Search results for: land and building tax

Authors: Mohammed Bello Sokoto, Adewumi Babatunde Adebayo, Ajit Singh

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The field experiment was conducted at the dry land Teaching and Research Farm of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, during the 2023 rainy season to determine the effects of organic, inorganic, soil conditioner and integrated use of soil conditioners (Agzyme) with organic (super gro) and inorganic fertilizers on the growth and yield of cowpea varieties. The research consisted of two cowpea varieties (SAMPEA-20-T and ex-GidanYunfa) and six combinations of organic and inorganic fertilizers and soil conditioners factorially combined and laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) replicated three times. Data were collected on plant height, leaf area index, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, days to 50% flowering, grain yield, and 100 seed weight. Results indicated that the 100% inorganic fertilizer had a significantly increased growth parameter such as plant height and number of leaves, while combined application of the organic fertilizer and soil conditioner resulted in a significant increase in yield parameters such as number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight and grain yield. The study observed that the use of soil conditioner in combination with fertilizers supports sustainable cowpea production. Application of 50% recommended inorganic + 50% soil conditioner or 50% liquid organic + 50% soil conditioner was better in increasing the number of pods/plant, seeds/pod, 100 seed weight and grain yield. The ex-Gidan Yunfa cowpea variety generally performed better in most parameters measured, such as plant height, days to 50% flowering, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight and grain yield. Therefore, the combined application of 50% recommended inorganic + 50% soil conditioner or 50% liquid organic + 50% soil conditioner is effective for the sustainable production of cowpeas.

Keywords: integrated, fertilizers, growth, yield, cowpea, Sudan Savannah

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Authors: Wolfram Jahn, Jose Manuel Munita

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While computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of fire scenarios are commonly used in the design of buildings, less attention has been given to the use of CFD simulations as an operational tool for the fire services. The reason of this lack of attention lies mainly in the fact that CFD simulations typically take large periods of time to complete, and their results would thus not be available in time to be of use during an emergency. Firefighters often face uncertain conditions when entering a building to attack a fire. They would greatly benefit from a technology based on predictive fire simulations, able to assist their decision-making process. The principal constraint to faster CFD simulations is the fine grid necessary to solve accurately the physical processes that govern a fire. This paper explores the possibility of overcoming this constraint and using coarse grid CFD simulations for fire scenarios, and proposes a methodology to use the simulation results in a meaningful way that can be used by the fire fighters during an emergency. Data from real scale compartment fire tests were used to compare CFD fire models with different grid arrangements, and empirical correlations were obtained to interpolate data points into the grids. The results show that the strongly predominant effect of the heat release rate of the fire on the fluid dynamics allows for the use of coarse grids with relatively low overall impact of simulation results. Simulations with an acceptable level of accuracy could be run in real time, thus making them useful as a forecasting tool for emergency response purposes.

Keywords: CFD, fire simulations, emergency response, forecast

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: Eyup Bayram Guzel

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There have been growing awareness that technology offers unique and promising advantages by offering up-to-data educational materials in promoting teaching and learning materials, new strategies for building enhanced communication environment for people with disabilities and specifically for this study concentrated on the students with deafness and hearing impairments. Creating e-learning environment where teachers and students work in collaboration to develop better educational outcomes is the foremost reason of conducting this research. This study examined the perspectives of special education teachers’ regarding an application of e-learning software called Multimedia Builder on the students with deafness and hearing impairments. Initial and follow up interviews were conducted with 15 special education teachers around the scope of qualitative case study. Grounded approach has been used to analyse and interpret the data. The research results revealed that application of Multimedia Builder software were influential on reading, sign language, vocabulary improvements, computer and ICT usage developments and on audio-visual learning achievements for the advantages of students with deafness and hearing impairments. The implications of the study encouraged the ways of using e-learning tools and strategies to promote unique and comprehensive learning experiences for the targeted students and their teachers.

Keywords: e-learning, special education, deafness and hearing impairment, computer-ICT usage.

Procedia PDF Downloads 442

Authors: Ahmed Al-Adaileh

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Renewable energy sources, domestic storage systems, controllable loads and machine learning technologies will be key components of future smart homes management systems. An energy management scheme that uses a Deep Learning (DL) approach to support the smart home management systems, which consist of a standalone photovoltaic system, storage unit, heating ventilation air-conditioning system and a set of conventional and smart appliances, is presented. The objective of the proposed scheme is to apply DL-based machine learning to predict various running parameters within a smart home's environment to achieve maximum comfort levels for occupants, reduced electricity bills, and less dependency on the public grid. The problem is using Reinforcement learning, where decisions are taken based on applying the Continuous-time Markov Decision Process. The main contribution of this research is the proposed framework that applies DL to enhance the system's supervised dataset to offer unlimited chances to effectively support smart home systems. A case study involving a set of conventional and smart appliances with dedicated processing units in an inhabited building can demonstrate the validity of the proposed framework. A visualization graph can show "before" and "after" results.

Keywords: smart homes systems, machine learning, deep learning, Markov Decision Process

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Authors: Erika Mae L. Valencia

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Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are children who experienced a cross-cultural upbringing – being raised and lived outside their parents’ culture. As a result, TCKs experience the difficulty of building and attaining a concrete cultural identity. However, in the context of globalization and the emergence of ICTs, the internet, and mobile technology creates better ways of constructing cultural identities. This study investigates the social and cultural impacts of the internet and mobile technology on the multi-cultural identity development among selected Filipino TCKs. Moreover, this research seeks to understand how the Filipino TCKs form their identity and address their complex issue of belonging with the use of different internet platforms and mobile technology. To explore the lived experiences of Filipino TCKs, this research employs a transcendental phenomenological design. Also, this study uses purposive and snowball sampling and conduct in-depth interviews through Skype, phone call, or face-to-face. This study utilizes Pierre Bourdieu’s social capital as a theoretical lens to gain understanding of the TCKs’ identity formation process in relation to the said ICTs. This research argues that the internet and mobile technology play a significant role in facilitating multi-cultural identity formation of Filipino TCKs, as well as potentially broadening their social network through its various technological platforms.

Keywords: identity, internet, third culture kids, mobile technology

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Authors: El Hadi Bouguerra, Nouredine Retiel

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To avoid or at least to attenuate the global warming, it is essential to reduce the energy consumption of the buildings where the biggest potential of savings exists. The impending danger can come from the increase in the needs of air conditioning not only because of the climate warming but also the fast equipping of emerging or developing countries. Passive solutions exist and others are in promising development and therefore, must be applied wherever it is possible. Even if they do not always avoid the resort to an active cooling (mechanical), they allow lowering the load at an acceptable level which can be possibly taken in relay by the renewable energies. These solutions have the advantage to be relatively less expensive and especially adaptable to the existing housing. However, it is the internal convection resistance that controls the heat exchange between the phase change materials (PCM) and the indoor temperature because of the very low heat coefficients of natural convection. Therefore, it is reasonable to link the switch temperature Tm to the temperature of the substrate (walls and ceiling) because conduction heat transfer is dominant. In this case, external conditions (heat sources such as solar irradiation and ambient temperatures) and conductivities of envelope constituents are the most important factors. The walls are not at the same temperature year round; therefore, it is difficult to set a unique switch temperature for the whole season, making the average values a key parameter. With this work, the authors’ aim is to see which parameters influence the optimum switch temperature of a PCM and additionally, if a better selection of PCMs relating to their optimum temperature can enhance their energetic performances.

Keywords: low energy building, energy conservation, phase change materials, PCM

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Authors: Raiya Kishwar Ashraf

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The National University, the largest public educational institution in Bangladesh, recently made it mandatory for all students to study a course in Bangladesh‘s history of the 1971 Liberation War. This introduction was accompanied by massive political, financial and academic movement that allocated resources towards achieving greater awareness of the country‘s spirit, goals of liberation and patriotism among the youth. This study argues that the infrastructure and political economy around the course heavily politicizes the education system and more specifically the teaching and learning the process. By conducting a qualitative study in three affiliated colleges under the National University, this study aimed to explore the extent to which politicization affected higher education curriculum, especially history education in Bangladesh. The findings revealed significant levels of politicization and structural constraints present in the process that restricts the teacher and student engagement with course materials. The results of this study are useful for curriculum designers and higher education teachers and staffs who wish to develop content and deliver education that promotes critical inquiry among students. The findings further shed light on the importance of identifying and addressing political influences in education curriculum and programme development.

Keywords: Bangladesh higher education, critical thinking, curriculum politicization, history curriculum, National University, teaching-learning method

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Authors: Rahila Yilangai, Sonali Saha, Amartya Saha, Augustine Ezealor

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Gallery forests in sub-Saharan Africa are drastically disappearing due to intensive anthropogenic activities thus reducing ecosystem services, one of which is water provisioning. The role played by forest cover in regulating streamflow and water yield is not well understood, especially in West Africa. This pioneering 2-year study investigated the interrelationships between plant cover and hydrology in protected and unprotected gallery forests. Rainfall, streamflow, and evapotranspiration (ET) measurements/estimates over 2015-2016 were obtained to form a water balance for both catchments. In addition, transpiration in the protected gallery forest with high vegetation cover was calculated from stomatal conductance readings of selected species chosen from plot level data of plant diversity and abundance. Results showed that annual streamflow was significantly higher in the unprotected site than the protected site, even when normalized by catchment area. However, streamflow commenced earlier and lasted longer in the protected site than the degraded unprotected site, suggesting regulation by the greater tree density in the protected site. Streamflow correlated strongly with rainfall with the highest peak in August. As expected, transpiration measurements were less than potential evapotranspiration estimates, while rainfall exceeded ET in the water cycle. The water balance partitioning suggests that the lower vegetation cover in the unprotected catchment leads to a larger runoff in the rainy season and less infiltration, thereby leading to streams drying up earlier, than in the protected catchment. This baseline information is important in understanding the contribution of plants in water cycle regulation, for modeling integrative water management in applied research and natural resource management in sustaining water resources with changing the land cover and climate uncertainties in this data-poor region.

Keywords: evapotranspiration, gallery forest, rainfall, streamflow, transpiration

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Authors: Slim Namouchi, Bruno Vallet, Imed Riadh Farah

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3D urban models provide powerful tools for decision making, urban planning, and smart city services. The accuracy of this 3D based systems is directly related to the quality of these models. Since manual large-scale modeling, such as cities or countries is highly time intensive and very expensive process, a fully automatic 3D building generation is needed. However, 3D modeling process result depends on the input data, the proprieties of the captured objects, and the required characteristics of the reconstructed 3D model. Nowadays, producing 3D real-world model is no longer a problem. Remotely sensed data had experienced a remarkable increase in the recent years, especially data acquired using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). While the scanning techniques are developing, the captured data amount and the resolution are getting bigger and more precise. This paper presents a literature review, which aims to identify different methods of automatic 3D buildings extractions either from LiDAR or the combination of LiDAR and satellite or aerial images. Then, we present open source technologies, and data models (e.g., CityGML, PostGIS, Cesiumjs) used to integrate these models in geospatial base layers for smart city services.

Keywords: CityGML, LiDAR, remote sensing, SIG, Smart City, 3D urban modeling

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Authors: Julianne Cai, Weili Xue, Yibin Wu

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Social media retailing (SMR) platforms have become popular nowadays. It is characterized by a creative combination of content creation and product selling, which differs from traditional e-tailing (TE) with product selling alone. Motivated by real-world practices like social media platforms “TikTok” and douyin.com, we endeavor to study if the SMR model performs better than the TE model in a monopoly setting. By building a stylized economic model, we find that the SMR model does not always outperform the TE model. Specifically, when the SMR platform collects less commission from the seller than the TE platform, the seller, consumers, and social welfare all benefit more from the SMR model. In contrast, the platform benefits more from the SMR model if and only if the creator’s social influence is high enough or the cost of content creation is small enough. For the incentive structure of the content rewards in the SMR model, we found that a strong incentive mechanism (e.g., the quadratic form) is more powerful than a weak one (e.g., the linear form). The previous one will encourage the creator to choose a much higher quality level of content creation and meanwhile allowing the platform, consumers, and social welfare to become better off. Counterintuitively, providing more generous content rewards is not always helpful for the creator (seller), and it may reduce her profit. Our findings will guide the platform to effectively design incentive mechanisms to boost the content creation and retailing in the SMR model and help the influencers efficiently create content, engage their followers (fans), and price their products sold on the SMR platform.

Keywords: content creation, creator economy, incentive strategy, platform retailing

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Authors: Mildred Moreno Villanueva

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Public space is essential to strengthen the social and urban fabric and the social cohesion; there lies the importance of its study. Hence, the aim of this paper is to analyze the quality of public space in the XXI century in both quantitative and qualitative terms. In this article, the concept of public space includes open spaces such as parks, public squares and walking areas. To make this analysis we take Mexico City as the case study. It has a population of nearly 9 million inhabitants and it is composed of sixteen boroughs. For this analysis, we consider both, existing public spaces and the government intervention for building and improvement of new and existent public spaces. Results show that on the one hand, quantitatively there is not an equitable distribution of public spaces because of both, the growth of the city itself, as well as for the absence of political will to create public spaces. Another factor is the evolution of this city, which has been growing merely in a 'patched pattern', where public space has played no role at all with a total absence of urban design. On the other hand, qualitatively, even the boroughs with the most public spaces have not shown interest in making these spaces qualitatively inclusive and open to the general population aiming for integration. Therefore, urban projects that privatize public space seem to be the rule, rather than a rehabilitation effort of the existent public spaces. Hence, state intervention should reinforce its role as an agent of social change acting in the benefit of the majority of the inhabitants with the promotion of more inclusive public spaces.

Keywords: exclusion, inclusion, Mexico City, public space

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Authors: Aswathy Vijayan, Sharath Sunder Rajeev

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Trade has been fundamental in the footprint of human civilization since ancient time. In most of the historic cities, city development was along trading routes, where marketplaces are the major entrance to a city and hence a major element of the urban fabric. Marketplaces are where the commercial activities flourish, people, having a sense of belonging to the place, where they easily fit in. Acknowledging the built environment in and around the market in a way, creating a sense of place is an important factor in the success of public spaces. Local markets are developed in an organic manner, which adds on to the people experience and perception of urban space. With the city development, the commercial needs within the city increase, hence marketplaces flourish, irrespective of the functional segregation within. The work-live culture in the marketplaces diminishes as the commercial expansion washes away the residential patches within it. Real estate flourishes as the newer infills are without considering the carrying capacity of the place. Chalai market is a prominent business center serving the regional level of Thiruvananthapuram city. The transformation trend of marketplaces in city cores are understood from case study on Fatimid Cairo Marketplace. The parameters that led to transformation of marketplaces in a global context is considered for the analysis of the Chalai market. The structure of the marketplace over the years is analyzed in terms of transformation in location, transformation in the land- use, change in commodity, and transformation in movement and activity. The aim of the research is to emphasize the need to understand the transformation trend, in creating a suitable development pattern for the city. The unregulated transformation within the city core has led to tremendous transformation in the user group and user pattern and eventually to the commercial trend. With the change in lifestyle and need for new amenities have led to addition of new infills leading to the degradation of the native commerce. Hence addressing the transformation of marketplaces are crucial to maintaining the locational significance and cultural importance and heritage of the place.

Keywords: bazaar, market centers, marketplaces, traditional city, traditional market, urban fabric

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Authors: Anyia Nduka, Aslan Bin Amad Senin

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Organizational culture, strategic leadership and organizational resilience have gained significant attention in recent years. This study aims to examine the relationship between these factors and their combined influence on an organization's ability to adapt and thrive in the face of challenges and disruptions. A mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative survey data and qualitative interviews with leaders and employees from cohort organizations within the industry. The quantitative phase involves measuring organizational culture, strategic leadership behaviours, and organizational resilience using standardized scales. This study highlighted the significance of organizational culture and strategic leadership in building and sustaining organizational resilience. Preliminary findings suggest a strong positive relationship between a resilient organizational culture and strategic leadership practices. Secondly, Organizations can enhance their capacity to respond to disruptions, exploit opportunities, and achieve long-term success in a rapidly changing business environment. Furthermore, the qualitative analysis reveals several key themes that elucidate the link between organizational culture, strategic leadership, and resilience. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on organizational resilience and strategic leadership, providing insights and practical implications for leaders and practitioners seeking to strengthen their organizations' resilience capabilities. Further research is needed to explore the specific mechanisms and contextual factors that influence the relationship between these variables in different organizational contexts and industries.

Keywords: organizational culture, strategic leadership, organizational resilience, leadership

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Authors: Jianjia Wang, Tong Yu, Haoran Zhu, Kun Liu, Jinwei Hao

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The underlying pattern in the modern city is agglomeration. To some degree, the distribution of urban spatial density can be used to describe the status of this assemblage. There are three intrinsic characteristics to measure urban spatial density, namely, Floor Area Ratio (FAR), Building Coverage Ratio (BCR), and Average Storeys (AS). But the underlying mechanism that contributes to these quantities is still vague in the statistical urban study. In this paper, we explore the corresponding extrinsic factors related to spatial density. These factors can further provide the potential influence on the intrinsic quantities. Here, we take Shanghai Inner Ring Area and Manhattan in New York as examples to analyse the potential impacts on urban spatial density with six selected extrinsic elements. Ebery single factor presents the correlation to the spatial distribution, but the overall global impact of all is still implicit. To handle this issue, we attempt to develop the Boltzmann statistical model to explicitly explain the mechanism behind that. We derive a corresponding novel quantity, called capacity, to measure the global effects of all other extrinsic factors to the three intrinsic characteristics. The distribution of capacity presents a similar pattern to real measurements. This reveals the nonlinear influence on the multi-factor relations to the urban spatial density in agglomeration.

Keywords: urban spatial density, Boltzmann statistics, multi-factor correlation, spatial distribution

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Authors: Gherbi Khadidja

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In the Mediterranean region, water resources are limited and very unevenly distributed in space and time. The main objective of this project is the development of a wireless network for the management of water resources in northern Algeria, the Mitidja plain, which helps farmers to irrigate in the most optimized way and solve the problem of water shortage in the region. Therefore, we will develop an aid tool that can modernize and replace some traditional techniques, according to the real needs of the crops and according to the soil conditions as well as the climatic conditions (soil moisture, precipitation, characteristics of the unsaturated zone), These data are collected in real-time by sensors and analyzed by an algorithm and displayed on a mobile application and the website. The results are essential information and alerts with recommendations for action to farmers to ensure the sustainability of the agricultural sector under water shortage conditions. In the first part: We want to set up a wireless sensor network, for precise management of water resources, by presenting another type of equipment that allows us to measure the water content of the soil, such as the Watermark probe connected to the sensor via the acquisition card and an Arduino Uno, which allows collecting the captured data and then program them transmitted via a GSM module that will send these data to a web site and store them in a database for a later study. In a second part: We want to display the results on a website or a mobile application using the database to remotely manage our smart irrigation system, which allows the farmer to use this technology and offers the possibility to the growers to access remotely via wireless communication to see the field conditions and the irrigation operation, at home or at the office. The tool to be developed will be based on satellite imagery as regards land use and soil moisture. These tools will make it possible to follow the evolution of the needs of the cultures in time, but also to time, and also to predict the impact on water resources. According to the references consulted, if such a tool is used, it can reduce irrigation volumes by up to up to 40%, which represents more than 100 million m3 of savings per year for the Mitidja. This volume is equivalent to a medium-size dam.

Keywords: optimal irrigation, soil moisture, smart irrigation, water management

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Mahfoodh Saleh Al Sabbagh, Venkoba Rao

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There is plenty of research, both in academic and consultancy circles, about the importance and benefits of employee engagement and customer engagement and how it gives organization an opportunity to reduce variability and improve performance. Customer engagement is directly related to the engagement level of the organization's employees. It is therefore important to measure both. This research drawing from the work of Human Sigma by Fleming and Asplund, attempts to assess engagement level of customer and employees - the human systems of business - in an educational setup. Student is important to an educational institute and is a customer to be served efficiently and effectively. Considering student as customer and faculty as employees serving them, in–depth interviews were conducted to analyze the relationship between faculty and student engagement in two leading colleges in Oman, one from private sector and another from public sector. The study relied mainly on secondary data sources to understand the concept of engagement. However, the search of secondary sources was extensive to compensate the limited primary data. The results indicate that high faculty engagement is likely to lead to high student engagement. Engaged students were excited about learning, loved the feeling of they being cared as a person by their faculty and advocated the organization to other. The interaction truly represents an opportunity to build emotional connection to the organization. This study could be of interest to organizations interest in building and maintaining engagement with employees and customers.

Keywords: customer engagement, consumer psychology, strategy, educational institutes

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Authors: Amer Rghei

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The Sahara region potentially is one of the most attractive heritage areas in the world. Yet presently, the heritage of the Sahara is currently facing serious planning challenges of underdeveloped and neglected economic and physical potentials. Deterioration of heritage resources has been observed by the author during his several field tours for historic sites has discovered special heritage values such as in Ghadames which combines historic oasis, natural environment along with its exceptional urban fabric and architectural character. Despite the richness of Ghadames with historic significance, it is found that at the present time, Ghadames city, the UNESCO World Heritage site, is facing serious challenges including the abandonment by its tenants and inclusive negligence by its officials. The author believes that Ghadames can illustrate an excellent heritage example in North Africa with cultural pride and socio-economic opportunities that can contribute to overall economic development in the Sahara region. However, the paper deals with the case of Ghadames ‘The World Heritage Site’ in Libya and discusses the current challenges and possible planning for its heritage conservation strategy. The momentous resources in Ghadames with their historical, environmental, economic, social, cultural, and aesthetic values would benefit from a careful heritage planning and management program for its significant values. In this paper an attempt is made to investigate this issue seriously towards building a model of a strategy for heritage conservation planning for Ghadames is proposed.

Keywords: Ghadames, Oasis architecture, Sahara region, heritage environment

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Authors: Nahid Hassanshahi, Ayoub Karimi-Jashni, Nasser Talebbeydokhti

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Due to the economic and environmental benefits of producing less waste, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduces source reduction as one of the most important means to deal with the problems caused by increased landfills and pollution. Waste reduction involves all waste management methods, including source reduction, recycling, and composting, which reduce waste flow to landfills or other disposal facilities. Source reduction of waste can be studied from two perspectives: avoiding waste production, or reducing per capita waste production, and waste deviation that indicates the reduction of waste transfer to landfills. The present paper has investigated home composting as a managerial solution for reduction of waste transfer to landfills. Home composting has many benefits. The use of household waste for the production of compost will result in a much smaller amount of waste being sent to landfills, which in turn will reduce the costs of waste collection, transportation and burial. Reducing the volume of waste for disposal and using them for the production of compost and plant fertilizer might help to recycle the material in a shorter time and to use them effectively in order to preserve the environment and reduce contamination. Producing compost in a home-based manner requires very small piece of land for preparation and recycling compared with other methods. The final product of home-made compost is valuable and helps to grow crops and garden plants. It is also used for modifying the soil structure and maintaining its moisture. The food that is transferred to landfills will spoil and produce leachate after a while. It will also release methane and greenhouse gases. But, composting these materials at home is the best way to manage degradable materials, use them efficiently and reduce environmental pollution. Studies have shown that the benefits of the sale of produced compost and the reduced costs of collecting, transporting, and burying waste can well be responsive to the costs of purchasing home compost machine and the cost of related trainings. Moreover, the process of producing home compost may be profitable within 4 to 5 years and as a result, it will have a major role in reducing waste management.

Keywords: compost, home compost, reducing waste, waste management

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Authors: Samuel Matylewicz, K. W. Goossen

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The deployment of white or cool (high albedo) roofing is a common energy savings recommendation for a variety of buildings all over the world. Here, the effect of a white roof on the energy savings of an ice rink facility in the northeastern US is determined by measuring the effect of solar irradiance on the consumption of the rink's ice refrigeration system. The consumption of the refrigeration system was logged over a year, along with multiple weather vectors, and a statistical model was applied. The experimental model indicates that the expected savings of replacing the existing grey roof with a white roof on the consumption of the refrigeration system is only 4.7 %. This overall result of the statistical model is confirmed with isolated instances of otherwise similar weather days, but cloudy vs. sunny, where there was no measurable difference in refrigeration consumption up to the noise in the local data, which was a few percent. This compares with a simple theoretical calculation that indicates 30% savings. The difference is attributed to a lack of convective cooling of the roof in the theoretical model. The best experimental model shows a relative effect of the weather vectors dry bulb temperature, solar irradiance, wind speed, and relative humidity on refrigeration consumption of 1, 0.026, 0.163, and -0.056, respectively. This result can have an impact on decisions to apply white roofing to refrigerated buildings in general.

Keywords: cool roofs, solar cooling load, refrigerated buildings, energy-efficient building envelopes

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Authors: Elham S. Hasham, Anthony S. Hasham

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The construction industry is one of Australia’s fastest growing industries and its success is a result of a firm’s client satisfaction with focus on product determinants such as price and quality. Ensuring quality at every phase is a must and building rapport with the client will go a long way. To capitalise on the growing demand for Engineering Consulting Firms (ECFs), we should “redefine the bottom line by allowing client satisfaction, high-quality standards, and profits to be the top priorities”. Consequently, the emphasis should be on improving employee skills through various training provisions. Clients seek consistency and thus expect that all services should be similar in respect to quality and the ability of the service to meet their needs. This calls for empowerment and comfortable work conditions to motivate employees and give them incentive to deliver quality and excellent output. The methodology utilized is triangulation-a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research. The case study-Australian Consulting Engineers (ACE) was established in 1995 and has operations throughout Australia, the Philippines, Europe, U.A.E., K.S.A., and Lebanon. ACE is affiliated with key agencies and support organizations in the engineering industry with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications in Safety and Quality Management. The objective of this study is significant as it sheds light on employee motivation and client satisfaction as imperative determinants of the success of an organization.

Keywords: leadership, motivation, organizational behavior, satisfaction

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Authors: Caroline Spencer, Suzanne Cross, Dudley McArdle, Frank Archer

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Objectives: The evolution of the Victorian Compendium of Community-Based Resilience Building Case Studies and its capacity to help communities implement activities that encourage adaptation to disaster risk reduction and promote community resilience in rural and urban locations provide this paper's objectives. Background: Between 2012 and 2019, community groups presented at the Monash University Disaster Resilience Initiative (MUDRI) 'Advancing Community Resilience Annual Forums', provided opportunities for communities to impart local resilience activities, how to solve challenges and share unforeseen learning and be considered for inclusion in the Compendium. A key tenet of the Compendium encourages compiling and sharing of grass-roots resilience building activities to help communities before, during, and after unexpected emergencies. The online Compendium provides free access for anyone wanting to help communities build expertise, reduce program duplication, and save valuable community resources. Identifying case study features across the emergency phases and analyzing critical success factors helps communities understand what worked and what did not work to achieve success and avoid known barriers. International exemplars inform the Compendium, which represents an Australian first and enhances Victorian community resilience initiatives. Emergency Management Victoria provided seed funding for the Compendium. MUDRI matched this support and continues to fund the project. A joint Steering Committee with broad-based user input and Human ethics approval guides its continued growth. Methods: A thematic analysis of the Compendium identified case study features, including critical success factors. Results: The Compendium comprises 38 case studies, representing all eight Victorian regions. Case studies addressed emergency phases, before (29), during (7), and after (17) events. Case studies addressed all hazards (23), bushfires (11), heat (2), fire safety (1), and house fires (1). Twenty case studies used a framework. Thirty received funding, of which nine received less than $20,000 and five received more than $100,000. Twenty-nine addressed a whole of community perspective. Case studies revealed unique and valuable learning in diverse settings. Critical success factors included strong governance; board support, leadership, and trust; partnerships; commitment, adaptability, and stamina; community-led initiatives. Other success factors included a paid facilitator and local government support; external funding, and celebrating success. Anecdotally, we are aware that community groups reference Compendium and that its value adds to community resilience planning. Discussion: The Compendium offers an innovative contribution to resilience research and practice. It augments the seven resilience characteristics to strengthen and encourage communities as outlined in the Statewide Community Resilience Framework for Emergency Management; brings together people from across sectors to deliver distinct, yet connected actions to strengthen resilience as a part of the Rockefeller funded Resilient Melbourne Strategy, and supports communities and economies to be resilient when a shock occurs as identified in the recently published Australian National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework. Each case study offers learning about connecting with community and how to increase their resilience to disaster risks and to keep their community safe from unexpected emergencies. Conclusion: The Compendium enables diverse communities to adopt or adapt proven resilience activities, thereby preserving valuable community resources and offers the opportunity to extend to a national or international Compendium.

Keywords: case study, community, compendium, disaster risk reduction, resilience

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Authors: Hui Zhang, Sherif Beskhyroun

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Structural Health monitoring systems (SHM) are commonly used to identify and assess structural damage. In terms of damage detection, SHM needs to periodically collect data from sensors placed in the structure as damage-sensitive features. This includes abnormal changes caused by the strain field and abnormal symptoms of the structure, such as damage and deterioration. Currently, deploying sensors on a large scale in a building structure is a challenge. In this study, a highly stretchable strain sensors are used in this study to collect data sets of strain generated on the surface of full-size reinforced concrete (RC) frames under extreme cyclic load application. This sensing sheet can be switched freely between the test bending strain and the axial strain to achieve two different configurations. On this basis, the deep neural network prediction model of the frame beam and frame column is established. The training results show that the method can accurately predict the strain value and has good generalization ability. The two deep neural network prediction models will also be deployed in the SHM system in the future as part of the intelligent strain sensor system.

Keywords: strain sensing sheets, deep neural networks, strain measurement, SHM system, RC frames

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Authors: Zohreh Derikvand, Hadis Cheraghi, Azadeh Azadbakht, Vaclav Eigner, Michal Dusek

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Two new one and two dimensional metal organic coordination polymers of Cu(II), [Cu(3-nph)2(H2O)2pz]n (1) and Ag(I), {[Ag(3-nph)pz].H2O}n (2) with pyrazine (pz) and 3- nitrophthalic acid (3-nph) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, spectral (IR, UV-Vis), thermal (TG/DTG) analysis and single crystal X-ray diffraction. We used these compounds to preparation modified electrode with Au/Pt nanosparticles in order to investigation electrochemistry and electrocatalysis activities. The surface structure and composition of the sensor were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The Ag(I) coordination polymer shows a 2D layer structure constructed from dinuclear silver (I) building blocks in which two crystallographically Ag+ ions are connected to each other by a covalent bond. The pyrazine ligands adopt μ2 bridging modes, linking the metal centers into a one and two -dimensional coordination framework in 1 and 2. The two AgI cations are surrounded by pyrazine and 3-nitrophthalate mono anions and indicate distorted tetrahedral geometry. In the crystal structures of Ag(I) complex there are non-classical hydrogen bonding arrangements, C–O•••π and π–π stacking interactions. In Cu(II) coordination polymer, the coordination geometry around Cu(II) atom is a distorted octahedron. Interestingly, the structural analysis illustrates that the strong and weak hydrogen bond accompanied with C–H•••π and C–O•••π stacking interactions assemble the crystal structure of 1 and 2 into fascinating 3D supramolecular architecture.

Keywords: 3-nithrophethalic acid, crystal structure, coordination polymer, electrocatalysis

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Authors: Namrata D. Hiremath, Mahalaxmi Bhille, P. G. Sunitha Hiremath

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Computer systems play an integral role in all facets of the engineering profession. This calls for an understanding of the processor-level components of computer systems, their design and operation, and their impact on the overall performance of the systems. Systems users are always in need of faster, more powerful, yet cheaper computer systems. The focus of Computer Science engineering graduates is inclined towards software oriented base. To be an efficient programmer there is a need to understand the role of hardware architecture towards the same. It is essential for the students of Computer Science and Engineering to know the basic building blocks of any computing device and how the digital principles can be used to build them. Hence two courses Digital Electronics of 3 credits, which is associated with lab of 1.5 credits and Computer Organization of 5 credits, were introduced at the sophomore level. Activity was introduced with the objective to teach the hardware concepts to the students of Computer science engineering through structured lab. The students were asked to design and implement a component of a computing device using MultiSim simulation tool and build the same using hardware components. The experience of the activity helped the students to understand the real time applications of the SSI and MSI components. The impact of the activity was evaluated and the performance was measured. The paper explains the achievement of the ABET outcomes a, c and k.

Keywords: digital, computer organization, ABET, structured enquiry, course activity

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Authors: Karl Bryant Buan, Owaida Macadadaya Jr., Mon Eleazar Nonato, Zeke Andrew Palabrica, Charistabelle Mae Santiago

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This study explored the occupational health risks faced by employees in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, particularly in the Telco Account department of Alorica. The study used a stratified sampling method and a diagnostic tool called Workplace Integrated Safety and Health (WISH) Assessment to measure and evaluate the employees' perception of workplace health and safety. The results showed that more than 50% of call center workers reported feeling emotionally drained, sleep deprived, burnt out, and in need of anxiety or stress medication due to their work. Additionally, there was a significant difference in the perception of employee diversity, specifically in terms of leadership commitment, participation, policies, programs, and practices. The Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) results revealed that most employees complained of discomfort in their lower back, shoulder, upper back, neck, and hip. The researchers recommended an implementation plan for alternative work set-up, a satisfaction survey for employees, team-building activities or programs, and motivational approaches through benefits, incentives, and rewards.

Keywords: WISH assessment, CMDQ, ANOVA, diverse SOGIESC

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Authors: M. P. Tripathi, Priti Tiwari

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Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a distributed parameter continuous time model and was tested on daily and fortnightly basis for a small agricultural watershed (Dhangaon) of Chhattisgarh state in India. The SWAT model recently interfaced with ArcGIS and called as ArcSWAT. The watershed and sub-watershed boundaries, drainage networks, slope and texture maps were generated in the environment of ArcGIS of ArcSWAT. Supervised classification method was used for land use/cover classification from satellite imageries of the years 2009 and 2012. Manning's roughness coefficient 'n' for overland flow and channel flow and Fraction of Field Capacity (FFC) were calibrated for monsoon season of the years 2009 and 2010. The model was validated on a daily basis for the years 2011 and 2012 by using the observed daily rainfall and temperature data. Calibration and validation results revealed that the model was predicting the daily surface runoff and sediment yield satisfactorily. Sensitivity analysis showed that the annual sediment yield was inversely proportional to the overland and channel 'n' values whereas; annual runoff and sediment yields were directly proportional to the FFC. The model was also tested (calibrated and validated) for the fortnightly runoff and sediment yield for the year 2009-10 and 2011-12, respectively. Simulated values of fortnightly runoff and sediment yield for the calibration and validation years compared well with their observed counterparts. The calibration and validation results revealed that the ArcSWAT model could be used for identification of critical sub-watershed and for developing management scenarios for the Dhangaon watershed. Further, the model should be tested for simulating the surface runoff and sediment yield using generated rainfall and temperature before applying it for developing the management scenario for the critical or priority sub-watersheds.

