Search results for: Iranian construction projects

Authors: Polina Trusova

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The majority of young enterprises is founded and run by teams and develops new, innovative products or services. While problems within the team are considered to be an important reason for the failure of young enterprises, effective teamwork on innovation may be a key success factor. It may require special teamwork design or members’ creativity not needed during work routine. However, little is known about how young enterprises develop innovative solutions in teams, what makes their teamwork special and what influences its effectivity. Extending this knowledge is essential for understanding the success and failure factors for young enterprises. Previous research focused on working on innovation or professional teams in general. Rare studies combining these issues usually concentrate on homogenous groups like IT expert teams in innovation projects of big, well-established firms. The transferability of those studies’ findings to the entrepreneurial context is doubtful because of several reasons why teamwork should differ significantly between big, well-established firms and young enterprises. First, teamwork is conducted by team members, e.g., employees. The personality of employees in young enterprises, in contrast to that of employees in established firms, has been shown to be more similar to the personality of entrepreneurs. As entrepreneurs were found to be more open to experience and show less risk aversion, it may have a positive impact on their teamwork. Persons open to novelty are more likely to develop or accept a creative solution, which is especially important for teamwork on innovation. Secondly, young enterprises are often characterized by a flat hierarchy, so in general, teamwork should be more participative there. It encourages each member (and not only the founder) to produce and discuss innovative ideas, increasing their variety and enabling the team to select the best idea from the larger idea pool. Thirdly, teams in young enterprises are often multidisciplinary. It has some advantages but also increases the risk of internal conflicts making teamwork less effective. Despite the key role of teamwork on innovation and presented barriers for transferring existing evidence to the context of young enterprises, only a few researchers have addressed this issue. In order to close the existing research gap, to explore and understand how innovations are developed in teams of young enterprises and which factors influencing teamwork may be especially relevant for such teams, a qualitative study has been developed. The study consisting of 20 half-structured interviews with (co-)founders of young innovative enterprises in the UK and USA started in September 2017. The interview guide comprises but is not limited to teamwork dimensions discussed in literature like members’ skill or authority differentiation. Data will be evaluated following the rules of qualitative content analysis. First results indicate some factors which may be relevant especially for teamwork in young innovative enterprises. They will enrich the scientific discussion and provide the evidence needed to test a possible causality between identified factors and teamwork effectivity in future research on young innovative enterprises. Results and their discussion can be presented at the conference.

Keywords: innovation, qualitative study, teamwork, young enterprises

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Authors: Hsiao-Yung Wang

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This essay aims to examine how the transgender imagery has been constructed in the Taiwanese news media and its evolution from 1953 to 2016. It also explores the discourse patterns and rhetorical strategies in the transgender-related issues which contributed to levels of evaluation in forming ‘social deviance.’ Samples for analysis were selected from mainstream newspapers, including China Times, United Daily and Apple Daily. The time frame for sample selection is from August 1953 (when the first transgender case was reported in Taiwan) to June 2016. To enhance understanding of media representation as nominalistic-based, the author refers to the representative of critical rhetoric Raymie McKerrow for his study on remembrance and forgetfulness in public discourse (especially in his model of ‘critique of domination’); thereby categorizing the 64 years of transgender discourse into five periods: (1) transgender as ‘intersex’ of surgical-reparative medical treatment; (2) transgender as ‘freak gender-bender’ with criminal behaviors; (3) transgender as ‘ladyboy’ (‘katoey in a Thai term) of bar girls or sex workers; (4) transgender as ‘cross dresser’ of transvestite performance; and (5) transgender as ‘life-style or human right’ of spontaneous gender identification. Based on the research findings, this essay argues that the characterization of transgender reporting as a site for the production of compulsory sexism and gender stereotype by the specific forms of name-calling. Besides, the evolution of word-image addressing to transgender issues also pinpoints media as a reflection of fashion of the day. While the transgender imagery might be crystallized as ‘still social problems’ or ‘gender transgression’ in insidious rhetoric; and while the so-called ‘phobia’ persistently embodies in media discourse to exercise name-calling in an ambiguous (rather than in a bullying) way or under the cover of humanist-liberalist rationales, these emergent rhetorical dilemma should be resolved without any delay.

Keywords: critical rhetoric, media representation, McKerrow, nominalistic, social deviance, transgender

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Authors: Shima Taheri, Simon Clark

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Concrete is an essential building material used in the majority of structures. Degradation of concrete over time increases the life-cycle cost of an asset with an estimated annual cost of billions of dollars to national economies. Most of the concrete failure occurs due to cracks, which propagate through a structure and cause weakening leading to failure. Stopping crack propagation is thus the key to protecting concrete structures from failure and is the best way to prevent inconveniences and catastrophes. Furthermore, the majority of cracks occur deep within the concrete in inaccessible areas and are invisible to normal inspection. Few materials intrinsically possess self-healing ability, but one that does is concrete. However, self-healing in concrete is limited to small dormant cracks in a moist environment and is difficult to control. In this project, we developed a method for self-healing of nascent fractures in concrete components through the automatic release of self-curing healing agents encapsulated in breakable nano- and micro-structures. The Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) based two-part adhesive is encapsulated in core-shell structures with brittle/weak inert shell, synthesized via miniemulsion/solvent evaporation polymerization. Stress fields associated with propagating cracks can break these capsules releasing the healing agents at the point where they are needed. The shell thickness is playing an important role in preserving the content until the final setting of concrete. The capsules can also be surface functionalized with carboxyl groups to overcome the homogenous mixing issues. Currently, this formulated self-healing system can replace up to 1% of cement in a concrete formulation. Increasing this amount to 5-7% in the concrete formulation without compromising compression strength and shrinkage properties, is still under investigation. This self-healing system will not only increase the durability of structures by stopping crack propagation but also allow the use of less cement in concrete construction, thereby adding to the global effort for CO2 emission reduction.

Keywords: self-healing concrete, concrete crack, concrete deterioration, durability

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Authors: Lim Pey Huan

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Yi-Kuan-Tao has been developing in Malaysia for nearly 60 years. It was initially introduced from mainland China and later from Taiwan starting from the 1970s. Yi-Kuan-Tao was considered a 'new religion' for the local Chinese community in Malaysia in its early stages, as Chinese immigrants primarily practiced Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, or Catholicism upon settling in the region. The overseas propagation and development of Yi-Kuan-Tao today primarily occur through Taiwanese temples, which began spreading abroad as early as 1949. Particularly since the 1970s, with the rapid economic growth of Taiwan, various branches of Taiwanese Yi-Kuan-Tao have gained economic strength to propagate abroad, further expanding the influence of Yi-Kuan-Tao overseas. Southeast Asia is the region out from Taiwan where the propagation and development of Yi-Kuan-Tao are fastest and most concentrated. With approximately over 6 million Chinese inhabitants, Malaysia's pursuit of traditional Chinese culture has led to a flourishing interest in Yi-Kuan-Tao, particularly its advocacy of the unity of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, with an emphasis on promoting Confucian thought. Moreover, Taiwan's rapid economic development since the 1970s has enabled Yi-Kuan-Tao to allocate significant human and financial resources for external propagation efforts. Additionally, Malaysia's government has adopted a relatively tolerant policy towards religion since that time, further fostering the flourishing development of Yi-Kuan-Tao in Malaysia. Furthermore, this thesis aims to strengthen the lineage and continuity of the Yi-Kuan-Tao tradition, particularly the branch of Fa Yi Chong De, through the perspective of Heavenly Mandate (天命). By examining the different origins and ethnic backgrounds, it investigates how the Malaysian Chinese community has experienced different changes through the cultural baptism of religion, thus delving into the religious influence of Yi-Kuan-Tao. Given that the Fa Yi Chong De Academy in Taiwan is currently in an active development and construction phase, academic works related to Yi-Kuan-Tao will lay a more solid academic foundation for the future establishment of the academy.

