The LTTD process for highly concentrated crude oil-contaminated soil was studied to evaluate the remediation efficiency. In addition, the environmental impact difference between HTTD and LTTD was studied. OpenLCA software obtained from PE International was used to perform the analyses. The total ADP environmental impact of the HTTD process was 1.63E-04 MJ, whereas the total GWP impact was 4.14E+02 kg CO2-eq. In contrast, the LTTD process exhibits total ADP and GWP environmental impacts of 1.29E-04 MJ and 2.78E+02 kg CO2 eq, respectively. Analysis of the overall environmental impact reduction revealed that replacing the HTTD process with the LTTD process resulted in a total ADP reduction of 3.40E-05 MJ (20.5%) and a GWP reduction of 1.36E+02 kg CO2 -eq (32.9%). It is inferred that the LTTD treatment of contaminated soil can significantly reduce the environmental impact compared with conventional incineration and HTTD processes. Additionally, the LTTD-treated soil with coke or carbonized residue could act like biochar as a soil amendment. Approximately 50% of organic hydrocarbon contaminants are sequestered into coke or carbonized residues on the soil surface. With additional analyses of various oil-contaminated soils, the potential utility of LTTD-treated soils is expected to be maximized.

Global attention to climate change has surged since the advent of the Paris Agreement, intensifying the importance of measuring and managing carbon productivity indicators on a national level. Nevertheless, concerns persist regarding the reliability of such measurements because of inherent discrepancies in implementing and operating national-level carbon productivity indicators, coupled with their inherent uncertainty. This study proposes a multiple regression model to address these issues aimed at refining national-level carbon productivity indicators metrics, accounting for factors such as the gross domestic product and total greenhouse gas emissions by sectors. The objective was to offer insights into enhancing and effectively utilizing current indicators, enabling a more nuanced interpretation of the variation in the carbon productivity indicators across diverse industrial landscapes. This study showed that adjustments of the carbon productivity metrics reflect disparities in emissions across industrial structures, with countries characterized by high emissions from non-service industries showing improving trends. In addition, this paper proposes an auxiliary indicator estimating method for carbon productivity, emphasizing its utility in interpreting productivity indicators within the context of varying industrial compositions across OECD countries. This study underscores the inadequacies of the current national productivity estimating method, pinpointing areas requiring refinement. Specifically, the method for estimating the auxiliary indicator for carbon productivity guarantees enhanced rationality when integrated with current methodologies. Moreover, by elucidating the nuances of industrial structures, this study advocates for more sophisticated approaches to interpreting and managing the productivity indicators tailored to each unique economic landscape of each country. Nevertheless, the limitations stemming from data availability underscore the need for further research, particularly in refining the national-level carbon resource productivity indicators analyses and exploring the thematic productivity variations in greater depth. By addressing these gaps, future studies will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of national-level carbon resource productivity indicators dynamics and reveal targeted strategies for sustainable development.

GR4J (Genie Rural a 4 parame`tres Journalier) is a rainfall-runoff model widely used to modelling rainfall into discharge. In this model, the input data used are daily rainfall and evapotranspiration data, calibrated using daily observed discharge data. This model seeks the optimum parameter value that produces the minimum deviation or error. The Nash-Sutcliffe Coefficient and Relative Volume Error (RVE) are used to estimate the errors that occur. One of the modelling parameters, namely X4 (peak time), has a value that does not match the observed hydrograph peak time (Tp). For this reason, it is necessary to adjust the modelling equation so that the unit hydrograph of the model appropriately in terms of value and shape with observed unit hydrograph. This study examines ten watersheds in Java Island so that it is expected to represent catchment conditions in tropical areas and developing countries. A relationship was obtained between the difference peak time from modelling (X4) and observed Tp. Adjustments Formula can be made to the general GR4J modelling equation for unit hydrograph in Java Island watersheds.

Residential segregation refers to the phenomenon where people of different socioeconomic backgrounds live in spatially separated areas. It is essential to ensure equitable access to urban amenities for all residents in pursuit of the normative values in urban planning. To achieve this planning goal, the disparity in accessibility to urban amenities needs to be appropriately diagnosed. Private apartments and public rental apartments are representative types of residences where residential segregation is likely to occur in the context of South Korea, since these two types show considerable differences in the education, income, and occupations. The objective of this study is to develop an analysis framework for diagnosing the difference in accessibility to urban amenities between the two residential types, and to empirically demonstrate their utility in the planning process. The empirical analysis conducted on Seoul revealed that not only were there significant local variations in accessibility between the two segregated residential areas, but the overall differences across the entire area were also pronounced. The proposed framework is useful in supporting decision-making processes for locating new public facilities or identifying regional priorities for guiding the placement of private amenities, with the aim of mitigating differences between segregated residential areas.

The substitution of chemical fertilizers by organic manure plays a critical role in sustainable crop production. Nevertheless, organic amendments promote the global warming potential (GWP) in rice paddies due to increased methane (CH4) emissions. Increasing evidence shows that lime application can reduce CH4 emissions from acidic paddy soils, while it is still not clear whether liming can reduce the GWP in rice fields under organic manure substitution. A two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the impacts of pig manure substitution and lime application on grain yield, CH4 and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in a subtropical double-cropped rice field in China. The experiment consisted of three treatments: chemical fertilization (CF, 100% N from urea), 50% of chemical N substituted by pig manure (1/2N + M), and the 1/2N + M treatment plus lime amendment (1/2N + M + L). On average, 1/2N + M reduced rice yield by 5.65% compared to CF, while lime application had no effect on rice yield. Mean cumulative CH4 emissions were 218.8% higher in 1/2N + M than in CF, whereas 1/2N + M + L reduced CH4 emissions by 36.6% compared to 1/2N + M. Neither pig manure substitution nor lime application affected N2O emissions. Consequently, 1/2N + M increased the GWP and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) by 214.6% and 228.3%, respectively, compared to CF. In contrast, 1/2N + M + L reduced the GWP and GHGI by 36.4% and 36.5% compared to 1/2N + M. Lime application can mitigate CH4 emissions and GWP induced by pig manure amendment in double-cropped rice fields.

Currently, there has been a tendency for companies to direct the development of their businesses following circular economy trends associated with sustainability. European Community guidelines have established deadlines for the implementation of management strategies that allow creating and maintaining an effective and resource-efficient economic system, reducing the amount of en-ergy and materials used in production. In this scenario, this study makes sense, which aims to an-alyze academic studies on these topics with the aim of understanding future trends. In this sense, the objective of this study is to understand the potential impacts on business development of the inte-gration of sustainability and the circular economy. This article uses a systematic literature review, which has the objective of gather and analyze materials from different authors, carrying out an analysis to answer a specific question. The findings indicate that CE and sustainability are con-nected and businesses should implement sustainability and CE appropriate strategies to increase their competitiveness and improve resource efficiency. These strategies may integrate innovative technologies, the use of sharing platforms, product life extension, resource recovery to minimize waste and the integration of sustainability concepts in business as well as their communication with their stakeholders to change trends and behaviors.

This study investigates the relationship between housing prices and vacancy rates in Hong Kong, offering insights distinct from previous cross-sectional analyses. Addressing limitations in data availability and methodological approaches, the study examines annual data spanning multiple housing size categories to uncover nuanced dynamics in the housing market. Two major contributions emerge: firstly, the analysis reveals the price elasticity of vacancy, elucidating how housing prices respond to changes in vacancy rates over time. Secondly, by considering housing vacancy changes as outcomes of the interactions between supply and demand, the study challenges the conventional independence assumption between these variables. The results support the hypothesis that housing vacancies exert a negative impact on housing prices, holding other factors constant. These findings have significant implications for policymakers, urban planners, and real estate investors, providing valuable insights for crafting targeted interventions and informing investment decisions.

The increasing regulatory pressure to monitor and reduce GHG emissions and air pollutants requires cost-effective methods for their surveillance. The most common technique used for scientific investigations on gas concentration monitoring in barns are accurate but expensive and with a complex maintenance. This research study analysed the potential use of a low-cost portable measurement devices for the measurement of ammonia (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in an open dairy barn. A comparison between gas concentrations acquired at different heights from the floor by using portable devices and those acquired by a photoacoustic infrared multigas spectroscope (i.e., reference measurement) in the same sampling locations was carried out to determine the precision of the low-cost portable devices. The performance of low-cost portable devices was statistically analysed by the application of the one-way analysis of variance, correlation analysis and regression analysis. The results showed a significant difference between gas concentration values at various heights from the floor for both NH3 and CO2. The correlations between concentrations acquired by the low-cost portable device and the INNOVA were statistically significant (r=0.83; P<0.001) for gas concentrations monitored at 0.4 m from the floor. Compared with the reference measurement device, the low-cost devices were effective in the monitoring of NH3 concentrations at 0.40 m from the floor though it underestimated them in the barn at increasing of the height from the floor, whereas the device was not adequate for CO2 concentrations. In detail, the relative measurement error of the low-cost devices compared to INNOVA was reduced close to the floor during NH3 concentration measurements. Within these limitations, this device could be useful for monitoring NH3 concentration in the barn and to assess variation in NH3 concentrations mainly related to the animal occupied zone. Further efforts are needed in this field of research to identify low-cost device that could simplify emission estimation from open dairy barns.

Research on green-certified buildings has often been focused on the benefits of green standards, such as energy efficiency, smart growth, resource conservation, and health protection. Recent studies suggest the adoption of a reductionist sustainability planning language can turn green-certified houses into luxury goods, attracting White, prime-age, college-educated households with some pro-environmental attitudes who replace existing long-term, lower-income residents in core urban areas. While many factors may work together in driving neighborhood change and gentrification in cities, the question this study aims to address is to what extent the supply of green-certified units can affect neighborhood change and gentrification? We use Central Virginia’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS) housing market transactions data and the U.S. Census Bureau’s socioeconomic data to present the differential effect of new construction of market-rate, green-certified units in a natural experiment using difference-in-differences estimates. We find that neighborhoods that include new, green-certified units have experienced a statistically significant increase in population, supporting new construction and positively affecting house prices. We also detect some negative effects on minorities and minority owners, but these effects have not yet reached statistical significance. This study finds strong evidence of green housing providing the conditions that make areas ripe for gentrification, but more studies should follow up to better measure and generalize this finding.

This study investigates the impact of circular economy (CE) strategies on organizational resilience (OR) within the metal industry, focusing on a case study of a forging department in a large man-ufacturing company. The idea of the paper is to link the macroeconomic topic of circular economy (CE) with microeconomic and practical activities in the organization, exploring how CE principles can improve resource efficiency, sustainability, and organizational resilience. A systematic literature review and case study methodology were used to assess the relationship between CE and OR. The findings reveal that companies with higher circularity demonstrate better resilience, both in normal operations and during crises. Specifically, in the case study, the closure of the forging department, following a detailed analysis using the Inputs-Mediators-Outputs (IMO) model, emerged as the most sustainable option, yielding financial, environmental, and operational benefits. This decision aligned with the company’s long-term goals of energy efficiency and carbon neutrality. The research highlights the significance of integrating CE strategies with business processes to not only achieve sustainability but also to build a more adaptable and resilient organization. Future research should explore broader applications of this framework across different industries to strengthen the links between circular economy practices and organizational resilience.

