Search results for: basic statistical area

Authors: Ali Cheshmehzangi, Ayotunde Dawodu

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In urban planning, Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of the site plays a major role in the multiplicity of performances, from humane living environments to energy performance. When one considers the astounding volume of new housing that is going to be constructed across the globe during the next few decades due to growing urbanisation (e.g. particularly in developing world), it is imperative that we have an empirically grounded grasp of which building configurations are more energy efficient. As a common planning metric, it would be helpful to know exactly how managing FAR connects with energy efficiency. Hence, this study puts together a set of modelling of various FARs for a typical residential compound and address the considerations of energy planning integration in the practice of building configuration and urban planning. Such decision makings at the planning and design stage enable us to provide pathways of optimising urban climate at mesoscale of the built environment, i.e. the neighbourhood or community level. In this study, a comparative study is conducted using Eco-Tect Software, using a case study in the City of Ningbo, China. Findings of the study contribute to identifying scenarios of various FAR use and energy planning at mesoscale. The final results contribute to studies in urban climate, from the perspectives of urban planning, energy planning, and urban modelling.

Keywords: China, energy planning, FAR, floor-area-ratio, mesoscale, urban climate, urban modelling

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Authors: Sayed Abdallah Mohamed Dahy

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Aswan High Dam Reservoir extends for 500 km along the Nile River; it is a vast reservoir in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. It was created as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam between 1958 and 1970; about 95% of the main water resources for Egypt are from it. The purpose of this study is to discuss and understand the effect of the fluctuation of the water level in the reservoir on natural and human-induced environmental like earthquakes in the Aswan area, Egypt. In summary, the correlation between the temporal variations of earthquake activity and water level changes in the Aswan reservoir from 1982 to 2014 are investigated and analyzed. This analysis confirms a weak relation between the fluctuation of the water level and earthquake activity in the area around Aswan reservoir. The result suggests that the seismicity in the area becomes active during a period when the water level is decreasing from the maximum to the minimum. Behavior of the water level in this reservoir characterized by a special manner that is the unloading season extends to July or August, and the loading season starts to reach its maximum in October or November every year. Finally, daily rate of change in the water level did not show any direct relation with the size of the earthquakes, hence, it is not possible to be used as a single tool for prediction.

Keywords: Aswan high dam reservoir, earthquake activity, environmental, Egypt

Procedia PDF Downloads 372

Authors: Sivapan Choo-In

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The main objective of this study was investigate particulate matter concentration on main and secondary roadside in urban area. And studied on the concentration of some heavy metal including lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) in particulate matter in Bangkok area. The averaged particle concentration for main roadside are higher than secondary roadside. The particulate matter less than 10 micron concentration contribute the majority of the Total Suspended Particulate for main road and zinc concentration were higher than copper and lead for both site.

Keywords: air pollution, air quality, polution, monitoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 321

Authors: Hassnen M. Jafer, Khalid S. Hashim, W. Atherton, Ali W. Alattabi

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This study investigates the effect of two important parameters (length of curing period and percentage of the added binder) on the strength of soil treated with OPC. An intermediate plasticity silty clayey soil with medium organic content was used in this study. This soft soil was treated with different percentages of a commercially available cement type 32.5-N. laboratory experiments were carried out on the soil treated with 0, 1.5, 3, 6, 9, and 12% OPC by the dry weight to determine the effect of OPC on the compaction parameters, consistency limits, and the compressive strength. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test was carried out on cement-treated specimens after exposing them to different curing periods (1, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 90 days). The results of UCS test were used to develop a non-linear multi-regression model to find the relationship between the predicted and the measured maximum compressive strength of the treated soil (qu). The results indicated that there was a significant improvement in the index of plasticity (IP) by treating with OPC; IP was decreased from 20.2 to 14.1 by using 12% of OPC; this percentage was enough to increase the UCS of the treated soil up to 1362 kPa after 90 days of curing. With respect to the statistical model of the predicted qu, the results showed that the regression coefficients (R2) was equal to 0.8534 which indicates a good reproducibility for the constructed model.

Keywords: cement admixtures, soft soil stabilisation, geotechnical parameters, multi-regression model

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Authors: Qasem Qananwah, Ahmad Dagamseh, Hiam AlQuran, Khalid Shaker Ibrahim

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Blood pressure helps the physicians greatly to have a deep insight into the cardiovascular system. The determination of individual blood pressure is a standard clinical procedure considered for cardiovascular system problems. The conventional techniques to measure blood pressure (e.g. cuff method) allows a limited number of readings for a certain period (e.g. every 5-10 minutes). Additionally, these systems cause turbulence to blood flow; impeding continuous blood pressure monitoring, especially in emergency cases or critically ill persons. In this paper, the most important statistical features in the photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals were extracted to estimate the blood pressure noninvasively. PPG signals from more than 40 subjects were measured and analyzed and 12 features were extracted. The features were fed to principal component analysis (PCA) to find the most important independent features that have the highest correlation with blood pressure. The results show that the stiffness index means and standard deviation for the beat-to-beat heart rate were the most important features. A model representing both features for Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) was obtained using a statistical regression technique. Surface fitting is used to best fit the series of data and the results show that the error value in estimating the SBP is 4.95% and in estimating the DBP is 3.99%.

