Search results for: historical context of cannabis

Authors: M. Z. Raqab, Debasis Kundu, M. A. Meraou

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In this paper, we have analyzed maximum precipitation data during a particular period of time obtained from different stations in the Global Historical Climatological Network of the USA. One important point to mention is that some stations are shut down on certain days for some reason or the other. Hence, the maximum values are recorded by excluding those readings. It is assumed that the number of stations that operate follows zero-truncated Poisson random variables, and the daily precipitation follows a lognormal random variable. We call this model a compound truncated Poisson lognormal model. The proposed model has three unknown parameters, and it can take a variety of shapes. The maximum likelihood estimators can be obtained quite conveniently using Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. Approximate maximum likelihood estimators are also derived. The associated confidence intervals also can be obtained from the observed Fisher information matrix. Simulation results have been performed to check the performance of the EM algorithm, and it is observed that the EM algorithm works quite well in this case. When we analyze the precipitation data set using the proposed model, it is observed that the proposed model provides a better fit than some of the existing models.

Keywords: compound Poisson lognormal distribution, EM algorithm, maximum likelihood estimation, approximate maximum likelihood estimation, Fisher information, skew distribution

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Authors: Lahoucine Zaama, Sanae Douama

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In this work, we present the results of a dosimetry study in a Moroccan radiology department . The results are compared with those of a similar study in France. Furthermore, it determines the coefficient of transmission of the lead sheets of different thicknesses depending on the voltage (KV) in a direct exposure. The objective of this study is to choose the thickness of the radiation means to determine the leaf sample sealed with the smallest percentage value radiation transmission, and that in the context of optimization. Thus the comparison among the studies is essential to consider conduct studies and research in this framework to achieve the goal of optimization.

Keywords: radiology, dosimetry, radiation, dose, transmission

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Authors: Andreas Rudisch, Ralf Lampert, Andreas Kolbitsch

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It is a well-known fact among the engineering community that earthquakes with comparatively low magnitudes can cause serious damage to nonstructural components (NSCs) of buildings, even when the supporting structure performs relatively well. Past research works focused mainly on NSCs of nuclear power plants and industrial plants. Particular attention should also be given to architectural façade elements of old masonry buildings (e.g. ornamental figures, balustrades, vases), which are very vulnerable under seismic excitation. Large numbers of these historical nonstructural components (HiNSCs) can be found in highly frequented historical city centers and in the event of failure, they pose a significant danger to persons. In order to estimate the vulnerability of acceleration sensitive HiNSCs, the peak horizontal floor acceleration (PHFA) is used. The PHFA depends on the dynamic characteristics of the building, the ground excitation, and induced nonlinearities. Consequently, the PHFA can not be generalized as a simple function of height. In the present research work, an extensive case study was conducted to investigate the influence of induced nonlinearity on the PHFA for old masonry buildings. Probabilistic nonlinear FE time-history analyses considering three different hazard levels were performed. A set of eighteen synthetically generated ground motions was used as input to the structure models. An elastoplastic macro-model (multiPlas) for nonlinear homogenized continuum FE-calculation was calibrated to multiple scales and applied, taking specific failure mechanisms of masonry into account. The macro-model was calibrated according to the results of specific laboratory and cyclic in situ shear tests. The nonlinear macro-model is based on the concept of multi-surface rate-independent plasticity. Material damage or crack formation are detected by reducing the initial strength after failure due to shear or tensile stress. As a result, shear forces can only be transmitted to a limited extent by friction when the cracking begins. The tensile strength is reduced to zero. The first goal of the calibration was the consistency of the load-displacement curves between experiment and simulation. The calibrated macro-model matches well with regard to the initial stiffness and the maximum horizontal load. Another goal was the correct reproduction of the observed crack image and the plastic strain activities. Again the macro-model proved to work well in this case and shows very good correlation. The results of the case study show that there is significant scatter in the absolute distribution of the PHFA between the applied ground excitations. An absolute distribution along the normalized building height was determined in the framework of probability theory. It can be observed that the extent of nonlinear behavior varies for the three hazard levels. Due to the detailed scope of the present research work, a robust comparison with code-recommendations and simplified PHFA distributions are possible. The chosen methodology offers a chance to determine the distribution of PHFA along the building height of old masonry structures. This permits a proper hazard assessment of HiNSCs under seismic loads.

