Search results for: liveable built environments

Authors: Rosita Kanapeckaite

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Every year, some candidates who enroll in Generolas Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania do not complete a basic seven weeks cadet course and leave the Academy. Experience in other countries shows that psychological resilience grit and intrinsic motivation can lead to better course completion results. We examined the psychological resilience grit and intrinsic motivation as predictors of better results among newcomers who participate in the Cadet Basic Training (CBT) course. Based on past research and theory of other countries' military academies, we expected that resilience grit, and intrinsic motivation would predict performance in the Cadet Basic Training course. Results of regression analyses revealed that resilience and grit can predict better course results, but intrinsic motivation can not predict retention. These findings suggest that resilience and grit assessment and training may prove valuable in enhancing performance and retention within military training environments.

Keywords: military, intrinsic motivation, grit, resilience

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Authors: Gu Chun-Mei, Kung Mei-Juan

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The aim of this research is to examine (1) how a kindergarten teacher followed the scaffolding theory to inspire children’s interest in bicycling and (2) how these children had learned the skill of bicycling. Results revealed that: first of all, the teacher (1) used questions during the teaching process to stimulate the levels of children’s abilities; (2) provided follow-up thematic clues and hints which are based on children’s abilities (e.g., would not provide instructions and demonstrations except children continued failing to solve the current problems); (3) assisted only when children needed it. Furthermore, when children continued failing the task and being frustrated, instead of providing more concrete guidance, the teacher would utilize the following strategies: (1) postulating children’s thoughts; (2) encouraging children to feel the difficulties; (3) giving children opportunities to reflect on how to solve the problems. In sum, by raising questions, allowing children to implement by themselves for the first attempt, then inducing children to correct their actions, the teacher built a scaffold with thematic teaching to develop children’s potential on bicycling.

Keywords: thematic teaching, scaffold, zone of proximal development, children

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Authors: Emine Umran Topcu

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In both urban design and architecture, the primary goal is considered to be looking for ways in which people feel and think about space and place. Humans, in general, see a place as security and space as freedom and feel attached to place and long for space. Contemporary urban design manifests itself by addressing basic physical and psychological human needs. Not much attention is paid to transcendence. There seems to be a gap in the hierarchy of human needs. Usually, social aspects of public space are addressed through urban design. More personal and intimately scaled needs of an individual are neglected. How does built form contribute to an individual’s growth, contemplation, and exploration? In other words, a greater meaning in the immediate environment. Architects love to talk about meaning, poetics, attachment and other ethereal aspects of space that are not visible attributes of places. This paper aims at describing spirituality through built form with a personal experience of Kamppi Chapel of Helsinki. Experience covers various modes through which a person unfolds or constructs reality. Perception, sensation, emotion, and thought can be counted as for these modes. To experience is to get to know. What can be known is a construct of experience. Feelings and thoughts about space and place are very complex in human beings. They grow out of life experiences. The author had the chance of visiting Kamppi Chapel in April 2017, out of which the experience grew. The Kamppi Chapel is located on the South side of the busy Narinnka Square in central Helsinki. It offers a place to quiet down and compose oneself in a most lively urban space. With its curved wooden facade, the small building looks more like a museum than a chapel. It can be called a museum for contemplation. With its gently shaped interior, it embraces visitors and shields them from the hustle bustle of the city outside. Places of worship in all faiths signify sacred power. The author, having origins in a part of the world where domes and minarets dominate the cityscape, was impressed by the size and the architectural visibility of the Chapel. Anyone born and trained in such a tradition shares the inherent values and psychological mechanisms of spirituality, sacredness and the modest realities of their environment. Spirituality in all cultural traditions has not been analyzed and reinterpreted in new conceptual frameworks. Fundamentalists may reject this positivist attitude, but Kamppi Chapel as it stands does not look like it has a say like “I’m a model to be followed”. It just faces the task of representing a religious facility in an urban setting largely shaped by modern urban planning, which seems to the author as looking for a new definition of individual status. The quest between the established and the new is the demand for modern efficiency versus dogmatic rigidity. The architecture here has played a very promising and rewarding role for spirituality. The designers have been the translators for human desire for better life and aesthetic environment for an optimal satisfaction of local citizens and the visitors alike.

