Search results for: spatial buffer zone

Authors: Julius M. Ndambuki, Gislar E. Kifanyi, Samuel N. Odai, Charles Gyamfi

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Conjunctive management of surface and groundwater resources is a challenging task due to the spatial and temporal variability nature of hydrology as well as hydrogeology of the water storage systems. Surface water-groundwater hydrogeology is highly uncertain; thus it is imperative that this uncertainty is explicitly accounted for, when managing water resources. Various methodologies have been developed and applied by researchers in an attempt to account for the uncertainty. For example, simulation-optimization models are often used for conjunctive water resources management. However, direct application of such an approach in which all realizations are considered at each iteration of the optimization process leads to a very expensive optimization in terms of computational time, particularly when the number of realizations is large. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to introduce and apply an efficient approach referred to as Retrospective Optimization Approximation (ROA) that can be used for optimizing conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater over a multiple hydrogeological model simulations. This work is based on stochastic simulation-optimization framework using a recently emerged technique of sample average approximation (SAA) which is a sampling based method implemented within the Retrospective Optimization Approximation (ROA) approach. The ROA approach solves and evaluates a sequence of generated optimization sub-problems in an increasing number of realizations (sample size). Response matrix technique was used for linking simulation model with optimization procedure. The k-means clustering sampling technique was used to map the realizations. The methodology is demonstrated through the application to a hypothetical example. In the example, the optimization sub-problems generated were solved and analysed using “Active-Set” core optimizer implemented under MATLAB 2014a environment. Through k-means clustering sampling technique, the ROA – Active Set procedure was able to arrive at a (nearly) converged maximum expected total optimal conjunctive water use withdrawal rate within a relatively few number of iterations (6 to 7 iterations). Results indicate that the ROA approach is a promising technique for optimizing conjunctive water use of surface water and groundwater withdrawal rates under hydrogeological uncertainty.

Keywords: conjunctive water management, retrospective optimization approximation approach, sample average approximation, uncertainty

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Authors: Chalachew Kassaw, Henok Ababu, Bethelhem Sileshy, Lulu Abebe, Birhanie Mekuriaw

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Background: Psychological discomfort is a state of emotional distress caused by everyday stressors and obligations that are difficult to manage. Orthopedic trauma has a wide range of effects on survivors' physical health, as well as a variety of mental health concerns that impede recovery. Psychiatric and behavioral conditions are 3-5 times more common in people who have undergone physical trauma, and they are a predictor of poor outcomes. Despite the above facts, there is a shortage of research done on the subject. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the magnitude of psychological distress and associated factor among patients attending orthopedic treatment at Gedeo zone, South Ethiopia 2022. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken at Dilla University Referral Hospital from October –November 2022. The data was collected via a face-to-face interview, and the Kessler psychological distress scale (K-10) was used to assess psychological distress. A total of 386 patients receiving outpatient and inpatient services at the orthopedic unit were chosen using a simple random selection technique. A Statistical Package for the Social Science version 21 (SPSS-21) was used to enter and evaluate the data. To find related factors, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regressions were used. Variables having a p-value of less than 0.05 were deemed statistically significant. Result: A total of 386 participants with a response rate of 94.8% were included in the study. Out of all respondents, 114 (31.4%) of the individuals have experienced psychological distress. Independent variables such as Females [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=5.8, 95%CI=(4.6-15.6)], Average monthly income of <3500 birrs [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) =4.8, 95% CI=(2.4-9.8) ], Current history of substance use [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) =2.6, 95% CI=(1.66-4.7)], Strong social support [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=0.4, 95% CI= 0.4(0.2-0.8)], and Poor sleep quality (PSQI score>5) [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=2.0, 95%CI= 2.0(1.2-2.8)] were significantly associated with psychological distress. Conclusion: The prevalence of psychological distress was high. Being female, having poor social support, and having a high PSQI score were significantly associated factors with psychological distress. It is good if clinicians emphasize orthopedic patients, especially females and those having poor social support and low sleep quality symptoms.

Keywords: psychological distress, orthopedic unit, Dilla University hospital, Dilla Town, Southern Ethiopia

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Authors: James Britton, Vijaya Krishna, Manus Biggs, Abhay Pandit

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Regeneration of the spinal cord after injury remains a great challenge due to the complexity of this organ. Inflammation and gliosis at the injury site hinder the outgrowth of axons and hence prevent synaptic reconnection and reinnervation. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is the main component of the spinal cord extracellular matrix and plays a vital role in cell proliferation and axonal guidance. In this study, we have synthesized and characterized a photo-cross-linkable HA-tyramine (tyr) hydrogel from a chemical, mechanical, electrical, biological and structural perspective. From our experimentation, we have found that HA-tyr can be synthesized with controllable degrees of tyramine substitution using click chemistry. The complex modulus (G*) of HA-tyr can be tuned to mimic the mechanical properties of the native spinal cord via optimization of the photo-initiator concentration and UV exposure. We have examined the degree of tyramine-tyramine covalent bonding (polymerization) as a function of UV exposure and photo-initiator use via Photo and Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Both swelling and enzymatic degradation assays were conducted to examine the resilience of our 3D printed hydrogel constructs in-vitro. Using a femtosecond 780nm laser, the two-photon polymerization of HA-tyr hydrogel in the presence of riboflavin photoinitiator was optimized. A laser power of 50mW and scan speed of 30,000 μm/s produced high-resolution spatial patterning within the hydrogel with sustained mechanical integrity. Using dorsal root ganglion explants, the cytocompatibility of photo-crosslinked HA-tyr was assessed. Using potentiometry, the electrical conductivity of photo-crosslinked HA-tyr was assessed and compared to that of native spinal cord tissue as a function of frequency. In conclusion, we have developed a biocompatible hydrogel that can be used for photolithographic 3D printing to fabricate tissue engineered constructs for neural tissue regeneration applications.

Keywords: 3D printing, hyaluronic acid, photolithography, spinal cord injury

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Authors: Francesca Alemanno

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As a complex socio-spatial phenomenon, migration is a practice that also contains a strong imaginative component with respect to the place that, through displacement, one person wants to reach. Every migrant has undertaken his journey having in his mind an image of the displacement he was about to make, of its implications and finally, of the place or city in which he was or would have liked to land. Often, however, the imaginary that has come to build before departure does not fully correspond to the reality of landing; this discrepancy, which can be more or less wide, plays an important role in the relationship that is established with the territory and in the evolution, therefore, of the city itself. In this sense, therefore, the clash that occurs between the imagined and the real is one of the factors that can contribute to making the entry of a migrant into new territory as critical as it can be. Starting from this perspective, the experiences of people who derive from a migratory context and who, over time, manage to create a bond with the land of reception, are taken into account as stories of resistance as they are necessarily charged with a force that is capable of driving difficult and articulated processes of change. The phenomenon of migrant entrepreneurship that is taken into consideration by this abstract plays a very important role because it highlights the story of many people who have managed to build such a close bond with the new territory of arrival that they can imagine and then realize the construction of their own personal business. The margin of contrast between the imagined city and the one that will be inhabited will be observed through the narratives of those who, through the realization of his business project has acted directly on the reality in which he landed. The margin of contrast that exists between the imagined city and the one actually inhabited, together with the implications that this may have on real life, has been observed and analyzed through a period of fieldwork, practicing ethnography, through the narratives of people who find themselves living in a new city as a result of a migration path, and has been contextualized with the support of semi-structured interviews and field notes. At the theoretical level, the research is inserted into a constructionist framework, particularly suited to detect and analyze processes of change, construction of the imaginary and its own modification, being able to capture the consequent repercussions of this process on the conceptual, emotional and practical level.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, imagination, migration, resistance

