Search results for: healthy architecture

Authors: Carolina Gheller Miguens

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Feeding is, and should be, pleasurable for living beings so they desire to nourish themselves while preserving the continuity of the species. Social rites usually revolve around the table and are closely linked to the cultural traditions of each region and social group. Since the beginning, food has been closely linked with the products each region provides, and, also, related to the respective seasons of production. With the globalization and facilities of modern life we are able to find an ever increasing variety of products at any time of the year on supermarket shelves. These lifestyle changes end up directly influencing food traditions. With the era of uncontrolled obesity caused by the dazzle with the large and varied supply of low-priced to ultra-processed industrial products now in the past, today we are living a time when people are putting aside the pleasure of eating to exclusively eat food dictated by the media as healthy. Recently the medicalization of food in our society has become so present in daily life that almost without realizing we make food choices conditioned to the studies of the properties of these foods. The fact that people are more attentive to their health is interesting. However, when this care becomes an obsessive disorder, which imposes itself on the pleasure of eating and extinguishes traditional customs, it becomes dangerous for our recognition as citizens belonging to a culture and society. This new way of living generates a rupture with the social environment of origin, possibly exposing old traditions to oblivion after two or three generations. Based on these facts, the presented study analyzes these social transformations that occur in our society that triggered the current medicalization of food. In order to clarify what is actually a healthy diet, this research proposes a critical analysis on the subject aiming to understand nutritional rationality and relate how it acts in the medicalization of food. A wide bibliographic review on the subject was carried out followed by an exploratory research in online (especially social) media, a relevant source in this context due to the perceived influence of such media in contemporary eating habits. Finally, this data was crossed, critically analyzing the current situation of the concept of healthy eating and medicalization of food. Throughout this research, it was noticed that people are increasingly seeking information about the nutritional properties of food, but instead of seeking the benefits of products that traditionally eat in their social environment, they incorporate external elements that often bring benefits similar to the food already consumed. This is because the access to information is directed by the media and exalts the exotic, since this arouses more interest of the population in general. Efforts must be made to clarify that traditional products are also healthy foods, rich in history, memory and tradition and cannot be replaced by a standardized diet little concerned with the construction of taste and pleasure, having a relationship with food as if it were a Medicinal product.

Keywords: food traditions, food transformations, healthy eating, medicalization of food

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Authors: Caner Koc, Dilara Gerdan Koc, Mustafa Vatandas

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The fundamental components of autonomous agricultural robot design, such as having a working understanding of coordinates, correctly constructing the desired route, and sensing environmental elements, are the most important. A variety of sensors, hardware, and software are employed by agricultural robots to find these systems.These enable the fully automated driving system of an autonomous vehicle to simulate how a human-driven vehicle would respond to changing environmental conditions. To calculate the vehicle's motion trajectory using data from the sensors, this automation system typically consists of a sophisticated software architecture based on object detection and driving decisions. In this study, the software architecture of an autonomous agricultural vehicle is compared to the trajectory planning techniques.

Keywords: agriculture 5.0, computational intelligence, motion planning, trajectory planning

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Authors: Livia Calcagni

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Most of the largest cities in the world are located in areas that are vulnerable to coastal erosion and flooding, both linked to climate change and rising sea levels (RSL). Nevertheless, more and more people are moving to these vulnerable areas as cities keep growing. Architects, engineers and policy makers are called to rethink the way we live and to provide timely and adequate responses not only by investigating measures to improve the urban fabric, but also by developing strategies capable of planning change, exploring unusual and resilient frontiers of living, such as floating architecture. Since the beginning of the 21st century we have seen a dynamic growth of water-based architecture. At the same time, the shortage of land available for urban development also led to reclaim the seabed or to build floating structures. In light of these considerations, time is ripe to consider floating architecture not only as a full-fledged building typology but especially as a full-fledged adaptation solution for RSL. Currently, there is no global international legal framework for urban development on water and there is no structured performance based building design (PBBD) approach for floating architecture in most countries, let alone national regulatory systems. Thus, the research intends to identify the technological, morphological, functional, economic, managerial requirements that must be considered in a the development of the PBBD framework conceived as a meta-design tool. As it is expected that floating urban development is mostly likely to take place as extension of coastal areas, the needs and design criteria are definitely more similar to those of the urban environment than of the offshore industry. Therefor, the identification and categorization of parameters takes the urban-architectural guidelines and regulations as the starting point, taking the missing aspects, such as hydrodynamics, from the offshore and shipping regulatory frameworks. This study is carried out through an evidence-based assessment of performance guidelines and regulatory systems that are effective in different countries around the world addressing on-land and on-water architecture as well as offshore and shipping industries. It involves evidence-based research and logical argumentation methods. Overall, this paper highlights how inhabiting water is not only a viable response to the problem of RSL, thus a resilient frontier for urban development, but also a response to energy insecurity, clean water and food shortages, environmental concerns and urbanization, in line with Blue Economy principles and the Agenda 2030. Moreover, the discipline of architecture is presented as a fertile field for investigating solutions to cope with climate change and its effects on life safety and quality. Future research involves the development of a decision support system as an information tool to guide the user through the decision-making process, emphasizing the logical interaction between the different potential choices, based on the PBBD.