Keywords: architecture, Kamppi Chapel, spirituality, urban

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Authors: Barbora Haltofová

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In recent years, citizens have become an important source of geographic information and, therefore, geo-crowdsourcing, often known as volunteered geographic information, has provided an interesting alternative to traditional mapping practices which are becoming expensive, resource-intensive and unable to capture the dynamic nature of urban environments. In order to address a gap in research literature, this paper deals with a survey conducted to assess the current state of geo-crowdsourcing, a recent phenomenon popular with people who collect geographic information using their smartphones. This article points out that there is an increasing body of knowledge of geo-crowdsourcing mobile applications in the Visegrad countries marked by the ubiquitous Internet connection and the current massive proliferation of smartphones. This article shows how geo-crowdsourcing can be used as a complement, or in some cases a replacement, to traditionally generated sources of spatial data and information in public management. It discusses the new spaces of citizen participation constructed by these geo-crowdsourcing practices.

Keywords: citizen participation, e-Government, geo-crowdsourcing, participatory mapping, mobile applications

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Authors: Shyhrete Morina

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This paper deals with morphological features in Mjeda's works. To make such a distinction, these features will be compared to standard Albanian language, considering the linguistic structure in the morphological field, which represent an all-important segment of Albanian language. Therefore, the study will focus mainly on the description and construction of these paradigms, which will give a linguistic insight into the entire work of Mjeda as the author who wrote in the dialect of northwestern Geg. Therefore, we have tried to distinguish different parts of the author's language, as well as the distinctive features or even the similarities of these paradigms that arise in the literary work of Mjeda. By constructing the corpus of this phonetic and grammar segment from the whole of Mjeda's work, we have seen that in these fields has built a variety of grammar structures, which for the history of Albanian are of special importance, that in the full variant of the work, as far as we can investigate, we will point out in all the distinctive features. Therefore, our study aims to highlight the linguistic features, namely the author's deep knowledge toward the language, the authenticity of its use, and its mutual relationship with it.

Keywords: distinctive morpholgy, nouns, adjetives, pronouns, Albanian standard language

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Authors: N. Webb, A. Buchanan

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Digital and virtual heritage is often associated with the recreation of lost artefacts and architecture; however, we can also investigate works that were not completed, using digital tools and techniques. Here we explore physical evidence of a fourteenth-century Gothic vault located in the north transept of St Mary’s church in Nantwich, Cheshire, using existing springer stones that are built into the walls as a starting point. Digital surveying tools are used to document the architecture, followed by an analysis process to hypothesise and simulate possible design solutions, had the vault been completed. A number of options, both two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally, are discussed based on comparison with examples of other contemporary vaults, thus adding another specimen to the corpus of vault designs. Dissemination methods such as digital models and 3D prints are also explored as possible resources for demonstrating what the finished vault might have looked like for heritage interpretation and other purposes.

Keywords: digital simulation, heritage interpretation, medieval vaults, virtual heritage, 3d scanning

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Authors: Ahmed Mohammed Alsalama

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Recommendation systems are widely used in e-commerce applications. The engine of a current recommendation system recommends items to a particular user based on user preferences and previous high ratings. Various recommendation schemes such as collaborative filtering and content-based approaches are used to build a recommendation system. Most of the current recommendation systems were developed to fit a certain domain such as books, articles, and movies. We propose a hybrid framework recommendation system to be applied on two-dimensional spaces (User x Item) with a large number of Users and a small number of Items. Moreover, our proposed framework makes use of both favorite and non-favorite items of a particular user. The proposed framework is built upon the integration of association rules mining and the content-based approach. The results of experiments show that our proposed framework can provide accurate recommendations to users.

