Comparison of the Embodied Carbon Emissions and Direct Construction Costs for Modular and Conventional Residential Buildings in South Korea

Modular construction is an innovative new construction method that minimizes waste and improves efficiency within the construction industry. However, practitioners are hampered by the lack of environmental and economic sustainability analysis methods in this area. This study analyzes the embodied carbon emissions and direct construction costs incurred during the production phase of a modular residential building and provides comparison to an equivalent conventional residential building. Major drawings and design details for a modular residential building in South Korea were obtained, and the quantity take-off data for the major construction materials were analyzed for a modular construction method and a conventional construction method using a reinforced concrete structure under the same conditions. Focusing on major construction materials during the production phase, the embodied carbon emissions assessment revealed that adopting a modular construction approach reduced the environmental impact by approximately 36%, as compared to the conventional reinforced concrete method. However, in terms of the direct construction cost, the modular construction was approximately 8% more expensive than the conventional reinforced concrete construction method.

Formation in dance sports: technical and compositional features

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of historical development and the evolution of technical and compositional features of the choreographic form of the competitive type of sports ballroom dance formation. Methodology. The historical method was applied, which contributed to the consideration of the genesis and development of formation; the comparative method, which revealed the common and distinctive features of dance formation in the twentieth century. and at the present stage, which have helped to determine the characteristic stylistic and technical-compositional features of the formation, and others. Scientific novelty. Peculiarities of the historical development of the choreographic form of the competitive type of sports ballroom dance formation have been studied; the term "formation" is specified; the evolution of technical and compositional features of formation in dancesport at the beginning of the XI century is considered; the generally accepted traditional method of training, which is based on repeated repetition of the competitive composition, is analyzed; outlines the prospects of formation in modern dance sports. Conclusions. Active development of ballroom dancing at the beginning of the XXI century. contributed to its formation in the format of a complex and coordinated sport, which accordingly led to the development of sports and technical skills of dancers, as one of the components of the overall training system. At present, the perfect ballroom dance technique is understood as the most rational and effective way of performing, which allows achieving the best result. Over the past few years, dance formation has changed greatly – increased speed and dynamics of performance, there were numerous gradual changes in position without a complete stop, as well as the trend towards direct construction, which increased dance technique requirements and positively affected national and international competitiveness. Keywords: formation, ballroom dancing, dancesport, technical and compositional features.

Smaller Extended Formulations for Spanning Tree Polytopes in Minor-closed Classes and Beyond

Let $G$ be a connected $n$-vertex graph in a proper minor-closed class $\mathcal G$. We prove that the extension complexity of the spanning tree polytope of $G$ is $O(n^{3/2})$. This improves on the $O(n^2)$ bounds following from the work of Wong (1980) and Martin (1991). It also extends a result of Fiorini, Huynh, Joret, and Pashkovich (2017), who obtained a $O(n^{3/2})$ bound for graphs embedded in a fixed surface. Our proof works more generally for all graph classes admitting strongly sublinear balanced separators: We prove that for every constant $\beta$ with $0<\beta<1$, if $\mathcal G$ is a graph class closed under induced subgraphs such that all $n$-vertex graphs in $\mathcal G$ have balanced separators of size $O(n^\beta)$, then the extension complexity of the spanning tree polytope of every connected $n$-vertex graph in $\mathcal{G}$ is $O(n^{1+\beta})$. We in fact give two proofs of this result, one is a direct construction of the extended formulation, the other is via communication protocols. Using the latter approach we also give a short proof of the $O(n)$ bound for planar graphs due to Williams (2002).

The Building Information Modeling (BIM)-Based System Framework to Implement Circular Economy in Construction Waste Management

The tremendous quantity of waste produced from construction and demolition is a major cause of environmental degradation. This quantity tends to increase due to the rapid growth of building development and renovation. Meanwhile, construction waste management is a complex and costly process due to the fact that it requires different kinds of resources such as money, land, and technology. It is often ignored by all project participants even though it is an essential element of construction project management. However, it has been discovered that modern construction waste management is structured based on the concept of circular economy which focuses on eliminating construction waste and maximizing the value of materials. Therefore, this research proposes an innovative framework to implement the circular economy using building information modeling (BIM) in order to improve the construction waste management process. This involved a thorough review of past literature to identify the implementation of the concept of circular economy, waste management, and the application of BIM, also the research gaps observed were used to develop the functionality of the proposed framework. The five functionalities include (1) visualization and data integration, (2) direct construction waste quantity take-off, (3) BIM-based sorting system and selection of appropriate disposal parties, (4) estimating cost and schedule of waste disposal, and (5) simulation and monitoring report. This BIM system was designed to analyze material waste, quantity, disposal time, and waste treatment based on project conditions, material quantities, and schedule. It can also be used to plan and monitor the construction waste process, thereby making it possible to avoid the disruption of productivity and project time usually caused by unplanned waste management activities. Moreover, the proposed on-site sorting system also has the ability to facilitate the adoption of the circular economy concept during the construction phase.