Maker spaces can contribute significantly to the circular economy of cities: they demonstrate not only the economic potential of inner loop circularity, but also provide tangible evidence of spatial and social integration of production into the urban context. This paper presents findings from a typological analysis of 326 maker spaces in seven European cities, with a focus on selected exemplar case studies to reveal design characteristics, principles and opportunities for circular city development. The research shows that circular economy principles of ‘reduce-reuse-recyle’ are aligned with maker spaces such as repair cafés, secondhand shops and fab labs. In the context of cities, circularity is revealed by a spatial tightening of resource cycles that close the loops of product life cycles. Furthermore, urban maker spaces demonstrate social engagement and a relationship to local production which inherently includes maintenance, repair, reuse, and redistribution. This paper defines five maker typologies, presents exemplars of each from different urban contexts and posits hybrid design strategies for the transition to circular maker cities. Through the adoption of these findings into urban planning policy it is possible accelerate circular urban production and close the sustainability gap between small scale local and large scale regional manufacturing.

The impulse of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is triggering the demand for few specific metals. These include copper, silver, gold, and platinum group metals (PGMs), with important applications in renewable energies, green hydrogen, and electronic products. However, the continuous extraction of these metals is leading to a rapid decline in their ore grades and, consequently, increasing the environmental impact of extraction. Hence, obtaining metals from secondary sources, such as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), becomes imperative for both environmental sustainability and ensuring availability. This recovery entails few problems such as allocation due to the simultaneous production of several metals, the use of non-renewable resources, and the exergy destruction during the life cycle of the metals. Therefore, this work analyses the waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) recycling process by proposing different exergy-based cost allocations for the mentioned metals, disaggregating the exergy cost into non-renewable and renewable, and considering the complete life cycle of metals with the Circular Thermoeconomics methodology. The results show a significant saving of non-renewable energy by using renewable energies in primary extraction (67-87%), recycling (97.6-98.5%), and renewable energies in recycling (98.7%, 99.0%), compared to conventional primary extraction. However, when considering the entire life cycle, between 47% and 53% of the non-renewable exergy is destroyed during recycling. Therefore, delaying recycling as much as possible would be the most desirable option for maximizing the use of non-renewable resources, which nature cannot replace in a short time.

The aim of the study was to identify limiting factors for reusing wood through the recycling of window frames by conducting research under fully controlled conditions. The research involved manufacturing new window frames, seasoning them, and then shredding them into wood particles to prepare a three-layer particleboard. The proportion of wood particles in recycling was 0, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 parts by weight of the manufactured particleboard. Mechanical property tests were conducted: modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture (MOR), internal bond (IB), screw withdrawal resistance (SWR), and physical properties: density profile (DP), thickness swelling (TS) after water immersion, water absorption (WA), as well as formaldehyde emission and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) tests. The conducted research indicates a significant potential for utilising wood from this sector of the wood industry, particularly considering variants with a higher proportion of recycled wood. MOR and MOE results are most promising for variants above 50 parts by weight of recycled wood. Based on the results obtained, it is clear that the production process should be improved or the raw material modified to enhance the internal bonding of particleboard, as these results were the weakest. Thus, recycled wood from window joinery has the potential to be reincarnated as particleboard, which continues to be widely used in their production.

This study investigates the valorization potential of yellowfin tuna tails for the production of high-value commercial products. Muscle and skins were firstly mechanically separated by using a specifically designed device. The muscle was then used as a nitrogen source for the growth of the proteolytic enzymes-producer Bacillus subtilis, whereas the skins were employed for gelatin extrac-tion. The proteases from Bacillus subtilis were partially purified and used to produce antioxidant peptides from gelatin obtained. The gelatin obtained formed a gel upon cooling, with gelling and melting temperatures at 16 ºC and 22 ºC, respectively, and Bloom Strength of ≈ 160. RSM was used to determine the optimal hydrolysis conditions to obtain the highest antioxidant activity (35.96%, measured as DPPH radical scavenging activity), which were 50°C / 6.5 IU of enzyme. The findings emphasize the importance of an integrated approach to maximize the value of tuna by-products, promoting sustainability in the frame of circular bioeconomy. Overall, these results contribute to the efficient utilization of tuna by-products, waste reduction, and enhance economic viability of the tuna industry.

While there are well-known synthetic methods in the literature to find the image of a point under circular inversion in l2−normed geometry (Euclidean geometry), there is no similar synthetic method in Minkowski geometry, also known as the geometry of finite-dimensional Banach spaces. In this study, we have succeeded in giving a synthetic construction for the circular inversion in l1−normed spaces, which is one of the most fundamental examples of Minkowski geometry. Moreover, this synthetic construction has been given using the Euclidean circle, independently of the l1−norm.

In this paper, we provide alternative proofs to some results proposed in the article "New inequalities involving circular, inverse circular, hyperbolic, inverse hyperbolic and exponential functions" authored by Yogesh J. Bagul.

Objectives: We compared housing and the eating habits of Roma. Contemporary findings (2013) were compared with those from the first monothematic work on Roma (1775) depicting their housing and eating habits. Methods: Data come from a journal (1775) and from semi-structured interviews (2013) with more than 70 Roma women and men who live segregated in excluded settlements at the edges of villages or scattered among the majority. Data were collected in two villages and one district town in the Tatra region, where data from the 1775 measurements originate. We used classical sociological theory and new ethnography to interpret the obtained data. Results: The main findings showed differences between specific social classes then and now regarding housing as well as eating habits, related to both conditions among Roma in the Tatra. The national Roma foods gója or marikľa are traditional foods of Slovak ancestors living in poverty in the country. The houses of Roma do not greatly differ from those of the majority. Conclusions: We conclude that life strategies of the citizens of poor settlements now are similar to two centuries ago, typical for the culture of poverty in various countries of the world even after the centuries.

The discharge of industrial effluents containing toxic heavy metals in water sources has serious consequences for human health and the environment, and biosorption appears to be an environmental-friendly and cost-effective alternative that can be used for wastewater treatment. The use of different types of agricultural waste as biosorbents for the removal of toxic heavy metals, although an alternative, is quite difficult to apply in practice because these wastes have many other uses. Based on these considerations, in this study, soybean biomass (SB), soybean waste biomass obtained from oil extraction (SBW) and biochar obtained from soybean waste pyrolysis (BC-SBW) were testes as biosorbents form the removal of Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions, in batch systems. Under optimal conditions (pH = 5.4, 4.0 g biosorbent/L, room temperature (25 ± 1 C), contact time = 180 min), the biosorption capacity increase in the order: SB < SBW < BC-SBW for both metal ions, indicating that BC-SBW has the highest efficiency in removing toxic heavy metals. In addition, experiments on wastewater samples have shown that, in addition to significant reducing the content of heavy metals, BC-SBW also significant improved other quality indicators (such as: pH, TSM, CCO-Cr, CBO5), compared to the other biosorbents (SB and SBW). Quantitative evaluation of the biosorptive performance of each biosorbent (SB, SBW and BC-SBW) shows that BC-SBW has a real chance of being used on an industrial scale for wastewater treatment. All these aspects allowed the development of a circular approach for the use of soybean biomass in the removal processes of toxic heavy metals. This approach minimizes the shortcomings of using biomass as a biosorbent and increase the chance of using these materials in industrial practice.

A sustainable low cost activated carbon substitute was produced based on pretreated lignocellulosic biomass, especially spruce sawdust. A harmful liquid waste, desalination brine was used for the treatment of a solid wood industry waste, spruce sawdust. This approach is in the circular economy theory and aims to the decarbonization of the economy. The pretreated sawdust was tested as an adsorbent appropriate for the removal of a commonly used pollutant, methylene blue, from industrial wastewater. The adsorption capacity of the pretreated material was found to increased four times comparing to the untreated one in the case that the Freundlich equation was fitted to the isotherms’ data. The treatment experimental conditions with desalination brine that gave maximum adsorption capacity correspond to 1.97 combined severity factor in logarithmic form value. The same adsorption capacity was found to increase five to six times comparing to the untreated spruce sawdust in the case that the Langmuir isotherm model was applied at the same data. Moreover, kinetic experiment was cried out as regards the methylene blue adsorption process. The desalination brine pretreated sawdust adsorption capacity increased 1.4 times comparing to the untreated one, in the case of the Lagergren kinetic equation fitting. Furthermore, the adsorption capacity of the same material was increased 1.6 times when the second order kinetic model was applied to the same data. Industrial scale applications can be based on the kinetic data findings as they have to do with a very shorter adsorption period comparing to the isotherm data.

The development of reliable predictive algorithm for house price as the housing market is a stand-out among the most involved regarding valuing the price and continues to fluctuate, is constantly a need for socio-economic advancement and welfare of citizen. In this paper, we develop machine learning algorithms for forecasting UK housing Price, and find an optimal algorithm that forecasts housing price accurately on the premises of the presence of many features or covariates. After applying correlation analysis to remove correlated variables in order to avoid multicollinearity, thereby increasing the statistical power, a novel method of using regression analysis to first of all understand and select statistically significant features for the various regions in England based on North South divide is adopted. These features are then used in the machine learning algorithm to further increase the statistical power of the algorithm, increase the level of accuracy for each of them and ultimately increase the predictive values for the algorithms. The model construction involves 3 stages: 1- correlation analysis to identify and remove correlated variables thereby avoiding multicollinearity and increasing the statistical power of the linear regression, 2 - using linear regression to determine variables that are statistically significant and 3 - building the machine learning algorithms based on the variables that are statistically significant from the linear regression. A comprehensive dataset of UK Paid housing Price from 2010 to 2019 was linked to a number of other datasets to generate a total 21 variables or features used for the models. Catboost, Gradient Boosting, Bagging, Random Forest, Extra Tree all achieved the excellent models performance result in all the regions considered. The comparison of the seven models showed that Extra Tree algorithm consistently achieved the best performance in term of level of accuracy in all the regions. K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN) is the only algorithm with less than 50% level of accuracy. Noticeably, the regions considered had varying or differing insignificant variables, implying that although many variables are common (statistically significant) to all the regions, there are regional differences and impact when modelling or predicting housing prices. This study validates the practicability of developing a machine learning methodology for the prediction of housing price. This research offers a reference for future house price prediction based on machine learning.

This paper presents the development of a housing information system application using the Agile development method. The rapid development of information technology has necessitated the use of systems in various fields for efficient administration and data processing. However, traditional soft- ware development approaches are time-consuming and may not meet user requirements. The Agile methodology, with its flexible and iterative approach, addresses these challenges by focusing on delivering a functional system quickly. In this study, credit scoring and background related to housing information systems are examined, along with an overview of related work in Agile software development methodologies. The methods used in developing the housing information system application are explained, including the Agile development process and the stages involved. The results show that the Agile development method effectively produces user-friendly and functional housing information system applications. The system provides a simple and intuitive interface that facilitates easy navigation and access to information. Overall, the Agile development method is a valuable approach for software development to meet evolving user needs.

This critical study examines the social consequences of neoliberal urbanism, with a focus on housing policies by implementing qualitative approach. The main goal of the study is to identify downsides of the neoliberalism in residential areas and shed light on the potential social challenges caused by this. After reviewing the existing literature in this field and introducing some cases, the findings highlight that the prioritization of market mechanisms in urban development, which is the key characteristic of neoliberalism, has led to unaffordable housing, gentrification, and displacement of marginalized communities, exacerbating socio-economic inequalities. The commodification of housing under neoliberal urbanism has transformed homes into financial assets, and instead of addressing the structural roots of housing insecurity, strategies such as implementing public-private partnerships (PPPs), urban mega projects and deregulation, have perpetuated housing crises in urban areas. The results suggest that alternative methods such as inclusionary zones for having a mix of market-rate and affordable housing in new developments, as well as strengthening tenant protections through rent control, and tenant rights advocacy programs, can remarkably help address systemic inequalities. By prioritizing the needs of vulnerable populations, policymakers can work towards mitigating the detrimental social effects of neoliberal urbanism and fostering more just and inclusive urban environments. Finally, critical engagement with social justice issues is essential to creating diverse and inclusive urban communities.

