OCLC Article First

The first Catholic parochial school in the USA was established as early as the mid-eighteenth century in Philadelphia, while general Catholic education peaked in the 1960s, when more than 4.5 million schoolchildren were taught in Catholic schools. This represented 12 percent of the total number of elementary school pupils in the USA.1 Although a few dozen Lithuanian Catholic parochial schools with a few thousand pupils made up just a tiny part of this phenomenon, it is believed that a case study may reveal general valuable characteristics common to the American Catholic architectural heritage. The results of this study are expected to be of relevance to the researchers of other ethnic groups and Catholic heritage, as most of these groups have gone through similar periods of development.

Oxidative aging induces significant stiffening of asphalt binders that leads to a pronounced reduction in the overall durability of asphalt pavements. The strategic implementation of antioxidant additives provides a potential solution to alleviate this issue. This work presents results from the second phase of the global consortium for antioxidants research aimed at investigating the effectiveness of potential antioxidants in increasing the durability of asphalt binders. Sixteen laboratories around the world participated in this effort and a total of 28 binders from diverse geographical regions were tested. Two promising antioxidants, namely zinc diethyldithiocarbamate (ZDC) and kraft lignin were evaluated in this phase and blended with the binders at specific proportions. Subsequently, a comprehensive investigation was conducted to assess rheological characteristics and chemical properties of the various blends, utilising Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) measurements and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. The findings indicate that additives such as ZDC hold considerable promise as an effective antioxidant, particularly when considering a wide diversity of binders. In general, its incorporation does not compromise the rutting performance of the binders and significantly improves fatigue performance. Therefore, research efforts should be focused on exploring additional facets to assess its practical applicability in field.

This paper aims to determine the performance-based criteria for bitumen to control low temperature cracking in asphalt pavements. For this purpose, the performance of 26 recovered bitumen samples was analysed using the dynamic shear rheometer with 4-mm parallel plates (4-mm DSR). The stress relaxation modulus and its slope at 60 s were determined by performing a stress relaxation test at specific critical temperatures. The changes in these properties depending on the test temperature were analysed. The stress relaxation modulus and its slope at 60 s of 26 recovered bitumen samples were compared with the actual performance of the road sections from which these bitumen samples were recovered. On the basis of that, the limiting values of the stress relaxation modulus and its slope at 60 s were determined. The research showed that the formation and development of low temperature cracks on asphalt pavements are limited, when the stress relaxation modulus and its slope at 60 s and at temperature 10°C higher than the lowest asphalt surface temperature are not higher than 52 MPa and not lower than 0.370, respectively. These performance-based criteria are incorporated into the algorithm developed to assess bitumen resistance to low temperature cracking.

One of the best examples of circular economy is the application of crumb rubber for asphalt mixture or bitumen modification. The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of crumb rubber type and amount on dry process modified asphalt mixture performance in terms of rutting resistance, water sensitivity, air void content, stiffness, resistance to fatigue and low-temperature cracking. The study shows that the use of untreated crumb rubber increases the air void content by up to 2.7% compared to the reference mixture while the use of treated crumb rubber reduces air void content up to 0.9%. The use of untreated and treated crumb rubber from 0.5% to 3.0% has a negative effect on water sensitivity (strength decreases by 59.5%). The use of crumb rubber up to 1.5% has a positive effect on resistance to rutting, stiffness and resistance to fatigue (proportional rut depth PRDAIR is improved by 0.6–1.1%, stiffness – by 15.4–16.2% and resistance to fatigue – by 24.7–24.9%). This research revealed that the amount up to 3.0% of both types of crumb rubber has a positive effect on the resistance to low-temperature cracking (40.6–52.1%) comparing to the reference mixture with neat bitumen.

Due to today’s competitive environment and information boom, companies are concerned about production planning in uncertain conditions. This paper integrates decision-making method with production scheduling model by considering limited resources. In this paper, a new mathematical model is extended for production project scheduling with multiple execution modes. The main aim of the formulation is to plan and schedule real production projects in uncertain environments. A new mixed-integer linear formulation is presented by considering trade-off of cost, time, as well as quality. Cost–time-quality trade-off is extended with the interval information. In the presented model, activity quality could be enhanced by reworking. The interval forms of some parameters, including duration, quality of activities, cost, and total available resources, are obtained by determining weights of experts and aggregating them. The presented group decision-making method is based on a bi-directional projection measure to deal with interval information. Since the mathematical model is multi-objective and some data are interval, a new modified solution method is developed for solving the model. The presented method for both decision-making and mathematical models is investigated by a real-world production project and two datasets to ascertain the accuracy of the model. Finally, an appropriate sensitivity analysis is proposed.

