Search results for: construction of irrigation district

Authors: M. Kumral, A. Abdelnasser, M. Budakoglu, M. Karaman, D. K. Yildirim, Z. Doner, A. Bostanci

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The Paraga area is located at the extreme eastern part of Nakhchivan district at the boundary with Armenia. The field study is situated at Ordubad region placed in 9 km from Paraga village and stays at 2300-2800 m height over sea level. It lies within a region of low-grade metamorphic porphyritic volcanic and plutonic rocks. The detailed field studies revealed that this area composed mainly of metagabbro-diorite intrusive rocks with porphyritic character emplaced into meta-andesitic rocks. This complex is later intruded by unmapped olivine gabbroic rocks. The Cu-Mo-(Au) mineralization at Paraga deposit is vein-type mineralization that is essentially related to quartz veins stockwork which cut the dioritic rocks and concentrated at the eastern and northeastern parts of the area with different directions N80W, N25W, N70E and N45E. Also, this mineralization is associated with two shearing zones directed N75W and N15E. The host porphyritic rocks were affected by intense sulfidation, carbonatization, sericitization and silicification with pervasive hematitic alterations accompanied with mineralized quartz veins and quartz-carbonate veins. Sulfide minerals which are chalcopyrite, pyrite, arsenopyrite and sphalerite occurred in two cases either inside these mineralized quartz veins or disseminated in the highly altered rocks as well as molybdenite and also at the peripheries between the altered host rock and veins. Gold found as inclusion disseminated in arsenopyrite and pyrite as well as in their cracks.

Keywords: porphyry Cu-Mo-(Au), Paraga area, Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, paragenesis, hyrothermal alteration

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Authors: Minase Yitbarek Mengistu, Abrham Melkamu, Dawit Yisfaw, Bisrat Belihu, Abdulhakim Lalega

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This research was aimed at reducing and recycling waste paper and sawdust from our environment, thereby reducing environmental pollution resulting from the management/disposal of these waste materials. In this research, some mechanical properties of composite ceiling board materials made from waste paper, sawdust, and pineapple leaf fibers were investigated to determine their suitability for use in low-cost construction work. The ceiling board was obtained from the waste of paper, sawdust chips, and pineapple leaf fibers by manual mechanical bonding techniques using dissolved polystyrene films as a binding agent. The results obtained showed that the water absorption values of between 6 % and 8.1 %; as well as density values of 500 kg/mm3 and 611.1 kg/mm3.From our result, the better one is a ratio of pineapple leaf fiber 25%, sawdust 40%, binder 25%, and waste paper 10%. The composite ceiling boards were successfully nailed with firm grips. These values obtained were compared with those of the conventional ceiling boards and it was observed that these composite materials can be used for internal low-cost construction work and Insulation (acoustic and thermal) performance. It is highly recommended that small and medium enterprises be encouraged to venture into waste recycling and the production of these composite ceiling materials to create jobs for skilled and unskilled labor that are locally available.

Keywords: composite material, environment, textile, ceiling board

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Authors: Shashank. S. Bagane, H. N. Rajendra Prasad

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Building Information Modeling (BIM) has currently developed into a potent solution. The consistent development of BIM technology in the sphere of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry has enhanced the effectiveness of construction and decision making. However, aggrandized global warming and energy crisis has impacted on building energy analysis. It is now becoming an important factor to be considered in the AEC industry. Amalgamating energy analysis in the planning and design phase of a structure has become a necessity. In the current construction industry, estimating energy usage and reducing its footprint is of high priority. The construction industry is giving more prominence to sustainability alongside energy efficiency. This demand is compelling the designers, planners, and engineers to inspect the sustainable performance throughout the building's life cycle. The current study primarily focuses on energy consumption, space arrangement, and spatial geometry of a residential building. Most commonly residential structures in India are constructed considering Vastu Shastra. Vastu designs are intended to integrate architecture with nature and utilizing geometric patterns, symmetry, and directional alignments. In the current study, a residential brick masonry structure is considered for BIM analysis, Architectural model of the structure will be created using Revit software, later the orientation and spatial arrangement will be finalized based on Vastu principles. Furthermore, the structure will be investigated for the impact of building orientation and spatial arrangements on energy using Green Building Studio software. Based on the BIM analysis of the structure, energy consumption of subsequent building orientations will be understood. A well-orientated building having good spatial arrangement can save a considerable amount of energy throughout its life cycle and reduces the need for heating and lighting which will prove to diminish energy usage and improve the energy efficiency of the residential building.

Keywords: building information modeling, energy impact, spatial geometry, vastu

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Authors: Afrah Saad Mohsen Al-Mahfadi

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In rural areas of developing countries, participation of all stakeholders in water supply projects is an important step towards further development. As most of the beneficiaries are women, it is important that they should be involved to achieve successful and sustainable water supply projects. Women are responsible for the management of water both inside and outside home, and often spend more than six-hours a day fetching drinking water from distant water sources. The problem is that rural women play a role of little importance in the water supply projects’ phases in rural Yemen. Therefore, this research aimed at analyzing the different reasons of their lack of participation in projects and in what way a full participation -if achieved- could contribute to sustainable water supply projects in the rural mountainous areas in Yemen. Four water supply projects were selected as a case study in Al-Della'a Alaala sub-district in the Al-Mahweet governorate, two of them were implemented by the Social Fund and Development (SFD), while others were implemented by the General Authority for Rural Water Supply Projects (GARWSSP). Furthermore, the successful Al-Galba project, which is located in Badan district in Ibb governorate, was selected for comparison. The rural women's active participation in water projects have potential consequences including continuity and maintenance improvement, equipment security, and improvement in the overall health and education status of these areas. The majority of respondents taking part in GARWSSP projects estimated that there is no reason to involve women in the project activities. In the comparison project - in which a woman worked as a supervisor and implemented the project – all respondents indicated that the participation of women is vital for sustainability. Therefore, the results of this research are intended to stimulate rural women's participation in the mountainous areas of Yemen.

