Search results for: body building

Authors: Viriyavudh Sim, WooYoung Jung

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Window system in high rise building is occasionally subjected to an excessive wind intensity, particularly during typhoon. The failure of window system did not affect overall safety of structural performance; however, it could endanger the safety of the residents. In this paper, comparison of fragility curves for window system of two residential buildings was studied. The probability of failure for individual window was determined with Monte Carlo Simulation method. Then, lognormal cumulative distribution function was used to represent the fragility. The results showed that windows located on the edge of leeward wall were more susceptible to wind load and the probability of failure for each window panel increased at higher floors.

Keywords: wind fragility, window system, high rise building, wind disaster

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Authors: Thomas Meier

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One of the major challenges for sustainable smart building systems is to support device interoperability, i.e. connecting sensor or actuator devices from different vendors, and present their functionality to the external applications. Furthermore, smart building systems are supposed to connect with devices that are not available yet, i.e. devices that become available on the market sometime later. It is of vital importance that a sustainable smart building platform provides an appropriate external interface that can be leveraged by external applications and smart services. An external platform interface must be stable and independent of specific devices and should support flexible and scalable usage scenarios. A typical approach applied in smart home systems is based on a generic device interface used within the smart building platform. Device functions, even of rather complex devices, are mapped to that generic base type interface by means of specific device drivers. Our new approach, presented in this work, extends that approach by using the smart building system’s rule engine to create complex virtual devices that can represent the most diverse properties of real devices. We examined and evaluated both approaches by means of a practical case study using a smart building system that we have developed. We show that the solution we present allows the highest degree of flexibility without affecting external application interface stability and scalability. In contrast to other systems our approach supports complex virtual device configuration on application layer (e.g. by administration users) instead of device configuration at platform layer (e.g. platform operators). Based on our work, we can show that our approach supports almost arbitrarily flexible use case scenarios without affecting the external application interface stability. However, the cost of this approach is additional appropriate configuration overhead and additional resource consumption at the IoT platform level that must be considered by platform operators. We conclude that the concept of complex virtual devices presented in this work can be applied to improve the usability and device interoperability of sustainable intelligent building systems significantly.

Keywords: Internet of Things, smart building, device interoperability, device integration, smart home

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Authors: Shirin jalili, Hadi Shirzad, Mahasti Modarresi, Samaneh Nabavi, Somayeh Khanjani

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Identifying the source tissue of biological material found at crime scenes can be very informative in a number of cases. Despite their usefulness, current visual, catalytic, enzymatic, and immunologic tests for presumptive and confirmatory tissue identification are applicable only to a subset of samples, might suffer limitations such as low specificity, lack of sensitivity, and are substantially impacted by environmental insults. In addition their results are operator-dependent. Recently the possibility of discriminating body fluids using mRNA expression differences in tissues has been described but lack of long term stability of that Molecule and the need to normalize samples for each individual are limiting factors. The use of DNA should solve these issues because of its long term stability and specificity to each body fluid. Cells in the human body have a unique epigenome, which includes differences in DNA methylation in the promoter of genes. DNA methylation, which occurs at the 5′-position of the cytosine in CpG dinucleotides, has great potential for forensic identification of body fluids, because tissue-specific patterns of DNA methylation have been demonstrated, and DNA is less prone to degradation than proteins or RNA. Previous studies have reported several body fluid-specific DNA methylation markers.The presence or absence of a methyl group on the 5’ carbon of the cytosine pyridine ring in CpG dinucleotide regions called ‘CpG islands’ dictates whether the gene is expressed or silenced in the particular body fluid. Were described methylation patterns at tissue specific differentially methylated regions (tDMRs) to be stable and specific, making them excellent markers for tissue identification. The results demonstrate that methylation-based tissue identification is more than a proof-of-concept. The methodology holds promise as another viable forensic DNA analysis tool for characterization of biological materials.

Keywords: DNA methylation, forensic science, epigenome, tDMRs

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Authors: Mine Tanaç Zeren

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The traditional architectural style or the vernacular architecture can be considered modern and permanent in terms of reflecting the community’s lifestyle, reasonable interpretation of the material and the structure, and the building and the environment relationship’s integrity. When vernacular architecture is examined, it is seen that sustainable building design approaches are achieved at the very beginning by adapting to climate conditions. The aim of the sustainable design approach is to maintain to adapt to the characteristics of the topography of the land and to the climatic conditions, minimizing the energy use by the building material and structural elements. Traditional Turkish House, as one of the representatives of the traditional and vernacular architecture in Anatolia, has a sustainable building design approach as well, which can be read both from the space organization, the section, the volume, and the building components and building details. The only effective factor that human beings cannot change and have to adapt their constructions and settlements to is climate. The vernacular settlements of vernacular architecture in Anatolia, “Traditional Turkish Houses,” are generally formed as concentric settlements in desert conditions and climates or separate and dependently formations according to the wind and the sun in moist areas. They obtain the sustainable building design criteria. This paper aims to put forward the sustainable building design approaches of vernacular architecture in Anatolia. There are four main different climatic conditions depending on the regional differentiations in Anatolia. Taking these different climatic and topographic conditions into account, it has been seen that the vernacular housing features shape and differentiate from each other due to the changing conditions. What is differentiating is the space organization, design of the shelter of the building, material, and structural system used. In this paper, the sustainable building design approaches of Anatolian vernacular architecture will be examined within these four different vernacular settlements located in Aegean Region, Marmara Region, Black Sea Region, and Eastern Region. These differentiated features and how these features differentiate in order to maintain the sustainability criteria will be the main discussion part of the paper. The methodology of this paper will briefly define these differentiations and the sustainable design criteria. The sustainable design approaches and these differentiated items will be read through the design criteria of the shelter of the building and the material selection criteria according to climatic conditions. The methods of preventing energy loss will be examined. At the end of this research, it is going to be seen that the houses located in different parts of Anatolia, depending on climate and topographic conditions to be able to adapt to the environment and maintain sustainability, differ from each other in terms of space organization, structural system, and material use, design of the shelter of the building

