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Around the global construction industry, there is an emerging trend to pursue a "zero-waste" goal at the site level, but little is known about it. This paper aims to shed insights on the waste management concept of "zero waste construction site" by delineating its meaning, system boundary, assessment period, and operation strategies, which are further formulated in an analytical framework. Owing to the nascent nature of the concept, we adopted a qualitative approach including archival study, a series of semi-structured interviews, and two in-depth case studies in Shenzhen, China to sketch the analytical framework. Meanwhile, an analogy between "zero waste construction site" and "net zero building" is continuously made to fine-tune and finalize the framework. This research demonstrates that the zero-waste goal is challenging but achievable on individual construction sites. The system boundary to examine the zero-waste goal is contingent on the project scope, be it a new construction, renovation, or demolition project. The assessment period is dependent on the duration of the construction project. However, it would be too costly, if not entirely impossible, to achieve a "zero waste construction site" by treating it as a closed system. Rather, one needs to consider open, off-site strategies, e.g., engaging third-party recycling services, reusing recycled materials in subsequent projects, or trading it in to a recycled material market. The analytical framework can be utilized to scrutinize existing construction waste management practices. In the long term, the research will contribute positively to a "zero waste" society.

A position-sensitive pixel array silicon detector with a junction field effect transistor (JFET) switch structure is studied as a device for the direct illumination of X-ray from synchrotron light source. Considering an absorption length of silicon at an X-ray energy and a required thickness of a silicon, a 525 μ m n-type silicon wafer with high resistivity is chosen as the active volume of the detector and is depleted by applying a negative bias voltage to the junction side. The electron–hole pairs produced in an active volume by an X-ray illumination are collected on the electrodes . All pixels with one row are read in parallel and the next row is selected by the control voltage after one row has finished being read. The field shaper is introduced to produce inter-pixel isolation. We perform the simulation of the pixelated silicon position detector with JFET switch and present the characteristics of the transistor such as the drain current as a function of the voltage between the source and drain for different gate voltages. The fabrication processes of the pixel sensor with JFET switch structure based on the simulation result are also described.

Prefabrication has long been recognized as a green production technology to minimize construction's adverse environmental impacts such as waste, noise, dust, and air pollution. Previous studies reported the effects of prefabrication on construction waste minimization. However, these studies relied primarily on small data obtained by ethnographic methods such as interviews and questionnaire surveys. Research to evaluate the effects using bigger, more objective quantitative data is highly desired. This research aims to re-evaluate the effects of prefabrication on construction waste minimization by exploiting a quantitative dataset stemmed from 114 sizable high-rise building projects in Hong Kong. It was discovered that the average waste generation rates of conventional and prefabrication building projects were 0.91 and 0.77 ton/m² respectively. Compared with conventional construction, prefabrication logged a 15.38% waste reduction. Further probing into specific prefabricated components adopted in the samples, it is discovered that precast windows and walls are more conducive to waste minimization. This is coincident with the fact that these components are also widely adopted in the sample buildings. This study reconfirms the positive effects of prefabrication on waste minimization and articulates that two types of prefabricated components play relatively bigger role in minimizing construction waste. The strengths of this study lie in its statistical analyses of a valuable and objective quantitative dataset measuring prefabrication and waste generation rates. Future studies are recommended to prove the corollary - it is not what category of prefabricated component, but the actual proportion of prefabrication in the total construction volume that matters to waste minimization.

Construction waste materials are resources misplaced. Trading them across different jurisdictions is an innovative way to reuse or recycle the materials, which in turn obtains “cleaner production” in the construction sector. It can achieve a win-win situation between the demand and supply sides, but several hurdles must be overcome first. A particular hurdle is that demand and supply of such materials arises sporadically in discrete sites, thereby matching the two sides is not always opportune. We find parallels in the energy sector, where smart grids have been developed to store power generated sporadically by small producers and distribute it to individual users based on their (erratic) needs. Learning from smart grids, this research aims to shed light on innovative institutional arrangements promoting the development of an effective cross-jurisdictional construction waste material trading market. Underpinning this research is a mixed-method approach including cross-sectoral learning and a case study encompassing a series of site visits and semi-structured interviews in China’s Greater Bay Area. By comparing the commonalities between electricity and construction waste in terms of production, market, transmission, distribution, and consumption, we elaborate smart grid innovations and their possible applications to construction waste materials trading. Our research contributes to the body of knowledge on waste management, the circular economy, and the sharing economy. It will help establish a cross-jurisdictional waste material trading market in the Greater Bay Area. It also provides useful references to other regions in searching solutions for waste trading/sharing.