Keywords: nonlinear macro-model, nonstructural components, time-history analysis, unreinforced masonry

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Authors: Sarah H. Davies

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In the year 146 BCE, the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus – soon to be ‘anointed,’ via mass-spilling of blood-on-land, as “(‘triumphal’) Africanus” – stood atop a hill, overlooking the city of Carthage, as its urban-scape was burned and people killed, violated, captured… ‘poetically’ consumed. From an ineffable-seeming distance – constructed, in imperial fascination – the scene was (and is, apparently) painted in a disturbingly ‘romantic’ light. Such a snap-shot vista, projected before a mind’s-eye in panorama, and in (ongoing) construction, has seeped across ancient and modern lines, with multiple, interwoven iterations. This study conducts a reading, both ‘postcolonial’ and anti-imperial, in interruption of an ongoing (re)iteration of imperial violence, mirrored in distortion between “ancient” and “modern” forms that are physical, ideological, and ontological. Using an analysis of ancient literary works, from the historiographical (Polybius’ Histories) to the epic-poetic (Vergil’s Aeneid), placed in juxtaposition with a range of modern material, both literary-historical (e.g., Gibbon’s Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire) and visual (Cole’s The Course of Empire), this study destabilizes ongoing formations. Such formations attempt to inflict ‘an assumed’ repetition, engaged in normalizing a city violently destroyed as somehow ‘natural’ and/or ‘inevitable,’ and by extension, ‘tragically necessary.’ The reiterations – across media and contexts – create a distorted aesthetic (itself an act of profound violence) that fetishizes and even produces sensory, illusory pleasures (of co-complicit harm, within and across communities) regarding ‘period-shifting events’ of mass-murder and cultural erasure. ‘The vista over Carthage burning’ was/is (but does not ever have to be) thereby a manufactured stage-set, a commodity for imperial reproduction. Such a projection frames an overly-simplistic, ‘safe’-seeming (and yet incredibly dangerous) binary regarding (caricatured) “victims” and “victors.” At the same time, the projection renders an epistemological frame whereby ‘The One’ and ‘The Other’ are asserted as inherently antagonistic categories of being, in which One ‘must’ replace Other – the latter portrayed in gendered, exoticized, and time-distorted ways, as a scripted-object. All the while, a very particular subset of narrative is woven, whereby Carthage (elided in ‘victim’ status) specifically is/was Troy (again, elided), is/was every ‘destroyed city’ (also elided), and is/was yet another essential marking-point of “History,” twisted into ‘becoming’ a ‘reset’ point in a ‘cyclical pattern,’ inscribed as a tragic plot or lifetime repeated. The script itself entails pervasive violence. And yet, there always remains a trip-wire written into the constructed-cyclical. In part, this realization comes from a deconstruction of the tiered violences of an over-worn trope. The realization then also comes from a revelation of erased realities of human-experiences, in which ‘victim’ and ‘victor’ suffer, in fractured differences of ongoing, system(at)ic (re)trauma. The contours and silences of the historical records contain all the ongoing scars. This study therefore unravels the intersectional tableaux of ‘Carthage-burning’ and ‘Rome-reiterative,’ providing a collective investigation into conceptual formations, fractured across millennia. Ultimately, perhaps, such a re-reading – occurring via a commodified past will echo words from the Aeneid: “perhaps, once upon a time, to have remembered even these things, it will have been healing.

