Search results for: sports infrastructure

Authors: Debasis Sarkar

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Clean development mechanism (CDM) can act as an effective instrument for mitigating climate change. This mechanism can effectively reduce the emission of CO2 and other green house gases (GHG). Construction of a mega infrastructure project like underground corridor construction for metro rail operation involves in consumption of substantial quantity of concrete which consumes huge quantity of energy consuming materials like cement and steel. This paper is an attempt to develop an integrated clean development mechanism and risk management approach for sustainable development for an underground corridor metro rail project in India during its construction phase. It was observed that about 35% reduction in CO2 emission can be obtained by adding fly ash as a part replacement of cement. The reduced emission quantity of CO2 which is of the quantum of about 21,646.36 MT would result in cost savings of approximately INR 8.5 million (USD 1,29,878).But construction and operation of such infrastructure projects of the present era are subject to huge risks and uncertainties throughout all the phases of the project, thus reducing the probability of successful completion of the project within stipulated time and cost frame. Thus, an integrated approach of combining CDM with risk management would enable the metro rail authorities to develop a sustainable risk mitigation measure framework to ensure more cost and energy savings and lesser time and cost over-run.

Keywords: clean development mechanism (CDM), infrastructure transportation, project risk management, underground metro rail

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Authors: S. Kaira, S. Mohamed, A. Rahman

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Traditionally, highway infrastructure projects are initiated based on their economic benefits, thereafter environmental, social and governance impacts are addressed discretely for the selected project from a set of pre-determined alternatives. When opting for cost-benefit analysis (CBA), multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) has been used as the default assessment tool. But this tool has been critiqued as it does not mimic the real-world dynamic environment. Indeed, it is because of the fact that public sector projects like highways have to experience intense exposure to dynamic environments. Therefore, it is essential to appreciate the impacts of various dynamic factors (factors that change or progress with the system) on project performance. Thus, this paper presents various sustainability assessment tools that have been globally developed to determine sustainability performance of infrastructure projects during the design, procurement and commissioning phase. Indeed, identification of the current gaps in the available assessment methods provides a potential to add prominent part of knowledge in the field of ‘road project development systems and procedures’ that are generally used by road agencies.

Keywords: dynamic impact factors, micro and macro factors, sustainability assessment framework, sustainability performance

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Authors: Mohammad Hadi Khorashadi Zadeh ‎

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An entrepreneur is a manager or the owner of the commercial company that creates resources and money by risking and initiative. The Netpreneur is the capability to run an online business. It needs only the Connectivity. An Entrepreneur, as long as he has a service which the market demands can set up a feasible and viable trade with his Intellectual Capital as the principle input and the Connectivity Infrastructure as the only physical input. The internet is possibly the most significant revolution in science and technology that our generation could fantasize or imagine. It has introduced in various benefits to the society, culture, economics and politics. The entrepreneur is a premium member in the community. She/he provides services to the society and community including employment.

Keywords: entrepreneur, Netpreneur, intellectual capital, infrastructure

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Authors: Masita Mokeira, Kimani Rita, Obonyo Brian, Kwenda Kennedy, Mugambi Purity, Kirui Joan, Chomba Eric, Orwa Daniel, Waiganjo Peter

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Rugby is a highly intense and physical game requiring speed and strength. The need for physical fitness therefore cannot be over-emphasized. Sports are no longer about lifting weights so as to build muscle. Most professional teams are investing much more in the sport in terms of time, equipment and other resources. To play competitively, Kenyan players may therefore need to complement their ‘home-grown’ and sometimes ad-hoc training and nutrition regimes with carefully measured strength and conditioning, diet, nutrition, and supplementation. Nokia Research Center and University of Nairobi conducted an exploratory study on needs and behaviours surrounding sports in Africa. Rugby being one sport that is gaining ground in Kenya was selected as the main focus. The end goal of the research was to identify areas where mobile technology could be used to address gaps, challenges and/or unmet needs. Themes such as information gap, social culture, growth, and development, revenue flow, and technology adoption among others emerged about the sport. From the growth and development theme, it was clear that as rugby continues to grow in the country, teams, coaches, and players are employing interesting techniques both in training and playing. Though some of these techniques are indeed scientific, those employing them are sometimes not fully aware of their scientific basis. A further case study on sports science in rugby in Kenya focusing on physical fitness and nutrition revealed interesting findings. This paper discusses findings on emerging adoption of techniques in managing physiological and nutritional needs of rugby players across different levels of rugby in Kenya namely high school, club and national levels.

Keywords: rugby, nutrition, physiological needs, sports science

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Authors: Ali Al Shamli, Talal AlMamari