Burkina Faso is a sub-Saharan African country with a high poverty rate that has quadruplicated its population in the last half fifty years, that is, from 4.5 to 18 million inhabitants. Such demographic changes together with an intense migration process from rural areas to large cities, among other issues, are contributing to a rapid process of socio-cultural transformation. In this context, changes in both traditional and contemporary housing are analyzed and a complete ther-mo-hygrometric evaluation is carried out by processing significant data from on-site measure-ments to shed new light on the response of the said dwellings to the environmental and local cultural values. Results show that the introduction of land ownership linked to climate change and the increasing scarcity of natural resources are forcing native ethnic groups to modify their traditional ways of life, threatening their subsistence. Consequently, we can prove that the new building typologies are not in the least suitable for the climatic conditions nor the rich cultural heritage of Burkina Faso. This fact, negatively affects the possibility of revitalizing vernacular and environmentally-oriented solutions for the contemporary world and the necessary advance to-wards a more sustainable architecture.

Real estate has the dual characteristics of consumption and investment. Under the inherent concept of "where there is land, there is wealth", real estate has become the investment target of the main asset. In addition to the supply and demand of the market will affect the price of real estate, many general economic factors will also have a certain impact on the price of real estate. This paper pays a special focus on the effects of MRT on housing prices, finding the closer a house is to an MRT station, the higher its price. In addition, convenience stores are very popularized, and this research report is also interested in whether the number of convenience stores within walking distance will affect the house price. In a word, these two factors do affect housing prices significantly.

The present article analyzes the integration of green building policy and practice with the largest low-income housing production program in the US and the innovativeness of its housing agencies. Drawing on policy innovation literature, panel data and regression analysis are employed to quantify associations between state-level characteristics and the adoption of green building criteria into the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. Results show that, on average, housing agencies have increasingly adopted green building criteria, and most have identified co-benefits from energy-efficient buildings and smart growth. Despite overall progress, the rate of adoption of green building criteria has decreased, few states have comprehensive criteria, and many have dropped important criteria, such as on-site renewable energy generation. Results are consistent with hypotheses derived from the literature and suggest the integration of green building with LIHTC developments is significantly associated with government motivation, financial resources, and exogenous characteristics that affect the demand for green building. Future research should explore organization-level factors that affect environmental policy innovation. It is recommended that LIHTC housing agencies require compliance with green building rating systems and periodically reconfigure green building criteria based on planned evolutionary change, data-driven strategies, and life-cycle analyses towards zero net energy consumption.

In the year 2017, about 89 percent of the total energy consumed in the US was produced using non-renewable energy sources, and about 43 percent of tenant households were cost-burdened. Local governments are in a unique position to facilitate green affordable housing that could reduce cost burdens, environmental degradation, and environmental injustice. Nonetheless, limited studies have made progress on costs and benefits of green affordable housing to guide decision-making, particularly in small communities. This study investigates density bonus options for green affordable housing by analyzing construction costs, sale prices, and spillover effects for green certifications and affordable housing units. The authors employ construction costs and sale data from 422 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects and 11,418 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) transactions in Virginia. Using hedonic regression analyses controlling for mediating factors, we find that the new construction of market-rate green certified houses is associated with small upfront costs but large and statistically significant price premiums. The construction of market-rate green certified houses has large and statistically significant spillover effects on existing non-certified houses. Existing non-certified affordable housing units show small and statistically insignificant negative price impacts on transactions of surrounding properties. The magnitude of social benefits associated with green building justifies the local provision of voluntary programs for green affordable housing where housing is expensive relative to its basic costs of production to promote sustainable development.

This paper presents the results of aerodynamical performance research focused on maintaining the thermal comfort and increasing the energy efficiency of a typical social housing unit located in a high-density urban area. Bioclimatic design strategies are used to develop a sustainable and economic technology in existing housing clusters in Mexico City. A full-scale prototype, built on campus facilities, was used to study the flow conditions around the design. All scaled prototypes implement similar criterion. Furthermore, a scaled prototype is evaluated within a low speed wind tunnel installation. Additionally, numerical simulations were performed at transient state based on previous physical measurements and historical local climatic conditions to determine preferable modifications.

The Circular Bioeconomy (CBE) combines the concepts of bioeconomy and circular economy. As an alternative concept to the current fossil-based, linear economy, it de-scribes an economy based on the efficient valorization of biomass. It is regional in nature and aims to improve sustainability. An analysis of the transition process, by identifying its success criteria and assessing its impacts through the modelling of technology-specific scenarios is necessary to ensure that CBE concepts are sustainable. However, a compre-hensive consideration of regional influences on both is lacking. Based on extensive literature research and an expert survey, we (i) present a compre-hensive catalog of CBE success criteria and discuss their region-specific character and (ii) develop a methodology based on evaluation matrices that enable to match CBE technolo-gies with regions. The matrices support the evaluation of technological and regional characteristics influencing the successful CBE implementation. The results show that the success criteria "biomass resources", "technological", and "social" are perceived as highly important, and that most of the success criteria are both region- and technology-specific, highlighting the relevance of developing matrices to match them. We describe such matrices indicatively for the two broadest and most im-portant success criteria clusters “social acceptance” and “biomass supply chain”. With this, we substantiate the regional nature of CBE and raise the awareness on the importance of considering regional conditions in CBE transition processes. Furthermore, we provide practical guidance on how regional conditions can be reflected in the selection of technologies, e.g. in regional CBE technology scenarios.

Although buildings constitute 35% of global energy use and 38% of carbon emissions from energy, the amount of energy and energy-related carbon emissions are increasing rapidly. On the other hand, non-renewable usable energy resources are decreasing on the contrary. New buildings are being built due to the increasing population and the existing building stock not meeting the needs or losing its lifespan. Some of the existing building stock is demolished and renewed for structural reasons and some for reasons such as usage performance. It is possible to reduce both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions with strategic energy uses in existing building stocks. There are various techniques to measure the maximum performance of sustainable and energy-efficient use of existing building stocks with which changes. Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology is one of these techniques that provides wide opportunities to users in recent years, and it is almost a virtual laboratory of structures. Building stocks can be modeled with BIM, and alternative shell and system suggestions can be used to measure how building performance has changed and to achieve the best results. In this research study, improvement scenarios that optimize energy use in existing building stocks are investigated on a sample residential building by using the virtual laboratory facilities of BIM. After measuring the current energy performance of the existing building with BIM tools, 192 alternative results were obtained with 6 variables (external walls, roof, insulation layers, transparent surface materials, lighting, and photovoltaic panels). The obtained alternatives were compared with the current state of the existing building. The material expenditures and amortization periods required for these alternative scenarios are also calculated. The results obtained were evaluated according to annual / lifetime energy consumption, fuel, electricity, initial investment costs, energy use intensity, and carbon emission amounts. With the optimization of the current situation of the sample building, annual fuel consumption decreased by 61% and electricity consumption by 64%. The amortization period of the optimum improvement was determined as 12 years.

This work presents the results of an experimental socio-economic study conducted in two shanty towns of Messina as part of a systemic urban regeneration and fight against poverty program called Capacity. The study has shown that the development of a positive attitude towards the future and the confidence in others are associated with the development of the riskiest option, which is the one that can give the highest pay-off. The paper also illustrates the expected and unexpected outcomes of projects for individuals and the community, as well as the economic benefits for the public administration and the society of a strategy that reduces the reliance on social welfare measures as well as the local control exercised by organized crime.

Minimum housing standards aim to safeguard housing rights and enhance residential conditions. Governments develop housing policies, including provision, preservation, and support for welfare programs, guided by the status of households below these standards. Growing nations commonly utilize this approach to decrease the proportion of households not meeting these criteria. In South Korea, the ratio of households below these standards was 4.5% in 2021, down from 16.6% in 2006, as indicated by the initial Korea Housing Survey. However, this downward trend has stalled over the past decade. With the 2004 and 2011 revisions, the standards have been effective for 12 years, yet no longer mirror current housing realities due to ongoing improvements. This study aimed to propose enhancements to Korea’s minimum housing standards. Through analyzing laws, prior research, present household statuses, international cases, and expert insights, recommendations emerged. Categorizing households by size, we developed precise standards covering area, facility, and location aspects. These new standards led to an 8.4% non-compliance rate in 2021. This research’s findings anticipate aiding the revision of minimum housing standards, formulating pragmatic policies for enhancing residential conditions in line with present situations.

This study focuses on land tenure in an urban environment. Specifically, it intends to elucidate the influence of land tenure security on access to housing in urban communities. The conurbation of Grand Nokoué, which is an agglomeration of five cities in the Republic of Benin, West Africa, captures attention due to its particular features as a developing city. Based on the literature, this study outlined three major factors of insecure land tenure, namely, lack of recognition by authorities, lack of protection from eviction or expulsion, and informal community-based rights. In addition, we examined four characteristics of relevant housing issues, namely, the development of shantytowns, the multiplicity of precarious housing, the loss of housing for the development of public projects, and exposure to house demolition under judicial decision to formulate our hypotheses. The results of a field observation and semi-structured interviews supported the hypotheses and demonstrated that the legal access to land, the protection of the population from anarchic eviction and informal community-based rights may positively influence the development of sustainable urban housing.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are covalently closed RNAs that are present in all eukaryotes tested. CircRNAs are less abundantly expressed than mRNAs. Recent RNAseq analyses indicate that more than 800,000 circRNA isoforms exist in humans, which is more than twice the number of currently known mRNA isoforms. CircRNAs are generated through backsplicing that depends on pre-mRNA structures, which are influenced by intronic elements, for example primate-specific Alu elements, leading to species-specific circRNAs. CircRNAs are mostly cytosolic, stable and influence cells by sequestering miRNAs and RNA-binding proteins. We review the increasing evidence that circRNAs are translated into proteins using several cap-independent translational mechanisms, that include internal ribosomal entry sites, N6-methyladenosine RNA modification, adenosine to inosine RNA editing and interaction with the eIF4A3 component of the exon junction complex. CircRNA are translated under conditions that favor cap-independent translation, notably in cancer. CircRNA-encoded proteins are shorter than mRNA-encoded proteins and overall have a high propensity for phase separation. In summary, circRNA encoded proteins are translated under particular cellular conditions and contribute to proteome diversity and pathophysiology.

Crop production has become a priority issue in the last few years due to the exponential growth of the world population and the need to substitute chemical fertilizers. This last matter is under the spotlight to achieve a more sustainable approach in a cost-effective way. Biostimulants have gained attention as an alternative to chemical fertilizers. Although they are not considered fertilisers as inputs of nutrients, they stimulate plants’ nutrition and tolerance to stress, among other characteristics. Amino acid-based biostimulants have been found to be effective in literature. This review focuses on the effectiveness of biostimulants, their presence in the global market, and mainly in their production with fish by-products as a source, using enzymatic hydrolysis and autolysis, focusing especially on fish viscera, their possibilities in the agricultural sector and their availability in Europe for possible opportunities. Fish viscera protein hydrolysates for biostimulant production seems a feasible alternative to fishmeal production in Europe, mainly in areas located far away from fishmeal plants.