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling constitutes an indispensable component in the overall waste management strategy. Unlike the traditional recycling approaches whereby C&D waste is transported to off-site facilities for treatment, construction managers are actively exploring the possibility of on-site recycling where C&D waste is treated directly at source. This study reports the barriers and facilitators of implementing on-site C&D waste recycling by contextualizing it in Hong Kong. It does so by adopting a mixed-method approach combining case study, site visits, and interviews. It is discovered that the barriers include (1) site space constraints, (2) narrow window of opportunity to trade recycled products, (3) vulnerable business case, (4) lack of support from off-site recycling, and (5) lack of government policy support. A series of facilitating measures are also proposed, including (1) developing customized on-site recycling equipment, (2) establishing a demand-supply information-sharing platform, (3) developing more thriving off-site recycling, and (4) providing more government support. This study probes into the real-life on- and off-site waste recycling practices in Hong Kong's prominent C&D management system. It can also provide useful references for others in developing their own C&D waste recycling strategies by rationally deploying on- and off-site recycling., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image, Highlights • Identified five major barriers to on-site C&D waste recycling in Hong Kong; • Developed four facilitators to promote on-site C&D waste recycling in Hong Kong; • The facilitators discussed may serve as useful reference for other economies.

An overview of advances and progress on the KSTAR plasma control improvement is given. The enhancement of the KSTAR plasma control system (PCS) continues in order to enable implementations of more sophisticated control algorithms and capabilities of integrated controls on magnets, gas, heating and off-normal event handling. Features and functionalities on the generic magnetic controls, kinetic controls and new fault scheme design are added for the operation space expansion, mainly regarding recent achievements of high plasma current up to 1.1 MA for 10 s, high-performance long pulse up to 90 s, and discharges relevant to ITER research. Technical challenges and prospective upgrades in the near future are described.

Chitosan-based composite films with different amounts of grapefruit seed extract (GFSE) (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% v/v) were fabricated via solution casting technique. Experimental results showed that GFSE was uniformly dispersed within all chitosan film matrices. The presence of GFSE made the films more amorphous and tensile strength decreased, while elongation at break values increased as GFSE content increased. Results from the measurement of light transmission revealed that increasing amounts of GFSE (from 0.5 to 1.5% v/v) did not affect transparency of the films. Furthermore, packaging of bread samples with chitosan-based GFSE composite films inhibited the proliferation of fungal growth as compared to control samples. Hence, chitosan-based GFSE composite films have the potential to be a useful material in the area of food technology.

We develop the compact NMR/MRI device using high temperature superconducting (HTS) wires with the persistent current mode operating. So, the joint techniques between 2G wires are very important issue and many studies have been carried out. Recently, the K JOINS, Inc. has developed successfully the high performance superconducting joints between 2G wires by partial melting diffusion and oxygenation annealing process [1]. In this study, the current bypassing properties in a loop-shaped 2G wire are measured experimentally to develop the permanent current switch (PSC). The current bypassing properties of loop-shaped test coil wound with 2G wire (GdBCO) are evaluated by measured the self-magnetic field due to bypassed current by Hall sensors. The strain gauge was used as heater for persistent current switch, and thermal properties against various thermal inputs were investigated experimentally.

