Sustainability Assessment of Residential Skyscrapers Based on Multi-criteria Decision-making Method: 9 Dubai Case Studies

Residential skyscrapers play a vital role in all aspects of sustainable developments as an integral component of the built environment. The need for tall buildings first arose in Chicago in the late 19th century while today more and more skyscrapers are built to accommodate many occupants in the small available land plots of the world’s megacities. In this paper, after reviewing previous studies, a series of effective indicators are prioritized so that a method for analysing the sustainability performance of residential skyscraper buildings relating to the three dimensions of sustainability is presented. Residential skyscrapers should be designed to respond to all different requirements during their life cycle. Inclusion of economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in the initial design results in a higher quality of life in residential skyscraper buildings. The method used in this paper is the Integrated Value Model for Sustainable Assessment (MIVES) - a multi18 criteria decision-making method for assessing sustainability. In this regard, nine residential skyscrapers as case studies have been evaluated in Dubai. Based on the multi-criteria approach used in this paper, the analysed residential skyscrapers in Dubai have a sustainability performance in range of 0.29 < SI < 0.62

Integrated Value Model for Sustainable Assessment of Modular Residential Towers: Case Study: Ten Degrees Croydon and Apex House in London

Modular construction can become sustainable by making all aspects of the design and construction process more effective during all phases. This paper aims to develop and use a sustainability assessment model for modular residential buildings in two case studies. This research uses the Integrated Value Model for Sustainable Assessment (MIVES), which is a multi-criteria decision-making model for sustainability assessment. This model considers all aspects of sustainability, environmental, economic and social, and helps stakeholders make decisions. Few previous studies have assessed all these aspects in full and MIVES make this assessment possible. For assessment purposes, two modular buildings have been chosen, namely “Ten Degrees Croydon” as the tallest high-rise modular residential building in the world and “Apex House” as the second tallest modular building in the world, both in London. These residential towers were assessed using MIVES, demonstrating a very satisfactory sustainability index in all the above aspects

Origin of magnetic coupling in La2CuO4

The ab initio cluster model approach has been used to study the origin of the magnetic coupling in La 2 CuO 4 and, also, its pressure dependence. Use of different cluster models and different ab initio wave functions permits the identification of the three leading mechanisms of magnetic coupling. These are the delocalization of the magnetic orbitals into the anion ‘‘p’’ band, the electronic correlation effects, and the collective effects hidden in the two-body operator of the Heisenberg Hamiltonian. The first two mechanisms are almost equally important and account for 80% of the experimental magnetic coupling constant value, the remaining 20% being due to the third effect. For the pressure dependence we predict J∝ r − n with n≊8.4 in agreement with experiment. Surprisingly enough these mechanisms are exactly the same previously found for KNiF 3 but with different contributions to the value of the magnetic coupling constant

Assessment of two complementary influenza surveillance systems : Sentinel primary care influenza-like illness versus severe hospitalized laboratory-confirmed influenza using the moving epidemic method

Monitoring seasonal influenza epidemics is the corner stone to epidemiological surveillance of acute respiratory virus infections worldwide. This work aims to compare two sentinel surveillance systems within the Daily Acute Respiratory Infection Information System of Catalonia (PIDIRAC), the primary care ILI and Influenza confirmed samples from primary care (PIDIRAC-ILI and PIDIRAC-FLU) and the severe hospitalized laboratory confirmed influenza system (SHLCI), in regard to how they behave in the forecasting of epidemic onset and severity allowing for healthcare preparedness. Epidemiological study carried out during seven influenza seasons (2010-2017) in Catalonia, with data from influenza sentinel surveillance of primary care physicians reporting ILI along with laboratory confirmation of influenza from systematic sampling of ILI cases and 12 hospitals that provided data on severe hospitalized cases with laboratory-confirmed influenza (SHLCI-FLU). Epidemic thresholds for ILI and SHLCI-FLU (overall) as well as influenza A (SHLCI-FLUA) and influenza B (SHLCI-FLUB) incidence rates were assessed by the Moving Epidemics Method. Epidemic thresholds for primary care sentinel surveillance influenza-like illness (PIDIRAC-ILI) incidence rates ranged from 83.65 to 503.92 per 100.000 h. Paired incidence rate curves for SHLCI-FLU/PIDIRAC-ILI and SHLCI-FLUA/PIDIRAC-FLUA showed best correlation index' (0.805 and 0.724 respectively). Assessing delay in reaching epidemic level, PIDIRAC-ILI source forecasts an average of 1.6 weeks before the rest of sources paired. Differences are higher when SHLCI cases are paired to PIDIRAC-ILI and PIDIRAC-FLUB although statistical significance was observed only for SHLCI-FLU/PIDIRAC-ILI (p-value Wilcoxon test = 0.039). The combined ILI and confirmed influenza from primary care along with the severe hospitalized laboratory confirmed influenza data from PIDIRAC sentinel surveillance system provides timely and accurate syndromic and virological surveillance of influenza from the community level to hospitalization of severe cases

Do soil carbon sequestration and soil fertility increase by including a gramineous cover crop in continuous soybean?