The presented work offers a novel process scheme for valorizing historical Pb-Zn slag, which involves crushing, grinding, and then using separation techniques to concentrate valuable components (nonferrous metals). This methodology could have a significant impact on the global beneficiation of metallurgical slags since, in theory, it is significantly more simple, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective than standard pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical procedures. According to previous physicochemical and mineralogical studies, Pb-Zn slag from "Topilnica" Veles is a valuable secondary raw material. This inhomogeneous technogenic resource contains substantial amounts of nonferrous metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, and Ag). However, laboratory tests have indicated that the Pb-Zn slag contains a very uneven valuable metals amounts, ranging from several g/ton to several tens of g/ton. The main issue is that traditional metallurgical procedures for releasing beneficial elements are not commercially viable since the valuable elements are "trapped" within amorphous aluminosilicates or intergrowths of alloy grains and glassy phases. Gravity concentration (Wilfley 13 shaking table) and magnetic separation (Davis separator and disk separator) were used to obtain the final concentrate following comminution and grindability testing. The gravity concentration proved more effective. This streamlined approach of valorizing Pb-Zn slag can reduce the need for hazardous chemicals used in hydrometallurgical refinement operations, as well as the extremely high temperatures required for pyrometallurgical processing. This is the first investigation into the feasibility of this novel approach, which includes direct investigations of the Pb-Zn slag feed using these alternative technologies. After extracting the valuable metals, the amorphous aluminosilicate part of the Pb-Zn slag can be reapplied as an alternative raw material in the building sector, adding to the circularity of the suggested approach..

This paper employs the two-step procedure developed by Cheung and Ng (1996) to analyze the causality-in-mean and causality-in-variance between the housing and stock markets of the UK. The empirical findings make two key contributions. First, although previous studies have indicated a one-way causal relation from the housing market to the stock market in the UK, this paper discovered a two-way causal relation between them. Second, a causality-in-variance as well as a causality-in-mean was detected from the housing market to the stock market.

Affordable Housing, the basic human necessity has now become a critical problem in global cities with direct impacts on people's well-being. While a well-functioning housing market may augment the economic efficiency and productivity of a city, it may trigger housing affordability issues leading crucial economic and political crises side by side if not handled properly. In global cities e.g. Singapore and Hong Kong where affordable housing for all has become one of the greatest concerns of the Government, this issue can be tackled capably by the provision of public housing. In Singapore, nearly 90% of the total population lives in public housing including public rental and subsidized ownership, whereas the figure tally only about 45% in Hong Kong. Hence this study is an effort to scrutinizing the key drivers of success in affordable public housing through following a qualitative case study based research methodological approach to present successful experience and insight from different socio-economic and geo-political context. As a major intervention, this research has clinched that, housing affordability should be backed up by demand-side policies aiming to help occupants and proprietors to grow financial capacity e.g. subsidized rental and subsidized ownership can be an integral part of the public housing system to improve housing affordability.

The paper presents an analysis of the concept of resilience within the context of a modern period example in Croatia, the Cvjetno housing estate in Zagreb, recognized as a cultural and historical complex. While extensive literature exists on the estate's architectural and historical significance, limited research explores its resilience. This study aims to fill this gap by examining Cvjetno estate's resilience to natural hazards, financial and economic challenges, and social crises. It investigates the estate's design, historical context, and physical characteristics through archival documents, historical records, and field research. The analysis focuses on the estate's planned resilience to natural disasters, particularly flooding from the nearby river Sava and seismic risks due to its location in a seismically active area. Drawing from the literature on resilient communities, the study draws on key characteristics and principles of resilience and explores how Cvjetno estate exemplifies these traits. The research contributes to a deeper understanding of resilience in urban planning and provides insights for enhancing resilience in similar historical settlements facing contemporary challenges.

Advances in technology and information systems have had a major impact on people's lives and activities. Smartphone use plays an important role in many areas, including housing governance. One of the problems faced by housing administrators is administrative management, which is still manual. To overcome this, it is proposed to use a web-based application. A literature study was conducted to support the development of this application. Data collection through interviews and observations was carried out to obtain system requirements. The Agile Scrum method is used in making applications. These applications have non-functional requirements such as security, availability, performance, usability, and compatibility. Implementation using PHP and MySQL. Testing is done to ensure the application functions properly. This application allows administrators to manage citizen data, payment of contributions, billing, and print financial reports. Residents can upload proof of transfer and print proof of payment. It is hoped that this application will facilitate housing administration, improve the quality of life in the community, and create a better housing environment.

This study reports an empirical analysis of an all-electric, Net Zero Energy Housing (NZEH) development located in a mixed-humid climate zone (4A, Virginia, USA). Circuit-level energy monitors were used to measure energy consumption and energy production data (solar photovoltaic) at 1-hr intervals in six identical apartments over 24 months. The study employs a multi-step case study methodology to a) empirically evaluate energy consumption and production data, b) identify the temporal variability of energy consumption and production data at different time scales, c) understand the impact(s) of weather and human-building interaction on energy consumption and production, and d) synthesize the study’s “lessons learned” toward data-driven recommendations for future NZEH researchers and practitioners. The study found that the development’s net zero energy goal was achieved in three of six case units and that NZEH housing performance was more influenced by human-building interaction than weather variability. The analysis also found the solar photovoltaic (PV) performance to be reliable across the sampled units over the periods of measurement, suggesting that solar PV could be oversized as an approach to overcome verifiability in HBI and achieve NZEH performance goals.

The textile sector is responsible for a number of environmental impacts. Due to the in-creasing quantities of textiles, their share is rising and a trend reversal from a linear to a circular textile chain is needed. This article presents the background, methodological approach and results of a participatory textile development model. In the commercial B2B sector, three textile prototypes were developed together with users and trialled over several months in three application areas. Textile development took into account the requirements of fibre regeneration in the product design and focused on innova-tive chemical recycling solutions. The three sustainably aligned textiles were subject-ed to spectroscopic and textile-technological tests. Screening life cycle assessments an-alysed their environmental profile and compared it with reference textiles that are used as standard. Overall, it is clear that the three textiles can match conventional ref-erence textiles in terms of quality and have considerable environmental benefits com-pared to the reference textiles. The user survey did identify concerns about a high arti-ficial fibre content, although a general rejection of recycled fibres was not observed. The results show that a transformation is possible, but must start with the fibre com-position; recycling, on the other hand, is of minor importance.

Australia has recently declared its commitment to a circular economy. Policy and initiatives to date have focused on recycling and waste management and research to date has highlighted the need for more ambitious policy, clearer definitions, collaboration, and consensus on goals. There are also calls from some government and non-business sectors for more inclusive circular models, including Doughnut Economics. In a context of competing mainstream circular economy and inclusive circular society discourses, circular intermediary organizations and their representatives are key to achieving change. Compared to the green growth business narrative of policy and industry media, intermediary representatives are aware of the diversity of challenges and solutions for Australia. Based on semi-structured interviews with twenty representatives of circular intermediaries in Australia and thematic discourse analysis, this study finds circular economy, circular society and de-growth discourses informing themes about government, business, growth, consumers, society, and policy present and future. The study concludes with recommendations for a more holistic policy and practice beyond the current circularity for circularity’s sake.

Offsite construction is increasingly being presented as a way to increase housing delivery and reduce the housing crisis. Housing Associations play a pivotal role in the delivery of affordable homes and therefore offsite construction could be beneficial in alleviating the crisis. For offsite construction uptake to increase, the conceptual and pragmatic advantages and challenges surrounding offsite housing in relation to evolving social domestic needs to be explored and understood. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the viability of offsite construction as not only a full-service solution to social housing provision, but an integral strategic partner for meeting the range of specialised fabrication needs for these new properties. A literature review is carried out to explore the conceptual and pragmatic advantages and challenges encountered by HAs adopting offsite construction methods. The paper also investigates which the housing tenures are most suited to offsite construction technology. The paper highlighted that whilst individual case studies and example homes offer one mode of justification for Housing Associations to move forward, it is the cumulative effect of cost savings, sustainability, specialised skill sets, labour reduction, structural innovation, and rate of construction that should be weighed and incorporated into this consideration-making process.

This article seeks to understand how the incorporation of new scientific articles in the field of urban studies on topics related to housing, manage to impact specialized media. In other words, it seeks to identify whether social science that publishes findings on housing has become less relevant over time, as occurs in other areas of knowledge. To do this, data is collected from the Web of Science of the urban studies categories, using as a filter that either in the title, keywords or abstract contain the word "housing". With this database, all the DOIs of the indexed articles are taken and it is reviewed whether those new DOIs incorporated into the knowledge database have impacted in relation to new citations that of said DOIs that are added in the future. More than looking for the impact of an article for the particular, it is sought to review added values. It is identified that the only disruptive moment occurred after the 2008 real estate crisis. This finding emphasizes the importance of looking for new paths for the production of knowledge on housing that is novel and original, that manages to break with an apparent trend of scarce innovation or lack of knowledge among peers of what is being published in the matter.

This research describes a detailed analysis in the enactment of a Lean Tool, the Last Planner System during pandemic period which helps in optimizing the resources for better coordination among all stakeholders in pandemic period. LPS as it is known, focusses on minimizing the factors such as uncertainties, barriers and variability to make construction projects more flexible for better project management. These include variations and deviations, supervision, delays in approvals, change resistance, subcontractor dedication which are all related to various stakeholders in the project. Following that, a Design Science Research technique is used to evaluate the effect of applying LPS in buildings. An action strategy is being used to attain this goal, and four case studies were being documented which were concerned in the implementation of LPS in the building of the Boy's Hostel, Research Scholar Quarters, Faculty Housing, and Girls' Hostel at Chennai, Tamilnadu, India. Data was gathered by observation of site activities, interviews, documentation analysis, and a questionnaire survey and grouped into various factors. While adopting the LPS tool in the research the factors affecting the implementation were found in the covid-19 pandemic period. Further these factors were anlayzed, measured, ranked and validated for adopting in projects.

In South Korea, the residential real estate market is influenced not just by traditional supply and demand dynamics, but also by external factors such as housing policies and macroeconomic conditions. Given the significant role of housing assets in individual wealth, market fluctuations can have profound implications. While prior research has utilized variables like GDP growth rate, patent issuance, and birth rates, and employed models like LSTM and ARIMA for housing price predictions, many overlook key localized factors. Notably, the impact of subway stations and living SOC facilities on housing prices, especially in metropolitan areas, remains underexplored. This study addresses these gaps by analyzing usage trends across subway stations, assessing the influence of living SOC facilities on housing values, and identifying the optimal machine learning model for price predictions near transport hubs. Through a comparative analysis of machine learning techniques, we aim to provide insights for more informed housing price determinations, promoting a more stable real estate market.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we introduce a geometric approach to study the circular orbit of a particle in static and spherically symmetric spacetime based on Jacobi metric. Second, we apply the circular orbit to study the weak gravitational deflection of null and time-like particles based on Gauss-Bonnet theorem. By this way, we obtain an expression of deflection angle and extend the study of deflection angle to asymptotically non-flat black hole spacetimes. Some black holes as lens are considered such as a static and spherically symmetric black hole in the conformal Weyl gravity and a Schwarzschild-like black hole in bumblebee gravity. Our results are consistent with the previous literature. In particular, we find that the connection between Gaussian curvature and the radius of a circular orbit greatly simplifies the calculation.

Plastics have become an important environmental concern due to their durability and resistance to degradation. Out of all plastic materials, polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are amenable to biological degradation due to the action of microbial polyester hydrolases. The hydrolysis products obtained from PET can thereby be used for the synthesis of novel PET as well as becoming a potential carbon source for microorganisms. In addition, microorganisms and biomass can be used for the synthesis of the constituent monomers of PET from renewable sources. The combination of both biodegradation and biosynthesis would enable a completely circular bio-PET economy beyond the conventional recycling processes. Circular strategies like this could contribute to significantly decrease the environmental impact of our dependence on this polymer. Here we review the efforts made towards turning PET into a viable feedstock for microbial transformations. We highlight current bottlenecks in the degradation of the polymer and the metabolism of the monomers and we showcase fully biological or semisynthetic processes leading to the synthesis of PET from sustainable substrates.