A prototype two-stage MSO (molten salt oxidation) reactor system with a capacity of 10 kg/h was developed based on the test results of lab-scale and bench-scale MSO systems. This study first discusses the features of the prototype MSO reactor system. The second part of the study attempts to identify the proper conditions of the prototype two-stage MSO reactor system, where each reactor performs different functions. The volatility of radioactive elements doped in the spent resins was first investigated to establish the proper operating conditions of the primary MSO reactor. A parametric model study of the secondary MSO reactor for the oxidation of hydrocarbons from the primary reactor and an experimental validation were then performed to establish the optimum conditions for the two-stage MSO reactor system. The retention of cesium was greatly influenced by the pyrolysis temperature. The highest pyrolysis temperature with cesium retention of ≥99.9% was 790 °C and this was established as the optimum primary reactor temperature. The optimum conditions of secondary MSO reactor for the substantial oxidation of hydrocarbons generated from the primary MSO reactor were determined to be λ (the ratio of actual air feed rate per stoichiometric air rate) of 2, and a temperature of 800 °C.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) facilitate the engraftment of human (h) hematopoietic stem cells when transplanted simultaneously in animal and human studies. However, the type of MSCs that preferentially enhance the engraftment of HSCs is unknown. Recent studies have shown that MSCs derived from a single source are heterogeneous in terms of cell size, morphology, proliferation rate, and differentiation potential. This study was designed to investigate the properties of UCB-MSCs, which influence the engraftment of hHSCs in a NOD/SCID mouse model. We categorized MSCs as being the most effective (UCB-352 MSCs) or the least effective (UCB-156 MSCs) at promoting the homing and engraftment of HSCs, and compared the characteristics of these 2 MSC populations. We observed that the 2 populations showed differences in characteristics typical of immature MSCs, and related to proliferation potential. We showed that UCB-352 MSCs, which proliferate quickly, preferentially enhanced the engraftment of HSCs in NOD/SCID mice. In addition, we observed differences in the pattern of both PODXL and Oct4 expression, and in the levels of cytokines such as SDF-1 and SCF using flow cytometry and membrane arrays. The more effective UCB-352 MSCs expressed higher levels of PODXL and Oct4, which were associated with immaturity, than did the UCB-156 MSCs. Furthermore, UCB-352 cells secreted greater levels of SDF-1 and SCF, both of which are required for hematopoiesis. We propose that the proliferation potential of UCB-MSCs, coupled with their immature characteristics, may serve as a novel standard to promote the homing and engraftment of HSCs.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB), a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells, offers practical and ethical advantages. It has been reported that various adult stem cells transplanted into a damaged liver show characteristics of a hepatic lineage. In a previous study, we reported on novel UCB-derived adult stem cells, termed umbilical cord blood-derived multipotent progenitor cells (UCB-MPCs). We demonstrated that these cells were capable of differentiating into hepatocyte- like cells in vitro. To assess the hepatic differentiation capacity of UCB-MPCs, rat models of hepatic injury were generated using carbon tetra-chloride (CCl 4 ) with transplantation of cells into the liver. The transplanted cells successfully incorporated into the liver of the recipient animal differentiated into functional hepatocyte-like cells that expressed hepatocyte-specific markers, such as CK-18 and albumin. Moreover, human albumin was detected in the serum of the recipient rat model. These data indicated that UCB-MPCs were capable of displaying similar characteristics to those of functional hepatocytes in a recipient liver. UCB-MPCs may prove to be a useful, transplantable alternative for hepatic progenitor cells in both experimental and therapeutic applications.

Independent and cumulative production cross-sections for the (nat)Ti(p,x)(48)V, (43,44m,44g,46,47,48)Sc nuclear processes are reported here, for the energy region of 4-38MeV by using a stacked-foil activation technique. Measured data were critically compared with the earlier reported values, and also with the theoretical data from the TALYS and ALICE-IPPE codes. The measured (nat)Ti(p,x)(48)V reaction is important for charged particle beam monitoring purposes, whereas the (43,44,47)Sc radionuclide have various practical applications in nuclear medicine.

Transport and magnetization of MgIn 2− x Mn x O 4 polycrystalline pellets (0 x 2 O 4 with Mn results in an increase in electrical resistivity and a decrease in electron concentration. The electrical resistivity increases with decreasing temperature throughout the temperature range and variable-range hopping is observed at low temperatures. The diamagnetic pure MgIn 2 O 4 changes to paramagnetic after doping. The paramagnetism of the doped samples obeys the Curie–Weiss law. The magnetic-field dependence of the magnetization of the doped samples can be well described by the Brillouin function.