Keywords: watershed, hydrologic and water quality, ArcSWAT model, remote sensing, GIS, runoff and sediment yield

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Authors: David Ross Cameron

Abstract:

In an attempt to alleviate the educational planning problem, double-shift schools have been created throughout various regions in Jordan, namely communities closer to the Syrian border, where a large portion of the refugee population settled, allowing Jordanians to attend the morning-shift and Syrians to attend the afternoon-shift. Subsequently, overcrowded classrooms have added a significant amount of stress on school facilities and teacher capacities. Established national policies and the implementation of inclusive educational practices have been jeopardized. In particular, teachers’ and student’s attitudes of the importance of inclusive education provisions in the classroom have deteriorated. To have a more comprehensive understanding of the current situation and possible plan for intervention, a focus study was carried out at a double-shift Jordanian/Syrian girls’ public school in Irbid, Jordan. Interviews and surveys of 29 students with physical, learning, emotional and behavioral disabilities, 33 students without any special needs and nine teachers were included with a mixed-method social research approach to highlight the current attitudes that students and teachers held and factors that contributed to shaping their inclinations and beliefs of inclusive education.

Keywords: capacity building, development, double-shift, Irbid, inclusive education, Jordan, pedagogy, planning, policy, refugee, special education, special needs, vulnerable population

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Authors: Qin Zhu

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Under the development concept of Park City, Tianfu Greenway system, as the basic and pre-configuration element of Chengdu Global Park construction, connects urban open space with linear and circular structures and undertakes and exerts the ecological, cultural and recreational functions of the park system. Chengdu greenway construction is in full swing. In the process of greenway planning and construction, the landscape effect of greenway on urban quality improvement is more valued, and the long-term impact of crowd experience on the sustainable development of greenway is often ignored. Therefore, it is very important to test the effectiveness of greenway construction from the perspective of users. Taking Jincheng Greenway in Chengdu as an example, this paper attempts to introduce multi-source data to construct a post-occupancy evaluation model of greenway and adopts behavior mapping method, questionnaire survey method, web text analysis and IPA analysis method to comprehensively evaluate the user 's behavior characteristics and satisfaction. According to the evaluation results, we can grasp the actual behavior rules and comprehensive needs of users so that the experience of building greenways can be fed back in time and provide guidance for the optimization and improvement of built greenways and the planning and construction of future greenways.

Keywords: multi-source data, greenway, IPA analysis, post -occupancy evaluation (POE)

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Authors: Mahnoush Mahmoudi, Ali Chaeedeh

Abstract:

In the architecture of Iranian traditional houses, the ornamentations available in the inscriptions of houses entrance portal express the identity of architects and personality of houses owners and are rooted in their religious and national beliefs and faiths. The main hypothesis of this research is changing the physique and application of religious contents in compliance with the thoughts and beliefs of people in Dezfoul historical city in the epigraphs of houses entrance portals. The objective of this study is reviewing the development trend of texts, concepts and physique of inscriptions as well as analyzing the factors effective on the quality and diversity of application of inscriptions. The present research is an applied study and descriptive-analytical method has been applied, and the data was collected by library and survey studies. The population of this research includes historical houses, houses damaged in war (Iran & Iraq) and renovated and new tissue and new-built houses of Dezfoul, from Qajar era so far. Random sampling method has been applied in this study and dispersal area includes the city. Data analysis method in this study is qualitative and quantitative. The results of this study indicate that today the inscriptions available in the entrance portal of houses in Dezfoul comparing to inscriptions in Qajar1 and Pahlavi2 era is very simple and has lower aesthetic value. One of the causes for such superficial and contextual gap between inscriptions seems to be the war and renovations during and after destruction.

Keywords: architecture, islamic architecture, reconstruction, epigraph, inscription, entrance portal, Dezfoul

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Authors: Nancy Ayman Kamal Mohamed Mehrz

Abstract:

Like the economies of other countries in the Mediterranean region, the tourism sector in our country has excellent economic prospects. Tourism companies are building tourism, a sector that faces various challenges in its activities. These problems have made business activities and competition between companies difficult. In this study, which was conducted to identify the problems of the tourism sector in the Central Anatolia region, most of the problems faced by the tourism sector and consumer information on consumer rights were used. The aim is to contribute to the awareness of workers and managers working in the tourism sector and to attract the attention of companies and legislators working in the tourism sector. E-tourism is one of the newest issues in the field of tourism. Infrastructure and Information Technology (or ICT) and partner government and tourism organizations are required to achieve this type of tourism. This study measures the views of managers and tourism managers in Leman City regarding e-tourism; In addition, the effect of the literacy level of the tourism management system on tourist attractions was also examined. This research has been carried out. One of the suburbs of Isfahan province. This research is a documentary research and source material that includes literature and surveys. The results obtained show that if managers use ICT, it can help the development of e-tourism in the region, and increasing managers' views about e-tourism and improving their literacy levels can affect the development of tourism.

Keywords: financial problems, the problems of tourism businesses, tourism businesses, internet, marketing, tourism, tourism management economic competitiveness, enhancing competitiveness

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