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Background: The relationship between motivation and satisfaction is posited to be mediated by reward. In this study, the motivation construct was measured by a motivation scale. The scale when factor analysed generated five factors. These factors were referred as; 1) leisure motivation, 2) egoistic motivation, 3) external motivation, 4) purposive, and 5) material motivation. The reward construct was measured by using a five-item scale whereas the satisfaction construct was measured by using a 13-item scale. The scale when factor analysed produced three factors which are referred as; 1) satisfaction A, 2) satisfaction B, and 3) satisfaction C. Objective: The main purpose of the present paper was to find out the relation of motivation and reward with volunteer satisfaction at national sports organizations (NPSOs) in Oman. Methods: This current study adopts a cross-sectional design as the data collection is done only once whereas the mode of administration was postal questionnaire where each questionnaire was posted, completed, and returned using the self-addressed envelope after its completion. The population of the study consisted of (160) boards and directors members of NPSOs (Non-Profit Sports Organization Services) in Oman from all 43 sports club. Results: The findings provided new empirical evidence that supported the argument of the relationship between motivation and satisfaction is indeed, mediated by reward. However, this study differs in that the relationship was tested based on the first-order constructs which were derived from the underlying dimensions of both motivation and satisfaction constructs. It was established that the relationships between motivation B and motivation C with satisfaction A are mediated by reward. Conclusion: In light of study findings, there is a direct relationship between developmental motivation and experiential satisfaction, a direct relationship between social motivation and relational satisfaction, as well as personal motivation and relational satisfaction, is mediated by reward. Therefore, Omani volunteers are less reliant on the reward as evidenced by the direct relationship between motivation A and satisfaction and between motivation C and satisfaction A. More tests in different settings will provide more understanding on volunteer motivation.

Keywords: non-profit sports organization, sport and reward, volunteers in sport, satisfaction in sport

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Authors: L. K. Shitole

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Usually on the face of it, personality is regarded as the external appearance of an individual. In psychology, the personality is not viewed merely as self or external appears, but it adds much more. Human resources development encompasses the personality development of the students. The student’s development starts right from the childhood and gradually continues right up to the completion of education in professional courses. This paper attempts to find out the role of the educational institutions in shaping the personality of the students from the rural area. Schools and colleges have infrastructural limitations, obtaining good quality and devoted teaching staff poses problems and even outside the school environment there are no private classes which may take care of this deficiency. The researcher has used the standardized test namely “Vyaktitva Shodhika” developed by Gyan Prabodhini, Pune for the students in Daund Taluka. There are 68 objective types of questions in the said questionnaire. Totally a sample size of 4191 students was selected. The sample was quite representative. It is observed that by and large the response indicates that the educational institutions are taking sincere efforts in shaping the personality of the students. In the semi-urban area i.e. at educational institutions of all levels, the performance on this front is excellent and at rest of Daund Taluka there is scope for improvement. Educational institutions of all levels are showing excellent performance in ensuring availability of the requisite infrastructure conducive for the development of the personality of the students. In rest of Daund Taluka there is ample scope for improving the situation. As far as data relating to role of co-curricular activities and sports programs in mental and physical development at various educational institutions is concerned Daund educational institutions have repeated their performance in securing “A” category, while in the rural area of Daund Taluka, there is need to step up the efforts in this regard. In today’s world of knowledge industry, one cannot ignore the importance of education and thereby the personality growth of the students. Accordingly, the educational institutions should undertake consistent research and extension activities in the area of personality development.

Keywords: personality, attitude, infrastructure, quality of education, learning environment, teacher’s contribution, family and society’s role

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Authors: Abdulai Afolabi Ahmed

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The research was undertaken to examine the influence of sports facilities, equipment, and nutrition on athletes' performance in West-Africa Universities Games (WAUG) with the objectives of finding the areas of success and failure. Relevant literatures were reviewed. The survey research design was adopted for the study. Availability of facilities, equipment and nutrition questionnaire (AFENQ) was administered on hundred (n-100) participants - athletes from five Nigerian Universities from South-West, Nigeria which included Federal University of Technology, Akure, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Lagos State University, Oyo, Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Awoye and Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti. Nigeria. The tests re-test reliability value obtained from the instrument using Pearson Product Moment Correlation co-efficient of 0.86 was used to analyze the result. While the questionnaire collected was subjected to influential descriptive statistics of multiple regression to analyse the data. The results of the data showed that facilities, equipment, and nutrition variables when taken together effectively predict the performance of the athletes during WAUG competitions. The implication is that sports organizers should provide sports resources for the improved performance of the athletes, and that, university managers should employ nutritionist to plan and prepare food for the university athletes before and after major competitions.

Keywords: athletes, equipment, extramural, influence, nutrition, performance

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Authors: A. Roomy

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The dramatic rise in violence against game officials has affected all levels of sports including recreational, amateur, and professional sports. One way to combat this rise in violence is through the creation of laws specifically aimed at preventing and punishing this kind of violence. This paper will use related legal cases as a starting point to explore possible ways of better protecting the safety of game officials. It will do this by looking at relevant cases, related legal issues, and two specific ways of reducing violence against game officials. In closing, it will be argued that there needs to be a more robust legal approach with emphasis on criminal and civil penalties for assault and battery, and a more comprehensive social approach with emphasis on raising social awareness on the need to protect game officials from violence.