The Karhunen–Loeve Galerkin procedure is a type of Galerkin methods that employs the empirical eigenfunctions of the Karhunen–Loeve decomposition as basis functions. This technique can reduce nonlinear partial differential equations to sets of minimal number of ordinary differential equations by limiting the solution space to the smallest linear subspace that is sufficient to describe the observed phenomena. Previously [1] , it has been shown that one dimensional Burgers equation is reduced to a low dimensional model by this method, which is employed to solve boundary optimal control problems very efficiently. The present paper demonstrates that the Karhunen–Loeve Galerkin procedure can be extended to solve problems of the boundary optimal control of multidimensional Navier–Stokes equations. Since the reduction of modes in the multidimensional case is much larger than that in the one dimensional case, the present technique is found to be more powerful when applied to the control problems of the Navier–Stokes equation than those of the Burgers equation.

The Burgers equation is a simple one-dimensional model of the Navier-Stokes equation. In the present paper, we suggest an efficient method of solving optimal boundary control problems of the Burgers equation, which is practical as well as mathematically rigorous. Our eventual purpose is to extend this technique to the control problems of viscous fluid flows. The present method is based on the Karhunen-Loeve decomposition which is a technique of obtaining empirical eigenfunctions from the experimental or numerical data of a system. Employing these empirical eigenfunctions as basis functions of a Galerkin procedure, one can a priori limit the function space considered to the smallest linear subspace that is sufficient to describe the observed phenomena, and consequently reduce the Burgers equation to a set of ordinary differential equations with a minimum degree of freedom. The resulting low-dimensional model of Burgers equation is shown to simulate the original system almost exactly. The present algorithm is well suited for the problems of control or optimization, where one has to solve the governing equation repeatedly but one can also estimate the approximate solution space based on the range of control variables. The present method of solving boundary control problems of Burgers equation employing the lowdimensional model obtained by the Karhunen-Loeve Galerkin procedure is found to yield accurate results in a very efficient way, when the minimization of the objective function is performed using a conjugate gradient method.

We report that it was successful to use thermal and UV embossing techniques for the fabrication of 1310/1550nm directional coupler demultiplexer and 1x4 MMI optical power splitter, respectively. The mold was prepared with a poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer, and the pattern was transferred from the photoresist. We experimented also on the durability of the PDMS mold and successfully fabricated 50th replica with thermal curable polymer and 17th replica with UV curable polymer, respectively.

The second amendment to ‘German Rugulations on Consumer Goods’ states that azo dyestuffs, which can release one or more of the listed 20 carcinogenic amines, should no longer be used in dyeing consumer goods. Many acid and direct dyes which liberate harmful amines such as benzidine, o-tolidine and o-dianisidine after reduction are, however, still use. In this study, it was surprising to find that some dyestuffs or dyed substrates released carcinogenic amines such as 4-amino-diphenyl, 2-naphthylamine, 2,4-toluenediamine and 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl-methane, although such amines had not been employed as intermediates in the manufacture of the dyestuffs. Benzidine was also detected from a dyestuff which was not made from benzidine. The 2-naphthylamine residues were sourced as being due to the use of 1-naphthylamine contaminated with 2-naphthylamine. 4-Aminodiphenyl was formed by dediazoniation and a subsequent coupling reaction between the benzenediazonium ion and aniline. Benzidine was derived from dediazoniation and a subsequent self-coupling reaction of the diazonium ion of 4-nitroaniline. 2,4-Toluenediamine and 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane arose from the alkaline hydrolysis of the readily accessible moiety of the corresponding base units in PU foams or PU finishing agents.

AC susceptibility of the Rb3C60 superconductor shows a weak dependence on ac magnetic-field frequency f. The temperature, Tp where χ″ is maximum, rises with increasing frequency and the effect is enhanced as the dc magnetic-field amplitude Hdc is increased. The temperature is found to obey a scaling law (1 − T p /T c ) 3 2 = 1.9 × 10 −4 H dc [ ln (f 0 /f) + 23] + 8 × 10 −5 [ ln (f 0 /f) + 23] , where f0 (≈ 1010 s−1) is a characteristic frequency and Hdc is in tesla. The scaling relationship is in good agreement with the predicted equation based on the model of thermally activated flux motion.