Keywords: adaptation measures, floating architecture, performance based building design, resilient architecture, rising sea levels

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Authors: Dara Singh, Keikhosrow Firouzbakhsh, Mohammad Taghi Ahmadian

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In this study, a validated 3D finite volume model of human eye is developed to study the fluid flow and heat transfer in the human eye at steady state conditions. For this purpose, discretized bio-heat transfer equation coupled with Boussinesq equation is analyzed with different anatomical, environmental, and physiological conditions. It is demonstrated that the fluid circulation is formed as a result of thermal gradients in various regions of eye. It is also shown that posterior region of the human eye is less affected by the ambient conditions compared to the anterior segment which is sensitive to the ambient conditions and also to the way the gravitational field is defined compared to the geometry of the eye making the circulations and the thermal field complicated in transient states. The effect of variation in material and boundary conditions guides us to the conclusion that thermal field of a healthy and non-healthy eye can be distinguished via computer simulations.

Keywords: bio-heat, boussinesq, conduction, convection, eye

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Authors: Boroka Gács, Tibor Szolcsányi, Árpad Csathó

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Background: Individuals frequently show habituation to repeated noxious heat. However, given the defensive function of human pain processing, it is reasonable to assume that individuals imagine that they would become increasingly sensitive to repeated thermal pain stimuli. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous studies have, however, been addressed to this assumption. Therefore, in the current study, we investigated how healthy human individuals imagine the intensity of repeated thermal pain stimulations, and compared this with the intensity ratings given after physically induced thermal pain trials. Methods: Healthy participants (N = 20) gave pain intensity ratings in two conditions: imagined and real thermal pain. In the real pain condition thermal pain stimuli of two intensities (minimal and moderate pain) were delivered in four consecutive trials. The duration of the peak temperature was 20s, and stimulation was always delivered to the same location. In each trial, participants rated the pain intensity twice, 5s and 15s after the onset of the peak temperature. In the imagined pain condition, participants were subjected to a reference pain stimulus and then asked to imagine and rate the same sequence of stimulations as in the induced pain condition. Results: Ratings of imagined pain and physically induced pain followed opposite courses over repeated stimulation: Ratings of imagined pain indicated sensitization whereas ratings for physically induced pain indicated habituation. The findings were similar for minimal and moderate pain intensities. Conclusions: The findings suggest that, rather than habituating to pain, healthy individuals imagine that they would become increasingly sensitive to repeated thermal pain stimuli.

Keywords: habituation, imagined pain, pain perception, thermal stimulation

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Authors: Hanlin Liu, Hua Li, Yintan AI

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Network performance prediction (NPP) is essential for the management and optimization of software-defined networking (SDN) and contributes to improving the quality of service (QoS) in SDN to meet the requirements of users. Although current deep learning-based methods can achieve high effectiveness, they still suffer from some problems, such as difficulty in capturing global information of the network, inefficiency in modeling end-to-end network performance, and inadequate graph feature extraction. To cope with these issues, our proposed Graphormer-based architecture for NPP leverages the powerful graph representation ability of Graphormer to effectively model the graph structure data, and a node-edge transformation algorithm is designed to transfer the feature extraction object from nodes to edges, thereby effectively extracting the end-to-end performance characteristics of the network. Moreover, routing oriented centrality measure coefficient for nodes and edges is proposed respectively to assess their importance and influence within the graph. Based on this coefficient, an enhanced feature extraction method and an advanced centrality encoding strategy are derived to fully extract the structural information of the graph. Experimental results on three public datasets demonstrate that the proposed GraphNPP architecture can achieve state-of-the-art results compared to current NPP methods.

Keywords: software-defined networking, network performance prediction, Graphormer, graph neural network

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Authors: Presto Tri Sambodo, Suharjana, Galih Yoga Santiko

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Having an ideal body shape healthy body are the desire of everyone, both young and old. The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) the effect of block circuit training on aerobic fitness and body fat percentage, (2) the effect of non-block circuit training on aerobic fitness and body fat percentage, and (3) differences in the effect of exercise on block and non-circuit training block against aerobic fitness and body fat percentage. This research is an experimental research with the prestest posttest design Two groups design. The population in this study were 57 members of fat loss at GOR UNY Fitness Center. The retrieval technique uses purposive random sampling with a sample of 20 people. The instruments with rockport test (1.6 KM) and body fat percentage with a scale of bioelectrical impedance analysis omron (BIA). So it can be concluded the circuit training between block and non-block has a significant effect on aerobic fitness and body fat percentage. And for differences in the effect of circuit training between blocks and non-blocks, it is more influential on aerobic fitness than the percentage of body fat.

Keywords: circuit training, aerobic fitness, body fat percentage, healthy body

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Authors: Irina M. Kolesnikova, Andrey M. Gaponov, Sergey A. Roumiantsev, Tatiana V. Grigoryeva, Alexander V. Laikov, Alexander V. Shestopalov