Driven by the rapid uptake of battery electric vehicles, Li-ion power batteries are increasingly reused in stationary energy storage systems, and eventually recycled to recover all the valued components. Offering an updated global perspective, this study provides a circular economy insight on lithium-ion battery reuse and recycling.

This paper presents a Cartesian model of sustainability by a novel integration of Circular Economy principles and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria to explicitly establish a clear path for closing the loops of negative social and environmental externalities. As global sustainability transformations accelerate, they bring both opportunities and inherent financial risks and social uncertainties. Historically, economic development has often been achieved at the expense of environmental balance. The contemporary challenge is to attain a dynamic equilibrium between natural and socio-economic systems. We introduce an integrated, multidisciplinary, and dynamic framework for studying and managing sustainability transitions. Our innovative 4-quadrant framework utilizes a Cartesian coordinate system to map the impacts of various business models on natural and socio-economic systems, spanning from linear open-loop to circular closed-loop ESG models. The framework is data-driven, employing normalized coordinates (-1 to 1) to facilitate empirical analysis and the establishment of temporal Key Performance Indicators. By integrating the Human Development Index within ecological limits, our model targets regenerative development that harmonizes human progress with planetary boundaries. This versatile and robust framework serves as a practical tool for businesses, households, organizations, and policymakers to navigate the complexities of sustainable development, promoting innovation and fostering a just transition towards regenerative practices. Our approach provides a comprehensive roadmap for achieving high human development within the planet's ecological limits, contributing significantly to the broader discourse on sustainability science and management.

The paper delves into an extensive exploration of the integration of the circular economy paradigm within the realm of additive manufacturing (AM). The objective is to comprehensively investigate existing methodologies for structuring the symbiotic relationship between circular economy and additive manufacturing, while meticulously analyzing the current research gap concerning the implementation of circular economy principles in additive manufacturing practices. A thorough review focusing on the sustainability of additive manufacturing within the circular economy framework was conducted. This review aims to recognize and delineate pertinent aspects related to post-use material valuation in AM, recyclability of materials, and the environmental footprint associated with these processes. Emphasis was placed on the significance of examining circular economy facets concerning additive manufacturing processes to establish a holistic understanding. The overarching goal of this review is to augment knowledge regarding the potential advantages and benefits derived from the seamless integration of circular economy principles within AM. By elucidating the activities essential to attain compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals, this study endeavors to illuminate the pathway toward promoting sustainable development through the harmonious marriage of additive manufacturing and the circular economy.

It was thought until the 1990s that the eukaryotic translation machinery was unable to translate a circular RNA. However internal ribosome entry sites (IRESs) and m⁶A-induced ribosome engagement sites (MIRESs) were discovered, promoting 5’end-independent translation initiation. Today a new family of so-called “non-coding” circular RNAs (circRNAs) has emerged, revealing the pivotal role of 5’end-independent translation. CircRNAs have a strong impact on translational control via their sponge function, and form a new mRNA family as they are translated into proteins with pathophysiological roles. While there is no more doubt about translation of covalently closed circRNA, the linearity of canonical mRNA is only theoretical: it has been shown for more than thirty years that polysomes exhibit a circular form and mRNA functional circularization has been demonstrated in the 1990s by the interaction of initiation factor eIF4G with poly(A) binding protein. More recently, additional mechanisms of 3’-5’ interaction have been reported, including m⁶A modification. Functional circularization enhances translation via ribosome recycling and acceleration of the translation initiation rate. This update of covalently and non-covalently circular mRNA translation landscape shows that RNA circular shape might be the rule for translation with an important impact on disease development and biotechnological applications.

This study examines the latest innovation in wooden pile foundation models using a combination of wood and concrete materials for house construction on swampy land. The focus of the research is on developing joints and materials that enhance the load-bearing capacity and stability of building structures on swampy terrain. The methods used include field observations, laboratory experiments, and descriptive analysis. The results show that the combination of wood and concrete in foundation piles can increase structural strength, reduce deformation, and extend the service life of buildings. The new joint techniques developed in this research are effective in improving structural integrity and minimizing the negative impacts of soft soil conditions. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of material innovation and joint techniques in construction on swampy land, providing practical guidance for construction practitioners and researchers in this field.

The New Zealand housing sector is experiencing rapid growth that boosts the national economy but also results in the loss of valuable resources. In line with the growth, the housing market for both residential and business purposes has been booming, as have house prices. To sustain the housing development, it is critical to accurately monitor and predict housing prices so as to support the decision-making process in housing sector. This study is devoted to applying a mathematical method to predict housing prices. The forecasting performance of two types of models: ARIMA and multiple linear regression analysis are compared. The ARIMA and regression models are developed based on a training-validation sample method. The results show that the ARIMA model generally performs better than the regression model. However, the regression model explores, to some extent, the significant correlations between house prices in New Zealand and the macro-economic conditions.

Background: Lower limb length discrepancy (LLD) in children and adolescents, often due to congenital or acquired conditions, is treated to achieve limb equality and alignment, optimizing function and minimizing cosmetic concerns for an active adulthood. This study evaluated the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and physical functioning of adults who underwent unilateral limb lengthening with circular external fixators (EFs) in childhood. Methods: Fifty patients treated at a median age of 14.9 years completed the Short Form 36 (SF-36) and Stanmore Limb Reconstruction Score (SLRS) questionnaires in adulthood, with a median follow-up of 8.9 years. Results: Among the 50 patients, 38 underwent a single limb lengthening (21 tibia, 12 femur, 5 both), while 12 required multiple cycles. The median residual LLD was 0.4 cm, with 12 patients (24%) having over 2 cm. Complications occurred in 67% of procedures, mainly due to prolonged healing. Physical and mental health scores were significantly lower than normative data. The mean Physical Component Summary was 52.2 ± 7.2 (p = 0.20). The mean Mental Component Summary was 43.9 ± 8.6 (p = 0.001), notably lower in congenital LLD cases. Many SLRS items (Pain, Social, Physical Function, Work, and Emotions) strongly correlated with SF-36 items. Conclusions: The study highlights the challenges in treating LLD, emphasizing the significant mental health impact, especially in congenital cases, and the necessity for comprehensive long-term care strategies. These findings suggest that future therapeutic strategies should focus on both physical and psychological outcomes to improve overall recovery in LLD treatment.

The construction industry is a resource and energy intensive industry and thus, has been criti-cized due to rising environmental concerns. As a result of that it has gained heightened interest in the concept of Circular Economy (CE) over the last decade to its ability to promote the slowing, reducing, and closing production and consumption cycles of materials and products used in the construction practices. Digital technologies hold potential to enhance the construction industry's ability to integrate the concept of CE in its practices. However, a clear understanding of digital technology (DT) related barriers that hinder practical implementation of CE, appears to be lacking within the sector. In light of this, this study aims to identify the barriers to adopting DTs to im-plement CE practices in the construction industry. To achieve this aim, a systematic literature review was conducted by reviewing twenty-three (23) relevant papers published until January 2024 in Scopus database. The VOS viewer software was used to perform a co-occurrence analysis of keywords to identify new and popular study areas in the field and content analysis was used to analyse the major barriers to adapt DTs to implement CE in the construction industry. The study identified thirty-four (34) barriers to use DTs to implement CE and these were categorized into nine areas such as: infrastructure, organizational, regulatory, standardization, investment, nature of the construction industry, technological, stakeholder and data related barriers. These findings will be beneficial for construction practitioners and policy makers to adopt DTs to integrate CE practices in the construction industry.

The end of life and circularity of products is an increasingly important issue, driven by concerns over their environmental impact and emerging regulations. Natural materials such as leather should be an obvious choice in the design of sustainable, circular products. Several ‘trendy’ alternative materials have been developed that are presented as sustainable alternatives to leather. This research compares the potential for leather and ‘trendy’ materials in composting conditions. The capacity of a material to biodegrade at the end of its life will influence its potential to be part of a circular economic model. The results show that most of the alternatives are poorly compostable. A notable exception was Piñatex® which showed 65.25% disintegration and 59.84% biodegradability while leather largely showed good disintegration and biodegradability. Plants grown in vegetable tanned leather compost produced 74% more top leaf growth than the blank. Vegetable tanned and chromium-free leather produce compost with an ecotoxicology profile that is favourable for use in agriculture. The results show that through its capacity to produce composts, leather has the potential to contribute to the circular economy. In contrast, trendy alternatives had a very limited capacity for biodegradation and would create waste issues at the end of their life.

In the paper the experimental methodology for the single-crystal circular plate deformation measurement and subsequent procedure for mechanical properties quantitation are developed. The procedure is based on a new numerical-analytical solution of nonlinear boundary-value problem for finite deformations of a circular anisotropic plate. Using the developed method, a study of the deformation of single-crystal circular plates formed on the basis of a silicon-on-insulator structure was carried out. The values of residual stresses are determined and it is shown that the presence of these stresses increases the flexural rigidity of the plate in several times.

Serotonin (5-HT) show important relations to stress, and this relationship is crucial to understanding the psychobiology of common mental disorders. Environmental stressors regulate phasic and tonic serotonin levels, which are related to valence and outcome probabilities. This regulation takes place at smaller timescales, but also at the level of gene expression regulation. Moreover, genes related to the synthesis, metabolism, and transport of 5-HT are also involved in this regulation. Genetic variations in these genes modulate how stressors can lead to mental distress, but stressors also modulate gene expression in a genotype-dependent manner. As a result, the relationship between psychosocial stress and the regulation of the expression of 5-HTergic genes is bidirectional. This suggests a “circular causality” in which gene variations control tonic and phasic 5-HT signals (“upward causality”), while configurations and functions of the entire organism determine which genes are up- or downregulated, or which gene products are actually relevant in each situation (“downward causality”). The highly important role of social factors in human psychopathology is highlighted, and factors such as attachment and socioeconomic status modulate how the circular vertical causality between genes, neurotransmitters, and behavior is organized, representing circular horizontal causality. These complex interrelationships also suggest that more refined epistemologies are needed to fully grasp the relationship between 5-HT and common mental disorders.

The formulation used by most of the studies on an elastic torus are either Reissner mixed formulation or Novozhilov's complex-form one, however, for vibration and some displacement boundary related problem of a torus, those formulations face a great challenge. It is highly demanded to have a displacement-type formulation for the torus. In this paper, I will carry on my previous work [ B.H. Sun, Closed-form solution of axisymmetric slender elastic toroidal shells. J. of Engineering Mechanics, 136 (2010) 1281-1288.], and with the help of my own maple code, I am able to simulate some typical problems and free vibration of the torus. The numerical results are verified by both finite element analysis and H. Reissner's formulation. My investigations show that both deformation and stress response of an elastic torus are sensitive to the radius ratio, and suggest that the analysis of a torus should be done by using the bending theory of a shell, and also reveal that the inner torus is stronger than outer torus due to the property of their Gaussian curvature. Regarding the free vibration of a torus, our analysis indicates that both initial in u and w direction must be included otherwise will cause big errors in eigenfrequency. One of the most intestine discovery is that the crowns of a torus are the turning point of the Gaussian curvature at the crown where the mechanics' response of inner and outer torus is almost separated.

Spatial regression models have garnered significant attention across several disciplines, including functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis, econometrics, home price analysis, and many other domains. The phenomenon of sparsity is often found in nature, when a limited number of factors contribute significantly to the overall variation. Spatial regression models frequently use sparsity to indicate less complex computational and more superficial covariance structures. The spatial error model is a significant spatial regression model that focuses on the geographical dependence present in the error terms rather than the response variable. This study proposes an effective approach for estimating the vector of regression coefficients in the spatial error model, taking into consideration of the prior knowledge that some coefficients are insignificant and there is multicollinearity among the regressors. It also introduces pretest and shrinkage ridge estimators for spatial error regression models, evaluating their performance compared to traditional maximum likelihood estimators. It also assesses their efficacy using real-world data and bootstrapping techniques for comparison purposes.

