Development of a novel mortar for use with unfired clay bricks

Interest in traditional unfired clay building materials, including cob, earth brick, and rammed earth, has grown in the UK in recent years. Although the use of vernacular techniques, such as cob and rammed earth, has raised the profile of earthen architecture, a wider impact on modern construction is more likely to come from modern innovations such as unfired extruded clay masonry units and premixed plasters. Traditional unfired clay walls often have basal widths of 300 mm or more, providing an inherent stability and resistance to toppling through self-weight. Masonry units extracted from UK brick production lines before the firing process are typically 100 mm wide, which requires good mortar-brick bond strength to meet structural robustness requirements in a typical 2.4 m high wall. In testing, traditional mortars based on clay, cement or lime, have not provided sufficient strength. This paper examines the bonding of unfired clay units with unconventional mortars based on novel binders. It reports on the development of a mortar which appears to be suitable for a wide range of clay types. This mortar can be readily recycled and has a carbon footprint lower than many alternative binders. Results of long-term bond strengths and the structural performance of masonry walls are given, which demonstrate the suitability of this mortar for use with unfired clay masonry units. </jats:p

High resolution mapping of sediment organic matter from acoustic reflectance data

Spatial mapping of the marine environment is challenging when the properties concerned are difficult to measure except by shore-based analysis of discrete samples of material, usually from sparsely distributed sites. This is the case for many seabed sediment properties. We developed an indirect approach to mapping the organic content of coastal sediments from hydro-acoustic reflectance data. The basis was that both organic matter and acoustic reflectance are related to sediment type and grain size composition. Hence there is a collateral relationship between organic matter content and reflectance properties which can be exploited to enable high resolution mapping. We surveyed an area of seabed off the east coast of Scotland using a vessel mounted single beam echosounder with RoxAnn signal processing. Organic carbon, nitrogen and phytoplankton pigment contents were then measured in material from grab and core samples collected at intervals over a year. Relationships between the organic components and hydroacoustic characteristics were derived by general additive models, and used to construct high resolution maps from the acoustic survey data. Our method is an advance on traditional interpolation techniques sparse spatial data, and represents a generic approach that could be applied to other properties

On a mean field game formulation of fish stock exploitation

[Abstract unavailable

On the relationality of centers, peripheries and interactional regimes: Translanguaging in a community interpreting event

In this paper we discuss a multilingual interactional event that involves both interpreting and literacy work, part of a large scale study on translanguaging in superdiverse urban settings.¹ In the first part of the interaction, the center/periphery dynamic is played out in what might be called “contested translanguaging” between Standard Czech and a Slovak influenced dialect of Czech, in the second part in contested translanguaging between Standard Czech and English. The center/periphery dynamic, we argue can be understood in terms of attraction/repulsion. The translanguaging involves a struggle over both meaning and form in which some participants lose out. The second part of the interaction is a dramatic reverse in what is treated as central and dominant in the first part, suggesting a hierarchical ordering of interactional regimes. We will argue for the necessity of taking into account these hierarchically ordered interactional regimes and the linguistic ideologies associated with them in the shaping of translanguaging practices

Public involvement in local waste strategy development and facility planning: exploring opinions from stakeholder groups

Stakeholders and communities need to be given an early opportunity to shape local waste policy in order to encourage the swift planning, development and acceptance of alternative technologies needed to meet imminent statutory targets to divert materials from landfill. Some local authorities in the UK are testing more participatory methods such as citizen juries and consensus panels but these one-off exercises have to date not been capitalized upon in building experiences and expertise. This paper presents preliminary findings from a qualitative study that explores the socio-technical nature of the municipal waste problem and establishes stakeholders' opinions on the mode or level of participation appropriate for decisions on the treatment and disposal of residual wast