Keywords: initial exploration, cultural shifts, Yi-Kuan-Tao, Malaysian Chinese community

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Authors: Nokwethaba Makhanya, Babatunde J. Abiodun, Piotr Wolski

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Climate change possibly intensifies hydrological droughts and reduces water availability in river basins. Despite this, most research on climate change effects in southern Africa has focused exclusively on meteorological droughts. This thesis projects the potential impact of climate change on the future characteristics of hydrological droughts in the Limpopo River Basin (LRB). The study uses regional climate model (RCM) measurements (from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment, CORDEX) and a combination of hydrological simulations (using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool Plus model, SWAT+) to predict the impacts at four global warming levels (GWLs: 1.5℃, 2.0℃, 2.5℃, and 3.0℃) under the RCP8.5 future climate scenario. The SWAT+ model was calibrated and validated with a streamflow dataset observed over the basin, and the sensitivity of model parameters was investigated. The performance of the SWAT+LRB model was verified using the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), Percent Bias (PBIAS), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and coefficient of determination (R²). The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) have been used to detect meteorological droughts. The Soil Water Index (SSI) has been used to define agricultural drought, while the Water Yield Drought Index (WYLDI), the Surface Run-off Index (SRI), and the Streamflow Index (SFI) have been used to characterise hydrological drought. The performance of the SWAT+ model simulations over LRB is sensitive to the parameters CN2 (initial SCS runoff curve number for moisture condition II) and ESCO (soil evaporation compensation factor). The best simulation generally performed better during the calibration period than the validation period. In calibration and validation periods, NSE is ≤ 0.8, while PBIAS is ≥ ﹣80.3%, RMSE ≥ 11.2 m³/s, and R² ≤ 0.9. The simulations project a future increase in temperature and potential evapotranspiration over the basin, but they do not project a significant future trend in precipitation and hydrological variables. However, the spatial distribution of precipitation reveals a projected increase in precipitation in the southern part of the basin and a decline in the northern part of the basin, with the region of reduced precipitation projected to increase with GWLs. A decrease in all hydrological variables is projected over most parts of the basin, especially over the eastern part of the basin. The simulations predict meteorological droughts (i.e., SPEI and SPI), agricultural droughts (i.e., SSI), and hydrological droughts (i.e., WYLDI, SRI) would become more intense and severe across the basin. SPEI-drought has a greater magnitude of increase than SPI-drought, and agricultural and hydrological droughts have a magnitude of increase between the two. As a result, this research suggests that future hydrological droughts over the LRB could be more severe than the SPI-drought projection predicts but less severe than the SPEI-drought projection. This research can be used to mitigate the effects of potential climate change on basin hydrological drought.

Keywords: climate change, CORDEX, drought, hydrological modelling, Limpopo River Basin

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Authors: Yin Ma, Xun Wang, Kelsey Austin

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Purpose – Building upon career construction theory and the conservation of resources theory, we developed a moderated mediation model to examine how the perceived university support impact students’ career adapting responses, namely, crystallization, exploration, decision and preparation, via the mediator career adaptability and moderator perceived parental support. Design/methodology/approach – The multi-stage sampling strategy was employed and survey data were collected. Structural equation modeling was used to perform the analysis. Findings – Perceived university support could directly promote students’ career adaptability, and promote three career adapting responses, namely, exploration, decision and preparation. It could also impact four career adapting responses via mediation effect of career adaptability. Its impact on students’ career adaptability can greatly increase when students’ receive parental related career support. Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional design limits causal inference. Conducted in China, our findings should be cautiously interpreted in other countries due to cultural differences. Practical implications – University support is vital to students’ career adaptability and supports from parents can enhance this process. University-home collaboration is necessary to promote students’ career adapting responses. For students, seeking and utilizing as much supporting resources as possible is vital for their human resources development. On an organizational level, universities could benefit from our findings by introducing the practices which ask students to rate the career-related courses and encourage them to chat with parents regularly. Originality/ value – Using recently developed scale, current work contributes to the literature by investigating the impact of multiple contextual factors on students’ career adapting response. It also provide the empirical support for the role of human intervention in fostering career adapting responses.

Keywords: career adapability, university and parental support, China studies, sociology of education

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Authors: Adesuwa Omorede, Rufai Haruna Kilu

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Affective motivation (motivation that is emotionally laden usually related to affect, passion, emotions, moods) in the workplace stimulates individuals to reinforce, persist and commit to their task, which leads to the individual and organizational performance. This leads individuals to reach goals especially in situations where task are highly challenging and hostile. In such situations, individuals are more disposed to be more creative, innovative and see new opportunities from the loopholes in their workplace. However, when individuals feel displaced and less important, an adverse reaction may suffice which may be detrimental to the organization and its performance. One sector where affective motivation is eminently present and relevant, is the mining industry. Due to its intense work environment; mostly dominated by men and masculinity cultures; and deliberate exclusion of women in this environment which, makes the women working in these environments to feel marginalized. In Ghana, the mining industry is mostly seen as a very physical environment especially underground and mostly considerd as 'no place for a woman'. Despite the fact that these women feel less 'needed' or 'appreciated' in such environments, they still have to juggle between intense work shifts; face violence and other health risks with their families, which put a strain on their affective motivational reaction. Beyond these challenges, however, several mining companies in Ghana today are working towards providing a fair and equal working situation for both men and women miners, by recognizing them as key stakeholders, as well as including them in the stages of mining projects from the planning and designing phase to the evaluation and implementation stage. Drawing from the psychology and gender literature, this study takes a narrative approach to identify and understand the shifting gender dynamics within the mine works in Ghana, occasioning a change in background disposition of miners, which leads to more women taking up mine jobs in the country. In doing so, a qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews from Ghana. Several women working within the mining industries in Ghana shared their experiences and how they felt and still feel in their workplace. In addition, archival documents were gathered to support the findings. The results suggest a change in enrolment regimes in a mining and technology university in Ghana, making room for a more gender equal enrolments in the university. A renowned university that train and feed mine work professional into the industry. The results further acknowledge gender equal and diversity recruitment policies and initiatives among the mining companies of Ghana. This study contributes to the psychology and gender literature by highlighting the hindrances women face in the mining industry as well as highlighting several of their affective reactions towards gender inequality. The study also provides several suggestions for decision makers in the mining industry of what can be done in the future to reduce the gender inequality gap within the industry.

