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Chandigarh: City and Periphery.

Chalana, Manish. (2015). Chandigarh: City and Periphery. Journal Of Planning History, 14(1), 62 – 84.

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Abstract

This article traces the history of the greenbelt of Chandigarh, India's first modernist city, designed by Le Corbusier. The zone's protection was mandated by the Periphery Control Act of 1952, although the act's contents are often misinterpreted and do not fully reflect the project team's complex vision. This work clarifies the intentions behind the Periphery's creation, and establishes its integration with the master plan. I demonstrate how ongoing transformations violate the spirit of the Periphery's original purpose, but rarely the letter of the law. I highlight ongoing conflicts whose resolution will fundamentally shape the future of the Periphery and the master plan of Chandigarh.

Keywords

Greenbelts; Urban Planning; Urban Cores; Landscape Protection; Architecture; Government Policy; Twentieth Century; History Of India, 1947-; Chandigarh (india); India; Chandigarh; Greenbelt; Le Corbusier; Modernism; Periphery; Le Corbusier, 1887-1965

Obesity, Diet Quality, Physical Activity, and the Built Environment: The Need for Behavioral Pathways

Drewnowski, Adam; Aggarwal, Anju; Tang, Wesley; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Scully, Jason; Stewart, Orion; Moudon, Anne Vernez. (2016). Obesity, Diet Quality, Physical Activity, and the Built Environment: The Need for Behavioral Pathways. BMC Public Health, 16.

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Abstract

Background: The built environment ( BE) is said to influence local obesity rates. Few studies have explored causal pathways between home-neighborhood BE variables and health outcomes such as obesity. Such pathways are likely to involve both physical activity and diet. Methods: The Seattle Obesity Study ( SOS II) was a longitudinal cohort of 440 adult residents of King Co, WA. Home addresses were geocoded. Home-neighborhood BE measures were framed as counts and densities of food sources and physical activity locations. Tax parcel property values were obtained from County tax assessor. Healthy Eating Index ( HEI 2010) scores were constructed using data from food frequency questionnaires. Physical activity ( PA) was obtained by self-report. Weights and heights were measured at baseline and following 12 months' exposure. Multivariable regressions examined the associations among BE measures at baseline, health behaviors ( HEI-2010 and physical activity) at baseline, and health outcome both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Results: None of the conventional neighborhood BE metrics were associated either with diet quality, or with meeting PA guidelines. Only higher property values did predict better diets and more physical activity. Better diets and more physical activity were associated with lower obesity prevalence at baseline and 12 mo, but did not predict weight change. Conclusion: Any links between the BE and health outcomes critically depend on establishing appropriate behavioral pathways. In this study, home-centric BE measures, were not related to physical activity or to diet. Further studies will need to consider a broader range of BE attributes that may be related to diets and health.

Keywords

Body-mass Index; Local Food Environment; Residential Property-values; Supermarket Accessibility; Park Proximity; Neighborhood Walkability; Vegetable Consumption; Atherosclerosis Risk; Restaurant Food; Associations; Built Environment; Physical Activity; Obesity; Diet Quality

Customer Earned Value: Performance Indicator from Flow and Value Generation View

Kim, Taehoon; Kim, Yong-woo; Cho, Hunhee. (2016). Customer Earned Value: Performance Indicator from Flow and Value Generation View. Journal Of Management In Engineering, 32(1).

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Abstract

The earned value method (EVM) is considered an advanced project control technique that provides a quantitative measure of work performance. However, the EVM is effective only under the assumption that every activity is independent. Literature shows that the EVM lacks the value generation view even working against the reliability of workflow. The goal of this research is to propose a project metric system to supplement the EVM in terms of the workflow and value generation. The researchers suggest a new metric of customer earned value (CEV), which is defined as the budgeted amount of work completed and is used by the successors on a network. Through a hypothetical case study, this research investigates how the work-in-process between trades and schedule performance in each trade behave under different uncertainties. The result suggests that the proposed metrics can provide project managers with more relevant managerial information on project progress as well as on the level of collaboration. The proposed system with the EVM would facilitate collaboration on project planning and control where variability and interdependency are involved. (C) 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Keywords

