Longwall mining “cutting cantilever beam theory” and 110 mining method in China——The third mining science innovation

With the third innovation in science and technology worldwide, China has also experienced this marvelous progress. Concerning the longwall mining in China, the "masonry beam theory"(MBT) was first proposed in the 1960 s, illustrating that the transmission and equilibrium method of overburden pressure using reserved coal pillar in mined-out areas can be realized. This forms the so-called "121mining method", which lays a solid foundation for development of mining science and technology in China. The "transfer rock beam theory"(TRBT) proposed in the 1980 s gives a further understanding for the transmission path of stope overburden pressure and pressure distribution in high-stress areas. In this regard, the advanced 121 mining method was proposed with smaller coal pillar for excavation design,making significant contributions to improvement of the coal recovery rate in that era. In the 21 st century,the traditional mining technologies faced great challenges and, under the theoretical developments pioneered by Profs. Minggao Qian and Zhenqi Song, the "cutting cantilever beam theory"(CCBT) was proposed in 2008. After that the 110 mining method is formulated subsequently, namely one stope face,after the first mining cycle, needs one advanced gateway excavation, while the other one is automatically formed during the last mining cycle without coal pillars left in the mining area. This method can be implemented using the CCBT by incorporating the key technologies, including the directional presplitting roof cutting, constant resistance and large deformation(CRLD) bolt/anchor supporting system with negative Poisson's ratio(NPR) effect material, and remote real-time monitoring technology. The CCBT and 110 mining method will provide the theoretical and technical basis for the development of mining industry in China.     

Multimodal mapping — a methodological framework*

Framed within a broader discussion of demographic marginalisation in urban regeneration projects, this paper considers how the non-visual might be understood, valued and represented through an expanded mode of site analysis that allows for a nuanced reading of demographically complex urban conditions. Drawing on detailed fieldwork in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, this paper outlines a multimodal mapping technique that spatialises and materialises emplaced and embodied knowledge. Sensory rhythms associated with occupation of space are recorded, and immersive ethnographic techniques are used to supplement the identified rhythms. The sensory data is then translated into multimodal mapping diagrams based on the concept of vertical montage where different spheres such as sound and image could be linked to be perceived together. It is a method that attempts to highlight the sociality of the senses, while looking specifically at the interplay between space, time and the social body in everyday interactions, enabling designers to grasp the existing sensorial realm, to represent it in a way that retains its complexity and to make use of this knowledge within the parameters of architectural design.     

How does accessibility to knowledge sources affect the innovativeness of corporations?—evidence from Sweden

This paper studies the innovative performance of 130 Swedish corporations during 1993–1994. The number of patents per corporation is explained as a function of the accessibility to internal and external knowledge sources of each corporation. A coherent way of handling accessibility measures, within and between corporations located across regions, is introduced. We examine the relative importance of intra- and interregional knowledge sources from 1) the own corporation, 2) other corporations, and 3) universities. The results show that there is a positive relationship between the innovativeness of a corporation and its accessibility to university researchers within regions where own research groups are located. Good accessibility among the corporation's research units does not have any significant effects on the likelihood of generation of patents. Instead the size of the R&D staff of the corporation seems to be the most important internal factor. There is no indication that intraregional accessibility to other corporations' research is important for a corporation's innovativeness. However, there is some indication of reduced likelihood for own corporate patenting when other corporate R&D is located in nearby regions. This may reflect a negative effect from competition for R&D labor.

The knowledge production–regional economic growth complex: a framework and topics for future research

This note presents an introduction and framework for the papers that make up the special issue. In addition, it makes some suggestions for future research.

A Research on the Evaluation of Urban Development Land-Use Intensity——A Views from Planning and Management

科学合理地确定评价指标体系是城市建设用地集约性评价的重要前提.从综述现有相关研究成果入手,对城市建设用地集约性的内涵进行了重新审视和剖析,在此基础上构建了基于规划编制和规划管理两个视角的城市建设用地集约性评价指标体系,即在规划编制层面重点引入城市总体用地、城市专项用地、城市配套用地层面的14项代表性指标;在规划管理层面重点引入居住类用地管理、产业类用地管理、公益性用地管理层面的12项代表性指标.最后提出了实现促进建设用地集约性的相关对策建议.     

The promotion of access legislation—A developing country perspective from Ghana

In Ghana, as in other developing African countries, there is growing awareness of the reality that some of the key constraints towards the participation of disabled persons in development programmes, are the physical barriers in the built environment, which inhibit the free movement of disabled persons to places of education, employment, commerce, recreation and worship. This paper discusses some of the local factors that have restrained the promotion of access legislation in Ghana, and recommends strategic actions for utilising existing institutional structures to pursue access legislation to safeguard the accessibility of the built environment to disabled persons.     