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Background. Neuropathy is a common complication of obesity. In this regard, the content of neurotrophins in such patients is of particular interest. Neurotrophins are the proteins that regulate neuron survival and neuroplasticity and include brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF). However, the risk of complications depends on the metabolic type of obesity. Metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUHO) is associated with a high risk of complications, while this is not the case with metabolically healthy obesity (MHO). Therefore, the aim of our work was to study the effect of the obesity metabolic type on serum neurotrophins levels. Patients, materials, methods. The study included 134 healthy donors and 104 obese patients. Depending on the metabolic type of obesity, the obese patients were divided into subgroups with MHO (n=40) and MUHO (n=55). In the blood serum, the concentration of BDNF and NGF was determined. In addition, the content of adipokines (leptin, asprosin, resistin, adiponectin), myokines (irisin, myostatin, osteocrin), indicators of carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism were measured. Correlation analysis revealed the relationship between the studied parameters. Results. We found that serum BDNF concentration was not different between obese patients and healthy donors, regardless of obesity metabolic type. At the same time, in obese patients, there was a decrease in serum NGF level versus control. A similar trend was characteristic of both MHO and MUHO. However, MUHO patients had a higher NGF level than MHO patients. The literature indicates that obesity is associated with an increase in the plasma concentration of NGF. It can be assumed that in obesity, there is a violation of NGF storage in platelets, which accelerates neurotrophin degradation. We found that BDNF concentration correlated with irisin levels in MUHO patients. Healthy donors had a weak association between NGF and VEGF levels. No such association was found in obese patients, but there was an association between NGF and leptin concentrations. In MHO, the concentration of NHF correlated with the content of leptin, irisin, osteocrin, insulin, and the HOMA-IR index. But in MUHO patients, we found only the relationship between NGF and adipokines (leptin, asprosin). It can be assumed that in patients with MHO, the replenishment of serum NGF occurs under the influence of muscle and adipose tissue. In the MUHO patients only the effect of adipose tissue on NGF was observed. Conclusion. Obesity, regardless of metabolic type, is associated with a decrease in serum NGF concentration. We showed that muscle and adipose tissues make a significant contribution to the serum NGF pool in the MHO patients. In MUHO there is no effect of muscle on the NGF level, but the effect of adipose tissue remains.

Keywords: neurotrophins, nerve growth factor, NGF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF, obesity, metabolically healthy obesity, metabolically unhealthy obesity

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Authors: María Teresa Baquero, Ester Higueras

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One of the challenges facing 21st century cities, is their adaptation to the phenomenon of an ageing population. International policies have been developed, such as the "Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities". These cities must recognize the diversity of the elderly population, and facilitate an active, healthy, satisfied aging and promote inclusion. In order to promote active and healthy aging, older people should be encouraged to engage in physical activity, sunbathe, socialize and enjoy the public open spaces in the city. Some studies recognize thermal comfort as one of the factors that most influence the use of public open spaces. However, although some studies have shown vulnerability to thermal extremes and environmental conditions in older people, there is little research on thermal comfort for older adults, because it is usually analyzed based on the characteristics of the ¨average young person¨ without considering the physiological, physical and psychological differences that characterize the elderly. This study analyzes the relationship between the microclimate parameters as air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and sky view factor (SVF) with the personal thermal perception of older adults in three public spaces in Madrid, through a mixed methodology that combines weather measurements with interviews, made during the year 2018. Statistical test like Chi-square, Spearman, and analysis of variance were used to analyze the relationship between preference votes and thermal sensation votes with environmental and personal parameters. The results show that there is a significant correlation between thermal sensation and thermal preference with the measured air temperature, age, level of clothing, the color of clothing, season, time of the day and kind of space while no influence of gender or other environmental variables was detected. These data would contribute to the design of comfortable public spaces that improve the welfare of the elderly contributing to "active and healthy aging" as one of the 21st century challenges cities face.

Keywords: healthy ageing, older adults, outdoor public space, thermal perception

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Authors: Pedro F. Albuquerque, Pedro V. Gamboa, Miguel A. Silvestre

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The present work describes the implementation of the Enhanced Collaborative Optimization (ECO) multilevel architecture with a gradient-based optimization algorithm with the aim of performing a multidisciplinary design optimization of a generic unmanned aerial vehicle with morphing technologies. The concepts of weighting coefficient and a dynamic compatibility parameter are presented for the ECO architecture. A routine that calculates the aircraft performance for the user defined mission profile and vehicle’s performance requirements has been implemented using low fidelity models for the aerodynamics, stability, propulsion, weight, balance and flight performance. A benchmarking case study for evaluating the advantage of using a variable span wing within the optimization methodology developed is presented.

Keywords: multidisciplinary, multilevel, morphing, enhanced collaborative optimization

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Authors: Sekkal Nawel

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The Web of Things (WoT), integration of smart technologies from the Internet or network to Web architecture or application, is becoming more complex, larger, and dynamic. The WoT is associated with various elements such as sensors, devices, networks, protocols, data, functionalities, and architectures to perform services for stakeholders. These services operate in the context of the interaction of stakeholders and the WoT elements. Such context is becoming a key information source from which data are of various nature and uncertain, thus leading to complex situations. In this paper, we take interest in the development of intelligent Web services. The key ingredients of this “intelligent” notion are the context diversity, the necessity of a semantic representation to manage complex situations and the capacity to reason with uncertain data. In this perspective, we introduce a multi-layered architecture based on a generic intelligent Web service model dealing with various contexts, which proactively predict future situations and reactively respond to real-time situations in order to support decision-making. For semantic context data representation, we use PR-OWL, which is a probabilistic ontology based on Multi-Entity Bayesian Networks (MEBN). PR-OWL is flexible enough to represent complex, dynamic, and uncertain contexts, the key requirements of the development for the intelligent Web services. A case study was carried out using the proposed architecture for intelligent plant watering to show the role of proactive and reactive contextual reasoning in terms of WoT.