Keywords: antiquity, carthage, empire, historiography, rome, ruination

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Authors: Mamiko Orii

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This study reports on primary school second language teachers’ sources of language insecurity. Furthermore, it aims to develop an in-service training course to reduce anxiety and build sufficient English communication skills. Language/Linguistic insecurity refers to a lack of confidence experienced by language speakers. In particular, second language/non-native learners often experience insecurity, influencing their learning efficacy. While language learner insecurity has been well-documented, research on the insecurity of language teaching professionals is limited. Teachers’ language insecurity or anxiety in target language use may adversely affect language instruction. For example, they may avoid classroom activities requiring intensive language use. Therefore, understanding teachers’ language insecurity and providing continuing education to help teachers to improve their proficiency is vital to improve teaching quality. This study investigated Japanese primary school teachers’ language insecurity. In Japan, teachers are responsible for teaching most subjects, including English, which was recently added as compulsory. Most teachers have never been professionally trained in second language instruction during college teacher certificate preparation, leading to low confidence in English teaching. Primary source of language insecurity is a lack of confidence regarding English communication skills. Their actual use of English in classrooms remains unclear. Teachers’ classroom speech remains a neglected area requiring improvement. A more refined programme for second language teachers could be constructed if we can identify areas of need. Two questionnaires were administered to primary school teachers in Tokyo: (1) Questionnaire A: 396 teachers answered questions (using a 5-point scale) concerning classroom teaching anxiety and general English use and needs for in-service training (Summer 2021); (2) Questionnaire B: 20 teachers answered detailed questions concerning their English use (Autumn 2022). Questionnaire A’s responses showed that over 80% of teachers have significant language insecurity and anxiety, mainly when speaking English in class or teaching independently. Most teachers relied on a team-teaching partner (e.g., ALT) and avoided speaking English. Over 70% of the teachers said they would like to participate in training courses in classroom English. Questionnaire B’s results showed that teachers could use simple classroom English, such as greetings and basic instructions (e.g., stand up, repeat after me), and initiate conversation (e.g., asking questions). In contrast, teachers reported that conversations were mainly carried on in a simple question-answer style. They had difficulty continuing conversations. Responding to learners’ ‘on-the-spot’ utterances was particularly difficult. Instruction in turn-taking patterns suitable in the classroom communication context is needed. Most teachers received grammar-based instruction during their entire English education. They were predominantly exposed to displayed questions and form-focused corrective feedback. Therefore, strategies such as encouraging teachers to ask genuine questions (i.e., referential questions) and responding to students with content feedback are crucial. When learners’ utterances are incorrect or unsatisfactory, teachers should rephrase or extend (recast) them instead of offering explicit corrections. These strategies support a continuous conversational flow. These results offer benefits beyond Japan’s English as a second Language context. They will be valuable in any context where primary school teachers are underprepared but must provide English-language instruction.

Keywords: english as a second/non-native language, in-service training, primary school, teachers’ language insecurity

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Authors: Diogo de Carvalho Cabral

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This article offers a non-declensionist account of tropical deforestation, arguing that, rather than social stamp upon the environment or ecological endgame, deforestation is part of social site-making and remaking, the process through which humans produce sociality by carrying out nature-mediated – and therefore nature-transforming – practices that inevitably reset the very conditions of those practices. Human landscape-shaping inadvertently alters other species’ habitats –most often decimating them, but sometimes improving them–, the outcomes of which always resonate back upon human inhabitation and land use. Despite the overall tendency of biotic homogenization resulting from modern deforestation processes, there are always winners, i.e., species that gain competitive advantages enabling them to thrive in the novel ecosystems. Here it is examined one such case of deforestation-boosted species, namely leafcutter ants, which wrought havoc in the rural landscapes of nineteenth-century Brazil by defoliating a wide range of crops. By combining Historical GIS analysis and qualitative interpretation, it is shown how agricultural deforestation might have changed the ant species' biogeographies, and how in turn these changes – construed as 'infestation' – stimulated social innovations and rearrangements such as technical ingenuity, legal-administrative practices, and even local electoral arenas.

Keywords: deforestation, leafcutter ants, nineteenth-century Brazil, socio-ecological change

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Authors: Bubaker F. Shareia

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The main aim of this paper is to set the parameters within which the study is to be conducted, specifically justifying the use of qualitative research, informed by theory. This paper argues that the social world is subjective in nature and may be accessed through the interpretive approach provided by the people involved in the context of the study. The paper defines and distinguishes between qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, explores Burrell and Morgan's framework for social research, and presents the study's adopted methodology and methods, with the rationale for these choices.

