Search results for: urban temporary land
2602 Tribal Food Security Assessment and Its Measurement Index: A Study of Tribes and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in Jharkhand, India
Authors: Ambika Prasad Gupta, Harshit Sosan Lakra
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Food security is an important issue that has been widely discussed in literature. However, there is a lack of research on the specific food security challenges faced by tribal communities. Tribal food security refers to the ability of indigenous or tribal communities to consistently access and afford an adequate and nutritious supply of food. These communities often have unique cultural, social, and economic contexts that can impact their food security. The study aims to assess the food security status of all thirty-two major tribes, including Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) people living in various blocks of Jharkhand State. The methodology of this study focuses on measuring the food security index of indigenous people by developing and redefining a new Tribal Food Security Index (TFSI) as per the indigenous community-level indicators identified by the Global Food Security Index and other indicators relevant to food security. Affordability, availability, quality and safety, and natural resources were the dimensions used to calculate the overall Tribal Food Security Index. A survey was conducted for primary data collection of tribes and PVTGs at the household level in various districts of Jharkhand with a considerable tribal population. The result shows that due to the transition from rural to urban areas, there is a considerable change in TFSI and a decrease in forest dependency of tribal communities. Socioeconomic factors like occupation and household size had a significant correlation with TFSI. Tribal households living in forests have a higher food security index than tribal households residing in urban transition areas. The study also shows that alternative methodology adopted to measure specific community-level food security creates high significant impact than using commonly used indices.Keywords: indigenous people, tribal food security, particularly vulnerable tribal groups, Jharkhand
Procedia PDF Downloads 832601 Measuring Organizational Resiliency for Flood Response in Thailand
Authors: Sudha Arlikatti, Laura Siebeneck, Simon A. Andrew
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The objective of this research is to measure organizational resiliency through five attributes namely, rapidity, redundancy, resourcefulness, and robustness and to provide recommendations for resiliency building in flood risk communities. The research was conducted in Thailand following the severe floods of 2011 triggered by Tropical Storm Nock-ten. The floods lasted over eight months starting in June 2011 affecting 65 of the country’s 76 provinces and over 12 million people. Funding from a US National Science Foundation grant was used to collect ephemeral data in rural (Ayutthaya), suburban (Pathum Thani), and urban (Bangkok) provinces of Thailand. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted in Thai with 44 contacts from public, private, and non-profit organizations including universities, schools, automobile companies, vendors, tourist agencies, monks from temples, faith based organizations, and government agencies. Multiple triangulations were used to analyze the data by identifying selective themes from the qualitative data, validated with quantitative data and news media reports. This helped to obtain a more comprehensive view of how organizations in different geographic settings varied in their understanding of what enhanced or hindered their resilience and consequently their speed and capacities to respond. The findings suggest that the urban province of Bangkok scored highest in resourcefulness, rapidity of response, robustness, and ability to rebound. This is not surprising considering that it is the country’s capital and the seat of government, economic, military and tourism sectors. However, contrary to expectations all 44 respondents noted that the rural province of Ayutthaya was the fastest to recover amongst the three. Its organizations scored high on redundancy and rapidity of response due to the strength of social networks, a flood disaster sub-culture due to annual flooding, and the help provided by monks from and faith based organizations. Organizations in the suburban community of Pathum Thani scored lowest on rapidity of response and resourcefulness due to limited and ambiguous warnings, lack of prior flood experience and controversies that government flood protection works like sandbagging favored the capital city of Bangkok over them. Such a micro-level examination of organizational resilience in rural, suburban and urban areas in a country through mixed methods studies has its merits in getting a nuanced understanding of the importance of disaster subcultures and religious norms for resilience. This can help refocus attention on the strengths of social networks and social capital, for flood mitigation.Keywords: disaster subculture, flood response, organizational resilience, Thailand floods, religious beliefs and response, social capital and disasters
Procedia PDF Downloads 1612600 Influence of Shading on a BIPV System’s Performance in an Urban Context: Case Study of BIPV Systems of the Science Center of Complexity Building of the National and Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City
Authors: Viridiana Edith Ardura Perea, José Luis Bermúdez Alcocer
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The purpose of this paper is to establish the influence of shading on a Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system´s performance in an urban context. The PV systems of the Science Center of Complexity (Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad) Building based in the Main Campus of the National and Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City was taken as case study. The PV systems are placed on the rooftop and on the south façade of the building. The south-façade PV system, operating as sunshades, consists of two strings: one at the ground floor and the other one at the first floor. According to the building’s facility manager, the south-façade PV system generates 42% less electricity per kilowatt peak (kWp) installed than the one on the roof. The methods applied in this study were Solar Radiation Analysis (SRA) simulations performed with the Insight 360 Plug-in from Revit 2018® and an on-site measurement using specialized tools. The results of the SRA simulations showed that the shading casted by the PV system placed on the first floor on top of the PV system of the ground floor decreases its solar incident radiation over 50%. The simulation outcome was compared and validated to the measured data obtained from the on-site measurement. In conclusion, the loss factor achieved from the shading of the PVs is due to the surroundings and the PV system´s own design. The south-façade BIPV system’s deficient design generates critical losses on its performance and decreases its profitability.Keywords: building integrated photovoltaics design, energy analysis software, shading losses, solar radiation analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 1802599 The Use of the TRIGRS Model and Geophysics Methodologies to Identify Landslides Susceptible Areas: Case Study of Campos do Jordao-SP, Brazil
Authors: Tehrrie Konig, Cassiano Bortolozo, Daniel Metodiev, Rodolfo Mendes, Marcio Andrade, Marcio Moraes