Keywords: game officials, legal issues, safety, violence

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Authors: Basuki Supartono, Nunuk Nugrohowati, Ryan Gamma Andiraldi

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Osteoarthritis of the knee can occur due to scoliosis. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of scoliosis cause secondary osteoarthritis on the knee. This research use an analytic cross-sectional design. The total sample of 92 athletes scoliosis taken by simple random sampling technique. The data obtained were analyzing with Chi-square test, Fisher and Prevalence Ratio. The results of analysis show that there are influences on the incidence of scoliosis secondary osteoarthritis on the knee in athletes at the National Sports Hospital. Based on the criteria in the Cobbs angle had the results (p = 0.022 (p <0.05)), moderate Cobbs angle degree were 7.5 times more at risk of causing secondary osteoarthritis on the knee than a mild degree. While the shape of the curve scoliosis is getting results (p = 0.038 (p <0.05)), the shape of the S curve scoliosis 3.2 times more at risk of causing secondary osteoarthritis on the knee than the curve C. It can be concluded that there is significant influence between the Cobbs angle, shape of the curve scoliosis on the incidence of secondary osteoarthritis on the knee in National Sports Cibubur Hospital on July 2013- April 2014

Keywords: Cobbs angle, curve shape scoliosis, secondary osteoarthritis on the knee, analytic cross-sectional design

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Authors: Chung Gun Lee

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Objectives: Certain life change events were shown to have strong effects on physical activity-related behavior, but more research is needed to investigate the longer-term effects of different life change events on physical activity-related behaviors. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of experiencing physically or non-physically forced sexual activity on sports participation from adolescence to young adulthood. Methods: This study used the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data. Group-based trajectory modeling was utilized to examine the effect of experiencing sexual assault on trajectories of sports participation from adolescence to young adulthood. Results: Male participants were divided into three trajectory groups (i.e., Low-stable, High-decreasing, and High-stable) and female participants were divided into two trajectory groups (i.e., Low-stable and High-decreasing). The main finding of this study is that women who experienced non-physically forced sexual activity significantly decreases sports participation throughout the trajectory in ‘High-decreasing group.’ The effect of non-physically forced sexual activity on women’s sports participation was considerably weakened and became insignificant after including psychological depression in the model as a potential mediator. Discussion: Special attention should be paid to sport participation among women victims of non-physically forced sexual activity. Further studies are needed to examine other potential mediators in addition to psychological depression when examining the effect of non-physically forced sexual activity on sport participation in women.

Keywords: adolescent, group-based trajectory modeling, sexual assault, young adult

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Authors: W. Tahri, B. Samet, F. Pacheco-Torgal, J. L. Barroso de Aguiar, S. Baklouti

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Infrastructure rehabilitation represents a multitrillion dollar opportunity for the construction industry. Since the majority of the existent infrastructures are Portland cement concrete based this means that concrete infrastructure rehabilitation is a hot issue to be dealt with. Geopolymers are novel inorganic binders with high potential to replace Portland cement based ones. So far very few studies in the geopolymer field have addressed the rehabilitation of deteriorated concrete structures. This paper discloses results of an investigation concerning the development geopolymeric repair mortars. The mortars are based on Tunisian natural clay plus calcium hydroxide, sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide. Results show that the geopolymeric mortar has a high compressive strength and a lower unrestrained shrinkage performance as long as partial replacement by metakaolin is carried out. The results also show that Tunisian calcined clay based mortars have hydration products with typical geopolymeric phases.

Keywords: geopolymeric mortars, infrastructure repair, compressive strength, shrinkage

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Authors: Sanusi Abubakar Sadiq, Rebecca William Chiwar

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Wildlife Park stands a chance of contributing to tourism development in different ways, but available infrastructure, and facilities required by visitors when they arrive, access road to the destination, and resources to facilitate positive experience are lacking in certain areas. The study set out to find out the need to develop Sumu Wildlife Park Bauchi State, to an international standard. The study focused on identifying the existing facilities and infrastructure at the park and to further identify the available resources used by visitors. In attempt to find out the impact of developing Sumu Wildlife Park and ways of filling the gap of the actual standard data were obtained from fifteen administrative staff of Sumu Wildlife Park, ten staff of Bauchi state Tourism Board and twenty-five residents of the community in Kafin Madaki, Bauchi. Relevant literature were reviewed in the study; data collected were organized and analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS), software for analysis. Findings revealed that though Sumu Wildlife Park has attractions to keep visitors patronage but has insufficient facilities to maintain visitors and has not been developed to an expected standard. The problem faced by the management of Sumu wildlife Park is lack of adequate facilities, infrastructure and resources. The need to develop Sumu Wildlife Park has enormous benefits in increasing patronage. Provision of more funds would help improve standard as there would be more activities within and around the park. Regular maintenance of those facilities protects the life span of the park.

Keywords: attractions, facilities, infrastructure, resources

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Authors: Vincent Andrew Cappellano

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In the early phases of critical infrastructure system design, translating distributed computing requirements to an architecture has risk given the multitude of approaches (e.g., cloud, edge, fog). In many systems, a single requirement for system uptime / availability is used to encompass the system’s intended operations. However, when architected systems may perform to those availability requirements only during normal operations and not during component failure, or during outages caused by adversary attacks on critical infrastructure (e.g., physical, cyber). System designers lack a structured method to evaluate availability requirements against candidate system architectures through deep degradation scenarios (i.e., normal ops all the way down to significant damage of communications or physical nodes). This increases risk of poor selection of a candidate architecture due to the absence of insight into true performance for systems that must operate as a piece of critical infrastructure. This research effort proposes a process to analyze critical infrastructure system availability requirements and a candidate set of systems architectures, producing a metric assessing these architectures over a spectrum of degradations to aid in selecting appropriate resilient architectures. To accomplish this effort, a set of simulation and evaluation efforts are undertaken that will process, in an automated way, a set of sample requirements into a set of potential architectures where system functions and capabilities are distributed across nodes. Nodes and links will have specific characteristics and based on sampled requirements, contribute to the overall system functionality, such that as they are impacted/degraded, the impacted functional availability of a system can be determined. A machine learning reinforcement-based agent will structurally impact the nodes, links, and characteristics (e.g., bandwidth, latency) of a given architecture to provide an assessment of system functional uptime/availability under these scenarios. By varying the intensity of the attack and related aspects, we can create a structured method of evaluating the performance of candidate architectures against each other to create a metric rating its resilience to these attack types/strategies. Through multiple simulation iterations, sufficient data will exist to compare this availability metric, and an architectural recommendation against the baseline requirements, in comparison to existing multi-factor computing architectural selection processes. It is intended that this additional data will create an improvement in the matching of resilient critical infrastructure system requirements to the correct architectures and implementations that will support improved operation during times of system degradation due to failures and infrastructure attacks.