Keywords: sustainability of vernacular architecture, sustainable design criteria of traditional Turkish houses, Turkish houses, vernacular architecture

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Authors: Latif Karimi, Yasuhide Mochida

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The purpose of this paper is to study Modern Methods of Construction (MMC); specifically, the prefabrication technology and check the applicability, suitability, and benefits of this construction technique over conventional methods for building new houses in Afghanistan. Construction industry and house building sector are a key contributor to Afghanistan’s economy. However, this sector is challenged with lack of innovation and severe impacts that it has on the environment due to huge amount of construction waste from building, demolition and or renovation activities. This paper studies the prefabrication technology, a popular MMC that is becoming more common, improving in quality and being available in a variety of budgets. Several feasibility studies worldwide have revealed that this method is the way forward in improving construction industry performance as it has been proven to reduce construction time, construction wastes and improve the environmental performance of the construction processes. In addition, this study emphasizes on 'sustainability' in-house building, since it is a common challenge in housing construction projects on a global scale. This challenge becomes more severe in the case of under-developed countries, like Afghanistan. Because, most of the houses are being built in the absence of a serious quality control mechanism and dismissive to basic requirements of sustainable houses; well-being, cost-effectiveness, minimization - prevention of wastes production during construction and use, and severe environmental impacts in view of a life cycle assessment. Methodology: A literature review and study of the conventional practices of building houses in urban areas of Afghanistan. A survey is also being completed to study the potentials and challenges of using prefabrication technology for building modern houses in the cities across the country. A residential housing project is selected for case study to determine the drawbacks of current construction methods vs. prefabrication technique for building a new house. Originality: There are little previous research available about MMC considering its specific impacts on sustainability related to house building practices. This study will be specifically of interest to a broad range of people, including planners, construction managers, builders, and house owners.

Keywords: modern methods of construction (MMC), prefabrication, prefab houses, sustainable construction, modern houses

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Authors: Akeel Noori Almulla Hwaish

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Architectural design is influenced by the actual thermal behaviour of building components, and this in turn depends not only on their steady and periodic thermal characteristics, but also on exposure effects, orientation, surface colour, and climatic fluctuations at the given location. Design data and environmental parameters should be produced in an accurate way for specified locations, so that architects and engineers can confidently apply them in their design calculations that enable precise evaluation of the influence of various parameters relating to each component of the envelope, which indicates overall thermal performance of building. The present paper will be carried out with an objective of thermal behaviour assessment and characteristics of the opaque and transparent parts of one of the very unique components used as a symbolic distinguished element of building envelope, its thermal behaviour under the impact of solar temperatures, and its role in heat exchange related to a specific U-value of specified construction materials alternatives. The research method will consider the specified Hot-Dry weather and new mosque in Baghdad, Iraq as a case study. Also, data will be presented in light of the criteria of indoor thermal comfort in terms of design parameters and thermal assessment for a“model dome”. Design alternatives and considerations of energy conservation, will be discussed as well using comparative computer simulations. Findings will be incorporated to outline the conclusions clarifying the important role of the dome in heat exchange of the whole building envelope for approaching an indoor thermal comfort level and further research in the future.

Keywords: building envelope, sustainable design, dome impact, hot-climates, heat exchange