This research investigates if bottom ash produced by incinerating municipal solid waste after recovery of metals and aging (weathering) can be used as a substitute for natural aggregates in the manufacture of concrete without additional treatment, rather than being disposed of in landfill. In this research, the performance of eight concrete mixtures that contained different amounts (0–100%) of MSWI bottom ash was analysed. Mixtures were produced by fully replacing coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, and then both of them with MSWI bottom ash and mixing with two amounts (340 and 300 kg/m3) of cement (CEM I 42.5 R). Reference mixtures were produced as well. The influence of MSWI bottom ash as aggregate on concrete performance was evaluated in terms of density, compressive strength and flexural strength. The effect of cement content was investigated as well. In addition, the changes in density and compressive strength after 2 days, 7 days and 28 days were analysed. The research showed that concrete with a compressive strength class of C20/25 and bending strength of 3.4– 4.3 MPa can be produced by fully replacing coarse or fine aggregate. To achieve this, at least 340 kg/ m3 of cement is required.

Raw sheep wool preparation processes are closely related to the use of environmentally harmful raw materials. To solve this problem, alternative ways of cleaning wool, often called environmentally friendly, are being sought. In this research, the possibilities of using Lithuanian wool for the production of thermal insulation materials were investigated. For this purpose, 4 tons of raw wool of different breeds of sheep was selected from various Lithuanian sheep breeders’ farms. Sources of impurities in wool were identified and the amount of fat in wool was assessed. After the initial re-selection, the wool was washed in different modes and with different detergents. The recycled and washed wool was supplied to the factory for the production of thermal insulation material. The aim of this work is to identify the main sources of wool impurities, analyze the quality of wool of different sheep breeds from different farms and evaluate the washing efficiency of different detergents and methods for different sheep breeds wool, and evaluate the quality of prepared wool raw material during different actual production processes. The results of the research provide preconditions for the improvement of thermal insulation materials of the sheep wool production and its quality management.

Using the phenomenological research approach offered by Christian Norberg-Schulz, the article discusses the impact of landscape on the architecture of Late Baroque churches in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The late eighteenth century brings changes to the understanding of landscape as natural environment – the ideas of Enlightenment encourage observing and explaining the natural surroundings and at the same time the Late Baroque expresses its profound love of nature. In architecture, instead of culturally biased rules, new nature’s rules are being introduced. Late Baroque two-towered masonry churches are erected in various locations characterized by a different topography. The article focuses on the churches of Naumiestis, Krinčinas, Volna, Dunilavichy and Gaina, reflecting the specific landscapes of respectively, flatlands, undulating hills, and higher elevations. Through the reflection of these different landscapes in the buildings of the churches, the baroque idea of the unity of the world, architecture, and mankind reveals itself. The article draws attention to the side elevations of the church buildings in which the ‘traditional’ spatial structures taken over from the historical styles and submitting to the baroque unity become a reflection of landscape.

The paper analyses an opportunity to develop predictive models for identification of parameters of seismic vibrations by applying statistical processing of measurement data. The calculations used measurement data arrays according to vectors E, N and Z obtained from four seismic stations (India EVBH, Indonesia LUWIBH, Italy CERABN and Turkey BNHBH). The Doppler method and the theory of covariance functions were applied for analysing the measurement data arrays. The trend of seismic vibration intensity vectors was estimated by applying the least-squares method. In addition, the said procedure partially eliminates random errors of the measurement data from the stations. Using the intensity variation of seismic vibration vectors E, N and Z on the timescale, the estimates of autocovariance and cross-covariance functions of seismic vibration vectors were calculated by changing the quantised interval on the time scale. The average values of parameter z in the Doppler formula were calculated according to the created formula by applying the expressions of cross-covariance functions of the algebraic addition of the relevant vectors and a single vector. By applying the values of parameter z from the Doppler formula, the approximate value of the velocity of reciprocal movement of seismic vectors was calculated. In the calculations, the software developed on the basis of the MATLAB program package operators was applied.