Keywords: blood pressure, noninvasive optical system, principal component analysis, PCA, continuous monitoring

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Authors: Nibal Al-Batsh, Issam A. Al-Khatib, Subha Ghannam

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Yatta is a town in the Governorate of Hebron, located 9 km south of Hebron City in the West Bank. The town houses over 100,000 people, 49% of which are females; a population that doubles every 15 years. Yatta has been connected to a water network since 1974 serving nearly 85% of the households. The water network is old and inadequate to meet the needs of the population. The water supply made available to the area is also very limited, estimated to be around 20 l/c/d. Residents are thus forced to rely on water vendors which supply water with a lower quality compared to municipal water while being 400% more expensive. As a cheaper and more reliable alternative, rainwater harvesting is a common practice in the area, with the majority of the households owning at least one cistern. Rainwater harvesting is of great socioeconomic importance in areas where water sources are scarce or polluted. In this research, the quality of harvested rainwater used for drinking and domestic purposes in the Yatta area was assessed throughout a year. A total of 100 samples, were collected from (cisterns) with an average capacity of 69 m3, which are adjacent to cement-roof catchment areas with an average area of 145 m2. Samples were analyzed for a number of parameters including: pH, alkalinity, hardness, turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), NO3, NH4, chloride and salinity. Biological and microbiological contents such as Total Coliforms (TCC) and Fecal Coliforms (FC) bacteria were also tested. Results showed that most of the rainwater samples were within WHO and EPA guidelines set for chemical parameters. The research also addressed the impact of different socioeconomic attributes on rainwater harvesting through questionnaire that was pre-tested before the actual statically sample is collected.

Keywords: rainwater, harvesting, water quality, socio-economic aspects

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Authors: Jineetkumar Gawad, Chandrakant Bonde

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Tuberculosis (TB) is a major worldwide concern whose control has been exacerbated by HIV, the rise of multidrug-resistance (MDR-TB) and extensively drug resistance (XDR-TB) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The interest for newer and faster acting antitubercular drugs are more remarkable than any time. To search potent compounds is need and challenge for researchers. Here, we tried to design lead for inhibition of Decaprenyl phosphoryl-β-D-ribose 2′-epimerase (DprE1) enzyme. Arabinose is an essential constituent of mycobacterial cell wall. DprE1 is a flavoenzyme that converts decaprenylphosphoryl-D-ribose into decaprenylphosphoryl-2-keto-ribose, which is intermediate in biosynthetic pathway of arabinose. Latter, DprE2 converts keto-ribose into decaprenylphosphoryl-D-arabinose. We had a selection of 23 compounds from azaindole series for computational study, and they were drawn using marvisketch. Ligands were prepared using Maestro molecular modeling interface, Schrodinger, v10.5. Common pharmacophore hypotheses were developed by applying dataset thresholds to yield active and inactive set of compounds. There were 326 hypotheses were developed. On the basis of survival score, ADRRR (Survival Score: 5.453) was selected. Selected pharmacophore hypotheses were subjected to virtual screening results into 1000 hits. Hits were prepared and docked with protein 4KW5 (oxydoreductase inhibitor) was downloaded in .pdb format from RCSB Protein Data Bank. Protein was prepared using protein preparation wizard. Protein was preprocessed, the workspace was analyzed using force field OPLS 2005. Glide grid was generated by picking single atom in molecule. Prepared ligands were docked with prepared protein 4KW5 using Glide docking. After docking, on the basis of glide score top-five compounds were selected, (5223, 5812, 0661, 0662, and 2945) and the glide docking score (-8.928, -8.534, -8.412, -8.411, -8.351) respectively. There were interactions of ligand and protein, specifically HIS 132, LYS 418, TRY 230, ASN 385. Pi-pi stacking was observed in few compounds with basic Imidazo [4,5-b] pyridine ring. We had basic azaindole ring in parent compounds, but after glide docking, we received compounds with Imidazo [4,5-b] pyridine as a basic ring. That might be the new lead in the process of drug discovery.

Keywords: DprE1 inhibitors, in silico drug designing, imidazo [4, 5-b] pyridine, lead, tuberculosis

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Authors: Hassan Hamidi, Fereshteh Zarei

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In this study, we compared amount of compete motivation between young and adult volleyball players. Compete motivation has three sections: success achieves score, defeat avoiding score and ability score. For measuring motivation, we used sports attitude inventory of Willis and Layne. The statistical population was elite's men volleyball players in range of young and adult and the study subjects were randomly selected from participant teams in volleyball professional league. In total, 65 adult and 75 young were selected. For collecting the required information, the research inventories were distributed in practice's locations and then were collected after being completed by players. For analyzing the data, we used descriptive statistics including mean, standard deviation and frequency tables. We also used conceptual statistics such as independent sample t-student and Pierson correlation. The results showed a significant difference between young and adult volleyball players in success achieve score and ability score. However, there was no significant difference between young and adult volleyball players in defeat avoiding score and compete motivation. In addition, there was not significant relationship between the length of activities and motivations' sections in adult and young volleyball player. The application of this study to other sports will be discussed.