Keywords: affective motivation, gender shape shifting, mining industry, women miners

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Authors: Waqas Ahmed Khan Afridi, Subhas Chandra Mukhopadhyay, Bandita Mainali

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The research paper presents a unique approach to evapotranspiration (ET) prediction using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) learning algorithm. The study leverages real-time sensor node data to develop an accurate and adaptable prediction model, addressing the inherent challenges of traditional ET estimation methods. The integration of the SVM algorithm with real-time sensor node data offers great potential to improve spatial and temporal resolution in ET predictions. In the model development, key input features are measured and computed using mathematical equations such as Penman-Monteith (FAO56) and soil water balance (SWB), which include soil-environmental parameters such as; solar radiation (Rs), air temperature (T), atmospheric pressure (P), relative humidity (RH), wind speed (u2), rain (R), deep percolation (DP), soil temperature (ST), and change in soil moisture (∆SM). The one-year field data are split into combinations of three proportions i.e. train, test, and validation sets. While kernel functions with tuning hyperparameters have been used to train and improve the accuracy of the prediction model with multiple iterations. This paper also outlines the existing methods and the machine learning techniques to determine Evapotranspiration, data collection and preprocessing, model construction, and evaluation metrics, highlighting the significance of SVM in advancing the field of ET prediction. The results demonstrate the robustness and high predictability of the developed model on the basis of performance evaluation metrics (R2, RMSE, MAE). The effectiveness of the proposed model in capturing complex relationships within soil and environmental parameters provide insights into its potential applications for water resource management and hydrological ecosystem.

Keywords: evapotranspiration, FAO56, KNIME, machine learning, RStudio, SVM, sensors

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Authors: Vinh Duy Cao, Carlos Salas-Bringas, Anna M. Szczotok, Marianne Hiorth, Anna-Lena Kjøniksen

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The increasing cost of energy supply for the purposes of heating and cooling creates a demand for more energy efficient buildings. Improved construction techniques and enhanced material technology can greatly reduce the energy consumption needed for the buildings. Microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCM) suspensions utilized as heat transfer fluids for energy storage and heat transfer applications provide promising potential solutions. A full understanding of the flow and thermal characteristics of microcapsule suspensions is needed to optimize the design of energy storage systems, in order to reduce the capital cost, system size, and energy consumption. The MPCM suspensions exhibited pseudoplastic and thixotropic behaviour, and significantly improved the thermal performance of the suspensions. Three different models were used to characterize the thixotropic behaviour of the MPCM suspensions: the second-order structural, kinetic model was found to give a better fit to the experimental data than the Weltman and Figoni-Shoemaker models. For all samples, the initial shear stress increased, and the breakdown rate accelerated significantly with increasing concentration. The thermal performance and rheological properties, especially the selection of rheological models, will be useful for developing the applications of microcapsules as heat transfer fluids in thermal energy storage system such as calculation of an optimum MPCM concentration, pumping power requirement, and specific power consumption. The effect of temperature on the shear thinning properties of the samples suggests that some of the phase change material is located outside the capsules, and contributes to agglomeration of the samples.

Keywords: latent heat, microencapsulated phase change materials, pseudoplastic, suspension, thixotropic behaviour

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Authors: Pablo Ampuero, Claudia Labarca

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The current research paper assesses how the narrative of Chilean businesspeople about China shapes a new Orientalism Analyses on the role of non-state actors in foreign policy that have hitherto theorized about Orientalism as a narrative of hegemonic power. Hence, it has been instrumental to the efforts of imperialist powers to justify their mission civilisatrice. However, such conceptualization can seldom explain new complexities of international interactions at the height of globalization. Hence, we assessed the case of Chile, a small Latin American country, and its relationship with China, its largest trading partner. Through a discourse analysis of interviews with Chilean businesspeople engaged in the Chinese market, we could determine that Chile is building an Orientalist image of China. This new business Orientalism reinforces a relation of alterity based on commercial opportunities, traditional values, and natural dispositions. Hence, the perception of the Chinese Other amongst Chilean business people frames a new set of representations as part of the essentially commercial nature of current bilateral relations. It differs from previous frames, such as the racial bias frame of the early 20^th century, or the anti-communist frame in reaction to Mao’s leadership. As in every narrative of alterity, there is not only a construction of the Other but also a definition of the Self. Consequently, this analysis constitutes a relevant case of the role of non-state actors in asymmetrical bilateral relations, where the non-state actors of the minor power build and act upon an Orientalist frame, which is not representative of its national status in the relation. This study emerges as a contribution on the relation amongst non-state actors in asymmetrical relations, where the smaller power’s business class acts on a negative prejudice of its interactions with its counterpart. The research builds upon the constructivist approach to international relations, linking the idea of Nation Branding with Orientalism in the case of Chile-China relations.

Keywords: new business Orientalism, small power, framing, Chile-China relations

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Authors: Ali Mohammed Ali Lmbash

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The global refugee crisis points to the vital need for sustainable and resistant solutions to different kinds of problems for displaced persons all over the world. Among the myriads of sustainable concerns, however, there are diverse considerations including energy consumption, waste management, water access, and resiliency of structures. Our research aims to develop distinct ideas for sustainable architecture given the exigent problems in disaster-threatened areas starting with the Hatay Refugee camp in Turkey where the majority of the camp dwellers are Syrian refugees. Commencing community-based participatory research which focuses on the socio-environmental issues of displaced populations, this study will apply two approaches with a specific focus on the Hatay region. The initial experiment uses Richter's predictive model and simulations to forecast earthquake outcomes in refugee campers. The result could be useful in implementing architectural design tactics that enhance structural reliability and ensure the security and safety of shelters through earthquakes. In the second experiment a model is generated which helps us in predicting the quality of the existing water sources and since we understand how greatly water is vital for the well-being of humans, we do it. This research aims to enable camp administrators to employ forward-looking practices while managing water resources and thus minimizing health risks as well as building resilience of the refugees in the Hatay area. On the other side, this research assesses other sustainability problems of Hatay Refugee Camp as well. As energy consumption becomes the major issue, housing developers are required to consider energy-efficient designs as well as feasible integration of renewable energy technologies to minimize the environmental impact and improve the long-term sustainability of housing projects. Waste management is given special attention in this case by imposing recycling initiatives and waste reduction measures to reduce the pace of environmental degradation in the camp's land area. As well, study gives an insight into the social and economic reality of the camp, investigating the contribution of initiatives such as urban agriculture or vocational training to the enhancement of livelihood and community empowerment. In a similar fashion, this study combines the latest research with practical experience in order to contribute to the continuing discussion on sustainable architecture during disaster relief, providing recommendations and info that can be adapted on every scale worldwide. Through collaborative efforts and a dedicated sustainability approach, we can jointly get to the root of the cause and work towards a far more robust and equitable society.

Keywords: smart architecture, Hatay Camp, sustainability, machine learning.

