Search results for: the urban improvement

Authors: Pooja Pandey

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The role of communication plays an integral part in the management of any disaster, whether natural or human-induced, both require effective and strategic delivery of information. The way any information is conveyed carries the most weight while dealing with the disaster. Hence, integrating communication strategies in disaster risk management (DRM) are extensively acknowledged however, these integration and planning are missing from the practical books. Researchers are continuously exploring integrated DRM and have established substantial vents between research and implementation of the strategies (gaps between science and policy). For this reason, this paper reviews the communication barriers that obstruct effective management of the disaster. Communication between first responders (government agencies, police, medical services) and the public (people directly affected by the disaster) is most critical and lacks proper delivery during a disaster. And these challenges can only be resolved if the foundation of the problem is properly dealt with, which is resolving the issues within the organizations. Through this study, it was found that it is necessary to build the communication gap between the organizations themselves as most of the hindrances occur during the mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery phase of the disaster. The study is concluded with the main aim to review the communication barriers within and at the organizational, technological, and social levels that impact effective DRM. In the end, some suggestions are made to strengthen the knowledge for future improvement in communication between the responders and their organizations.

Keywords: communication, organization, barriers, first responders, disaster risk management

Procedia PDF Downloads 300

Authors: Isyaku Labaran Fagge

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This study investigated on appraisal of civil servants level of participation in recreational activities in North Western States of Nigeria. To achieve this purpose, a descriptive survey was employed for the designed questionnaire which were administered on 300 respondents, who served as subject for this study, in North Western States of Nigeria. Descriptive statistics of simple frequency count, percentage and Chi square (x2) statistical techniques at 0.05 alpha level were used for all statistical tests of significance. The findings of the study revealed that senior civil servants by (gender, status and location) do participate in recreational activities. On the knowledgeable personnels, all the recreational centres (by gender, status and location) had no knowledgeable personnels to handle the centres across North Western States. Many recreational centers should be create. Government should train and employ more knowledgeable personnel to handle the centres. Civil servants in urban areas do participate more than the civil servants in rural areas.

Keywords: recreation, civil servants, participation, recreational activities

Procedia PDF Downloads 422

Authors: R. Ziaie Moayed, M. Hossein Zade

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Out of all methods for ground improvement, stone column became more popular these days due to its simple construction and economic consideration. Installation of stone column especially in loose fine graded soil causes increasing in load bearing capacity and settlement reduction. Encased granular stone columns (EGCs) are commonly subjected to vertical load. However, they may also be subjected to significant amount of shear loading. In this study, three-dimensional finite element (FE) analyses were conducted to estimate the shear load capacity of EGCs in sandy soil. Two types of different cases, stone column and geosynthetic encased stone column were studied at different normal pressures varying from 15 kPa to 75 kPa. Also, the effect of diameter in two cases was considered. A close agreement between the experimental and numerical curves of shear stress - horizontal displacement trend line is observed. The obtained result showed that, by increasing the normal pressure and diameter of stone column, higher shear strength is mobilized by soil; however, in the case of encased stone column, increasing the diameter had more dominated effect in mobilized shear strength.

Keywords: encased stone column, laterally load, ordinary stone column, validation

Procedia PDF Downloads 369

Authors: Aidan J. Bowes, Reaz Hasan

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The automotive industry is continually aiming to develop the aerodynamics of car body design. This may be for a variety of beneficial reasons such as to increase speed or fuel efficiency by reducing drag. However recently there has been a greater amount of focus on wind noise produced while driving. Designers in this industry seek a combination of both simplicity of approach and overall effectiveness. This combined with the growing availability of commercial CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) packages is likely to lead to an increase in the use of RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) based CFD methods. This is due to these methods often being simpler than other CFD methods, having a lower demand on time and computing power. In this investigation the effectiveness of turbulent flow and acoustic noise prediction using RANS based methods has been assessed for different wing mirror geometries. Three different RANS based models were used, standard k-ε, realizable k-ε and k-ω SST. The merits and limitations of these methods are then discussed, by comparing with both experimental and numerical results found in literature. In general, flow prediction is fairly comparable to more complex LES (Large Eddy Simulation) based methods; in particular for the k-ω SST model. However acoustic noise prediction still leaves opportunities for more improvement using RANS based methods.