Keywords: accounting, methodologies, qualitative, quantitative research

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Authors: Tillie Curran

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This co-production project aimed for an expansive exploration of disabled young people’s hopes and dreams in the context of unprecedented societal changes. The research questions developed with disabled young people acting as peer researchers, ask ‘what does a good life look like now, and, what are your hopes and dreams for the future?’ Disabled children’s childhood studies and an asset-based approach placed the voice of disabled young people at the centre of the research process and inviting participants to ‘think big’! Over 18 months, academics, members of a Centre for Independent Living and peer researchers, came together to facilitate knowledge cafes with fifty disabled young people aged between 14 and 25 in a college and youth club setting. Methods used included trigger questions, photos voice, video, and cartooning. The peer researchers also investigated how house robots and connected autonomous vehicles might support their future aspirations and sense of freedom in this new era with a trip to the university robotic laboratory. Key themes arising from participants’ hopes and dream were about ‘being responsible’, ‘loving’, ‘freedom and happiness’ and a ‘strong sense of self and togetherness’ and suggest alternative narratives and rich visions of the future possibilities for disabled young people. The five key messages peer researchers produced for the report emphasised freedom to define their futures, desires to make the world a better place, to belong and have the chance of their own family life. Thematic analysis, production of the report and impact activities were all co-produced and as the project progressed peer researchers increasingly demonstrated a role as ‘change makers’ and have formed a young people’s co-production group going on into the future. Discussion of the project highlights the factors that made these processes successful and the ethical dilemmas encountered in the context of normalcy. Finally, we consider the implications for all involved as we rethink ‘the future’, not in terms of normative ideals or trajectories, or seeing service ‘transition’ as an end, but in terms of disabled young people’s contribution, participation, freedoms, and possibilities.

Keywords: co-production, disability, robotic, youth

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Authors: Khries Sawsan

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the phenomenon of urbanization is considered as one of the most important tourism resources that differ from one country to another and from one region to another in the same country. Our concern in tourism accommodation is explained by the fact that their location is directly related to the movement to tourist sites .Besides, these constructions comport security considered as the most important motivation for tourists in their choice of any destination. Hotels are the most representative expression of tourism. This is due to their physical prominence in the landscape and being the sole urban component totally unique to tourism. This study sheds light on the impact of tourism development on the spatial pattern in Jordan. It describes the linkages between existing tourism development policies and the spatial development patterns that have occurred as a result throughout Jordan, particularly looking at the impact that tourism has had on the physical environment of major tourism destinations. It puts an illustrative plan of the impact of the augmentation of tourism accommodations in Jordan in the past 40 years ago. The findings of this study help us to understand better the operation of Jordan’ dynamic changes in the location An intensive analysis is then applied on a representative case study in three regions: Amman, Petra and Aqaba. The study proceeds from an historical perspective to, show the evolution of the current development patterns an increase of tourism’s impact on spatial, in the presence of factors as political and economic stability, is expected.

Keywords: spatial patterns, urbanisation, spatial transformations, tourism planning, Jordan

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Authors: M. Erhan Orhan, Onur Ozdemir

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Expansion of area of operation and increasing diversity of threats forced the military organizations to change in many ways. However, tacit knowledge still is the most fundamental component of organizational knowledge. Since it is human oriented and in warfare human stands at the core of the organization. Therefore, military organizations should find effective ways of systematically utilizing tacit knowledge. In this context, this article suggest some methods for turning tacit knowledge into explicit in military organizations.

Keywords: tacit knowledge, military, knowledge management, warfare, technology

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Authors: J. Gochermann

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German energy market is under historical change. Turning-off the nuclear power plants and intensive subsidization of the renewable energies causes a paradigm change from big central energy production and distribution to more local structures, bringing the energy production near to the consumption. The formerly big energy market with only a few big energy plants and grid operating companies is changing into a disperse market with growing numbers of small and medium size companies (SME) generating new value-added products and services. This change in then energy market, in Germany called the “Energiewende”, inverts also the previous innovation system. Big power plants and large grids required also big operating companies. Innovations in the energy market focused mainly on big projects and complex energy technologies. Innovation in the new energy market structure is much more dispersed. Increasing number of SME is now able to develop energy production and storage technologies, smart technologies to control the grids, and numerous new energy related services. Innovation is now regional distributed, which is a remarkable problem for the old big energy companies. The paper will explain the change in the German energy market and the paradigm change as well as the consequences for the innovation structure in the German energy market. It will show examples how SME participate from this change and how innovation systems, as well for the big companies and for SME, can be adapted.

Keywords: changing energy markets, disperse innovation, new value-added products and services, SME

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Authors: Adel Ebrahimpourtaher, Saeede Eisaie

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This study was an attempt to investigate the types of feedback most frequently provided to the students and their effectiveness based on the students’ preferences established through the interview conducted after the treatment. For this purpose, some class sessions of the students of the institute who were studying general English (pre-intermediate level) were recorded by the teacher for the analysis of the feed backs. The results of the analysis and transcriptions indicated that recast is the most frequent feedback type used by the teacher. In addition, the interview indicated that most of the students prefer recast as well as elicitation and explicit correction to some extent.

Keywords: EFL, elicitation, explicit, recast, feedback

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Authors: Shilpa Sharma, Lakshmi Ganesh, Mantra Gurumurthy, Shweta Sharma

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Board games provide affordances of 21st-century skills like collaboration, critical thinking, and strategy. Board games such as chess, Catan, Battleship, Scrabble, and Taboo can enhance learning in these areas. While board games are popular in informal child settings, their use in formal K-12 education is limited. To encourage teachers to incorporate board games, it's essential to grasp their perceptions and tailor professional development programs accordingly. This paper aims to explore teacher attitudes toward board games and propose interventions to motivate teachers to integrate and create board games in the classroom. A user study was conceived, designed, and administered with teachers (n=38) to understand their experience in playing board games and using board games in the classroom. Purposive sampling was employed as the questionnaire was floated to teacher groups that the authors were aware of. The teachers taught in K-12 affordable private schools. The majority of them had experience ranging from 2-5 years. The questionnaire consisted of questions on teacher perceptions and beliefs of board game usage in the classroom. From the responses, it was observed that ~90% of teachers, though they had experience of playing board games, rarely did it translate to using board games in the classroom. Additionally, it was observed that translating learning objectives to board game objectives is the key factor that teachers consider while using board games in the classroom. Based on the results from the questionnaire, a professional development workshop was co-designed with the objective of motivating teachers to design, create and use board games in the classroom. The workshop is based on the principles of gamification. This is to ensure that the teachers experience a board game in a learning context. Additionally, the workshop is based on the principles of andragogy, such as agency, pertinence, and relevance. The workshop will begin by modifying and reusing known board games in the learning context so that the teachers do not find it difficult and daunting. The intention is to verify the face validity and content validity of the workshop design, orchestration and content with experienced teacher development professionals and education researchers. The results from this study will be published in the full paper.

Keywords: board games, professional development, teacher motivation, teacher perception

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Authors: Serge Rohmer

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This paper proposes a progressive participatory observation that can be used as a sociological investigation within communities. The usefulness of participant observation in sociological projects is first asserted, particularly in an urban context. Competencies, know-how and interpersonal skills are then explained before to detail the progressive approach, consisting of four levels of observation. The progressive participatory observation is applied to an experimental project to set up a permaculture urban micro-farm with residents of a priority neighbourhood. Feedback on the experiment has identified several key recommendations for implementing the approach.

