Residential choice from a multiple criteria sustainable perspective

Minimizing travel in the urban environment facilitates the development of sustainable cities. A key aspect is that there is a wide supply of amenities and facilities in the neighbourhoods: if most of the needs of families, goods and services can be covered from the sub-centers of the residential areas, it will be possible to reduce daily intra-urban mobility. The objective of this work is to propose a ranking multicriteria method that facilitates the choice of an ideal residential location in terms of neighbourhood characteristics, especially in the search of sustainable mobility for each family characteristics. One of the main problems in several Multiple Criteria Decision Making methods is the assignment of criteria weights in the aggregation process. The proposed methodology in this paper, Un-weighted TOPSIS (UW-TOPSIS) is able to overcome that problem. In this Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method the relative proximity of each decision alternative to an ideal solution is minimized for the un-known weights of the criteria which are the variables in the corresponding mathematical programming program. Thus, a ranking based on the relative proximity of each alternative to an ideal alternative is obtained without the a priori establishment of the criteria weights. The use of subjective weights in real decision making contexts, where for instance a ranking of alternatives is required, is subject to important criticisms. This could be the case of the ranking of neighbourhoods based on their sustainability.

The Edge of Public Amenity

<p>We have the techniques to design smaller and more efficient apartments, but those small apartments are often less attractive than their suburban alternatives. Some of the most attractive suburban houses are adjacent to significant natural public amenities, like beaches and parks, which gives the occupants convenient access to these public amenities. Valuable waterfront houses, for example, often open directly onto the beach. Houses adjacent to the town belt in Wellington often have direct access to these natural environments. While some small apartments can also have high value when adjacent to public amenities, they seldom have direct access to interior public amenities. What opportunities are there to making apartments more attractive by providing a shared interior public space directly accessible from the apartments door step? What is the interior equivalent of a beach front house? This project explores the possibility of setting apartment’s directly adjacent to interior public amenities like a gallery space, giving occupants privilege access to these spaces. With a growing urban population, our cities can either become denser or sprawl. The latter is not a positive outcome. Cities with limited access to land often handle density better since it is an urgent issue while others do not face these issues the same way but it is a reality. There are many benefits to living in the city; however we require places for recreation such as public amenities like the beaches and parks. Distinctively they are an escape from the built environment where there is a growing demand for density. Apartments are the norm in inner city living and they do not have relative proximity to these public amenities. Interiors also can be public amenities and there is an opportunity to bring these interior public amenities into the apartment. This opportunity could well improve the quality of apartment interiors because of this new adjacency to a public interior amenity. There are many examples of flexible designs but all are individual cases, such as the building in which Gary Chang lives. It is a small 32m² apartment known as a domestic transformer because of its sliding walls. Out of the hundreds of similar sized apartments, none is as flexible as Chang’s apartment. Typical apartments have a systematic problem of cramping more space at the cost a spatial configuration. Furthermore apartments rarely have any significant interior spaces that are adjacent to them.</p>

The Edge of Public Amenity

<p>We have the techniques to design smaller and more efficient apartments, but those small apartments are often less attractive than their suburban alternatives. Some of the most attractive suburban houses are adjacent to significant natural public amenities, like beaches and parks, which gives the occupants convenient access to these public amenities. Valuable waterfront houses, for example, often open directly onto the beach. Houses adjacent to the town belt in Wellington often have direct access to these natural environments. While some small apartments can also have high value when adjacent to public amenities, they seldom have direct access to interior public amenities. What opportunities are there to making apartments more attractive by providing a shared interior public space directly accessible from the apartments door step? What is the interior equivalent of a beach front house? This project explores the possibility of setting apartment’s directly adjacent to interior public amenities like a gallery space, giving occupants privilege access to these spaces. With a growing urban population, our cities can either become denser or sprawl. The latter is not a positive outcome. Cities with limited access to land often handle density better since it is an urgent issue while others do not face these issues the same way but it is a reality. There are many benefits to living in the city; however we require places for recreation such as public amenities like the beaches and parks. Distinctively they are an escape from the built environment where there is a growing demand for density. Apartments are the norm in inner city living and they do not have relative proximity to these public amenities. Interiors also can be public amenities and there is an opportunity to bring these interior public amenities into the apartment. This opportunity could well improve the quality of apartment interiors because of this new adjacency to a public interior amenity. There are many examples of flexible designs but all are individual cases, such as the building in which Gary Chang lives. It is a small 32m² apartment known as a domestic transformer because of its sliding walls. Out of the hundreds of similar sized apartments, none is as flexible as Chang’s apartment. Typical apartments have a systematic problem of cramping more space at the cost a spatial configuration. Furthermore apartments rarely have any significant interior spaces that are adjacent to them.</p>

Exploring the Solar System with the NOIRLab Source Catalog I: Detecting Objects with CANFind