Keywords: acoustics, aerodynamics, RANS models, turbulent flow

Procedia PDF Downloads 446

Authors: Young Kwon Yang, In Sung Kang, Jung Ha Hwang, Jin Chul Park

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The present study is a foundational study for performance improvements on isolation wards to prevent proliferation of secondary infection of infectious diseases such as SARS, H1N1, and MERS inside hospitals. Accordingly, the present study conducted an analysis of the effect of sealing mechanisms and filling of openings on ensuring air tightness performance in isolation wards as well as simulation on air currents in improved isolation wards. The study method is as follows. First, previous studies on aerial infection type and mechanism were reviewed, and the review results were utilized as basic data of analysis on simulation of air current. Second, national and international legislations and regulations in relation to isolation wards as well as case studies on developed nations were investigated in order to identify the problems in isolation wards in Korea and improvement plans. Third, construction and facility plans were compared and analyzed between general and isolation wards focusing on large general hospitals in Korea, thereby conducting comparison and analysis on the performance and effects of air-tightness of general and isolation wards through CFD simulations. The study results showed that isolation wards had better air-tightness performance than that of general wards.

Keywords: AII Room, air-borne infection, CFD, computational fluid dynamics

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Nuhi Arslani, Stojan Potrc, Timotej Mikuljan

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Background: In Department of Abdominal and General Surgery of University Medical Centre Maribor, we treated 578 patients for rectal cancer between 2004 and 2014. During and after treatment we especially concentrated on monitoring local and systemic complications. Methods: For analysis, we used data gathered from preoperative diagnostic tests, reports gathered during operation, reports from the pathohistologic review, and reports on complications after surgery and follow up. Results: In the case of 573 (out of 578) patients (99.1%) we performed resection. R0 was achieved in 551 patients (96,1%). R1 was achieved in 8 patients (1,4%). R2 was achieved in 14 patients (2,4%). Local complications were reported in 78 (13.5%) patients and systemic complications were reported in 68 (11.7%). We would like to point out the low number of local and systemic complications. Conclusions: With advances in surgical techniques, with a multimodal-multidisciplinary approach and with the use of total mesorectal excision we experienced a significant improvement in reducing the number of local and systemic complications in patients with rectal cancer. However, there still remains the question for truly optimal care for each patient with rectal cancer and his quality of life after surgical treatment.

Keywords: local complications, rectal cancer, resection, systemic complications

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: Samera Salimpour Abkenar

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In traditional dyeing of natural fibers with natural dyes, metal salts are commonly used to increase color stability. This method always carries the risk of environmental pollution (contamination of arable soils and fresh groundwater) due to the release of dyeing effluents containing large amounts of metal. Therefore, researchers are always looking for new methods to obtain a green dyeing system. In this research, the use of the enzymatic dyeing method to prevent environmental pollution with metals and reduce production costs has been proposed. After degumming and bleaching, raw silk fabrics were dyed with natural dyes (Madder and Sumac) by three methods (pre-mordanting with a metal salt, one-step enzymatic dyeing, and two-step enzymatic dyeing). Results show that silk dyed with natural dyes by the enzymatic method has higher color strength and colorfastness than the pretreated with a metal salt. Also, the amount of remained dyes in the dyeing wastewater is significantly reduced by the enzymatic method. It is found that the enzymatic dyeing method leads to improvement of dye absorption, color strength, soft hand, no change in color shade, low production costs (due to low dyeing temperature), and a significant reduction in environmental pollution.

Keywords: eco-friendly, natural dyes, silk, traditional dyeing

Procedia PDF Downloads 190

Authors: Smitha Haridasan, Zelalem Demissie, Atri Dutta, Ajita Rattani

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Aided by the wind, all it takes is one ember and a few minutes to create a wildfire. Wildfires are growing in frequency and size due to climate change. Wildfires and its consequences are one of the major environmental concerns. Every year, millions of hectares of forests are destroyed over the world, causing mass destruction and human casualties. Thus early detection of wildfire becomes a critical component to mitigate this threat. Many computer vision-based techniques have been proposed for the early detection of forest fire using video surveillance. Several computer vision-based methods have been proposed to predict and detect forest fires at various spectrums, namely, RGB, HSV, and YCbCr. The aim of this paper is to propose a multi-spectral deep learning model that combines information from different spectrums at intermediate layers for accurate fire detection. A heterogeneous dataset assembled from publicly available datasets is used for model training and evaluation in this study. The experimental results show that multi-spectral deep learning models could obtain an improvement of about 4.68 % over those based on a single spectrum for fire detection.