Keywords: data mining, association rules, recommendation systems, hybrid systems

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Authors: T. Lakshmi Priya

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With the widening definition of heritage, the challenges of heritage management has become more complex . Today heritage not only includes significant monuments but comprises historic areas / sites, historic cities, cultural landscapes, and living heritage sites. There is a need for a comprehensive understanding of the values associated with these heritage resources, which will enable their protection and management. These diverse cultural resources are managed by multiple agencies having their own way of operating in the heritage sites. An Integrated approach to management of these cultural resources ensures its sustainability for the future generation. This paper outlines the importance of an integrated approach for the management and protection of complex heritage sites in India by examining four case studies. The methodology for this study is based on secondary research and primary surveys conducted during the preparation of the conservation management plansfor the various sites. The primary survey included basic documentation, inventorying, and community surveys. Red Fort located in the city of Delhi is one of the most significant forts built in 1639 by the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan. This fort is a national icon and stands testimony to the various historical events . It is on the ramparts of Red Fort that the national flag was unfurled on 15th August 1947, when India became independent, which continues even today. Management of this complex fort necessitated the need for an integrated approach, where in the needs of the official and non official stakeholders were addressed. The understanding of the inherent values and significance of this site was arrived through a systematic methodology of inventorying and mapping of information. Hampi, located in southern part of India, is a living heritage site inscribed in the World Heritage list in 1986. The site comprises of settlements, built heritage structures, traditional water systems, forest, agricultural fields and the remains of the metropolis of the 16th century Vijayanagar empire. As Hampi is a living heritage site having traditional systems of management and practices, the aim has been to include these practices in the current management so that there is continuity in belief, thought and practice. The existing national, regional and local planning instruments have been examined and the local concerns have been addressed.A comprehensive understanding of the site, achieved through an integrated model, is being translated to an action plan which safeguards the inherent values of the site. This paper also examines the case of the 20th century heritage building of National Archives of India, Delhi and protection of a 12th century Tomb of Sultan Ghari located in south Delhi. A comprehensive understanding of the site, lead to the delineation of the Archaeological Park of Sultan Ghari, in the current Master Plan for Delhi, for the protection of the tomb and the settlement around it. Through this study it is concluded that the approach of Integrated Conservation has enabled decision making that sustains the values of these complex heritage sites in Indian context.

Keywords: conservation, integrated, management, approach

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Authors: David Levy

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The newly released Distributed System Interface 3 (DSI3) Bus Standard specification defines 3 modulation levels from which 16 valid symbols are coded. This structure creates power consumption variations depending on the transmitted data of a factor of more than 2 between minimum and maximum. The power generation unit has to consider therefore the worst case maximum consumption all the time and be built accordingly. This paper proposes a method to reduce both the average current consumption and worst case current consumption. The transmitter randomizes the data using several pseudo-random sequences. It then estimates the energy consumption of the generated frames and selects to transmit the one which consumes the least. The transmitter also prepends the index of the pseudo-random sequence, which is not randomized, to allow the receiver to recover the original data using the correct sequence. We show that in the case that the frame occupies most of the DSI3 synchronization period, we achieve average power consumption reduction by up to 13% and the worst case power consumption is reduced by 17.7%.

Keywords: DSI3, energy, power consumption, randomization

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Authors: Todd G. Morrison, C. J. Bishop, Melanie A. Morrison

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An upsurge of hatred directed at sexual- and gender-marginalized persons (SGMPs) has been documented in numerous Western nations. The denial of gender-affirmative care for trans youth; the banning of books containing queer content (no matter how innocuous); the boycotting of products affiliated with queer influencers and with pride celebrations; and the silencing of sexual- and gender-marginalized teachers and academics (and their allies) constitute key ways in which this hatred now manifests itself. The health consequences for SGMPs living in environments characterized by hatred of queer people include elevated rates of depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance misuse. Given these sequelae, in this paper, the authors outline the challenges that academics experience when adopting an advocacy role. The authors also provide an overview of specific strategies that SGMPs may find helpful when engaging with persons committed to harming queer people.

Keywords: queer people, resistance, minority rights, hate speech

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Authors: Osamah Al Qadoori

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Using cloud computing in educational sectors grow rapidly in UAE. Initially, within Cloud-Learning Environment Students whenever and wherever can remotely join the online-classroom, on the other hand, Cloud-Based Learning is greatly decreasing the infrastructure and the maintenance cost. Nowadays in many schools (K-12), institutes, colleges as well as universities in UAE Cloud-Based Teaching and Learning environments gain a higher demand and concern. Many students don’t use the available online-educational resources effectively. The challenging question is to which extend these educational resources which are installed in the cloud environment are valuable and constructive? In this paper the researcher is seeking to design an expert agent prototype where the huge information being accommodated inside the cloud environment will go through expert filtration before going to be utilized by other clients (students). To achieve this goal, the focus of the present research would be on two different directions the educational human expertise and the automated-educational expert systems.

