Some discussions on functionalist housing and its economics in Romania by Lhe late 1950s and early 1960s

This paper proposes an analysis of the Romanian architectural practices in the late 1950's and early 1960's by considering the availability of financial resources. I premise that echoes of Moscow's approaches to the built environment overlapped the Bucharest politicians' priorities, whose lack of constancy in economic decision-making exacerbated itself as the urban construction programs advanced. From the Romanian authorities' point of view, therefore, raising the mass housing profitability could save important financial resources for other investments in heavy industry, while maintaining the appearance of a social state. Similarities between Soviet and Romanian modernist building projects suggested a coherent approach to housing throughout the bloc. However, this article will show that functionalist architectural modernism -cheap and fast to erect- also proved beneficial for Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej's economic plans, which questions urban construction projects' political agendas and the professional tensions between architects and economists. Therefore, investigating the functionalist architecture opens up several lines of inquiry: to what extent Nikita Khrushchev's housing program was transferred in Romania; the tortuous policies of the Romanian state's leadership in the field of housing as well as how local bureaucratic or professional actors appropriated, interpreted and adjusted such programs; and, the economic costs of the new functionalist approach to urban dwelling. In this way, this article reads the making of functionalist mass housing programs by the late 1950s to assess the Soviets' part in building the Romanian cities. To this end, the article contributes to the recent scholarly literature on multiple modernities

Influence of age and maturation on perceived collective efficacy in youth basketball players

Growth and maturation impact the development of young athletes’ physique and function. It is likely that psychological and behavioral characteristics will also be impacted by maturity status. Perceived collective efficacy (CE) is a potential mediator of sports performance and may be influenciated by maturity status. Therefore, this study examined the perceived CE variation between young basketball players accounting for the influence of chronological age and biological maturity status. The sample included 57 adolescent basketball players aged 9.5 to 15.5 years. Chronological age, estimated age at peak height velocity (PHV) and CE through the Portuguese version of the Collective Efficacy Questionnaire for Sports were considered. Bayesian multilevel modeling was used to examine athletes’ perceived CE dimensions variation by maturity status and age. Overall, the adolescent basketball players’ perceived CE scores were high for all dimensions: ability (8.77±1.15); effort (9.20±1.03); persistence (8.87±1.18); preparation (8.96±1.08); unity (8.88±1.22). The variability estimates were very large, suggesting that the influence of maturity status on variation may be residual. There was no substantial relation between chronological age and the variation scores, although the results suggest that perceived variation was independent of chronological age variation and between players variation in maturity status. Further study examining the relations of growth, functional performance development, and perceived CE would be relevant for the holistic understanding of young basketball players’ development.O crescimento e a maturação afetam o desenvolvimento físico, a função e o comportamento de jovens atletas. É provável que características psicológicas e comportamentais também sejam afetadas pelo estágio maturacional. A eficácia coletiva (EC) percebida é um potencial mediador do desempenho esportivo e também pode ser influenciada pelo estágio maturacional. Portanto, este estudo examinou a variação da EC entre jovens jogadores de basquetebol, considerando a influência da idade cronológica e do estágio maturacional. Foram considerados e analisados em sua idade cronológica, na idade estimada no pico de velocidade de crescimento (PHV) e na EC 57 atletas de basquetebol adolescentes com idades entre 9,5 e 15,5 anos por meio da versão portuguesa do Questionário de Eficácia Coletiva para Esportes. Uma série de modelos Bayesianos de regressão linear multinível foi utilizada para estimar a EC percebida pelos atletas de acordo com seus estágios maturacionais e idade cronológica. No geral, os escores de EC dos jovens atletas de basquetebol foram elevados em todas as dimensões: capacidade (8,77±1,15); esforço (9,20±1,03); persistência (8,87±1,18); preparação (8,96±1,08); unidade (8,88±1,22). As estimativas de variabilidade foram muito grandes, sugerindo que a influência do estágio maturacional sobre a EC seja residual. Não houve relação substancial entre a idade cronológica e os escores de EC, embora os resultados sugiram que a EC percebida tenha sido independente da variação da idade cronológica e da variação nos estágios maturacionais entre os atletas. Estudos adicionais que examinem as relações entre crescimento, desenvolvimento de desempenho funcional e percepção de EC seriam relevantes para a compreensão holística do desenvolvimento de jovens jogadores de basquetebol

Blending using ODE swept surfaces with shape control and C1 continuity

Surface blending with tangential continuity is most widely applied in computer aided design, manufacturing systems, and geometric modeling. In this paper, we propose a new blending method to effectively control the shape of blending surfaces, which can also satisfy the blending constraints of tangent continuity exactly. This new blending method is based on the concept of swept surfaces controlled by a vector-valued fourth order ordinary differential equation (ODE). It creates blending surfaces by sweeping a generator along two trimlines and making the generator exactly satisfy the tangential constraints at the trimlines. The shape of blending surfaces is controlled by manipulating the generator with the solution to a vector-valued fourth order ODE. This new blending methods have the following advantages: 1). exact satisfaction of 1C continuous blending boundary constraints, 2). effective shape control of blending surfaces, 3). high computing efficiency due to explicit mathematical representation of blending surfaces, and 4). ability to blend multiple (more than two) primary surfaces

Connecting Dwellers to Building Performance and Weather Data through Sustainable Automation Systems

The paper presents a prototype for a Home Automation and Information Systems (HAIS) applied to an existing dwelling, the Florianopolis House, with the potential to address building performance and user behavior towards a more sustainable way of living. Home information and automation systems based on a great variety of sensors, associated with local weather stations and climate forecast databases can significantly impact the construction of more sustainable habits in home dwellers. Monitoring the weather variations, building’s performance and the impact each resident’s activity in energy and water consumption is a powerful tool for the dwellers’ awareness and can provide a significant impact on residents’ reconnection with the natural cycles. The development of the graphic interface is highlighted as a critical issue for the communication of building performance, weather data and actuators control