Keywords: deep learning, forest fire detection, multi-spectral learning, natural hazard detection

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Authors: Mohammad Amini, Aliakbar Alijarahi

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This research that is collected and title as ‘ the search of possibility of running six sigma process in IT education center ‘ goals to test possibility of running the six sigma process and using in IT education center system. This process is a good method that is used for reducing process, errors. To evaluate running off six sigma in the IT education center, some variables relevant to this process is selected. These variables are: - The amount of support from organization master boss to process. - The current specialty. - The ability of training system for compensating reduction. - The amount of match between current culture whit six sigma culture . - The amount of current quality by comparing whit quality gain from running six sigma. For evaluation these variables we select four question and to gain the answers, we set a questionnaire from with 28 question and distribute it in our typical society. Since, our working environment is a very competition, and organization needs to decree the errors to minimum, otherwise it lasts their customers. The questionnaire from is given to 55 persons, they were filled and returned by 50 persons, after analyzing the forms these results is gained: - IT education center needs to use and run this system (six sigma) for improving their process qualities. - The most factors need to run the six sigma exist in the IT education center, but there is a need to support.

Keywords: education, customer, self-action, quality, continuous improvement process

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Authors: Vishal A. S. Salelkar, Sumitra S. Kandolkar

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Golden ratio (ф) or Golden mean or Golden section, as it is often referred to, is a proportion or a mean, which is often used by architects while conceiving the aesthetics of a structure. Golden Ratio (ф) is an irrational number that can be roughly rounded to 1.618 and is derived out of quadratic equation x2-x-1=0. The use of Golden Ratio (ф) can be observed throughout history, as far as ancient Egyptians, which later peaked during the Greek golden age. The use of this design technique is very much prevalent. At present, architects around the world prefer this as one of the primary techniques to decide aesthetics. In this study, an analysis has been performed to investigate whether the use of the golden ratio while planning a structure has any effects on the seismic behavior of the structure. The structure is modeled and analyzed on ETABS (by Computers and Structures, Inc.) for Seismic requirements equivalent to Zone III (Region: Goa-India) as per Indian Standard Code IS-1893. The results were compared to that of an identical structure modeled along the lines of normal design philosophy, not using the Golden Ratio tools. The results were then compared for Story Shear, Story Drift, and Story Displacement Readings. Improvement in performance, although slight, but was observed. Similar improvements were also observed in subsequent iterations, performed using time-acceleration data of previous major earthquakes matched to Zone III as per IS-1893.

Keywords: ETABS, golden ratio, seismic design, structural behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: Stephan Koehler, Thomas Friedli

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Performance measurement has evolved over time from a unidimensional short-term efficiency focused approach into a balanced multidimensional approach. Today, integrated performance measurement frameworks are often used to avoid local optimization and to encourage continuous improvement of an organization. In literature, the multidimensional characteristic of performance measurement is often described by competitive priorities. At the same time, on the highest abstraction level an effectiveness and efficiency dimension of performance measurement can be distinguished. This paper aims at a better understanding of the composition of effectiveness and efficiency and their relation in pharmaceutical quality control labs. The research comprises a lab-specific operationalization of effectiveness and efficiency and examines how the two dimensions are interlinked. The basis for the analysis represents a database of the University of St. Gallen including a divers set of 40 different pharmaceutical quality control labs. The research provides empirical evidence that labs with a high effectiveness also accompany a high efficiency. Lab effectiveness explains 29.5 % of the variance in lab efficiency. In addition, labs with an above median operational excellence performance have a statistically significantly higher lab effectiveness and lab efficiency compared to the below median performing labs.

Keywords: empirical study, operational excellence, performance measurement, pharmaceutical quality control lab

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Authors: Silvia Baralla, Raffaella Zucaro, Romina Lorenzetti