Keywords: compete motivation, volleyball player, statistical analysis, sport psychology

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Authors: Thanutch Sukwimolseree, Preeyaphorn Kosa

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Many problems are occurred in watershed due to human activity and economic development. The purpose is to determine the effects of the land use change on surface runoff using land use map on 1980, 2001 and 2008 and daily weather data during January 1, 1979 to September 30, 2010 applied to SWAT. The results can be presented that the polynomial equation is suitable to display that relationship. These equations for land use in 1980, 2001 and 2008 are consisted of y = -0.0076x5 + 0.1914x4–1.6386x3 + 6.6324x2–8.736x + 7.8023(R2 = 0.9255), y = -0.0298x5 + 0.8794x4 - 9.8056x3 + 51.99x2 - 117.04x + 96.797; (R2 = 0.9186) and y = -0.0277x5 + 0.8132x4 - 8.9598x3 + 46.498x2–101.83x +81.108 (R2 = 0.9006), respectively. Moreover, if the agricultural area is the largest area, it is a sensitive parameter to concern surface runoff.

Keywords: land use, runoff, SWAT, upper Mun River basin

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Authors: Vanessa Romanovicz, Beatriz A. Berns, Stephen D. Carpenter, Deyse Carpenter

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This article deals with the carbon nanotubes (CNT) synthesized from a novel precursor, sugar cane and Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO). The objective was to produce CNTs to be used as catalyst supports for Proton Exchange Membranes. The influence of temperature, inert gas flow rate and concentration of the precursor is presented. The CNTs prepared were characterized using TEM, XRD, Raman Spectroscopy, and the surface area determined by BET. The results show that it is possible to form CNT from sugar cane by pyrolysis and the CNTs are the type multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The MWCNTs are short and closed at the two ends with very small surface area of SBET = 3.691m,/g.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, sugar cane, fuel cell, catalyst support

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Authors: Yassir Abdelrazig, Ren Moses

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Roadway planning and design is a very complex process involving five key phases before a project is completed; planning, project development, final design, right-of-way, and construction. The planning phase for a new roadway transportation project is a very critical phase as it greatly affects all latter phases of the project. A location study is usually performed during the preliminary planning phase in a new roadway project. The objective of the location study is to develop alignment alternatives that are cost efficient considering land acquisition and construction costs. This paper describes a methodology to develop optimal preliminary roadway alignments utilizing spatial-data. Four optimization criteria are taken into consideration; roadway length, land cost, land slope, and environmental impacts. The basic concept of the methodology is to convert the proposed project area into a grid, which represents the search space for an optimal alignment. The aforementioned optimization criteria are represented in each of the grid’s cells. A spatial-data optimization technique is utilized to find the optimal alignment in the search space based on the four optimization criteria. Two case studies for new roadway projects in Duval County in the State of Florida are presented to illustrate the methodology. The optimization output alignments are compared to the proposed Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) alignments. The comparison is based on right-of-way costs for the alignments. For both case studies, the right-of-way costs for the developed optimal alignments were found to be significantly lower than the FDOT alignments.

Keywords: gemoetric design, optimization, planning, roadway planning, roadway design

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Authors: Branimir Jurun, Elza Jurun

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Focus of this paper is description and functioning manner of the instrument for wave pressure metering. Moreover, an essential component of this paper is the proposal of a metering unit for the direct wave pressure measurement determined by the shape and surface of the instrument including the number of sensors and angle between them. Namely, far applied instruments by means of height, length, direction, wave time period and other components determine wave pressure on a particular area. This instrument, allows the direct measurement i.e. measurement without additional calculation, of the wave pressure expressed in a standardized unit of measure. That way the instrument has a standardized form, surface, number of sensors and the angle between them. In addition, it is made with the status that follows the wave and always is on the water surface. Database quality which is listed by the instrument is made possible by using the Arduino chip. This chip is programmed for receiving by two data from each of the sensors each second. From these data by a pre-defined manner a unique representative value is estimated. By this procedure all relevant wave pressure measurement results are directly and immediately registered. Final goal of establishing such a rich database is a comprehensive statistical analysis that ranges from multi-criteria analysis across different modeling and parameters testing to hypothesis accepting relating to the widest variety of man-made activities such as filling of beaches, security cages for aquaculture, bridges construction.

Keywords: instrument, metering, water, waves

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Authors: Sun Ailu, Zhao Wanmin

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Since the reform and opening, the urbanization process of China has entered a rapid development period. In recent years, the authors participated in some projects of urban master planning in China and found a phenomenon that the rapid urbanization area of China is experiencing frequent adjustment process of urban master planning. This phenomenon is not the natural process of urbanization development. It may be caused by different government roles from different levels. Through the methods of investigation, data comparison and case study, this paper aims to explore the reason why the rapid urbanization area is experiencing frequent adjustment of master planning and give some solution strategies. Firstly, taking Changshou district of Chongqing city as an example, this paper wants to introduce the phenomenon about frequent adjustment process in China. And then, discuss distinct roles in the process between national government, provincial government and local government of China. At last, put forward preliminary solutions strategies for this area in China from the aspects of land use, intergovernmental cooperation and so on.