Keywords: cloud computing, cloud-learning environment, online-classroom, the educational human expertise, the automated-educational expert systems

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Authors: Onyebuchi Mogbo, Abdulsalam Mohammed, Salsabila Wali

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This research discusses the design and modeling of an amphibious building. The amphibious building is a house with the function of floating during a flood event. Over the years, houses have been built to resist flood events some of which have failed. The floating house is designed to work with nature and not against it. In the event of a flood, the house will rise with the increasing water level and protect the house from sinking. For the design and modeling of this house an estimated cost of N250, 000, approximately $700, will be needed. It is expected that the house will rise when lightweight materials are incorporated in the design, and the concrete dock (in form of a hollow box) carrying the entire house in its hollow space is well designed. When there is flooding the water will fill up the concrete dock, and the house will rise upwards with vertical guides preventing it from moving side to side or out of its boundary. Architectural and Structural designs will be used in this project.

Keywords: amphibious building, flood, housing, design and modelling

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Authors: Jin Gao, Jin Zhang, Xiaogang Li

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Outdoor exposure experiments were conducted in three extreme environments, namely the Chinese plateau mountain environment (Lhasa), the cold–temperate environment (Mohe), and the marine atmospheric environment (Wanning), to track a new long-life environment-friendly polyurethane coating. The relationship between apparent properties, namely gloss and microstructural changes, was analyzed, and the influence of typical climatic environment on the aging mechanism of polyurethane coatings was discussed. Results show that the UV radiation in the Lhasa area causes photoaging degradation, micropores are formed on the coating surface, and the powdering phenomenon is obvious. Photodegradation occurs in the Wanning area, and a hydrolysis reaction is observed. The hydrolysis reaction catalyzes the photoaging, the coating surface becomes yellow, and the powdering becomes serious. Photoaging is also present in the Mohe area, but it is mainly due to temperature changes that in turn change the internal stress of the coating. Microcracks and bumps form on the coating surface.

Keywords: aging, atmospheric environment, outdoor exposure, polyurethane coating

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Authors: M. Rezki, A. Belaidi

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This paper deals with a method of learning to solve a real problem in biomedical engineering from a technical study of muscle fatigue. Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles (viewpoint: anatomical and physiological). EMG is used as a diagnostics tool for identifying neuromuscular diseases, assessing low-back pain and muscle fatigue in general. In order to study the EMG signal for detecting fatigue in a muscle, we have taken a real problem which touches the tramway conductor the handle bar. For the study, we have used a typical autonomous platform in order to get signals at real time. In our case study, we were confronted with complex problem to do our experiments in a tram. This type of problem is recurring among students. To teach our students the method to solve this kind of problem, we built a similar system. Through this study, we realized a lot of objectives such as making the equipment for simulation, the study of detection of muscle fatigue and especially how to manage a study of biomedical looking.

Keywords: EMG, health platform, conductor’s tram, muscle fatigue

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Authors: Suyeon Bae, Abimbola Asojo, Denise Guerin, Caren Martin