Keywords: smart web service, the web of things, context reasoning, proactive, reactive, multi-entity bayesian networks, PR-OWL

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Authors: Ashlie Latiolais

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Architecture, as a discipline, is on a trajectory of extension beyond the boundaries of buildings and, more increasingly, is coupled with research that connects to alternative and typically disjointed disciplines. A “both/and” approach and (expanded) definition of architecture, as depicted here, expands the margins that contain the profession. Figuratively, architecture is a series of edges, events, and occurrences that establishes a choreography or stage by which humanity exists. The way in which architecture controls and suggests the movement through these spaces, being within a landscape, city, or building, can be viewed as a datum by which the “dance” of everyday life occurs. This submission views the realm of architecture through the lens of movement and dance as a cross-fertilizer of collaboration, tectonic, and spatial geometry investigations. “Designing on digital programs puts architects at a distance from the spaces they imagine. While this has obvious advantages, it also means that they lose the lived, embodied experience of feeling what is needed in space—meaning that some design ideas that work in theory ultimately fail in practice.” By studying the body in motion through real-time performance, a more holistic understanding of architectural space surfaces and new prospects for theoretical teaching pedagogies emerge. The atypical intersection rethinks how architecture is considered, created, and tested, similar to how “dance artists often do this by thinking through the body, opening pathways and possibilities that might not otherwise be accessible” –this is the essence of this poster submission as explained through unFOLDED, a creative performance work. A new languageismaterialized through unFOLDED, a dynamic occupiable installation by which architecture is investigated through dance, movement, and body analysis. The entry unfolds a collaboration of an architect, dance choreographer, musicians, video artist, and lighting designers to re-create one of the first documented avant-garde performing arts collaborations (Matisse, Satie, Massine, Picasso) from the Ballet Russes in 1917, entitled Parade. Architecturally, this interdisciplinary project orients and suggests motion through structure, tectonic, lightness, darkness, and shadow as it questions the navigation of the dark space (stage) surrounding the installation. Artificial light via theatrical lighting and video graphics brought the blank canvas to life – where the sensitive mix of musicality coordinated with the structure’s movement sequencing was certainly a challenge. The upstage light from the video projections created both flickered contextual imagery and shadowed figures. When the dancers were either upstage or downstage of the structure, both silhouetted figures and revealed bodies are experienced as dancer-controlled installation manipulations occurred throughout the performance. The experimental performance, through structure, prompted moving (dancing) bodies in space, where the architecture served as a key component to the choreography itself. The tectonic of the delicate steel structure allowed for the dancers to interact with the installation, which created a variety of spatial conditions – the contained box of three-dimensional space, to a wall, and various abstracted geometries in between. The development of this research unveils the new role of an Architect as a Choreographer of the built environment.

Keywords: dance, architecture, choreography, installation, architect, choreographer, space

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Authors: Yosra Ben Salah, Wang Li Jun, Salem Bellil

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The village Hammem Zriba is a lost little paradise in the middle of a beautiful landscape that captures the eyes of every visitor. The village alone is a rich expression of different elements such as urban, architecture, technical and vernacular elements, as well as sociological, spiritual and religious behaviors. This heritage is in degrading conditions and is threatened by disappearing soon; thus, actions have to be taken as soon as possible to preserve this heritage, record, analyze and learn from its traditional ways of construction. The strategy of this study is to examine the architecture within the Berber society over a period of time and influenced by a certain location and its relationship to the social and cultural aspects; this research will focus on historical, environmental, social and cultural aspects influencing architecture. The contents of this paper should mainly be constructed by three successive layouts of historical view, a cultural view and an architectural view that will include the urban and domestic scale. This research relies on the integration of both theoretical and empirical investigations. On the theoretical level: A documentary analysis of secondary data is used. Documentary analysis means content analysis of the relevant documents that include books, journals, magazines, archival data, and field survey and observations. On the empirical level: analysis of these traditional ways of planning and house building will be carried out. Through the Analysis, three techniques will be employed to collect primary data. These techniques are; systematic analysis of the architectural drawings, quantitative analysis to the houses statistics, and a direct observation. Through this research, the technical, architectural and urban achievements of the Berber people who represent a part of the general history and architectural history will be emphasized. And on a second point the potential for the sustainability present in this traditional urban planning and housing to be used to formulate guidelines for modern urban and housing development.

Keywords: culture, history, traditional architecture, values

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Authors: Doaa Hashad, Amany Elyamany, Perihan Salem

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Introduction: Hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) constitutes a serious dilemma that has an impact on the health of millions of Egyptians. Hepatitis C virus related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCV-HCC) is a crucial consequence of HCV that represents the third cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Aim of the study: assess the use of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content as a non-invasive molecular biomarker in hepatitis c virus related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCV-HCC). Methods: A total of 135 participants were enrolled in the study. Volunteers were assigned to one of three groups equally; a group of HCV related cirrhosis (HCV-cirrhosis), a group of HCV-HCC and a control group of age- and sex- matched healthy volunteers with no evidence of liver disease. mtDNA was determined using a quantitative real-time PCR technique. Results: mtDNA content was lowest in HCV-HCC cases. No statistically significant difference was observed between the group of HCV-cirrhosis and the control group as regards mtDNA level. HCC patients with multi-centric hepatic lesions had significantly lower mtDNA content. On using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, a cutoff of 34 was assigned for mtDNA content to distinguish between HCV-HCC and HCV-cirrhosis patients who are not yet complicated by malignancy. Lower mtDNA was associated with greater HCC risk on using healthy controls, HCV-cirrhosis, or combining both groups as a reference group. Conclusions: mtDNA content might constitute a non-invasive molecular biomarker that reflects tumor burden in HCV-HCC cases and could be used as a predictor of HCC risk in patients of HCV-cirrhosis. In addition, the non significant difference of mtDNA level between HCV-cirrhosis patients and healthy controls could eliminate the grey zone created by the use of AFP in some cirrhotic patients.