Keywords: urban master planning, frequent adjustment, urbanization development, problems and strategies, China

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Authors: Rahim Sarvar, Bahram Azadbakht, Samira Safaee

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The leading goal of all planning is to attain sustainable development, regional balance, suitable distribution of activities, and maximum use of environmental capabilities in the process of development of regions. Intensive concentration of population and activities in one or some limited geographical locality is of main characteristics of most developing countries, especially Iran. Not considering the long-term programs and relying on temporary and superficial plans by people in charge of decision-making to attain their own objectives causes obstacles, resulting in unbalance development. The basic reason for these problems is to establish the development planning while economic aspects are merely considered and any attentions are not paid to social and regional feedbacks, what have been ending up to social and economic inequality, unbalanced distribution of development among the regions as well. In addition to study of special planning and structure of the county of Malekan, this research tries to achieve some other aims, i.e. recognition and introduction of approaches in order to utilize resources optimally, to distribute the population, activities, and facilities in optimum fashion, and to investigate and identify the spatial development potentials of the County. Based on documentary, descriptive, analytical, and field studies, this research employs maps to analyze the data, investigates the variables, and applies SPSS, Auto CAD, and Arc View software. The results show that the natural factors have a significant influence on spatial layout of settlements; distribution of facilities and functions are not equal among the rural districts of the county; and there is a spatial equivalence in the region area between population and number of settlements.

Keywords: development, entropy index, Malekan City, planning, regional equilibrium

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Authors: Anuradha Maharaj, Adrian Cashman

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The cross-cutting nature of water as a resource translates into the need for a better understanding of its movement, storage and loss at all points in the hydro-socioeconomic cycle. An integrated approach to addressing the issue of sustainability means quantitatively understanding: the linkages within this cycle, the role of water managers in resource allocation, and the critical factors influencing its scarcity. The Water Evaluation and Planning Tool (WEAP) is an integrative model that combines the catchment-scale hydrologic processes with a water management model, driven by environmental requirements and socioeconomic demands. The concept of demand priorities is included to represent the areas of greatest use within a given catchment. Located on Barbados’ West Coast, Speightstown and the surrounding areas encompass a well-developed tourist, residential and agricultural area. The main water resource for this area, and the rest of the island, is that of groundwater. The availability of groundwater in Barbados may be adversely affected by the projected changes in climate, such as reduced wet season rainfall. Economic development and changing sector priorities together with climate related changes have the potential to affect water resource abundance and by extension the allocation of resources for example in the Speightstown area. In order to investigate the potential impacts on the Speightstown area specifically, a WEAP Model of the study area was developed to estimate the present available water (baseline reference scenario 2000-2010). From this baseline scenario, it is envisioned that an exploration into projected changes in availability in the near term (2035-2045) and medium/long term (2065-2075) time frames will be undertaken. The generated estimations can assist water managers to better evaluate the status of and identify trends in water use and formulate adaptation measures to offset future deficits.

Keywords: water evaluation and planning system (WEAP), water availability, demand and supply, water allocation

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Authors: L. Edirisinghe, P. Mukherjee, H. Edirisinghe

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Virtual Container Yard (VCY) is a modern concept that helps to reduce the empty container repositioning cost of carriers. The concept of VCY is based on container interchange between shipping lines. Although this mechanism has been theoretically accepted by the shipping community as a feasible solution, it has not yet achieved the necessary momentum among container shipping lines (CSL). This paper investigates whether there is any legal influence on this industry myopia about the VCY. It is believed that this is the first publication that focuses on the legal aspects of container exchange between carriers. Not much literature on this subject is available. This study establishes with statistical evidence that there is a phobia prevailing in the shipping industry that exchanging containers with other carriers may lead to various legal implications. The complexity of exchange is two faceted. CSLs assume that offering a container to another carrier (obviously, a competitor in terms of commercial context) or using a container offered by another carrier may lead to undue legal implications. This research reveals that this fear is reflected through four types of perceived components, namely: shipping associate; warehouse associate; network associate; and trading associate. These components carry eighteen subcomponents that comprehensively cover the entire process of a container shipment. The statistical explanation has been supported through regression analysis; INCO terms were used to illustrate the shipping process.

Keywords: virtual container yard, legal, maritime law, inventory

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Authors: Yudo Prasetyo, Hana Sugiastu Firdaus, Diyanah Diyanah

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The phenomenon of the lack of clean water supply in several big cities in Indonesia is a major problem in the development of urban areas. Moreover, in the city of Semarang, the population density and growth of physical development is very high. Continuous and large amounts of underground water (aquifer) exposure can result in a drastically aquifer supply declining in year by year. Especially, the intensity of aquifer use in the fulfilment of household needs and industrial activities. This is worsening by the land subsidence phenomenon in some areas in the Semarang city. Therefore, special research is needed to know the spatial correlation of the impact of decreasing aquifer capacity on the land subsidence phenomenon. This is necessary to give approve that the occurrence of land subsidence can be caused by loss of balance of pressure on below the land surface. One method to observe the correlation pattern between the two phenomena is the application of remote sensing technology based on radar and optical satellites. Implementation of Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DINSAR) or Small Baseline Area Subset (SBAS) method in SENTINEL-1A satellite image acquisition in 2014-2017 period will give a proper pattern of land subsidence. These results will be spatially correlated with the aquifer-declining pattern in the same time period. Utilization of survey results to 8 monitoring wells with depth in above 100 m to observe the multi-temporal pattern of aquifer change capacity. In addition, the pattern of aquifer capacity will be validated with 2 underground water cavity maps from observation of ministries of energy and natural resources (ESDM) in Semarang city. Spatial correlation studies will be conducted on the pattern of land subsidence and aquifer capacity using overlapping and statistical methods. The results of this correlation will show how big the correlation of decrease in underground water capacity in influencing the distribution and intensity of land subsidence in Semarang city. In addition, the results of this study will also be analyzed based on geological aspects related to hydrogeological parameters, soil types, aquifer species and geological structures. The results of this study will be a correlation map of the aquifer capacity on the decrease in the face of the land in the city of Semarang within the period 2014-2017. So hopefully the results can help the authorities in spatial planning and the city of Semarang in the future.

