The Adaptable Dwelling: A Response to Cultural Diversity

<p>Traditionally, dwellings have evolved in response to social and cultural needs, and changed simultaneously with the development of society. The dwelling is associated primarily with the concept of culture and identity of its occupants. This is challenged through migration to a new and unfamiliar context. In 2010, immigrants granted residency in New Zealand came from increasingly diverse cultural backgrounds (Department of Labour, 2009). These varied cultural backgrounds present greater challenges and complex settlement barriers. A house that is able to cater to diverse cultural needs in terms of function, privacy, and adaptability is crucial for today's growing multicultural society. Immigrants are often placed in council housing that was designed for New Zealand's Pakeha culture which does not provide for the requirements of non-Pakeha cultures. Immigrants are often required to make significant cultural changes through the immigration process and many attributes of their cultures are lost because dwellings are inappropriate. This thesis argues that architecture has a vital role to play in the mediation and integration of immigrants. The dwelling is an important medium through which immigrants can maintain a sense of cultural identity and can develop positive interactions with the wider community. It proposes a generic solution to public housing that is not spatially restrictive nor culturally inhibitive. The research navigates multi-disciplinary boundaries, through both an individual and community lens. It enables a holistic view of culture, immigrants and the importance of the dwelling. The research looks at recent immigration to New Zealand, the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of immigrants and the general challenges immigrants face. Furthermore, it explores historic and contemporary architectural theories on flexibility and adaptability. The design phase brings together research findings of cultural research on immigrants' cultures in the design of a dwelling. It focuses on flexibility as an architectural solution. The design responds to the differing spatial needs of immigrant groups moving to New Zealand. It enables reflection of their identity in their transition to the new culture of New Zealand. The design phase is split into three sections: first, the creation of a generic solution that remains site-less, second, the generic solution is tested against the requirements of an Islamic family, and third, the outcomes of part one are tested in a higher density situation. This thesis concludes by reviewing how the proposal has taken into account the diverse needs of particular cultures and specific living requirements of the immigrant groups studied. Through the concept of flexible design, the changing cultural needs of occupants are addressed. Immigrants moving to New Zealand will have a housing typology that can be adapted to their lifestyles and accommodate diverse cultural requirements.</p>

The Adaptable Dwelling: A Response to Cultural Diversity

<p>Traditionally, dwellings have evolved in response to social and cultural needs, and changed simultaneously with the development of society. The dwelling is associated primarily with the concept of culture and identity of its occupants. This is challenged through migration to a new and unfamiliar context. In 2010, immigrants granted residency in New Zealand came from increasingly diverse cultural backgrounds (Department of Labour, 2009). These varied cultural backgrounds present greater challenges and complex settlement barriers. A house that is able to cater to diverse cultural needs in terms of function, privacy, and adaptability is crucial for today's growing multicultural society. Immigrants are often placed in council housing that was designed for New Zealand's Pakeha culture which does not provide for the requirements of non-Pakeha cultures. Immigrants are often required to make significant cultural changes through the immigration process and many attributes of their cultures are lost because dwellings are inappropriate. This thesis argues that architecture has a vital role to play in the mediation and integration of immigrants. The dwelling is an important medium through which immigrants can maintain a sense of cultural identity and can develop positive interactions with the wider community. It proposes a generic solution to public housing that is not spatially restrictive nor culturally inhibitive. The research navigates multi-disciplinary boundaries, through both an individual and community lens. It enables a holistic view of culture, immigrants and the importance of the dwelling. The research looks at recent immigration to New Zealand, the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of immigrants and the general challenges immigrants face. Furthermore, it explores historic and contemporary architectural theories on flexibility and adaptability. The design phase brings together research findings of cultural research on immigrants' cultures in the design of a dwelling. It focuses on flexibility as an architectural solution. The design responds to the differing spatial needs of immigrant groups moving to New Zealand. It enables reflection of their identity in their transition to the new culture of New Zealand. The design phase is split into three sections: first, the creation of a generic solution that remains site-less, second, the generic solution is tested against the requirements of an Islamic family, and third, the outcomes of part one are tested in a higher density situation. This thesis concludes by reviewing how the proposal has taken into account the diverse needs of particular cultures and specific living requirements of the immigrant groups studied. Through the concept of flexible design, the changing cultural needs of occupants are addressed. Immigrants moving to New Zealand will have a housing typology that can be adapted to their lifestyles and accommodate diverse cultural requirements.</p>