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Authors: Antoifi Abdoulhalik, Ashraf Ahmed

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Saltwater intrusion (SWI) in coastal aquifers has become a growing threat for many countries around the world. While various control measures have been suggested to mitigate SWI, the construction of subsurface physical barriers remains one of the most effective solutions for this problem. In this work, we used laboratory experiments and numerical simulations to investigate the effectiveness of subsurface dams in heterogeneous layered coastal aquifer with different layering patterns. Four different cases were investigated, including a homogeneous (case H), and three heterogeneous cases in which a low permeability (K) layer was set in the top part of the system (case LH), in the middle part of the system (case HLH) and the bottom part of the system (case HL). Automated image analysis technique was implemented to quantify the main SWI parameters under high spatial and temporal resolution. The method also provides transient salt concentration maps, allowing for the first time clear visualization of the spillage of saline water over the dam (advancing wedge condition) as well as the flushing of residual saline water from the freshwater area (receding wedge condition). The SEAWAT code was adopted for the numerical simulations. The results show that the presence of an overlying layer of low permeability enhanced the ability of the dam to retain the saline water. In such conditions, the rate of saline water spillage and inland extension may considerably be reduced. Conversely, the presence of an underlying low K layer led to a faster increase of saltwater volume on the seaward side of the wall, therefore considerably facilitating the spillage. The results showed that a complete removal of the residual saline water eventually occurred in all the investigated scenarios, with a rate of removal strongly affected by the hydraulic conductivity of the lower part of the aquifer. The data showed that the addition of the underlying low K layer in case HL caused the complete flushing to be almost twice longer than in the homogeneous scenario.

Keywords: heterogeneous coastal aquifers, laboratory experiments, physical barriers, seawater intrusion control

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Authors: Nguyen-Thanh Son

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Flood is among the most frequent and costliest natural hazards. The flood disasters especially affect the poor people in rural areas, who are heavily dependent on agriculture and have lower incomes. Cambodia is identified as one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, ranked 13th out of 181 countries most affected by the impacts of climate change. Flood monitoring is thus a strategic priority at national and regional levels because policymakers need reliable spatial and temporal information on flood-prone areas to form successful monitoring programs to reduce possible impacts on the country’s economy and people’s likelihood. This study aims to develop methods for flood mapping and assessment from MODIS data in Cambodia. We processed the data for the period from 2000 to 2017, following three main steps: (1) data pre-processing to construct smooth time-series vegetation and water surface indices, (2) delineation of flood-prone areas, and (3) accuracy assessment. The results of flood mapping were verified with the ground reference data, indicating the overall accuracy of 88.7% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.77, respectively. These results were reaffirmed by close agreement between the flood-mapping area and ground reference data, with the correlation coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.94. The seasonally flooded areas observed for 2010, 2015, and 2016 were remarkably smaller than other years, mainly attributed to the El Niño weather phenomenon exacerbated by impacts of climate change. Eventually, although several sources potentially lowered the mapping accuracy of flood-prone areas, including image cloud contamination, mixed-pixel issues, and low-resolution bias between the mapping results and ground reference data, our methods indicated the satisfactory results for delineating spatiotemporal evolutions of floods. The results in the form of quantitative information on spatiotemporal flood distributions could be beneficial to policymakers in evaluating their management strategies for mitigating the negative effects of floods on agriculture and people’s likelihood in the country.

Keywords: MODIS, flood, mapping, Cambodia

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Authors: H. M. Ferreira, H. Cockings, D. F. Gordon

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Climate change is driving a transition in the energy sector, with low-carbon energy sources such as hydrogen (H2) emerging as an alternative to fossil fuels. However, the successful implementation of a hydrogen economy requires an expansion of hydrogen production, transportation and storage capacity. The costs associated with this transition are high but can be partly mitigated by adapting the current oil and natural gas networks, such as pipeline, an important component of the hydrogen infrastructure, to transport pure or blended hydrogen. Steel pipelines are designed to withstand fatigue, one of the most common causes of pipeline failure. However, it is well established that some materials, such as steel, can fail prematurely in service when exposed to hydrogen-rich environments. Therefore, it is imperative to evaluate how defects (e.g. inclusions, dents, and pre-existing cracks) will interact with hydrogen under cyclic loading and, ultimately, to what extent hydrogen induced failure will limit the service conditions of steel pipelines. This presentation will explore how the exposure of API 5L X65 to a hydrogen-rich environment and cyclic loads will influence its susceptibility to hydrogen induced failure. That evaluation will be performed by a combination of several techniques such as hydrogen permeation testing (ISO 17081:2014), fatigue crack growth (FCG) testing (ISO 12108:2018 and AFGROW modelling), combined with microstructural and fractographic analysis. The development of a FCG test setup coupled with an electrochemical cell will be discussed, along with the advantages and challenges of measuring crack growth rates in electrolytic hydrogen environments. A detailed assessment of several electrolytic charging conditions will also be presented, using hydrogen permeation testing as a method to correlate the different charging settings to equivalent hydrogen concentrations and effective diffusivity coefficients, not only on the base material but also on the heat affected zone and weld of the pipelines. The experimental work is being complemented with AFGROW, a useful FCG modelling software that has helped inform testing parameters and which will also be developed to ultimately help industry experts perform structural integrity analysis and remnant life characterisation of pipeline steels under representative conditions. The results from this research will allow to conclude if there is an acceleration of the crack growth rate of API 5L X65 under the influence of a hydrogen-rich environment, an important aspect that needs to be rectified instandards and codes of practice on pipeline integrity evaluation and maintenance.

Keywords: AFGROW, electrolytic hydrogen charging, fatigue crack growth, hydrogen, pipeline, steel

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Authors: Arul Ayyaswami, Vidhya Ramalingam

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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have emerged as a significant environmental concern due to their ubiquity and persistence in the environment. Their chemical characteristics and adverse effects on human health demands more effective and sustainable solutions in remediation of the PFAS. The work presented here encompasses an overview of treatment technologies with two case studies that utilize effective approaches in addressing PFAS contaminated media. Currently the options for treatment of PFAS compounds include Activated carbon adsorption, Ion Exchange, Membrane Filtration, Advanced oxidation processes, Electrochemical treatment, and Precipitation and Coagulation. In the first case study, a pilot study application of colloidal activated carbon (CAC) was completed to address PFAS from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) used to extinguish a large fire. The pilot study was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of a CAC in situ permeable reactive barrier (PRB) in effectively stopping the migration of PFOS and PFOA, moving from the source area at high concentrations. Before the CAC PRB installation, an injection test using - fluorescein dye was conducted to determine the primary fracture-induced groundwater flow pathways. A straddle packer injection delivery system was used to isolate discrete intervals and gain resolution over the 70 feet saturated zone targeted for treatment. Flow rates were adjusted, and aquifer responses were recorded for each interval. The results from the injection test were used to design the pilot test injection plan using CAC PRB. Following the CAC PRB application, the combined initial concentration 91,400 ng/L of PFOS and PFOA were reduced to approximately 70 ng/L (99.9% reduction), after only one month following the injection event. The results demonstrate the remedy's effectiveness to quickly and safely contain high concentrations of PFAS in fractured bedrock, reducing the risk to downgradient receptors. The second study involves developing a reductive defluorination treatment process using UV and electron acceptor. This experiment indicates a significant potential in treatment of PFAS contaminated waste media such as landfill leachates. The technology also shows a promising way of tacking these contaminants without the need for secondary waste disposal or any additional pre-treatments.

Keywords: per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), colloidal activated carbon (CAC), destructive PFAS treatment technology, aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF)

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Authors: Hongliang Ding, Ziqu Ouyang

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Under the basic national conditions that the energy structure is dominated by coal, it is of great significance to realize deep and flexible peak shaving of boilers in pulverized coal power plants, and maximize the consumption of renewable energy in the power grid, to ensure China's energy security and scientifically achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. With the promising self-preheating combustion technology, which had the potential of broad-load regulation and rapid response to load changes, this study mainly investigated the different load operation and rapid load-change characteristics of pulverized coal combustion. Four effective load-stabilization bases were proposed according to preheating temperature, coal gas composition (calorific value), combustion temperature (spatial mean temperature and mean square temperature fluctuation coefficient), and flue gas emissions (CO and NOx concentrations), on the basis of which the load-change rates were calculated to assess the load response characteristics. Due to the improvement of the physicochemical properties of pulverized coal after preheating, stable ignition and combustion conditions could be obtained even at a low load of 25%, with a combustion efficiency of over 97.5%, and NOx emission reached the lowest at 50% load, with the concentration of 50.97 mg/Nm3 (@6%O2). Additionally, the load ramp-up stage displayed higher load-change rates than the load ramp-down stage, with maximum rates of 3.30 %/min and 3.01 %/min, respectively. Furthermore, the driving force formed by high step load was conducive to the increase of load-change rate. The rates based on the preheating indicator attained the highest value of 3.30 %/min, while the rates based on the combustion indicator peaked at 2.71 %/min. In comparison, the combustion indicator accurately described the system’s combustion state and load changes, whereas the preheating indicator was easier to acquire, with a higher load-change rate, hence the appropriate evaluation strategy should depend on the actual situation. This study verified a feasible method for deep and flexible peak shaving of coal-fired power units, further providing basic data and technical supports for future engineering applications.

Keywords: clean coal combustion, load-change rate, peak shaving, self-preheating

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Authors: Mao Huasong, Tang Siqi, Cheng Yu

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The cognition and practice of Chinese landscapes have distinct uniqueness. The intergenerational inheritance of urban and rural landscapes is a common objective fact which has created a unique type of heritage in China - scenic heritage. The current generalization of the concept of scenic heritage has affected the lack of innovation in corresponding protection practices. Therefore, clarifying the concepts and connotations of scenery and scenic heritage, clarifying the protection objects of scenic heritage and the methods and approaches in intergenerational inheritance can provide theoretical support for the practice of Chinese scenic heritage and contribute Chinese wisdom to the transformation of world heritage sites. Taking ancient Shaoxing, which has a long time span and rich descriptions of scenic types and quantities, as the research object and using local chronicles as the basic research material, based on text analysis, word frequency analysis, case statistics, and historical, geographical spatial annotation methods, this study traces back to ancient scenic practices and conducts in-depth descriptions in both text and space. it have constructed a scenic heritage identification method based on the basic connotation characteristics and morphological representation characteristics of natural and cultural correlations, combined with the intergenerational and representative characteristics of scenic heritage; Summarized the bidirectional integration of "scenic spots" and "form scenic spots", "outstanding people" and "local spirits" in the formation process of scenic heritage; In inheritance, guided by Confucian values of education; In communication, the cultural interpretation constructed by scenery and the way of landscape life are used to strengthen the intergenerational inheritance of natural, artificial material elements, and intangible spirits. As a unique type of heritage in China, scenic heritage should improve its standards, values, and connotations in current protection practices and actively absorb historical experience.

Keywords: scenic heritage, heritage protection, cultural landscape, shaoxing, chinese landscape

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Authors: Arditya Nugraha, Herry Gunawan, Agung P. Widodo

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The various possible strategies to find hydrocarbon are explored within a wide ranging of efforts. It started to identify petroleum concept in the basin. The main objectives of this paper are to integrate and develop information, knowledge, and evaluation from Indonesia’s sedimentary basins system in terms of their suitability for exploration activity and estimate the hydrocarbon potential available. The system which compiled data information and knowledge and comprised exploration and production data of all basins in Indonesia called as Basin Professor which stands for Basin Professional and Processor. Basin Professor is a website application using Geography Information System which consists of all information about basin montage, basin summary, petroleum system, stratigraphy, development play, risk factor, exploration history, working area, regional cross section, well correlation, prospect & lead inventory and infrastructure spatial. From 82 identified sedimentary basins, North Sumatra, Central Sumatra, South Sumatera, East Java, Kutai, and Tarakan basins are respectively positioned of the Indonesia’ s mature basin and the most productive basin. The Eastern of Indonesia also have many hydrocarbon potential and discovered several fields in Papua and East Abadi. Basin Professor compiled the well data in all of the basin in Indonesia from mature basin to frontier basin. Well known geological data, subsurface mapping, prospect and lead, resources and established infrastructures are the main factors make these basins have higher suitability beside another potential basin. The hydrocarbon potential resulted from this paper based on the degree of geological data, petroleum, and economic evaluation. Basin Professor has provided by a calculator tool in lead and prospect for estimate the hydrocarbon reserves, recoverable in place and geological risk. Furthermore, the calculator also defines the preliminary economic evaluation such as investment, POT IRR and infrastructures in each basin. From this Basin Professor, petroleum companies are able to estimate that Indonesia has a huge potential of hydrocarbon oil and gas reservoirs and still interesting for hydrocarbon exploration and production activity.

Keywords: basin summary, petroleum system, resources, economic evaluation

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Authors: Srećko Favro, Dora Mužinić

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The eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea has been a significant part of the most important traffic corridors since Antiquity due to its position as the deepest indented bay of the Mediterranean and numerous bays on the coast and is-lands. The central place throughout history was occupied by the central part - Split-Dalmatia County, with its center in Antica in Salona and later in Split. Nowadays, in addition to its traffic and economic importance, this area is also important for tourism, an area where Croatia develops its economy and realizing its economic growth. Nautical tourism is the most important form of the tourist economic sector that uses the geographical features of the Croatian Adriatic water area and achieves the greatest growth based on tour-ist trends in the world (coronavirus - separation from the masses, adventure tourism - own arrangements) and thus opens up the possibility of develop-ment for other parts of the tourist economy. This will be described in the ex-ample of the business of the Split-Dalmatia County shipping company from Krilo Jesenice, which operates as a mini-cruising service provider, the lead-ing form of cruising in Croatia. The advantages that this type of tourism provides to travelers in terms of customized itineraries, high-quality services, an intimate atmosphere, and a unique experience through familiarization with local culture and tradition will be considered. Through direct primary research and analysis of available secondary research data, an attempt will be made to show how traditional Croatian mini cruisers manage to stand out in a competitive tourist environment. Their impact on the local economy, sus-tainability, and environmental protection will be considered, as well as how they are integrated into the tourist offer of other destinations in Croatia. In addition, the challenges and opportunities that arise in the maintenance and development of traditional Croatian mini cruisers will be discussed, includ-ing issues such as infrastructure, staff training, and market trends.

Keywords: croatia, adriatic, cruising, nautical tourism, mini cruise

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Authors: Michael T. Lobmann, Camilla Wellstein, Stefan Zerbe

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Vegetation plays an important role for the stabilization of slopes against erosion processes, such as shallow erosion and landslides. Plant roots reinforce the soil, increase soil cohesion and often cross possible shear planes. Hence, plant roots reduce the risk of slope failure. Generally, shrub and tree roots penetrate deeper into the soil vertically, while roots of forbs and grasses are concentrated horizontally in the topsoil and organic layer. Therefore, shrubs and trees have a higher potential for stabilization of slopes with deep soil layers than forbs and grasses. Consequently, research mainly focused on the vertical root effects of shrubs and trees. Nevertheless, a better understanding of the stabilizing effects of grasses and forbs is needed for better evaluation of the stability of natural and artificial slopes with herbaceous vegetation. Despite the importance of vertical root effects, field observations indicate that horizontal root effects also play an important role for slope stabilization. Not only forbs and grasses, but also some shrubs and trees form tight horizontal networks of fine and coarse roots and rhizomes in the topsoil. These root networks increase soil cohesion and horizontal tensile strength. Available methods for physical measurements, such as shear-box tests, pullout tests and singular root tensile strength measurement can only provide a detailed picture of vertical effects of roots on slope stabilization. However, the assessment of horizontal root effects is largely limited to computer modeling. Here, a method for measurement of in-situ cumulative horizontal root tensile strength is presented. A traction machine was developed that allows fixation of rectangular grass sods (max. 30x60cm) on the short ends with a 30x30cm measurement zone in the middle. On two alpine grass slopes in South Tyrol (northern Italy), 30x60cm grass sods were cut out (max. depth 20cm). Grass sods were pulled apart measuring the horizontal tensile strength over 30cm width over the time. The horizontal tensile strength of the sods was measured and compared for different soil depths, hydrological conditions, and root physiological properties. The results improve our understanding of horizontal root effects on slope stabilization and can be used for improved evaluation of grass slope stability.

Keywords: grassland, horizontal root effect, landslide, mountain, pasture, shallow erosion

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Authors: Valentina Talu, Giulia Tola

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Current researches and applications aimed at exploring the role of spatial configuration as a means for improving the autonomy of people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), almost exclusively focus on the definition of criteria for the design of closed, separated, private spaces devoted only to people - mainly children - with ASD. In fact, very few researches specifically investigate the relation between the city and people with autism, focusing on their sensory experiences related to the interaction with the urban environment. The growing incidence of ASD and the need to guarantee during adulthood the actual opportunity to exercise the achieved level of autonomy and independency, emphasizes the necessity to ‘broaden’ the research perspective by investigating also the specific contribution of urban mobility policies and urban design to the enhancement of the quality of life of people with ASD. Starting from these considerations, the paper describes an ongoing research focused on the relation between the city and people with autism spectrum disorder, with the specific aim of promoting their possibility of walking across the city at the neighborhood scale, thus making the access to relevant urban spaces and services possible. In the first part, the paper proposes a framework for illustrating the commonly recurring problems that people with ASD face in their daily life when they interact with the urban environment (with reference to the capability approach). Subsequently, with the support of an in depth analysis of existing contributions (researches and projects) and an exchange with different experts (neuropsychiatrists, teachers, parents), are identified two urban requirements, then 'translated' into an integrated system of urban mobility policies and extra-small tactical project aimed at enhancing the actual possibility for people with ASD of walking through the city autonomously and safely. According to this vision, the promotion of the autonomy of people with ASD through the adoption of mobility policies and micro tactical urban projects can represent an opportunity for promoting and improving the overall quality of urban life.

Keywords: city and people with ASD, quality of urban life of disadvantaged people, urban capabilities, urban design

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Authors: Gurkirandeep Kaur, Rana Pratap Yadav

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This experimental study is aimed to examine the radiation characteristics of different plasma structures of a surface wave-driven plasma antenna by an automated measuring system. In this study, a 30 cm long plasma column of argon gas with a diameter of 3 cm is excited by surface wave discharge mechanism operating at 13.56 MHz with RF power level up to 100 Watts and gas pressure between 0.01 to 0.05 mb. The study reveals that a single structured plasma monopole can be modified into an array of plasma antenna elements by forming multiple striations or plasma blobs inside the discharge tube by altering the values of plasma properties such as working pressure, operating frequency, input RF power, discharge tube dimensions, i.e., length, radius, and thickness. It is also reported that plasma length, electron density, and conductivity are functions of operating plasma parameters and controlled by changing working pressure and input power. To investigate the antenna radiation efficiency for the far-field region, an automation-based radiation measuring system has been fabricated and presented in detail. This developed automated system involves a combined setup of controller, dc servo motors, vector network analyzer, and computing device to evaluate the radiation intensity, directivity, gain and efficiency of plasma antenna. In this system, the controller is connected to multiple motors for moving aluminum shafts in both elevation and azimuthal plane whereas radiation from plasma monopole antenna is measured by a Vector Network Analyser (VNA) which is further wired up with the computing device to display radiations in polar plot forms. Here, the radiation characteristics of both continuous and array plasma monopole antenna have been studied for various working plasma parameters. The experimental results clearly indicate that the plasma antenna is as efficient as a metallic antenna. The radiation from plasma monopole antenna is significantly influenced by plasma properties which provides a wider range in radiation pattern where desired radiation parameters like beam-width, the direction of radiation, radiation intensity, antenna efficiency, etc. can be achieved in a single monopole. Due to its wide range of selectivity in radiation pattern; this can meet the demands of wider bandwidth to get high data speed in communication systems. Moreover, this developed system provides an efficient and cost-effective solution for measuring the radiation pattern in far-field zone for any kind of antenna system.

Keywords: antenna radiation characteristics, dynamically reconfigurable, plasma antenna, plasma column, plasma striations, surface wave

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Authors: Wojciech Górecki, Anna Sowiżdżał, Grzegorz Machowski, Tomasz Maćkowski, Bartosz Papiernik, Michał Stefaniuk

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The article shows results of the project which aims at evaluating possibilities of effective development and exploitation of natural gas from argillaceous series of the Autochthonous Miocene in the Carpathian Foredeep. To achieve the objective, the research team develop a world-trend based but unique methodology of processing and interpretation, adjusted to data, local variations and petroleum characteristics of the area. In order to determine the zones in which maximum volumes of hydrocarbons might have been generated and preserved as shale gas reservoirs, as well as to identify the most preferable well sites where largest gas accumulations are anticipated a number of task were accomplished. Evaluation of petrophysical properties and hydrocarbon saturation of the Miocene complex is based on laboratory measurements as well as interpretation of well-logs and archival data. The studies apply mercury porosimetry (MICP), micro CT and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (using the Rock Core Analyzer). For prospective location (e.g. central part of Carpathian Foredeep – Brzesko-Wojnicz area) reprocessing and reinterpretation of detailed seismic survey data with the use of integrated geophysical investigations has been made. Construction of quantitative, structural and parametric models for selected areas of the Carpathian Foredeep is performed on the basis of integrated, detailed 3D computer models. Modeling are carried on with the Schlumberger’s Petrel software. Finally, prospective zones are spatially contoured in a form of regional 3D grid, which will be framework for generation modelling and comprehensive parametric mapping, allowing for spatial identification of the most prospective zones of unconventional gas accumulation in the Carpathian Foredeep. Preliminary results of research works indicate a potentially prospective area for occurrence of unconventional gas accumulations in the Polish part of Carpathian Foredeep.

Keywords: autochthonous Miocene, Carpathian foredeep, Poland, shale gas

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Authors: Frederico Fialho Teixeira, Islam Mashaly, Maryam Shafiei, Jurij Karlovsek

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The ubiquity of data gathering and smart technologies, advancements in virtual technologies, and the development of the internet of things (IoT) have created urgent demands for the development of frameworks and efficient workflows for data collection, visualisation, and analysis. Digital twin, in different scales of the city into the building, allows for bringing together data from different sources to generate fundamental and illuminating insights for the management of current facilities and the lifecycle of amenities as well as improvement of the performance of current and future designs. Over the past two decades, there has been growing interest in the topic of digital twin and their applications in city and building scales. Most such studies look at the urban environment through a homogeneous or generalist lens and lack specificity in particular characteristics or identities, which define an urban university campus. Bridging this knowledge gap, this paper offers a framework for developing a digital twin for a university campus that, with some modifications, could provide insights for any large-scale digital twin settings like towns and cities. It showcases how currently unused data could be purposefully combined, interpolated and visualised for producing analysis-ready data (such as flood or energy simulations or functional and occupancy maps), highlighting the potential applications of such a framework for campus planning and policymaking. The research integrates campus-level data layers into one spatial information repository and casts light on critical data clusters for the digital twin at the campus level. The paper also seeks to raise insightful and directive questions on how digital twin for campus can be extrapolated to city-scale digital twin. The outcomes of the paper, thus, inform future projects for the development of large-scale digital twin as well as urban and architectural researchers on potential applications of digital twin in future design, management, and sustainable planning, to predict problems, calculate risks, decrease management costs, and improve performance.

Keywords: digital twin, smart campus, framework, data collection, point cloud

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Authors: Zahra Kazemi Saleh, Bénédicte Poulin-Charronnat, Annie Vinter

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This study examines the effects of aging on visual statistical learning, using eye-tracking techniques to investigate this cognitive phenomenon. Visual statistical learning is a fundamental brain function that enables the automatic and implicit recognition, processing, and internalization of environmental patterns over time. Some previous research has suggested the robustness of this learning mechanism throughout the aging process, underscoring its importance in the context of education and rehabilitation for the elderly. The study included three distinct groups of participants, including 21 young adults (Mage: 19.73), 20 young-old adults (Mage: 67.22), and 17 old-old adults (Mage: 79.34). Participants were exposed to a series of 12 arbitrary black shapes organized into 6 pairs, each with different spatial configurations and orientations (horizontal, vertical, and oblique). These pairs were not explicitly revealed to the participants, who were instructed to passively observe 144 grids presented sequentially on the screen for a total duration of 7 min. In the subsequent test phase, participants performed a two-alternative forced-choice task in which they had to identify the most familiar pair from 48 trials, each consisting of a base pair and a non-base pair. Behavioral analysis using t-tests revealed notable findings. The mean score for the first group was significantly above chance, indicating the presence of visual statistical learning. Similarly, the second group also performed significantly above chance, confirming the persistence of visual statistical learning in young-old adults. Conversely, the third group, consisting of old-old adults, showed a mean score that was not significantly above chance. This lack of statistical learning in the old-old adult group suggests a decline in this cognitive ability with age. Preliminary eye-tracking results showed a decrease in the number and duration of fixations during the exposure phase for all groups. The main difference was that older participants focused more often on empty cases than younger participants, likely due to a decline in the ability to ignore irrelevant information, resulting in a decrease in statistical learning performance.

Keywords: aging, eye tracking, implicit learning, visual statistical learning

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Authors: Saikat Datta

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Incompressible laminar time-varying flow is investigated over a rounded backward-facing step for a triangular piston motion at the inlet of a straight channel with very high acceleration, followed by a slow deceleration experimentally and through numerical simulation. The backward-facing step is an important test-case as it embodies important flow characteristics such as separation point, reattachment length, and recirculation of flow. A sliding piston imparts two successive triangular velocities at the inlet, constant acceleration from rest, 0≤t≤t0, and constant deceleration to rest, t0≤tKeywords: laminar boundary layer separation, rounded backward facing step, separation bubble, unsteady separation, unsteady vortex flows

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Authors: Syed Afrozuddin Ahmed, Junaid Saghir Siddiqi, Sabah Quaiser