Keywords: aquifer, differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DINSAR), land subsidence, small baseline area subset (SBAS)

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Authors: Xiaohua Zhu, Lingling Ma, Yongguang Zhao

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Leaf Area Index (LAI) is a key structural characteristic of crops and plays a significant role in precision agricultural management and farmland ecosystem modeling. However, LAI retrieved from different resolution data contain a scaling bias due to the spatial heterogeneity and model non-linearity, that is, there is scale effect during multi-scale LAI estimate. In this article, a typical farmland in semi-arid regions of Chinese Inner Mongolia is taken as the study area, based on the combination of PROSPECT model and SAIL model, a multiple dimensional Look-Up-Table (LUT) is generated for multiple crops LAI estimation from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) hyperspectral data. Based on Taylor expansion method and computational geometry model, a scale transfer model considering both difference between inter- and intra-class is constructed for scale effect analysis of LAI inversion over inhomogeneous surface. The results indicate that, (1) the LUT method based on classification and parameter sensitive analysis is useful for LAI retrieval of corn, potato, sunflower and melon on the typical farmland, with correlation coefficient R2 of 0.82 and root mean square error RMSE of 0.43m2/m-2. (2) The scale effect of LAI is becoming obvious with the decrease of image resolution, and maximum scale bias is more than 45%. (3) The scale effect of inter-classes is higher than that of intra-class, which can be corrected efficiently by the scale transfer model established based Taylor expansion and Computational geometry. After corrected, the maximum scale bias can be reduced to 1.2%.

Keywords: leaf area index (LAI), scale effect, UAV-based hyperspectral data, look-up-table (LUT), remote sensing

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Authors: Hissa Sadiq, Abdullah Abu-Tineh, Fatma Al-Mutawah, Hamda Al-Sulaiti

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The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure the difference in levels of satisfaction of students, teachers, and parents in schools run by licensed school leaders comparing with schools run by unlicensed school leaders. Data was gathered from 108 school performance reports as published by Ministry of Education and Higher Education for the year 2015-2016. School leaders in 58 participating schools obtained the professional licenses while school leaders in 56 participating schools have no professional licenses. Percentages, standard deviations, and t-tests were used to analyze the data. Results showed that no statistical differences were found in students’ satisfaction between the two school types. However, there were statistical differences in parents and teachers’ satisfaction in the two school types attributed to obtaining the professional license. Teachers and parents of students in schools run by licensed school leaders satisfied more than schools run by unlicensed school leaders. Finally, many recommendations and implications were discussed and proposed. This paper was made possible by NPRP grant # (NPRP7-1224-5-178) from the Qatar national research fund (a member of Qatar Foundation) to Abdullah M. Abu-Tineh. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the author

Keywords: professional licenses, Qatari schools, licensure system, satisfaction

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Authors: Andrey Boyko

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Nowadays, there is no consensus about the influence of urethral plate (UP) width on the surgical outcomes after distal hypospadias repair. The purpose of the research was to study the association between UP width and surgical outcomes after distal hypospadias repair in children. Materials and methods: The study included 138 patients with distal hypospadias. The mean age at the time of surgery was 4.6 years (6 months – 16 years). We measured UP width at the “midpoint within the glans” and used the HOSE scale to assess postoperative outcomes. The patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1 – the patients (107) with UP < 8mm, group 2 – patients (31) with UP > 8mm. All boys underwent TIP repair. Preincision means UP width after incision means UP width, and the UP ratio was analyzed. Statistical data were obtained using Statistica 10. Results: The findings were preincision mean UP width - 5.4 mm and 9.4 mm; after incision mean UP width - 13mm and 17.5 mm; UP ratio - 0.41 and 0.53 in group 1 and group 2, respectively. Most postoperative complications (fistula, meatal stenosis, and stricture) happened in patients with UP width < 8 mm versus ≥ 8 mm (7/107 versus 2/31, respectively). HOSE results were 15.77 (group 1), 15.65 (group 2). The follow up lasted up to 12 months. Statistical analysis proved the absence of correlation between UP width and postoperative complications. Conclusions: In conclusion, it should be noted that the success of surgical repair mostly depended on the surgical technique.