A Message from the Executive Director

2007年是人类历史的关键时刻，因为在这一年，有史以来第一次，全人类将有半数人口居住在城镇和城市中。[第一段]     

A model for smoothing time‐series data in construction

The understanding of the behaviour of time‐series data has been a matter of concern to researchers and practitioners in a variety of fields ranging from social science and economics to engineering. Also, the behaviour of many phenomena within fields relating and peripheral to construction is described as a time series. Typically, the time‐series analysis is carried out in order to forecast the future values of the series. These techniques, however, are also used to abstract the generalities within the series, hence facilitating the replication of the entire profile, reflecting only the main characteristics of the profile. There is a variety of techniques that can be applied to a set of time‐related data. The choice of the technique is, therefore, dependent on the nature of the problem and the characteristics of the data. The diversity of available techniques is, on the one hand an advantage for all analysts. However, this diversity is also an indication that there is no universal technique that is applicable to a diversity of time‐series data.

This work fundamentally addresses the issue of smoothing and curve‐fitting techniques rather than predicting and forecasting. A technique is offered which is tested against a set of criteria that are designed to focus on the accuracy of imitation and the practicality of operation: the ability to deal with a large number of time‐series sets of data in a consistent, replicable and automated way. The viability of the technique is demonstrated by its application to expenditure profiles of a large number of construction projects. The size of the sample and the diversity in the profiles of the expenditure patterns provided an appropriate testing ground for the universality of the model.

The results indicated that the model can effectively transform a jagged time series into a smooth pattern, while complying with a set of criteria many of which are common to several other research works relating to time‐series data analysis. The proposed technique sequences a number of basic smoothing methods and the process involves the treatment and incorporation of the residual values.     

Generalising relationships between runoff–rainfall coefficients and impervious areas: an integration of data from case studies in Israel with data sets from Australia and the USA

This study explores the generalised relationships between the proportion of impervious areas and storm runoff coefficient (RR) that characterises the current global trends of expansion and densification of urban zones. For this purpose there is an integrated database representing about 800 urban storm events in diverse locations around the world: from Israel and from detailed rainfall–runoff measurements in Australia and USA. Special attention is given here to the experience gathered in two case studies in Israel with information of surface imperviousness derived from remote sensing data, including air photographs and satellite images. Despite differences in measurement systems and methodologies between sites, there was evidential support for a new generalised three-phase model where in up to 20% of impervious area there are no expected major runoff events, a major enhancement in runoff–rainfall response to impervious area increase between 20% and 40%, and 1:1 relationship between 40% and 100% impervious area. This model may be implemented on a wide regional scale, based on remote sensing derived impervious areas for mapping urban areas with high flooding risk. Urban planning may incorporate this model for determining expected storm runoff levels and incorporating this information to derive appropriate hydrological solutions.     

A—WON

埃文的空间设计从理念上注重环境与生态的平衡主题，重视内部环境塑造。利用原本宽阔的空间架构，4.5米的挑高在设计中得到充分尊重，入门大厅巨大长方体空间规整震撼，在细节处也多处运用长方框，正厅正中的方框，接待台的方框，似乎对称正中的布局是严谨、大度的环境氛围的诱因。     

A process–oriented framework to measure development performance and success of megaprojects

The critical role of the front–end development phase for the success of megaprojects is widely acknowledged despite a lack of theorizing and empirical evidence on what constitutes development performance and success and how to measure them. Rational–instrumental conceptualizations focus on identifying a large number of universal success factors that help avoid the pitfalls of megaproject development. However, these approaches neglect the adversarial and contingent nature of megaprojects and the complex dynamic interactions between their multiple facets. As a remedy, to define and measure the performance and success of megaproject development phase, we build a process–oriented framework which focuses on convergence in terms of project representations and stakeholders’ volition. Then, we propose clear definitions of megaproject development performance and success, by attempting to address the ambiguous distinction between the definitions of overall project success and performance, and by suggesting ways in which our results could help set on a more rigorous ground the research on the relation between development phase performance and overall project success.     

What can be learnt from an ecotoxicity database in the framework of the REACh regulation?

Since REACh applies in all of EU, special emphasis has been put on the reduction of systematic ecotoxicity testing. In this context, it is important to extract a maximum of information from existing ecotoxicity databases in order to propose alternative methods aimed at replacing and reducing experimental testing. Consequently, we analyzed a database of new chemicals registered in France and Europe during the last twenty years reporting aquatic ecotoxicity data with respect to three trophic levels (i.e., Algae EC50 72 h, Daphnia EC50 48 h and Fish LC50 96 h). In order to ensure the relevance of the comparison between these three experimental tests, we performed a stringent data selection based on the pertinence and quality of available ecotoxicological information. At the end of this selection, less than 5% of the initial number of chemicals was retained for subsequent analysis. Such an analysis showed that fish was the least sensitive trophic level, whereas Daphnia had the highest sensitivity. Moreover, thanks to an analysis of the relative sensitivity of trophic levels, it was possible to establish that respective correction factors of 50 and 10 would be necessary if only one or two test values were available. From a physicochemical point of view, it was possible to characterize two significant correlations relating the sensitivity of the aforementioned trophic levels with the chemical structure of the retained substances. This analysis showed that algae displayed a higher sensitivity towards chemicals containing acid fragments whereas fish presented a higher sensitivity towards chemicals containing aromatic ether fragments.Overall, our work suggests that statistical analysis of historical data combined with data yielded by the REACh regulation should permit the derivation of robust safety factors, testing strategies and mathematical models. These alternative methods, in turn, could allow a replacement and reduction of ecotoxicological testing.     