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Various studies have reported that global warming causes unstable climate and many serious impact to physical environment and public health. The increasing incidence of dengue incidence is now a priority health issue and become a health burden of Pakistan. In this study it has been investigated that spatial pattern of environment causes the emergence or increasing rate of dengue fever incidence that effects the population and its health. The climatic or environmental structure data and the Dengue Fever (DF) data was processed by coding, editing, tabulating, recoding, restructuring in terms of re-tabulating was carried out, and finally applying different statistical methods, techniques, and procedures for the evaluation. Five climatic variables which we have studied are precipitation (P), Maximum temperature (Mx), Minimum temperature (Mn), Humidity (H) and Wind speed (W) collected from 1980-2012. The dengue cases in Karachi from 2010 to 2012 are reported on weekly basis. Principal component analysis is applied to explore the climatic variables and/or the climatic (structure) which may influence in the increase or decrease in the number of dengue fever cases in Karachi. PC1 for all the period is General atmospheric condition. PC2 for dengue period is contrast between precipitation and wind speed. PC3 is the weighted difference between maximum temperature and wind speed. PC4 for dengue period contrast between maximum and wind speed. Negative binomial and Poisson regression model are used to correlate the dengue fever incidence to climatic variable and principal component score. Relative humidity is estimated to positively influence on the chances of dengue occurrence by 1.71% times. Maximum temperature positively influence on the chances dengue occurrence by 19.48% times. Minimum temperature affects positively on the chances of dengue occurrence by 11.51% times. Wind speed is effecting negatively on the weekly occurrence of dengue fever by 7.41% times.

Keywords: principal component analysis, dengue fever, negative binomial regression model, poisson regression model

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Authors: Navah Z. Ratzon, Anat Keren, Shlomit Y. Greenberg

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Car accidents are a problem worldwide. Adolescents’ involvement in car accidents is higher in comparison to the overall driving population. Researchers estimate the risk of accidents among adolescents with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to be 1.2 to 4 times higher than that of their peers. Individuals with ADHD exhibit unique patterns of eye movements and attentional shifts that play an important role in driving. In addition, deficiencies in cognitive and executive functions among adolescents with ADHD is likely to put them at greater risk for car accidents. Fifteen adolescents with ADHD and 17 matched controls participated in the study. Individuals from both groups attended local public schools and did not have a driver’s license. Participants’ mean age was 16.1 (SD=.23). As part of the experiment, they all completed a driving simulation session, while their eye movements were monitored. Data were recorded by an eye tracker: The entire driving session was recorded, registering the tester’s exact gaze position directly on the screen. Eye movements and simulator data were analyzed using Matlab (Mathworks, USA). Participants’ cognitive and metacognitive abilities were evaluated as well. No correlation was found between saccade properties, regions of interest, and simulator performance in either group, although participants with ADHD allocated more visual scan time (25%, SD = .13%) to a smaller segment of dashboard area, whereas controls scanned the monitor more evenly (15%, SD = .05%). The visual scan pattern found among participants with ADHD indicates a distinct pattern of engagement-disengagement of spatial attention compared to that of non-ADHD participants as well as lower attention flexibility, which likely affects driving. Additionally the lower the results on the cognitive tests, the worse driving performance was. None of the participants had prior driving experience, yet participants with ADHD distinctly demonstrated difficulties in scanning their surroundings, which may impair driving. This stresses the need to consider intervention programs, before driving lessons begin, to help adolescents with ADHD acquire proper driving habits, avoid typical driving errors, and achieve safer driving.

Keywords: ADHD, attentional shifting, driving simulator, eye movements

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Authors: Kanogkan Leerojanaprapa

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Textile and garment industry is used to a major exporting industry of Thailand. According to lacking of the nation's price-competitiveness by stopping the EU's GSP (Generalised Scheme of Preferences) and ‘Nationwide Minimum Wage Policy’ that Thailand’s employers must pay all employees at least 300 baht (about $10) a day, the supply chains of the Thai textile and garment industry is affected and need to be reformed. Therefore, either Thai textile or garment industry will be existed or not would be concerned. This is also challenged for the government to decide which industries should be promoted the future industries of Thailand. Recently Thai government launch The Cluster-based Special Economic Development Zones Policy for promoting business cluster (effect on September 16, 2015). They define a cluster as the concentration of interconnected businesses and related institutions that operate within the same geographic areas and textiles and garment is one of target industrial clusters and 9 provinces are targeted (Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi, Samut Sakhon, Chonburi, Chachoengsao, Prachinburi, and Sa Kaeo). The cluster zone are defined to link west-east corridor connected to manufacturing source in Cambodia and Mynmar to Bangkok where are promoted to be design, sourcing, and trading hub. The Thai government will provide tax and non-tax incentives for targeted industries within the clusters and expects these businesses are scattered to where they can get the most benefit which will identify future industrial cluster. This research will show the difference between the current cluster and future cluster following the target provinces of the textile and garment. The current cluster is analysed from secondary data. The four characteristics of the numbers of plants in Spinning, weaving and finishing of textiles, Manufacture of made-up textile articles, except apparel, Manufacture of knitted and crocheted fabrics, and Manufacture of other textiles, not elsewhere classified in particular 77 provinces (in total) are clustered by K-means cluster analysis and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. In addition, the cluster can be confirmed and showed which variables contribute the most to defined cluster solution with ANOVA test. The results of analysis can identify 22 provinces (which the textile or garment plants are located) into 3 clusters. Plants in cluster 1 tend to be large numbers of plants which is only Bangkok, Next plants in cluster 2 tend to be moderate numbers of plants which are Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom. Finally plants in cluster 3 tend to be little numbers of plants which are other 18 provinces. The same methodology can be implemented in other industries for future study.

Keywords: ANOVA, hierarchical cluster analysis, industrial clusters, K -means cluster analysis, textile and garment industry

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Authors: Klara Strecker

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During times of globalization, socioeconomic systems have become connected across the world through global supply chains. As a result, consumption and production locations have increasingly become spatially decoupled. This decoupling leads to complex entanglements of systems and sustainability challenges across distances -entanglements which can be conceptualized as telecouplings. Through telecouplings, people and environments across the world have become closely connected, bringing challenges as well as opportunities. Some argue that telecoupling dynamics started taking shape during times of colonization when resources were first traded across the world. An example of such a telecoupling is that of the rose. Every third rose sold in Europe is grown in Kenya and enters the European market through the Dutch flower auction system. Many Kenyan farms are Dutch-owned, closely entangling Kenya and the Netherlands through the trade of roses. Furthermore, the globalization of the flower industry and the resulting shift of production away from the Netherlands and towards Kenya has led to significant changes in the Dutch horticulture sector. However, the sustainability effects of this rose telecoupling is limited neither to the horticulture sector nor to the Netherlands and Kenya. Alongside the flow of roses between these countries come complex financial, knowledge-based, and regulatory flows. The rose telecoupling also creates spillover effects to other countries, such as Ethiopia, and other industries, such as Kenyan tourism. Therefore, telecoupling dynamics create complex entanglements that cut across sectors, environments, communities, and countries, which makes effectively governing and managing telecouplings and their sustainability implications challenging. Indeed, sustainability can no longer be studied in spatial and temporal isolation. This paper aims to map the rose telecoupling’s complex environmental and social interactions to identify points of tension guiding sustainability-targeted interventions. Mapping these interactions will provide a more holistic understanding of the sustainability challenges involved in the Dutch-Kenyan rose trade. This interdisciplinary telecoupling approach reframes and integrates interdisciplinary knowledge about the rose trade between the Netherlands, Kenya, and beyond.