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Post-occupancy evaluations (POEs) have been recognized for documenting occupant well-being and responses to indoor environmental quality (IEQ) factors such as thermal, lighting, and acoustic conditions. Sustainable Post-Occupancy evaluation survey (SPOES) developed by an interdisciplinary team at a Midwest University provides an evidence-based quantitative analysis of occupants’ satisfaction in office, classroom, and residential spaces to help direct attention to successful areas and areas that need improvement in buildings. SPOES is a self-administered and Internet-based questionnaire completed by building occupants. In this study, employees in three different office buildings rated their satisfaction on a Likert-type scale about 12 IEQ criteria including thermal condition, indoor air quality, acoustic quality, daylighting, electric lighting, privacy, view conditions, furnishings, appearance, cleaning and maintenance, vibration and movement, and technology. Employees rated their level of satisfaction on a Likert-type scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 7 (very satisfied). They also rate the influence of their physical environment on their perception of their work performance and the impact of their primary workspaces on their health on a scale from 1 (hinders) to 7 (enhances). Building A is a three-story building that includes private and group offices, classrooms, and conference rooms and amounted to 55,000 square-feet for primary workplace (N=75). Building B, a six-story building, consisted of private offices, shared enclosed office, workstations, and open desk areas for employees and amounted to 14,193 square-feet (N=75). Building C is a three-story 56,000 square-feet building that included classrooms, therapy rooms, an outdoor playground, gym, restrooms, and training rooms for clinicians (N=76). The results indicated that 10 IEQs for Building A except acoustic quality and privacy showed statistically significant correlations on the impact of the primary workspace on health. In Building B, 11 IEQs except technology showed statistically significant correlations on the impact of the primary workspace on health. Building C had statistically significant correlations between all 12 IEQ and the employees’ perception of the impact of their primary workspace on their health in two-tailed correlations (P ≤ 0.05). Out of 33 statistically significant correlations, 25 correlations (76%) showed at least moderate relationship (r ≥ 0.35). For the three buildings, daylighting, furnishings, and indoor air quality IEQs ranked highest on the impact on health. IEQs about vibration and movement, view condition, and electric lighting ranked second, followed by IEQs about cleaning and maintenance and appearance. These results imply that 12 IEQs developed in SPOES are highly related to employees’ perception of how their primary workplaces impact their health. The IEQs in this study offer an opportunity for improving occupants’ well-being and the built environment.

Keywords: post-occupancy evaluation, built environment, sustainability, well-being, indoor air quality

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Authors: Mohammad Shams Esfand Abadi, Mehrdad Zalaghi, Reza ebrahimpour

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In this paper, we propose a sign adaptive filter algorithm with the ability of dynamic selection of subband filters which leads to low computational complexity compared with conventional sign subband adaptive filter (SSAF) algorithm. Dynamic selection criterion is based on largest reduction of the mean square deviation at each adaption. We demonstrate that this simple proposed algorithm has the same performance of the conventional SSAF and somewhat faster than it. In the presence of impulsive interferences robustness of the simple proposed algorithm as well as the conventional SSAF and outperform the conventional normalized subband adaptive filter (NSAF) algorithm. Therefore, it is preferred for environments under impulsive interferences. Simulation results are presented to verify these above considerations very well have been achieved.

Keywords: acoustic echo cancellation (AEC), normalized subband adaptive filter (NSAF), dynamic selection subband adaptive filter (DS-NSAF), sign subband adaptive filter (SSAF), impulsive noise, robust filtering

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Authors: Purnomo Yustianto, Robin Doss

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As a process of developing a service system, the term ‘service engineering’ evolves in scope and definition. To achieve an integrated understanding of the process, a general framework and an ontology are required. This paper extends a previously built service engineering framework by exploring metamodels for the framework artefacts based on a foundational ontology and a metamodel landscape. The first part of this paper presents a correlation map between the proposed framework with the ontology as a form of evaluation for the conceptual coverage of the framework. The mapping also serves to characterize the artefacts to be produced for each activity in the framework. The second part describes potential metamodels to be used, from the metamodel landscape, as alternative formats of the framework artefacts. The results suggest that the framework sufficiently covers the ontological concepts, both from general service context and software service context. The metamodel exploration enriches the suggested artefact format from the original eighteen formats to thirty metamodel alternatives.

Keywords: artefact, framework, service, metamodel

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Authors: Allé Dieng, Mamadou Bousso, Latif Dramani

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The purpose of this work is to show the complexity behind economical interrelations in a country and provide a linear dynamic model of economical dependency evolution in a country. The model is based on National Transfer Account which is one of the most robust methodology developed in order to measure a level of demographic dividend captured in a country. It is built upon three major factors: demography, economical dependency and migration. The established mathematical model has been simulated using Netlogo software. The innovation of this study is in describing economical dependency as a complex system and simulating using mathematical equation the evolution of the two populations: the economical dependent and the non-economical dependent as defined in the National Transfer Account methodology. It also allows us to see the interactions and behaviors of both populations. The model can track individual characteristics and look at the effect of birth and death rates on the evolution of these two populations. The developed model is useful to understand how demographic and economic phenomenon are related

Keywords: ABM, demographic dividend, National Transfer Accounts (NTA), ODE

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Authors: Kasif Khan, Azlan Allahwala, Moiz Ali, Hasan Lodhi, Umer Amjad

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The number of runs scored by batsmen and wickets taken by bowlers serves as a natural way of quantifying the performance of a cricketer. Traditionally the batsmen and bowlers are rated on their batting or bowling average respectively. However, in a game like Cricket, it is not sufficient to evaluate performance on the basis of average. The biasness in selecting batsman and bowler on the basis of their past performance. The objective is to predict the best player and comparing their performance on the basis of venue, opponent, weather, and particular position. On the basis of predictions and analysis, and comparison the best team is selected for next upcoming series of Pakistan. The system is based and will be built to aid analyst in finding best possible team combination of Pakistan for a particular match and by providing them with advisories so that they can select the best possible team combination. This will also help the team management in identifying a perfect batting order and the bowling order for each match.

Keywords: data analysis, Pakistan cricket players, quantifying individual performance, cricket

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Authors: Seyed Mehrdad Gholami

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Nowadays, using rail transport system (Metro) is increased in most cities of The world, so the need for safe and economical way of building tunnels and subway stations is felt more and more. One of the most commonly used methods for constructing underground structures in urban areas is NATM (New Austrian tunneling method). In this method, there are some key parameters such as excavation steps and cross-sectional area that have a significant effect on the surface settlement. Settlement is a very important control factor related to safe excavation. In this paper, Finite Element Method is used by Abaqus. R6 station of Tehran Metro Line 6 is built by NATM and the construction of that is studied and analyzed. Considering the outcomes obtained from numerical modeling and comparison with the results of the instrumentation and monitoring of field, finally, the excavation step of 1 meter and longitudinal distance of 14 meters between side drifts is suggested to achieve safe tunneling with allowable settlement.

Keywords: excavation step, NATM, numerical modeling, settlement.

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Authors: Feri̇t Çakici, M. Kemal Leblebi̇ci̇oğlu

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In this study, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with level flight, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and mode-transitioning capability is designed and analyzed. The platform design combines both multirotor and fixed-wing (FW) conventional airplane structures and control surfaces; therefore named as VTOL-FW. The aircraft is modeled using aerodynamical principles and linear models are constructed utilizing small perturbation theory for trim conditions. The proposed method of control includes implementation of multirotor and airplane mode controllers and design of an algorithm to transition between modes in achieving smooth switching maneuvers between VTOL and FW flight. Thus, VTOL-FW UAV’s flight characteristics are expected to be improved by enlarging operational flight envelope through enabling mode-transitioning, agile maneuvers and increasing survivability. Experiments conducted in simulation and real world environments shows that VTOL-FW UAV has both multirotor and airplane characteristics with extra benefits in an enlarged flight envelope.

Keywords: aircraft design, linear analysis, mode transitioning control, UAV

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Authors: Tayebeh Saghapour, Sara Moridpour, Russell George Thompson

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One of the common aims of transport policy makers is to switch people’s travel to active transport. For this purpose, a variety of transport goals and investments should be programmed to increase the propensity towards active transport mode choice. This paper aims to investigate whether built environment features in neighbourhoods could enhance the odds of active transportation. The present study introduces an index measuring public transport accessibility (PTAI), and a walkability index along with socioeconomic variables to investigate mode choice behaviour. Using travel behaviour data, an ordered logit regression model is applied to examine the impacts of explanatory variables on walking trips. The findings indicated that high rates of active travel are consistently associated with higher levels of walking and public transport accessibility.

Keywords: active transport, public transport accessibility, walkability, ordered logit model

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Authors: Masood Beheshtirad

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Identification of regions having potential for landslide occurrence is one of the basic measures in natural resources management. Different landslide hazard mapping models are proposed based on the environmental condition and goals. In this research landslide hazard map using multiple regression model were provided and applicability of this model is investigated in Baghdasht watershed. Dependent variable is landslide inventory map and independent variables consist of information layers as Geology, slope, aspect, distance from river, distance from road, fault and land use. For doing this, existing landslides have been identified and an inventory map made. The landslide hazard map is based on the multiple regression provided. The level of similarity potential hazard classes and figures of this model were compared with the landslide inventory map in the SPSS environments. Results of research showed that there is a significant correlation between the potential hazard classes and figures with area of the landslides. The multiple regression model is suitable for application in the Baghdasht Watershed.