Keywords: participatory observation, observation scale, priority neighbourhood, urban sociology

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Authors: Manuela Nayantara Jeyaraj, Senuri Sucharitharathna, Chathurika Senarath, Yasanthy Kanagaraj, Indraka Udayakumara

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PostgreSQL is an Object Relational Database Management System (ORDBMS) that has been in existence for a while. Despite the superior features that it wraps and packages to manage database and data, the database community has not fully realized the importance and advantages of PostgreSQL. Hence, this research tends to focus on provisioning a better environment of development for PostgreSQL in order to induce the utilization and elucidate the importance of PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL is also known to be the world’s most elementary SQL-compliant open source ORDBMS. But, users have not yet resolved to PostgreSQL due to the facts that it is still under the layers and the complexity of its persistent textual environment for an introductory user. Simply stating this, there is a dire need to explicate an easy way of making the users comprehend the procedure and standards with which databases are created, tables and the relationships among them, manipulating queries and their flow based on conditions in PostgreSQL to help the community resolve to PostgreSQL at an augmented rate. Hence, this research under development within the context tends to initially identify the dominant features provided by PostgreSQL over its competitors. Following the identified merits, an analysis on why the database community holds a hesitance in migrating to PostgreSQL’s environment will be carried out. These will be modulated and tailored based on the scope and the constraints discovered. The resultant of the research proposes a system that will serve as a designing platform as well as a learning tool that will provide an interactive method of learning via a visual editor mode and incorporate a textual editor for well-versed users. The study is based on conjuring viable solutions that analyze a user’s cognitive perception in comprehending human computer interfaces and the behavioural processing of design elements. By providing a visually draggable and manipulative environment to work with Postgresql databases and table queries, it is expected to highlight the elementary features displayed by Postgresql over any other existent systems in order to grasp and disseminate the importance and simplicity offered by this to a hesitant user.

Keywords: cognition, database, PostgreSQL, text-editor, visual-editor

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Authors: Handan Ertaş

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The subject of government reform which is started to be discussed all over the world today has also deeply affected Turkey. Turkey, who aims to come to the level of the developed countries and not to fall behind the change must immediately complete the reform issue. For this, the government needs to be redefined and changed in accordance with the new public administration. In the first part of this study, the new public administration reforms in the world are generally explained and then the reforms in Local Government Regulations in Turkey are evaluated with the method of Content Analysis.

Keywords: reform, local administration, neo-liberalism, globalisation

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Authors: Liu Yao

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With the acceleration of urbanization and the profound change in industrial structure, a large number of unused and abandoned industrial heritage has emerged in the city, and the industrial communities attached to them have also fallen into a state of decline. This decline is not only reflected in the aging and decay of physical space but also in the rupture and absence of historical and cultural veins. Therefore, in urban renewal, we should not only pay attention to the physical transformation and reconstruction but also think deeply about how to inherit the spiritual core of industrial heritage communities, how to awaken and reconstruct their place memory, and how to promote its organic integration with the process of urban redevelopment. This study takes the Jiangnan Cement Factory industrial heritage community as a typical case and analyzes the challenges and opportunities it faces in the process of renewal, protection and utilization. With the continuation of the spirit of place as the core, we are committed to realizing the sustainable development of the community's industry, space and culture. Based on this, we propose three types of regeneration strategies, including industrial activation, spatial restoration and spiritual continuity, in order to provide useful theoretical references and practical guidance for the future conservation of industrial heritage and the sustainable development of communities.

Keywords: spirit of place, industrial heritage communities, urban renewal, sustainable communities

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Authors: Kinda Alsamara

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Foreign language education is a complex endeavor that often presents educators with a range of challenges and difficulties. This study shed light on the specific challenges encountered in the context of teaching Arabic as a foreign language at the Australian National University (ANU). Drawing from real-world experiences and insights, we explore the multifaceted nature of these challenges and discuss strategies that educators have employed to address them. The challenges in teaching the Arabic language encompass various dimensions, including linguistic intricacies, cultural nuances, and diverse learner backgrounds. The complex Arabic script, grammatical structures, and pronunciation patterns pose unique obstacles for learners. Moreover, the cultural context embedded within the language demands a nuanced understanding of cultural norms and practices. The diverse backgrounds of learners further contribute to the challenge of tailoring instruction to meet individual needs and proficiency levels. This study also underscores the importance of technology in tackling these challenges. Technological tools and platforms offer innovative solutions to enhance language acquisition and engagement. Online resources, interactive applications, and multimedia content can provide learners with immersive experiences, aiding in overcoming barriers posed by traditional teaching methods. Furthermore, this study addresses the role of instructors in mitigating challenges. Educators often find themselves adapting teaching approaches to accommodate different learning styles, abilities, and motivations. Establishing a supportive learning environment and fostering a sense of community can contribute significantly to overcoming challenges related to learner diversity. In conclusion, this study provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges faced in teaching Arabic as a foreign language at ANU. By recognizing these challenges and embracing technological and pedagogical advancements, educators can create more effective and engaging learning experiences for students pursuing Arabic language proficiency.