Keywords: Dutch-Kenyan rose trade, globalization, socio-ecological system, sustainability, telecoupling

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Authors: Tingting Huang, Sha Li, Geoffrey Griffiths, Martin Lukac, Jianning Zhu

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Territorial landscapes have experienced a gradual loss of their typical characteristics during long-term human activities. In order to protect the integrity of regional landscapes, it is necessary to characterize, evaluate and protect them in a graded manner. The study takes Fujian, China, as an example and classifies the landscape characters of the site at the regional scale, middle scale, and detailed scale. A multi-scale approach combining parametric and holistic approaches is used to classify and partition the landscape character types (LCTs) and landscape character areas (LCAs) at different scales, and a multi-element landscape assessment approach is adopted to explore the conservation strategies of the landscape character. Firstly, multiple fields and multiple elements of geography, nature and humanities were selected as the basis of assessment according to the scales. Secondly, the study takes a parametric approach to the classification and partitioning of landscape character, Principal Component Analysis, and two-stage cluster analysis (K-means and GMM) in MATLAB software to obtain LCTs, combines with Canny Operator Edge Detection Algorithm to obtain landscape character contours and corrects LCTs and LCAs by field survey and manual identification methods. Finally, the study adopts the Landscape Sensitivity Assessment method to perform landscape character conservation analysis and formulates five strategies for different LCAs: conservation, enhancement, restoration, creation, and combination. This multi-scale identification approach can efficiently integrate multiple types of landscape character elements, reduce the difficulty of broad-scale operations in the process of landscape character conservation, and provide a basis for landscape character conservation strategies. Based on the natural background and the restoration of regional characteristics, the results of landscape character assessment are scientific and objective and can provide a strong reference in regional and national scale territorial spatial planning.

Keywords: parameterization, multi-scale, landscape character identify, landscape character assessment

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Authors: Vaishali Sharma

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The research is an attempt to hunt a scientific and objective method to transform Ajmer's traditional walled city into a living cultural heritage space, exploring urban management methods to elevate local economy and social space in relation to specific cultural-based initiatives. Ajmer is among the oldest and religiously diverse settlements in Rajasthan, that has seen superimposed developments through the eras. With numerous agencies operating towards the development of the town core of Ajmer, it becomes essential to structure development changes in tune with the transformations and the existing heritage. The study was radio-controlled by the subsequent analysis question: What is the way to overcome the genetic social and economic stress inside the communities and revive public life? In order to create necessary interventions at the neighbourhood level, fifteen neighbourhoods were identified. Each of those was analyzed relatively on three major dimensions: Heritage, Social and Local Economy. Each dimension was further broken down into multiple sub-aspects for an overall and exhaustive understanding. The average median values of the responses were used to develop a color-coded matrix to represent the scores in an exceedingly structured quantified manner, moreover, linking it to the spatial structure. Respondent perceptions on numerous dimensions were additionally recorded, so that the proposals are inclusive in nature. The goals are targeted at Ajmer's traditional walled towns, which will make it easier for the community to regulate the rapid transformations and commercialization occurring within the space. The study recommends the necessity for accrued support in methods and policies from the non-public sector, businesses as well as local stakeholders. An expansion, revitalization and maintenance of the major business and heritage corridors, for an increased local and visitor experience, can produce an impetus for promotion of the intangible heritage, to spur the local economic processes, conservation of heritage precincts and upward development.

Keywords: cultural heritage, economic revitalization, neighbourhoods in walled cities, social space, tangible and intangible heritage

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Authors: Jinlai Bian, Zailin Yang, Guanxixi Jiang, Xinzhu Li

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The problem of elastic wave propagation in inhomogeneous medium has always been a classic problem. Due to the frequent occurrence of earthquakes, many economic losses and casualties have been caused, therefore, to prevent earthquake damage to people and reduce damage, this paper studies the dynamic response around the circular inclusion in the whole space with inhomogeneous modulus, the inhomogeneity of the medium is reflected in the shear modulus of the medium with the spatial position, and the density is constant, this method can be used to solve the problem of the underground buried pipeline. Stress concentration phenomena are common in aerospace and earthquake engineering, and the dynamic stress concentration factor (DSCF) is one of the main factors leading to material damage, one of the important applications of the theory of elastic dynamics is to determine the stress concentration in the body with discontinuities such as cracks, holes, and inclusions. At present, the methods include wave function expansion method, integral transformation method, integral equation method and so on. Based on the complex function method, the Helmholtz equation with variable coefficients is standardized by using conformal transformation method and wave function expansion method, the displacement and stress fields in the whole space with circular inclusions are solved in the complex coordinate system, the unknown coefficients are solved by using boundary conditions, by comparing with the existing results, the correctness of this method is verified, based on the superiority of the complex variable function theory to the conformal transformation, this method can be extended to study the inclusion problem of arbitrary shapes. By solving the dynamic stress concentration factor around the inclusions, the influence of the inhomogeneous parameters of the medium and the wavenumber ratio of the inclusions to the matrix on the dynamic stress concentration factor is analyzed. The research results can provide some reference value for the evaluation of nondestructive testing (NDT), oil exploration, seismic monitoring, and soil-structure interaction.

Keywords: circular inclusions, complex variable function, dynamic stress concentration factor (DSCF), inhomogeneous medium

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Authors: Aslı Yörük, Mevla Yahya, Banu Tavat

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It is well established that bilinguals outperform monolinguals on executive function tasks. However, the effects of bilingualism on prospective memory (PM), which also requires executive functions, have not been investigated vastly. This study aimed to compare bi and monolingual participants' PM performance in focal and non-focal PM tasks. Considering that bilinguals have greater executive function abilities than monolinguals, we predict that bilinguals’ PM performance would be higher than monolinguals on the non-focal PM task, which requires controlled monitoring processes. To investigate these predictions, we administered the focal and non-focal PM task and measured the PM and ongoing task performance. Forty-eight Turkish-English bilinguals residing in North Macedonia and forty-eight Turkish monolinguals living in Turkey between the ages of 18-30 participated in the study. They were instructed to remember responding to rarely appearing PM cues while engaged in an ongoing task, i.e., spatial working memory task. The focality of the task was manipulated by giving different instructions for PM cues. In the focal PM task, participants were asked to remember to press an enter key whenever a particular target stimulus appeared in the working memory task; in the non-focal PM task, instead of responding to a specific target shape, participants were asked to remember to press the enter key whenever the background color of the working memory trials changes to a specific color (yellow). To analyze data, we performed a 2 × 2 mixed factorial ANOVA with the task (focal versus non-focal) as a within-subject variable and language group (bilinguals versus monolinguals) as a between-subject variable. The results showed no direct evidence for a bilingual advantage in PM. That is, the group’s performance did not differ in PM accuracy and ongoing task accuracy. However, bilinguals were overall faster in the ongoing task, yet this was not specific to PM cue’s focality. Moreover, the results showed a reversed effect of PM cue's focality on the ongoing task performance. That is, both bi and monolinguals showed enhanced performance in the non-focal PM cue task. These findings raise skepticism about the literature's prevalent findings and theoretical explanations. Future studies should investigate possible alternative explanations.