Topological phase transition and single/multi anyon dynamics of Z2 spin liquid

Among the quantum many-body models that host anyon excitation and topological orders, quantum dimer models (QDM) provide a suitable playground for studying the relation between single-anyon and multi-anyon continuum spectra. However, as the prototypical correlated system with local constraints, the generic solution of QDM at different lattice geometry and parameter regimes is still missing due to the lack of controlled methodologies. Here we obtain, via sweeping cluster quantum Monte Carlo algorithm, the excitation spectra in different phases of the triangular lattice QDM. Our results reveal the single vison excitations inside the Z2 quantum spin liquid (QSL) and its condensation towards the $$\sqrt{12}\times \sqrt{12}$$ 12 × 12 valence bond solid (VBS), and demonstrate the translational symmetry fractionalization and emergent O(4) symmetry at the QSL-VBS transition. We find the single vison excitations, whose convolution qualitatively reproduces the dimer spectra, are not free but subject to interaction effects throughout the transition. The nature of the VBS with its O(4) order parameters are unearthed in full scope. Our approach opens the avenue for generic solution of the static and dynamic properties of QDMs and has relevance towards the realization and detection of fractional excitations in programmable quantum simulators.

A Aplicabilidade de uma Ferramenta de Correção Automatizada em Exercícios de Pensamento Computacional

The computer area is elementary to many knowledge areas. In thisway, the computational thinking was included in Common BaseNational Curriculum to teach the children since the elementaryschool. The Computational Thinking (CT) is associate to developmentof habilities that involves abstraction capabilities of a context,allow to express to a generic solution, it supports the analysis andevaluation of a solution proposed. With the CT in the schools it iselementary that the teacher understand the basic concepts aboutprogramming to teach the students and manage to correct and evaluatethe exercices developed by them. In this context, many toolswere developed to support the teachers in the evaluate exercicesprocess. In this way, this paper presents a tool to set right the exercicesas a automated way. The purpose of this paper is identify theimpact caused by tool in relation to the manual evaluation process,besides validate its applicability in a classroom.

Some Remarks on the Solution of Linearisable Second-Order Ordinary Differential Equations via Point Transformations

Transformations of differential equations to other equivalent equations play a central role in many routines for solving intricate equations. A class of differential equations that are particularly amenable to solution techniques based on such transformations is the class of linearisable second-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs). There are various characterisations of such ODEs. We exploit a particular characterisation and the expanded Lie group method to construct a generic solution for all linearisable second-order ODEs. The general solution of any given equation from this class is then easily obtainable from the generic solution through a point transformation constructed using only two suitably chosen symmetries of the equation. We illustrate the approach with three examples.

MINDS: A Translator to Embed Mathematical Expressions Inside SPARQL Queries

The recent deployments of semantic web tools and the expansion of available linked datasets have given users the opportunity of building increasingly complex applications. These emerging use cases often require queries containing mathematical formulas such as euclidean distances or unit conversions. Currently, the latest SPARQL standard (version 1.1) only embeds basic math operators. Thus, to address this shortcoming, some popular SPARQL evaluators provide built-in tools to cover specific needs; however, such tools are not standard yet. To offer users a more generic solution, we propose and share MINDS, a translator of mathematical expressions into SPARQL-compliant bindings which can be understood by any evaluator. MINDS thereby facilitates the query design whenever mathematical computations are needed in a SPARQL query.

A Proposed Framework for Solving Conflicts of Mining Projects

The purpose of this paper was to propose a framework for solving conflicts of mining projects, based on the inclusion of: (i) the alignments to the project management framework of the Project Management Institute; (ii) the implementation of an Integrated Sustainable Development Program; (iii) a public surrender of accounts and (iv) the continuous audit processes by internal institutions and by external, independent and international institutions. This proposed framework was contextualized to a conflict with a specific mining project; however, a generic solution framework is presented. Finally, some recommendations for future researches were proposed.

2D Positioning Control System for the Planar Motion of a Nanopositioning Platform

A novel nanopositioning platform (referred as NanoPla) in development has been designed to achieve nanometre resolution in a large working range of 50 mm × 50 mm. Two-dimensional (2D) movement is performed by four custom-made Halbach linear motors, and a 2D laser system provides positioning feedback, while the moving part of the platform is levitating and unguided. For control hardware, this work proposes the use of a commercial generic solution, in contrast to other systems where the control hardware and software are specifically designed for that purpose. In a previous paper based on this research, the control system of one linear motor implemented in selected commercial hardware was presented. In this study, the developed control system is extended to the four motors of the nanopositioning platform to generate 2D planar movement in the whole working range of the nanopositioning platform. In addition, the positioning uncertainty of the control system is assessed. The obtained results satisfy the working requirements of the NanoPla, achieving a positioning uncertainty of ±0.5 µm along the whole working range.