Semi‐volatile organic compounds in the air and dust of 30 French schools: a pilot study

The contamination of indoor environments with chemical compounds released by materials and furniture, such as semi‐volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), is less documented in schools than in dwellings—yet children spend 16% of their time in schools, where they can also be exposed. This study is one of the first to describe the contamination of the air and dust of 90 classrooms from 30 nursery and primary schools by 55 SVOCs, including pesticides, phosphoric esters, musks, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), phthalates, and polybromodiphenylethers (PBDEs). Air samples were collected using an active sampling method, and dust samples were collected via two sampling methods (wiping and vacuum cleaning). In air, the highest concentrations (median >100 ng/m³) were measured for diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), bis(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and galaxolide. In dust, the highest concentrations (median >30 μg/g) were found for DEHP, diisononyl phthalate (DiNP), DiBP, and DBP. An attempt to compare two floor dust sampling methods using a single unit (ng/m²) was carried out. SVOC concentrations were higher in wiped dust, but frequencies of quantification were greater in vacuumed dust.     

Megaprojects as complex adaptive systems: The Hinkley point C case

Megaprojects are complex projects which impact millions of people, involve public and private stakeholders, and present challenges related to decision making and performance shortfalls. They are relevant cases for studying faulty management thinking as well as performance evolutions and self-organizing dynamics. Our paper builds on the theory of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) to understand and model processes of evolution in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant megaproject. The results show that CAS properties apply to megaproject changes and provide a theoretical and practical framework for examining and modeling megaproject management dynamics. We designed a research methodology combining content analysis and historical research for its relevance in conducting organizational research in conditions of complexity and non-linearity. This original research design makes it possible to conduct causal analyses of relations between key megaproject events and thus build models of evolution dynamics in stakeholder success expectations, change mechanisms in the implementation of project outputs, and self-organizing patterns.     

“天为之因”与“人为之因”——国立中山大学文学院建筑设计案例剖析

20世纪30年代国立中山大学文学院的设计和建造,是建筑师郑校之将建筑的民族性与地域性也即"人为之因"与"天为之因"相融合的一次重要探索。本文通过设计阶段的门廊、屋顶和阳台三部分的草图与建成后实物的对照分析,试图解读郑校之先生是如何受到时代的影响和启发,在现代性与民族性之间找寻平衡,并最终由此突破的创作过程。郑校之在文学院设计中没有简单采用"民族固有样式"的方法,而是通过从现代建筑要义中抽取适合地域气候特征的实用做法,并结合时代精神,创作出一座融合了现代设计理念和东西方文化精神的文学殿堂。     

CO2 capture using mesocellular siliceous foam (MCF)-supported CaO

CaO is a promising material as an alternative CO₂ capture material which can be used at high temperature. However, CaO sinters to form large particles under long-term high temperature conditions, resulting in a rapid decrease of its surface area and the capacity of CO₂ capture. Incorporating CaO into inert materials is a promising strategy to enhance the performance of CO₂ capture. This work investigated a novel composite material called mesocellular siliceous foam (MCF)-supported CaO to enhance the stability and capacity of CaO-based materials for CO₂ capture. The crystal structure, surface morphology and porosity property of the developed composite materials were investigated. Thermogravimetric measurements were carried out to study the cyclic CO₂ capture performance of the MCF-supported CaO composites. The results showed that a part of CaO reacted with the silica wall, and the formation of Ca₂SiO₄ within the MCF framework limited the presence of CaO in the mesopores, thus inhibited the sintering of CaO. The sample of MCF-3CaO exhibited a better performance of CO₂ capture and long-term stability, compared with the materials prepared with lower CaO loading. This work contributes to the development of high temperature CO₂ capture adsorbents, which can be applied for decarbonizing major industrials e.g. power plant.     

Does cyberbullying overlap with school bullying when taking modality of involvement into account?

Education professionals and researchers are concerned by school bullying and cyberbullying because of its repercussions on students’ health and the school climate. However, only a few studies investigating the impact of school versus cyberbullying have systematically explored whether student victims and perpetrators are involved in school bullying only, cyberbullying only, or both. The aim of the present study was thus to examine the possible overlap, as well as the similarities and/or differences, between these two forms of bullying when taking modality of involvement into account. Individual interviews were conducted with 1422 junior high- and high-school students (girls = 43%, boys = 57%, mean age = 14.3 ± 2.7 years). Results showed that cyberbullying and school bullying overlapped very little. The majority of students involved in cyberbullying were not simultaneously involved in school bullying. Moreover, results indicated that psychosocial problems (psychological distress, social disintegration, general aggression) varied according to the form of bullying. Victims of school bullying had greater internalizing problems than cybervictims, while school bullies were more aggressive than cyberbullies. Given the sizable proportion of adolescents involved in bullying (school and cyber) and its significant relationship with mental health, the issue warrants serious attention from school and public health authorities.     