Temperature-dependent magnetization and magnetic-hysteresis curves for the zero-field cooled and the field-cooled processes of Rb 3 C 60 superconducting fullerene with T c of 30.5±0.1 K were measured between 5 and 30 K in magnetic fields up to 1 T. Small field-cooled diamagnetism and flux jumps were observed at low temperatures and in low fields. Both results strongly suggest the existence of a rather large pinning strength in our sample. This suggestion is further confirmed by the field-cooled hysteresis curve and high critical current densities, J c ( H , T ), at low temperatures. Based on the major hysteresis loops and the Bean critical-state model, the J c at T = 5 K are 2.1 × 10 6 A/cm 2 for H = 0 T and 5.2 × 10 5 A/cm 2 for H = 0.9 T. These J c values are larger than other powdered superconductors with comparable sample sizes, except for YBa 2 Cu 3 O y . For T >10 K, J c versus H agrees well with the expression: J c ( H , T )= k 1 /(1+ H / H 01 ) n . On the other hand, for T J c ( H , T ) may be expressed as J c ( H , T )= k 2 exp(− H / H 02 ). Here k 1 , k 2 , H 01 , H 02 and n are temperature-dependent parameters. The dependence of J c on temperature thus obeys the empirical scaling relation, J c ( H , T )= J c0 ( H )(1− T / T c ) m , where J c0 and m are field-dependent parameters. For 0.4 T H m equals about 2.

We report the magnetic J c ( T ) in K 3 C 60 and Rb 3 C 60 powder samples for temperatures from 5 K to T c . J c near T c was obtained from AC measurements whereas J c at low temperatures was obtained from DC measurements. In the AC measurements, two χ″ peaks were observed on some of the samples. This is attributed to weak links in granular superconductors. The intragranular J c is much larger than the intergranular J c . The J c ( T ) data are fitted by J c ( T ) = J c (0)(1 − T / T c ) γ , with J c (0) and γ as fitting parameters. In the DC measurements on Rb 3 C 60 , J c depends approximately linearly on temperature. Extrapolating the zero-field DC data to 0 K yields J c (0) = 3.1 × 10 6 A/cm 2 . This is a rather large J c for a powdered superconductor, suggesting strong pinning in these materials. Finally, the values of γ for the intergranular and intragranular components are compared with the predictions of theories.

Alloy K-500 is a [gamma][prime]-hardened Ni-Cu alloy and has been in application for more than seventy years. However, few studies have been performed on the alloy to determine the relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties. Specifically, to the best of our knowledge, that the effect of grain size on the strength and ductility of alloy K-500 has not been reported. As a matter of fact, the studies of the grain size effect on the strength and ductility of alloys containing coherent spherical ordered [gamma][prime] precipitates are relatively few and, therefore, the results obtained from alloy K-500 may reveal certain useful information on this subject.

Two plateaux are observed in the desorption isotherm for palladium hydride: a lower plateau pressure for a hydrogen/metal atom ratio (H/M) less than about 0.3 and a slightly higher plateau pressure for H/M greater than about 0.3. This higher pressure corresponds to the reported pressure for palladium hydride. These observations were made for a large surface area palladium powder exposed to both protium and tritium. Helium buildup from tritium decay decreases the lower plateau pressure but does not affect the observations for H/M greater than about 0.3. A multiple-energy hydrogen site occupancy model is proposed to explain qualitatively both the dual plateau and the helium effect in palladium hydride.

Hydrogen (H) absorption by YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7− δ (YBCO) was carried out by exposing the superconducting powders to rf-generated H plasma. We find that both the field-cooled (FC) and zero-field-cooled (ZFC) susceptibilities increase after hydrogenation. The largest enhancement is about 24% for the FC susceptibility at 5K.

Far infrared measurements on detwinned single crystals at 2 K give an anisotropic absorptivity for the a and b polarizations. A ≊ 0.5% for the axis from ≊ 100cm −1 up to the optical edge at 400cm −1 . The a axis conductivity shows low frequency absorption bands of electronic strength.