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Authors: Sawsan Domi

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Khartoum is considering as one of the hottest cities all over the world, the mean monthly outdoor temperature remains above 30 ºC. Solar Radiation on Building Surfaces considered within the world highest values. Buildings in Khartoum is receiving huge amounts of watts/m2. Northern, eastern and western facades always receive a greater amount than the south ones. Therefore, these facades of the building must be better protected than the others. One of the most important design limits affecting indoor thermal comfort and energy conservation are building envelope design, self-efficiency in building materials and optical and thermo-physical properties of the building envelope. A small sun-facing glazing area is very important to provide thermal comfort in hot dry climates because of the intensive sunshine. This study aims to propose a work plan to help minimize the negative environmental effect of the climate on buildings taking the intensive use of glazing. In the last 15 years, there was a rapid growth in building sector in Khartoum followed by many of wrong strategies getting away of being environmental friendly. The intensive use of glazing on facades increased to commercial, industrial and design aspects, while the glass envelope led to quick increase in temperature by the reflection affects the sun on faces, cars and bodies. Logically, being transparent by using glass give a sense of open spaces, allowing natural lighting and sometimes natural ventilation keeping dust and insects away. In the other hand, it costs more and give more overheated. And this is unsuitable for a hot dry climate city like Khartoum. Many huge projects permitted every year from the Ministry of Planning in Khartoum state, with a design based on the intensive use of glazing on facades. There are no Laws or Regulations to control using materials in construction, the last building code -building code 2008- Khartoum state- only focused in using sustainable materials with no consider to any environmental aspects. Results of the study will help increase the awareness for architects, engineers and public about this environmentally problem. Objectives vary between Improve energy performance in buildings and Provide high levels of thermal comfort in the inner environment. As a future project, what are the changes that can happen in building permits codes and regulations. There could be recommendations for the governmental sector such as Obliging the responsible authorities to version environmental friendly laws in building construction fields and Support Renewable energy sector in buildings.

Keywords: building envelope, building regulations, glazed facades, solar radiation

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Authors: Rene Davids

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Urban undergrounds spaces such as parking garages or metro stations are perceived as interludes before reaching desired destinations, as commodities devoid of aesthetic value. Within the encoded space of the city, commercial underground spaces are the closest expression to pure to structures of consumption and commodity. Even in the house, the cellar is associated with castoffs and waste or, as scholar Mircea Eliade has pointed out at best, with a place to store abandoned household and childhood objects, which lie forgotten and on rediscovery evoke a nostalgic and uncanny sense of the past. Despite a growing body of evidence presented by an increasing number of buildings situated entirely below or semi underground that feature exemplary spatial and sensuous qualities, critics and scholars see them largely as efforts to produce efforts in producing low consumption non-renewable energy. Buildings that also free space above ground. This critical approach neglects to mention and highlight other project drivers such as the notion that the ground and sky can be considered a building’s fundamental context, that underground spaces are conducive to the exploration of pure space, namely an architecture that doesn’t have to deal with facades and or external volumes and that digging into geology can inspire the textural and spatial richness. This paper will argue that while the assessment about the reduced energy consumption of underground construction is important, it does not do justice to the qualities underground buildings can contribute to a city’s expanded urban and or landscape experiences.

Keywords: low non-renewable energy consumption, pure space, underground buildings, urban and landscape experience

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Authors: O. Fatemi

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Considering growing building construction industry in developing countries and sustainable development concept, as well as the importance of taking care of the future generations, codifying buildings scoring system based on environmental criteria, has always been a subject for discussion. The existing systems cannot be used for all the regions due to several reasons, including but not limited to variety in regional variables. In this article, the most important common LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) common and Global environmental scoring systems, used in UK, USA, and Japan, respectively, have been discussed and compared with a special focus on CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency), to credit assigning field (weighing and scores systems) as well as sustainable development criteria in each system. Then, converging and distinct fields of the foregoing systems are examined considering National Iranian Building Code. Furthermore, the common credits in the said systems not mentioned in National Iranian Building Code have been identified. These credits, which are generally included in well-known fundamental principles in sustainable development, may be considered as offered options for the Iranian building environmental scoring system. It is suggested that one of the globally and commonly accepted systems is chosen considering national priorities in order to offer an effective method for buildings environmental scoring, and then, a part of credits is added and/or removed, or a certain credit score is changed, and eventually, a new scoring system with a new title is developed for the country. Evidently, building construction industry highly affects the environment, economy, efficiency, and health of the relevant occupants. Considering the growing trend of cities and construction, achieving building scoring systems based on environmental criteria has always been a matter of discussion. The existing systems cannot be used for all the regions due to several reasons, including but not limited to variety in regional variables.

Keywords: scoring system, sustainability assessment, water efficiency, national Iranian building code

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Authors: Ke Fan, Edwin H. W. Chan

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Economic incentives of green building (GB) have been implemented to promote green building and address the market barriers. However, if developers could gain from the incentives, why not all the buildings are green? This paper aims to study this problem and provide a new perspective to look at the economic incentives. The theories of Transitional Gains Trap (TGP) and Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) are employed to explain the developers’ gains and losses from the economic incentives. This paper takes the GFA (gross floor area) concession incentive in Hong Kong, which is one of the most popular incentives, as the case to conduct in-depth case study and it did interview to validate the results. The results show that after implementing the GFA concession scheme, the benefit of the GFA concession is capitalized into land value. Therefore, developers have to bear the increased land cost, which supports the theory of the TGP. Even though, some developers are still not willing to participate in the incentive scheme because of high transaction costs (TCs).