Keywords: assessment, rural woman, sustainability, water management

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Authors: Chen Wang, Qiuxiao Chen

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With the advent of the information age and the era of big data, urban planning research is no longer satisfied with the analysis and application of traditional data. Because of the limitations of traditional urban commercial center system research, big data provides new opportunities for urban research. Therefore, based on the quantitative evaluation method of big data, the commercial center system of the main city of Hangzhou is analyzed and evaluated, and the scale and hierarchical structure characteristics of the urban commercial center system are studied. In order to make up for the shortcomings of the existing POI extraction method, it proposes a POI extraction method based on adaptive adjustment of search window, which can accurately and efficiently extract the POI data of commercial business in the main city of Hangzhou. Through the visualization and nuclear density analysis of the extracted Point of Interest (POI) data, the current situation of the commercial center system in the main city of Hangzhou is evaluated. Then it compares with the commercial center system structure of 'Hangzhou City Master Plan (2001-2020)', analyzes the problems existing in the planned urban commercial center system, and provides corresponding suggestions and optimization strategy for the optimization of the planning of Hangzhou commercial center system. Then get the following conclusions: The status quo of the commercial center system in the main city of Hangzhou presents a first-level main center, a two-level main center, three third-level sub-centers, and multiple community-level business centers. Generally speaking, the construction of the main center in the commercial center system is basically up to standard, and there is still a big gap in the construction of the sub-center and the regional-level commercial center, further construction is needed. Therefore, it proposes an optimized hierarchical functional system, organizes commercial centers in an orderly manner; strengthens the central radiation to drive surrounding areas; implements the construction guidance of the center, effectively promotes the development of group formation and further improves the commercial center system structure of the main city of Hangzhou.

Keywords: business center system, business format, main city of Hangzhou, POI extraction method

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Authors: Wilailuk Meepracha

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The results of the study on the project evaluation to develop the competencies, capabilities, and skills in repairing computers of people in Jompluak Local Municipality, Bang Khonthi District, Samut Songkram Province showed that the overall result was good (4.33). When considering on each aspect, it was found that the highest one was on process evaluation (4.60) followed by product evaluation (4.50) and the least one was on feeding factor (3.97). When considering in details, it was found that: 1) the context aspect was high (4.23) with the highest item on the arrangement of the training situation (4.67) followed by the appropriateness of the target (4.30) and the least aspect was on the project cooperation (3.73). 2) The evaluation of average overall primary factor or feeding factor showed high value (4.23) while the highest aspect was on the capability of the trainers (4.47) followed by the suitable venue (4.33) while the least aspect was on the insufficient budget (3.47). 3) The average result of process evaluation was very high (4.60). The highest aspect was on the follow-op supervision (4.70) followed by responsibility of each project staffs (4.50) while the least aspect was on the present situation and the problems of the community (4.40). 4) The overall result of the product evaluation was very high (4.50). The highest aspect was on the diversity of the activities and the community integration (4.67) followed by project target achievement (4.63) while the least aspect was on continuation and regularity of the activities (4.33). The trainees reported high satisfaction on the project management at very high level (43.33%) while 40% reported high level and 16.67% reported moderate level. Suggestions for the project were on the additional number of the computer sets (37.78%) followed by longer training period especially on computer skills (43.48%).

Keywords: project evaluation, competency development, the capability on computer repairing and computer skills

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Authors: Alluri Swaroopa, L. V. N. Prasad

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Alone with fast urbanization in world, traffic control problem became a big issue in urban construction. Having an efficient and reliable traffic control system is crucial to macro-traffic control. Traffic signal is used to manage conflicting requirement by allocating different sets of mutually compatible traffic movement during distinct time interval. Many approaches have been made proposed to solve this discrete stochastic problem. Recognizing the need to minimize right-of-way impacts while efficiently handling the anticipated high traffic volumes, the proposed alternative system gives effective design. This model allows for increased traffic capacity and reduces delays by eliminating a step in maneuvering through the freeway interchange. The concept proposed in this paper involves construction of bridges and ramps at intersection of four roads to control the vehicular congestion and to prevent traffic breakdown.

Keywords: bridges, junctions, ramps, urban traffic control

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Authors: Shaymaa Kennedy, Sam Clark, Paul Shaply

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With the upcoming construction of high-speed rail HS2 in the UK, a number of issues surrounding the construction technology and track design need to be answered. In this paper performance of subsoil subjected to dynamic loads were studied. The material of study is Mudrock backfill, a weak prevalent rock which response under indicative loading of high-speed rail line is unknown. This paper aims to investigate the use of different track types and the influence they will have on the underlying soil, in order to evaluate the behaviour of it. Ballstless track is a well-established concept in Europe, and the investigation the benefit of the form of construction due to its known savings in maintenance costs. Physical test using a triaxial cyclic loading machine was conducted to assess the expected mechanical behaviour of mudrock under a range of dynamic loads which could be generated beneath different track constructions. Some further parameters are required to frame the problem including determining the stress change with depth and cyclic response are vital to determine the residual plastic strain which is a major concern. In addition, Stress level is discussed in this paper, which are applied to recreate conditions of soil in the laboratory. Results indicate that stress levels are highly influential on the performance of soil at shallower depth and become insignificant with increasing depth.