Keywords: architecture, resiliency, availability, cyber-attack

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Authors: Mario Sandro F. Rocha, Carlos S. Ande, Anderson A. Oliveira, Felipe M. Bersotti, Lucas O. Venzel

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The inertial motion capture systems (mocap) are among the most suitable tools for quantitative clinical analysis in rehabilitation and sports medicine. The inertial measuring units (IMUs), composed by accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers, are able to measure spatial orientations and calculate displacements with sufficient precision for applications in biomechanical analysis of movement. Furthermore, this type of system is relatively affordable and has the advantages of portability and independence from external references. In this work, we present the last version of our inertial motion capture system, based on the foregoing technology, with a unity interface designed for rehabilitation and sports. In our hardware architecture, only one serial port is required. First, the board client must be connected to the computer by a USB cable. Next, an available serial port is configured and opened to establish the communication between the client and the application, and then the client starts scanning for the active MOCAP_S servers around. The servers play the role of the inertial measuring units that capture the movements of the body and send the data to the client, which in turn create a package composed by the ID of the server, the current timestamp, and the motion capture data defined in the client pre-configuration of the capture session. In the current version, we can measure the game rotation vector (grv) and linear acceleration (lacc), and we also have a step detector that can be abled or disabled. The grv data are processed and directly linked to the bones of the 3D model, and, along with the data of lacc and step detector, they are also used to perform the calculations of displacements and other variables shown on the graphical user interface. Our user interface was designed to calculate and present variables that are important for rehabilitation and sports, such as cadence, speed, total gait cycle, gait cycle length, obliquity and rotation, and center of gravity displacement. Our goal is to present a low-cost portable and wearable system with a friendly interface for application in biomechanics and sports, which also performs as a product of high precision and low consumption of energy.

Keywords: biomechanics, inertial sensors, motion capture, rehabilitation

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Authors: K. Volkonitskaya, S. Lyapina

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According to the National Monitoring Centre of innovation infrastructure, scientific and technical activities and regional innovation systems by December 2014. 166 technology parks were established in Russia. Comparative analysis of technological parks performance in Russia, the USA, Israel and the European Union countries revealed significant reduction of key performance indicators in Russian innovation infrastructure institutes. The largest deviations were determined in the following indicators: new products and services launched, number of companies and jobs, amount of venture capital invested. Lower performance indicators of Russian technology parks can be partly explained by slack demand for national high-tech products and services, lack of qualified specialists in the sphere of innovation management and insufficient cooperation between different innovation infrastructure institutes. In spite of all constraints in innovation segment of Russian economy in 2010-2012 private investors for the first time proceeded to finance building of technological parks. The general purpose of the research is to answer two questions: why despite the significant investment risks private investors continue to implement such comprehensive infrastructure projects in Russia and is business model of private technological park more efficient than strategies of state innovation infrastructure institutes? The goal of the research was achieved by analyzing business models of private technological parks in Moscow, Kaliningrad, Astrakhan and Kazan. The research was conducted in two stages: the on-line survey of key performance indicators of private and state Russian technological parks and in-depth interviews with top managers and investors, who have already build private technological parks in by 2014 or are going to complete investment stage in 2014-2016. The results anticipated are intended to identify the reasons of efficient and inefficient technological parks performance. Furthermore, recommendations for improving the efficiency of state technological and industrial parks were formulated. Particularly, the recommendations affect the following issues: networking with other infrastructural institutes, services and infrastructure provided, mechanisms of public-private partnership and investment attraction. In general intensive study of private technological parks performance and development of effective mechanisms of state support can have a positive impact on the growth rates of the number of Russian technological, industrial and science parks.

Keywords: innovation development, innovation infrastructure, private technology park, public-private partnership

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Authors: John Chan, Jake Linnenbank, Gavin Caird

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Automatic Selective Door Operation (ASDO) systems are increasingly used in railways to provide Correct Side Door Enable (CSDE) protection as well as to protect passenger doors opening off the platform where the train is longer than the platform, or in overshoot or undershoot scenarios. Such ASDO systems typically utilise trackside-installed RFID beacons, such as Eurobalises for odometry positioning purposes. Installing such trackside infrastructure may not be desirable or possible due to various factors such as conflict with existing infrastructure, potential damage from track tamping and jurisdiction constraints. Ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning technology could enable ASDO positioning requirements to be met without requiring installation of equipment directly on track since UWB technology can be installed on adjacent infrastructure such as on platforms. This paper will explore the feasibility of upgrading existing ASDO systems with UWB positioning technology, the feasibility of retrofitting UWB-enabled ASDO systems onto unfitted trains, and any other considerations relating to the use of UWB positioning for ASDO applications.