Keywords: DNA copy number, HCC, HCV, mitochondrial

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Authors: Deng Tingting

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There is a very close interaction between the rapid development of the real estate industry and regional urbanization. The real estate problem can be boiled down to the problem of urbanization, in essence. The growth of hundreds of millions of people in the future will determine the development of low-level demand in the real estate market. At the same time, the practical problems of urbanization also seriously restrict the healthy development of real estate itself. The latter two interact with each other by adjusting the industrial structure, economic aggregate, regional population flow, and many other linkage factors. Through the case analysis of Chongqing, this paper finds that the urbanization of Chongqing and the overall development level of the real estate industry are still in the stage of development and upgrading, and its development potential and future development and application space are still very large. Therefore, from the perspective of the regional economy, studying the interaction between the two is of great significance to accelerate the process of urbanization in Chongqing, promote the healthy development of the real estate industry, and promote the rapid growth of the regional economy.

Keywords: urbanization, demographics, real estate, interrelationships

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Authors: Natalia Constantinescu

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This cross-sectional study aims to explore the differences among adults with somatic symptom disorder (SSD) versus adults without SSD in terms of attachment and emotion regulation strategies. A total sample of 80 participants (40 people with SSD and 40 healthy controls), aged 20-57 years old (M = 31.69, SD = 10.55), were recruited from institutions and online groups. They completed the Romanian version of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale – Short Form (ECR-S), Regulation of Emotion Systems Survey (RESS), Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) and Somatic Symptom Disorder – B Criteria Scale (SSD-12). The results indicate significant differences between the two groups in terms of attachment and emotion regulation strategies. Adults with SSD have a higher level of attachment anxiety and avoidance compared to the nonclinical group. Moreover, people with SSD are more prone to use rumination and suppression and less prone to use reevaluation compared to healthy people. Implications for SSD prevention and treatment are discussed.

Keywords: adult attachment, emotion regulation strategies, psychosomatic disorders, somatic symptom disorder

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Authors: Seyyedeh Faezeh Miralami, Sahar Sayyadchapari, Mona Laleh, Zahra Poursafar

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Tiling patterns are magnificent display of decoration in Islamic period. They transform the dusty and dreary facades to splendid and ornate ones. Due to ideological factors and elements of Azari style decorations, geometrical patterns and vegetative designs became prevalent and pervasive in religious sites like mosques. Objectives: The objective of this research is a study of tiling patterns in Tabriz Kaboud mosque, as a splendid work of architecture in Azari style. In this study, the geometrical designs and tiling patterns employed in the mosque decorations are examined and analyzed. Method: The research is based on a descriptive analysis method. Data and information are collected based on documents library and field study. Then, polished and brushed, the study resulted in an illustrative conclusion. Findings: In religious sites such as mosques, geometry represents ‘divination’ in Christian theology and ‘Unity with God’ or ‘Tawhid’ in Islamic terminology. In other words, science, literature, architecture, and all forms of human expression and representation are pointed towards one cause, unity or divination. Tiling patterns of Kaboud Mosque, mostly hexagonal, circular, square and triangle, form outstanding architectonic features which recount a story, a narration of divination or unification with the One.

Keywords: tiling, Azari style, Tabriz Kaboud Mosque, Islamic architecture

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Authors: Takeshi Sato, Mizuki Nakajima, Macky Kato, Shoji Igawa

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The purpose of study was to investigate the effect of varying pole weights on energy expenditure, upper limb and lower limb muscle activity as Electromyogram during Nordic walking (NW). Four healthy men [age = 22.5 (±1.0) years, body mass = 61.4 (±3.6) kg, height = 170.3 (±4.3) cm] and three healthy women [age = 22.7 (±2.9) years, body mass = 53.0 (±1.7) kg, height = 156.7 (±4.5) cm] participated in the experiments after informed consent. Seven healthy subjects were tested on the treadmill, walking, walking (W) with Nordic Poles (NW) and walking with 1kg weight Nordic Poles (NW+1). Walking speed was 6 km per hours in all trials. Eight EMG activities were recorded by bipolar surface methods in biceps brachii, triceps brachii, trapezius, deltoideus, tibialis anterior, medial gastrocnemius, rectus femoris and biceps femoris muscles. And heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (VO₂), and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured. The level of significance was set at a = 0.05, with p < 0.05 regarded as statistically significant. Our results confirmed that use of NW poles increased HR at a given upper arm muscle activity but decreased lower limb EMGs in comparison with W. Moreover NW was able to increase more step lengths with hip joint extension during NW rather than W. Also, EMG revealed higher activation of upper limb for almost all NW and 1kgNW tests plus added masses compared to W (p < 0.05). Therefore, it was thought either of NW and 1kgNW were to have benefit as a physical exercise for safe, feasible, and readily training for a wide range of aged people in the quality of daily life. However, there was no significant effected in leg muscles activity by using 1kgNW except for upper arm muscle activity during Nordic pole walking.

Keywords: Nordic walking, electromyogram, heart rate, RPE

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Authors: Ashit Syngle, Inderjit Verma, Pawan Krishan

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Objective: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have reparative potential in overcoming the endothelial dysfunction and reducing cardiovascular risk. EPC depletion has been demonstrated in the setting of established atherosclerotic diseases. With this background, we evaluated whether reduced EPCs population are associated with endothelial dysfunction, subclinical atherosclerosis and inflammatory markers in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients without any known traditional cardiovascular risk factor in AS patients. Methods: Levels of circulating EPCs (CD34+/CD133+), brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and inflammatory markers i.e erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), tissue necrosis factor (TNF)–α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1 were assessed in 30 AS patients (mean age33.41 ± 10.25; 11 female and 19 male) who fulfilled the modified New York diagnostic criteria with 25 healthy volunteers (mean age 29.36± 8.64; 9 female and 16 male) matched for age and sex. Results: EPCs (CD34+/CD133+) cells were significantly (0.020 ± 0.001% versus 0.040 ± 0.010%, p<0.001) reduced in patients with AS compared to healthy controls. Endothelial function (7.35 ± 2.54 versus 10.27 ±1.73, p=0.002), CIMT (0.63 ± 0.01 versus 0.35 ± 0.02, p < 0.001) and inflammatory markers were also significantly (p < 0.01) altered as compared to healthy controls. Specifically, CD34+CD133+cells were inversely multivariate correlated with CRP and TNF-α and endothelial dysfunction was positively correlated with reduced number of EPC. Conclusion: Depletion of EPCs population is an independent predictor of endothelial dysfunction and early atherosclerosis in AS patients and may provide additional information beyond conventional risk factors and inflammatory markers.