Keywords: green building, economic incentives, transitional gains trap, transaction cost

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Authors: Musefiu Aderinola, F. A. Amuda

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Outages of GSM signals may be experienced at some indoor locations even when there are strong outdoor receptions. This is often traced to the building penetration loss, which account for increased attenuation of received GSM signals level when a mobile signal device is moved indoor from outdoor. In this work, measurement of two existing GSM operators signal level were made outside and inside two selected buildings- mud and block which represent the prevalent building types in Kazaure, Jigawa State, Nigeria. A gionee P2 mobile phone with RF signal tracker software installed in it was used and the result shows that an average loss of 10.62dBm and 4.25dBm for mud and block buildings respectively.

Keywords: penetration loss, outdoor reception, Gionee P2, RF signal tracker, mud and block building

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Authors: Alaa A. H. Shehada, Eman Abdelnasser Abouhassanein, Reem Mohsen Ali, Joyce J. Moawad, Hiba Bawadi, Abdelhamid Kerkadi

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Background: The association between obesity and micronutrient deficiencies is well documented. Among minerals that have been widely studied: zinc, iron and magnesium. Objectives: This study aims to determine the association between obesity indices and mineral status among Qatari adults. Methods: Secondary data was obtained from Qatar Biobank. 414 healthy Qatari aged 20-50 years old were randomly selected from the database. Anthropometric measurements (WC, Weight, and height), body fat, and mineral status (Fe, Mg, Ca, K, Na) were obtained for all selected participants. Differences in anthropometric measurements and mineral status were analyzed by t-test or ANOVA. Spearman correlation coefficients were determined to assess the association between minerals and anthropometric variables. Statistical significance for the hypothesis tests was set at p <0.05. All statistical analysis was preformed using SPSS software version 23.0. Results: Iron, calcium, and sodium levels decreased with an increase in body mass index. Moreover, only iron showed a significant correlation with waist circumference, and waist to height ratio increased. Additionally, calcium, iron, magnesium, and sodium had a statistically significant negative correlation with total body fat percentage and trunk fat percentage. There were statistically significant negative correlations of anthropometrics with minerals. Conclusion: Body fat and trunk fat percentage had a significant inverse relationship with iron, calcium, sodium, and magnesium, while there was no correlation between body fat or trunk fat percentage with potassium.

Keywords: Qatar biobank, body fat distribution, mineral status, Qatari adults

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Authors: Muhammad Ali Tariq

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Grid-connected PV systems have drawn tremendous attention of researchers in the past recent years. The report elucidates the development of efficient and stable solar PV energy conversion systems after thorough analysis at various facets like PV module characteristics, its arrangement, power electronics and MPPT topologies, the stability of the grid, and economic viability over its lifetime. This report and feasibility study will try to bring all optimizing approaches and design calculations which are required for generating energy from BIPV and roof-mounted solar PV in a convenient, sustainable, and user-friendly way.

Keywords: building integrated photovoltaic system, grid integration, solar resource assessment, return on investment, multi MPPT-inverter, levelised cost of electricity

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Authors: Meenal Kumar

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The structure of a questionnaire becomes critical in gathering accurate feedback in a post-occupancy evaluation of a building. A survey instrument like this one consists of questions based on various aspects of a constructed facility. The questions and the qualities reflect the goals and determine the nature of the survey, which can be classified into several types. Therefore, a survey instrument uses appropriately described attributes. This ongoing research aims to provide an appropriate technique for framing the Questionnaire, taking into account the relevant aspects of the study and its defining features that analyze building performance from the user's perspective, which can further benefit the architects, planners, and designers in designing user-friendly spaces.

Keywords: post occupancy evaluations, satisfaction, attributes, survey, building performance evaluations

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Authors: Aawag Mohsen Al-Awag, Wesam Salah Alaloul, M. S. Liew

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Industrialized building system (IBS) is a method of construction with concentrated practices consisting of techniques, products, and a set of linked elements which operate collectively to accomplish objectives. The Industrialised Building System (IBS) has been recognised as a viable method for improving overall construction performance in terms of quality, cost, safety and health, waste reduction, and productivity. The Malaysian construction industry is considered one of the contributors to the development of the country. The acceptance level of IBS is still below government expectations. Thus, the Malaysian government has been continuously encouraging the industry to use and implement IBS. Conventional systems have several drawbacks, including project delays, low economic efficiency, excess inventory, and poor product quality. When it comes to implementing IBS, construction companies still face several obstacles and problems, notably in terms of contractual and procurement concerns, which leads to the low adoption of IBS in Malaysia. There are barriers to the acceptance of IBS technology, focused on awareness of historical failure and risks connected to IBS practices to provide enhanced performance. Therefore, the transformation from the existing conventional building systems to the industrialized building systems (IBS) is needed more than ever. The flexibility of IBS in Malaysia’s construction industry is very low due to numerous shortcomings and obstacles. Due to its environmental, economic, and social benefits, IBS could play a significant role in the Malaysian construction industry in the future. This paper concentrates on the potential role of IBS in sustainable construction practices in Malaysia. It also highlights the awareness, barriers, advantages, and disadvantages of IBS in the construction sector. The study concludes with recommendations for Malaysian construction stakeholders to encourage and increase the utilization of industrialised building systems.