CON——A型减水剂

CON减水剂,是一种加气型而具有高效能的混凝土外加剂。是无脂松香、多种钠元素和钙元素的的聚合物。属于中性(或弱碱性)而具有高度粘性的胶体物质。它对水泥有显著的分散效果,其主要特点是,扩散力强,泡沫稳定,掺入混凝土拌合物中,减水率高。 CON减水剂可以显著降低混凝土拌合水的表面张力,通过搅拌在混凝土拌合物中产生大量微小、均匀的气泡,从而改善拌合物的和易性,减少沉降泌水及分层离析,最终在混凝土的结构组成中形成密闭气泡,增加混凝土的密实性,提高了混凝土的抗渗性,及对冷热、干湿冻融     

Fire test data and building design—Some problem areas

Are the methods currently used to classify the combustibility of materials, the fire endurance of structural elements, and the flammability of interior finishes adequate as guide lines in designing fire resistance and fire protection into buildings? The author believes there are some fallacies in strict interpretation of accepted definitions and fire test results. He suggests that more comprehensive reporting of data, based on fire tests reflecting more closely the way materials and assemblies perform under actual fire conditions, would be extremely useful in applying sound fire protection principles in the design of fire-safe buildings.     

How cultural knowledge shapes core design thinking—a situation specific analysis

Abstract

The growing trend of co-creation and co-design in cross-cultural design teams presents challenges for the design thinking process. We integrate two frameworks, one on reasoning patterns in design thinking, the other on the dynamic constructivist theory of culture, to propose a situation specific framework for the empirical analysis of design thinking in cross-cultural teams. We illustrate the framework with a qualitative analysis of 16 episodes of design related conversations, which are part of a design case study. The results show that cultural knowledge, either as shared by the cross-cultural team or group specific knowledge of some team members, shape the reasoning patterns in the design thinking process across all the 16 episodes. Most of the design discussions were approached by the designers as problem situations that were formulated in a backward direction, where the value to create was known first. Then the designers were using available cultural knowledge to articulate the unknown what to design (products/services) and how the design would work (the working principles of product/services). In conclusion, we demonstrate a novel approach for understanding how cultural knowledge shapes core design thinking in specific situations.     

Delineating urbanization “source-sink” regions in China: Evidence from mobile app data

Traditional census data are ill-suited for uncovering the true population patterns and underlying social and economic dynamics in China as the census relies on information of population with registered household status. A large number of migrant workers are registered rural residents but spend most of a year working in cities that are hundreds or even thousands of miles away. It is termed “annual spatial mismatch” here for the separation of registered residence and workplace in China, in contrast to “spatial mismatch” that is known in the urban commuting literature in the west but on a daily basis. Big geo-data, such as the mobile app data, afford us a rare opportunity to examine this unique phenomenon. Specifically, this research uses a mobile app dataset of two epochs, i.e., prior to and during the Chinese Spring Festival, to capture the population patterns before and after the migrant workers return home, respectively. The difference between them reflects distinctive roles of an area plays in labor market, termed “source-sink areas”. A GIS-automated regionalization method is used to delineate China into hierarchical “source-sink” areas, characterizing various urbanization levels or distinctive roles in labor market. The study demonstrates the value of using human mobility data in urban and regional analysis on issues that were previously infeasible, especially in study areas without reliable data.     

A Report from the UPSC''''s 1996 Annual Meeting

ＡＲｅｐｏｒｔｆｒｏｍｔｈｅＵＰＳＣ＇Ｓ１９９６ＡｎｎｕａｌＭｅｅｔｉｎｇＳｈｉＣｈｅｎｇｑｉｕ（ＳｅｎｉｏｒＰｌａｎｎｅｒ（Ｐｒｏｆｅｓｓｏｒ），ＣｈｉｎａＡｃａｄｅｍｙｏｆＵｒｂａｎＰｌａｎｎｉｎｇａｎｄＤｅｓｉｇｎ，Ｂｅｉｊｉｌｌｇ．）ＩｎＡｐ...     

A performance‐based bridge LCCA model using visual inspection inventory data

Since most bridge life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) depends heavily on the analyst's experience to determine the times and costs of remedial actions over a bridge's lifetime, the results are often subject to question because of their subjectivity. While some work has been done over the years to develop reliable deterioration models for determining such times and costs, the proposed models often require sophisticated inspection data, which is costly to obtain, and/or complex mathematical calculations. A simple linear deterioration model based on visual inspection inventory data concerning bridge components is introduced and integrated into the LCC analysis. The proposed model provides an alternative approach to bridge LCC analysis that can improve the objectivity of analysis and does not require input of sophisticated inspection, and thus facilitates application of bridge life cycle cost analysis. The LCCA method developed in this study is applied to a case study of alternative PCI (Pre‐stressed Concrete I‐girder) and a PCB (Pre‐stressed Concrete Box‐girder) bridges for the purpose of model validation.