Keywords: Arabic, Arabic online, blended learning, teaching and learning, Arabic language, educational aids, technology

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Authors: Tanjil Sowgat, Shamim Kobir

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World is now experiencing the consequences of climate change such as increased heat stress due to high temperature rise. In the context of changing climate, this study intends to find out the planning interventions necessary to adapt to the current heat stress in the planned residential areas of Khulna city. To carry out the study Sonadanga residential area (phase I) of Khulna city has been taken as the study site. This residential neighbourhood covering an area of 30 acres has 206 residential plots. The study area comprises twelve access roads, one park, one playfield, one water body and two street furniture’s. This study conducts visual analysis covering green, open space, water body, footpath, drainage and street trees and furniture and questionnaire survey deals with socio-economic, housing tenancy, experience of heat stress and urban design interventions. It finds that the current state that accelerates the heat stress condition such as lack of street trees and inadequate shading, maximum uses are not within ten minutes walking distance, no footpath for the pedestrians and lack of well-maintained street furniture. It proposes that to adapt to the heat stress pedestrian facilities, buffer sidewalk with landscaping, street trees and open spaces, soft scape, natural and man-made water bodies, green roofing could be effective urban design interventions. There are evidences of limited number of heat stress adaptive planned residential area. Since current sub-division planning practice focuses on rigid land use allocation, it partly addresses the climatic concerns through creating open space and street trees. To better respond to adapt to the heat stress, urban design considerations in the context of sub-division practice would bring more benefits.

Keywords: climate change, urban design, adaptation, heat stress, water-logging

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Authors: Avraham Mosseri

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The architectural conservation process of the built heritage is a very complex process dealing with the integration of professional knowledge from many fields like history, sociology, economy, engineering, etc. One of the most important fields is the structural field, which has a great influence on the final architectural and aesthetic solution of the built heritage. In many cases, the ability to protect and save the heritage values of the historical buildings is an outcome of the structural creativity and conceptual design of the conservation engineers. This creativity is especially important when dealing with structural engineering of historic construction, where there are a lot of constraints and contradictions between different aspects like aesthetics, artistic values, culture, authenticity, structural performance, etc. But in spite of the importance of this creativity in conservation engineering, many research efforts are mainly devoted to the structural analysis of historic construction, which of course is very important and vital. But, in general, more attention can be paid to the creative process in the conceptual stage. In this situation there is a need, in parallel to analysis research, to devote more resources in order to improve the creative and conceptual theories in relation to conservation engineering. This paper focuses on the creativity aspects in the structural design process in the conservation of historic buildings as part of conservation theories.

Keywords: conservation, creativity, historic constructions, structural design

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Authors: Yanting Cao, Kazumitsu Nawata

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As smartphones upgrading, their software and hardware are getting smarter, so the smartphone-based human activity recognition will be described as more refined, complex, and detailed. In this context, we analyzed a set of experimental data obtained by observing and measuring 30 volunteers with six activities of daily living (ADL). Due to the large sample size, especially a 561-feature vector with time and frequency domain variables, cleaning these intractable features and training a proper model becomes extremely challenging. After a series of feature selection and parameters adjustment, a well-performed SVM classifier has been trained.