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Authors: Fei Chen, Wei Lu, Jun Cai

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During the Twelve Five period, China promulgated industrial policies promoting the relocation of energy-intensive industries to coastal areas in order to utilize marine shipping resources. Consequently, some major state-owned steel and gas enterprises have relocated and resulted in a large-scale coastal area development. However, some land may have been over-exploited with seamless coastline projects. To balance between employment and housing, new industrial coastal towns were constructed to support the industrial-led development. In this paper, we adopt a case-study approach to closely examine the development of several new industrial coastal towns of Liaoning Province situated in the Bohai Bay area, which is currently under rapid economic growth. Our investigations reflect the common phenomenon of long distance commuting and a massive amount of vacant residences. More specifically, large plant relocation caused hundreds of kilometers of daily commute and enterprises had to provide housing subsidies and education incentives to motivate employees to relocate to coastal areas. Nonetheless, many employees still refuse to relocate due to job stability, diverse needs of family members and access to convenient services. These employees averaged 4 hours of commute daily and some who lived further had to reside in temporary industrial housing units and subject to long-term family separation. As a result, only a small portion of employees purchase new coastal residences but mostly for investment and retirement purposes, leading to massive vacancy and ghost-town phenomenon. In contrast to the low demand, coastal areas tend to develop large amount of residences prior to industrial relocation, which may be directly related to local government finances. Some local governments have sold residential land to developers to general revenue to support the subsequent industrial development. Subject to the strong preference of ocean-view, residential housing developers tend to select coast-line land to construct new residential towns, which further reduces the access of marine resources for major industrial enterprises. This violates the original intent of developing industrial coastal towns and drastically limits the availability of marine resources. Lastly, we analyze the co-existence of over-exploiting residential areas and massive vacancies in reference to the demand and supply of land, as well as the demand of residential housing units with the choice criteria of enterprise employees.

Keywords: coastal industry town, commuter traffic, employment-housing space, outer suburb industrial area

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Authors: I. Wlasny, Z. Klusek, A. Wysmolek

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Hexagonal boron nitride is a representative of a widely popular class of two-dimensional Van Der Waals materials. It finds its uses, among others, in construction of complexly layered heterostructures. Hexagonal boron nitride attracts great interest because of its properties characteristic for wide-gap semiconductors as well as an ultra-flat surface.Van Der Waals heterostructures composed of two-dimensional layered materials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides or graphene give hope for miniaturization of various electronic and optoelectronic elements. In our presentation, we will show the results of our investigations of the not previously reported modification of the hexagonal boron nitride layers with focused laser beam. The electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) images reveal that the irradiation leads to changes of the local electric fields for a wide range of laser wavelengths (from 442 to 785 nm). These changes are also accompanied by alterations of crystallographic structure of the material, as reflected by Raman spectra. They exhibit high stability and remain visible after at least five months. This behavior can be explained in terms of photoionization of the defect centers in h-BN which influence non-uniform electrostatic field screening by the photo-excited charge carriers. Analyzed changes influence local defect structure, and thus the interatomic distances within the lattice. These effects can be amplified by the piezoelectric character of hexagonal boron nitride, similar to that found in nitrides (e.g., GaN, AlN). Our results shed new light on the optical properties of the hexagonal boron nitride, in particular, those associated with electron-phonon coupling. Our study also opens new possibilities for h-BN applications in layered heterostructures where electrostatic fields can be used in tailoring of the local properties of the structures for use in micro- and nanoelectronics or field-controlled memory storage. This work is supported by National Science Centre project granted on the basis of the decision number DEC-2015/16/S/ST3/00451.

Keywords: atomic force microscopy, hexagonal boron nitride, optical properties, raman spectroscopy

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Authors: Umashankar Morya, Somnath Basu

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Metalloids like arsenic are often present as contaminants in industrial effluents. Removal of the same is essential before the safe discharge of the wastewater into the environment. Otherwise, these pollutants tend to percolate into aquifers over a period of time and contaminate drinking water sources. Several adsorbents, including metal powders, carbon nanotubes and zeolites, are being used for this purpose, with varying degrees of success. However, most of these solutions are not only costly but also not always readily available. This restricts their use, especially among financially weaker communities. Slag generated globally from primary steelmaking operations exceeds 200 billion kg every year. Some of it is utilized for applications like road construction, filler in reinforced concrete, railway track ballast and recycled into iron ore agglomeration processes. However, these usually involve low-value addition, and a significant amount of the slag still ends up in a landfill. However, there is a strong possibility that the constituents in the steelmaking slag may immobilize metalloid contaminants present in wastewater through a combination of adsorption and precipitation of insoluble product(s). Preliminary experiments have already indicated that exposure to basic oxygen steelmaking slag does reduce pollutant concentration in wastewater. In addition, the slag is relatively inexpensive and available in large quantities and in several countries across the world. Investigations on the mechanism of interactions at the water-solid interfaces have been in progress for some time. However, at the same time, there are concerns about the possibility of leaching of metal ions from the slag particles in concentrations greater than what exists in the water bodies where the “treated” wastewater would eventually be discharged. The effect of such leached ions on the aquatic flora and fauna is yet uncertain. This has prompted the present investigation, which focuses on the leaching of metal ions from steelmaking slag particles in contact with wastewater, and the influence of these ions on the removal of contaminant species. Experiments were carried out to quantify the leaching behavior of different ionic species upon exposure of the slag particles to simulated wastewater, both with and without specific metalloid contaminants.

Keywords: slag, water, metalloid, heavy metal, wastewater

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Authors: Yun-Chin Chung, Nileema Divate, Gen-Hung Chen, Pei-Ru Huang, Rupesh Divate

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Many environmental factors, such as glucose concentration, ethanol, temperature, osmotic pressure and pH, decrease the production rate of ethanol using yeast as a starter. Fermentation starters with high tolerance to various stresses are always demanded for brewing industry. Trehalose, a storage carbohydrate in cell wall of yeast, plays an important role in tolerance of environmental stress by preserving integrity of plasma membrane and stabilizing proteins. Furan aldehydes are toxic to yeast and the growth rate of yeast is significantly reduced if furan aldehydes were present in the fermentation medium. In yeast, aldehyde reductase is involved in the detoxification of reactive aldehydes and consequently the growth of yeast is improved. The aims of this study were to construct a genetic recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Pichia pastoris with furfural and HMF degrading and high ethanol tolerance capacities. Yeast strains were engineered by genetic recombination for overexpression of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase gene (tps1) and aldehyde reductase gene (ari1). TPS1 gene was cloned from S. cerevisiae by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and then ligated with pGAPZαC vector. The constructed vector, pGAPZC-tps1, was transformed to recombinant yeasts strain with overexpression of ari1. The transformants with pGAPZC-tps1-ari1 were generated called STA (S. cerevisiae) and PTA (P. pastoris) with overexpression of tps1, ari1. PCR with tps1-specific primers and western blot with his-tag confirmed the gene insertion and protein expression of tps1 in the transformants, respectively. The neutral trehalase gene (nth1) of STA was successfully deleted and the novel strain STAΔN will be used for further study, including the measurement of trehalose concentration and ethanol, furfural tolerance assay.