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Water management needs to cope with economic, societal, and environmental changes. This could be guaranteed through 'shifting from government to governance'. In the last decades, it was applied in Europe through and within important legislative pillars (Water Framework Directive and Common Agricultural Policy) and their measures focused on resilience and adaptation to climate change, with particular attention to the creation of synergies among policies and all the actors involved at different levels. Within the climate change context, the agricultural sector can play, through sustainable water management, a leading role for climate-resilient growth and environmental integrity. A recent analysis on the water management governance of different countries identified some common gaps dealing with administrative, policy, information, capacity building, funding, objective, and accountability. The ability of a country to fill these gaps is an essential requirement to make some of the changes requested by Europe, in particular the improvement of the agro-ecosystem resilience to the effect of climatic change, supporting green and digital transitions, and sustainable water use. This research aims to contribute in sharing examples of water governances and related advantages useful to fill the highlighted gaps. Italy has developed a strong and exhaustive model of water governance in order to react with strategic and synergic actions since it is one of the European countries most threatened by climate change and its extreme events (drought, floods). In particular, the Italian water governance model was able to overcome several gaps, specifically as concerns the water use in agriculture, adopting strategies as a systemic/integrated approach, the stakeholder engagement, capacity building, the improvement of planning and monitoring ability, and an adaptive/resilient strategy for funding activities. They were carried out, putting in place regulatory, structural, and management actions. Regulatory actions include both the institution of technical committees grouping together water decision-makers and the elaboration of operative manuals and guidelines by means of a participative and cross-cutting approach. Structural actions deal with the funding of interventions within European and national funds according to the principles of coherence and complementarity. Finally, management actions regard the introduction of operational tools to support decision-makers in order to improve planning and monitoring ability. In particular, two cross-functional and interoperable web databases were introduced: SIGRIAN (National Information System for Water Resources Management in Agriculture) and DANIA (National Database of Investments for Irrigation and the Environment). Their interconnection allows to support sustainable investments, taking into account the compliance about irrigation volumes quantified in SIGRIAN, ensuring a high level of attention on water saving, and monitoring the efficiency of funding. Main positive results from the Italian water governance model deal with a synergic and coordinated work at the national, regional, and local level among institutions, the transparency on water use in agriculture, a deeper understanding from the stakeholder side of the importance of their roles and of their own potential benefits and the capacity to guarantee continuity to this model, through a sensitization process and the combined use of management operational tools.

Keywords: agricultural sustainability, governance model, water management, water policies

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Authors: Daniel Joseph Whittaker

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This paper examines the broad array of historic sites from which Chicago common brick has emerged, and the methods this brick has been utilized within and around a new hybrid structure recently completed-and periodically opened to the public, as a private art, architecture, design, and social activism gallery space. Various technical aspects regarding the structural and aesthetic reuse methods of salvaged brick within the interior and exterior of this new Tadao Ando-designed building in Lincoln Park, Chicago, are explored. This paper expands specifically upon the multiple possible origins of Chicago common brick, as well as the extant brick currently composing the surrounding alley which is integral to demarcating the southern site boundary of the old apartment building now gallery. Themes encompassing Chicago’s archeological and architectural history, local resource extraction, and labor practices permeate this paper’s investigation into urban, social and architectural history and building construction technology advancements through time.

Keywords: masonry construction, history brickmaking, private museums, Chicago Illinois, Tadao Ando

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Jelena Filipovic, Milenko Kosutic

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The dynamic way of life has the tendency to simplify and decrease preparing healthy, quick, cheap and safe meals. Spelt pasta is meeting most of these goals. Contrary to bread, pasta can be stored a long time without deterioration in flavour, odour and usability without losing quality. This paper deals with the chemical composition and content of fatty acids in flaxseed and spelt flour. Ratio of essential fatty acids ω-6/ω-3 is also analysed in spelt pasta and pasta with 0%, 10% and 20% flaxseed flour. Gas chromatography with mass spectrometry is used for carrying out a quantitative analysis of flaxseed flour, spelt flour and pasta liposoluble extracts. Flaxseed flour has a better fatty acid profile than spelt flour, with low levels of saturated fat (approximately 9g/100g), high concentration of linolenic acid (57g/100g) and lower content of linoleic acid (16g/100g), as well as superior ω-6/ω-3 ratio that is 1:4. Flaxseed flour in the share of 10% and 20% in spelt pasta positively contributes to the essential fatty acids daily intake recommended by nutritionists and the improvement of ω-6/ω-3 ratio (6,7:1 and 1:1.2). This paper points out that investigated pasta with flaxseed is a new product with improved functional properties due to high level of ω-3 fatty acids and it is acceptable for consumers in regard to sensory properties.

