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Agglomerated cork is a known material by its contribution to the sustainment of the environment, not only because it is a wholly natural material, without chemical additives, but also because its industrial process of production results from the lowest quality residues of cork or industrial waste material, unsuitable for other applications. It is a reusable material, which means, the cork facade elements can be converted into a new agglomerated material, demonstrating a huge potential for adaptation to existing buildings following a reversible process. It is durable, lightweight, water resistant, low-cost material, some of the properties that may qualify it as suitable for application in large surfaces of vertical construction façades. The aim of this article is to analyze the mechanical, thermal and acoustic characteristics of cork composites against site-specific climatic conditions of subtropical climates and its suitability as an external coating system for residential buildings with the goal to reduce the energy consumption for cooling the inner environment. In high-density cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong the majority of the buildings starting from the 1960s until early 21st century (Brach & Song 2006), did not integrate thermal insulation systems into external walls, producing a high level of heat transfer through the external façade from the outside environment during spring and summer seasons. Due to the extremely fast urban growth of the modern Chinese city, little importance is given to the quality of the external walls in current residential building construction. For at least during six months each year the consumption of energy due to air conditioning in Guangdong province is extremely high. The study concluded that substantial energy could be saved by implementing an external coating upgrade to existing buildings. Additionally, this study details the result obtained through software for energy simulations (Design Builder, ENVI-met) demonstrating the potential of this project to produce homogeneous and comfortable inside temperatures, which cools the indoor ambient temperature in summer time.
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Fish acoustic signals associated with mating behaviour are typically low-frequency sounds produced by males when in close proximity to females. However, some species make sounds that serve the function and follow the design of advertisement calls, well known in insects, anurans, and birds. Close-range courtship acoustic signals may be used by females in mate assessment as they contain information of male quality such as size and condition. For example, sound-dominant frequency, amplitude, and fatigue resistance may signal body size whereas pulse period (i.e. muscle contraction rate) and calling activity are related with body condition in some species. Some signal features, such as sound pulse number, may carry multiple messages including size and condition. Playback experiments on mate choice of a restricted number of species suggest that females prefer vocal to silent males and may use sound frequency, amplitude, and mainly calling rateCalling ratewhen assessing males. The assessment of males by females becomes more challenging when males engage in choruses or when sounds are otherwise masked by anthropogenic noise but almost nothing is known about how these aspects affect mating decisions and fish reproductive success.
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Maria Celeste Natário, Renato Epifânio, Carlos Ascenso André, Gonçalo Cordeiro, Inocência Mata, Jorge Rangel, Maria Antónia Espadinha
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Intra-Asian higher education mobility is a relatively new phenomenon in Asia and one triggered by the dynamic economic changes occurring in East Asia,