Keywords: construction industry, industrialized building system, barriers, advantages and disadvantages, construction, sustainability, Malaysia

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Authors: Noah G. Akhimien, Eshrar Latif

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The natural environment is in need for an urgent rescue due to dilapidation and recession of resources. Passive design strategies have proven to be one of the effective ways to reduce CO₂ emissions and to improve building performance. On the other hand, there is a huge drop in material availability due to poor recycling culture. Consequently, building waste pose environmental hazard due to unrecycled building materials from construction and deconstruction. Buildings are seen to be material banks for a circular economy, therefore incorporating circular economy into passive housing will not only safe guide the climate but also improve resource efficiency. The study focuses on incorporating a circular economy in passive design strategies for an affordable energy and resource efficient residential building in Nigeria. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration is still on the increase as buildings are responsible for a significant amount of this emission globally. Therefore, prompt measures need to be taken to combat the effect of global warming and associated threats. Nigeria is rapidly growing in human population, resources on the other hand have receded greatly, and there is an abrupt need for recycling even in the built environment. It is necessary that Nigeria responds to these challenges effectively and efficiently considering building resource and energy. Passive design strategies were assessed using simulations to obtain qualitative and quantitative data which were inferred to case studies as it relates to the Nigeria climate. Building materials were analysed using the ReSOLVE model in order to explore possible recycling phase. This provided relevant information and strategies to illustrate the possibility of circular economy in passive buildings. The study offers an alternative approach, as it is the general principle for the reworking of an economy on ecological lines in passive housing and by closing material loops in circular economy.

Keywords: building, circular, efficiency, environment, sustainability

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Authors: Michael Ryan, Rosemary E. Borgerding, Kimberly L. Oliver

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The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a sports nutrition intervention on body composition in high-school athletes. The study aimed to improve the food and water intake of high-school athletes, evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the intervention, and assess changes in body fat. Data were collected through observations, questionnaires, and interviews. Additionally, bioelectrical impedance analysis was performed to assess the body composition of athletes both before and after the intervention. Athletes (n=25) participated in researcher-monitored training sessions three times a week over the course of 12 weeks. During these sessions, in addition to completing their auxiliary sports training, participants were exposed to educational interventions aimed at improving their nutrition. These included discussions regarding current eating habits, nutritional guidelines for athletes, and individualized recommendations. Food was also made available to athletes for consumption before and after practice. Meals of balanced macronutrient composition were prepared and provided to athletes on four separate occasions throughout the intervention, either prior to or following a competitive event such as a tournament or game. A paired t-test was used to determine the statistical significance of the changes in body fat percentage. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between pre and post-intervention body fat percentage (p= .006). Cohen's d of 0.603 was calculated, indicating a moderate effect size. In conclusion, this study provides evidence that a sports nutrition intervention that combines food availability, explicit prescription, and education can be effective in improving the body composition of high-school athletes. However, it's worth noting that this study had a small sample size, and the conclusions cannot be generalized to a larger population. Further research is needed to assess the scalability of this study. This preliminary study demonstrated the feasibility of this type of nutritional intervention and laid the groundwork for a larger, more extensive study to be conducted in the future.

Keywords: bioelectrical impedance, body composition, high-school athletes, sports nutrition, sports pedagogy

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Authors: Marcelo Jesus Kato Avila, Joao Da Costa Pantoja

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Differential settlement of foundations is a serious pathology in buildings that put at risk lives and property. A common reason for the occurrence of this specific pathology in central Brazil is the presence of collapsible clay, a typical soil in the region. In this study, the foundation of a condemned building erected above this soil is analyzed. The aim is to prevent problems in new constructions, to predict which buildings may be subjected to damages, and to make possible a more precise treatment in less advanced differential settlements observed in the buildings of the vicinity, which includes a hospital, a Military School, an indoor sporting arena, the Police Academy, and the Military Police Headquarters. The methodology consists of visual inspection, photographic report of the main pathologies, analysis of the existing foundations, determination of the soil properties, the study of the cracking level and assessment of structural failure risk of the building. The findings show that the presence of water weaken the soil structure on which the foundation rest, being the main cause of the pathologic settlement, indicating that even in a one store building it was necessary to consider deeper digging, other categories of foundations, and more elaborated and detailed foundation plans when the soil presents this behavior.

Keywords: building cracks, collapsible clay, differential settlement, structural failure risk

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Authors: Zikun Li, Regine Talleyrand