Keywords: stress level, dynamic load, residual plastic strain, high speed railway

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Authors: Abdessemed Zineb, Atia Yahia, Yeza Salima

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Water is self-purified by activated sludge process which makes its uniqueness. The main goal is the microbial biocenosis study of the input and output water of the waste water treatment system plant Timgad. 89.47% of the identified biocenosis belongs to ɤ-Proteobacteria while the remaining 10.52 % is equally divided between α-Proteobacteria and β-Proteobacteria. The antibiotics susceptibility profiles reveal that over 30 % are wild strains while the penicillinases are often present (11.30-20 %) with also other profiles. This proportion is worrying that the water discharged join the Oued Soltez used for irrigation. This disadvantage involves the installation of a chlorination step.

Keywords: activated sludge, biocenosis, antibiotics profiles, penicillinases, physic-chemical quality

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Authors: Shiva Kumar G.

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The present study is to know the level of noises emanated from vehicles in intersections located in urban areas using Sound Level Meter and the possibility of reducing noise levels through traffic flow optimization. The main objective is to study traffic noise level of the Intersections located at on-going metro construction activities and which are away from metro construction activities. To compare traffic noise level between stop phase, go phase and drive phase at the Intersections. To study the effect of traffic noise level of directional movement of traffic and variation in noise level during day and night times. The range of Noise level observed at intersections is between 60 to 105 decibel. The noise level of stop and drive phases were minimum and almost same where go phase had maximum noise level. By comparing noise level of directional movement of traffic, it has been noticed that Vijayanagar intersection has no significant difference in their noise level and all other intersection has a significant difference in their noise level. By comparing noise level of stop, go and drive phase it has been noticed that there was a significant difference in noise level during peak hours compared to off-peak hour. By comparing noise level between Metro and Non-Metro construction activity intersections it has been noticed that there was a significant difference in noise level. By comparing noise level during day and night times, significant differences in noise level were observed at all intersections.

Keywords: noise, metro and non-metro intersections, traffic flow optimization, stop-go and drive phase

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Authors: Yasser Abo El-Magd, Wael Fawzy Mohamed

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Due to the great development in construction and building field, there are many projects and huge works appeared which consume many construction materials. Accordingly, that causes difficulty in handling traditional transportation means (ordinary cranes) due to their limited capacity; there is an urgent need to use high capacity cranes such as tower cranes. However, with regard to their high expense, we have to take into consideration selecting what type of cranes to be utilized which has been discussed by many researchers. In this research, a proposed technique was created to select the suitable type of crane and the best place for crane erection, in addition to minimum radius for requested crane in order to minimize cost. To fulfill that target, a computer program is designed to numerate these problems, demonstrating an example explaining how to apply program and the result donated the best place.

Keywords: tower crane, jib length, operating time, location, feasible area

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Authors: Tran Duong Nguyen, Marwan Shagar, Qinghao Zeng, Aras Maqsoodi, Pardis Pishdad, Eunhwa Yang

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Construction supply chain management (CSCM) involves the collaboration of many disciplines and actors, which generates vast amounts of data. However, inefficient, fragmented, and non-standardized data storage often hinders this data exchange. The industry has adopted building information modeling (BIM) -a digital representation of a facility's physical and functional characteristics to improve collaboration, enhance transmission security, and provide a common data exchange platform. Still, the volume and complexity of data require tailored information categorization, aligning with stakeholders' preferences and demands. To address this, artificial intelligence (AI) can be integrated to handle this data’s magnitude and complexities. This research aims to develop an integrated and efficient approach for data exchange in CSCM by utilizing AI. The paper covers five main objectives: (1) Investigate existing framework and BIM adoption; (2) Identify challenges in data exchange; (3) Propose an integrated framework; (4) Enhance data transmission security; and (5) Develop data exchange in CSCM. The proposed framework demonstrates how integrating BIM and other technologies, such as cloud computing, blockchain, and AI applications, can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of data exchange in CSCM.

Keywords: construction supply chain management, BIM, data exchange, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Ayse Pekrioglu Balkis, Sawash Mecid

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Due to continued growth and rapid development of road construction in worldwide, road sub-layers consist of soil layers, therefore, identification and recognition of type of soil and soil behavior in different condition help to us to select soil according to specification and engineering characteristic, also if necessary sometimes stabilize the soil and treat undesirable properties of soils by adding materials such as bitumen, lime, cement, etc. If the soil beneath the road is not done according to the standards and construction will need more construction time. In this case, a large part of soil should be removed, transported and sometimes deposited. Then purchased sand and gravel is transported to the site and full depth filled and compacted. Stabilization by cement or other treats gives an opportunity to use the existing soil as a base material instead of removing it and purchasing and transporting better fill materials. Classification of soil according to AASHTOO system and USCS help engineers to anticipate soil behavior and select best treatment method. In this study soil classification and the relation between soil classification and stabilization method is discussed, cement stabilization with different percentages have been selected for soil treatment based on NCHRP. There are different parameters to define the strength of soil. In this study, CBR will be used to define the strength of soil. Cement by percentages, 0%, 3%, 7% and 10% added to soil for evaluation effect of added cement to CBR of treated soil. Implementation of stabilization process by different cement content help engineers to select an economic cement amount for the stabilization process according to project specification and characteristics. Stabilization process in optimum moisture content (OMC) and mixing rate effect on the strength of soil in the laboratory and field construction operation have been performed to see the improvement rate in strength and plasticity. Cement stabilization is quicker than a universal method such as removing and changing field soils. Cement addition increases CBR values of different soil types by the range of 22-69%.