Keywords: genetic recombinant, yeast, ethanol tolerance, trehalase, aldehyde reductase

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Authors: Zhang Cong, Cai Runlin, Jia Fengjiao

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The evolution of the urban agglomeration spatial structure requires strong support of the inter-city traffic system. And the inter-city traffic system can not only meet the demand of the urban agglomeration transportation but also guide the economic development. To correctly understand the relationship between inter-city traffic planning and urban agglomeration can help the urban agglomeration coordinated developing with the inter-city traffic system. The Yangtze River Delta is one of the most representative urban agglomerations in China with strong economic vitality, high city levels, diversified urban space form, and improved transport infrastructure. With the promotion of industrial division in the Yangtze River Delta and the regional travel facilitation brought by inter-city traffic, the urban agglomeration is characterized by highly increasing of inter-city transportation demand, the urbanization of regional traffic, adjacent regional transportation links breaking administrative boundaries, the networked channels and so on. Therefore, the development of inter-city traffic system presents new trends and challenges. This paper studies the interactions between inter-city traffic system and regional economic growth, regional factor flow, and regional spatial structure evolution in the Yangtze River Delta from two dimensions of time and space. On this basis, the adaptability of inter-city traffic development mode and urban agglomeration space structure is analyzed. First of all, the coordination between urban agglomeration planning and inter-city traffic planning is judged from the planning level. Secondly, the coordination between inter-city traffic elements and industries and population distributions is judged from the perspective of space. Finally, the coordination of the cross-regional planning and construction of inter-city traffic system is judged. The conclusions can provide an empirical reference for intercity traffic planning in Yangtze River Delta region and other urban agglomerations, and it is also of great significance to optimize the allocation of urban agglomerations and the overall operational efficiency.

Keywords: evolution, interaction, inter-city traffic system, spatial structure

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Authors: L. Nahimana

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The eastern edge of the East African Rift in Burundi shows many mass movement phenomena corresponding to landslides, mudflow, debris flow, spectacular erosion (mega-gully), flash floods and alluvial deposits. These phenomena usually occur during the rainy season. Their extent and consecutive damages vary widely. To manage these phenomena, it is necessary to adopt a methodological approach of their mapping with a structured database. The elements for this database are: three-dimensional extent of the phenomenon, natural causes and conditions (geological lithology, slope, weathering depth and products, rainfall patterns, natural environment) and the anthropogenic factors corresponding to the various human activities. The extent of the area provides information about the possibilities and opportunities for mitigation technique. The lithological nature allows understanding the influence of the nature of the rock and its structure on the intensity of the weathering of rocks, as well as the geotechnical properties of the weathering products. The slope influences the land stability. The intensity of annual, monthly and daily rainfall helps to understand the conditions of water saturation of the terrains. Certain natural circumstances such as the presence of streams and rivers promote foot slope erosion and thus the occurrence and activity of mass movements. The construction of some infrastructures such as new roads and agglomerations deeply modify the flow of surface and underground water followed by mass movements. Using geospatial data selected on the East African Rift in Burundi, it is presented case of mass movements illustrating the nature, importance, various factors and the extent of the damages. An analysis of these elements for each hazard can guide the options for mitigation of the phenomenon and its consequences.

Keywords: mass movement, landslide, mudflow, debris flow, spectacular erosion, mega-gully, flash flood, alluvial deposit, East African rift, Burundi

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Henry Gonzalo Acurio Flores, Alvaro Nicolas Corral Naveda, Juan Francisco Fonseca Palacios

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In Ecuador, subventions on fossil fuels for the road transportation sector have always been part of its economy throughout time, mainly because of demagogy and populism from political leaders. It is clearly seen that the government cannot maintain the subsidies anymore due to its commercial balance and its general state budget; subsidies are a key barrier to implementing the use of cleaner technologies. However, during the last few months, the elimination of subsidies has been done gradually with the purpose of reaching international prices. It is expected that with this measure, the population will opt for other means of transportation, and in a certain way, it will promote the use of private electric vehicles and public, e.g., taxis and buses (urban transport). Considering the three main elements of sustainable development, an analysis of the social, economic, and environmental impacts of eliminating subsidies will be generated at the country level. To achieve this, four scenarios will be developed in order to determine how the subsidies will contribute to the promotion of electro-mobility. 1) A Business as Usual BAU scenario; 2) the introduction of 10 000 electric vehicles by 2025; 3) the introduction of 100 000 electric vehicles by 2030; 4) the introduction of 750 000 electric vehicles by 2040 (for all the scenarios buses, taxis, lightweight duty vehicles, and private vehicles will be introduced, as it is established in the National Electro Mobility Strategy for Ecuador). The Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) will be used, and it will be suitable to determine the cost for the government in terms of importing derivatives for fossil fuels and the cost of electricity to power the electric fleet that can be changed. The elimination of subventions generates fiscal resources for the state that can be used to develop other kinds of projects that will benefit Ecuadorian society. It will definitely change the energy matrix, and it will provide energy security for the country; it will be an opportunity for the government to incentivize a greater introduction of renewable energies, e.g., solar, wind, and geothermal. At the same time, it will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the transportation sector, considering its mitigation potential, which as a result, will ameliorate the inhabitant quality of life by improving the quality of air, therefore reducing respiratory diseases associated with exhaust emissions, consequently, achieving sustainability, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and complying with the agreements established in the Paris Agreement COP 21 in 2015. Electro mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean can only be achieved by the implementation of the right policies at the central government, which need to be accompanied by a National Urban Mobility Policy (NUMP) and can encompass a greater vision to develop holistic, sustainable transport systems at local governments.

Keywords: electro mobility, energy, policy, sustainable transportation

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Authors: Zongyan Yang, Gagan K. Jena, Sankar B. Karanam, Noora M. A. Hokal

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Jumeirah First beach, a segment of coastline of length 1.5 km, is one of the popular public beaches in Dubai, UAE. The stability of the beach has been affected by several coastal developmental projects, including The World, Island 2 and La Mer. A comprehensive stabilization scheme comprising of two composite groynes (of lengths 90 m and 125m), modification to the northern breakwater of Jumeirah Fishing Harbour and beach re-nourishment was implemented by Dubai Municipality in 2012. However, the performance of the implemented stabilization scheme has been compromised by La Mer project (built in 2016), which modified the wave climate at the Jumeirah First beach. The objective of the coastal modelling studies is to establish design basis for further beach stabilization scheme(s). Comprehensive coastal modelling studies had been conducted to establish the nearshore wave climate, equilibrium beach orientations and stable beach plan forms. Based on the outcomes of the modeling studies, recommendation had been made to extend the composite groynes to stabilize the Jumeirah First beach. Wave transformation was performed following an interpolation approach with wave transformation matrixes derived from simulations of a possible range of wave conditions in the region. The Dubai coastal wave model is developed with MIKE21 SW. The offshore wave conditions were determined from PERGOS wave data at 4 offshore locations with consideration of the spatial variation. The lateral boundary conditions corresponding to the offshore conditions, at Dubai/Abu Dhabi and Dubai Sharjah borders, were derived with application of LitDrift 1D wave transformation module. The Dubai coastal wave model was calibrated with wave records at monitoring stations operated by Dubai Municipality. The wave transformation matrix approach was validated with nearshore wave measurement at a Dubai Municipality monitoring station in the vicinity of the Jumeirah First beach. One typical year wave time series was transformed to 7 locations in front of the beach to count for the variation of wave conditions which are affected by adjacent and offshore developments. Equilibrium beach orientations were estimated with application of LitDrift by finding the beach orientations with null annual littoral transport at the 7 selected locations. The littoral transport calculation results were compared with beach erosion/accretion quantities estimated from the beach monitoring program (twice a year including bathymetric and topographical surveys). An innovative integral method was developed to outline the stable beach plan forms from the estimated equilibrium beach orientations, with predetermined minimum beach width. The optimal lengths for the composite groyne extensions were recommended based on the stable beach plan forms.

