The utilization of palm kernel shells and waste plastics in asphaltic mix for sustainable pavement construction. (Special Issue: Technology and innovation for a post COVID recovery and growth: the contribution of industry and academia.)

Natural aggregates are being depleted due to the high demand for road and building construction and need to be replaced with alternative materials. This study investigated the potential of using Palm kernel shells (PaKS) as a partial replacement for natural aggregates (NA) and waste plastics (WP) as a binder. The physical and volumetric properties of the different asphaltic mixes (AM) were assessed using the Marshall Method. The bitumen content of the mix design samples was varied from 4.0% to 7.5% of the total weight of aggregates utilized. According to the Marshall parameters, at 5.5% bitumen content, the maximum Marshall Stability value of the different mix designs increased from 9.8 kN to 12.1 kN and the flow value increased from 3.0 mm to 3.7 mm. The experimental results based on the optimum bitumen content determined by the Marshall method demonstrate that PaKS and WP can be utilized to modify AM. However, additional tests will be needed to evaluate the use of this composition in road construction.

Enhanced Graphical Representation of Data in Web Application (Case Study: Covid-19 in the UK)

This paper describes the analysis, design, and implementation of responsive data representation in the web application that can render data asynchronously to users by making an Application Programming Interface (API) request from a webserver. At the same time, provides high-quality downloadable Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) images for journals, magazines, and other printed media. For this issue, large-scale data that uses open-source Covid-19 data was used to improve the Covid-19 data visualization and the other improvements that can be done for proper representation of such vital data to the general public. During the development process, qualitative research into data representation with responsive charts and/or Scalable Vector Graphics images file has been conducted in contrast of each other to answer questions like what tools and technologies are often used, what are the alternative tools and technology, when, where, and why developers make use of certain approach to data representation. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.