Keywords: endothelial progenitor cells, atherosclerosis, ankylosing spondylitis, cardiovascular

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Authors: I. Cerrillo, A. Carrillo-Vico, M. A. Ortega, B. Escudero-López, N. Álvarez-Sánchez, F. Martín, M. S. Fernández-Pachón

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Melatonin is a bioactive compound involved in multiple biological activities such as glucose tolerance, circadian rhythm regulation, antioxidant defense or immune system action. In elderly subjects the intake of foods and drinks rich in melatonin is very important due to its endogenous level decreases with age. Alcoholic fermentation is a process carried out in fruits, vegetables and legumes to obtain new products with improved bioactive compounds profile in relation to original substrates. Alcoholic fermentation process carried out by Saccharomycetaceae var. Pichia kluyveri induces an important synthesis of melatonin in orange juice. A novel beverage derived of fermented orange juice could be a promising source of this bioactive compound. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the acute intake of fermented orange juice increase the levels of urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin in healthy humans. Nine healthy volunteers (7 women and 2 men), aged between 20 and 25 years old and BMI of 21.1  2.4 kg/m2, were recruited. On the study day, participants ingested 500 mL of fermented orange juice. The first urine collection was made before fermented orange juice consumption (basal). The rest of urine collections were made in the following time intervals after fermented orange juice consumption: 0-2, 2-5, 5-10, 10- 15 and 15-24 hours. During the experimental period only the consumption of water was allowed. At lunch time a meal was provided (60 g of white bread, two slices of ham, a slice of cheese, 125 g of sweetened natural yoghurt and water). The subjects repeated the protocol with orange juice following a 2-wk washout period between both types of beverages. The levels of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (6-SMT) were measured in urine recollected at different time points using the Melatonin-Sulfate Urine ELISA (IBL International GMBH, Hamburg, Germany). Levels of 6-SMT were corrected to those of creatinine for each sample. A significant (p < 0.05) increase in urinary 6-SMT levels was observed between 2-5 hours after fermented orange juice ingestion with respect to basal values (increase of 67,8 %). The consumption of orange juice did not induce any significant change in urinary 6-SMT levels. In addition, urinary 6-SMT levels obtained between 2-5 hours after fermented orange juice ingestion (115,6 ng/mg) were significantly different (p < 0.05) from those of orange juice (42,4 ng/mg). The enhancement of urinary 6-SMT after the ingestion of 500 mL of fermented orange juice in healthy humans compared to orange juice could be an important advantage of this novel product as an excellent source of melatonin. Fermented orange juice could be a new functional food, and its consumption could exert a potentially positive effect on health in both the maintenance of health status and the prevention of chronic diseases.

Keywords: fermented orange juice, functional beverage, healthy human, melatonin

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Authors: Natalia Oli, Abhinav Vaidya, Katja Pahkala, Gabriele Eiben, Alexandra Krettek

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The nutritional transition towards a high fat and energy dense diet, decreasing physical activity level, and poor cardiovascular health knowledge contributes to a rising burden of cardiovascular diseases in Nepal. Dietary and physical activity behaviors are formed early in life and influenced by family, particularly by mothers in the social context of Nepal. The purpose of this study was to explore knowledge, attitude and behavior of mothers regarding diet and physical activity of their pre-school children. Cross-sectional study was conducted in the semi-urban area of Duwakot and Jhaukhel communities near the capital Kathmandu. Between August and November 2014, nine trained enumerators interviewed all mothers having children aged 2 to 7 years in their homes. Questionnaire contained information about mothers’ socio-demographic characteristics; their knowledge, attitude, and behavior regarding diet and physical activity as well as their children’s diet and physical activity. Knowledge, attitude and behavior responses were scored. SPSS version 22.0 was used for data analyses. Out of the 1,052 eligible mothers, 962 consented to participate in the study. The mean age was 28.9 ± 4.5 years. The majority of them (73%) were housewives. Mothers with higher education and income had higher knowledge, attitude, and behavior scores (All p < 0.001) whereas housewives and farmers had low knowledge score (p < 0.001). They, along with laborers, also exhibited lower attitude (p<0.001) and behavior scores (p < 0.001). Children’s diet score increased with mothers’ level of education (p <0.001) and income (p=0.041). Their physical activity score, however, declined with increasing level of their mothers’ education (p < 0.001) and income (p < 0.001). Children’s overall behavior score correlated poorly with mothers’ knowledge (r = 0.009, p=0.003), attitude (r =0.012, p=0.001), and behavior (r = 0.007, p= 0.008). Such poor correlation can be due to existence of the barriers among mothers. Mothers reported such barriers as expensive healthy food, difficulty to give up favorite food, taste preference of others family members and lack of knowledge on healthy food. Barriers for physical activity were lack of leisure time, lack of parks and playgrounds, being busy by caring for children and old people, feeling lazy and embarrassed in front of others. Additionally, among the facilitators for healthy lifestyle, mentioned by mothers, were better information, family eating healthy food and supporting physical activity, advice of medical personnel regarding healthy lifestyle and own ill health. The study demonstrated poor correlation of mothers’ knowledge and attitude with children’s behavior regarding diet and physical activity. Hence improving mothers’ knowledge or attitude may not be enough to improve dietary and physical activity habits of their children. Barriers and facilitators that affect mothers’ practices towards their children should also be addressed due to future intervention.