Keywords: composite groyne, equilibrium beach orientation, stable beach plan form, wave transformation matrix

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Authors: Szu-Yi Chang, Jiin-Ru Rong

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This paper discussed a case involving a young female patient with schizophrenia. The patient's condition was deteriorating, and she was becoming increasingly reliant on her family to take care of her, and as her father did not understand the illness well and was afraid that others will learn about the presence of a mentally ill individual in their family, he and the patient's mother were thus unable to cope with the patient's deteriorating condition, which in turn caused her to suffer from a lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem. The patient received nursing care from July 26th to October 25th, 2017, during which counseling, family visits, and phone interviews were carried out, and her condition was monitored. By referring to the practical ability indicators for community psychiatric mental health nursing that were developed by the psychiatric mental health nurses' association of the Republic of China, defining categories such as 'self-construction,' 'self-management,' 'disease management,' and 'family nursing,' and incorporating indicators for empowerment and various skills into the steps and strategies used for nursing care, we will able to help the patient to construct her own identity, raise her self-esteem, improve her ability to independently perform activities of daily living, strengthen her disease management ability, and gradually build up her life management skills. The patient's family was also encouraged to communicate more among themselves, so as to align them with the nursing care objectives of improving the patient's ability to adapt to community life and her disease. The results indicated that the patient was able to maintain her mental stability within her community. By implementing effective self-management and maintaining a routine life, the patient was able to continue her active participation in community work and rehabilitation activities. Improvements were also achieved with respect to family role issues by establishing mutual understanding among the patient's family members and gaining their support. It is recommended that mental health nurses can leverage their community mental health nursing skills and the related strategies to promote adaptation to community life among mental life patients.

Keywords: community psychiatric mental health nursing, family nursing, schizophrenia, self-management

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Authors: Diana Mitova, Krassimir Mitrev

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To prepare the current generation for the future, education systems need to change. It implies a way of learning that meets the demands of the times and the environment in which we live. Productive interaction in the educational process implies an interactive learning environment and the possibility of personal development of learners based on communication and mutual dialogue, cooperation and good partnership in decision-making. Students need not only theoretical knowledge, but transferable skills that will help them to become inventors and entrepreneurs, to implement ideas. STEM education , is now a real necessity for the modern school. Through learning in a "learning company", students master examples from classroom practice, simulate real life situations, group activities and apply basic interactive learning strategies and techniques. The learning company is the subject of this study, reduced to entrepreneurship training in STEM - technologies that encourage students to think outside the traditional box. STEM learning focuses the teacher's efforts on modeling entrepreneurial thinking and behavior in students and helping them solve problems in the world of business and entrepreneurship. Learning based on the implementation of various STEM projects in extracurricular activities, experiential learning, and an interdisciplinary approach are means by which educators better connect the local community and private businesses. Learners learn to be creative, experiment and take risks and work in teams - the leading characteristics of any innovator and future entrepreneur. This article presents some European policies on STEM and entrepreneurship education. It also shares best practices for training company training , with the integration of STEM in the learning company training environment. The main results boil down to identifying some advantages and problems in STEM entrepreneurship education. The benefits of using integrative approaches to teach STEM within a training company are identified, as well as the positive effects of project-based learning in a training company using STEM. Best practices for teaching entrepreneurship through extracurricular activities using STEM within a training company are shared. The following research methods are applied in this research paper: Theoretical and comparative analysis of principles and policies of European Union countries and Bulgaria in the field of entrepreneurship education through a training company. Experiences in entrepreneurship education through extracurricular activities with STEM application within a training company are shared. A questionnaire survey to investigate the motivation of secondary vocational school students to learn entrepreneurship through a training company and their readiness to start their own business after completing their education. Within the framework of learning through a "learning company" with the integration of STEM, the activity of the teacher-facilitator includes the methods: counseling, supervising and advising students during work. The expectation is that students acquire the key competence "initiative and entrepreneurship" and that the cooperation between the vocational education system and the business in Bulgaria is more effective.

Keywords: STEM, entrepreneurship, training company, extracurricular activities

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Authors: Samuel O. Akande

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The human-induced climate change is likely to have severe consequences on forest ecosystems in Nigeria. Recent discussions and emphasis on issues concerning the environment justify the need for this research which examined deforestation monitoring in Oban Forest, Nigeria using Remote Sensing techniques. The Landsat images from TM (1986), ETM+ (2001) and OLI (2015) sensors were obtained from Landsat online archive and processed using Erdas Imagine 2014 and ArcGIS 10.3 to obtain the land use/land cover and Normalized Differential Vegetative Index (NDVI) values. Ground control points of deforested areas were collected for validation. It was observed that the forest cover decreased in area by about 689.14 km² between 1986 and 2015. The NDVI was used to determine the vegetation health of the forest and its implications on agricultural sustainability. The result showed that the total percentage of the healthy forest cover has reduced to about 45.9% from 1986 to 2015. The results obtained from analysed questionnaires shown that there was a positive correlation between the causes and effects of deforestation in the study area. The coefficient of determination value was calculated as R² ≥ 0.7, to ascertain the level of anthropogenic activities, such as fuelwood harvesting, intensive farming, and logging, urbanization, and engineering construction activities, responsible for deforestation in the study area. Similarly, temperature and rainfall data were obtained from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) for the period of 1986 to 2015 in the study area. It was observed that there was a significant increase in temperature while rainfall decreased over the study area. Responses from the administered questionnaires also showed that futile destruction of forest ecosystem in Oban forest could be reduced to its barest minimum if fuelwood harvesting is disallowed. Thus, the projected impacts of climate change on Nigeria’s forest ecosystems and environmental stability is better imagined than experienced.

Keywords: deforestation, ecosystems, normalized differential vegetative index, sustainability

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Authors: Warda Khan, Remo Lachmann, Adarsh S. Garakahally

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The increasing complexity of software and its applicability in a wide range of industries, e.g., automotive, call for enhanced quality assurance techniques. Test automation is one option to tackle the prevailing challenges by supporting test engineers with fast, parallel, and repetitive test executions. A high degree of test automation allows for a shift from mundane (manual) testing tasks to a more analytical assessment of the software under test. However, a high initial investment of test resources is required to establish test automation, which is, in most cases, a limitation to the time constraints provided for quality assurance of complex software systems. Hence, a computer-aided creation of automated test cases is crucial to increase the benefit of test automation. This paper proposes the application of machine learning for the generation of automated test cases. It is based on supervised learning to analyze test specifications and existing test implementations. The analysis facilitates the identification of patterns between test steps and their implementation with test automation components. For the test case generation, this approach exploits historical data of test automation projects. The identified patterns are the foundation to predict the implementation of unknown test case specifications. Based on this support, a test engineer solely has to review and parameterize the test automation components instead of writing them manually, resulting in a significant time reduction for establishing test automation. Compared to other generation approaches, this ML-based solution can handle different writing styles, authors, application domains, and even languages. Furthermore, test automation tools require expert knowledge by means of programming skills, whereas this approach only requires historical data to generate test cases. The proposed solution is evaluated using various multi-label evaluation criteria (EC) and two small-sized real-world systems. The most prominent EC is ‘Subset Accuracy’. The promising results show an accuracy of at least 86% for test cases, where a 1:1 relationship (Multi-Class) between test step specification and test automation component exists. For complex multi-label problems, i.e., one test step can be implemented by several components, the prediction accuracy is still at 60%. It is better than the current state-of-the-art results. It is expected the prediction quality to increase for larger systems with respective historical data. Consequently, this technique facilitates the time reduction for establishing test automation and is thereby independent of the application domain and project. As a work in progress, the next steps are to investigate incremental and active learning as additions to increase the usability of this approach, e.g., in case labelled historical data is scarce.

Keywords: machine learning, multi-class, multi-label, supervised learning, test automation

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Authors: Jeremy Attard, Jordan François, Serge Lazzarini, Thierry Masson

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Gauge theories are the natural background for describing geometrically fundamental interactions using principal and associated fiber bundles as dynamical entities. The central notion of these theories is their local gauge symmetry implemented by the local action of a Lie group H. There exist several methods used to reduce the symmetry of a gauge theory, like gauge fixing, bundle reduction theorem or spontaneous symmetry breaking mechanism (SSBM). This paper is a presentation of another method of gauge symmetry reduction, distinct from those three. Given a symmetry group H acting on a fiber bundle and its naturally associated fields (Ehresmann (or Cartan) connection, curvature, matter fields, etc.) there sometimes exists a way to erase (in whole or in part) the H-action by just reconfiguring these fields, i.e. by making a mere change of field variables in order to get new (‘composite‘) fields on which H (in whole or in part) does not act anymore. Two examples: the re-interpretation of the BEHGHK (Higgs) mechanism, on the one hand, and the top-down construction of Tractor and Penrose's Twistor spaces and connections in the framework of conformal Cartan geometry, one the other, will be discussed. They have, of course, nothing to do with each other but the dressing field method can be applied on both to get a new insight. In the first example, it turns out, indeed, that generation of masses in the Standard Model can be separated from the symmetry breaking, the latter being a mere change of field variables, i.e. a dressing. This offers an interpretation in opposition with the one usually found in textbooks. In the second case, the dressing field method applied to the conformal Cartan geometry offer a way of understanding the deep geometric nature of the so-called Tractors and Twistors. The dressing field method, distinct from a gauge transformation (even if it can have apparently the same form), is a systematic way of finding and erasing artificial symmetries of a theory, by a mere change of field variables which redistributes the degrees of freedom of the theories.

Keywords: BEHGHK (Higgs) mechanism, conformal gravity, gauge theory, spontaneous symmetry breaking, symmetry reduction, twistors and tractors

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Authors: Azar Mahmoudi

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Despite the rise of global anti-corruption movements and the strong emergence of international and national anti-corruption laws, corrupt practices are still prevalent in most places, and countries still struggle to translate these laws into practice. On the other hand, in most countries, political and economic elites oppose anti-corruption reforms. In such a situation, the role of external actors, like the other States, international organizations, and transnational actors, becomes essential. Among them, Transnational Corporations [TNCs] can develop their own regime-like framework to govern their internal activities, and through this, they can contribute to the regimes established by State actors to solve transnational issues. Among various regimes, TNCs may choose to comply with the transnational anti-corruption legal regime to avoid the cost of non-compliance with anti-corruption laws. As a result, they decide to strenghen their anti-corruption compliance as they expand into new overseas markets. Such a decision extends anti-corruption standards among their employees and third-party agents and within their projects across countries. To better address the challenges posed by corruption, TNCs have adopted a comprehensive anti-corruption toolkit. Among the various instruments, anti-corruption clauses have become one of the most anti-corruption means in international commercial agreements. Anti-corruption clauses, acting as a due diligence tool, can protect TNCs against the engagement of third-party agents in corrupt practices and further promote anti-corruption standards among businesses operating across countries. An anti-corruption clause allows parties to create a contractual commitment to exclude corrupt practices during the term of their agreement, including all levels of negotiation and implementation. Such a clause offers companies a mechanism to reduce the risk of potential corruption in their dealings with third parties while avoiding civil and administrative penalties. There have been few attempts to examine the role of anti-corruption clauses in the fight against corruption; therefore, this paper aims to fill this gap and examine anti-corruption clauses in a specific sector where corrupt practices are widespread and endemic, i.e., the petroleum industry. This paper argues that anti-corruption clauses are a positive step in ensuring that the petroleum industry operates in an ethical and transparent manner, helping to reducing the risk of corruption and promote integrity in this sector. Contractual anti-corruption clauses vary in terms of the types commitment, so parties have a wide range of options to choose from for their preferred clauses incorporated within their contracts. This paper intends to propose a categorization of anti-corruption clauses in the petroleum sector. It examines particularly the anti-corruption clauses incorporated in transnational hydrocarbon contracts published by the Resource Contract Portal, an online repository of extractive contracts. Then, this paper offers a quantitative assessment of anti-corruption clauses according to the types of contract, the date of conclusion, and the geographical distribution.

Keywords: anti-corruption, oil and gas, transnational corporations, due diligence, contractual clauses, hydrocarbon, petroleum sector

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Authors: Surya Prakash Gajagouni, Akram Alfantazi, Imad Barsoum

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Austenitic stainless steels are widely recognized for their exceptional corrosion resistance and mechanical properties, rendering them indispensable materials across various industries from construction to biomedical applications. However, in chloride and high temperature atmosphere it to further enhance their surface properties, anodization has emerged as a promising surface treatment technique. Anodization modifies the surface of stainless steels by creating a protective oxide layer, improving corrosion resistance and imparting additional functional characteristics. This paper explores the structural and corrosion characteristics of anodized austenitic stainless steels (AISI 304) using a two-step anodic technique. We utilized a perchloric acid-based electrolyte followed by an ammonium fluoride-based electrolyte. This sequential approach aimed to cultivate deeper and intricately self-ordered nanopore oxide arrays on a substrate made of 304 stainless steel. Electron Microscopic (SEM and TEM) images revealed nanoporous layered structures with increased length and crack development correlating with higher voltage and anodization time. Surface composition and chemical oxidation state of surface-treated SS were determined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques, revealing a surface layer rich in Ni and suppressed Cr, resulting in a thin film composed of Ni and Fe oxide compared to untreated SS. Electrochemical studies demonstrated enhanced corrosion resistance in a strong alkaline medium compared to untreated SS. Understanding the intricate relationship between the structural features of anodized stainless steels and their corrosion resistance is crucial for optimizing the performance of these materials in diverse applications. This study aims to contribute to the advancement of surface engineering strategies for enhancing the durability and functionality of austenitic stainless steels in aggressive environments.