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Gravitational mass movements are recurrent events in Brazil, usually triggered by intense rainfall. When these events occur in urban areas, they end up becoming disasters due to the economic damage, social impact, and loss of human life. To identify the landslide-susceptible areas, it is important to know the geotechnical parameters of the soil, such as cohesion, internal friction angle, unit weight, hydraulic conductivity, and hydraulic diffusivity. The measurement of these parameters is made by collecting soil samples to analyze in the laboratory and by using geophysical methodologies, such as Vertical Electrical Survey (VES). The geophysical surveys analyze the soil properties with minimal impact in its initial structure. Statistical analysis and mathematical models of physical basis are used to model and calculate the Factor of Safety for steep slope areas. In general, such mathematical models work from the combination of slope stability models and hydrological models. One example is the mathematical model TRIGRS (Transient Rainfall Infiltration and Grid-based Regional Slope- Stability Model) which calculates the variation of the Factor of Safety of a determined study area. The model relies on changes in pore-pressure and soil moisture during a rainfall event. TRIGRS was written in the Fortran programming language and associates the hydrological model, which is based on the Richards Equation, with the stability model based on the principle of equilibrium limit. Therefore, the aims of this work are modeling the slope stability of Campos do Jordão with TRIGRS, using geotechnical and geophysical methodologies to acquire the soil properties. The study area is located at southern-east of Sao Paulo State in the Mantiqueira Mountains and has a historic landslide register. During the fieldwork, soil samples were collected, and the VES method applied. These procedures provide the soil properties, which were used as input data in the TRIGRS model. The hydrological data (infiltration rate and initial water table height) and rainfall duration and intensity, were acquired from the eight rain gauges installed by Cemaden in the study area. A very high spatial resolution digital terrain model was used to identify the slopes declivity. The analyzed period is from March 6th to March 8th of 2017. As results, the TRIGRS model calculates the variation of the Factor of Safety within a 72-hour period in which two heavy rainfall events stroke the area and six landslides were registered. After each rainfall, the Factor of Safety declined, as expected. The landslides happened in areas identified by the model with low values of Factor of Safety, proving its efficiency on the identification of landslides susceptible areas. This study presents a critical threshold for landslides, in which an accumulated rainfall higher than 80mm/m² in 72 hours might trigger landslides in urban and natural slopes. The geotechnical and geophysics methods are shown to be very useful to identify the soil properties and provide the geological characteristics of the area. Therefore, the combine geotechnical and geophysical methods for soil characterization and the modeling of landslides susceptible areas with TRIGRS are useful for urban planning. Furthermore, early warning systems can be developed by combining the TRIGRS model and weather forecast, to prevent disasters in urban slopes.Keywords: landslides, susceptibility, TRIGRS, vertical electrical survey
Procedia PDF Downloads 1772598 Application of Fuzzy Multiple Criteria Decision Making for Flooded Risk Region Selection in Thailand
Authors: Waraporn Wimuktalop
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This research will select regions which are vulnerable to flooding in different level. Mathematical principles will be systematically and rationally utilized as a tool to solve problems of selection the regions. Therefore the method called Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) has been chosen by having two analysis standards, TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) and AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). There are three criterions that have been considered in this research. The first criterion is climate which is the rainfall. The second criterion is geography which is the height above mean sea level. The last criterion is the land utilization which both forest and agriculture use. The study found that the South has the highest risk of flooding, then the East, the Centre, the North-East, the West and the North, respectively.Keywords: multiple criteria decision making, TOPSIS, analytic hierarchy process, flooding
Procedia PDF Downloads 2362597 Spatio-Temporal Variation of Gaseous Pollutants and the Contribution of Particulate Matters in Chao Phraya River Basin, Thailand
Authors: Samart Porncharoen, Nisa Pakvilai
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The elevated levels of air pollutants in regional atmospheric environments is a significant problem that affects human health in Thailand, particularly in the Chao Phraya River Basin. Of concern are issues surrounding ambient air pollution such as particulate matter, gaseous pollutants and more specifically concerning air pollution along the river. Therefore, the spatio-temporal study of air pollution in this real environment can gain more accurate air quality data for making formalized environmental policy in river basins. In order to inform such a policy, a study was conducted over a period of January –December, 2015 to continually collect measurements of various pollutants in both urban and regional locations in the Chao Phraya River Basin. This study investigated the air pollutants in many diverse environments along the Chao Phraya River Basin, Thailand in 2015. Multivariate Analysis Techniques such as Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and Path analysis were utilised to classify air pollution in the surveyed location. Measurements were collected in both urban and rural areas to see if significant differences existed between the two locations in terms of air pollution levels. The meteorological parameters of various particulates were collected continually from a Thai pollution control department monitoring station over a period of January –December, 2015. Of interest to this study were the readings of SO2, CO, NOx, O3, and PM10. Results showed a daily arithmetic mean concentration of SO2, CO, NOx, O3, PM10 reading at 3±1 ppb, 0.5± 0.5 ppm, 30±21 ppb, 19±16 ppb, and 40±20 ug/m3 in urban locations (Bangkok). During the same time period, the readings for the same measurements in rural areas, Ayutthaya (were 1±0.5 ppb, 0.1± 0.05 ppm, 25±17 ppb, 30±21 ppb, and 35±10 ug/m3respectively. This show that Bangkok were located in highly polluted environments that are dominated source emitted from vehicles. Further, results were analysed to ascertain if significant seasonal variation existed in the measurements. It was found that levels of both gaseous pollutants and particle matter in dry season were higher than the wet season. More broadly, the results show that levels of pollutants were measured highest in locations along the Chao Phraya. River Basin known to have a large number of vehicles and biomass burning. This correlation suggests that the principle pollutants were from these anthropogenic sources. This study contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding ambient air pollution such as particulate matter, gaseous pollutants and more specifically concerning air pollution along the Chao Phraya River Basin. Further, this study is one of the first to utilise continuous mobile monitoring along a river in order to gain accurate measurements during a data collection period. Overall, the results of this study can be used for making formalized environmental policy in river basins in order to reduce the physical effects on human health.Keywords: air pollution, Chao Phraya river basin, meteorology, seasonal variation, principal component analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 2862596 An Assessment of Drainage Network System in Nigeria Urban Areas using Geographical Information Systems: A Case Study of Bida, Niger State
Authors: Yusuf Hussaini Atulukwu, Daramola Japheth, Tabitit S. Tabiti, Daramola Elizabeth Lara
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In view of the recent limitations faced by the township concerning poorly constructed and in some cases non - existence of drainage facilities that resulted into incessant flooding in some parts of the community poses threat to life,property and the environment. The research seeks to address this issue by showing the spatial distribution of drainage network in Bida Urban using Geographic information System techniques. Relevant features were extracted from existing Bida based Map using un-screen digitization and x, y, z, data of existing drainages were acquired using handheld Global Positioning System (GPS). These data were uploaded into ArcGIS 9.2, software, and stored in the relational database structure that was used to produce the spatial data drainage network of the township. The result revealed that about 40 % of the drainages are blocked with sand and refuse, 35 % water-logged as a result of building across erosion channels and dilapidated bridges as a result of lack of drainage along major roads. The study thus concluded that drainage network systems in Bida community are not in good working condition and urgent measures must be initiated in order to avoid future disasters especially with the raining season setting in. Based on the above findings, the study therefore recommends that people within the locality should avoid dumping municipal waste within the drainage path while sand blocked or weed blocked drains should be clear by the authority concerned. In the same vein the authority should ensured that contract of drainage construction be awarded to professionals and all the natural drainages caused by erosion should be addressed to avoid future disasters.Keywords: drainage network, spatial, digitization, relational database, waste
Procedia PDF Downloads 3352595 Understanding the Diversity of Antimicrobial Resistance among Wild Animals, Livestock and Associated Environment in a Rural Ecosystem in Sri Lanka
Authors: B. M. Y. I. Basnayake, G. G. T. Nisansala, P. I. J. B. Wijewickrama, U. S. Weerathunga, K. W. M. Y. D. Gunasekara, N. K. Jayasekera, A. W. Kalupahana, R. S. Kalupahana, A. Silva- Fletcher, K. S. A. Kottawatta
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has attracted significant attention worldwide as an emerging threat to public health. Understanding the role of livestock and wildlife with the shared environment in the maintenance and transmission of AMR is of utmost importance due to its interactions with humans for combating the issue in one health approach. This study aims to investigate the extent of AMR distribution among wild animals, livestock, and environment cohabiting in a rural ecosystem in Sri Lanka: Hambegamuwa. One square km area at Hambegamuwa was mapped using GPS as the sampling area. The study was conducted for a period of five months from November 2020. Voided fecal samples were collected from 130 wild animals, 123 livestock: buffalo, cattle, chicken, and turkey, with 36 soil and 30 water samples associated with livestock and wildlife. From the samples, Escherichia coli (E. coli) was isolated, and their AMR profiles were investigated for 12 antimicrobials using the disk diffusion method following the CLSI standard. Seventy percent (91/130) of wild animals, 93% (115/123) of livestock, 89% (32/36) of soil, and 63% (19/30) of water samples were positive for E. coli. Maximum of two E. coli from each sample to a total of 467 were tested for the sensitivity of which 157, 208, 62, and 40 were from wild animals, livestock, soil, and water, respectively. The highest resistance in E. coli from livestock (13.9%) and wild animals (13.3%) was for ampicillin, followed by streptomycin. Apart from that, E. coli from livestock and wild animals revealed resistance mainly against tetracycline, cefotaxime, trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole, and nalidixic acid at levels less than 10%. Ten cefotaxime resistant E. coli were reported from wild animals, including four elephants, two land monitors, a pigeon, a spotted dove, and a monkey which was a significant finding. E. coli from soil samples reflected resistance primarily against ampicillin, streptomycin, and tetracycline at levels less than in livestock/wildlife. Two water samples had cefotaxime resistant E. coli as the only resistant isolates out of 30 water samples tested. Of the total E. coli isolates, 6.4% (30/467) was multi-drug resistant (MDR) which included 18, 9, and 3 isolates from livestock, wild animals, and soil, respectively. Among 18 livestock MDRs, the highest (13/ 18) was from poultry. Nine wild animal MDRs were from spotted dove, pigeon, land monitor, and elephant. Based on CLSI standard criteria, 60 E. coli isolates, of which 40, 16, and 4 from livestock, wild animal, and environment, respectively, were screened for Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) producers. Despite being a rural ecosystem, AMR and MDR are prevalent even at low levels. E. coli from livestock, wild animals, and the environment reflected a similar spectrum of AMR where ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, and cefotaxime being the predominant antimicrobials of resistance. Wild animals may have acquired AMR via direct contact with livestock or via the environment, as antimicrobials are rarely used in wild animals. A source attribution study including the effects of the natural environment to study AMR can be proposed as this less contaminated rural ecosystem alarms the presence of AMR.Keywords: AMR, Escherichia coli, livestock, wildlife
Procedia PDF Downloads 2202594 Immediate Geometric Solution of Irregular Quadrilaterals: A Digital Tool Applied to Topography
Authors: Miguel Mariano Rivera Galvan
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The purpose of this research was to create a digital tool by which users can obtain an immediate and accurate solution of the angular characteristics of an irregular quadrilateral. The development of this project arose because of the frequent absence of a polygon’s geometric information in land ownership accreditation documents. The researcher created a mathematical model using a linear approximation iterative method, employing various disciplines and techniques including trigonometry, geometry, algebra, and topography. This mathematical model uses as input data the surface of the quadrilateral, as well as the length of its sides, to obtain its interior angles and make possible its representation in a coordinate system. The results are as accurate and reliable as the user requires, offering the possibility of using this tool as a support to develop future engineering and architecture projects quickly and reliably.Keywords: digital tool, geometry, mathematical model, quadrilateral, solution
Procedia PDF Downloads 1492593 Cultural Heritage in Rural Areas: Added Value for Agro-Tourism Development
Authors: Djurdjica Perovic, Sanja Pekovic, Tatjana Stanovcic, Jovana Vukcevic
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Tourism development in rural areas calls for a discussion of strategies that would attract more tourists. Several scholars argue that rural areas may become more attractive to tourists by leveraging their cultural heritage. The present paper explores the development of sustainable heritage tourism practices in transitional societies of the Western Balkans, specifically targeting Montenegrin rural areas. It addresses the sustainable tourism as a shift in business paradigm, enhancing the centrality of the host community, fostering the encounters with local culture, customs and heritage and minimizing the environmental and social impact. Disseminating part of the results of the interdisciplinary KATUN project, the paper explores the diversification of economic activities related to the cultural heritage of katuns (temporary settlements in Montenegrin mountainous regions where the agricultural households stay with livestock during the summer season) through sustainable agro-tourism. It addresses the role of heritage tourism in creating more dynamic economy of under-developed mountain areas, new employment opportunities, sources of income for the local community and more balanced regional development, all based on the principle of sustainability. Based on the substantial field research (including interviews with over 50 households and tourists, as well as the number of stakeholders such as relevant Ministries, business communities and media representatives), the paper analyses the strategies employed in raising the awareness and katun-sensitivity of both national and international tourists and stimulating their interest in sustainable agriculture, rural tourism and cultural heritage of Montenegrin mountain regions. Studying the phenomena of responsible tourism and tourists’ consumerist consciousness in Montenegro through development of katuns should allow evaluating stages of sustainability and cultural heritage awareness, closely intertwined with the EU integration processes in the country. Offering deeper insight at the relationship between rural tourism, sustainable agriculture and cultural heritage, the paper aims to understand if cultural heritage of the area is valuable for agro-tourism development and in which context.Keywords: heritage tourism, sustainable tourism, added value, Montenegro
Procedia PDF Downloads 3302592 Identifying Factors of Wellbeing in Russian Orphans
Authors: Alexandra Telitsyna, Galina Semya, Elvira Garifulina
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Introduction: Starting from 2012 Russia conducts deinstitutionalization policy and now the main indicator of success is the number of children living in institutions. Active family placement process has resulted in residents of the institution now mainly consists of adolescents with behavioral and emotional problems, children with disabilities and groups of siblings. Purpose of science research: The purpose of science research is to identify factors for child’s wellbeing while temporary stay in an orphanage and the subjective assessment of children's level of well-being (psychological well-being). Methods: The data used for this project was collected by the questionnaire of 72 indicators, a tool for monitoring the behavior of children and caregivers, an additional questionnaire for children; well-being assessment questionnaire containing 10 scales for three age groups from preschool to older adolescents. In 2016-2018, the research was conducted in 1873 institution in 85 regions of Russia. In each region a team of academics, specialists from Non-profits, independent experts was created. Training was conducted for team members through a series of webinars prior to undertaking the assessment. The results: To ensure the well-being of the children, the following conditions are necessary: 1- Life of children in institution is organised according to the principles of family care (including the creation of conditions for attachment to be formed); 2- Contribution to find family-based placement for children (including reintegration into the primary family); 3- Work with parents of children, who are placed in an organization at the request of parents; 4- Children attend schools according to their needs; 5- Training of staff and volunteers; 6- Special environment and services for children with special needs and children with disabilities; 7- Cooperation with NGOs; 8 - Openness and accessibility of the organization. Conclusion: A study of the psychological well-being of children showed that the most emotionally stressful for children were questions about the presence and frequency of contact with relatives, and the level of well-being is higher in the presence of a trusted adult and respect for rights. The greatest contribution to the trouble is made by the time the child is in the orphanage, the lack of contact with parents and relatives, the uncertainty of the future.Keywords: identifying factors, orphans, Russia, wellbeing
Procedia PDF Downloads 1332591 A Correlational Study between Sexual Awareness, Behaviour and Sources of Sexual Knowledge among Youth in Context of Bihar
Authors: Kanika Naresh Singh, Uday Shankar
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Background: Human behaviours are influenced by drives. Sexual drive is one of them. Education regarding sexual behaviour plays a great role in shaping one’s attitude towards it. These days after attaining the age of puberty, adolescents are confused and feel shy to talk about it. In order to get information, they refer to various types of sources and these sources play a greater role in spreading awareness in the mass adolescent population. Sometimes it also leads to the building of myths and misconceptions. Due to increasing incidences of HIV/AIDS, RTIs/STIs and teenage pregnancies, there is a rising need to impart sex education. Aim: The aim of this research was to study the level of sexual awareness among the youth of Bihar and also study their sexual behaviour and sources of influence. It also aims to study the correlation between sexual awareness, behaviour and sources of sexual knowledge among youth in Bihar. Methods: The sample size for the project was 50 youth consisting of both boys and girls, in between the age group of 18 to 23 years from urban and semi-urban areas. The purposive sampling method was used in the research. The tools used were the Sexual Awareness Questionnaire and Sexual Behavior and Sources of Influence (SBSI) scale. The sexual Awareness Questionnaire was developed by Snell, having 35 items. A socio-demographic data sheet was also used. Results: The youth had poor sexual awareness. Internet and Friends were found to be the major source for gathering information. The youth of Bihar were less inclined towards resolving their doubts with their parents. There was a positive correlation between sexual awareness, behaviour and sources of knowledge. Conclusion: The youth of Bihar has poor sexual knowledge. Internet and Friends are major sources of information. Sex Education should be promoted as suggested by various institutions like World Health Organization United Nations. Psychiatrists and psychologists have a key leadership role in introducing these potentially emotionally challenging issues to the youth with consideration of psychosocial and cultural factors.Keywords: sexual awareness, sexual behavior, sources of influence, youths, Bihar, India
Procedia PDF Downloads 1422590 Investigating Informal Vending Practices and Social Encounters along Commercial Streets in Cairo, Egypt
Authors: Dalya M. Hassan
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Marketplaces and commercial streets represent some of the most used and lively urban public spaces. Not only do they provide an outlet for commercial exchange, but they also facilitate social and recreational encounters. Such encounters can be influenced by both formal as well as informal vending activities. This paper explores and documents forms of informal vending practices and how they relate to social patterns that occur along the sidewalks of Commercial Streets in Cairo. A qualitative single case study approach of ‘Midan El Gami’ marketplace in Heliopolis, Cairo is adopted. The methodology applied includes direct and walk-by observations for two main commercial streets in the marketplace. Four zoomed-in activity maps are also done for three sidewalk segments that displayed varying vending and social features. Main findings include a documentation and classification of types of informal vending practices as well as a documentation of vendors’ distribution patterns in the urban space. Informal vending activities mainly included informal street vendors and shop spillovers, either as product or seating spillovers. Results indicated that staying and lingering activities were more prevalent in sidewalks that had certain physical features, such as diversity of shops, shaded areas, open frontages, and product or seating spillovers. Moreover, differences in social activity patterns were noted between sidewalks with street vendors and sidewalks with spillovers. While the first displayed more buying, selling, and people watching activities, the latter displayed more social relations and bonds amongst traders’ communities and café patrons. Ultimately, this paper provides a documentation, which suggests that informal vending can have a positive influence on creating a lively commercial street and on resulting patterns of use on the sidewalk space. The results can provide a basis for further investigations and analysis concerning this topic. This could aid in better accommodating informal vending activities within the design of future commercial streets.Keywords: commercial streets, informal vending practices, sidewalks, social encounters
Procedia PDF Downloads 1642589 Sustainable Cities: Viability of a Hybrid Aeroponic/Nutrient Film Technique System for Cultivation of Tomatoes
Authors: D. Dannehl, Z. Taylor, J. Suhl, L. Miranda, R., Ulrichs, C., Salazar, E. Fitz-Rodriguez, I. Lopez-Cruz, A. Rojano-Aguilar, G. Navas-Gomez, U. Schmidt
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Growing environmental and sustainability concerns have driven continual modernization of horticultural practices, especially for urban farming. Controlled environment and soilless production methods are increasing in popularity because of their efficient resource use and intensive cropping capabilities. However, some popular substrates used for hydroponic cultivation, particularly rock wool, represent a large environmental burden in regard to their manufacture and disposal. Substrate-less hydroponic systems are effective in producing short cropping cycle plants such as lettuce or herbs, but less information is available for the production of plants with larger root-systems and longer cropping times. Here, we investigated the viability of a hybrid aeroponic/nutrient film technique (AP/NFT) system for the cultivation of greenhouse tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum ‘Panovy’). The plants grown in the AP/NFT system had a more compact phenotype, accumulated more Na+ and less P and S than the rock wool grown counterparts. Due to forced irrigation interruptions, we propose that the differences observed were cofounded by the differing severity of water-stress for plants with and without substrate. They may also be caused by a higher root zone temperature predominant in plants exposed to AP/NFT. However, leaf area, stem diameter, and number of trusses did not differ significantly. The same was found for leaf pigments and plant photosynthetic efficiency. Overall, the AP/NFT system appears to be viable for the production of greenhouse tomato, enabling the environment to be relieved by way of lessening rock wool usage.Keywords: closed aeroponic systems, fruit quality, nutrient dynamics, substrate waste reduction, urban farming systems, water savings
Procedia PDF Downloads 2672588 Origin of Salinity Problems during Tsunami and Remedial Measures in Coastal Areas
Authors: N. K. Gupta, R. C. Bhattacharjee
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In the aftermath of the tsunami in 2004 and terrible humanitarian disaster affecting thousands of kilometers of coastal south, the immediate priority is to begin the process of reconstruction of livelihoods including basic services. It is likely that many coastal wetlands would have been affected by the large inflow of salt-water and littoral sediments during the tsunami, with longer-term effects including changes in their hydrogeology caused by changes to coastlines and damage to sea-defenses. The reconstruction process is likely to provide opportunities to better integrate environmental protection and management with economic development in the region, including the opportunity to conserve and restore coastal habitats. Presented herein is a study pertaining to salinity problems encountered in coastal south during tsunami in 2004 and the consequent loss of fertility of agricultural land including remedial measures to revitalize economic growth in the region.Keywords: tsunami, salinity, costal area, reconstruction
Procedia PDF Downloads 3762587 Optimization of the Rain Harvest Using Multi-Purpose Valley Tanks
Authors: Ahmad Hashad
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Valley tanks are a kind of rain harvest which is used as ground water storage to overcome drought seasons in some countries. This research displays the rain harvest evolution and introduces some ideas to develop the valley tanks to be more than water storage. These ideas developed the current valley tanks design to become an integrated renaissance project. The suggested design has some changes making it different than the traditional design of valley tanks. These changes allow for the new design to be more flexible for adding additional capacity, water purification units and water pumping units. The suggested valley tanks project will be designed based on studying the rainfall and evaporation rates, as well as land topography and designed agricultural map linked to seasons of rain and drought.Keywords: valley tanks, rain harvest, volatile nature, integrated renaissance project
Procedia PDF Downloads 2512586 Improving Fingerprinting-Based Localization System Using Generative Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Getaneh Berie Tarekegn
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A precise localization system is crucial for many artificial intelligence Internet of Things (AI-IoT) applications in the era of smart cities. Their applications include traffic monitoring, emergency alarming, environmental monitoring, location-based advertising, intelligent transportation, and smart health care. The most common method for providing continuous positioning services in outdoor environments is by using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Due to nonline-of-sight, multipath, and weather conditions, GNSS systems do not perform well in dense urban, urban, and suburban areas.This paper proposes a generative AI-based positioning scheme for large-scale wireless settings using fingerprinting techniques. In this article, we presented a novel semi-supervised deep convolutional generative adversarial network (S-DCGAN)-based radio map construction method for real-time device localization. We also employed a reliable signal fingerprint feature extraction method with t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), which extracts dominant features while eliminating noise from hybrid WLAN and long-term evolution (LTE) fingerprints. The proposed scheme reduced the workload of site surveying required to build the fingerprint database by up to 78.5% and significantly improved positioning accuracy. The results show that the average positioning error of GAILoc is less than 39 cm, and more than 90% of the errors are less than 82 cm. That is, numerical results proved that, in comparison to traditional methods, the proposed SRCLoc method can significantly improve positioning performance and reduce radio map construction costs.Keywords: location-aware services, feature extraction technique, generative adversarial network, long short-term memory, support vector machine
Procedia PDF Downloads 722585 Assessing the Applicability of Kevin Lynch’s Framework of ‘the Image of the City’ in the Case of a Walled City of Jaipur
Authors: Jay Patel
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This Research is about investigating the ‘image’ of the city, and asks whether this ‘image’ holds any significance that can be changed. Kevin Lynch in the book ‘The image of the city’ develops a framework that breaks down the city’s image into five physical elements. These elements (Paths, Edge, Nodes, Districts, and Landmarks), according to Lynch assess the legibility of the urbanscapes, that emerged from his perception-based study in 3 different cities (New Jersey, Los Angeles, and Boston) in the USA. The aim of this research is to investigate whether Lynch’s framework can be applied within an Indian context or not. If so, what are the possibilities and whether the imageability of Indian cities can be depicted through the Lynch’s physical elements or it demands an extension to the framework by either adding or subtracting a physical attribute. For this research project, the walled city of Jaipur was selected, as it is considered one of the futuristic designed cities of all time in India. The other significant reason for choosing Jaipur was that it is a historically planned city with solid historical, touristic and local importance; allowing an opportunity to understand the application of Lynch's elements to the city's image. In other words, it provides an opportunity to examine how the disadvantages of a city's implicit programme (its relics of bygone eras) can be converted into assets by improving the imageability of the city. To obtain data, a structured semi-open ended interview method was chosen. The reason for selecting this method explicitly was to gain qualitative data from the users rather than collecting quantitative data from closed-ended questions. This allowed in-depth understanding and applicability of Kevin Lynch’s framework while assessing what needs to be added. The interviews were conducted in Jaipur that yielded varied inferences that were different from the expected learning outcomes, highlighting the need for extension on Lynch’s physical elements to achieve city’s image. Whilst analyzing the data, there were few attributes found that defined the image of Jaipur. These were categorized into two: a Physical aspect (streets and arcade entities, natural features, temples and temporary/ informal activities) and Associational aspects (History, Culture and Tradition, Medium of help in wayfinding, and intangible aspects).Keywords: imageability, Kevin Lynch, people’s perception, assessment, associational aspects, physical aspects
Procedia PDF Downloads 2002584 Locating the Role of Informal Urbanism in Building Sustainable Cities: Insights from Ghana
Authors: Gideon Abagna Azunre