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Negative body image is one of the most common causes of eating disorders, and it is not only happening to women. Regardless of the increasing attention that researchers and practitioners have been paying to the male population and their body image concerns, men of color have yet to be fully represented or studied. Given the consensus that the sociocultural experiences of people of color may play a significant role in their health and well-being, this study focused on assessing the mechanism through which sociocultural factors may influence men of color’s perceptions of body image. In particular, this study focused on untangling how interpersonal and media pressure, as well as ethnic-racial identities and perceptions, would impact body dissatisfaction in terms of muscularity, body fat, and height in men of color and how this mechanism is moderated across different ethnic-racial groups. The structural equation modeling approach was therefore applied to achieve the research goal. With the sample size of 181 self-identified Black, Indigenous, and People of Color male participants aged 20-50 (M=33.33, SD=6.9) through surveying on Amazon’s MTurk platform, the proposed model achieved a modestly acceptable model fit with the pooled sample, X2(836) = 1412.184, CFI = 0.900, RMSEA = 0.062 [0.056, 0.067]. And SRMR = 0.088, And it explained 89.5% of the variance in body dissatisfaction. The results showed that of all the direct effects on body dissatisfaction, interpersonal appearance pressure exhibited the strongest effect (β = 0.410***), followed by media appearance pressure (β = 0.272**) and self-hatred feeling (β = 0.245**). The ethnic-racial related factors (i.e., stereotype endorsement, ethnic-racial salience, and nationalistic assimilation) statistically influenced body dissatisfaction through the mediators of media appearance pressure and/or self-hatred feeling. Furthermore, the moderation analysis between Black/African American men and non-Black/African American men revealed the substantial differences in how ethnic/racial identity impacts one’s perception of body image, and the Black/African American men were found to be influenced by sociocultural factors at a higher level, compared with their counterparts. The impacts of demographic characteristics (i.e., SES, weight, height) on body dissatisfaction were also examined. Instead of considering interpersonal appearance pressure and media pressure as two subscales under one construct, this study considered them as two separate and distinct sociocultural factors. The good model fit to the data indicates this rationality and encourages scholars to reconsider the impacts of two sources of social pressures on body dissatisfaction. In addition, this study also provided empirical evidence of the moderation effect existing within the population of men of color, which reveals the heterogeneity existing across different ethnic-racial groups and implies the necessity to study individual ethnic-racial groups so as to better understand the mechanism of sociocultural influences on men of color’s body dissatisfaction. These findings strengthened the current understanding of the body image concerns exciting among men of color and meanwhile provided empirical evidence for practitioners to provide tailored health prevention and treatment options for this growing population in the United States.

Keywords: men of color, body image concerns, sociocultural factors, structural equation modeling

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Authors: Aastha Chaudhry

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This continuous structuring of the ego through the developmental ages, starting with the body, has been understood through various perspectives from the object-relations world. Klein, Ogden, Winnicott to name a few, have been masters at helping mark a trajectory for the self to come to fruition. However, what constitutes those states, those relational structures, the dynamics of transference and the concept of inner objects has been more or less left unexplored in the psychoanalytic developmental theory. In this paper, through the help of a case study, Ogden’s ideas of an autistic contagious position and Kleinian theory of object relations is proposed to visualize a lens that helps to understand the relationship of the autistic self and body and allows us to take a look at object relations through countertransference. With the help of case vignettes, an understanding of experience is seen as dominated in the autistic contagious position with the help of defensive structuring that is not only self-fulfilling and sensorial oriented, but is also a pre symbolic mode of relating to the other. The aim of this clinical, experiential study is to better understand the self-body and the self-other relationships, or the absence thereof, in the autistic world and states. The goal of the study was to find such a relationship between play, body, structuring of experience and an autistic self in these individuals through that. Aim being that psychotherapy is brought to fore in the world of autism. The method was case study with one on one intervention, that was psychodynamically informed and play therapy based. Some of the findings after a year of work with these individuals were that: in the absence of a shared vocabulary, communication in two contrasting individuals happens primarily through the assistance of the body. Somatic countertransference, for instance, is how one can be with someone in a therapeutic relationship – and with autistic adolescents it is a further complicated relationship. With a mind somewhere in infanthood, and body experiencing adulthood, it becomes a challenge for the therapist to meet the client where they are. With pre-verbal states, play becomes such a potential space where two individuals could meet – a safe ground for forces to be contained. Play, then, becomes a mode of communication with such a population.

Keywords: autism, psychoanalytic, play, self

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Authors: Monika Lipska

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Drinking water is water with a very high quality, and as such represents only 2.5% of the total quantity of all water in the world. For many years we have observed continuous increase in its consumption as a result of many factors such as: Growing world population (7 billion in 2011r.), increase of human lives comfort and – above all – the economic growth. Due to the rocketing consumption and growing costs of production of water with such high-quality parameters, we experience accelerating interest in alternative sources of obtaining potable water. One of the ways of saving this valuable material is using rainwater in the Urban Building. With an exponentially growing demand, the acquisition of additional sources of water is necessary to maintain the proper balance of all ecosystems. The first part of the paper describes what rainwater is and what are its potential sources and means of use, while the main part of the article focuses on the description of the methods of obtaining water from rain on the example of new urban building in Poland. It describes the method and installations of rainwater in the new urban building (“MBJ2030”). The paper addresses also the issue of monitoring of the whole recycling systems as well as the particular quality indicators important because of identification of the potential risks to human health. The third part describes the legal arrangements concerning the recycling of rainwater existing in different European Union countries with particular reference to Poland on example the new urban building in Warsaw.