Keywords: flaxseed, spelt, fatty acids, ω-3/ω-6 ratio, pasta

Procedia PDF Downloads 619

Authors: Harihara Subramaniam Salem Chandrasekaran

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Scrum framework is built upon emphasises on self-management and cross-functionality around which the framework is built upon. However, in reality, many organisations that adapt scrum are having functional structures and hierarchy. In such cases, the scrum teams are built with a mixture of people from different functionalities to deliver specific products and projects. For instance, every scrum team would be having a designer, developer or tester, etc.; who will make their own contribution to an increment. This results in people centric dependencies for delivering an increment and thus creating bottlenecks at certain times. This paper presents in detail how functional silos are a challenge to the scrum teams and hinder the incremental deliver of value to customers. The study has been conducted with 14 individuals from the software industry from different functional departments, and the findings summarize that functional silos are naturally formed due to the organizational dynamics and hierarchy and the mindset of being confined within the silos is detrimental to the fundamental values of agile and scrum. The paper also sheds light on what the individuals propose to overcome the silo mindset within the scrum team and focus on continuous improvement in delivery excellence.

Keywords: agile, scrum, cross-functional, functional silos

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Charintorn Suwannawong, Tananpon Yavilas, Sopida Boonaneksap, Chotika Viriyarattanasak, Chairath Tangduangdee

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With increasing aging population and health conscious consumers, the demand for health promoting products such as functional foods, dietary supplements, and nutraceutical products has continuously increased in Thailand. Nevertheless, the strategic framework for regulatory functional food developments in Thailand is still unclear. The objective of this study was to survey stakeholders’ perspectives on three scopes, consisting of 1) the current status 2) obstacles, and 3) future trend for the development and production of functional foods in Thailand. A survey was conducted by interviewing ten experts from governmental organization, industrial sector and academic institute. The obtained results show that there is no established definition for functional foods in Thailand. There is a variety of raw materials that are capable to be potential ingredients for functional food production in Thailand and exported to global market. However, the scaling up technology into a commercial production is limited. Moreover, there is a need to establish the infrastructures, such as testing laboratory, and regulatory standards for quality control and ensuring product safety. This information is useful for government in the development of the strategic framework and policy statement on improvement of functional food industry in Thailand.

Keywords: functional foods, interview, perspective, Thailand

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Zaoiai Said, Makani Abdelkadir, Tafraoui Ahmed

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Concrete material suffers from a relatively low tensile strength and deformation capacity is limited. Such defects of the concrete are very fragile and sensitive to shrinkage cracking materials. The Self- Compacting Concrete (SCC) are highly fluid concretes whose implementation without vibration. This material replaces traditional vibrated concrete mainly seen techno-economic interest it presents. The SCC has several advantages which are at the origin of their development crunching. The research is therefore to conduct a comparison in terms of rheological and mechanical performance between different formulations to find the optimal dosage for rubber granulates. Through this research, we demonstrated that it is possible to make different settings SCC composition having good rheological and mechanical properties. This study also showed that the substitution of natural coarse aggregates (NA) by coarse rubber aggregates (RA) in the composition of the SCC, contributes to a slight variation of workability in the fresh state parameters still remaining in the field of SCC required by the AFGC recommendations. The experimental results show that the compressive strengths of SCC decreased slightly by substituting NA by RA. Finally, the decrease in free shrinkage is proportional to the percentage of RA incorporated into the composition of concrete. This reduction is mainly due to the improvement of the deformability of these materials.

Keywords: self-compacting concrete, coarse rubber aggregate, rheological characterization, mechanical performance, shrinkage

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Authors: Lokesh Gupta, Rakesh Kumar

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Stabilization of weak subgrade soil is mainly aimed for the improvement of soil strength and its durability. Highway engineers are concerned to get the soil material or system that will hold under the design use conditions and for the designed life of the engineering project. The present study envisages the effect of Recron fibres mixed in different proportion (up to 1% by weight of dry soil) on Atterberg limits, Compaction of the soil, California bearing ratio (CBR) values and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the soil. The present study deals with the influence of varying in length (20 mm, 30mm, 40mm and 50mm) and percentage (0.25 %, 0.50 %, 0.75 % and 1.0 %) of fibre added to the soil samples. The aim of study is to determine the reinforcing effect of randomly distributed fibres on the Compaction characteristics, penetration resistance and unconfined compressive strength of soils. The addition of fibres leads to an increase in the optimum moisture content and decrease in maximum dry density. With the addition of the fibres, the increases in CBR and UCS values are observed. The test result shows higher CBR and unconfined compressive strength value for the soil reinforced with 0.5% Recron fibre, once keeping aspect ratio as 160.