Stemming from the Bulgarian case study developed within a European research project (ECHOES, Horizon 2020), the paper discusses the links between: (a) the urgent need to operationalize EU energy transition policy in the housing domain; (b) the complexity of factors influencing the policy implementation in different contexts – geographical, economic, and technical but also social and cultural; and (c) the important role of the urban level in policy implementation. Under the specific spatial planning context of Bulgaria, the local collective energy-related decision-making in the housing field evolves through the interaction – formal (at the municipal level of governance) and informal (individuals, households and homeowners’ associations taking decisions on self-organization and collective action). The authors claim that interdisciplinary context-sensitive research would contribute to a better understanding for the ongoing energy-related decision-making processes at the local level and would enable the development and implementation of effective and efficient policy instruments in support of energy transition in the housing sector in Europe.

Based on the seminal paper of Case, Quigley and Shiller (2013), we investigate the effects of financial and housing wealth on consumption. Using quarterly data from 1975 to 2016, for all States of U.S. economy, and a different methodology in measuring wealth, we report relatively greater financial effects than housing effects on consumption. Specifically, in our basic utilized model, the calculated elasticity for financial wealth is 0.060, while for housing is 0.045. The results are not in agreement with the ones obtained by Case, Quigley and Shiller. In an attempt to investigate the disparity we proceed by incorporating the introduction of the Tax Reform Act in 1986, which increased incentives for owner-occupied housing investments. Finally, due to distributional factors at work, and taking into account the pronounced uneven distribution of wealth we investigate the effects of wealth for 8 states that include the Metropolitan areas comprising of the well known Case-Shiller 10-City Composite Index. Now the housing effect on consumption is much stronger and larger than the financial effect. Additionally, we forecast the consumption changes at the time of the high rise and large drops in house prices for these states. Forecasts showed a recession from the fall of Lehman Brothers until the fourth quarter of 2011. These forecasts were not verified. Probably, the new techniques used by politics played an important role. We also find that extreme behaviors cannot be predicted.

Two heating surfaces with longitudinal fins are located within the closed channel inside the housing made of thermal insulation material. The air flow inside the channel was carried out by an axial fan. The heating of the fins is established by using two positive temperature coefficient heating elements (PTC). Air flows circularly from one finned surface to another, and after reaching the required temperature, it leaves the housing. In the heating system conceived in this way, a methodology based on transient thermal irreversibility of heating sources and circular air flow has been established. Volumetric air flow and circulation time within the channel were varied. The total entropy generated does not include hydraulic irreversibility, but transient thermal irreversibility of the air and heat sources. For conducting analytical modeling, the temperature of the PTC heater was considered constant at 423K and 473K. Volumetric air flow varied in the interval from 0.00001m3s-1 to 0.00006m3s-1. The experimental determination of the transient thermal entropy was performed at a much higher air flow rate of 0.005m3s-1 inside the closed channel. Due to the continuous increase in air temperature, the temperatures of both PTC heaters increased within the examined time interval of 300s. According to experimental testing, the total transient thermal entropy of the described heating system has a minimum after 175s from the start of the circular heating of the air. The minimum of transient entropy also implies the optimal time of channel opening and exit of heated air.

The Circular Economy of plastics is a promising concept that has the potential to reduce pollution and close the loop on plastic waste. However, further research is needed to develop more efficient and environmentally friendly methods of recycling plastic. This review article discusses the Circular Economy of plastics, its potential benefits and drawbacks, and the challenges that need to be addressed to make it a reality. Some case studies are also examined to explore how the Circular Economy of plastics has been implemented across the globe.

The move towards a new Circular Economy (CE) economic model has been advocated and supported in Portugal, however, there is limited research on this topic. To address this gap, a quantitative research based on an online survey was carried out among 99 Portuguese organizations, encompassing a wide range of sectors and sizes. The results show that CE is regarded as a strategic and relevant issue for profitability and value creation. Furthermore, the perception that it requires the adoption of new business models in addition to the classical “reduce, reuse, and recycle” approach is growing. Moreover, based on the hypotheses raised, results suggest that the level of CE adoption is positively impacted by the status of the EMS (Environmental Management System) certification and the willingness to improve the environmental performance and achieve a sustainable business model. However, CE activities are still relatively modest and a friendlier context (fiscal, legal, organizational, etc.) and the stronger support from supply chain agents and consumers are required. Future research should focus on how to design and shape the transition from a linear to a CE economy, and to ascertain if the positive attitude towards CE is materialized in changing the way business is done.

The declining and aging population, as well as the downsizing of households, poses problems for the simultaneous occurrence of vacant houses and the construction of new housing units. The objective of this study was to examine countermeasures for the future occurrence of vacant houses. The relationship between population, households, vacant houses, and newly constructed housing was reviewed according to prefecture, and the occurrence of vacant houses and distribution of newly constructed housing were mapped out. The results revealed that the increase in the number of elderly single-person households is a source of vacant houses, while middle-aged single households tend to promote the construction of new housing due to the lack of housing stock. In Setagaya ward, Tokyo, one of the reasons for the increase in new housing construction may be that many of the elderly single households have old wooden detached houses facing qualitative problems. In Wakayama central city, it was inferred that old, detached houses built for households with children during an economic growth period do not meet the needs of middle-aged single households, due to factors such as age, size, and floor plan, which has promoted vacancy and new construction, resulting in a stagnation of the housing cycle.

The phenomenon of Airbnb has significantly permeated the urban housing markets of major U.S. cities. This qualitative analysis meticulously examines its wide-ranging impacts, exploring Airbnb’s operational model, regulatory challenges, and its influence on housing availability, prices, and neighborhood dynamics. The research aggregates insights from various sources, including academic articles, web-based resources, and case studies, providing a nuanced understanding of the intricate balance cities are endeavoring to achieve between the economic opportunities Airbnb presents and the potential strains it places on local housing markets. The paper also scrutinizes the evolving policy frameworks and their effectiveness in mitigating the impacts of short-term rental platforms. Furthermore, it deliberates on future trends in the short-term rental market and the wider implications for the sharing economy. Concluding, the paper acknowledges the limitations of the qualitative method and suggests areas for future in-depth research, aiming to offer insightful contributions to policymakers, researchers, and urban planners engaged in urban housing discourse in the United States.

The role stakeholders play is fundamental to the realisation of sustainable development. Con-sequentially, there is need for the major stakeholders to be fully aware of their respective roles. Thus, this paper focused on assessing the Stakeholders roles in sustainable housing projects in Lagos State, Nigeria. Structured questionnaire survey was used to collect data from 259 stake-holders involved in sustainable housing projects in Lagos State, Nigeria. A total of 203 responses were obtained, representing 78% response rate. Primary data regarding the extent of stakeholders awareness of their roles in sustainable housing were collected. The data collected were analysed using mean ranking analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The data collected were used to determine the extent of awareness of the stakeholders’ role in sustainable housing pro-jects in Lagos State, Nigeria. The results showed that all the stakeholders were aware of their respective roles in the delivery of sustainable housing projects and were highly conscious of them. Although their extent of awareness was at varying levels, there was no statistically significant difference of opinions amongst the different categories of stakeholders in the delivery of sustainable housing projects. The study concluded that Government and Project Managers have key roles to play as major stakeholders in the delivery of sustainable housing projects. The knowledge of the awareness of stakeholders’ roles in the delivery of sustainable housing project provides invaluable information to stakeholders regarding the important roles to focus attention on in achieving sustainable housing projects. The study provides a veritable basis for assessment of sustainable housing project in Lagos State, Nigeria.

This paper examines how housing prices are determined by macroeconomic factors in Saudi Arabia, namely, Gross Domestic Product Per capita (GDPP), Consumer Prices Index (CPI), and Unemployment Rate (UNEMP). Quarterly data for a period (2014q1 – 2019q4) were collected from publications of Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA). Vector Autoregression Analysis (VAR) is employed to capture the dynamic effect of the variables on housing prices. Granger Causality, Variance Decomposition and Impulse response function are also used. The results show that housing prices are insignificantly and positively related to GDPP, whereas it is negatively related to both (CPI & UNEMP). Only CPI has a significant relationship. The three variables, jointly, have Granger causality on HPI. Variance decompositions show that CPI is the variable with the highest explanatory power over the variation of housing prices, followed by GDPP and the UNEMP respectively indicating that CPI is the most influential determinants for housing prices.

The residential sector in the United States is in need of comprehensive policy-making reforms that concurrently address housing affordability and environmental sustainability. This study investigates the feasibility of state-wide zero-energy affordable housing by analyzing historical data on climate, energy use, and solar system costs in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The hypothesis examined is that the net present cost of implementation of rooftop residential solar systems to achieve zero-energy Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) buildings is lower than the discounted present cost of energy of otherwise identical conventional buildings that run without renewable energy generation systems. The authors propose a generalizable framework for analyzing the feasibility of achieving region- or state-wide zero-energy LIHTC developments. To validate the framework, the authors employ a longitudinal sample of monthly energy use data from 2013-2016 obtained from 310 residential units of 15 LIHTC developments across the state. Based on statistical regression analysis, energy simulation, and simulation-based risk analysis, the authors find that the net present value of zero-energy LIHTC investments can be positive with a low risk. The investment value varies often depending on the zero-energy building definition, weather characteristics, retail price of electricity, and incentive rate. This study can help housing policymakers and industry professionals analyze and benchmark the feasibility of innovative zero-energy housing policies and projects.

Chile faces a serious crisis on housing affordability given that most of the population is unable to secure a house. While housing prices between 2008 increased by 70.96%, wages only increased by 20.43%. This article presents the analysis of the housing prices configuration for the main district in the country: Santiago Centro. The assessment focuses on verticalised housing buildings constructed between 2015 and 2019. The article develops an exploratory study on the price of housing in the city of Santiago de Chile, to generate a diagnosis to identify the role played by expectations of profitability when configuring that price. Based on the information generated, we seek to contribute to the discussion on public policies that advance towards the development of affordable housing for households in central communes with high urban value, as is the case of Santiago Centro. We hypothesize that profitability expectations of real estate developers play a key role in the housing prices and an adjustment in the profit ratios may increase the affordability keeping the housing market over profitable rates. The research is relevant due to the lack of data transparency in the Chilean housing market, where access to investment costs, land values, yields and house price formation are not part of the public discussion, even though this implies that many households are facing severe difficulties in paying for access to decent housing.

Volunteer tourism or ‘voluntourism’ packages development and poverty as culturally exotic and ethical experiences for tourists from industrialized countries. In the university sector study abroad tours network voluntourism agencies, local actors, e.g. NGOs, universities and government funding to offer students ‘life changing’ experiential and community development learning. Recent criticism of the commodification of development and poverty through such tours points to multiple pernicious effects of such travel, especially the failure to deliver community impact. Following review of current criticism of voluntourism, this illustrative case study of a purported sustainable housing project in rural Maharashtra employs multiple data sources and covert research to explore the multiple gaps between participatory community sustainable development and voluntourism. The study finds signal lack of financial transparency, incompetent assessment of material needs, and limited local participation and control, failure to deliver on objectives, and recommends that socially responsible short term international exchanges should be carefully monitored and prefer knowledge exchange.