Keywords: rainwater, potable water, non-potable water, Poland

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Authors: Mhuji Kilonzo

Abstract:

Acute oral toxicity of Mystroxylon aethiopicum root bark aqueous was evaluated in albino mice of either sex. In this study, five groups of mice were orally treated with doses of 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 mg/kg body weight of the crude extract. The mortality, signs of toxicity and body weights were observed individually for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks study, all animals were sacrificed, and the hematological and biochemical parameters, as well as organ weights relative to body weight of each animal, were determined. No mortality, signs of toxicity and abnormalities in vital organs were observed in the entire period of study for both treated and control groups of mice. Additionally, there were no significant changes (p > 0.05) in the blood hematology and biochemical analysis. However, the body weights of all mice increased significantly. The Mystroxylon aethiopicum root bark aqueous extract were found to have a high safe margin when administered orally. Hence, the extract can be utilized for pharmaceutical formulations.

Keywords: acute oral toxicity, albino mice, Mystroxylon aethiopicum, safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 283

Authors: Eyibo Ebengeobong Eddie

Abstract:

Taking advantage of the sun's position to design buildings to ensure human comfort has always been an important aspect in an architectural design. Using cheap and less expensive methods and systems for gaining solar energy, heating and cooling has always been a great advantage to users and occupants of a building. As the years run by, daily techniques and methods have been created and more are being discovered to help reduce the energy demands of any building. Architects have made effective use of a buildings orientation, building materials and elements to achieve less energy demand. This paper talks about the various techniques used in solar heating and passive cooling of buildings and through water techniques and concepts to achieve thermal comfort.

Keywords: comfort, passive, solar, water

Procedia PDF Downloads 454

Authors: M. Baratieri, M. Beccali, S. Corradino, B. Di Pietra, C. La Grassa, F. Monteleone, G. Morosinotto, G. Puglisi

Abstract:

The energy renovation of existing buildings represents an important opportunity to increase the decarbonization and the sustainability of urban environments. In this context, the work carried out has the objective of demonstrating the technical and economic feasibility of an energy renovate of a public building destined for offices located on the island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. By applying the Italian transpositions of European Directives 2010/31/EU and 2009/28/EC, the building has been renovated from the current energy requirements of 111.7 kWh/m² to 16.4 kWh/m². The result achieved classifies the building as nZEB (nearly Zero Energy Building) according to the Italian national definition. The analysis was carried out using in parallel a quasi-stationary software, normally used in the professional field, and a dynamic simulation model often used in the academic world. The proposed interventions cover the components of the building’s envelope, the heating-cooling system and the supply of energy from renewable sources. In these latter points, the analysis has focused more on assessing two aspects that affect the supply of renewable energy. The first concerns the use of advanced logic control systems for air conditioning units in order to increase photovoltaic self-consumption. With these adjustments, a considerable increase in photovoltaic self-consumption and a decrease in the electricity exported to the Island's electricity grid have been obtained. The second point concerned the evaluation of the building's energy classification considering the real efficiency of the heating-cooling plant. Normally the energy plants have lower operational efficiency than the designed one due to multiple reasons; the decrease in the energy classification of the building for this factor has been quantified. This study represents an important example for the evaluation of the best interventions for the energy renovation of buildings in the Mediterranean Climate and a good description of the correct methodology to evaluate the resulting improvements.

Keywords: heat pumps, HVAC systems, nZEB renovation, renewable energy sources

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Authors: Wesam Rababa, Jamal Al-Qawasmi

Abstract:

The global climate is negatively impacted by CO2 emissions, which are mostly produced by buildings. Several green building rating systems (GBRS) have been proposed to impose low-carbon criteria in order to address this problem. The Green Globes certification is one such system that evaluates a building's sustainability level by assessing different categories of environmental impact and emerging concepts aimed at reducing environmental harm. Therefore, assessment tools at the national level are crucial in the developing world, where specific local conditions require a more precise evaluation. This study analyzed eight sustainable building assessment systems from different regions of the world, comparing a comprehensive list of CO2-related indicators with a various assessment system for conducting coverage analysis. The results show that GBRS includes both direct and indirect indicators in this regard. It reveals deep variation between examined practices, and a lack of consensus not only on the type and the optimal number of indicators used in a system, but also on the depth and breadth of coverage of various sustainable building SB attributes. Generally, the results show that most of the examined systems reflect a low comprehensive coverage, the highest of which is found in materials category. On the other hand, the most of the examined systems reveal a very low representative coverage.

Keywords: Assessment tools, CO2-related indicators, Comparative study, Green Building Rating Systems

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Authors: Ojin Kwon, Yong-Jin Yoon, Liu Xin, Zhang Hongbao

Abstract:

Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is a short-range wireless communication around human body for various applications such as wearable devices, entertainment, military, and especially medical devices. WBAN attracts the attention of continuous health monitoring system including diagnostic procedure, early detection of abnormal conditions, and prevention of emergency situations. Compared to cellular network, WBAN system is more difficult to control inter- and inner-cell interference due to the limited power, limited calculation capability, mobility of patient, and non-cooperation among WBANs. In this paper, we compare the performance of resource allocation scheme based on several Pseudo Orthogonal Codewords (POCs) to mitigate inter-WBAN interference. Previously, the POCs are widely exploited for a protocol sequence and optical orthogonal code. Each POCs have different properties of auto- and cross-correlation and spectral efficiency according to its construction of POCs. To identify different WBANs, several different pseudo orthogonal patterns based on POCs exploits for resource allocation of WBANs. By simulating these pseudo orthogonal resource allocations of WBANs on MATLAB, we obtain the performance of WBANs according to different POCs and can analyze and evaluate the suitability of POCs for the resource allocation in the WBANs system.