Keywords: soil, recron fiber, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), California bearing ratio (CBR)

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Authors: Atef Mohamed Kamel Ahmed

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House crows (Corvus splendens) have become well-established in Ismailia Governorate, Egypt, where they pose several and serious impacts on native biodiversity, ecosystems and humans health. However, there is a lack of literature on the status and effects of invasive birds in Egypt. Over the past 10 years in Ismailia, House crow have increased at a rate approaching (60000 birds)15% per annum; if this were allowed to continue, the population now 10909 birds and will exceed more by 2013, probably accompanied by an increase in geographical distribution in all Suez canal regions and an exacerbation of the problems caused. Population control is recommended, involving improvements in urban hygiene and the capture of adult crows using stupefying baits. Suitable baits and stupefacient doses were identified and these should be used annually, just before the breeding season. Control should be accompanied by studies of relevant aspects of the biology of house crows in Ismailia Governorate.

Keywords: environmental impact t, non-native invasive species, House crow birds, risk management, Ismailia-Egypt

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Authors: Benalia Kouini, Aicha Serier

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This work aims to investigate the structure–property relationship in ternary nanocomposites consisting of polypropylene as the matrix, polyamide 66 as the minor phase and treated nanoclay DELLITE 67G as the reinforcement. All PP/PA66/Nanoclay systems with polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride PP-g-MAH as a compatibilizer were prepared via melt compounding and characterized in terms of nanoclay content. Morphological structure was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The rheological behavior of the nanocomposites was determined by various methods, viz melt flow index (MFI) and parallel plate rheological measurements. The PP/PP-g-MAH/PA66 nanocomposites showed a homogeneous morphology supporting the compatibility improvement between PP, PA66 and nanoclay. SEM results revealed the formation of nanocomposites as the nanoclay was intercalated and exfoliated. In the ternary nanocomposites, the rheological behavior showed that, the complex viscosity is increased with increasing the nanoclay content; however, at low frequencies this increase is governed by the content of nanofiller while at high frequencies it is mainly determined by talc content. A similar trend was also observed for the variations of storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G″) with frequency. The results showed that the use of nanoclay considerably affects the melt elasticity.

Keywords: nanocomposites, polypropylene, polyamide66, modified nanoclay, rheology

Procedia PDF Downloads 385

Authors: Abdulfetah Shobole, Arif Karakas, Ugur Savas Selamogullari, Mustafa Baysal

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The concern of reducing emissions of Co2 from the fossil fuel generating units and using renewable energy sources increased in our world. Due this fact the integration ratio of wind farms to grid reached 20-30% in some part of our world. With increased integration of large MW scaled wind farms to the electric grid, the stability of the electrical system is a great concern. Thus, operators of power systems usually deman the wind turbine generators to obey the same rules as other traditional kinds of generation, such as thermal and hydro, i.e. not affect the grid stability. FACTS devices such as SVC or STATCOM are mostly installed close to the connection point of the wind farm to the grid in order to increase the stability especially during faulty conditions. In this paper wind farm with DFIG turbine type and STATCOM are dynamically modeled and simulated under three phase short circuit fault condition. The dynamic modeling is done by DigSILENT PowerFactory for the wind farm, STATCOM and the network. The simulation results show improvement of system stability near to the connection point of the STATCOM.

Keywords: DFIG wind turbine, statcom, dynamic modeling, digsilent

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Authors: Elena Krutskikh, Elena Khvatova

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In tertiary settings expanding students’ vocabulary and teaching discursive competence is seen as one of the chief goals of a professional development course. However, such a focus often is detrimental to students’ cognitive competences, such as analysis, synthesis, and creative processing of information, and deprives students of motivation for self-improvement and self-development of language skills. The presentation is going to argue that in an ESP course special attention should be paid to reading/listening which can promote understanding and using the language as a tool for solving significant real world problems, including professional ones. It is claimed that in the learning process it is necessary to maintain a balance between the content and the linguistic aspect of the educational process as language acquisition is inextricably linked with mental activity and the need to express oneself is a primary stimulus for using a language. A study conducted among undergraduates indicates that they place a premium on quality materials that motivate them and stimulate their further linguistic and professional development. Thus, more demands are placed on study materials that should contain new information for students and serve not only as a source of new vocabulary but also prepare them for real tasks related to professional activities.