Keywords: UWB, ASDO, automatic selective door operations, CSDE, correct side door enable

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Authors: William Luke Hamel

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Existing conceptions of urban flooding caused by tidal fluctuations and sea-level rise have been inadequately conceptualized by metrics of resilience and methods of flow modeling. While a great deal of research has been devoted to the effects of urbanization on pluvial flooding, the kind of tidal flooding experienced by locations like Hampton Roads, Virginia, has not been adequately conceptualized as being a result of human factors such as urbanization and gray infrastructure. Resilience from sea level rise and its associated flooding has been pioneered in the region with the 2015 Norfolk Resilience Plan from 100 Resilient Cities as well as the 2016 Norfolk Vision 2100 plan, which envisions different patterns of land use for the city. Urban resilience still conceptualizes the city as having the ability to maintain an equilibrium in the face of disruptions. This economic and social equilibrium relies on the Elizabeth River, narrowly conceptualized. Intentionally or accidentally, the river was made to be a piece of infrastructure. Its development was meant to serve the docks, shipyards, naval yards, and port infrastructure that gives the region so much of its economic life. Inasmuch as it functions to permit the movement of cargo; the raising and lowering of ships to be repaired, commissioned, or decommissioned; or the provisioning of military vessels, the river as infrastructure is functioning properly. The idea that the infrastructure is malfunctioning when high tides and sea-level rise create flooding is predicated on the idea that the infrastructure is truly a human creation and can be controlled. The natural flooding cycles of an urban river, combined with the action of climate change and sea-level rise, are only abnormal so much as they encroach on the development that first encroached on the river. The urban political ecology of water provides the ability to view the river as an infrastructural extension of urban networks while also calling for its emancipation from stationarity and human control. Understanding the river and city as a hydrosocial territory or as a socio-natural system liberates both actors from the duality of the natural and the social while repositioning river flooding as a normal part of coexistence on a floodplain. This paper argues for the adoption of an urban political ecology lens in the analysis and governance of urban rivers like the Elizabeth River as a departure from the equilibrium-seeking and stability metrics of urban resilience.

Keywords: urban flooding, political ecology, Elizabeth river, Hampton roads

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Authors: Halkiopoulos Constantinos, Gkintoni Evgenia, Koutsopoulou Ioanna, Antonopoulou Hera

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E-sports and e-gaming have emerged in recent years since the increase in internet use have become universal and e-gamers are the new reality in our homes. The excessive involvement of young adults with e-sports has already been revealed and the adverse consequences have been reported in researches in the past few years, but the issue has not been fully studied yet. The present research is conducted in Greece and studies the psychological profile of video game players and provides information on personality traits, habits and emotional status that affect online gamers’ behaviors in order to help professionals and policy makers address the problem. Three standardized self-report questionnaires were administered to participants who were young male and female adults aged from 19-26 years old. The Profile of Mood States (POMS) scale was used to evaluate people’s perceptions of their everyday life mood; the personality features that can trace back to people’s habits and anticipated reactions were measured by Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) was used to measure which cognitive (gamers’ beliefs) and emotional parameters (gamers’ emotional abilities) mainly affected/ predicted gamers’ behaviors and leisure time activities?/ gaming behaviors. Data mining techniques were used to analyze the data, which resulted in machine learning algorithms that were included in the software package R. The research findings attempt to designate the effect of personality traits, emotional status and emotional intelligence influence and correlation with e-sports, gamers’ behaviors and help policy makers and stakeholders take action, shape social policy and prevent the adverse consequences on young adults. The need for further research, prevention and treatment strategies is also addressed.

Keywords: e-sports, e-gamers, personality traits, POMS, emotional intelligence, data mining, R

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Authors: Eman Hegazy, Stefan Anderberg, Joakim Krook

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Urban water infrastructure is crucial for efficient and reliable water supply in growing cities. With the growth of cities, the need for maintenance and renewal of these systems increases but often goes unfulfilled due to a variety of reasons, such as limited funding, political priorities, or lack of public awareness. Neglecting the renewal needs of these systems can lead to frequent malfunctions and reduced quality and reliability of water supply, as well as increased costs and health and environmental hazards. It is important for cities to prioritize investment in water infrastructure and develop long-term plans to address renewal needs. Drawing general conclusions about the rate of renewal of urban water infrastructure systems at an international or national level can be challenging due to the influence of local management decisions. In many countries, the responsibility for water infrastructure management lies with the municipal authorities, who are responsible for making decisions about the allocation of resources for repair, maintenance, and renewal. These decisions can vary widely based on factors such as local finances, political priorities, and public perception of the importance of water infrastructure. As a result, it is difficult to make generalizations about the rate of renewal across different countries or regions. In Sweden, the situation is not different, and the information from Svenskt Vatten indicates that the rate of renewal varies across municipalities and can be insufficient, leading to a buildup of maintenance and renewal needs. This study aims to examine the adequacy of the rate of renewal of urban water infrastructure in Linköping case city in Sweden. Using a case study framework, the study will assess the current status of the urban water system and the need for renewal. The study will also consider the role of factors such as proper identification processes, limited funding, competing for political priorities, and local management decisions in contributing to insufficient renewal. The study investigates the following questions: (1) What is the current status of water and sewerage networks in terms of length, age distribution, and material composition, estimated total water leakage in the network per year, damages, leaks, and outages occur per year, both overall and by district? (2) What are the main causes of these damages, leaks, and interruptions, and how are they related to lack of maintenance and renewal? (3) What is the current status of renewal work for the water and sewerage networks, including the renewal rate and changes over time, recent renewal material composition, and the budget allocation for renewal and emergency repairs? (4) What factors influence the need for renewal and what conditions should be considered in the assessment? The findings of the study provide insights into the challenges facing urban water infrastructure and identify strategies for improving the rate of renewal to ensure a reliable and sustainable water supply.