Keywords: landslide, mapping, multiple model, regression

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Authors: Ozden Saygili, Eser Cakti

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The masonry building stock in Istanbul and in other cities of Turkey are exposed to significant earthquake hazard. Determination of the safety of masonry structures against earthquakes is a complex challenge. This study deals with experimental tests and non-linear dynamic analysis of masonry structures modeled through discrete element method. The 1:10 scale model of Mustafa Paşa Mosque was constructed and the data were obtained from the sensors on it during its testing on the shake table. The results were used in the calibration/validation of the numerical model created on the basis of the 1:10 scale model built for shake table testing. 3D distinct element model was developed that represents the linear and nonlinear behavior of the shake table model as closely as possible during experimental tests. Results of numerical analyses with those from the experimental program were compared and discussed.

Keywords: dynamic analysis, non-linear modeling, shake table tests, masonry

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Authors: Nikolaos Simantiris, Markos Avlonitis

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This work builds a simulation platform, modeling the spatial diffusion of the invasive species Callinectes sapidus (blue crab) as a random walk, incorporating also generation, fatality, and fishing rates modeling the time evolution of its population. Antinioti lagoon in West Greece was used as a testbed for applying the simulation model. Field measurements from June 2020 to June 2021 on the lagoon’s setting, bathymetry, and blue crab juveniles provided the initial population simulation of blue crabs, as well as biological parameters from the current literature were used to calibrate simulation parameters. The scope of this study is to render the authors able to predict the evolution of the blue crab population in confined environments of the Ionian Islands region in West Greece. The first result of the simulation experiments shows the possibility for a robust prediction for blue crab population evolution in the Antinioti lagoon.

Keywords: antinioti lagoon, blue crab, stochastic simulation, random walk

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Authors: Liang Zhao, Chongquan Zhong

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Introduction: According to statistics, people spend 80% to 90% of time indoor, so indoor air quality, either at home or in the office, greatly impacts the quality of life, health and work efficiency. Therefore, indoor air quality is very important to human activities. With the acceleration of urbanization, people are spending more time in indoor activity. The time in indoor environment, the living space, and the frequency interior decoration are all increasingly increased. However, housing decoration materials contain formaldehyde and other harmful substances, causing environmental and air quality problems, which have brought serious damage to countless families and attracted growing attention. According to World Health Organization statistics, the indoor environments in more than 30% of buildings in China are polluted by poisonous and harmful gases. Indoor pollution has caused various health problems, and these widespread public health problems can lead to respiratory diseases. Long-term inhalation of low-concentration formaldehyde would cause persistent headache, insomnia, weakness, palpitation, weight loss and vomiting, which are serious impacts on human health and safety. On the other hand, as for offices, some surveys show that good indoor air quality helps to enthuse the staff and improve the work efficiency by 2%-16%. Therefore, people need to further understand the living and working environments. There is a need for easy-to-use indoor environment monitoring instruments, with which users only have to power up and monitor the environmental parameters. The corresponding real-time data can be displayed on the screen for analysis. Environment monitoring should have the sensitive signal alarm function and send alarm when harmful gases such as formaldehyde, CO, SO2, are excessive to human body. System design: According to the monitoring requirements of various gases, temperature and humidity, we designed a portable, light, real-time and accurate monitor for various environmental parameters, including temperature, humidity, formaldehyde, methane, and CO. This monitor will generate an alarm signal when a target is beyond the standard. It can conveniently measure a variety of harmful gases and provide the alarm function. It also has the advantages of small volume, convenience to carry and use. It has a real-time display function, outputting the parameters on the LCD screen, and a real-time alarm function. Conclusions: This study is focused on the research and development of a portable parameter monitoring instrument for indoor environment. On the platform of an STM32 development board, the monitored data are collected through an external sensor. The STM32 platform is for data acquisition and processing procedures, and successfully monitors the real-time temperature, humidity, formaldehyde, CO, methane and other environmental parameters. Real-time data are displayed on the LCD screen. The system is stable and can be used in different indoor places such as family, hospital, and office. Meanwhile, the system adopts the idea of modular design and is superior in transplanting. The scheme is slightly modified and can be used similarly as the function of a monitoring system. This monitor has very high research and application values.

