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Seismic behavior of non seismically designed eccentric reinforced concrete beam column joints
No full textNon seismically designed eccentric reinforced concrete beam column joints were extensively used in existing reinforced concrete frame buildings, which were found to be vulnerable to seismic action in many incidences. To provide a fundamental understanding of the seismic performance and failure mechanism of the joints, three 2/3 scale exterior beam column joints with non seismically designed details were cast and tested under reversed cyclic loads simulating earthquake excitation. In this investigation, particular emphasis was given on the effects of the eccentricity between the centerlines of the beam and the column. It is shown that the eccentricity had significant effects on the damage characteristics, shear strength, and displacement ductility of the specimens. In addition, shear deformation and the strain of joint hoops were found to concentrate on the eccentric face of the joint. The results demonstrated that the specimen with an eccentricity of 1/4 column width failed in a brittle manner with premature joint shear failure, while the other specimens with less or no eccentricity failed in a ductile manner with joint shear failure after beam flexural yielding. Test results are compared with those predicted by three seismic design codes and two non seismic design codes. In general, the codes do not accurately predict the shear strength of the eccentric joints with non seismic details
Cross-sectional study of the relationship between the spiritual wellbeing and psychological health among University Students
No full textUniversity students’ spiritual wellbeing has been shown to be associated with quality, satisfaction, and joy of life. This study tested the relationship between spiritual wellbeing and symptoms of psychological disorders (i.e., depression, anxiety and stress) among Chinese university students in Hong Kong. Cross-sectional data were collected from N = 500 students (aged 17–24; 279 women). The participants were asked to complete the Spiritual Health and Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM) to evaluate the status of their spiritual wellbeing in the personal and communal, environmental, and transcendental domains, and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) to assess their emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress. All domains of spiritual wellbeing were negatively associated with psychological distress. Hierarchical Multiple Regression showed that together the three domains of spirituality explained 79.9%, 71.3% and 85.5% of the variance in students’ depression, anxiety and stress respectively. The personal and communal domain of spiritual wellbeing was the strongest predictor of psychological distress
Evaluating the environmental sustainability strategies of the housekeeping department: the case of an international hotel chain in Hong Kong
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to use the case of an international luxury hotel chain in Hong Kong to present the general environmentally-friendly practices in housekeeping. Six in-depth interviews were conducted with the housekeeping department staff to evaluate the effectiveness of the Hotel’s environmental sustainability practices by analysing their benefits and limitations. Results reveal that all informants acknowledged the environmental sustainability strategies adopted by the Hotel, which can benefit stakeholders. Despite multiple green practices in hotel housekeeping, several strategies may not be as significant as expected with misaligned expectations from the management and the actual practices may create excessive workload for frontline room attendants with a lack of policy enforcement and supportive policies. Therefore, hotels should keep a mutual communication between the management and frontline employees prior to conducting environmentally- and employee-friendly practices. Given the labour-intensive nature of the hotel industry, the housekeeping department should ensure employment equality policy is in place with adequate environmentally friendly support for employees
Graphic Communications: Essays on Design
No full textAustrian-Jewish by descent, Henry Steiner was born in Vienna, Austria in 1934. He studied painting at Hunter College in New York City, and later received a master\u27s degree in graphic design at Yale University studying under Paul Rand. In 1958, Steiner received a Fulbright fellowship to further his studies at the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1961, Steiner accepted a nine-month contract to be posted in Hong Kong for the launch of The Asia Magazine. He has since made Hong Kong his home. In 1964, Steiner established Graphic Communication Limited, now Steiner & Co, a leading design consultancy that focuses on branding and corporate identity. His clients include HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Hongkong Land, Dairy Farm and Hong Kong Telephone Company. Steiner received numerous accolades. He was awarded the title of Professor by The Federal President of Austria in 2017. He received the DFA Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hong Kong Design Centre in 2012, and an honorary fellowship from the Vocational Training Council in Hong Kong in 2013
Artist Interview - Chic & Artistic
Get PDFCorinne Black and Axel d’Harcourt call themselves Chic & Artistic, Paris-based creatives and directors, who conceive, direct and produce ideas for brands and artists.
They say that they “love to express our creativity across a large range of media, including commercials, digital content, music videos, motion graphics, opening credits, graphic design, visual identity and juggling. We are able to take on the whole creative process, from concept to direction, design, production and finishing, with our own creative production studio.
Artist Interview - Tsaruk & Ahmadova
Get PDFBelarusian designers Igor Tsaruk and Marina Ahmadova are not married, not a couple in love, not relatives, but they have been working together for more than five years. They have similar views on beauty and design in the broad sense and complement each other as professionals, which they think gives them an advantage over other designers.
They commented: “We are both architects and we were classmates at university. During the last year of our study we created our own project, ‘Fajno Design’, which specialised in industrial and interior-design work. In the summer of 2017, ‘Fajno’ started producing items we had created.” This decided them on a future as collaborative creators. They are both members of the Belarusian Union of Designers
Artist Interview - Mark Richardson
Get PDFSuperfried is the studio alias of self-taught British designer Mark Richardson. Originally founded in a London bedroom in 2007, Superfried is now based in the centre of Manchester. Specialising in brand identity and experimental typography, Richardson designs bespoke print and digital solutions across all sectors. His clients are equally varied in both scale and location, from start-ups in Russia to global brands in New York, LA, London and Cape Town. When required to do so, he collaborates with trusted specialists to ensure that client expectations, analogue or digital, are “met and surpassed”. This enables Superfried to deliver the kind of complex projects more often expected of much larger studios. Its award-winning work has been recognised globally both in print and online. Continual experimentation with letterforms has led to the commercial release of 15 display typefaces to date