Keywords: case study, infrastructure, management, renewal need, Sweden

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Authors: Yu-Cheng Lin, Yu-Chih Su

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Generally, there are many numerous existing problems during the construction phase special in civil engineering. The problems communication and management (PCM) of civil engineering are important and necessary to enhance the performance of construction management. The civil information modelling (CIM) approach is used to retain information with digital format and assist easy updating and transferring of information in the 3D environment for all related civil and infrastructure projects. When the application of CIM technology is adopted in infrastructure projects, all the related project participants can discuss problems and obtain feedback and responds among project participants integrated with the assistance of CIM models 3D illustration. Usually, electronic mail (e-mail) is one of the most popular communication tools among all related participants for rapid transit system (MRT), also known as a subway or metro, construction project in Taiwan. Furthermore, all interfaces should be traced and managed effectively during the process. However, there are many problems with the use of e-mail for communication of all interfaces. To solve the above problems, this study proposes a CIM-based Problem Communication and Management (CPCM) system to improve performance of problem communication and management. The CPCM system is applied to a case study of an MRT project in Taiwan to identify its CPCM effectiveness. Case study results show that the proposed CPCM system and Markup-enabled CIM Viewer are effective CIM-based communication tools in CIM-supported PCM work of civil engineering. Finally, this study identifies conclusion, suggestion, benefits, and limitations for further applications.

Keywords: building information modeling, civil information modeling, infrastructure, general contractor

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Authors: Jonathan J. Foo, Keng Hao Chew

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Interest in virtual reality (VR) technologies as virtual learning environments have been on the rise in recent years. With thanks to the aggressively competitive consumer electronics environment, VR technology has been made affordable and accessible to the average person with developments like Google Cardboard and Oculus Go. While the promise of virtual access to unique virtual learning environments with the benefits of experiential learning sounds extremely attractive, there are still concerns over user comfort in the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains. Reports of motion sickness and short durations create doubt and have stunted its growth. In this paper, a multidimensional framework is proposed for the evaluation of VR learning environments within the three dimensions: tactual quality, didactic quality, and autodidactic quality. This paper further proposes a mixed-methods experimental research plan that sets out to evaluate a virtual reality training simulator in the context of amateur sports fencing. The study will investigate if an immersive VR learning environment can effectively simulate an authentic learning environment suitable for instruction, practice, and assessment while providing the user comfort in the tactual, didactic, and autodidactic dimensions. The models and recommendations developed for this study are designed in the context of fencing, but the potential impact is a guide for the future design and evaluation of all VR developments across sports and technical classroom education.

Keywords: autodidactic quality, didactic quality, tactual quality, virtual reality

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Authors: Siti Murniningsih, Evi Anggraheni

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Various infrastructures such as dams, flood control dams and reservoirs have been developed in the 19th century until the 20th century. These infrastructures are very effective in controlling the river flows and in preventing inundation in the urban area prone to flooding. Flooding in the urban area often brings large impact, affecting every aspect of life and also environment. Ciliwung is one of the rivers allegedly contributes to the flooding problems in Jakarta; various engineering work has been done in Ciliwung river to help controlling the flooding. One of the engineering work is to build Ciawi Dam and Sukamahi Dam. In this research, author is doing the flood calculation with Nakayasu Method, while the previous flooding in that case study is computed using Level Pool Routine. The effectiveness of these dams can be identified by using flood simulation of existing condition and compare it to the flood simulation after the dam construction. The final goal of this study is to determine the effectiveness of flood mitigation infrastructure located at upstream area in reducing the volume of flooding in Jakarta.

Keywords: effectiveness, flood simulation, infrastructure flooding, level pool routine

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Authors: Clifford Otieno Ochieng, Nsenda Lukumwena

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Cities worldwide and most notably those in the global south, including Nairobi City are experiencing accelerated population growth and urban sprawl, accompanied with multiple socioeconomic challenges’ which in turn increase the pressure on already limited infrastructure such as public lighting and on limited financial resources. Based on this premise, through reimaging the value of street lighting infrastructure, the study attempts to highlight the affordance and affordability of streetlights and suggests them as a tool to optimally address limited financial resources that characterize cities in the global south. As a methodology, the paper reviews and analyzes literature available online including Nairobi city budgets; reports from Kenya Power, World Health Organization and United Nations; and articles on enterprise level Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. In conclusion, this study illustrates that streetlights can go well beyond their traditional roles of illuminating cities at night. They can be as suggested in this paper charging stations, communication network terminals and disease prevention nodes.

Keywords: affordance, Nairobi, developing economies, IoT, smart street lights, smart cities

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Authors: Khelifa Benahmed, Tarek Benahmed

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There are diverse applications of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in the real world, typically invoking some kind of monitoring, tracking, or controlling activities. In an application, a WSN is deployed over the area of interest to sense and detect the events and collect data through their sensors in a geographical area and transmit the collected data to a Base Station (BS). This paper presents an overview of the research solutions available in the field of environmental monitoring applications, more precisely the problems of critical area monitoring using wireless sensor networks.