Budgeting; Customer Services; Organisational Aspects; Planning; Project Management; Customer Earned Value; Project Planning; Project Managers; Trade-schedule Performance; Work-in-process; Budgeted Amount; Project Metric System; Advanced Project Control Technique; Earned Value Method; Performance Indicator; Value Generation View; Management; Project Control Metric; Collaboration

Mean-Variance Portfolio Analysis Data For Optimizing Community-Based Photovoltaic Investment

Shakouri, Mahmoud; Lee, Hyun Woo. (2016). Mean-Variance Portfolio Analysis Data For Optimizing Community-Based Photovoltaic Investment. Data In Brief, 6, 840 – 842.

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Abstract

The amount of electricity generated by Photovoltaic (PV) systems is affected by factors such as shading, building orientation and roof slope. To increase electricity generation and reduce volatility in generation of PV systems, a portfolio of PV systems can be made which takes advantages of the potential synergy among neighboring buildings. This paper contains data supporting the research article entitled: PACPIM: new decision-support model of optimized portfolio analysis for community-based photovoltaic investment [1]. We present a set of data relating to physical properties of 24 houses in Oregon, USA, along with simulated hourly electricity data for the installed PV systems. The developed Matlab code to construct optimized portfolios is also provided in Supplementary materials. The application of these files can be generalized to variety of communities interested in investing on PV systems. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

Community Solar; Photovoltaic System; Portfolio Theory; Energy Optimization; Electricity Volatility

(re)branding A (post)colonial Streetscape: Tunis’s Avenue Habib Bourguiba And The Road Ahead

Coslett, Daniel E. (2017). (Re)branding a (Post)colonial Streetscape: Tunis’s Avenue Habib Bourguiba and the Road Ahead. International Journal Of Islamic Architecture, 6(1), 59 – 96.

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Abstract

Arguably Tunis's premier public space, the iconic Avenue Bourguiba is today the product of over 150 years of manipulation, regulation and interpretation. Its development can be seen as an early example of thematic place branding, thereby complicating the notion that the widespread phenomenon is an exclusively postmodern and western one. In identifying three potential place-brand labels, this article considers the establishment of the 'Parisian Colonial' Avenue by French colonial authorities, its 'Tunisian Modern' modification at independence, and its more recent historicist 'Parisian Global' refurbishment within the contexts of colonialism, authoritarian governance and globalization. On the eve of the January 2011 revolution, the space reinforced the Ben Ali regime's maintenance of control and capitalized on the long-since entrenched image of a dual - eastern and western, traditional and modern - postcolonial city. In the revolution's wake the Avenue has become a reinvigorated public forum with a more complex character. Indeed, while the Avenue's existing form and function remain emblematic of Tunis's hybrid postcolonial identity, the thoroughfare now exemplifies the ongoing 'Arab Spring'. Its cultural brandscape and heritage content, though enhanced with new aspects of democratic empowerment, are likely to endure as the transitioning country continues to participate in the process of globalization.

Keywords

Africa; (post)colonialism; Architectural/urban History; Place Branding; Heritage; Arab Spring; Tunis

Critique And Contribute: A Practice-based Framework For Improving Critical Data Studies And Data Science

Neff, Gina; Tanweer, Anissa; Fiore-Gartland, Brittany; Osburn, Laura. (2017). Critique and Contribute: A Practice-Based Framework for Improving Critical Data Studies And Data Science. Big Data, 5(2), 85 – 97.