A generic approach for examining the effectiveness of traffic control devices in school zones

The effectiveness and performance of traffic control devices in school zones have been impacted significantly by many factors, such as driver behavioral attributes, roadway geometric features, environmental characteristics, weather and visibility conditions, region-wide traffic regulations and policies, control modes, etc. When deploying traffic control devices in school zones, efforts are needed to clarify: (1) whether traffic control device installation is warranted; and (2) whether other device effectively complements this traffic control device and strengthens its effectiveness. In this study, a generic approach is developed to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of various traffic control devices deployed in school zones through driving simulator-based experiments. A Traffic Control Device Selection Model (TCDSM) is developed and two representative school zones are selected as the testbed in Beijing for driving simulation implementation to enhance its applicability. Statistical analyses are conducted to extract the knowledge from test data recorded by a driving simulator. Multiple measures of effectiveness (MOEs) are developed and adopted including average speed, relative speed difference, and standard deviation of acceleration for traffic control device performance quantification. The experimental tests and analysis results reveal that the appropriateness of the installation of certain traffic control devices can be statistically verified by TCDSM. The proposed approach provides a generic framework to assess traffic control device performance in school zones including experiment design, statistical formulation, data analysis, simulation model implementation, data interpretation, and recommendation development.     

郑祖良在岭南的学术创刊活动及其影响评析

郑祖良先生作为现代岭南建筑与园林界的杰出代表，对岭南现代建筑的理论与创作贡献极大。郑祖良除了主持众多岭南城市园林的规划设计，还毕生致力于岭南学术刊物创办主编工作。本文重点介绍郑祖良先生主要参与的《新建筑》、《广东园林》和《南方建筑》的办刊历程，并就其对岭南现代建筑与园林的影响作出评析。     

Variable Neighborhood Search based algorithms for high school timetabling

This work presents the application of Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) based algorithms to the High School Timetabling Problem. The addressed model of the problem was proposed by the Third International Timetabling Competition (ITC 2011), which released many instances from educational institutions around the world and attracted 17 competitors. Some of the VNS algorithm variants were able to outperform the winner of Third ITC solver, which proposed a Simulated Annealing – Iterated local Search approach. This result coupled with another reports in the literature points that VNS based algorithms are a practical solution method for providing high quality solutions for some hard timetabling problems. Moreover they are easy to implement with few parameters to adjust.     

A bi-level school bus routing problem with bus stops selection and possibility of demand outsourcing

This paper develops a bi-level mathematical model for the school bus routing problem aiming at designing an efficient transportation system considering the possibility of predicting the students’ response. In the real world, the demand for using private cars depends on how well public transportation systems are operating especially in metropolitan cities. An inefficient public transportation will lead to an increase in the demand for using private cars. This issue will result in problems such as increased traffics and urban pollutions. To address this issue, an efficient public transportation system is designed by developing a new bi-level mathematical model. In the proposed model, the designer of the public transportation system, as the upper-level decision-maker, will locate appropriate bus stops and identify bus navigation routes. Subsequently, the decision regarding the allocation of students to transportation systems or outsourcing them will be made at the lower level which is considered as an operational-level decision-making. To solve this problem, two hybrid metaheuristic approaches named GA-EX-TS and SA-EX-TS have been proposed based on location-allocation-routing (LAR) strategy. The performance of these proposed methods is compared with exact solutions achieved from an explicit enumeration approach followed in the small-scale instances. Finally, the proposed approaches are used to solve 50 random instance problems. Comparing the results of the two tuned hybrid algorithms and conducting the sensitivity analysis of the model provide evidence for the good performance of the proposed approach.     

The electronic booklet on teaching-learning process: Teacher vision and parents of students in primary and secondary education

This article presents the first phase of a research project whose purpose is to introduce a new form of collaboration and communication between the school and the family through an Electronic Booklet (EB). The EB was developed due to the increasing necessity of collaboration between the school and the family, promoting the teaching-learning process and educational success, supported by information and communication technologies. These conclusions and justifications were derived from a survey based in a questionnaire applied to guardians and teachers of several private and public Portuguese schools of the primary and secondary education level. Both groups – guardians and teachers stressed the importance of communication between school and family and expressed interest in the EB as a communication tool. The analysis of the survey results made possible the construction of an Electronics Booklet prototype.