Despite extensive searches and the relative proximity of solar system objects (SSOs) to Earth, many remain undiscovered and there is still much to learn about their properties and interactions. This work is the first in a series dedicated to detecting and analyzing SSOs in the all-sky NOIRLab Source Catalog (NSC). We search the first data release of the NSC with CANFind, a Computationally Automated NSC tracklet Finder. NSC DR1 contains 34 billion measurements of 2.9 billion unique objects, which CANFind categorizes as belonging to “stationary” (distant stars, galaxies) or moving (SSOs) objects via an iterative clustering method. Detections of stationary bodies for proper-motion μ ≤ 2.″5 hr−1 (0.°017 day−1) are identified and analyzed separately. Remaining detections belonging to high-μ objects are clustered together over single nights to form “tracklets.” Each tracklet contains detections of an individual moving object, and is validated based on spatial linearity and motion through time. Proper motions are then calculated and used to connect tracklets and other unassociated measurements over multiple nights by predicting their locations at common times, forming “tracks.” This method extracted 527,055 tracklets from NSC DR1 in an area covering 29,971 square degrees of the sky. The data show distinct groups of objects with similar observed μ in ecliptic coordinates, namely Main Belt Asteroids, Jupiter Trojans, and Kuiper Belt Objects. Apparent magnitudes range from 10 to 25 mag in the ugrizY and VR bands. Color–color diagrams show a bimodality of tracklets between primarily carbonaceous and siliceous groups, supporting prior studies.

Sistem Pendukung Keputusan Pemberian Jumlah Pinjaman Kepada Calon Nasabah Bumdes Menggunakan Metode Topsis (Studi Kasus Bumdes Gergas Mandiri Kecamatan Wampu)

The development of the savings and loan business is currently growing rapidly as a financial institution in alleviating poverty . BumDes is a business owned by a village or sub-district that is engaged in lending or channeling funds to people who need to develop their business. The BUMDes conducts deliberation meetings in determining loan granting. There is often disagreement between the parties that will borrow. This resulted in unequal distribution of loans to BUMDes members. Although the determination of the granting of the loan amount is fully determined by the BUMDes However, this Decision Support System will display the highest to lowest priorities of the prospective customer , so that it will facilitate and assist the BUMDes in making decisions. TOPSIS uses the principle that the chosen alternative must have the closest distance from the positive ideal solution and the longest distance (farthest) from the negative ideal solution to determine the relative proximity of an alternative to the optimal solution.

The hidden diversity of the genus Lyurella Derzhavin, 1939 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae): four new species from the subterranean habitats of the northwestern Caucasus, Russia

Four new species of the Palaearctic crangonyctid amphipod genus Lyurella Derzhavin, 1939 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae), L. mikhailovi sp. n., L. fanagorica sp. n., L. fontinalis sp. n. and L. asheensis sp. n., are described based on an integrative approach from the subterranean habitats of the southwestern foothills of the Greater Caucasian Ridge (the north-eastern Black Sea coast). Despite the relative proximity of the habitats, the interspecific genetic divergence (by COI mtDNA gene marker) between the newly outlined Caucasian species of the genus varied from 11 to 21%, demonstrating a long-term isolation and lack of gene flow for at least 3–7Mya, starting from the Pliocene. The lowest genetic divergence between L. shepsiensis Sidorov, 2015 and L. asheensis sp. n., estimated as 4%, is also considered species-specific due to the presence of distinct morphological differences. We discuss the phylogeny, morphology, and distribution and provide a key for all known species of Lyurella. DNA barcoding data for all species, including the type species of the genus, Lyurella hyrcana Derzhavin, 1939, are presented for the first time.

Operation mode selection of NIMBY facility Public Private Partnership projects

Construction of not in my back yard (NIMBY) facility Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects are feasible measures to realize sustainable urbanization. In order to ensure the smooth development of the NIMBY facility PPP projects, the problem of choosing the most suitable operation mode among many PPP modes is still scarce and unscientific. In order to select the operation mode of the PPP projects that best fits the characteristics of the project, this paper constructs the operation mode selection of the NIMBY facility PPP project. Firstly, the index system of operation mode selection of the NIMBY facility PPP project is determined. G1 subjective weighting method and information entropy objective weighting method are introduced to solve the optimal weight of each index. Grey correlation theory is used to improve TOPSIS method, and the calculation form of relative proximity degree is optimized to determine the most suitable operation mode for the project. In this paper, combined weighting and TOPSIS method are applied to the research of NIMBY facility PPP project, and the operation mode selection of NIMBY facility PPP project is established, which makes up the blank of this part. Finally, a PPP project in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, is taken as an example to verify the applicability of the model. The effectiveness of this model was tested by comparing the results of TOPSIS method, Grey target model, Extended matter-element mode and GRA-TOPSIS. It is hoped to provide useful reference for the operation mode selection of NIMBY facility PPP project.

ACOUSTIC EFFECTS OF DURATIONAL CUES IN THE PERCEPTION OF NAJDI ARABIC VOWEL CONTINUA

This paper explores how the manipulation of vowel duration as a perceptual cue influences listeners’ perceptual ability. Four native speakers of Najdi Arabic, a well-known variety of Arabic in the Arabian Peninsula, were tested on the perception of /a/ vs. /ɛ/ vowels. Listeners’ identification and discrimination rates along each vowel continuum showed a clear effect of duration on the perception of /a/-/ɛ/ contrast. In each vowel continuum, listeners were more inclined to classify stimuli as belonging to one vowel or the other based on relative proximity to the steady-state vowel duration. Perceptibility naturally improved as duration approximated the normal duration of either vowel. Listeners’ perceptual judgments in the identification and discrimination of the vowels were swayed by their aural sensitivity to perceptual shifts (/a/-/ɛ/ at 185-195ms; /ɛ/-/a/ at 195-205ms). Moreover, findings of the identification task followed predictably from the discrimination task; this could be taken as evidence for the existence of categorical perception. Results aggregately indicate that perception of the two Najdi Arabic vowels proceeded as a function of duration.