Keywords: wireless body area network, body sensor network, resource allocation without feedback, interference mitigation, pseudo orthogonal pattern

Procedia PDF Downloads 349

Authors: Mohamed Elassaly

Abstract:

The damage status of RC buildings is greatly influenced by the characteristics of the imposed ground motion. Peak Ground Acceleration and frequency contents are considered the main two factors that affect ground motion characteristics; hence, affecting the seismic response of RC structures and consequently their damage state. A detailed investigation on the combined effects of these two factors on damage assessment of RC buildings, is carried out. Twenty one earthquake records are analyzed and arranged into three groups, according to their frequency contents. These records are used in an investigation to define the expected damage state that would be attained by RC buildings, if subjected to varying ground motion characteristics. The damage assessment is conducted through examining drift ratios and damage indices of the overall structure and the significant structural components of RC building. Base and story shear of RC building model, are also investigated, for cases when the model is subjected to the chosen twenty one earthquake records. Nonlinear dynamic analyses are performed on a 2-dimensional model of a 12-story R.C. building.

Keywords: damage, frequency content, ground motion, PGA, RC building, seismic

Procedia PDF Downloads 403

Authors: Lucie Jirotková, Daniel Macek, Andrea Palazzo, Veronika Malinová

Abstract:

Currently, the implementation of 3D models in the construction industry is gaining popularity. Countries around the world are developing their own modelling standards and implement the use of 3D models into their individual permitting processes. Another theme that needs to be addressed are public building spaces and their subsequent maintenance, where the usage of BIM methodology is directly offered. The significant benefit of the implementation of Building Information Management is the information transfer. The 3D model contains not only the spatial representation of the item shapes but also various parameters that are assigned to the individual elements, which are easily traceable, mainly because they are all stored in one place in the BIM model. However, it is important to keep the data in the models up to date to achieve useability of the model throughout the life cycle of the building. It is now becoming standard practice to use BIM models in the construction of buildings, however, the building environment is very often neglected. Especially in large-scale development projects, the public space of buildings is often forwarded to municipalities, which obtains the ownership and are in charge of its maintenance. A 3D model of the building surroundings would include both the above-ground visible elements of the development as well as the underground parts, such as the technological facilities of water features, electricity lines for public lighting, etc. The paper shows the possibilities of a model in the field of information for the handover of premises, the following maintenance and decision making. The attributes and spatial representation of the individual elements make the model a reliable foundation for the creation of "Smart Cities". The paper analyses the current use of the BIM methodology and presents the state-of-the-art possibilities of development.

Keywords: BIM model, urban space, BIM methodology, facility management

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Jamilah Halina Abdul Halim, Norsiah Hassan, Azlina Aziz, Norhayati Mat Wajid, Mohd Saipul Asrafi

Abstract:

There are various types of vertical greenery system (VGS) in Malaysia, but none is installed at government buildings, although the government is looking into energy efficient building design. This is due to lack of technical information that focus on the maintenance and care, issues, and challenges face by vertical greenery system under tropical climate conditions. This research aim to identify issues in implementation of vertical greenery system on existing government building in Malaysia. The methodology used are literature reviews (desktop study), observation on sites, and case studies. Initial findings indicates that design and maintenance issues of vertical greenery system are the main challenges faced mainly by designer, especially those who involved in decision-making process. It can be concluded that orientation, openings, maintenance, performance, longevity, structural load, access, wind resistance, design failure, system failure, and lack of maintenance foresight are the main factors that need to be considered. These factors should be holistically aligned towards the economic cost, effective time, and quality design in implementation of vertical greenery system on existing government building. A comprehensive implementation of vertical greenery system will lead to greater sustainable investment for government buildings and responsive action to climate change.

Keywords: issues, government building, maintenance, vertical greenery system

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Rebaz Sdiq Ismail

Abstract:

Organ donation and transplantation is one of the most debated topics in modern jurisprudence. It is a surgical procedure that aims to prolong a person’s life suffering from damaged or missing organs. This surgical procedure is carried out by removing an organ from a donor and transplanting it into the body of the recipient. As human life is of high value in Islamic Sharia, therefore, the donor and recipient should go through an intensive medical examination to remove any health risk associated with the organ and transplantation procedure. Thus, in carrying out the organ donation process, any violation of the Sharia decree that might cause harm to the human body is strictly prohibited. The researcher concludes that the former scholars of Islamic Sharia, along with some of the contemporary scholars, are against the entire concept of organ donation and transplant. However, the majority of contemporary scholars support organ donation.

Keywords: law, donation, organ, Kurdistan, sharia

Procedia PDF Downloads 24