Biplanar Low-Dose Radiograph Is Suitable for Cephalometric Analysis in Patients Requiring 3D Evaluation of the Whole Skeleton

Background: The biplanar 2D/3D X-ray technology (BPXR) is a 2D/3D imaging system allowing simultaneous stereo-corresponding posteroanterior (PA) and lateral 2D views of the whole body. The aim of our study was to assess the feasibility of cephalometric analysis based on the BPXR lateral skull view to accurately characterize facial morphology. Method: A total of 17 landmarks and 11 angles were placed and/or calculated on lateral BPXR and lateral cephalograms of 13 patients by three investigators. Five methods of angle identification were performed: the direct construction of straight lines on lateral cephalograms (LC-A) and on BPXR (BPXR-A), as well as the calculation of angles based on landmark identification on lateral cephalograms (LA-L) and on BPXR with the PA image (BPXR-LPA) or without (BPXR-L). Intra- and interoperator reliability of landmark identification and angle measurement of each method were calculated. To determine the most reliable method among the BPXR-based methods, their concordance with the reference method, LC-A, was evaluated. Results: Both imaging techniques had excellent intra- and interoperator reliability for landmark identification. On lateral BPXR, BPXR-A presented the best concordance with the reference method and a good intra- and interoperator reliability. Conclusion: BPXR provides a lateral view of the skull suitable for cephalometric analysis with good reliability.

Optimization of the Manufacturing Process by Molding Cobalt-Chrome Alloys in Assembled Dental Frameworks

In oral rehabilitation, the treatment of partial edentulism (PEd) is performed by removable partial dentures (RPD) or assembled prosthetic works (APW) composed of several components, fixed to the prosthetic field (Pa) and a removable one (Pb), in order to facilitate the daily hygiene but also the damping of the occlusal forces applied in mastication. Cobalt-Chromium alloys are materials used to manufacture modern prosthetic assembles. In order for this study to be relevant, it was necessary to standardize the design of the framework (Pa) in terms of shape and volume so that the experiment could be reproducible for the five Co-Cr alloys: 0-A (Co-Cr-Mo), 5-A and 10-A (Co-Cr-Mo-W), 15-A and 16.4-A (Co-Cr-W-Fe) and for the three fabrication methods of dental assembled prosthetic frameworks: refractory duplicate method (RD) resulting removable framework (Pb), direct construction method (DC) resulting removable framework (Pb-) and casting over metal method (CoM) resulting removable framework (Pb+). The time allocated to the adaptation process (AP), mechanical processing and sandblasting, in order to assemble the two components was between 43–70 min, even though the assembly between the Pa-framework and the complementary framework (Pb+) was not necessary, CoM-method hs been provide the elimination of AP step. By applying the arithmetic simple rule of three, the percentages for each of the three methods used were calculated, the values of the difference were obtained. The CoM method improves the joining precision between the components of the removable assembly of prosthetic frameworks by 91.7% compared to the RD method and by 80.62% compared to the DC method. According to the efficiency of the methods used in the precision of joining between frameworks components, their order is: casting over metal, direct construction and refractory duplicate method.

Protein-, (Poly)peptide-, and Amino Acid-Based Nanostructures Prepared via Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly

Proteins and peptides, built from precisely defined amino acid sequences, are an important class of biomolecules that play a vital role in most biological functions. Preparation of nanostructures through functionalization of natural, hydrophilic proteins/peptides with synthetic polymers or upon self-assembly of all-synthetic amphiphilic copolypept(o)ides and amino acid-containing polymers enables access to novel protein-mimicking biomaterials with superior physicochemical properties and immense biorelevant scope. In recent years, polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) has been established as an efficient and versatile alternative method to existing self-assembly procedures for the reproducible development of block copolymer nano-objects in situ at high concentrations and, thus, provides an ideal platform for engineering protein-inspired nanomaterials. In this review article, the different strategies employed for direct construction of protein-, (poly)peptide-, and amino acid-based nanostructures via PISA are described with particular focus on the characteristics of the developed block copolymer assemblies, as well as their utilization in various pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.