearing capacity of strip foundations

An alternate scheme, which is illustrated by examples, is proposed for determination of the upper (“kinematic”) bound of the bearing capacity of the “foundation/soil-bed” system. Translated from Osnovaniya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov, No. 6, pp. 2–6, November–December, 1997.     

Experimental verification of the rule of moisture moment

According to the “rule of moisture moment,” the gain in fire endurance due to moisture is proportional to the moment of moisture about the exposed surface of the test specimen. The experimental results presented here confirm this suggestion.     

Stay or Go? Human Behavior and Decision Making in Bushfires and Other Emergencies

The policy of “leave early or stay and defend”, often shortened to the “stay or go” policy, has been the subject of critical review in the Royal Commission that followed the recent disastrous bushfires in Victoria, Australia. The need for people to evacuate or stay and defend their property and protect themselves is a critical life safety decision for many people on days of high bushfire activity. Some limited research has been undertaken into this individual decision making in bushfires. Other fields of emergency management also require people to make similar decisions as to whether to evacuate or stay in a “defend in place” situation. This paper examines research into “stay or go” strategies and decision making performance for high rise buildings, looking for common factors that may inform the bushfire situation and potential reforms for policy. Similarly, research into Hurricane Katrina and the failures to evacuate when mandated provide further insight into factors which can affect or postpone decision making. A number of common improvements related to emergency preparedness, situation awareness and trusted communication systems emerge in all these fields. However, this paper also suggests that this decision making in bushfires is more complex that just two simple options of “stay or go”. A greater understanding of group behavior and socio-cultural factors and their impact on personal decision making is required if more effective emergency management is to occur in the bushfire domain.