Keywords: austenitic stainless steel, anodization, nanoporous oxides, marine corrosion

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Authors: M. J. Eichner, Y. S. Sarhan

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Overall study purpose has been the evaluation of ‘Vertical Villages’ as a new sustainable building typology, reducing significantly negative impacts of rapid urbanization processes in third world capital cities. Commonly in fast-growing cities, housing and job supply, educational and recreational opportunities, as well as public transportation infrastructure, are not accommodating rapid population growth, exposing people to high noise and emission polluted living environments with low-quality neighborhoods and a lack of recreational areas. Like many others, Egypt’s capital city Cairo, according to the UN facing annual population growth rates of up to 428.000 people, is struggling to address the general deterioration of urban living conditions. New settlements typologies and urban reconstruction approach hardly follow sustainable urbanization principles or socio-ecologic urbanization models with severe effects not only for inhabitants but also for the local environment and global climate. The authors prove that ‘Vertical Village’ buildings can offer a sustainable solution for increasing urban density with at the same time improving the living quality and urban environment significantly. Inserting them within high-density urban fabrics the ecologic and socio-cultural conditions of low-quality neighborhoods can be transformed towards districts, considering all needs of sustainable and social urban life. This study analyzes existing building typologies in Cairo’s «low quality - high density» districts Ard el Lewa, Dokki and Mohandesen according to benchmarks for sustainable residential buildings, identifying major problems and deficits. In 3 case study design projects, the sustainable transformation potential through ‘Vertical Village’ buildings are laid out and comparative studies show the improvement of the urban microclimate, safety, social diversity, sense of community, aesthetics, privacy, efficiency, healthiness and accessibility. The main result of the paper is that the disadvantages of density and overpopulation in developing countries can be converted with ‘Vertical Village’ buildings into advantages, achieving attractive and environmentally friendly living environments with multiple synergies. The paper is documenting based on scientific criteria that mixed-use vertical building structures, designed according to sustainable principles of low rise housing, can serve as an alternative to convert «low quality - high density» districts in megacities, opening a pathway for governments to achieve sustainable urban transformation goals. Neglected informal urban districts, home to millions of the poorer population groups, can be converted into healthier living and working environments.

Keywords: sustainable, architecture, urbanization, urban transformation, vertical village

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Authors: G. Alex Ambrose, Melissa Paulsen, Abrar Fitwi, Masud Akbari

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In 2016, a U.S. business college was awarded a sub grant to work with FHI360, a nonprofit human development organization, to support a university in Afghanistan funded by the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). A newly designed Master’s Degree in Finance and Accounting is being implemented to support Afghanistan’s goal of 20% females in higher education and industry by 2020 and to use finance and accounting international standards to attract capital investment for economic development. This paper will present a case study to describe the co-construction of an approach to an International Flipped Faculty Development Model grounded in blended learning theory. Like education in general, faculty development is also evolving from the traditional face to face environment and interactions to the fully online and now to a best of both blends. Flipped faculty development is both a means and a model for careful integration of the strengths of the synchronous and asynchronous dynamics and technologies with the combination of intentional sequencing to pre-online interactions that prepares and enhances the face to face faculty development and mentorship residencies with follow-up post-online support. Initial benefits from this model include giving the Afghan faculty an opportunity to experience and apply modern teaching and learning strategies with technology in their own classroom. Furthermore, beyond the technological and pedagogical affordances, the reciprocal benefits gained from the mentor-mentee, face-to-face relationship will be explored. Evidence to support this model includes: empirical findings from pre- and post-Faculty Mentor/ Mentee survey results, Faculty Mentorship group debriefs, Faculty Mentorship contact logs, and student early/end of semester feedback. In addition to presenting and evaluating this model, practical challenges and recommendations for replicating international flipped faculty development partnerships will be provided.

Keywords: educational development, faculty development, international development, flipped learning

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Authors: Stanis Koko Nyalongomo, Benjamin Mputela Bankanza, Moise Kisempa Mahungudi

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Several areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) experience serious problems of streaming and soil erosion. Erosion leads to degradation of soil health, and the three main causative factors of similar importance are deforestation, overgrazing, and land agricultural mismanagement. Degradation of soil health leads to a decrease in agricultural productivity and carbon dioxide (CO₂), and other greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural productivity low, and sanitation-related diseases are a concern of a majority of DRC rural people -whose main livelihoods are conventional smallholder agriculture- due to degradation of agricultural soil health and prevalence of inappropriate sanitation in rural areas. Land management practices that increase soil carbon stocks on agricultural lands with practices including conservation agriculture and agroforestry do not only limit CO₂ emissions but also help prevent erosion while enhancing soil health and productivity. Promotion to adopt sustainable land management practices, especially conversion to well-managed agroforestry practices, is a necessity. This needs to be accompanied by incentives. Methods that incite smallholders to adopt practices that increase carbon stocks in agricultural lands and enhance soil health and productivity for social, economic, and environmental benefits, and give them the ability to get and use household dry toilets -included activities to inform and raise smallholder households awareness on the conversion of croplands to well-managed agroforestry systems through planting at least 20 fruit trees and/or acacias, soil carbon and practices that sequester it in soil and ecological sanitation; and offer smallholders technique and material supports and incentives under the form of dry toilets constructed for free for well-managed agroforestry implementation- were carried out to address problems of soil erosion as well as agricultural productivity and sanitation-related diseases. In 2018 and 2019, 19 of 23 targeted smallholder households expressed their satisfaction and converted their croplands to agroforestry through planting 374 trees, and each gotten 1 dry toilet constructed for free. Their neighbors expressed a willingness to participate in the project. Conversion to well-managed agroforestry practices offers many advantages to both farmers and the environment. The strategy of offering smallholders incentives for soil-friendly agricultural practices, especially well-managed agroforestry, is one of the solutions to prevent soil erosion. DRC rural people whose majority are smallholder households, need to be able to get and use dry toilets. So, dry toilets could be offered like incentives for well-managed agroforestry practices. Given the many advantages agroforestry and dry toilet can offer, recommendations are made for funding organizations to support such projects that promote the adoption of soil health practices.

Keywords: agroforestry, croplands, soil carbon, soil health

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Authors: B. Laurita

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The importance of Water Harvesting (WH) as an effective mean to deal with water scarcity is universally recognized. The collection and storage of rainwater, floodwater or quick runoff and their conversion to productive uses can ensure water availability for domestic and agricultural use, enabling a lower exploitation of the aquifer, preventing erosion events and providing significant ecosystem services. At the same time, it has been proven that it can reduce the insurgence of water conflicts if supported by a cooperative process of planning and management. On the other hand, the construction of water harvesting structures changes the hydrological regime, affecting upstream-downstream dynamics and changing water allocation, often causing contentions. Furthermore, dynamics existing between water harvesting and water conflict are not properly investigated yet. Thus, objective of this study is to analyze the relations between water harvesting and the insurgence of water conflicts, providing a solid theoretical basis and foundations for future studies. Two search engines were selected in order to perform the study: Google Scholar and Scopus. Separate researches were conducted on the mutual influences between water conflicts and the four main water harvesting techniques: rooftop harvesting, surface harvesting, underground harvesting, runoff harvesting. Some of the aforementioned water harvesting techniques have been developed and implemented on scales ranging from the small, household-sided ones, to gargantuan dam systems. Instead of focusing on the collisions related to large-scale systems, this review is aimed to look for and collect examples of the effects that the implementation of small water harvesting systems has had on the access to the water resource and on water governance. The present research allowed to highlight that in the studies that have been conducted up to now, water harvesting, and in particular those structures that allow the collection and storage of water for domestic use, is usually recognized as a positive, palliative element during contentions. On the other hand, water harvesting can worsen and, in some cases, even generate conflicts for water management. This shows the necessity of studies that consider both benefits and negative influences of water harvesting, analyzing its role respectively as triggering or as mitigating factor of conflicting situations.

Keywords: arid areas, governance, water conflicts, water harvesting

Procedia PDF Downloads 186