Keywords: California Bearing Ratio, cement stabilization, clayey soil, mechanical properties

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Authors: Yang Ye, Hongfei Qiu, Yaqi Li

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The planning and construction of traditional cities are oriented by cars, which leads to the problems of insufficient urban public space, fragmentation, and low utilization efficiency. With the development of driverless technology, the urban structure will change from the traditional single-core grid structure to the multi-core model. In terms of traffic organization, with the release of land for traffic facilities, public space will become more continuous and integrated with traffic space. In the context of driverless technology, urban public reconstruction is characterized by modularization and high efficiency, and its planning and layout features accord with points (service facilities), lines (smart lines), surfaces (activity centers). The public space of driverless urban roads will provide diversified urban public facilities and services. The intensive urban layout makes the commercial public space realize the functions of central activities and style display, respectively, in the interior (building atrium) and the exterior (building periphery). In addition to recreation function, urban green space can also utilize underground parking space to realize efficient dispatching of shared cars. The roads inside the residential community will be integrated into the urban landscape, providing conditions for the community public activity space with changing time sequence and improving the efficiency of space utilization. The intervention of driverless technology will change the thinking of traditional urban construction and turn it into a human-oriented one. As a result, urban public space will be richer, more connected, more efficient, and the urban space justice will be optimized. By summarizing the frontier research, this paper discusses the impact of unmanned driving on cities, especially urban public space, which is beneficial for landscape architects to cope with the future development and changes of the industry and provides a reference for the related research and practice.

Keywords: driverless, urban public space, construction strategy, urban design

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Authors: Sareh Rajabi, Taha Anjamrooz, Salwa Bheiry

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The continuous increase in the world population, resource shortage and the warning of climate change cause various environmental and social issues to the world. Thus, sustainability concept is much needed nowadays. Organizations are progressively falling under strong worldwide pressure to integrate sustainability practices into their project decision-making development. Construction projects in the industry are amongst the most significant, since it is one of the biggest divisions and of main significance for the national economy and hence has a massive effect on the environment and society. So, it is important to discover approaches to incorporate sustainability into the management of those projects. This study presents a combined sustainability index of projects with sustainable transportation which has been formed as per a comprehensive literature review and survey study. Transportation systems enable the movement of goods and services worldwide, and it is leading to economic growth and creating jobs while creating negative impacts on the environment and society. This research is study to quantify the sustainability indicators, through 1) identifying the importance of sustainable transportation indicators that are based on the sustainable practices used for the construction projects and 2) measure the effectiveness of practices through these indicators on the three sustainable pillars. A total 26 sustainability indicators have been selected and grouped under each related sustainability pillars. A survey was used to collect the opinion about the sustainability indicators by a scoring system. A combined sustainability index considering three sustainable pillars can be helpful in evaluating the transportation sustainable practices of a project and making decisions regarding project selection. In addition to focus on the issue of financial resource allocation in a project selection, the decision-maker could take into account the sustainability as an important key in addition to the project’s return and risk. The purpose of this study is to measure the performance of transportation sustainability which allow companies to assess multiple projects selection. This is useful to decision makers to rank and focus more on future sustainable projects.

Keywords: sustainable transportation, transportation performances, sustainable indicators, sustainable construction practice, sustainability

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Authors: Neha Toppo

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Plans and programs for successful secondary education are incomplete without the inclusion of teaching English as an important area. Even after sixteen years of the formation of Jharkhand as a separate state, the students are still struggling to achieve quality education of English. This paper intends to account the present condition of teaching English in Jharkhand board secondary level schools through discussion on various issues of English language teaching, language need and learning challenges of its students. The study is to analyze whether the learning environment, teaching methods and materials, teaching resources, goals of language curriculum are appropriately convincing for the students of the board or require to be reanalyzed and also to provide appropriate suggestions for improvement. Immediate attention must be drawn towards the problem for benefitting those students, who despite their knowledge and talent are lagging behind in numerous fields only due to the lack of proficiency in English. The data and discussion provided are on the basis of a survey, in which semi structured interview with teachers, students and administrators in several schools including both rural and urban area has been taken. Questionnaire, observation and testing were used as important tools. The survey has been conducted in Ranchi district, as it covers large geographical area which includes number of villages and at the same time several towns. The district primarily possesses tribes as well as different class of people including immigrants from all over and outside Jharkhand with their social, economical strata. The observation makes it clear that the English language teaching at the state board is not complementing its context and the whole language teaching system should be re-examined to establish learner oriented environment.