Keywords: children, distal hypospadias, tip repair, urethral plate width

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Authors: Elena Kalcheva, Ahmad Taki, Yuri Hadi

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Urban regeneration often includes residential high-rises as a way of optimum use of land. However, high-rises are in many cases connected to placelessness, this is not due to some intrinsic characteristic of the typology, but more to a failure to provide meaningful places in connection to them. The reason to study the Isle of the Dogs regeneration is the successful process that led to vibrant area with strong identity and social sustainability. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to identify the gaps into the sound strategy for the development of the area and in its implementation which will make the place more sustainable. The paper addresses four research questions: are the residential high-rises supporting a proper physical form; is there deployed properly scaled mix of land uses and functions in connection with residential high-rises; are there possible quality activities in quality places near the residential high-rises; and is there a strong sense of place created with the residential high-rise buildings and their surroundings. The methodology relies on observational survey of the researched area together with structured questions, to evaluate the external qualities of the residential high-rises and their surroundings. Visual information can help identify the mistakes and the omissions of the provided project examples. It can provide insight on how can be improved imageability, legibility and human scale. In this connection, the paper argues that although the quality of the architecture of the high-rises is superb, there is a failure to create meaningful, high quality public realm in connection with them. As such, it does not function as well as the designers intended to do: the functional quality of the public realm is quite low. The implications of the study suggest that actions need to take place in order to improve and foster further regeneration of the area.

Keywords: high-rises, isle of the dogs, public realm, regeneration

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Authors: David Guillermo Piedrahita Marquez, Hector Suarez Mahecha, Jairo Humberto Lopez

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There is a need to preserve aquaculture matrices due to their high nutritional value, and its broad consumption, one of those species is the white cachama (Piaractus brachypomus), this fish is located in the rivers of eastern Colombia, and the previously mentioned species needs more study. Therefore, in a paper the effects of an alternative method of preservation of shell life were investigated, the method used is the application of an edible coating made from chitosan and ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) encapsulated in maltodextrin. The coating was applied by immersion, and after that, we investigated the post mortem quality changes of the fish performing physicochemical and microbiological analysis. pH, volatile bases, test thiobarbituric acid and peroxide value were tested; finally, we studied the effect of the coating on mesophilic strains, coliforms and other microorganisms such as Staphylococcus, and Salmonella. Finally, we concluded that the coating prolongs the shelf life because it acts as a barrier to oxygen and moisture, the bioactive compounds trap free radicals and the coatings changes the metabolism and cause the cell lysis of the microorganisms. It was determined that the concentration of malonaldehyde, the volatile basic nitrogen content and pH are the variables that distinguish more clearly between the samples with the treatment and the control samples.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, lipid oxidation, texture profile analysis (TPA), sensorial analysis, peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid assay (TBA), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N)

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Authors: Constantin Haita

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The chalcolithic tell settlements from south-eastern Romania, attributed to Gumelnița culture, are characterised by a well-defined surface, marked often by delimitation structures, a succession of many layers of construction, destruction, and rebuilding, and a well-structured area of occupation: built spaces, passage areas, waste zones. Settlements of tell type are located in the river valleys –on erosion remnants, alluvial bars or small islands, at the border of the valleys– on edges or prominences of Pleistocene terraces, lower Holocene terraces, and banks of lakes. This study integrates data on the geographical position, the morphological background, and the general stratigraphy of these important settlements. The correlation of the spatial distribution with the geomorphological units of each area of evolution creates an image of the natural landscape in which they occurred. The sedimentological researches achieved in the floodplain area of Balta Ialomiței showed important changes in the alluvial activity of Danube, after the Chalcolithic period (ca. 6500 - 6000 BP), to Iron Age and Middle Ages. The micromorphological analysis, consisting in thin section interpretation, at the microscopic scale, of sediments and soils in an undisturbed state, allowed the interpretation of the identified sedimentary facies, in terms of mode of formation and anthropic activities. Our studied cases reflect some distinct situations, correlating either with the geomorphological background or with the vertical development, the presence of delimiting structures and the internal organization. The characteristics of tells from this area bring significant information about the human habitation of Lower Danube in Prehistory.

Keywords: chalcolithic, micromorphology, Romania, sedimentology, tell settlements

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Authors: N. Tumenbayeva

Abstract:

At the present time in Kazakhstan, the area for saxaul growing is strongly depopulateddue to anthropogenic and other factors. To prevent further reduction of natural haloxylon forest area their artificial crops are offered. Seed germination and survival of young plants in such haloxylon crops are very low. Insects, as one of the most important nutrient factors have appreciable effect on seed germination and saxaul productivity at the all stages of its formation. Insects, feeding on leaves, flowers, seeds and developing inside the trunk, branches, twigs, roots have a change in its formation and influence on the lifespan of saxaul. Representatives of Lepidoptera troop (Lepidopteraare the most harmful pests forsaxaul. As a result of our research we have identified 15 species of Lepidoptera living on haloxylon which display very different cycles and different types of food relations. It allows them to inhabit a variety of habitats, and feeding on various parts of saxaul. Some of them cause significant and sometimes very heavy damage for saxaul. There are 17identified species of Lepidoptera from the Coleophoridaefamily - 1, Gelechidae - 5, Pyralidae - 4, Noctuidae - 4, Lymantridae- 1, Cossidae - 2 species. At the same time we found 8 species for the first time, which have not been mentioned in the literature before. According to food specialization they are divided into monophages (2 types), oligophages (6 species) and polyphages (3 species). By affinity to plant parts, leaves and seeds are fed by 8 species, shoots by 1 specie, scions by 5 species, flowers, scions, seeds by 1, and 2species damage the roots and trunks. In whole installed seasonal groups of Lepidoptera - saxaul pests in the desert area, confined to the certain parts of the year, as well as certain parts of the plant for feeding. Harmfulness, depending on their activity appear during the growing season is also different.