It is widely recommended to group house male laboratory mice because they are ‘social animals’, but male mice do not naturally share territories and aggression can be a serious welfare problem. Even without aggression, not all animals within a group will be in a state of positive welfare. Rather, many male mice may be negatively affected by the stress of repeated social defeat and subordination, raising concerns about welfare and also research validity. However, individual housing may not be an appropriate solution, given the welfare implications associated with no social contact. An essential question is whether it is in the best welfare interests of male mice to be group- or singly-housed. This review explores the likely impacts, positive and negative, of both housing conditions, presents results of a survey of current practice and awareness of mouse behaviour, and includes recommendations for good practice and future research. We conclude that whether group- or single-housing is better (or less worse) in any situation is highly context-dependent according to several factors including strain, age, social position, life experiences, and housing and husbandry protocols. It is important to recognise this and evaluate what is preferable from animal welfare and ethical perspectives in each case.

During tensile testing of materials, strain measurement is conducted using either contact or non-contact methods. Contact methods offer high accuracy and precision but are limited by the specimen's thickness and dimensions, whereas non-contact methods minimize damage to thin specimens and allow measurements in various environments, though they require longer prep-aration and calculation times. This paper proposes a circular grid marking pattern and a strain prediction algorithm using artificial intelligence (AI), which simplifies the preparation process and allows strain prediction without additional equipment. The circular grid pattern can be ar-ranged in various configurations from 1×5 to 5×7, and a laser marker, which requires minimal time, was used to engrave the pattern on the specimen to shorten the preparation time. The AI model, trained on image-based data, enables strain calculation regardless of the specimen's gauge length and size, and allows measurement of local strain as well as gauge-length strain. The reliability of this concept was verified by applying it to tensile testing.

The circular economy (CE) has emerged as a viable alternative for tackling the problems caused by rising consumption, including solid waste (SW). The present study conducted a meta-analysis of research published between 2012 and 2022 on CE and solid waste management (SWM). A bibliometric analysis was used from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. By studying the articles, we briefly discussed the connections between them and how one contributes to the evolution of the other. Some findings point to greater collaboration between Italy and Bolivia, followed by China and Malaysia. However, they move away from the traditional axes as the United States and Canada. In addition, it was found that the adoption of reuse and selective collection, in fact, allow the reduction of the volume of discarded materials. In this way, it was possible to conclude that a greater connection between CE and GRS makes it possible to optimize the useful life of landfills through the treatment of organic waste and recycling, to encourage waste picker cooperatives and selective collection programs, and to reduce the financial costs of the system as a whole, making it more durable and sustainable.

In order to properly cover different scenarios, radiation patterns of antennas should be accordingly adjusted before fabrication. However, most antennas are unable to provide both broadside beam and designable conical beam which are usually-used radiation patterns for radio coverage. In this paper, a planar Circular Polarized (CP) annular Leaky-Wave Antenna (LWA) with conical beam is proposed, which is realized on annular Substrate-Integrated Waveguide (SIW). Broadside beam or conical beam could be easily obtained by fabricating the LWA with modified structural parameters. The central operating band is 5.8 GHz. The LWA allows only the -1th spatial harmonic to radiate, while the fundamental wave and other spatial harmonics are suppressed in slow wave mode. In order to validate the design effectiveness, two examples for broadside beam and conical beam radiation are fabricated and measured. The measurement results show good agreement with the simulation results. The proposed LWA presents a promising radiation performance and is a good candidate for wireless communication applications.

With real estate cycles being a subset of business cycles, contraction stages are often perceived as short-term, after which a revival of the property market sets in. The worsening Nigerian economy has further complicated the issues of housing supply and affordability in economic nerves like Lagos. This study examined the fundamental and associated factors contributing to rental housing affordability issues between 2019-2023 in Lagos. This article is produced with the intention of providing a market data update on rental housing price movements for both the mainland and island zones of Lagos, as well as comparing their affordability convenience for income-earners or households based on the rent-income ratio. The study adopted a mixed research design and various data sources were consulted in analyzing the fundamentals, rent and affordability trends. The study discovered that affordability convenience ratios for the various income bands had deteriorated further between 2019 and 2023 in Lagos mainland (8%) and island (9%). 67% and 80% of income earners are paying above the optimal 30% of their personal or household income in meeting their rental demand in Lagos mainland and island respectively. The paper suggested the application of fundamental, institutional and environmental strategies to combating the current phenomenon.

This paper critically reviews the correlation between the built environment and sociology as it pertains to residential segregation and social housing policy in Iran. The objective is to identify design strategies that minimize the risk of social isolation, promote social interaction, and foster a sense of community within affordable housing zones. The literature review includes existing research on urban segregation and social sustainability, with a focus on architectural solutions. Case studies are utilized to exemplify both positive and negative social outcomes related to urban segregation and identify effective design elements. The findings highlight the complex nature of residential segregation and its impact on social isolation, social capital, and social exclusion. The built environment contributes to the problem by facilitating the creation of isolated communities, and architects have a crucial role in addressing them. The results suggest that a comprehensive social housing policy is necessary to improve the quality of social housing and reduce residential segregation in Iran. Finally, the paper provides practical design strategies to promote social interaction, enhance accessibility and mobility, create mixed-use developments, and incorporate sustainable design features in social housing policy. By using design strategies that support social sustainability and inclusiveness, architects can create thriving and sustainable urban environments that prioritize the needs of marginalized communities.

India has pledged ambitious initiatives to mitigate its growing economies’ impact on the climate, including a goal of net zero emissions by 2070. The transportation sector is one of the key sources of emissions. Therefore, fostering e-mobility within this sector is a key priority for the Indian government. The lifecycle of LiBs raises numerous concerns regarding its sustainability in production, use of rare materials, and most importantly waste management. Furthermore, this paper will highlight the case for EV battery recycling as a growing sector that also has the potential to foster circularity in the EV sector. Through the introductory section, this paper lays out rationale for battery recycling in a circular EV economy. The subsequent sections discuss the current and emerging battery technologies and their link to recycling methods whilst overviewing domestic and foreign battery recycling companies. Finally, the paper concludes with a gap assessment of the battery recycling ecosystem in India and makes recommendations to further integrate this industry into the EV supply chain. As India steers towards a sustainable future, it is imperative that the country integrates battery recycling to enhance circularity in the EV ecosystem, closing the gap between a growing number of EVs and waste management.

The circular economy is an alternative paradigm whose purpose is the protection of the environment, the prevention of pollution and the growth of economic prosperity. This paper covers research which is qualitative in nature but has an exploratory scope through a documentary review, and includes proposals to promote sustainability. A more responsible consumption or use can be achieved by educating the user or consumer to return the product to production or repair through a collection service by way of reverse logistics (recovery of materials), followed by recycling or reuse of the product or its components to then offer these as recovered or recycled products on the market.

Fish oil rich in polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids is extracted in high yield from anchovy filleting waste using d-limonene as green biosolvent in a simple solid-liquid extraction performed by mechanically stirring and maceration followed by limonene removal via evaporation under reduced pressure. As limonene is renewably obtained from waste orange peel, this protocol establishes a circular bioeconomy method to obtain valued omega-3 extracts from biowaste available worldwide in several million t/year amount. The method closes the materials cycle and opens the route to full valorisation of an important biological resource so far mostly discarded as waste. Significant economic opportunities benefiting local communities, the ecosystem and public health are anticipated.

In this paper, a new millimeter wave 3D imaging radar is proposed. The user just needs to move the radar along a circular track, a high resolution 3D imaging can be generated. The proposed radar uses the movement of itself to synthesize a large aperture in both the azimuth and elevation directions. It can utilize inverse Radon transform to resolve 3D imaging. To improve the sensing result, compressed sensing approach is further investigated. The simulation and experimental result further illustrated the design. Because a single transceiver circuit is needed, a light, affordable and high resolution 3D mmWave imaging radar is illustrated in the paper.

The regions with the best economy have a greater capacity to develop low-income or social impact housing, thus contributing to the reduction of poverty, and therefore, to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals. This is observed in fewer people living in extreme poverty and with fewer unmet basic needs. The present article analyzes the correlation between development by the main economic sectors in the different regions (departments) of Colombia, and the offer of low-income housing. The valid relationship found is between the economic condition of the regions (GDP) and non-social housing (more expensive commercial value) (Spearman´s Rho: 0.9). That means that there is an imbalance between regional economic capacity and the low-income housing offer because their economic potential allows them to have less of a demanding population, that is, living in poverty. This correlation is higher with activities that are mostly developed in an urban environment, such as manufacturing, construction, real estate, and finance and insurance. On the contrary, the correlation is lower with industries such as mining and agriculture, which mostly operate in rural areas. The analysis for low-income housing and economic sectors GDP yields low correlations, but are especially dismissible for more rural industries, such as mining and agriculture. The analysis shows the change of trend in the correlations for the year 2021, the beginning of the post-pandemic economic recovery.

The textile and clothing (T&C) industry is not usually viewed as an exemplar of sustainable de-velopment and the circular economy, as the industry has hitherto made its products in linear fashion, with relatively little recycling of the finished goods. This article examines the industry’s approach to the core sustainability concept and the circular economy in particular, through a re-view of the available academic literature, evidence from corporate sustainability reports and websites, and feedback from an online survey of industry professionals. The role of digital technology deployment in engendering sustainability and the circular economy in the industry is also explored. The study finds that whilst sustainability is now firmly embedded at the strategic level in the vast majority of companies studied, attitudes towards the circular economy remain fickle. The use of digital technologies in support of sustainability objectives is also limited at present, but the article concludes that the need to meet compliance requirements and new cus-tomer perceptions of sustainability will speed the transition to circular economy activities, facili-tated by greater exploitation of digital technologies. Building upon the research findings, existing models and an initial conceptual framework, a simple operational model for initiating such a transition for small-to-medium sized enterprises in the T&C industry is put forward.

As the global overprovisioning of electronic devices continues to rise, the management of electronic waste (e-waste) has developed as a significant challenge. E-waste is comprised of hazardous materials; moreover, the toxic constituents in them can impact the environment and public health through improper disposal. On the beneficial side, this e-waste also contains some valuable materials. If the valuable materials are recovered, they can reduce the dependence on new, raw materials. Conventional linear models of production and consumption have led to a momentous buildup of e-waste, posing environmental and economic risks. This paper examines how the adoption of a circular economy approach can improve e-waste recycling in Nairobi by evaluating its economic recovery potential and e-waste residuals. It introduces metrics to assess the development of circular economy practices to help in the handling of e-waste residuals and examines the economic consequences associated with the adoption of circular strategies.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) are chronic multifactorial disorders which affect the gastrointestinal tract with variable extent. Despite extensive research, their etiology and exact pathogenesis are still unknown. Cell-free DNAs (cfDNAs) are defined as any DNA fragments which are free from origin cell and able to circulate into bloodstream with or without microvescicles. CfDNAs are now being increasingly studied in different human diseases, like cancer or inflammatory diseases. However, to date it is unclear how IBD etiology is linked to cfDNAs in plasma. Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) are non-plasmidic, nuclear, circular and closed DNA molecules found in all eukaryotes tested. CfDNAs appear to play an important role in autoimmune diseases, inflammatory processes, and cancer; recently, interest has also grown in IBD, and their role in the pathogenesis of IBD has been suggested. We now suggest that eccDNAs also plays a role in IBD. In this review we have comprehensively collected available knowledge in literature regarding cfDNA, eccDNA, and structures involving them such as neutrophil extracellular traps and exosomes, and their role in IBD. Finally, we focused on old and novel potential molecular therapies and drug delivery systems, such as nanoparticles, for IBD treatment.