Keywords: material, method, secondary level, teaching resources

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Authors: Benyan Jiang, Dawei Xia, Yong Li

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Compact city construction is considered as an effective measure to reduce carbon emission in city lives. Toyama City started its compact city strategy in 2000 and was selected as a Japanese Environmental Model City in 2008 for its achievement. This paper takes Toyama as a study case, aiming to find how city polices affected people’s life styles and reduced carbon emission. The main materials used in this study are first-hand documents, like urban planning materials, government annual report and statistic data from transportation association. It is found that the main measures taken by Toyama City include the construction of light rail transit, increasing the frequency of buses, building park and ride parking lots. In addition to hardware facilities, it also offers flexible policies like passengers' coupons for the senior citizens and free use of parking lots by buying shopping vouchers. Besides, Toyama City encourages citizens to live within 500 meters of public transportation. People who buy an apartment near public transportation will receive 500,000 Japanese Yen. These measures have proven to their effects. Compared with 2005, in 2014, the transportation sector reduced emissions of 2.35 million tons of CO₂, 13.6%. This aspect is related to the increase in the number of cars in public transport and also related to fuel improvement.

Keywords: Toyama, compact city, public transportation, CO₂ reduction

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Authors: Zhuoyuan Wang, Benson T. H. Lim, Imriyas Kamardeen

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Effective service quality management has long been touted as a means of improving project and organisational performance. Particularly, in construction projects, main contractors are often seen as a broker between clients and subcontractors, and their service quality is thus associated with the overall project affinity and outcomes. While a considerable amount of research has focused on the aspect of clients-main contractors, very little research has been done to explore the effect of contractors’ service quality on subcontractors’ behaviours and so project outcomes. In addressing this gap, this study surveyed 97 subcontractors in the Chinese Construction industry and data was analysed using the Partial Least Square (PLS) Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique. The overall findings reveal that subcontractors categorised main contractors’ service quality into three dimensions: assurance; responsiveness; reliability and empathy. Of these, it is found that main contractors’ ‘assurance’ and ‘responsiveness’ positively influence subcontractors’ intention to engage in contractual behaviours. The results further show that the subcontractors’ intention to engage in organizational citizenship behaviours is associated with how flexible and committed the main contractors are in reliability and empathy. Collectively, both subcontractors’ contractual and organizational citizenship behaviours positively influence the overall project outcomes. In conclusion, the findings inform contractors different strategies towards managing and gaining subcontractors’ behaviour commitment in a socially connected, yet complex and uncertain, business environment.

Keywords: construction firms, organisational citizenship behaviour, service quality, social exchange theory

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Authors: Dony Adriansyah Nazaruddin, Mohammad Muqtada Ali Khan

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This paper aims to present some imaginative geomorphological sites in Malaysia. This study comprises desk study and field study. Desk study was conducted by reviewing some literatures related to the topic and some geomorphosites in Malaysia. Field study was organized in 2013 and 2014 to investigate the recent situation of these sites and to take some measurements, photographs and rock samples. Some examples of imaginative geomorphosites all over Malaysia have been identified for this purpose. In Peninsular Malaysia, some geomorphosites in Langkawi Islands (the state of Kedah) have imaginative features such as a “turtle” atop the limestone hill of Setul Formation at the Kilim Geoforest Park, a “shoe” at the Kasut island of the Kilim Geoforest Park, a “lying pregnant lady” at the Dayang Bunting island of the Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park, and a “ship” of the Singa Kecil island. Meanwhile, some other examples are from the state of Kelantan, such as a mogote hill with a “human face looking upward” at Gunung Reng, Jeli District and a “boat rock” at Mount Chamah, Gua Musang District. In East Malaysia, there is only one example can be identified, it is the “Abraham Lincoln’s face” at the Deer Cave, Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. Karst landforms dominate the imaginative geomorphosites in Malaysia. The formations of these features are affected by some endogenic and exogenic processes, such as tectonic uplift, weathering (including solution), erosion, and so on. This study will recommend that these imaginative features should be conserved and developed for some purposes, such as research, education, and geotourism development in Malaysia.