Keywords: attitude, behavior, diet, knowledge, mothers, physical activity

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Authors: Abdelhak-Djamel Seriai, Selim Kebir, Allaoua Chaoui

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During the last decades, object oriented program- ming has been massively used to build large-scale systems. However, evolution and maintenance of such systems become a laborious task because of the lack of object oriented programming to offer a precise view of the functional building blocks of the system. This lack is caused by the fine granularity of classes and objects. In this paper, we use a post object-oriented technology namely software components, to propose an approach based on the identification of the functional building blocks of an object oriented system by analyzing its source code. These functional blocks are specified as software components and the result is a multi-layer component based software architecture.

Keywords: software comprehension, software component, object oriented, software architecture, reverse engineering

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Authors: Hailemariam Solomon, Taye Tadesse, Daniel Nadew, Firezer Girma

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Sorghum is an important crop in semi-arid regions and has shown resilience to drought stress. However, recurrent drought is affecting its productivity. Therefore, it is necessary to explore genes that contribute to drought stress adaptation to increase sorghum productivity. The aim of this study is to evaluate and determine the effect of root system traits, specifically root angle, on drought stress adaptation and grain yield performance in sorghum genotypes. A total of 428 sorghum genotypes from the Ethiopian breeding program were evaluated in three drought-stress environments. Field trials were conducted using a row-column design with three replications. Root system traits were phenotyped using a high-throughput phenotyping platform and analyzed using a row-column design with two replications. Data analysis was performed using R software and regression analysis. The study found significant variations in root system architecture among the sorghum genotypes. Non-stay-green genotypes had a grain yield ranging from 1.63 to 3.1 tons/ha, while stay-green genotypes had a grain yield ranging from 2.4 to 2.9 tons/ha. The analysis of root angle showed that non-stay-green genotypes had an angle ranging from 8.0 to 30.5 degrees, while stay-green genotypes had an angle ranging from 12.0 to 29.0 degrees. Improved varieties exhibited angles between 14.04 and 19.50 degrees. Positive and significant correlations were observed between leaf areas and shoot dry weight, as well as between leaf width and shoot dry weight. Negative correlations were observed between root angle and leaf area, as well as between root angle and root length. This research highlights the importance of root system architecture, particularly root angle traits, in enhancing grain yield production in drought-stressed conditions. It also establishes an association between root angle and grain yield traits for maximizing sorghum productivity.

Keywords: roor sysytem architecture, root angle, narrow root angle, wider root angle, drought

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Authors: Jenin Zidan

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This research paper investigates how planning, urban design, and architectural decisions affect the long-term environmental sustainability of residential buildings. The study, which focuses on the Al-Malaz District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, looks into how strategic planning, innovative urban design, and sustainable architectural practices might help mitigate environmental concerns and promote sustainable development in rapidly growing cities. This study attempts to shed light on the interplay of urban planning, design, and architecture in constructing sustainable residential environments by conducting a thorough examination of case studies and empirical data.

Keywords: urban planning, sustainable architecture, urban environmental challenge, residential buildings, villa house type

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Authors: Rushi Naaz, Diksha Suchdeva

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Background: Temperament is a very important aspect of functioning that needs to be understood in children of patients suffering from schizophrenia. The children of parents with mental disorder have substantially increased risk of psychiatric illness in them and may exhibit a range of problems from minor variations in temperament and adjustment to manifest psychiatric disorder. Method: A case control study was conducted to study the temperament characteristics and psychopathology in children of patients suffering from schizophrenia as compared to those of healthy controls. Both the groups were evaluated on Temperament Measurement Schedule and Childhood Psychopathology Measurement Schedule. Results: The results showed that children of patients suffering from schizophrenia were withdrawing, less adaptable, less sociable and had lower activity level than children of healthy parents. However, on the measure of psychopathology, no significant difference was found. Conclusion: Since temperament can be identified at an early age, children at risk for the disorder later on could be identified early enough for possible primary intervention.

Keywords: children, childhood psychopathology, parental psychopathology, psychiatric disorders, schizophrenia, temperament

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Authors: Sedat Aktas, Egemen Ulusoy, Remzi Yildirim

Abstract:

This article explains how to get a ram image from a computer with a Linux operating system and what steps should be followed while getting it. What we mean by taking a ram image is the process of dumping the physical memory instantly and writing it to a file. This process can be likened to taking a picture of everything in the computer’s memory at that moment. This process is very important for tools that analyze ram images. Volatility can be given as an example because before these tools can analyze ram, images must be taken. These tools are used extensively in the forensic world. Forensic, on the other hand, is a set of processes for digitally examining the information on any computer or server on behalf of official authorities. In this article, the protected mode architecture in the Linux operating system is examined, and the way to save the image sample of the kernel driver and system memory to disk is followed. Tables and access methods to be used in the operating system are examined based on the basic architecture of the operating system, and the most appropriate methods and application methods are transferred to the article. Since there is no article directly related to this study on Linux in the literature, it is aimed to contribute to the literature with this study on obtaining ram images. LIME can be mentioned as a similar tool, but there is no explanation about the memory dumping method of this tool. Considering the frequency of use of these tools, the contribution of the study in the field of forensic medicine has been the main motivation of the study due to the intense studies on ram image in the field of forensics.