Keywords: critical reading, english for professional development, english for specific purposes, high order thinking skills, lexical approach, vocabulary acquisition

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: A. Rana, M. Badri, D. Lopez Behar, O. Yee, H. Al Bqaei

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The building sector is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. However, as operation energy demands of this sector decrease with more effective energy policies and strategies, there is an urgent need to parallel focus on the growing proportion of embodied carbons. In this regard, benchmarks on embodied carbon of buildings can provide a point of reference to compare and improve the environmental performance of buildings for the stakeholders. Therefore, embodied carbon benchmarks can serve as a useful tool to address climate change challenges. This research utilizes the method to provide a knowledge roadmap of embodied carbon benchmarks development and implementation trends. Two main databases, Web of Science and Engineering Village, are considered for the study. The mapping was conducted with the help of VosViewer tool to provide information regarding: the critical research areas; most cited authors and publications; and countries with the highest publications. It is revealed that the role of benchmarks in energy policies is an emerging trend. In addition, the research highlighted that in policies, embodied carbon benchmarks are gaining importance at the material, whole building, and building portfolio levels. This research reveals direction for improvement and future research and of relevance to building industry professionals, policymakers, and researchers.

Keywords: buildings embodied carbon benchmark, methods, policy

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Authors: Hamidrza Joodaki

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The most complex issue in urban land use planning is site selection that needs to assess the verity of elements and factors. Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods are the best approach to deal with complex problems. In this paper, combination of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) model and FUZZY logic was used as MCDM methods to select the best site for gas station in the 4th gas zone of Tehran. The first and the most important step in FUZZY-AHP model is selection of criteria and sub-criteria. Population, accessibility, proximity and natural disasters were considered as the main criteria in this study. After choosing the criteria, they were weighted based on AHP by EXPERT CHOICE software, and FUZZY logic was used to enhance accuracy and to approach the reality. After these steps, criteria layers were produced and weighted based on FUZZY-AHP model in GIS. Finally, through ARC GIS software, the layers were integrated and the 4th gas zone in TEHRAN was selected as the best site to locate gas station.

Keywords: multiple criteria decision making (MCDM), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), FUZZY logic, geographic information system (GIS)

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Authors: Azzeddine Atibi, Lamalif latifa, Khadija El Kababi, Salim Ahmed, Mohamed Radid

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This study analyzes the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in modern education, where these tools have become essential. Due to the rapid emergence of new technologies and their increasing adoption in education, it is important to understand how teachers use and perceive these tools. The study pursues three objectives : examining current teacher practices regarding ICT, evaluating their impact on student skills and engagement, and making recommendations for better integration of ICT in education. The study's methodology is based on a quantitative approach, using a questionnaire administered to a sample of 104 teachers. This questionnaire, rigorously validated to ensure its reliability, gathers representative data on perceptions and challenges related to the use of ICT. The results show widespread adoption of ICT by teachers, with the majority reporting an improvement in student skills due to these technologies. However, opinions diverge on their impact on student engagement : some teachers note an increase in engagement, while others remain skeptical. Persistent challenges include insufficient technological infrastructure and the need for ongoing training. The recommendations highlight the importance of improving infrastructures and supporting the professional development of teachers to optimize the integration of ICT.

Keywords: ICT, education, teaching practices, teacher perceptions, continuing education

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Authors: Lillian Gungat, Meor Othman Hamzah, Mohd Rosli Mohd Hasan, Jan Valentin

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Utilization of a high percentage of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) requires higher production temperatures and consumes more energy. High production temperature expedites the aging of bitumen in RAP, which could affect the mixture performance. Warm mix asphalt (WMA) additive enables reduced production temperatures as a result of viscosity reduction. This paper evaluates the integration of a high percentage of RAP with a WMA additive known as RH-WMA. The optimum dosage of RH-WMA was determined from basic properties tests. A total of 0%, 30% and 50% RAP contents from two roads sources were modified with RH-WMA. The modified RAP bitumen were examined for viscosity, stiffness, rutting resistance and greenhouse gas emissions. The addition of RH-WMA improved the flow of bitumen by reducing the viscosity, and thus, decreased the construction temperature. The stiffness of the RAP modified bitumen reduced with the incorporation of RH-WMA. The positive improvement in rutting resistance was observed on bitumen with the addition of RAP and RH-WMA in comparison with control. It was estimated that the addition of RH-WMA could potentially reduce fuel usage and GHG emissions by 22 %. Hence, the synergy of RAP and WMA technology can be an alternative in green road construction.