Keywords: saxaul, Lepidoptera, insecta, haloxylon

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Authors: Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal

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Networking solutions, particularly wireless local area networks have revolutionized the technological advancement. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) have gained a lot of popularity as they provide location-independent network access between computing devices. There are a number of access methods used in Wireless Networks among which DCF and PCF are the fundamental access methods. This paper emphasizes on the impact of DCF and PCF access mechanisms on the performance of the IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g standards. On the basis of various parameters viz. throughput, delay, load etc performance is evaluated between these three standards using above mentioned access mechanisms. Analysis revealed a superior throughput performance with low delays for 802.11g standard as compared to 802.11 a/b standard using both DCF and PCF access methods.

Keywords: DCF, IEEE, PCF, WLAN

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Authors: Shanorfizah Mohd Safar, Shaizatulaqma Kamalul Ariffin

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Internationalization of halal small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is necessary for SMEs to become more involved in regional trade and business cooperation. By internationalization, SMEs' profit can increase, and market expansion of SMEs is basic for rising economies of countries to contend all around in the halal industry globally. There are several modes of internationalization; exporting is one of the first steps for internationalization with less capital needed. The study examines the influential factors of export performance amongst halal SMEs in Malaysia. Specifically, this study examines the positive and significant relationships amongst human capital, managerial capability, Halal Assurance Management System (HAMS), digital transformation, government support, and networking capability on halal SMEs' export performance toward SMEs' competitive advantage. In addition, this study will examine innovation capabilities as a moderator in the relationship between independence variables and competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is the most compelling perspective that drives the export performance of halal SMEs in Malaysia. A quantitative method will be used: an online questionnaire survey distributed through emails and face-to-face toward selected halal-certificated SMEs registered in JAKIM, MATRADE website and SME Corp Malaysia website. Nevertheless, whether the halal SMEs practice global business, they will still be the potential respondents. The data were examined and obtained using the statistical software Smart PLS. The analysis used is reliability, correlation, and regression analysis to meet the research objectives. This study contributes significantly to the theory by integrating Resource Based View (RBV) theory, Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework and Networking theory. In addition, this research extends the RBV by extending a variable, the Halal Assurance Management System. This study also examines a moderating role of innovation capabilities in the framework and competitive advantage as a mediator. This research aims to analyze the factors that will impact the internationalization of halal SMEs.

Keywords: internationalization, halal SMEs, competitive advantage, export performance

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Authors: Shaher A. I. Shalfawi, Fredrik Hviding, Bjornar Kjellstadli

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The main purpose of this study was to measure the effect of two different strength training methods on muscle strength, muscle mass, fat mass and endurance factors. Fourteen physical education students accepted to participate in this study. The participants were then randomly divided into three groups, traditional training group (TTG), cluster training group (CTG) and control group (CG). TTG consisted of 4 participants aged ( ± SD) (22.3 ± 1.5 years), body mass (79.2 ± 15.4 kg) and height (178.3 ± 11.9 cm). CTG consisted of 5 participants aged (22.2 ± 3.5 years), body mass (81.0 ± 24.0 kg) and height (180.2 ± 12.3 cm). CG consisted of 5 participants aged (22 ± 2.8 years), body mass (77 ± 19 kg) and height (174 ± 6.7 cm). The participants underwent a hypertrophy strength training program twice a week consisting of 4 sets of 10 reps at 70% of one-repetition maximum (1RM), using barbell squat and barbell bench press for 8 weeks. The CTG performed 2 x 5 reps using 10 s recovery in between repetitions and 50 s recovery between sets, while TTG performed 4 sets of 10 reps with 90 s recovery in between sets. Pre- and post-tests were administrated to assess body composition (weight, muscle mass, and fat mass), 1RM (bench press and barbell squat) and a laboratory endurance test (Bruce Protocol). Instruments used to collect the data were Tanita BC-601 scale (Tanita, Illinois, USA), Woodway treadmill (Woodway, Wisconsin, USA) and Vyntus CPX breath-to-breath system (Jaeger, Hoechberg, Germany). Analysis was conducted at all measured variables including time to peak VO2, peak VO2, heart rate (HR) at peak VO2, respiratory exchange ratio (RER) at peak VO2, and number of breaths per minute. The results indicate an increase in 1RM performance after 8 weeks of training. The change in 1RM squat was for the TTG = 30 ± 3.8 kg, CTG = 28.6 ± 8.3 kg and CG = 10.3 ± 13.8 kg. Similarly, the change in 1RM bench press was for the TTG = 9.8 ± 2.8 kg, CTG = 7.4 ± 3.4 kg and CG = 4.4 ± 3.4 kg. The within-group analysis from the oxygen consumption measured during the incremental exercise indicated that the TTG had only a statistical significant increase in their RER from 1.16 ± 0.04 to 1.23 ± 0.05 (P < 0.05). The CTG had a statistical significant improvement in their HR at peak VO2 from 186 ± 24 to 191 ± 12 Beats Per Minute (P < 0.05) and their RER at peak VO2 from 1.11 ± 0.06 to 1.18 ±0.05 (P < 0.05). Finally, the CG had only a statistical significant increase in their RER at peak VO2 from 1.11 ± 0.07 to 1.21 ± 0.05 (P < 0.05). The between-group analysis showed no statistical differences between all groups in all the measured variables from the oxygen consumption test during the incremental exercise including changes in muscle mass, fat mass, and weight (kg). The results indicate a similar effect of hypertrophy strength training irrespective of the methods of the training used on untrained subjects. Because there were no notable changes in body-composition measures, the results suggest that the improvements in performance observed in all groups is most probably due to neuro-muscular adaptation to training.