Keywords: geomorphosite, geotourism, earth processes, karst landforms, Malaysia

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Authors: Ameen Alahdal

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This paper investigates copular constructions in Raimi Yemeni Arabic (RYA). The aim of the paper is actually twofold. First it explores the types of copular constructions in Raimi Yemeni Arabic, a variety of Arabic that has not attracted a lot of attention. In this connection, the paper shows that RYA manifests ‘bare’, verbal and pronominal/PRON copular constructions, just like other varieties of Arabic and indeed other Semitic languages like Hebrew. The sentences below from RYA represent the three constructions, respectively. (1) a. nada Hilwah Nada pretty.3sf ‘Nada is pretty’ b. kan al-banat hina was the-girls here ‘The girls were here c. ali hu-l mudiir Ali he-the manager ‘Ali is the manager’ Interestingly, in addition to these common types of copular constructions, RYA seems to exhibit dual copula sentences, a construction that features both a pronominal copula and a verbal copula. Such a construction is attested neither in Standard Arabic nor in other modern varieties of Arabic such as Lebanese, Moroccan, Egyptian, Jordanian. Remarkably, dual copular sentences do not appear even in other dialects of Yemeni Arabic such as Sanaani, Adeni and Tehami. (2) is an example. (2) maha kan-ih mudarrisah maha was-she teacher.3sf ‘Maha was a teacehr’ Second, the paper considers the cartography of subject positions in copular constructions proposed by Shlonsky and Rizzi (2018). Different copular constructions seem to involve different subject positions (which might eventually correlate with different interpretations – not our concern in this paper). Here, it is argued that in a bare copular sentence, as in (1a), RYA might exploit two criterial subject positions (in Rizzi’s sense), in addition to the canonical Spec,TP position. Under mainstream minimalist assumption, a copular sentence is analyzed as a PredP. Thus, in addition to the PredP-related thematic subject position, a criterial subject position is posited outside of PredP. (3) below represents the cartography of subject positions in a bare copular construction. (3) [……..DP subj PredP DP Pred DP/AP/PP ] In PRON sentences, as exemplified in (1c), another two subject positions are postulated high in the clause, particularly above PolP. (4) illustrates the hierarchy of the subject positions in a PRON copular construction. The subject resides in Spec,SUBJ2P. (4) …DP SUBJ2 …DP SUBJ1 … Pol … DP subj PredP Another related phenomenon in RYA which sets it apart from other languages like Hebrew is that of negative bare copular construction. This construction involves a PRON, which is not found in its affirmative counterpart. PRON, however, is hosted neither by SUBJ20 nor by SUBJ10. Rather, PRON occurs below Neg0 (Pol0 in the hierarchy). This situation raises interesting issues for the hierarchy of subjects in copular constructions as well as to the syntax of the left periphery in general. With regard to what causes the subject to move, there are different potential triggers. For instance, movement of the subject at the base, i.e., out of PredP is triggered by a labeling failure. Other movements of the subject can be driven by a formal feature like EPP, or a criterial feature like [subj].

Keywords: Yemeni Arabic, copular constructions, cartography of subjects, labeling, criterial positions

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Authors: Gianmaria Califano, Júlio Augusto Lucena Maciel, Olfa Zarrouk, Miguel Damasio, Jose Silvestre, Ana Margarida Fortes

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Global warming, with rapid and sudden changes in meteorological conditions, is one of the major constraints to ensuring agricultural and crop resilience in the Mediterranean regions. Several strategies are being adopted to reduce the pressure of drought stress on grapevines at regional and local scales: improvements in the irrigation systems, adoption of interline cover crops, and adaptation of pruning techniques. However, still, more can be achieved if also microbial compartments associated with plants are considered in crop management. It is known that the microbial community change according to several factors such as latitude, plant variety, age, rootstock, soil composition and agricultural management system. Considering the increasing pressure of the biotic and abiotic stresses, it is of utmost necessity to also evaluate the effects of drought on the microbiome associated with the grapevine, which is a commercially important crop worldwide. In this study, we characterize the diversity and the structure of the microbial community under three long-term irrigation levels (100% ETc, 50% ETc and rain-fed) in a drought-tolerant grapevine cultivar present worldwide, Syrah. To avoid the limitations of culture-dependent methods, amplicon sequencing with target primers for bacteria and fungi was applied to the same soil samples. The use of the DNeasy PowerSoil (Qiagen) extraction kit required further optimization with the use of lytic enzymes and heating steps to improve DNA yield and quality systematically across biological treatments. Target regions (16S rRNA and ITS genes) of our samples are being sequenced with Illumina technology. With bioinformatic pipelines, it will be possible to obtain a characterization of the bacterial and fungal diversity, structure and composition. Further, the microbial communities will be assessed for their functional activity, which remains an important metric considering the strong inter-kingdom interactions existing between plants and their associated microbiome. The results of this study will lay the basis for biotechnological applications: in combination with the establishment of a bacterial library, it will be possible to explore the possibility of testing synthetic microbial communities to support plant resistance to water scarcity.

Keywords: microbiome, metabarcoding, soil, vinegrape, syrah, global warming, crop sustainability

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Authors: Jaroslav Kusnir

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In her short story collection, Sabrina & Corina, Kali Fajardo-Anstine depicts mostly Latina characters of indigenous background living and travelling in the American West and the Southwest. In all the stories, place and the environment plays an important role in the construction of cultural identity of these characters that is influenced by their indigenous background, a specificity of the American West, its culture and environment, as well as a contemporary (modern) American culture, position of women and gender roles in a Latino community in the USA. This paper will analyze Fajardo-Anstine´s depiction of a specificity of place, especially of the American West and its role in a construction of Latino/a cultural identity in a modern American society as manifested especially in Fajardo-Anstine´s stories Any Further West and Sabrina & Corina. At the same time, the paper will point out Fajardo-Anstine´s construction of cultural identity of female characters and their gender roles in both Latino and a contemporary American societies. The research results show that the formation of Latina cultural identity is closely connected with both place, that is the American West and the Soutwest as well as with Latina and contemporary American cultures.

Keywords: American culture, american west, cultural identity, female identity, latina identity, place

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Authors: Y. Kim, H. Lee, M. Park, B. Lee

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Planning is understood as the determination of what has to be performed, how, in which sequence, when, what resources are needed, and their cost within the organization before execution. In most construction project, it is evident that the inherent nature of planning is dynamic, and initial planning is subject to be changed due to various uncertain conditions of construction project. Planners take a continuous revision process during the course of a project and until the very end of project. However, current practice lacks reliable, systematic tool for setting variance thresholds to determine when and what corrective actions to be taken. Rather it is heavily dependent on the level of experience and knowledge of the planner. Thus, this paper introduces a machine learning approach to evaluate project control threshold reliability incorporating project-specific data and presents a method to automate the process. The results have shown that the model improves the efficiency and accuracy of the monitoring process as an early warning.