Keywords: reclaimed asphalt pavement, WMA additive, viscosity, stiffness, emissions

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Authors: Saumya Srivastava, Rina Maiti

Abstract:

In order to achieve a better performance of vehicle detection in a complex environment, we present an efficient approach for a multi-vehicle detection system using an adaptive sliding window technique. For a given frame, image segmentation is carried out to establish the region of interest. Gradient computation followed by thresholding, denoising, and morphological operations is performed to extract the binary search image. Near-region field and far-region field are defined to generate hypotheses using the adaptive sliding window technique on the resultant binary search image. For each vehicle candidate, features are extracted using a histogram of oriented gradients, and a pre-trained support vector machine is applied for hypothesis verification. Later, the Kalman filter is used for tracking the vanishing point. The experimental results show that the method is robust and effective on various roads and driving scenarios. The algorithm was tested on highways and urban roads in India.

Keywords: gradient, vehicle detection, histograms of oriented gradients, support vector machine

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Authors: Sarang Yeola

Abstract:

A smart city can be defined as a city that uses Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to enhance its sustainability, workability and livability. It can be viewed as a ‘System of Systems’. We propose decentralization of power and centralization of system. We are presenting a bird's eye view of the system as a whole. The holistic view includes the entirety of human activity in an area including city governments, schools, hospitals, infrastructure, resources, business and people. The main objective for development of Nashik as a smart city is to identify the flaws of the existing systems, eliminate them and come up with innovative and feasible solutions for the betterment of masses. The Make in India is a visionary proposal for FDI in India. It should be managed that the campaign and the industrial estates work in synchronization for boosting the setup of new industrial units in and around Nashik. A smart grid is a modernized electrical grid that uses analog or digital information and communications technology to gather and act on information. We have identified major domains for making Nashik a smart city by surveying the existing infrastructure, challenges and problems faced and the proposed solutions through innovative ideas.

Keywords: transport, (bus rapid transit system) BRTS, metrorail, autos

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Authors: Edward Sarich, Jack Ryan

Abstract:

In contrast to learning new vocabulary incidentally in one’s first language, foreign language vocabulary is often acquired purposefully, because a lack of natural exposure requires it to be studied in an artificial environment. It follows then that foreign language vocabulary may be more efficiently acquired if it is purpose-driven, or linked to a clear and desirable outcome. The research described in this paper relates to the early stages of what is seen as a long-term effort to measure the effectiveness of a methodology for purpose-driven foreign language vocabulary instruction, specifically by analyzing whether directed studying from high-frequency vocabulary lists leads to an improvement in Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) scores. The research was carried out in two sections of a first-year university English composition class at a small university in Japan. The results seem to indicate that purposeful study from relevant high-frequency vocabulary lists can contribute to raising TOEIC scores and that the test preparation methodology used in this study was thought by students to be beneficial in helping them to prepare to take this high-stakes test.

Keywords: corpus vocabulary, language asssessment, second language vocabulary acquisition, TOEIC test preparation

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Authors: Mohsen Sheikholeslami, Zahra Khalili, Ladan Momayez

Abstract:

Impacts of environmental parameters and dust deposition on the efficiency of solar panel have been scrutinized in this article. To gain thermal output, trapezoidal cooling channel has been attached in the bottom of the panel incorporating ternary nanofluid. To produce working fluid, water has been mixed with Fe₃O₄-TiO₂-GO nanoparticles. Also, the arrangement of fins has been considered to grow the cooling rate of the silicon layer. The existence of a thermoelectric layer above the cooling channel leads to higher electrical output. Efficacy of ambient temperature (Ta), speed of wind (V𝓌ᵢₙ𝒹) and inlet temperature (Tᵢₙ) and velocity (Vin) of ternary nanofluid on performance of PVT has been assessed. As Tin increases, electrical efficiency declines about 3.63%. Increase of ambient temperature makes thermal performance enhance about 33.46%. The PVT efficiency decreases about 13.14% and 16.6% with augment of wind speed and dust deposition. CO₂ mitigation has been reduced about 15.49% in presence of dust while it increases about 17.38% with growth of ambient temperature.

Keywords: photovoltaic system, CO₂ mitigation, ternary nanofluid, thermoelectric generator, environmental parameters, trapezoidal cooling channel

Procedia PDF Downloads 90