Keywords: indoor air quality, gas concentration detection, embedded system, sensor

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Authors: Wasif Mughees, Malik Al-Ahmad

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This research presents the graphical design analysis and mathematical programming technique to dig out the possible water allocation distribution to minimize water usage in process units. The study involves the mass and property integration in its core methodology. Tehran Oil Refinery is studied to implement the focused water pinch technology for regeneration, reuse and recycling of water streams. Process data is manipulated in terms of sources and sinks, which are given in terms of properties. Sources are the streams to be allocated. Sinks are the units which can accept the sources. Suspended Solids (SS) is taken as a single contaminant. The model minimizes the mount of freshwater from 340 to 275m3/h (19.1%). Redesigning and allocation of water streams was built. The graphical technique and mathematical programming shows the consistency of results which confirms mass transfer dependency of water streams.

Keywords: minimization, water pinch, process integration, pollution prevention

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Authors: Alicja Zapolnik-Plachetka

Abstract:

The paper examines the impact of the Members’ of the European Parliament (MEPs) language choice on the linguistic quality of their political discourse as delivered by the interpreters. The study, designed by the author, who is an EU interpreter herself, consisted of three phases. First, a number of speeches of Polish and Spanish MEPs were analyzed to determine whether the incidence of use of certain figures of speech depending on whether the speech had been delivered in English or their respective mother tongue. Then the use of figures of speech was also analyzed based on speeches by some British MEPs, in order to determine what was the incidence for the native users of English. Subsequently, the speeches were compared with their interpretations to find out whether the interpreters managed to convey accurately the means of oratory used by the MEPs. The final result shows that in case of institutional environments dependant on simultaneous interpretation the speakers’ choices can, in fact, influence the linguistic quality of the political communication.

Keywords: content accuracy, European Parliament, political discourse, simultaneous interpreting

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Authors: Cate MacMillan, Nicholas J. Stevens, Johanna Rosier, Steven Boyd

Abstract:

Choosing where to live is an important decision for anybody, however, this decision is more complex if you are an adult with intellectual disability. Our research asked adults with intellectual disability, parents and carers and disability, housing and built environment decision makers what they considered important in deciding where to live. If medical advances continue to improve the longevity of adults with intellectual disability, many of these adults will outlive their parents. With appropriate community support, and in appropriately designed neighbourhoods, many will be able to live independently. Our research suggests that the key to achieving independent living as an adult with intellectual disability is not so much about the house but the type of neighbourhood and its design. This paper presents the results of interviews and details a practical approach which will better inform urban development decision-makers in establishing safe, inclusive and accessible neighbourhood design.

Keywords: inclusion, independent living, intellectual disability, neighbourhoods, systems thinking, urban design and planning

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Authors: Naime Boudemagh, Zoheir Hammoudi

Abstract:

The parameters estimation of the K-distribution is an essential part in radar detection. In fact, presence of interfering targets in reference cells causes a decrease in detection performances. In such situation, the estimate of the shape and the scale parameters are far from the actual values. In the order to avoid interfering targets, we propose an Automatic Censoring (AC) algorithm of radar interfering targets in K-distribution. The censoring technique used in this work offers a good discrimination between homogeneous and non-homogeneous environments. The homogeneous population is then used to estimate the unknown parameters by the classical Method of Moment (MOM). The AC algorithm does not need any prior information about the clutter parameters nor does it require both the number and the position of interfering targets. The accuracy of the estimation parameters obtained by this algorithm are validated and compared to various actual values of the shape parameter, using Monte Carlo simulations, this latter show that the probability of censing in multiple target situations are in good agreement.

Keywords: parameters estimation, method of moments, automatic censoring, K distribution

Procedia PDF Downloads 364