Gol'denveizer's problem of a torus has been analyzed by Audoly and Pomeau (2002) and Sun (2021). However, all of the investigations of Gol'denveizer's problem of an elastic torus have been linear. In this paper, the finite element method is used to more accurately address this problem. Furthermore, Sun (2021) cannot be solved by nonlinear analysis. We research the nonlinear mechanical properties of Gol'denveizer's problem of circular and elliptic tori, and relevant nephograms are given. We study the buckling of Gol'denveizer's problem of an elastic torus, and propose failure patterns and force-displacement curves of tori in the nonlinear range. Investigations reveal that circular tori have more rich buckling phenomena as the parameter a increases. Gol'denveizer's problem of the buckling of an elliptic torus is analyzed, and we find a new buckling phenomenon called a "skirt." As a/b increases, the collapse load of an elliptic torus of the Gol'denveizer problem is enhanced gradually.

Various efforts have been made to detect minimum value of glucose in any medium like water or body buffer solutions with high-sensitivity, accurate, and low-cost sensors in order to enhance life style. Therefore, the present study was done to investigate reliability of two-dimensional plasmonic structure by circular dichroism (CD) and ellipsometry tools in different concentrations of glucose. Our results confirmed a dependency of the CD signal on glucose concentrations and also a very good sensitivity based on the phase difference between each polarization in ellipsometry parameters with the help of an achiral plasmonic structure.

Although the spanwise periodicity within the gap between two tandem circular cylinders has been observed by some researchers, there is a lack of systematic study on the properties of this pe-riodicity. For the spanwise periodicity within the gap, this study aims to ascertain its characteris-tics, its influences on the flow field, and its variation trend with increasing spacing ratio. By nu-merically simulating the flow around two tandem circular cylinders with a diameter ratio of d/D=0.6 and seventeen spacing ratios (L/D=1.00~6.00) at Re=3900, this study shows four flow re-gimes: Reattachment Flow (L/D=1.00~3.15), Bi-stable Flow (L/D=3.24), Intermittent Lock-in Co-shedding (L/D= 3.30~3.50) and Subharmonic Lock-in Co-shedding (L/D=4.00~6.00). Further, de-pending on the spanwise periodicity length of the time-averaged flow structures (i.e. Pz) within the gap, Reattachment Flow is, for the first time, subdivided into three new sub-flow regimes: Small-scale Periodic Reattachment (L/D=1.00~1.50, Pz/D=(0, 4]), Large-scale Periodic Reattachment (L/D=2.00~2.25, Pz/D>4) and Non-periodic Reattachment (L/D=2.50~3.15, no spanwise periodicity). The formation mechanisms are elaborated by analyzing the combined effect of both the L/D value and the spanwise-averaged time-averaged reattachment angle of the downstream cylinder. Moreover, this study proves that the newly-defined Small-scale Periodic Reattachment and Large-scale Periodic Reattachment are responsible for the pronounced asymmetry of the flow along the transverse direction within the gap. In addition, detailed flow properties and statistical pa-rameters are provided for each flow regime, such as velocity, vorticity, force coefficient, separa-tion/reattachment angle, Strouhal number and Q-criterion.

Great Himalayan range with regions namely, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and high altitude parts of north eastern states inherently experience high solar exposure, cold, arid climate and significantly challenging geography. With a scarcity of affordable public housing projects in these regions a grid enabled low energy residential prototype is proposed having the capability to operate on nearly zero consumption of heating and cooling energy with the application of indigenous and contemporary energy efficient passive design techniques. Preliminary study, development of design and reading of simulation results were applied for the performance and benefit analysis of the low energy building prototype. Analysis of the climatic zone further classified and narrowed the design criterion by confirming upon beneficial architectural components proven to be energy efficient. These architectural components include, optimization of direct solar gain and orientation of building envelope, modified trombe wall system, traditional sunrooms, solar chimney with openable vents, efficient spatial planning and compliance of relevant parameters such as window-wall-ratio (WWR). The proposed low energy housing for the economically weaker section is estimated to save nearly 50% of active fuel based household heating energy. Site has been planned in such a way that about 100% of required electricity can be generated from on site renewable energy for the proposed infrastructure, it is proven more beneficial if additional electricity is generated to offset the power supply and result in lower or subsidized electricity bills. Design is compliant to different codes relevant to energy conservation and low-income housing with an embodied carbon of about 1.2 kgCO2/m2 per dwelling unit giving ‘A’ grade in cradle to gate impacts. The findings and performance of this prototype can serve as a guideline for energy efficient design in low income group housing situated in severe cold and arid regions of India such as Ladakh (U.T.).

Public housing stock, called Social Housing, in Italy developed between the 1950s and the 1980s. As of today, the first residential developments are almost nearing their end-of-life age, in need of urgent and intensive renovation. The European Commission, with the Renovation Wave, has set a goal of doubling the rate of building renovation over the next 10 years, reducing emissions, improving energy performance, and promoting decarburization. Renovation interventions, including structural, functional, energy, plant upgrading, etc., are to be preferred over integral demolition and reconstruction interventions, which have significant repercussions in terms of managerial and social discomfort. The case studies examined concern renovation interventions aimed at energy efficiency, functional adaptation of housing as well as facade restyling. The design variants analyzed were evaluated in terms of CO2e emissions, according to LCI (Life Cycle Inventory) and EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) approaches. This approach has a twofold purpose: to propose design guidelines, with low CO2e emissions, through hypotheses of variants to the case studies, and to propose, to the Economic Operators, economically advantageous bidding scenarios, in the procurement process.

A large number of studies have concluded that since housing pressure will affect the mobility of highly skilled young migrants (HSYM) in Chinese cities and regions, it is necessary to apply corresponding housing policies to adjust housing unaffordability for HYSM. This study uses a survey data conducted in China's Zhejiang Province of China, where specific policies have been implemented to attract talent and found that housing does crowds out the HSYM from a city, but the HSYM who have a master's degree or above or who work in government organizations or state-owned enterprises are more tolerant of housing unaffordability. The unmarried or those staying in the city for a long period are less tolerant of housing unaffordability. Meanwhile, there are the heterogeneous impacts of factors on the HSYM's tolerance for housing unaffordability across cities of different levels. Therefore, housing policies should highlight urban differences and intra-group differences.

In this paper the development process of a deployable modular sandwich panelized system for rapid assembly building construction is presented, and its structural performance under some different action effects is investigated. This system, which includes an innovative sandwich panel and its integrated connections, can be used as structural walls and floors in quickly assembled post-disaster housing, as well as load bearing panels for pre-fabricated modular construction and semi-permanent buildings. Panels and connections are composed of a pneumatic fabric formwork, and two 3-D high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sheets as the skins, filled with high-density rigid Polyurethane (PU) foam as the core. HDPE sheets manufactured with a studded surface considerably enhance the stress distribution, buckling performance and delamination strength of the sandwich panel under various loading conditions. The load-carrying behaviour of the system in accordance with some ASTM standards is presented here. The results show the system satisfies the codes criteria regarding semi-permanent housing.

The motion of a circular elastic plate floating on the surface is investigated in the time–domain. The solution is found from the single frequency solutions and the method to solve for the circular plate is given using the eigenfunction matching method. Simple plane incident waves with a Gaussian profile in wavenumber space are considered and a more complex focused wave group is considered. Results are given for a range of plate and incident wave parameters are investigated. Code is provided to show how to simulate the complex motion.

This paper presents a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of producing alternative phosphorus (P) fertilizers from recycled water treatment residuals (Fe-WTR) and cowshed effluents, under the umbrella of circular economy approach. Fe-WTR is compared to a synthetic adsorbent, layered double hydroxide (LDH). Dairy wastewater is used as a P source for both adsorbents. The cost of 1 ton P-Fe-WTR sums up to 329 Euro. In contrast, the use of synthetic adsorbents (P-LDH) incurs significantly higher costs, amounting to 3329 Euros per ton, underscoring the economic advantage of utilizing waste-derived materials. Adopting Fe-WTR fertilizer not only offers substantial cost savings by avoiding landfill fees (40-150 Euros per ton) and wastewater discharge fines (500 Euros per ton) but also reduces environmental impacts. This sustainable method mitigates eutrophication and pollution, presenting a dual benefit of cost-effectiveness and environmental protection. Although our results are based on a specific case study, they reflect the potential value of extending the circular economic approach to P production worldwide: Recycling P from waste streams can be economically viable and environmentally preferable at large, aligning with global sustainability goals and demonstrating the practicality of circular economy principles in environmental management.

The global demand for rubber is on a steady rise, which is driven by the increasing production of automobiles and the growing need for industrial, medical, and household products. This surge in demand has led to a significant increase in rubber waste, posing a major global environmental challenge. End-of-life tire (ELT) is a primary source of rubber waste, which possesses significant environmental hazards due to its massive stockpiles. While landfilling is a low-cost and easy-to-implement solution, it is now largely prohibited due to environmental concerns. Recently, ELT rubber waste has garnered considerable attention for its potential applications in civil engineering and construction. These applications not only enhance sustainability but also foster a circular economy between ELT rubber waste and the civil engineering and construction sectors. This review article concentrates on the recent research progress and challenges in the civil engineering applications of ELT rubber waste. It also discusses commercially available recycled rubber-based construction materials, their properties, testing standards, and certification. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first time such a discussion on commercial products has been presented.

The coordination of policy, makers and materials is critical to the success of circular city development. The network of maker activities in the city of Leuven is a flagship initiative that illustrates the mechanisms that support integrated circular urban production. This paper draws on the Pop-Machina project, funded by EC Horizon 2020, which identifies the links between the maker movement and the circular economy in seven European cities. The case study project in Leuven, confirmed as the most impactful amongst those studied in the Pop-Machina project, is examined to assess how local knowledge and policy measures, can provide a means of activating a circular maker ecology. Through desk research, spatial urban analysis and interviews with key stakeholders, this paper provides a critical narrative of the development, success factors and hurdles related to circular making processes in the city. It demonstrates how hybrid makers are supported by local, national, and international policy on the one hand, and by integration with the city’s community, educational and business groups on the other. It is this constellation of social, political, and spatial conditions that lies at the success of the project.

The paper describes a new formula for calculating the mutual inductance between a thin conical sheet inductor and a filamentary circular loop, which are coaxial. The presented formula is derived semi-analytically using the complete elliptic integrals of the first, second, and the third kind, along with the integral term which will be solved numerically. The results are validated using double and single integration methods, as well as the semi-analytical formula. The mutual inductance between a thin wall solenoid and a filamentary circular loop can be obtained using the new formula for the conical coil and circular loop. Presented formulas can be useful in various applications, such as broadband RF and wireless power transfer systems that utilize conical inductors. Overall, the paper presents a valuable contribution to the field of inductor design and can be useful in various applications involving conical inductors.

This paper presents the experimental and numerical studies of the vertical stress distribution beneath the centerline of circular footings resting on the sand. Vertical stress values due to circular load in medium-dense sand were measured using soil stress transducers. Reduced-scale laboratory model tests were carried out in a square-shaped test box and vertical stresses were measured at the centerline of the circular footing at different depths of the sand. In order to determine the effect of footing width on vertical stress distribution, laboratory experiments were performed on circular footings of different diameters. In addition, a series of finite element analyses was carried out on the test model to validate the findings of the experimental study. In the numerical analysis, the sand was modeled as a non-linear elastoplastic material. The analyses were performed using the finite element method with two-dimensional axisymmetric and three-dimensional conditions. The results obtained from laboratory model tests and numerical analysis were compared with the vertical stress values obtained from the theoretical solution in the literature. Vertical stress distribution in horizontal planes at any depth from the footing base shows the same characteristic form in all methods. However, some differences were observed between experimental, numerical, and theoretical results and discussed.