Keywords: critical infrastructure monitoring, environment monitoring, event region detection, wireless sensor networks

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Authors: Hřebíčková Sylva, Grasgruber Pavel, Ondráček Jan, Cacek Jan, Kalina Tomáš

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The aim of this study was to describe typical changes in several parameters of body composition – the amount of skeletal muscle mass (SMM), % body fat (BF) and body mass index (BMI) - in selected age categories (30+ years) of men and women in the Czech Republic, depending on the degree of sports activity. Study (n = 823, M = 343, F = 480) monitored differences in BF, SM and BMI in five age groups (from 30-39 years to 70+ years). Physically inactive individuals have (p < 0.05) higher % BF in comparison with physically active individuals (29.5 ± 0.59 vs. 27 ± 0.38%), higher BMI (27.3 ± 0.32 vs. 26.1 ± 0.20 kg/m2), but lower SM (39.0 ± 0.33 vs. 40.4 ± 0.21%). The results indicate that with an increasing age, there is a trend towards increasing values of BMI and % BF, and decreasing values of SMM.

Keywords: body composition, body fat, physical activity, skeletal muscle

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Authors: Zeinab Jafari A., Ali Sharifnezhad B., Mohammad Razi C., Mohammad Haghpanahi D., Arash Maghsoudi

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Background and Objective: Sports-related rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and following injuries have been associated with various disorders, such as long-lasting changes in muscle activation patterns in athletes, which might last after ACL reconstruction (ACLR). The rupture of the ACL might result in abnormal patterns of movement execution, extending the treatment period and delaying athletes’ return to sports (RTS). As ACL injury is especially prevalent among athletes, the lengthy treatment process and athletes’ absence from sports are of great concern to athletes and coaches. Thus, estimating safe time of RTS is of crucial importance. Therefore, using a deep neural network (DNN) to classify the health levels of ACL in injured athletes, this study aimed to estimate the safe time for athletes to return to competitions. Methods: Ten athletes with ACLR and fourteen healthy controls participated in this study. Three health levels of ACL were defined: healthy, six-month post-ACLR surgery and nine-month post-ACLR surgery. Athletes with ACLR were tested six and nine months after the ACLR surgery. During the course of this study, surface electromyography (sEMG) signals were recorded from five knee muscles, namely Rectus Femoris (RF), Vastus Lateralis (VL), Vastus Medialis (VM), Biceps Femoris (BF), Semitendinosus (ST), during single-leg drop landing (SLDL) and forward hopping (SLFH) tasks. The Pseudo-Wigner-Ville distribution (PWVD) was used to produce three-dimensional (3-D) images of the energy distribution patterns of sEMG signals. Then, these 3-D images were converted to two-dimensional (2-D) images implementing the heat mapping technique, which were then fed to a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN). Results: In this study, we estimated the safe time of RTS by designing a DCNN classifier with an accuracy of 90 %, which could classify ACL into three health levels. Discussion: The findings of this study demonstrate the potential of the DCNN classification technique using sEMG signals in estimating RTS time, which will assist in evaluating the recovery process of ACLR in athletes.

Keywords: anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, return to sports, surface electromyography, deep convolutional neural network

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Authors: Karin Eines, Riki Tesler

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Introduction: The Mamanet Cachibol League (MCL) is a community-based model developed in Israel to promote physical activity (PA) and amateur team sports among women. team sports are not just groups in the context of specific sport activity but also incorporated into a person’s sense of self and become influencing factor on sport-related behavior among the players. While in the non-Arabic sector, sport venues are available for the local authority population, the Arabic sector authorities face limited access sport facilities, with 168 sport venues and authorities with no venues at all. Within the Arab community, women participation in sports has traditionally been limited and, even more so for participation in team sports. Aims: The purpose of the study was to explore attributes of women MCL activity via: (1) assess differences between participants in the MCL and non-participants among Arab women regarding well-being level; (2) to examine among MCL participants the relationship between health maintenance characteristics and the likelihood of participating in the MCL; and (3) Use qualitative approach to shed light over the question why Arabic women participate in MCL and continue their engagement in PA. Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed-method design was employed to gain a deeper understanding of the advantages and motivations among women participating in community-based team sports. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Israeli Arab women aged 25–59. Demographic characteristics, well-being (SRH and psychosomatic symptoms), eating habits, and social support were analyzed using two-way analyses of covariance and multiple regression models with a sequential entry of the variables. Quantitative results were further explored in qualitative in-depth interviews among 30 of the MCL participants, which shed light on additional reasons for participation in PA. Results: MCL participants reported better self-reported health (p < 0.001) and lower rates of psychosomatic symptoms (p < 0.001) compared to non-participants. Participation in MCL was also related to higher levels of well-being and healthy eating habits. Women who participated also experienced a profound sense of belonging, leading to enhanced social interactions and positivity in their personal and professional lives. They were dedicated to the group and felt empowered by the reciprocal commitment. The group promoted equality, making the women feel valued and respected, resulting in community admiration. Their involvement positively impacted their families, justifying their time commitment.