Keywords: bilingualism, executive functions, focality, prospective memory

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Authors: Rebecca Greenberg, Nipa Chauhan, Rashad Rehman

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Paternalism, in its traditional form, seems largely incompatible with Western medicine. In contrast, Family-Centred Care, a partial response to historically authoritative paternalism, carries its own challenges, particularly when operationalized as family-directed care. Specifically, in neonatology, decision-making is left entirely to Substitute Decision Makers (most commonly parents). Most models of shared decision-making employ both the parents’ and medical team’s perspectives but do not recognize the inherent asymmetry of information and experience – asking parents to act like physicians to evaluate technical data and encourage physicians to refrain from strong medical opinions and proposals. They also do not fully appreciate the difficulties in adjudicating which perspective to prioritize and, moreover, how to mitigate disagreement. Introducing a mild form of paternalism can harness the unique skillset both parents and clinicians bring to shared decision-making and ultimately work towards decision-making in the best interest of the child. The notion expressed here is that within the model of shared decision-making, mild paternalism is prioritized inasmuch as optimal care is prioritized. This mild form of paternalism is known as Beneficent Paternalism and justifies our encouragement for physicians to root down in their own medical expertise to propose treatment plans informed by medical expertise, standards of care, and the parents’ values. This does not mean that we forget that paternalism was historically justified on ‘beneficent’ grounds; however, our recommendation is that a re-integration of mild paternalism is appropriate within our current Western healthcare climate. Through illustrative examples from the NICU, this paper explores the appropriateness and merits of Beneficent Paternalism and ultimately its use in promoting family-centered care, patient’s best interests and reducing moral distress. A distinctive feature of the NICU is the fact that communication regarding a patient’s treatment is exclusively done with substitute decision-makers and not the patient, i.e., the neonate themselves. This leaves the burden of responsibility entirely on substitute decision-makers and the clinical team; the patient in the NICU does not have any prior wishes, values, or beliefs that can guide decision-making on their behalf. Therefore, the wishes, values, and beliefs of the parent become the map upon which clinical proposals are made, giving extra weight to the family’s decision-making responsibility. This leads to why Family Directed Care is common in the NICU, where shared decision-making is mandatory. However, the zone of parental discretion is not as all-encompassing as it is currently considered; there are appropriate times when the clinical team should strongly root down in medical expertise and perhaps take the lead in guiding family decision-making: this is just what it means to adopt Beneficent Paternalism.

Keywords: care, ethics, expertise, NICU, paternalism

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Authors: Xuhui Lin, Qiuchen Lu, Yi An, Tao Yang

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As global climate change intensifies, extreme weather events such as floods increasingly threaten urban infrastructure, making the vulnerability of urban road networks a pressing issue. Existing static repair strategies fail to adapt to the rapid changes in road network conditions during flood events, leading to inefficient resource allocation and suboptimal recovery. The main research gap lies in the lack of repair strategies that consider both the dynamic characteristics of networks and the progression of flood propagation. This paper proposes a topology-based dynamic repair strategy that adjusts repair priorities based on real-time changes in flood propagation and traffic demand. Specifically, a novel method is developed to assess and enhance the resilience of urban road networks during flood events. The method combines road network topological analysis, flood propagation modelling, and traffic flow simulation, introducing a local importance metric to dynamically evaluate the significance of road segments across different spatial and temporal scales. Using London's road network and rainfall data as a case study, the effectiveness of this dynamic strategy is compared to traditional and Transport for London (TFL) strategies. The most significant highlight of the research is that the dynamic strategy substantially reduced the number of stranded vehicles across different traffic demand periods, improving efficiency by up to 35.2%. The advantage of this method lies in its ability to adapt in real-time to changes in network conditions, enabling more precise resource allocation and more efficient repair processes. This dynamic strategy offers significant value to urban planners, traffic management departments, and emergency response teams, helping them better respond to extreme weather events like floods, enhance overall urban resilience, and reduce economic losses and social impacts.

Keywords: Urban resilience, road networks, flood response, dynamic repair strategy, topological analysis

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Authors: Flackson Tshuma, James Bennett, Pieter Andreas Swanepoel, Johan Labuschagne, Stephan van der Westhuizen, Francis Rayns

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Amongst other things, tillage and synthetic agrochemicals can be effective methods of seedbed preparation and pest control. Nonetheless, frequent and intensive tillage and excessive application of synthetic agrochemicals, such as herbicides and insecticides, can reduce soil microbial enzyme activity. A decline in soil microbial enzyme activity can negatively affect nutrient cycling and crop productivity. In this study, the effects of four tillage treatments; continuous mouldboard plough; shallow tine-tillage to a depth of about 75 mm; no-tillage; and tillage rotation (involving shallow tine-tillage once every four years in rotation with three years of no-tillage), and two rates of synthetic agrochemicals (standard: with regular application of synthetic agrochemicals; and reduced: fewer synthetic agrochemicals in combination with bio-chemicals/ or bio-stimulants) on soil microbial enzyme activity were investigated between 2018 and 2020 in a typical Mediterranean climate zone in South Africa. Four different bio-stimulants applied contained: Trichoderma asperellum, fulvic acid, silicic acid, and Nereocystis luetkeana extracts, respectively. The study was laid out as a complete randomised block design with four replicated blocks. Each block had 14 plots, and each plot measured 50 m x 6 m. The study aimed to assess the combined impact of tillage practices and reduced rates of synthetic agrochemical application on soil microbial enzyme activity in a dryland cropping system. It was hypothesised that the application of bio-stimulants in combination with minimum soil disturbance will lead to a greater increase in microbial enzyme activity than the effect of applying either in isolation. Six soil cores were randomly and aseptically collected from each plot for microbial enzyme activity analysis from the 0-150 mm layer of a field trial under a dryland crop rotation system in the Swartland region. The activities of four microbial enzymes, β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and urease, were assessed. The enzymes are essential for the cycling of glucose, phosphorus, and nitrogen, respectively. Microbial enzyme activity generally increased with a reduction of both tillage intensity and synthetic agrochemical application. The use of the mouldboard plough led to the least (P<0.05) microbial enzyme activity relative to the reduced tillage treatments, whereas the system with bio-stimulants (reduced synthetic agrochemicals) led to the highest (P<0.05) microbial enzyme activity relative to the standard systems. The application of bio-stimulants in combination with reduced tillage, particularly no-tillage, could be beneficial for enzyme activity in a dryland farming system.

Keywords: bio-stimulants, soil microbial enzymes, synthetic agrochemicals, tillage

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