Keywords: hypertrophy strength training, cluster set, Bruce protocol, peak VO2

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Authors: Daidai Shen, Jean Claude Thill, Wenjia Zhang

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This study explores the dynamics of synergy and complementarity within city networks, specifically focusing on the headquarters-subsidiary relations of firms. We begin by defining these two types of networks and establishing their pivotal roles in shaping city network structures. Utilizing the mesoscale analytic approach of weighted stochastic block modeling, we discern relational patterns between city pairs and determine connection strengths through statistical inference. Furthermore, we introduce a community detection approach to uncover the underlying structure of these networks using advanced statistical methods. Our analysis, based on comprehensive network data up to 2017, reveals the coexistence of both complementarity and synergy networks within China’s technology-intensive manufacturing cities. Notably, firms in technology hardware and office & computing machinery predominantly contribute to the complementarity city networks. In contrast, a distinct synergy city network, underpinned by the cities of Suzhou and Dongguan, emerges amidst the expansive complementarity structures in technology hardware and equipment. These findings provide new insights into the relational dynamics and structural configurations of city networks in the context of technology-intensive manufacturing, highlighting the nuanced interplay between synergy and complementarity.

Keywords: city system, complementarity, synergy network, higher-order network

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Authors: Juang R. Matangaran, Qi Adlan

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Industrial plantation forest in Indonesia was developed in 1983, and since then, several companies have been successfully planted a total area of concessionaire approximately 10 million hectares. Currently, these plantation forests have their annual harvesting period. In the timber harvesting process, amount part of the trees generally become logging residue. Tree parts such as branches, twigs, defected stem and leaves are unused section of tree on the ground after timber harvesting. The use of heavy machines in timber harvesting area has caused damage to the forest soil. The negative impact of such machines includes loss of topsoil, soil erosion, and soil compaction. Forest soil compaction caused reduction of forest water infiltration, increase runoff and causes difficulty for root penetration. In this study, we used logging residue as soil covers on the passages passed by skidding machines in order to observe the reduction soil compaction. Bulk density of soil was measured and analyzed after several times of skidding machines passage on skid trail. The objective of the research was to analyze the effect of logging residue on reducing soil compaction. The research was taken place at one of the industrial plantation forest area of South Sumatra Indonesia. The result of the study showed that percentage increase of soil compaction bare soil was larger than soil surface covered by logging residue. The maximum soil compaction occurred after 4 to 5 passes on soil without logging residue or bare soil and after 7 to 8 passes on soil cover by logging residue. The use of logging residue coverings could reduce soil compaction from 45% to 60%. The logging residue was effective in decreasing soil disturbance of timber harvesting at the plantation forest area.

Keywords: bulk density, logging residue, plantation forest, soil compaction, timber harvesting

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Authors: Suppara Charoenpoom

Abstract:

This study focuses on 1) a good-quality management procedures of buildings and environment in schools 2) designing the management procedures and 3) creating an operation manual for the procedures. This study is the combination of qualitative and quantitative research method. Populations in the research were 83 deans and directors of primary and secondary schools from the 10th educational district in Samut Songkram. Sample group was selected from the voluntary deans and directors. There were 14 participants in sample group. Research tools in this study were divided into 2 categories. The first one was data-collecting tools, which were in-depth interview and questionnaires. The second one was the designing tools to help creating management procedures: quality business, quality work procedure and key quality indicator of each activity in schools. All data were analyzed by mean and standard deviation. The result from this study has found out 1 effective process of building and environment management for basic education schools which is called Quality Business Process (QBP) and 7 Quality Work Procedures (QWP). In terms of academic feasibility checkup by experts, the research had shown that new design of building and environment management was approved unanimously. It means that new process of building and environment management in schools works very well and can be adapted. After examining the possibility of management process being used in schools by calculating the mean value among sample group (14 school deans and directors), the mean value was between 0.64-1.00. It means that the new design of building and environment management can be operated effectively in schools. For the satisfaction part, deans and school directors gave the satisfaction score in the highest level (Mean = 4.7372, S.D. = 0.4385).

Keywords: buildings, environment, procedures, quality management

Procedia PDF Downloads 229