Keywords: linux, paging, addressing, ram-image, memory dumping, kernel modules, forensic

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Authors: Dalu Zhang, Xiang Jin, Dejiang Zhou, Jianpeng Wang, Haiying Jiang

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Traditional TCP/IP network is showing lots of shortages and research for future networks is becoming a hotspot. FIA (Future Internet Architecture) and FIA-NP (Next Phase) are supported by US NSF for future Internet designing. Moreover, virtual machine migration is a significant technique in cloud computing. As a network application, it should also be supported in XIA (expressive Internet Architecture), which is in both FIA and FIA-NP projects. This paper is an experimental study aims at verifying the feasibility of VM migration over XIA. We present three ways to maintain VM connectivity and communication states concerning DAG design and routing table modification. VM migration experiments are conducted intra-AD and inter-AD with KVM instances. The procedure is achieved by a migration control protocol which is suitable for the characters of XIA. Evaluation results show that our solutions can well supports full live VM migration over XIA network respectively, keeping services seamless.

Keywords: DAG, downtime, virtual machine migration, XIA

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Authors: Ikenna Michael Onuorah

Abstract:

The relentless march of globalization in architecture has led to a homogenization of built environments, often characterized by an overreliance on imported, resource-intensive materials and a disregard for local cultural contexts. This research posits that such practices pose significant environmental and cultural perils, trapping communities in "caged concrete jungles" devoid of both ecological sustainability and a meaningful connection to their heritage. Through a mixed-method approach encompassing quantitative and qualitative data analysis, the study investigated the impacts of neglecting local materials and cultural expression in architectural design. The research is anticipated to yield significant insights into the multifaceted consequences of neglecting locally available materials and cultural expression in architecture. It creates a compelling case for reasserting local materials and cultural expression in architectural design. Based on the anticipated research findings, the study proposed series of actionable recommendations for architects, policymakers, and communities to promote sustainable and culturally sensitive built environments. This will serve as a wake-up call, urging architects, policymakers, and communities to break free from the confines of "caged concrete jungles" and embrace a more sustainable and culturally sensitive approach to design.

Keywords: sustainability, cultural identity, building materials, sustainable dsigns

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Authors: Mona Zaryoun, Mahmood Hosseini, Seyed Mohammad Hassan Khalkhali, Haniyeh Okhovat

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Zegalli houses in Guilan province, northern Iran, are a type of vernacular houses which their foundation, skeleton and walls all have been made of wood. The only houses which could survive the major Manjil-Rudbar earthquake of 1990 with a magnitude of 7.2 were these houses. Regarding this fact, some researchers started thinking of this type of foundations used in these houses to benefit from rocking-wise behavior. On the one hand, the relatively light weight of the houses, have helped these houses to withstand well against seismic excitations. In this paper at first a brief description of Zegalli houses and their architectural features, with emphasis on their foundation is presented. in the next stage foundation of one of these houses is modeled as a sample by a using a computer program, which has been developed in MATLAB environment, and by using the horizontal and vertical accelerograms of a set of selected site compatible earthquakes, a series of time history analysis (THA) are carried out to investigate the behavior of this type of houses against earthquake. Based on numerical results of THA it can be said that even without no sliding at the foundation timbers, only due to the rocking which occurs in various levels of the foundation the seismic response of the house is significantly reduced., which results in their stability subjected to earthquakes with peak ground acceleration of around 0.35g. Therefore, it can be recommended the Zegalli houses are considered as sustainable Iranian vernacular architecture, and it can be recommended that the use of these houses and their architecture and their structural merits are reconsidered by architects as well as civil and structural engineers.

Keywords: MATLAB software, rocking behavior, time history analysis, Zegalli houses

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Demiraw Bikila, Tadesse Lejisa, Yosef Tolcha, Chala Bashea, Mehari Meles Tigist Getahun Genet Ashebir, Wossene Habtu, Feyissa Challa, Ousman Mohammed, Melkitu Kassaw, Adisu Kebede, Letebrhan G. Egzeabher, Endalkachew Befekadu, Mistire Wolde, Aster Tsegaye

Abstract:

Background: Even though several factors affect reference intervals (RIs), the company-derived values are currently in use in many laboratories worldwide. However, little or no data is available regarding serum protein RIs, mainly in resource-limited setting countries like Ethiopia. Objective: To establish a reference interval for serum protein electrophoresis of apparently healthy adults in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 297 apparently healthy adults from April-October 2019 in four selected sub-cities (Akaki, Kirkos, Arada, Yeka) of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Laboratory analysis of collected samples was performed using Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing analyzer, while statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 23 and med-cal software. Mann-Whitney test was used to check Partitions. Non-parametric method of reference range establishment was performed as per CLSI guideline EP28A3C. Result: The established RIs were: Albumin 53.83-64.59%, 52.24-63.55%; Alpha-1 globulin 3.04-5.40%, 3.44-5.60%; Alpha-2 globulin 8.0-12.67%, 8.44-12.87%; and Beta-1 globulin 5.01-7.38%, 5.14-7.86%. Moreover, Albumin to globulin ratio was 1.16-1.8, 1.09-1.74 for males and females, respectively. The combined RIs for Beta-2 globulin and Gamma globulin were 2.54-4.90% and 12.40-21.66%, respectively. Conclusion: The established reference interval for serum protein fractions revealed gender-specific differences except for Beta-2 globulin and Gamma globulin.

Keywords: serum protein electrophoresis, reference interval, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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