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Abstract

What would data science look like if its key critics were engaged to help improve it, and how might critiques of data science improve with an approach that considers the day-to-day practices of data science? This article argues for scholars to bridge the conversations that seek to critique data science and those that seek to advance data science practice to identify and create the social and organizational arrangements necessary for a more ethical data science. We summarize four critiques that are commonly made in critical data studies: data are inherently interpretive, data are inextricable from context, data are mediated through the sociomaterial arrangements that produce them, and data serve as a medium for the negotiation and communication of values. We present qualitative research with academic data scientists, data for good projects, and specialized cross-disciplinary engineering teams to show evidence of these critiques in the day-to-day experience of data scientists as they acknowledge and grapple with the complexities of their work. Using ethnographic vignettes from two large multiresearcher field sites, we develop a set of concepts for analyzing and advancing the practice of data science and improving critical data studies, including (1) communication is central to the data science endeavor; (2) making sense of data is a collective process; (3) data are starting, not end points, and (4) data are sets of stories. We conclude with two calls to action for researchers and practitioners in data science and critical data studies alike. First, creating opportunities for bringing social scientific and humanistic expertise into data science practice simultaneously will advance both data science and critical data studies. Second, practitioners should leverage the insights from critical data studies to build new kinds of organizational arrangements, which we argue will help advance a more ethical data science. Engaging the insights of critical data studies will improve data science. Careful attention to the practices of data science will improve scholarly critiques. Genuine collaborative conversations between these different communities will help push for more ethical, and better, ways of knowing in increasingly datum-saturated societies.

Keywords

Big; Communication; Politics; Critical Data Studies; Data For Good; Data Science; Ethics; Qualitative Methods; Theory

Architecture for Health Is Not Just for Healthcare Architects

Dannenberg, Andrew L.; Burpee, Heather. (2018). Architecture for Health Is Not Just for Healthcare Architects. Health Environments Research & Design Journal (herd) (sage Publications, Ltd.), 11(2), 8 – 12.

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Keywords

Building Design & Construction; Public Health; Quality Of Life; Built Environment; Public Spaces

Neighborhood Food Environment, Dietary Fatty Acid Biomarkers, and Cardiac Arrest Risk

Mooney, Stephen J.; Lemaitre, Rozenn N.; Siscovick, David S.; Hurvitz, Philip; Goh, Charlene E.; Kaufman, Tanya K.; Zulaika, Garazi; Sheehan, Daniel M.; Sotoodehnia, Nona; Lovasi, Gina S. (2018). Neighborhood Food Environment, Dietary Fatty Acid Biomarkers, and Cardiac Arrest Risk. Health & Place, 53, 128 – 134.

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Abstract

We explored links between food environments, dietary intake biomarkers, and sudden cardiac arrest in a population-based longitudinal study using cases and controls accruing between 1990 and 2010 in King County, WA. Surprisingly, presence of more unhealthy food sources near home was associated with a lower 18:1 trans-fatty acid concentration ( - 0.05% per standard deviation higher count of unhealthy food sources, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.01, 0.09). However, presence of more unhealthy food sources was associated with higher odds of cardiac arrest (Odds Ratio [OR]: 2.29, 95% CI: 1.19, 4.41 per standard deviation in unhealthy food outlets). While unhealthy food outlets were associated with higher cardiac arrest risk, circulating 18:1 trans fats did not explain the association.

Keywords

Fatty Acids; Biological Tags; Cardiac Arrest; Food Contamination; Standard Deviations; Food Supply; Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest; Residence Characteristics; Sudden Cardiac Death; Trans Fatty Acids; New-york-city; Acute Myocardial-infarction; Low Socioeconomic-status; United-states; Vascular Inflammation; Cardiovascular Health; Older-adults; Death; Epidemiology; Arrhythmias; Dietary Supplements; Biomarkers; Heart Attacks; Risk Factors; Diet; Heart; Healthy Food; Fats; Dietary Intake; Food Sources; Food; Confidence Intervals; Biological Markers; Myocardial Infarction; Population Studies; Food Intake; Correlation Analysis; Neighborhoods

Accessing Homeownership with Credit Constraints

Acolin, Arthur; Goodman, Laurie; Wachter, Susan M. (2019). Accessing Homeownership with Credit Constraints. Housing Policy Debate, 29(1), 108 – 125.

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Abstract

The tightening of mortgage credit in the aftermath of the global financial crisis has been identified as a factor in the decline of homeownership in the United States to 50-year lows. In this article, we review findings about the role of borrowing constraints and tightened credit in lowering access to homeownership. We also discuss how institutional changes could hinder or support this access going forward.

Keywords

Borrowing Constraints; Home Ownership; Mortgage; Model; Race; Homeownership; Credit Access; International Finance; Economic Crisis; Property; Aftermath; Access; Credit; Access To Credit; Economic Models; United States--us