Keywords: wellbeing, obesity, community based sports, healthy eating habits, arab women

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Authors: Robin Molinier

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Industrial symbiosis (I.S) rely on two basic modes of cooperation between organizations that are infrastructure/service sharing and resource substitution (the use of waste materials, fatal energy and recirculated utilities for production). The former consists in the intensification of use of an asset and thus requires to compare the incremental investment cost to be incurred and the stand-alone cost faced by each potential participant to satisfy its own requirements. In order to investigate the way such a cooperation mode can be implemented we formulate a game theoretic model integrating the grassroot investment decision and the ex-post access pricing problem. In the first period two actors set cooperatively (resp. non-cooperatively) a level of common (resp. individual) infrastructure capacity oversizing to attract ex-post a potential entrant with a plug-and-play offer (available capacity, tariff). The entrant’s requirement is randomly distributed and known only after investments took place. Capacity cost exhibits sub-additive property so that there is room for profitable overcapacity setting in the first period under some conditions that we derive. The entrant willingness-to-pay for the access to the infrastructure is driven by both her standalone cost and the complement cost to be incurred in case she chooses to access an infrastructure whose the available capacity is lower than her requirement level. The expected complement cost function is thus derived, and we show that it is decreasing, convex and shaped by the entrant’s requirements distribution function. For both uniform and triangular distributions optimal capacity level is obtained in the cooperative setting and equilibrium levels are determined in the non-cooperative case. Regarding the latter, we show that competition is deterred by the first period investor with the highest requirement level. Using the non-cooperative game outcomes which gives lower bounds for the profit sharing problem in the cooperative one we solve the whole game and describe situations supporting sharing agreements.

Keywords: capacity, cooperation, industrial symbiosis, pricing

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Authors: Kambiz Rasoulkhani, Jeanne Cole, Sybil Sharvelle, Ali Mostafavi

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Dual water distribution systems have been proposed as solutions to enhance the sustainability and resilience of urban water systems by improving performance and decreasing energy consumption. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term resilience and robustness of dual water distribution systems versus singular water distribution systems under various stressors such as demand fluctuation, aging infrastructure, and funding constraints. To this end, the long-term dynamics of these infrastructure systems was captured using a simulation model that integrates institutional agency decision-making processes with physical infrastructure degradation to evaluate the long-term transformation of water infrastructure. A set of model parameters that varies for dual and singular distribution infrastructure based on the system attributes, such as pipes length and material, energy intensity, water demand, water price, average pressure and flow rate, as well as operational expenditures, were considered and input in the simulation model. Accordingly, the model was used to simulate various scenarios of demand changes, funding levels, water price growth, and renewal strategies. The long-term resilience and robustness of each distribution infrastructure were evaluated based on various performance measures including network average condition, break frequency, network leakage, and energy use. An ecologically-based resilience approach was used to examine regime shifts and tipping points in the long-term performance of the systems under different stressors. Also, Classification and Regression Tree analysis was adopted to assess the robustness of each system under various scenarios. Using data from the City of Fort Collins, the long-term resilience and robustness of the dual and singular water distribution systems were evaluated over a 100-year analysis horizon for various scenarios. The results of the analysis enabled: (i) comparison between dual and singular water distribution systems in terms of long-term performance, resilience, and robustness; (ii) identification of renewal strategies and decision factors that enhance the long-term resiliency and robustness of dual and singular water distribution systems under different stressors.

Keywords: complex systems, dual water distribution systems, long-term resilience performance, multi-agent modeling, sustainable and resilient water systems

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Authors: Felix Olajide Ibikunle

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Introductory Statement: Sustainable participation of teenagers in sports requires deliberate and concerted plans and managerial policy rooted in the “philosophy of catch them young.” At risk, teenagers need proper integration into societal aspiration: This direction will go a long way to streamline them into security breaches and attractive nuisance free lifestyles. Basic Methodology: The population consists of children between 13-19 years old. A proportionate sampling size technique of 60% was adopted to select seven zones out of 11 geo-political zones in the Ibadan metropolis. Qualitative information and interview were used to collect needed information. The majority of the teenagers were out of school, street hawkers, motor pack touts and unserious vocation apprentices. These groups have the potential for security breaches in the metropolis and beyond. Five hundred and thirty-four (534) respondents were used for the study. They were drawn from Ojoo, Akingbile and Moniya axis = 72; Agbowo, Ajibode and Apete axis = 74; Akobo, Basorun and Idi-ape axis 79; Wofun, Monatan and Iyana-Church axis = 78; Molete, Oke-ado and Oke-Bola axis = 75; Beere, Odinjo, Elekuro axis = 77; Eleyele, Ologuneru and Alesinloye axis = 79. Major Findings: Multiple regression was used to analyze the independent variables and percentages. The respondents' average age was 15.6 years old, and 100% were male. The instrument (questionnaire) used yielded; sport preference (r = 0.72), intervention (r = 0.68), and sustainable participation (r = 0.70). The relative contributions of sport preference on the participation of at risk teenagers was (F-ratio = 1.067); Intervention contribution of sport on the participation of at risk teenagers = produced (F-ratio of 12.095) was significant while, sustainable participation of at risk teenagers produced (F-ratio = 1.062) was significant. Closing Statement: The respondents’ sport preference stimulated their participation in sports. The intervention exposed at risk-teenagers to coaching, which activated their interest and participation in sports. At the same time, sustainable participation contributed positively to evolving at risk teenagers' participation in their preferred sport.

Keywords: sport, preference, intervention, teenagers, sustainable, participation and risk teenagers

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