Keywords: machine learning, project control, project progress monitoring, schedule

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Authors: Shahrad Ebrahimzadeh

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Nowadays, the main efforts of the researchers aim to constantly evolve new, optimized and efficient construction materials and methods related to reinforced concrete beams. Due to the fewer applied materials and offering a higher structural efficiency compared to solid concrete beams with the same concrete area, hollow reinforced concrete beams (HRCB) internally reinforced with steel rebars have been employed extensively for bridge structural members and high-rise buildings. Many experimental studies have been conducted to investigate the behavior of hollow beams subjected to bending loading and found that the structural performance of HRCBs is critically affected by many design parameters. While the proper design of the HRCBs demonstrated comparable behavior to solid sections, inappropriate design leads beams to be extremely prone to brittle failure. Another potential issue that needs to be further investigated is the replacement of steel bars with suitable materials due to their susceptibility to corrosion. Hence, to develop a reliable construction system, the application of GFRP bars as a non-corroding material has been utilized. Furthermore, this study aims to critically review the different design parameters that affect the flexural performance of the HRCBs and recognize the gaps of knowledge in the better design and more effective use of this construction system.

Keywords: design parameters, experimental investigations, hollow reinforced concrete beams, steel, GFRP, flexural strength

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Authors: Juan A. Ferriz-Papi, Allan L. Nantel, Talib E. Butt

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Buildings are thought to consume about 50% of the total energy in the UK. The use stage in a building life cycle has the largest energy consumption, although different assessments are showing that the construction can equal several years of maintenance and operations. The selection of materials with lower embodied energy is very important to reduce this consumption. For this reason, timber is one adequate material due to its low embodied energy and the capacity to be used as carbon storage. The use of timber in the construction industry is very significant. Sawn wood, for example, is one of the top 5 construction materials consumed in the UK according to National Statistics. Embodied energy for building products considers the energy consumed in extraction and production stages. However, it is not the same consideration if this product is produced locally as when considering the resource produced further afield. Transport is a very relevant matter that profoundly influences in the results of embodied energy. The case of timber use in the UK is important because the balance between imports and exports is far negative, industry consuming more imported timber than produced. Nearly 80% of sawn softwood used in construction is imported. The imports-exports deficit for sawn wood accounted for more than 180 million pounds during the first four-month period of 2016. More than 85% of these imports come from Europe (83% from the EU). The aim of this study is to analyze climate change impact due to transport for timber products consumed in the UK. An approximate estimation of energy consumed and carbon emissions are calculated considering the timber product’s import origin. The results are compared to the total consumption of each product, estimating the impact of transport on the final embodied energy and carbon emissions. The analysis of these results can help deduce that one big challenge for climate change is the reduction of external dependency, with the associated improvement of internal production of timber products. A study of different types of timber products produced in the UK and abroad is developed to understand the possibilities for this country to improve sustainability and self-management. Reuse and recycle possibilities are also considered.

Keywords: embodied energy, climate change, CO2 emissions, timber, transport

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Authors: M. F. Nawaz, S. Gul, T. H. Farooq, M. T. Siddiqui, M. Asif, I. Ahmad, N. K. Niazi

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In Pakistan, major demands of fuel wood and timber wood are fulfilled by agroforestry. However, the information regarding economic significance of agroforestry and its productivity in Pakistan is still insufficient and unreliable. Survey of field conditions to examine the agroforestry status at local level helps us to know the future trends and to formulate the policies for sustainable wood supply. The objectives of this research were to examine the actual status and potential of agroforestry and to point out the barriers that are faced by farmers in the adoption of agroforestry. Research was carried out in Chiniot district, Pakistan because it is the famous city for furniture industry that is largely dependent on farm trees. A detailed survey of district Chiniot was carried out from 150 randomly selected farmer respondents using multi-objective oriented and pre-tested questionnaire. It was found that linear tree planting method was more adopted (45%) as compared to linear + interplanting (42%) and/or compact planting (12.6%). Chi-square values at P-value <0.5 showed that age (11.35) and education (17.09) were two more important factors in the quick adoption of agroforestry as compared to land holdings (P-value of 0.7). The major reason of agroforestry adoption was to obtain income, fodder and fuelwood. The most dominant species in farmlands was shisham (Dalbergia sissoo) but since last five years, mostly farmers were growing Sufeida (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), kikar (Acacia nilotica) and popular (Populus deltoides) on their fields due to “Shisham die-back” problem. It was found that agro-forestry can be increased by providing good quality planting material to farmers and improving wood markets.

Keywords: agroforestry, trees, services, agriculture, farmers

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Authors: I. Nyoman Mahayasa Adiputra

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Data in the field of health can be useful for the purposes of data analysis, one example of health data is disease data. Disease data is usually in a geographical plot in accordance with the area. Where the data was collected, in the city of Denpasar, Bali. Disease data report is still published in tabular form, disease information has not been mapped in GIS form. In this research, disease information in Denpasar city will be digitized in the form of a geographic information system with the smallest administrative area in the form of district. Denpasar City consists of 4 districts of North Denpasar, East Denpasar, West Denpasar and South Denpasar. In this research, we use Google fusion table technology for map digitization process, where this technology can facilitate from the administrator and from the recipient information. From the administrator side of the input disease, data can be done easily and quickly. From the receiving end of the information, the resulting GIS application can be published in a website-based application so that it can be accessed anywhere and anytime. In general, the results obtained in this study, divided into two, namely: (1) Geolocation of Denpasar and all of Denpasar districts, the process of digitizing the map of Denpasar city produces a polygon geolocation of each - district of Denpasar city. These results can be utilized in subsequent GIS studies if you want to use the same administrative area. (2) Dengue fever mapping in 2014 and 2015. Disease data used in this study is dengue fever case data taken in 2014 and 2015. Data taken from the profile report Denpasar Health Department 2015 and 2016. This mapping can be useful for the analysis of the spread of dengue hemorrhagic fever in the city of Denpasar.