Cover cropping is a farming practice that may improve C sequestration and soil fertility, but these effects can vary under different edaphoclimatic conditions. The effects of including a winter gramineous cover crop (CC) in continuous soybeans were evaluated in three long-term experiments (8 yr) on one coarse-textured soil and two finetextured soils in the Pampas region of Argentina. The impacts of CC on soil C sequestration, soil nutrient availability, soil organic C (SOC), and N contents of soil particle size fractions were also determined. The inclusion of CC only increased SOC stock by 3.1 Mg ha-1 in the coarse-textured soil (CTS). The labile C fraction in the 0–5-cm depth increased in both the CTS and the fine-textured soils (FTS) by 263% and 93%, respectively. Soil N also increased in the labile fraction by 119% and 112% when a CC was used in the CTS and FTS soils, respectively. Moreover, the inclusion of a CC decreased soil P availability in one experiment (4.9 kg ha-1) and increased soil manganese in two experiments (11 kg ha-1 on average). The inclusion of a gramineous CC in a soybean monoculture increased the C balance, particularly in coarse-textured soils. Considering that soil N was similarly affected, the C/N ratio was not impacted.Fil: Beltran, Marcelo Javier. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Suelos; ArgentinaFil: Galantini, Juan Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Salvagiotti, Fernando. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Oliveros; ArgentinaFil: Tognetti, Pedro M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. IFEVA; Argentina.Fil: Bacigaluppo, Silvina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Oliveros; ArgentinaFil: Sainz Rozas, Hernan Rene. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Barroco, Mirian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria General Villegas; Argentina.Fil: Barbieri, Pablo Andres. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Unidad Integrada. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Assessment of two complementary influenza surveillance systems: Sentinel primary care influenza-like illness versus severe hospitalized laboratory-confirmed influenza using the moving epidemic method

Publisher Copyright: © 2019 The Author(s).Background: Monitoring seasonal influenza epidemics is the corner stone to epidemiological surveillance of acute respiratory virus infections worldwide. This work aims to compare two sentinel surveillance systems within the Daily Acute Respiratory Infection Information System of Catalonia (PIDIRAC), the primary care ILI and Influenza confirmed samples from primary care (PIDIRAC-ILI and PIDIRAC-FLU) and the severe hospitalized laboratory confirmed influenza system (SHLCI), in regard to how they behave in the forecasting of epidemic onset and severity allowing for healthcare preparedness. Methods: Epidemiological study carried out during seven influenza seasons (2010-2017) in Catalonia, with data from influenza sentinel surveillance of primary care physicians reporting ILI along with laboratory confirmation of influenza from systematic sampling of ILI cases and 12 hospitals that provided data on severe hospitalized cases with laboratory-confirmed influenza (SHLCI-FLU). Epidemic thresholds for ILI and SHLCI-FLU (overall) as well as influenza A (SHLCI-FLUA) and influenza B (SHLCI-FLUB) incidence rates were assessed by the Moving Epidemics Method. Results: Epidemic thresholds for primary care sentinel surveillance influenza-like illness (PIDIRAC-ILI) incidence rates ranged from 83.65 to 503.92 per 100.000 h. Paired incidence rate curves for SHLCI-FLU/PIDIRAC-ILI and SHLCI-FLUA/PIDIRAC-FLUA showed best correlation index' (0.805 and 0.724 respectively). Assessing delay in reaching epidemic level, PIDIRAC-ILI source forecasts an average of 1.6 weeks before the rest of sources paired. Differences are higher when SHLCI cases are paired to PIDIRAC-ILI and PIDIRAC-FLUB although statistical significance was observed only for SHLCI-FLU/PIDIRAC-ILI (p-value Wilcoxon test = 0.039). Conclusions: The combined ILI and confirmed influenza from primary care along with the severe hospitalized laboratory confirmed influenza data from PIDIRAC sentinel surveillance system provides timely and accurate syndromic and virological surveillance of influenza from the community level to hospitalization of severe cases.This study was funded by the Program of Surveillance, Prevention and Control of Transmissible Diseases (PREVICET) of CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública. (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid and the Catalan Agency for the Management of Grants for University Research (AGAUR Grant Number 2017/SGR. 1342) the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewe