Search results for: ecological space

Authors: Nisreen Ardda

Abstract:

Fenestrations are one of the main building envelope elements that play an important role in home social-ecological l factors. They play a vital role in providing natural lighting and ventilation, visual, thermal, and acoustical comfort, and also provide weather-tightness, privacy, a feeling of openness. In most home buildings, fenestrations are controlled manually by the occupants, which significantly impacts occupants' comfort and energy use. Culture plays a central role in the Palestinians window operation behavior. Improved windows design that provides the desired privacy while maintaining the appropriate function of fenestration (natural lighting, thermal comfort, and visual openness) is becoming a necessity. Therefore, this paper proposes a window typology to achieve the social and environmental factors in residential buildings in the West Bank. The window typology and reference building were designed in Rivet 2021, and natural ventilation was carried out in Design Builder 4.3.0.039. The results showed that the proposed typology provides the desired privacy and the feeling of openness without compromising natural ventilation as the existing window did.

Keywords: window design, passive design, sustainable built environment, building material

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Toka Aly

Abstract:

Historically, marketplaces were the most important nodes and focal points of cities, where different activities took place. Commercial streets offer more than just spaces for shopping; they also offer choices for social activities and cultural exchange. They are considered the backbone of the city’s vibrancy and vitality. Despite that, the public life in Cairo’s commercial streets has deteriorated, where the shopping activities became reliant mainly on 'planned formal places', mainly in privatized or indoor spaces like shopping malls. The main aim of this paper is to explore the key elements and tools of assessing the successfulness of commercial streets in Cairo. The methodology followed in this paper is based on a case study methodology (multiple cases) that is based on assessing and analyzing the physical and social elements in historical and contemporary commercial streets in El Muiz Street and Baghdad Street in Cairo. The data collection is based on personal observations, photographs, maps and street sections. Findings indicate that the key factors of analyzing commercial streets are factors affecting the sensory experience, factors affecting the social behavior, and general aspects that attract people. Findings also indicate that urban features have clear influence on shopping pedestrian activities in both streets. Moreover, in order for a commercial street to be successful, shopping patterns must provide people with a quality public space that can provide easy navigation and accessibility, good visual continuity, and well-designed urban features and social gathering. Outcomes of this study will be a significant endeavor in providing a good background for urban designers on analyzing and assessing successfulness of commercial streets. The study will also help in understanding the different physical and social pattern of vending activities taking place in Cairo.

Keywords: activities, commercial street, marketplace, successful, vending

Procedia PDF Downloads 270

Authors: S. M. Dissanayake, I. R. Palihakkara , K. G. Premathilaka

Abstract:

Oil palm (Elaeisguineensis) is the world’s leading vegetable oil-producing plant and is well established as a perennial plantation crop in tropical countries. Oil palm in Sri Lanka has spread over 10,000 hectares in the wet zone of the Island. In immature plantations, land productivity can be increased with some selected intercrops. At the immature stage of the plantations (age up to 3-5 years), there is a large amount of free space available inside the plantations. This study attempts to determine the suitability of different intercrops during the immature phase of the oil palm. A field experiment is being conducted at Thalgaswella estate (WL2a) in Galle district, Sri Lanka. The objectives of the study are to evaluate and recommend a suitable immature oil palm-based intercropping system/s. This experiment was established with randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four treatments, including control in three replicates. Banana, ginger, and turmeric were selected as intercrops. Growth parameters of intercrops (plant height, length, width of D-leaf, and yield of intercrops) and girth, length, and number of leaflets of 17th frond in oil palms were taken at two months intervals. In addition to this, chlorophyll content was also measured in both intercrops and oil palm trees. Soil chemical parameters were measured annually. Results were statistically analyzed with SAS software. Results revealed that intercropped banana, turmeric, and ginger had given yields of 7.61Mt/ha, 4.92Mt/ha, and 4.53Mt/ha, respectively. When comparing these yields with mono-crop, banana, turmeric, and ginger intercrop yields as percentages of 16.9%, 24.6%, and 30.2%, respectively. The results of this study could be used to make appropriate policies to increase the unit land productivity in oil palm plantations in a low country wet zone (WL2a) of Sri Lanka.

Keywords: inter-cropping, oil palm, policies, mono-crop, land productivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Seongjun Kim, Jinwooung Kim, Sung-Ah Kim

Abstract:

The development of information and communication technology also affects human cognition and thinking, especially in the field of design, new techniques are being tried. In architecture, new design methodologies such as machine learning or data-driven design are being applied. In particular, these methodologies are used in analyzing the factors related to the value of real estate or analyzing the feasibility in the early planning stage of the apartment housing. However, since the value of apartment buildings is often determined by external factors such as location and traffic conditions, rather than the interior elements of buildings, data is rarely used in the design process. Therefore, although the technical conditions are provided, the internal elements of the apartment are difficult to apply the data-driven design in the design process of the apartment. As a result, the designers of apartment housing were forced to rely on designer experience or modular design alternatives rather than data-driven design at the design stage, resulting in a uniform arrangement of space in the apartment house. The purpose of this study is to propose a methodology to support the designers to design the apartment unit plan with high consumer preference by deriving the correlation and importance of the floor plan elements of the apartment preferred by the consumers through the machine learning and reflecting this information from the early design process. The data on the pre-sale competition rate and the elements of the floor plan are collected as data, and the correlation between pre-sale competition rate and independent variables is analyzed through machine learning. This analytical model can be used to review the apartment unit plan produced by the designer and to assist the designer. Therefore, it is possible to make a floor plan of apartment housing with high preference because it is possible to feedback apartment unit plan by using trained model when it is used in floor plan design of apartment housing.

Keywords: apartment unit plan, data-driven design, design methodology, machine learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 244

Authors: Lung-Lung Hu

Abstract:

Ronald Dworkin offered a legal theory of ‘chain enterprise’ that all the judges in legal history altogether create a ‘law’ aiming a specific purpose. Those judges are like co-writers of a chain-story who not only create freely but also are constrained by the story made by the judges before them. The law created by Chinese traditional judges is another case, they, compared with the judges mentioned by Ronald Dworkin, have relatively narrower space of making a legal sentence according to their own discretions because the statutes in Chinese traditional law at the very beginning have been designed as panel code that leaves small room to judge’s discretion. Furthermore, because law is a representative of the authority of the government, i.e. the emperor, any misjudges and misuses deviated from the law will be considered as a challenge to the supreme power. However, different from judges as the defenders of law, Chinese litigation masters who want to win legal cases have to be offenders challenging the verdict that does not favor his or his client’s interest. Besides, litigation master as an illegal or non-authorized profession does not belong to any legal system, therefore, they are relatively freer to ‘create’ the law. According to Stanley Fish’s articles that question Ronald Dworkin and Owen Fiss’ ideas about law, he construes that, since law is made of language, law is open to interpretations that cannot be constrained by any rules or any particular legal purposes. Stanley Fish’s idea can also be applied on the analysis about the stories of Chinese litigation masters in traditional Chinese literature. These Chinese litigation masters’ legal opinions in the so-called chain enterprise are like an unexpected episode that tries to revise the fixed story told by law. Although they are not welcome to the officials and also to the society, their existence is still a phenomenon representing another version of justice different from the official’s and can be seen as a de-structural power to the government. Hence, in this present paper the language and strategy applied by Chinese litigation masters in Chinese legal stories will be analysed to see how they refute made legal judgments and challenge the official standard of justice.

Keywords: Chinese legal stories, interdisciplinary, litigation master, post-structuralism

Procedia PDF Downloads 368

Authors: Juan Antonio Mondragon Sanchez, Ruben Santamaria

Abstract:

The DNA G-quadruplex is a four-stranded DNA structure formed by stacked planes of four base paired guanines (G-quartet). Guanine rich DNA sequences appear in many sites of genomic DNA and can potential form G-quadruplexes, such as those occurring at 3'-terminus of the human telomeric DNA. The formation and stabilization of a G-quadruplex by small ligands at the telomeric region can inhibit the telomerase activity. In turn, the ligands can be used to down regulate oncogene expression making G-quadruplex an attractive target for anticancer therapy. Many G-quadruplex ligands have been proposed with a planar core to facilitate the pi–pi stacking and electrostatic interactions with the G-quartets. However, many drug candidates are impossibilitated to discriminate a G-quadruplex from a double helix DNA structure. In this context, it is important to investigate the site topology for the interaction of a G-quadruplex with a ligand. In this work, we determine the free energy surface of a G-quadruplex-ligand to study the binding modes of the G-quadruplex (TG4T) with the daunomycin (DM) drug. The complex TG4T-DM is studied using classical molecular dynamics in combination with metadynamics simulations. The metadynamics simulations permit an enhanced sampling of the conformational space with a modest computational cost and obtain free energy surfaces in terms of the collective variables (CV). The free energy surfaces of TG4T-DM exhibit other local minima, indicating the presence of additional binding modes of daunomycin that are not observed in short MD simulations without the metadynamics approach. The results are compared with similar calculations on a different structure (the mutated mu-G4T-DM where the 5' thymines on TG4T-DM have been deleted). The results should be of help to design new G-quadruplex drugs, and understand the differences in the recognition topology sites of the duplex and quadruplex DNA structures in their interaction with ligands.

Keywords: g-quadruplex, cancer, molecular dynamics, metadynamics

Procedia PDF Downloads 442

Authors: Mohamed Elghorab, Vendra C. Madhav Rao, Jennifer X. Wen

Abstract:

Turbulence modelling is still evolving, and efforts are on to improve and develop numerical methods to simulate the real turbulence structures by using the empirical and experimental information. The monotonically integrated large eddy simulation (MILES) is an attractive approach for modelling turbulence in high Re flows, which is based on the solving of the unfiltered flow equations with no explicit sub-grid scale (SGS) model. In the current work, this approach has been used, and the action of the SGS model has been included implicitly by intrinsic nonlinear high-frequency filters built into the convection discretization schemes. The MILES solver is developed using the opensource CFD OpenFOAM libraries. The role of flux limiters schemes namely, Gamma, superBee, van-Albada and van-Leer, is studied in predicting turbulent statistical quantities for a fully developed channel flow with a friction Reynolds number, Re_T = 180, and compared the numerical predictions with the well-established Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) results for studying the wall generated turbulence. It is inferred from the numerical predictions that Gamma, van-Leer and van-Albada limiters produced more diffusion and overpredicted the velocity profiles, while superBee scheme reproduced velocity profiles and turbulence statistical quantities in good agreement with the reference DNS data in the streamwise direction although it deviated slightly in the spanwise and normal to the wall directions. The simulation results are further discussed in terms of the turbulence intensities and Reynolds stresses averaged in time and space to draw conclusion on the flux limiter schemes performance in OpenFOAM context.

Keywords: flux limiters, implicit SGS, MILES, OpenFOAM, turbulence statistics

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Amin Abbasi, Fariborz Shekari, Seyed Bahman Mousavi

Abstract:

Seed aging during storage is a complex biochemical and physiological processes that can lead to reduce seed germination. This phenomenon associated with increasing of total antioxidant activity during aging. To study the effects of hormones on seed aging, aged wheat seeds (control, 90 and 80% viabilities) were treated with GA3, Salicylic Acid, and paclobutrazol and antioxidant system were investigated as molecular biomarkers for seed vigor. The results showed that, seed priming treatment significantly affected germination percentage, normality seedling percentage, H2O2, MDA, CAT, APX, and GPX activates. Maximum germination percentage achieve in GA3 priming in control treatment. Germination percentage and normal seedling percentage increased in other GA3 priming treatment compared with other hormones. Also aging increased MDA, H2O2 content. MDA is considered sensitive marker commonly used for assessing membrane lipid peroxidation and H2O2result in toxicity to cellular membrane system and damages to plant cells. Amount of H2O2 and MDA declined in GA3 treatment. CAT, GPX and APX activities were reduced by increasing the aging time and at different levels of priming. The highest APX activity was observed in Salicylic Acid control treatment and the highest GPX and CAT activity was obtained in GA3 control treatment. The lowest MDA and H2O2 showed in GA3 control treatment, too. Hormone priming increased Antioxidant enzyme activity and decreased amount of reactive oxygen space and malondialdehyde (MDA) under aging treatment. Also, GA3 priming treatments have a significant effect on germination percentage and number of normal seedling. Generally aging seed, increase ROS and lipid peroxidation. Antioxidant enzymes activity of aged seeds increased after hormone priming.

Keywords: hormones priming, wheat, aging seed, antioxidant, lipid peroxidation

Procedia PDF Downloads 474

Authors: Izabel Cristina Zattar, Gilberto Passos Lima, Guilherme Schünemann de Oliveira

Abstract:

In Brazil, there are several institutions committed to the development of new businesses based on product innovation. Among them are business incubators, universities and science institutes. Business incubators can be defined as nurseries for new companies, which may be in the technology segment, discussed in this article. Business incubators provide services related to infrastructure, such as physical space and meeting rooms. Besides these services, incubators also offer assistance in the form of information and communication, access to finance, relationship networks and business monitoring and mentoring processes. Business incubators support not all technology companies. One of the business incubators tasks is to assess the nature and feasibility of new business proposals. To assist in this goal, this paper proposes a methodology for evaluating new business using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This paper presents the concepts used in the assessing methodology application for new business, concepts that have been tested with positive results in practice. This study counts on three main steps: first, a hierarchy was built, based on new business manuals used by the business incubators. These books and manuals relate business selection requirements, such as the innovation status and other technological aspects. Then, a questionnaire was generated, in order to guide incubator experts in the parity comparisons at all hierarchy levels. The weights of each requirement are calculated from information obtained from the questionnaire responses. Finally, the proposed method was applied to evaluate five new business proposals, which were applying to be part of a company incubator. The main result is the classification of these new businesses, which helped the incubator experts to decide what companies were more eligible to work with. This classification may also be helpful to the decision-making process of business incubators in future selection processes.

Keywords: Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Brazilian companies incubators, technology companies, incubator

Procedia PDF Downloads 382

Authors: Adewale Tolulope Irewale, Elias Emeka Elemike, Christian O. Dimkpa, Emeka Emmanuel Oguzie

Abstract:

As the global population steadily approaches the 10billion mark, the world is currently faced with two major challenges among others – accessing sustainable and clean energy, and food security. Accessing cleaner and sustainable energy sources to drive global economy and technological advancement, and feeding the teeming human population require sustainable, innovative, and smart solutions. To solve the food production problem, producers have relied on fertilizers as a way of improving crop productivity. Commercial inorganic fertilizers, which is employed to boost agricultural food production, however, pose significant ecological sustainability and economic problems including soil and water pollution, reduced input efficiency, development of highly resistant weeds, micronutrient deficiency, soil degradation, and increased soil toxicity. These ecological and sustainability concerns have raised uncertainties about the continued effectiveness of conventional fertilizers. With the application of nanotechnology, plant biomass upcycling offers several advantages in greener energy production and sustainable agriculture through reduction of environmental pollution, increasing soil microbial activity, recycling carbon thereby reducing GHG emission, and so forth. This innovative technology has the potential for a circular economy and creating a sustainable agricultural practice. Nanomaterials have the potential to greatly enhance the quality and nutrient composition of organic biomass which in turn, allows for the conversion of biomass into nanofertilizers that are potentially more efficient. Water hyacinth plant harvested from an inland water at Warri, Delta State Nigeria were air-dried and milled into powder form. The dry biomass were used to prepare biochar at a pre-determined temperature in an oxygen deficient atmosphere. Physicochemical analysis of the resulting biochar was carried out to determine its porosity and general morphology using the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM). The functional groups (-COOH, -OH, -NH2, -CN, -C=O) were assessed using the Fourier Transform InfraRed Spectroscopy (FTIR) while the heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mg, Mn) were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). Impregnation of the biochar with nanonutrients were achieved under varied conditions of pH, temperature, nanonutrient concentrations and resident time to achieve optimum adsorption. Adsorption and desorption studies were carried out on the resulting nanofertilizer to determine kinetics for the potential nutrients’ bio-availability to plants when used as green fertilizers. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) which is an aggressively invasive aquatic plant known for its rapid growth and profusion is being examined in this research to harness its biomass as a sustainable feedstock to formulate functionalized nano-biochar fertilizers, offering various benefits including water hyacinth biomass upcycling, improved nutrient delivery to crops and aquatic ecosystem remediation. Altogether, this work aims to create output values in the three dimensions of environmental, economic, and social benefits.

Keywords: biochar-based nanofertilizers, eichhornia crassipes, greener agriculture, sustainable ecosystem, water hyacinth

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Awdhesh Narayan Sharma

Abstract:

The use of herbal medicines for the cure of various ailments among the tribal population is as old as human origin itself. Most of the tribal populations of Madhya Pradesh inhabit in remote and inaccessible ecological setup. From long back, tribals and forests are interrelated to each other. They use an enormous range of wild plants for their basic needs and medicines. The tribal developed a unique understanding with wild plants, herbs, etc., and earned specialized knowledge of disease pattern and curative therapy-through hard experiences, common sense, trial, and error methods. They have passed this knowledge through traditions, taboos, totems, folklore by words of mouth from generation to generation. Here, an attempt has been made to study the possible aspects of herbal medicine for the cure of Jaundice among the tribal populations of Madhya Pradesh, India, through primary data as well as available secondary data. The data have been collected from the 305 Bharias of Patalkot, Madhya Pradesh, India, and included available secondary source of data by various investigators. It may be concluded that a sizable herbal medicinal plants' wealth exists in Madhya Pradesh, India, which still awaits for scientific exploration. The existing herbal medicines used for the cure of jaundice need an extensive investigation from the pharmaceutical point of view.

Keywords: Bharias, herbal medicine, tribal, Madhya Pradesh

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Isabel Medina, Mario Duran

Abstract:

Although Problem-based learning provides students with multiple opportunities for rigorous instructional experiences in which students are challenged to address problems in the community; there are still gaps in connecting community leaders to the PBL process. At a south Texas high school, community participation serves as an integral component of the PBL process. Problem-based learning (PBL) has recently gained momentum due to the increase in global communities that value collaboration and critical thinking. As an instructional approach, PBL engages high school students in meaningful learning experiences. Furthermore, PBL focuses on providing students with a connection to real-world situations that require effective peer collaboration. For PBL leaders, providing students with a meaningful process is as important as the final PBL outcome. To achieve this goal, STEM high school strategically created a space for community involvement to be woven within the PBL fabric. This study examines the impact community members had on PBL students attending a STEM high school in South Texas. At STEM High School, community members represent a support system that works through the PBL process to ensure students receive real-life mentoring from business and industry leaders situated in the community. A phenomenological study using a semi-structured approach was used to collect data about students’ perception of community involvement within the PBL process for one South Texas high school. In our proposed presentation, we will discuss how community involvement in the PBL process academically impacted the educational experience of high school students at STEM high school. We address the instructional concerns PBL critics have with the lack of direct instruction, by providing a representation of how STEM high school utilizes community members to assist in impacting the academic experience of students.

Keywords: phenomenological, STEM education, student engagement, community involvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Harman Jaggi, David Steinsaltz, Shripad Tuljapurkar

Abstract:

Understanding the effect of fluctuations on populations is crucial in the context of increasing habitat fragmentation, climate change, and biological invasions, among others. Migration in response to environmental disturbances enables populations to escape unfavorable conditions, benefit from new environments and thereby ride out fluctuations in variable environments. Would populations disperse if there is no uncertainty? Karlin showed in 1982 that when sub-populations experience distinct but fixed growth rates at different sites, greater mixing of populations will lower the overall growth rate relative to the most favorable site. Here we ask if and when environmental variability favors migration over no-migration. Specifically, in random environments, would a small amount of migration increase the overall long-run growth rate relative to the zero migration case? We use analysis and simulations to show how long-run growth rate changes with migration rate. Our results show that when fitness (dis)advantages fluctuate over time across sites, migration may allow populations to benefit from variability. When there is one best site with highest growth rate, the effect of migration on long-run growth rate depends on the difference in expected growth between sites, scaled by the variance of the difference. When variance is large, there is a substantial probability of an inferior site experiencing higher growth rate than its average. Thus, a high variance can compensate for a difference in average growth rates between sites. Positive correlations in growth rates across sites favor less migration. With multiple sites and large fluctuations, the length of shortest cycle (excursion) from the best site (on average) matters, and we explore the interplay between excursion length, average differences between sites and the size of fluctuations. Our findings have implications for conservation biology: even when there are superior sites in a sea of poor habitats, variability and habitat quality across space may be key to determining the importance of migration.

Keywords: migration, variable-environments, random, dispersal, fluctuations, habitat-quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Kazuki Kamada, Haruka Yamashita

Abstract:

In Japan, taxi is one of the popular transportations and taxi industry is one of the big businesses. However, in recent years, there has been a difficult problem of reducing the number of taxi drivers. In the taxi business, mainly three passenger catching methods are applied. One style is "cruising" that drivers catches passengers while driving on a road. Second is "waiting" that waits passengers near by the places with many requirements for taxies such as entrances of hospitals, train stations. The third one is "dispatching" that is allocated based on the contact from the taxi company. Above all, the cruising taxi drivers need the experience and intuition for finding passengers, and it is difficult to decide "the destination for cruising". The strong recommendation system for the cruising taxies supports the new drivers to find passengers, and it can be the solution for the decreasing the number of drivers in the taxi industry. In this research, we propose a method of recommending a destination for cruising taxi drivers. On the other hand, as a machine learning technique, the embedding models that embed the high dimensional data to a low dimensional space is widely used for the data analysis, in order to represent the relationship of the meaning between the data clearly. Taxi drivers have their favorite courses based on their experiences, and the courses are different for each driver. We assume that the course of cruising taxies has meaning such as the course for finding business man passengers (go around the business area of the city of go to main stations) and course for finding traveler passengers (go around the sightseeing places or big hotels), and extract the meaning of their destinations. We analyze the cruising history data of taxis based on the embedding model and propose the recommendation system for passengers. Finally, we demonstrate the recommendation of destinations for cruising taxi drivers based on the real-world data analysis using proposing method.

Keywords: taxi industry, decision making, recommendation system, embedding model

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Adya Uluwita, Fernando Pedrosa, Georgi Georgiev, Christian Bernard, Raoul Masterson

Abstract:

CERN is an international organisation founded by 23 countries that provide the particle physics community with excellence in particle accelerators and other related facilities. Founded in 1954, CERN has a wide range of accelerators that allow groundbreaking science to be conducted. Accelerators bring particles to high levels of energy and make them collide with each other or with fixed targets, creating specific conditions that are of high interest to physicists. A chain of accelerators is used to ramp up the energy of particles and eventually inject them into the largest and most recent one: the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Among this chain of machines is, for instance the Proton Synchrotron, which was started in 1959 and is still in operation. These machines, called "injectors”, keep evolving over time, as well as the related infrastructure. Massive decommissioning of obsolete cables started in 2015 at CERN in the frame of the so-called "injectors de-cabling project phase 1". Its goal was to replace aging cables and remove unused ones, freeing space for new cables necessary for upgrades and consolidation campaigns. To proceed with the de-cabling, a project co-ordination team was assembled. The start of this project led to the investigation of legacy cables throughout the organisation. The identification of cables stacked over half a century proved to be arduous. Phase 1 of the injectors de-cabling was implemented for 3 years with success after overcoming some difficulties. Phase 2, started 3 years later, focused on improving safety and structure with the introduction of a quality assurance procedure. This paper discusses the implementation of this quality assurance procedure throughout phase 2 of the project and the transition between the two phases. Over hundreds of kilometres of cable were removed in the injectors complex at CERN from 2015 to 2023.

Keywords: CERN, de-cabling, injectors, quality assurance procedure

Procedia PDF Downloads 19

Authors: Flaviu Mihai Frigura-Lliasa, Andreea Anamaria Anghel, Attila Simo

Abstract:

Due to the beauty, usefulness, science, constantly changing, constantly evolving features, and most of the time, mystery it involves, nature-based art is seen as a both modern and timeless direction that has been extensively used in design. The goal of the team's activities was to experiment with ways of fusing the two most common contemporary ways of referring to green installations, that is, either in a pure artistic or in an ecological manner, and creating a living, dynamic, interactive installation capable of both receiving and interpreting external factors, such as natural and human stimuli, that would not only determine some of the mechanism's presets. By consequent, a complex experiment made up of various research and project stages was elaborated in order to transform an idea into an actual interactive green installation within months thanks to the interaction, teamwork, and design processes undertaken throughout the academic years by both university lecturers and some of our students. The outcomes would lead to the development of a dynamic artwork called "Modgrew" as well as the introduction of experiment-based learning at the Timisoara Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, as well as at the Faculty of Electrical and Power Engineering, for the green wall automation issues.

Keywords: green design, living walls, modular structure, interactive proof of concept

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Felix Eyben, Simon Schaffrath, Markus Feldmann

Abstract:

A building should maximize the potential for use through its design. Therefore, flexible use is always important when designing a steel structure. To create flexibility, steel beams with web openings are increasingly used, because these offer the advantage that cables, pipes and other technical equipment can easily be routed through without detours, allowing for more space-saving and aesthetically pleasing construction. This can also significantly reduce the height of ceiling systems. Until now, beams with web openings were not explicitly considered in the European standard. However, this is to be done with the new EN 1993-1-13, in which design rules for different opening forms are defined. In order to further develop the design concepts, beams with web openings under bending are therefore to be investigated in terms of damage mechanics as part of a German national research project aiming to optimize the verifications for steel structures based on a wider database and a validated damage prediction. For this purpose, first, fundamental factors influencing the load-bearing behavior of girders with web openings under bending load were investigated numerically without taking material damage into account. Various parameter studies were carried out for this purpose. For example, the factors under study were the opening shape, size and position as well as structural aspects as the span length, arrangement of stiffeners and loading situation. The load-bearing behavior is evaluated using resulting load-deformation curves. These results are compared with the design rules and critically analyzed. Experimental tests are also planned based on these results. Moreover, the implementation of damage mechanics in the form of the modified Bai-Wierzbicki model was examined. After the experimental tests will have been carried out, the numerical models are validated and further influencing factors will be investigated on the basis of parametric studies.

Keywords: damage mechanics, finite element, steel structures, web openings

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: Adrian Lo

Abstract:

Since the beginning of modern architecture, ideas of free plan and transparency have proliferated well into current trends of building design, from houses to highrise office buildings. The movement’s notion of a spatially homogeneous, open, and limitless ‘free plan’ stands opposite to the spatially heterogeneous ‘separation of rooms’ defined by load-bearing walls, which in turn triggered new notions of transparency achieved by vast expanses of glazed walls. Similarly, transparency was also dichotomized as something that was physical or optical, as well as something conceptual, akin to spatial organization. As opposed to merely accepting the duality and possible incompatibility of these dichotomies, this paper seeks to ask how can space be both literally and phenomenally transparent, as well as display both homogeneous and heterogeneous qualities? This paper explores this potential destabilization or blurring of spatial phenomena by dissecting the transparent layers and volumes of a series of selected case studies to investigate how different architects have devised strategies of spatial ambivalence, ambiguity, and interpenetration. Projects by Peter Eisenman, Sou Fujimoto, and SANAA will be discussed and analyzed to show how the superimposition of geometries and spaces achieve different conditions of layering, transparency, and interstitiality. Their particular buildings will be explored to reveal various innovative kinds of spatial interpenetration produced through the articulate relations of the elements of architecture, which challenge conventional perceptions of interior and exterior whereby visual homogeneity blurs with spatial heterogeneity. The results show how spatial conceptions such as interpenetration and transparency have the ability to subvert not only inside-outside dialectics but could also produce multiple degrees of interiority within complex and indeterminate spatial dimensions in constant flux as well as present alternative forms of social interaction.

Keywords: interpenetration, literal and phenomenal transparency, spatial heterogeneity, visual homogeneity

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Norbert Tribl

Abstract:

European contemporary scientific public opinion considers the concept of constitutional identity as a highlighted issue. Some scholars interpret the matter as the manifestation of a conflict of Europe. Nevertheless, constitutional identity is a bridge between the Member States and the EU rather than a river that will wash away the achievements of the integration. In accordance with the opinion of the author, the main problem of constitutional identity in Europe is the undetermined nature: the exact concept of constitutional identity has not been defined until now. However, this should be the first step to understand and use identity as a legal institution. Having regard to this undetermined nature, the legal-theoretical examination of constitutional identity is the main purpose of this study. The concept of constitutional identity appears in the Anglo-Saxon legal systems by a different approach than in the supranational system of European Integration. While the interpretation of legal institutions in conformity with the constitution is understood under it, the European concept is applied when possible conflicts arise between the legal system of the European supranational space and certain provisions of the national constitutions of the member states. The European concept of constitutional identity intends to offer input in determining the nature of the relationship between the constitutional provisions of the member states and the legal acts of the EU integration. In the EU system of multilevel constitutionalism, a long-standing central debate on integration surrounds the conflict between EU legal acts and the constitutional provisions of the member states. In spite of the fact that the Court of Justice of the European Union stated in Costa v. E.N.E.L. that the member states cannot refer to the provisions of their respective national constitutions against the integration. Based on the experience of more than 50 years since the above decision, and also in light of the Treaty of Lisbon, we now can clearly see that EU law has itself identified an obligation for the EU to protect the fundamental constitutional features of the Member States under Article 4 (2) of Treaty on European Union, by respecting the national identities of member states. In other words, the European concept intends to offer input for the determination of the nature of the relationship between the constitutional provisions of the member states and the legal acts of the EU integration.

Keywords: constitutional identity, EU law, European Integration, supranationalism

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Ya-Ching Fu, An-Kuo Chou, Boon-Fatt Tan, Chi-Nien Chen, Wen-Chien Yang, Pou-Leng Cheong

Abstract:

Blind oro-/naso-pharyngeal suction and feeding tube placement are very common practices in neonatal intensive care unit. Though esophageal perforation is a rare complication of these instrumentations, its prevalence is highest in extremely premature neonates. Due to its association with significant morbidity (including respiratory deterioration, pneumothorax, and sepsis) and even mortality, it is an important issue to prevent this iatrogenic complication in the field of premature care. We demonstrate an esophageal perforation in an extreme-low-birth-weight neonate after oro-gastric tube placement. This female baby weighing 680 grams was delivered by caesarean section at 25 weeks of gestational age. She initially received oro-tracheal intubation with mechanical ventilation which was smoothly weaned to non-invasive positive-pressure ventilation at 7-day-old. However, after insertion of a 5-French oro-gastric tube, the baby’s condition suddenly worsened with apnea requiring mechanical ventilation. Her chest radiogram showed the oro-gastric tube in right pleural space, and thus another oro-gastric tube was replaced, and its position was radiographically confirmed. The malpositioned tube was then removed. The baby received 2-week course of intravenous antibiotics for her esophageal perforation. Feeding was then reintroduced and increased to full feeds in a smooth course. She was discharged at 107-day-old. Esophageal perforation in newborn is very rare. Sudden respiratory deterioration in a neonate after naso-/oro-gastric tube placement should alarm us to consider esophageal perforation, and further radiological investigation is required for the diagnosis. Tube materials, patient condition, and age are major risk factors of esophageal perforation. The use of softer tube material, such as silicone, in extreme premature baby might prevent this fetal complication.

Keywords: esophageal perforation, preterm, newborn, feeding tube

Procedia PDF Downloads 251

Authors: Chittana Phompila

Abstract:

The current increased population pushes increasing demands for natural resources and living space. In Laos, urban areas have been expanding rapidly in recent years. The rapid urbanization can have negative impacts on landscapes, including forest and agriculture lands. The primary objective of this research were to map current urban areas in a large city in Savannakhet province, in Laos, 2) to compare changes in urbanization between 1990 and 2018, and 3) to estimate forest and agriculture areas lost due to expansions of urban areas during the last over twenty years within study area. Landsat 8 data was used and existing GIS data was collected including spatial data on rivers, lakes, roads, vegetated areas and other land use/land covers). GIS data was obtained from the government sectors. Object based classification (OBC) approach was applied in ECognition for image processing and analysis of urban area using. Historical data from other Landsat instruments (Landsat 5 and 7) were used to allow us comparing changes in urbanization in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018 in this study area. Only three main land cover classes were focused and classified, namely forest, agriculture and urban areas. Change detection approach was applied to illustrate changes in built-up areas in these periods. Our study shows that the overall accuracy of map was 95% assessed, kappa~ 0.8. It is found that that there is an ineffective control over forest and land-use conversions from forests and agriculture to urban areas in many main cities across the province. A large area of agriculture and forest has been decreased due to this conversion. Uncontrolled urban expansion and inappropriate land use planning can lead to creating a pressure in our resource utilisation. As consequence, it can lead to food insecurity and national economic downturn in a long term.

Keywords: urbanisation, forest cover, agriculture areas, Landsat 8 imagery

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Shahroz Khan, Erkan Gunpinar, Kemal Mart

Abstract:

Recently parametric design techniques became a vital concept in the field of Computer Aided Design (CAD), which helps to provide sophisticated platform to the designer in order to automate the design process in efficient time. In these techniques, design process starts by parameterizing the important features of design models (typically the key dimensions), with the implementation of design constraints. The design constraints help to retain the overall shape of the model while modifying its parameters. However, the process of initializing an appropriate number of design parameters and constraints is the crucial part of parametric design techniques, especially for complex surface models such as yacht hull. This paper introduces a method to create complex surface models in favor of parametric design techniques, a method to define the right number of parameters and respective design constraints, and a system to implement design parameters in contract to design constraints schema. For this, in our proposed approach the design process starts by dividing the yacht hull into three sections. Each section consists of different shape lines, which form the overall shape of yacht hull. The shape lines are created using Cubic Bezier Curves, which allow larger design flexibility. Design parameters and constraints are defined on the shape lines in 3D design space to facilitate the designers for better and individual handling of parameters. Afterwards, shape modifiers are developed, which allow the modification of each parameter while satisfying the respective set of criteria and design constraints. Such as, geometric continuities should be maintained between the shape lines of the three sections, fairness of the hull surfaces should be preserved after modification and while design modification, effect of a single parameter should be negligible on other parameters. The constraints are defined individually on shape lines of each section and mutually between the shape lines of two connecting sections. In order to validate and visualize design results of our shape modifiers, a real time graphic interface is created.

Keywords: design parameter, design constraints, shape modifies, yacht hull

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: N. V. Kazmiruk, Y. R. Nartsissov

Abstract:

Phosphate activated glutaminase (GA, E.C. 3.5.1.2) plays a key role in glutamine/glutamate homeostasis in mammalian brain, catalyzing the hydrolytic deamidation of glutamine to glutamate and ammonium ions. GA is mainly localized in mitochondria, where it has the catalytically active form on the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) and the other soluble form, which is supposed to be dormant. At present time, the exact localization of the membrane glutaminase active site remains a controversial and an unresolved issue. The first hypothesis called c-side localization suggests that the catalytic site of GA faces the inter-membrane space and products of the deamidation reaction have immediate access to cytosolic metabolism. According to the alternative m-side localization hypothesis, GA orients to the matrix, making glutamate and ammonium available for the tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolism in mitochondria directly. In our study, we used a multi-compartment kinetic approach to simulate metabolism of glutamate and glutamine in the astrocytic cytosol and mitochondria. We used physiologically important ratio between the concentrations of glutamine inside the matrix of mitochondria [Glnₘᵢₜ] and glutamine in the cytosol [Glncyt] as a marker for precise functioning of the system. Since this ratio directly depends on the mitochondrial glutamine carrier (MGC) flow parameters, key observation was to investigate the dependence of the [Glnmit]/[Glncyt] ratio on the maximal velocity of MGC at different initial concentrations of mitochondrial glutamate. Another important task was to observe the similar dependence at different inhibition constants of the soluble GA. The simulation results confirmed the experimental c-side localization hypothesis, in which the glutaminase active site faces the outer surface of the IMM. Moreover, in the case of such localization of the enzyme, a 3-fold decrease in ammonium production was predicted.

Keywords: glutamate metabolism, glutaminase, kinetic approach, mitochondrial membrane, multi-compartment modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Ana Belon Hercilla

Abstract:

The study is developed in “Reactivos Jeans” company, in the city of Arequipa, whose main business is the laundry of garments at an industrial level. In 2012 the company initiated actions to provide a dry cleaning service of alpaca fiber garments, recognizing that this item is in a growth phase in Peru. Additionally this company took the initiative to use a new greenwashing technology which has not yet been developed in the country. To accomplish this, a redesign of both the process and the plant layout was required. For redesigning the plant, the methodology used was the Systemic Layout Planning, allowing this study divided into four stages. First stage is the information gathering and evaluation of the initial situation of the company, for which a description of the areas, facilities and initial equipment, distribution of the plant, the production process and flows of major operations was made. Second stage is the development of engineering techniques that allow the logging and analysis procedures, such as: Flow Diagram, Route Diagram, DOP (process flowchart), DAP (analysis diagram). Then the planning of the general distribution is carried out. At this stage, proximity factors of the areas are established, the Diagram Paths (TRA) is developed, and the Relational Diagram Activities (DRA). In order to obtain the General Grouping Diagram (DGC), further information is complemented by a time study and Guerchet method is used to calculate the space requirements for each area. Finally, the plant layout redesigning is presented and the implementation of the improvement is made, making it possible to obtain a model much more efficient than the initial design. The results indicate that the implementation of the new machinery, the adequacy of the plant facilities and equipment relocation resulted in a reduction of the production cycle time by 75.67%, routes were reduced by 68.88%, the number of activities during the process were reduced by 40%, waits and storage were removed 100%.

Keywords: redesign, time optimization, industrial laundry, greenwashing

Procedia PDF Downloads 383

Authors: Fikre Belay Tekulu

Abstract:

This thesis presents the socio-economic and environmental impacts of urban sprawl in the case of Adigrat city, Tigray Region, Ethiopia. The main objective of this research is to assess major causes, trends and socio-economic and environmental impacts of the urban sprawl of Adigrat city. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods as questionnaires, interviews and observation used for data collection. Simple random sampling has been used to select the participants. The land use and land cover change for agricultural land and forest and grassland resource analysis is done with the aid of GIS. Urban sprawl is mainly caused by the rapid population growth, increase in the living and property cost in the core of the city, land demand and land speculation and the growth of transport and an increase in income of people and demand of more living space. The study indicates 15726.24 hectares (515.49 per cent) of new land added to the city jurisdiction from its adjacent Gantafeshum Wereda between 1986 and 2018. The population of Adigrat city increased by 9.045 per cent per year, while the city expanded 16.01 per cent per annum and the LCR was 0.0233 hectares per person between 1986 and 2018.Built-up area increased by 35.27 per cent per annum, while agricultural land, forests and grassland cover decreased by 1.68 per cent and 1.26 per cent per annum respectively in the last thirty three years. This rapid growth of urban sprawl brought social-economic and environmental change in the city that has been observed by the city residents. Therefore, the city administration should need strong, integrated, effective and efficient work, with its neighbor rural area and also done timely preparation, implementation, supervision, and evaluation of the structural plan of the city to bring out sustainable development of the city.

Keywords: cause, , trends, urban sprawl, land use land cover, GIS

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Victoria Goodall, Paul Fatti, Norman Owen-Smith

Abstract:

Hidden Markov Models have become popular for the analysis of animal tracking data. These models are being used to model the movements of a variety of species in many areas around the world. A common assumption of the model is that the observations need to have regular time steps. In many ecological studies, this will not be the case. The objective of the research is to modify the movement model to allow for irregularly spaced locations and investigate the effect on the inferences which can be made about the latent states. A modification of the likelihood function to allow for these irregular spaced locations is investigated, without using interpolation or averaging the movement rate. The suitability of the modification is investigated using GPS tracking data for lion (Panthera leo) in South Africa, with many observations obtained during the night, and few observations during the day. Many nocturnal predator tracking studies are set up in this way, to obtain many locations at night when the animal is most active and is difficult to observe. Few observations are obtained during the day, when the animal is expected to rest and is potentially easier to observe. Modifying the likelihood function allows the popular Hidden Markov Model framework to be used to model these irregular spaced locations, making use of all the observed data.

Keywords: hidden Markov Models, irregular observations, animal movement modelling, nocturnal predator

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Gopi Kerekere Rangaraju, Madhu Puttegowda

Abstract:

Natural fibres composites include coir, jute, bagasse, cotton, bamboo, and hemp. Natural fibers come from plants. These fibers contain lingo cellulose in nature. Natural fibers are eco-friendly; lightweight, strong, renewable, cheap, and biodegradable. The natural fibers can be used to reinforce both thermosetting and thermoplastic matrices. Thermosetting resins such as epoxy, polyester, polyurethane, and phenolic are commonly used composites requiring higher performance applications. They provide sufficient mechanical properties, in particular, stiffness and strength at acceptably low-price levels. Recent advances in natural fibers development are genetic engineering. The composites science offers significant opportunities for improved materials from renewable resources with enhanced support for global sustainability. Natural fibers composites are attractive to industry because of their low density and ecological advantages over conventional composites. These composites are gaining importance due to their non-carcinogenic and bio-degradable nature. Natural fibers composites are a very costeffective material, especially in building and construction, packaging, automobile and railway coach interiors, and storage devices. These composites are potential candidates for the replacement of high- cost glass fibers for low load bearing applications. Natural fibers have the advantages of low density, low cost, and biodegradability

Keywords: PMC, basalt, coir, carbon fibers

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Pankaj Kumar

Abstract:

Rapid global changes resulted in unfavorable hydrological, ecological, and environmental changes and cumulatively affected natural resources. As a result, the local communities become vulnerable to water stress, poor hygiene, the spread of diseases, food security, etc.. However, the central point for this vulnerability revolves around water resources and the way people interrelate with the hydrological system. Also, most of the efforts to minimize the adverse effect of global changes are centered on the mitigation side. Hence, countries with poor adaptive capacities and poor governance suffer most in case of disasters. However, several transdisciplinary numerical tools are well designed and are capable of answering “what-if questions” through scenario analysis using a system approach. This study has predicted the future water environment in Marikina River in the National Capital Region, Metro Manila of Philippines, using Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP), an integrated water resource management tool. Obtained results can answer possible adaptation measures along with their associated uncertainties. It also highlighted various challenges for the policy planners to design adaptation countermeasures as well as to track the progress of achieving SDG 6.0.

Keywords: water quality, Philippines, climate change adaptation, hydrological simulation, wastewater management, weap

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Apirada Chinprateep

Abstract:

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) shall be the goal of regional economic integration by 2015. Tourism is an activity that is growing important, especially as a source of foreign currency, employment creation and distribution of income bringing to the region. The preparation of members of the countries group, given the complexity of the issues entail to the concept of sustainable tourism, this paper tries to assess tourism sustainability, based on a number of quantitative indicators for all the ten economies, first, Thailand, compared with other nine countries, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, and Brunei. The proposed methodological framework will provide a number of benchmarks of tourism activities in these countries assessed. They include identification of the dimensions, for example, economic, socio-ecologic, infrastructure and indicators, method of scaling, chart representation and evaluation on Asian countries. This specification shows us that a similar level of tourism activity might introduce different sort of implementation in the tourism activity and might have different consequences for the socio-ecological environment and sustainability. The heterogeneity of developing countries exposed briefly here would be useful to detect and prepare for coping with the main problem of each country in their tourism activities, as well as competitiveness and value creation of tourism for ASEAN economic community, and will compare with other parts of the world and the world benchmark.

Keywords: AEC, ASEAN, sustainable, tourism, competitiveness

Procedia PDF Downloads 415

Authors: Mattia Testuzza

Abstract:

Public health is a social endeavour, which involves many different actors: from extremely stratified, structured health systems to unofficial networks of people and knowledge. Health and diseases are an intertwined individual and social experiences. Both patients and health workers navigate this public space through relations of trust. Trust in healthcare goes from the personal trust between a patient and her/his doctor to the trust of both the patient and the health worker in the medical knowledge and the healthcare system. Trust it is not a given, but it is continuously negotiated, given and gained. The key to understand these essential relations of trust in health is to recognise them as a social practice, which therefore implies agency and power. In these terms, health is constantly public and made public, as trust emerges as a meaningfully political phenomenon. Trust as a power relation can be observed at play in the implementation of public health policies such as the WHO’s Directly-Observed Theraphy Short-course (DOTS), and with the increasing concern for drug-resistance that tuberculosis pose, looking at the role of trust in the healthcare delivery system and implementation of public health policies becomes significantly relevant. The ethnographic fieldwork was carried out in four months through observation of the daily practices at the National Tuberculosis Center of Nepal, and semi-structured interviews with MultiDrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients at different stages of the treatment, their relatives, MDR-TB specialised nurses, and doctors. Throughout the research, the role which trust plays in tuberculosis treatment emerged as one fundamental ax that cuts through all the different factors intertwined with drug-resistance development, unfolding a tension between the DOTS policy, which undermines trust, and the day-to-day healthcare relations and practices which cannot function without trust. Trust also stands out as a key component of the solutions to unforeseen issues which develop from the overall uncertainty of the context - for example, political instability and extreme poverty - in which tuberculosis treatment is carried out in Nepal.

Keywords: trust, tuberculosis, drug-resistance, politics of health

Procedia PDF Downloads 235