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Informal urbanism is perhaps the most ubiquitous urban phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Ghana specifically. Estimates suggest that about two-fifths of urban dwellers (37.9%) in Ghana live in informal settlements, while two-thirds of the working labour force are within the informal economy. This makes Ghana invariably an ‘informal country.’ Informal urbanism involves economic and housing activities that are – in law or in practice – not covered (or insufficiently covered) by formal regulations. Many urban folks rely on informal urbanism as a survival strategy due to limited formal waged employment opportunities or rising home prices in the open market. In an era of globalizing neoliberalism, this struggle to survive in cities resonates with several people globally. For years now, there have been intense debates on the utility of informal urbanism – both its economic and housing dimensions – in developing sustainable cities. While some scholars believe that informal urbanism is beneficial to the sustainable city development agenda, others argue that it generates unbearable negative consequences and it symbolizes lawlessness and squalor. Consequently, the main aim of this research was to dig below the surface of the narratives to locate the role of informal urbanism in the quest for sustainable cities. The research geographically focused on Ghana and its burgeoning informal sector. Also, both primary and secondary data were utilized for the analysis; Secondary data entailed a synthesis of the fragmented literature on informal urbanism in Ghana, while primary data entailed interviews with informal stakeholders (such as informal settlement dwellers), city authorities, and planners. These two data sets were weaved together to discover the nexus between informal urbanism and the tripartite dimensions of sustainable cities – economic, social, and environmental. The results from the research showed a two-pronged relationship between informal urbanism and the three dimensions of sustainable city development. In other words, informal urbanism was identified to both positively and negatively affect the drive for sustainable cities. On the one hand, it provides employment (particularly to women), supplies households’ basic needs (shelter, health, water, and waste management), and enhances civic engagement. However, on the other hand, it perpetuates social and gender inequalities, insecurity, congestion, and pollution. The research revealed that a ‘black and white’ interpretation and policy approach is incapable of capturing the complexities of informal urbanism. Therefore, trying to eradicate or remove it from the urbanscape because it exhibits some negative consequences means cities will lose their positive contributions. The inverse also holds true. A careful balancing act is necessary to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs. Overall, the research presented a de-colonial theorization of informal urbanism and thus followed post-colonial scholars’ clarion call to African cities to embrace the paradox of informality and find ways to integrate it into the city-building process.Keywords: informal urbanism, sustainable city development, economic sustainability, social sustainability, environmental sustainability, Ghana
Procedia PDF Downloads 1082583 Method to Assessing Aspect of Sustainable Development-Walkability
Authors: Amna Ali Nasser Al-Saadi, Riken Homma, Kazuhisa Iki
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Need to generate objective communication between researchers, Practitioners and policy makers are top concern of sustainability. Despite the fact that many places have successes in achieving some aspects of sustainable urban development, there are no scientific facts to convince policy makers in the rest of the world to apply their guides and manuals. This is because each of them was developed to fulfill the need of specific city. The question is, how to learn the lesson from each case study? And how distinguish between the potential criteria and negative one? And how quantify their effects in the future development? Walkability has been found as a solution to achieve healthy life style as well as social, environmental and economic sustainability. Moreover, it is complicated as every aspect of sustainable development. This research is stand on quantitative- comparative methodology in order to assess pedestrian oriented development. Three Analyzed Areas (AAs) were selected. One site is located in Oman in which hypotheses as motorized oriented development, while two sites are in Japan where the development is pedestrian friendly. The study used Multi-Criteria Evaluation Method (MCEM). Initially, MCEM stands on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The later was structured into main goal (walkability), objectives (functions and layout) and attributes (the urban form criteria). Secondly, the GIS were used to evaluate the attributes in multi-criteria maps. Since each criterion has different scale of measurement, all results were standardized by z-score and used to measure the co-relations among cr iteria. Different scenario was generated from each AA. After that, MCEM (AHP- OWA) based on GIS measured the walkability score and determined the priority of criteria development in the non-walker friendly environment. As results, the comparison criteria for z-score presented a measurable distinguished orientation of development. This result has been used to prove that Oman is motorized environment while Japan is walkable. Also, it defined the powerful criteria and week criteria regardless to the AA. This result has been used to generalize the priority for walkable development.Keywords: walkability, sustainable development, multi- criteria evaluation method, gis
Procedia PDF Downloads 4542582 Investigation into the Socio-ecological Impact of Migration of Fulani Herders in Anambra State of Nigeria Through a Climate Justice Lens
Authors: Anselm Ego Onyimonyi, Maduako Johnpaul O.
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The study was designed to investigate into the socio-ecological impact of migration of Fulani herders in Anambra state of Nigeria, through a climate justice lens. Nigeria is one of the world’s most densely populated countries with a population of over 284 million people, half of which are considered to be in abject poverty. There is no doubt that livestock production provides sustainable contributions to food security and poverty reduction to Nigeria economy, but not without some environmental implications like any other economic activities. Nigeria is recognized as being vulnerable to climate change. Climate change and global warming if left unchecked will cause adverse effects on livelihoods in Nigeria, such as livestock production, crop production, fisheries, forestry and post-harvest activities, because the rainfall regimes and patterns will be altered, floods which devastate farmlands would occur, increase in temperature and humidity which increases pest and disease would occur and other natural disasters like desertification, drought, floods, ocean and storm surges, which not only damage Nigerians’ livelihood but also cause harm to life and property, would occur. This and other climatic issue as it affects Fulani herdsmen was what this study investigated. In carrying out this research, a survey research design was adopted. A simple sampling technique was used. One local government area (LGA) was selected purposively from each of the four agricultural zone in the state based on its predominance of Fulani herders. For appropriate sampling, 25 respondents from each of the four Agricultural zones in the state were randomly selected making up the 100 respondent being sampled. Primary data were generated by using a set of structured 5-likert scale questionnaire. Data generated were analyzed using SPSS and the result presented using descriptive statistics. From the data analyzed, the study indentified; Unpredicted rainfall (mean = 3.56), Forest fire (mean = 4.63), Drying Water Source (mean = 3.99), Dwindling Grazing (mean 4.43), Desertification (mean = 4.44), Fertile land scarcity (mean = 3.42) as major factor predisposing Fulani herders to migrate southward while rejecting Natural inclination to migrate (mean = 2.38) and migration to cause trouble as a factor. On the reason why Fulani herders are trying to establish a permanent camp in Anambra state; Moderate temperature (mean= 3.60), Avoiding overgrazing (4.42), Search for fodder and water (mean = 4.81) and (mean = 4.70) respectively, Need for market (4.28), Favorable environment (mean = 3.99) and Access to fertile land (3.96) were identified. It was concluded that changing climatic variables necessitated the migration of herders from Northern Nigeria to areas in the South were the variables are most favorable to the herders and their animals.Keywords: socio-ecological, migration, fulani, climate, justice, lens
Procedia PDF Downloads 482581 Assessment of Alternative Water Resources and Growing Media in Green Roofs
Authors: Hamideh Nouri, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni
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Grey infrastructure is an unavoidable part of urbanisation that is threatening the local microclimates. Sustainable urbanisation requires more green infrastructure in cities such as green roofs to minimise urbanisation impacts. The environmental, social and economic benefits of green roofs are widely deliberated. However, there is still a lack of assessment of the water management for green roofs. This paper aimed to assess the irrigation management of green roofs in a semi-arid region where blue water scarcity is one of the primary challenges in urban water management. To determine the appropriate water source and growing media for green roofs, an experiment was established at the University of South Australia, Australia. This study compared the performance of two growing media and three water sources on the drainage quality, medium weight and survival rate of potted Tussock grass (Poa labillardieral), an endemic plant to Australia and recommended for green roofs. Three irrigation sources were tap water, mixed of wastewater-stormwater, and rainwater. The growing media were natural sandy loam soil and Scoria - one of the most used commercial growing media for green roofs. The drainage quality of these media was tested by analysing leachate samples. Medium weight was measured before and after watering, and all pots were monitored for their survival rates. Results showed that although plant growing development was significantly higher in Scoria, the survival rate was lower. For all three water sources, EC and pH of the leachate were significantly lower from Scoria than the sandy loam soil. However, the mixed of wastewater-stormwater had the highest EC, and rainwater had the lowest EC. Results did not present a significant difference between pH of different water resources in the same media. Our experimental results found the scoria and rainwater as the best sources of medium and water for green roofs.Keywords: green smart cities, urban water, green roofs, green walls, wastewater, stormwater
Procedia PDF Downloads 1602580 Toxicological Effects of Atmospheric Fine Particulate Matter on Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells: Metabolic Activation, Genotoxicity and Epigenetic Modifications
Authors: M. Borgie, Z. Dagher, F. Ledoux, A. Verdin, F. Cazier, H. Greige, P. Shirali, D. Courcot
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In October 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified outdoor air pollution and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as carcinogenic to humans. Despite the clearly relationship established by epidemiological studies between PM exposure and the onset of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, uncertainties remain about the physiopathological mechanisms responsible for these diseases. The aim of this work was to evaluate the toxicological effects of two samples of atmospheric PM2.5 collected at urban and rural sites on human bronchial epithelial cells, BEAS-2B, especially to investigate the metabolic activation of organic compounds, the alteration of epigenetic mechanisms (i.e. microRNAs genes expression), the phosphorylation of H2AX and the telomerase activity. Our results showed a significant increase in CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and AhRR genes expression, miR-21 gene expression, H2AX phosphorylation and telomerase activity in BEAS-2B cells after their exposure to PM2.5, both in a dose and site-dependent manner. These results showed that PM2.5, especially urban PM, are able to induce the expression of metabolizing enzymes which can provide metabolic biotransformation of organic compounds into more toxic and carcinogenic metabolites, and to induce the expression of the oncomiR miR-21 which promotes cell growth and enhances tumor invasion and metastasis in lung cancer. In addition, our results have highlighted the role of PM2.5 in the activation of telomerase, which can maintain the telomeres length and subsequently preventing cell death, and have also demonstrated the ability of PM2.5 to induce DNA breaks and thus to increase the risk of mutations or chromosomal translocations that lead to genomic instability. All these factors may contribute to cell abnormalities, and thus the development of cancer.Keywords: BEAS-2B cells, carcinogenesis, epigenetic alterations and genotoxicity, PM2.5
Procedia PDF Downloads 3832579 Utilization of Fly Ash as Backfilling Material in Indian Coal Mines
Authors: P. Venkata Karthik, B. Kranthi Kumar
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Fly ash is a solid waste product of coal based electric power generating plants. Fly ash is the finest of coal ash particles and it is transported from the combustion chamber by exhaust gases. Fly ash is removed by particulate emission control devices such as electrostatic precipitators or filter fabric bag-houses. It is a fine material with spherical particles. Large quantities of fly ash discharged from coal-fired power stations are a major problem not only in terms of scarcity of land available for its disposal, but also in environmental aspects. Fly ash can be one of the alternatives and can be a viable option to use as a filling material. This paper contains the problems associated with fly ash generation, need for its management and the efficacy of fly ash composite as a backfilling material. By conducting suitable geotechnical investigations and numerical modelling techniques, the fly ash composite material was tested. It also contains case studies of typical Indian opencast and underground coal mines.Keywords: backfilling, fly ash, high concentration slurry disposal, power plant, void infilling
Procedia PDF Downloads 2552578 The Location of Park and Ride Facilities Using the Fuzzy Inference Model
Authors: Anna Lower, Michal Lower, Robert Masztalski, Agnieszka Szumilas
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Contemporary cities are facing serious congestion and parking problems. In urban transport policy the introduction of the park and ride system (P&R) is an increasingly popular way of limiting vehicular traffic. The determining of P&R facilities location is a key aspect of the system. Criteria for assessing the quality of the selected location are formulated generally and descriptively. The research outsourced to specialists are expensive and time consuming. The most focus is on the examination of a few selected places. The practice has shown that the choice of the location of these sites in a intuitive way without a detailed analysis of all the circumstances, often gives negative results. Then the existing facilities are not used as expected. Methods of location as a research topic are also widely taken in the scientific literature. Built mathematical models often do not bring the problem comprehensively, e.g. assuming that the city is linear, developed along one important communications corridor. The paper presents a new method where the expert knowledge is applied to fuzzy inference model. With such a built system even a less experienced person could benefit from it, e.g. urban planners, officials. The analysis result is obtained in a very short time, so a large number of the proposed location can also be verified in a short time. The proposed method is intended for testing of car parks location in a city. The paper will show selected examples of locations of the P&R facilities in cities planning to introduce the P&R. The analysis of existing objects will also be shown in the paper and they will be confronted with the opinions of the system users, with particular emphasis on unpopular locations. The research are executed using the fuzzy inference model which was built and described in more detail in the earlier paper of the authors. The results of analyzes are compared to documents of P&R facilities location outsourced by the city and opinions of existing facilities users expressed on social networking sites. The research of existing facilities were conducted by means of the fuzzy model. The results are consistent with actual users feedback. The proposed method proves to be good, but does not require the involvement of a large experts team and large financial contributions for complicated research. The method also provides an opportunity to show the alternative location of P&R facilities. The performed studies show that the method has been confirmed. The method can be applied in urban planning of the P&R facilities location in relation to the accompanying functions. Although the results of the method are approximate, they are not worse than results of analysis of employed experts. The advantage of this method is ease of use, which simplifies the professional expert analysis. The ability of analyzing a large number of alternative locations gives a broader view on the problem. It is valuable that the arduous analysis of the team of people can be replaced by the model's calculation. According to the authors, the proposed method is also suitable for implementation on a GIS platform.Keywords: fuzzy logic inference, park and ride system, P&R facilities, P&R location
Procedia PDF Downloads 3262577 Development of an Implicit Coupled Partitioned Model for the Prediction of the Behavior of a Flexible Slender Shaped Membrane in Interaction with Free Surface Flow under the Influence of a Moving Flotsam
Authors: Mahtab Makaremi Masouleh, Günter Wozniak
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This research is part of an interdisciplinary project, promoting the design of a light temporary installable textile defence system against flood. In case river water levels increase abruptly especially in winter time, one can expect massive extra load on a textile protective structure in term of impact as a result of floating debris and even tree trunks. Estimation of this impulsive force on such structures is of a great importance, as it can ensure the reliability of the design in critical cases. This fact provides the motivation for the numerical analysis of a fluid structure interaction application, comprising flexible slender shaped and free-surface water flow, where an accelerated heavy flotsam tends to approach the membrane. In this context, the analysis on both the behavior of the flexible membrane and its interaction with moving flotsam is conducted by finite elements based solvers of the explicit solver and implicit Abacus solver available as products of SIMULIA software. On the other hand, a study on how free surface water flow behaves in response to moving structures, has been investigated using the finite volume solver of Star CCM+ from Siemens PLM Software. An automatic communication tool (CSE, SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine) and the implementation of an effective partitioned strategy in form of an implicit coupling algorithm makes it possible for partitioned domains to be interconnected powerfully. The applied procedure ensures stability and convergence in the solution of these complicated issues, albeit with high computational cost; however, the other complexity of this study stems from mesh criterion in the fluid domain, where the two structures approach each other. This contribution presents the approaches for the establishment of a convergent numerical solution and compares the results with experimental findings.Keywords: co-simulation, flexible thin structure, fluid-structure interaction, implicit coupling algorithm, moving flotsam
Procedia PDF Downloads 3892576 Aesthetic and Social Vision in Abubakar Gimba’s a Toast in the Cemetery
Authors: James Funsho Tope
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Being the prolific writer that he is, Gimba’s collection of Short Stories, A Toast in the Cemetery, brings out the themes of decay and corruption in the urban setting through the use of images, symbols, setting and character. Gimba seeks through these media to reveal the decay and corruption in the society. Gimba uses aesthetics to convey his message, thus making a call for change in the fabrics of society.Keywords: corruption, decay, character, setting, symbolism, images, society
Procedia PDF Downloads 6092575 Impact of Egypt’s Energy Demand on Oil and Gas Power Systems Environment
Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohamed
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This paper will explore the influence of energy sector in Arab Republic of Egypt which has shared its responsibilities of many environmental challenges as the second largest economy in the Middle East (after Iran). Air and water pollution, desertification, inadequate disposal of solid waste and damage to coral reefs are serious problems that influence environmental management in Egypt. The intensive reliance of high population density and strong industrial growth are wearing Egypt's resources, and the rapidly-growing population has forced Egypt to breakdown agricultural land to residential and relevant use of commercial ingestion. The depletion effects of natural resources impose the government to apply innovation techniques in emission control and focus on sustainability. The cogeneration will be presented to control thermal losses and increase efficiency of energy power system.Keywords: cogeneration, environmental management, power electricity, energy indicators
Procedia PDF Downloads 2762574 Hybrid CNN-SAR and Lee Filtering for Enhanced InSAR Phase Unwrapping and Coherence Optimization
Authors: Hadj Sahraoui Omar, Kebir Lahcen Wahib, Bennia Ahmed
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Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) coherence is a crucial parameter for accurately monitoring ground deformation and environmental changes. However, coherence can be degraded by various factors such as temporal decorrelation, atmospheric disturbances, and geometric misalignments, limiting the reliability of InSAR measurements (Omar Hadj‐Sahraoui and al. 2019). To address this challenge, we propose an innovative hybrid approach that combines artificial intelligence (AI) with advanced filtering techniques to optimize interferometric coherence in InSAR data. Specifically, we introduce a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) integrated with the Lee filter to enhance the performance of radar interferometry. This hybrid method leverages the strength of CNNs to automatically identify and mitigate the primary sources of decorrelation, while the Lee filter effectively reduces speckle noise, improving the overall quality of interferograms. We develop a deep learning-based model trained on multi-temporal and multi-frequency SAR datasets, enabling it to predict coherence patterns and enhance low-coherence regions. This hybrid CNN-SAR with Lee filtering significantly reduces noise and phase unwrapping errors, leading to more precise deformation maps. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach improves coherence by up to 30% compared to traditional filtering techniques, making it a robust solution for challenging scenarios such as urban environments, vegetated areas, and rapidly changing landscapes. Our method has potential applications in geohazard monitoring, urban planning, and environmental studies, offering a new avenue for enhancing InSAR data reliability through AI-powered optimization combined with robust filtering techniques.Keywords: CNN-SAR, Lee Filter, hybrid optimization, coherence, InSAR phase unwrapping, speckle noise reduction
Procedia PDF Downloads 142573 Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Sewage Sludge and Bagasse for Biogas Recovery
Authors: Raouf Ahmed Mohamed Hassan
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In Egypt, the excess sewage sludge from wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) is rapidly increasing due to the continuous increase of population, urban planning and industrial developments. Also, cane bagasses constitute an important component of Urban Solid Waste (USW), especially at the south of Egypt, which are difficult to degrade under normal composting conditions. These wastes need to be environmentally managed to reduce the negative impacts of its application or disposal. In term of biogas recovery, the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge or bagasse separately is inefficient, due to the presence of nutrients and minerals. Also, the Carbone-Nitrogen Ratio (C/N) play an important role, sewage sludge has a ratio varies from 6-16, where cane bagasse has a ratio around 150, whereas the suggested optimum C/N ratio for anaerobic digestion is in the range of 20 to 30. The anaerobic co-digestion is presented as a successful methodology that combines several biodegradable organic substrates able to decrease the amount of output wastes by biodegradation, sharing processing facilities, reducing operating costs, while enabling recovery of biogas. This paper presents the study of co-digestion of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants as a type of organic wastes and bagasse as agriculture wastes. Laboratory-scale mesophilic and thermophilic digesters were operated with varied hydraulic retention times. Different percentage of sludge and bagasse are investigated based on the total solids (TS). Before digestion, the bagasse was subjected to grinding pretreatment and soaked in distilled water (water pretreatment). The effect of operating parameters (mixing, temperature) is investigated in order to optimize the process in the biogas production. The yield and the composition of biogas from the different experiments were evaluated and the cumulative curves were estimated. The conducted tests did show that there is a good potential to using the co-digestion of wastewater sludge and bagasse for biogas production.Keywords: co-digestion, sewage sludge, bagasse, mixing, mesophilic, thermophilic
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