Keywords: geographic information system, Google fusion table technology, delivery of disease data information, Denpasar city

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Authors: Ezeabasili Chibuike Patrick

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The complex situation of construction industries in Nigeria and the risk of failures involved includes cost overrun, time overrun, Corruption, Government influence, Subcontractor challenges, Political influence and Instability, Cultural differences, Human resources deficiencies, cash flow Challenges, foreign exchange issues, inadequate design, Safety, low productivity, late payment, Quality control issues, project management issues, Environmental issues, Force majeure Competition amongst others has made the industry prone to risk and failures. Good project management remains effective in improving decision-making, which minimizes these risk events. This study was done to address these project risks and good decision-making to avert them. A mixed-method approach to research was used to do this study. Data collected by questionnaires and interviews on thirty-two (32) construction professionals was used in analyses to aid the knowledge and management of risks that were identified. The study revealed that there is no good risk management expertise in Nigeria. Also, that the economic/political situation and the recent COVID-19 pandemic has added to the risk and poor management strategies. The contingency theory and cost has therefore surfaced to be the most strategic management method used to reduce these risk issues and they seem to be very effective.

Keywords: strategies, risk management, contingency theory, Nigeria

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Authors: Akinrogunde Omolere Moses

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A plethora of studies indicated that teaching and learning of the physical sciences in the Further Education and Training (FET) Phase (Grades 10–12) have long been declared problematic in South Africa. For instance, the results from the National Senior Certificate Matric Examination in Physical Sciences, especially in the questions related to practical skills, more specifically, electric circuits, have been unsatisfactory in the past decades. Learner difficulties in understanding electric circuits are well stated. Thus, this study appraised the difficulties Grade 12 Educators often face in understanding Electric Circuits in Umgungundlovu, District of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. A mixed-methods research methodology was employed, while a total of 30 schools were sampled, including Ex-Model C, Independent Exam Board, community, rural, and deep rural schools. Data were collected through semi-structured questionnaires. The findings revealed that a large percentage of the Grade 12 physical sciences educators have difficulties with the Grade 9 and 12 physical sciences content. It was also observed that most of the educators who had difficulties were unable to detect the type of difficulties learners would experience; as a result, they were unable to explain why learners experience such difficulties. The results also showed that only those educators with more experience in teaching the physical sciences were able to provide clearer explanations of both the why and how of dealing with learner difficulties with this section on electric circuits. The study recommended that there is a need to recruit more qualified educators, with at least a Bachelor of Science in Physics in particular, in order to combat the misconceptions. Also, Educators with an inadequate understanding of physical sciences should be orientated in order to meet the standard of classroom practice.

Keywords: grade 12 educators' difficulties, electric circuits, learners' difficulties, educators understanding of EC.

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Authors: Diom Loreen Ndum, Omarine Njimanted

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With increasing automation in clinical laboratories, the requirements for quality control materials have greatly increased in order to monitor daily performance. The constant use of commercial control material is not economically feasible for many developing countries because of non-availability or the high-cost of the materials. Therefore, preparation and use of in-house quality control serum will be a very cost-effective measure with respect to laboratory needs.The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of in-house prepared pooled sera with respect to commercially acquired control sample for routine internal quality control at the Nkwen District Hospital Laboratory. This was an analytical study, serum was taken from leftover serum samples of 5 healthy adult blood donors at the blood bank of Nkwen District Hospital, which had been screened negative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Hepatitis B antigens (HBsAg), and were pooled together in a sterile container. From the pooled sera, sixty aliquots of 150µL each were prepared. Forty aliquots of 150µL each of commercially acquired samples were prepared after reconstitution and stored in a deep freezer at − 20°C until it was required for analysis. This study started from the 9th June to 12th August 2022. Every day, alongside with commercial control sample, one aliquot of pooled sera was removed from the deep freezer and allowed to thaw before analyzed for the following parameters: blood urea, serum creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), potassium and sodium. After getting the first 20 values for each parameter of pooled sera, the mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation were calculated, and a Levey-Jennings (L-J) chart established. The mean and standard deviation for commercially acquired control sample was provided by the manufacturer. The following results were observed; pooled sera had lesser standard deviation for creatinine, urea and AST than commercially acquired control samples. There was statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between the mean values of creatinine, urea and AST for in-house quality control when compared with commercial control. The coefficient of variation for the parameters for both commercial control and in-house control samples were less than 30%, which is an acceptable difference. The L-J charts revealed shifts and trends (warning signs), so troubleshooting and corrective measures were taken. In conclusion, in-house quality control sample prepared from pooled serum can be a good control sample for routine internal quality control.

Keywords: internal quality control, levey-jennings chart, pooled sera, shifts, trends, westgard rules

Procedia PDF Downloads 77