Keywords: smart sensors, human activity recognition, artificial intelligence, SVM

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Authors: Sirilak Areerachakul

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Water quality has initiated serious management efforts in many countries. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models are developed as forecasting tools in predicting water quality trend based on historical data. This study endeavors to automatically classify water quality. The water quality classes are evaluated using 6 factor indices. These factors are pH value (pH), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Nitrate Nitrogen (NO3N), Ammonia Nitrogen (NH3N) and Total Coliform (T-Coliform). The methodology involves applying data mining techniques using multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network models. The data consisted of 11 sites of Saen Saep canal in Bangkok, Thailand. The data is obtained from the Department of Drainage and Sewerage Bangkok Metropolitan Administration during 2007-2011. The results of multilayer perceptron neural network exhibit a high accuracy multilayer perception rate at 94.23% in classifying the water quality of Saen Saep canal in Bangkok. Subsequently, this encouraging result could be combined with GIS data improves the classification accuracy significantly.

Keywords: artificial neural network, geographic information system, water quality, computer science

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Authors: Yuyang Cheng, Marcos Escobar-Anel

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This paper introduces a multivariate 4/2 stochastic covariance process generalizing the one-dimensional counterparts presented in Grasselli (2017). Our construction permits stochastic correlation not only among stocks but also among volatilities, also known as co-volatility movements, both driven by more convenient 4/2 stochastic structures. The parametrization is flexible enough to separate these types of correlation, permitting their individual study. Conditions for proper changes of measure and closed-form characteristic functions under risk-neutral and historical measures are provided, allowing for applications of the model to risk management and derivative pricing. We apply the model to an expected utility theory problem in incomplete markets. Our analysis leads to closed-form solutions for the optimal allocation and value function. Conditions are provided for well-defined solutions together with a verification theorem. Our numerical analysis highlights and separates the impact of key statistics on equity portfolio decisions, in particular, volatility, correlation, and co-volatility movements, with the latter being the least important in an incomplete market.

Keywords: stochastic covariance process, 4/2 stochastic volatility model, stochastic co-volatility movements, characteristic function, expected utility theory, verication theorem

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Authors: Sakine Sincer

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In today’s world, which takes further steps towards globalization each and every day, societies and cultures are re-shaped while the demands of the changing world are described once more. In this atmosphere, where the speed of change sometimes reaches a terrifying point, it is possible to state that effective leaders are needed more than ever in order to meet the above-stated needs and demands. The question of what effective leadership is keeping its importance on the agenda. Most of the answers to this question has mostly focused on the approach of distributed leadership recently. This study aims at analyzing the applicability of distributed leadership, which is accepted to be an example of effective leadership that can meet the needs of global world, which is changing more and more rapidly nowadays, at higher education institutions in Turkey. Within the framework of this study, first of all, the historical development of distributed leadership is addressed, and then a theoretical framework is drawn for this approach by means of underlying what distributed leadership is and is not. After that, different points of view about the approach are laid out within the borders of opinions expressed by Gronn and Spillane, who are accepted to be the most famous advocators of distributed leadership. Then, exemplar practices of distributed leadership are included in the study before drawing attention to the strengths and weaknesses of this approach. Lastly, the applicability of distributed leadership at higher education institutions in Turkey is analyzed. This study is carried out with the method of literature review by resorting to first- and second-hand sources on distributed leadership.

Keywords: globalization, school leadership, distributed leadership, higher education, management

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Authors: Rosdyana Mangir Irawan Kusuma, Wei-Chun Kao, Ho-Thi Trang, Yu-Yen Ou, Kai-Lung Hua

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Stock market prediction is still a challenging problem because there are many factors that affect the stock market price such as company news and performance, industry performance, investor sentiment, social media sentiment, and economic factors. This work explores the predictability in the stock market using deep convolutional network and candlestick charts. The outcome is utilized to design a decision support framework that can be used by traders to provide suggested indications of future stock price direction. We perform this work using various types of neural networks like convolutional neural network, residual network and visual geometry group network. From stock market historical data, we converted it to candlestick charts. Finally, these candlestick charts will be feed as input for training a convolutional neural network model. This convolutional neural network model will help us to analyze the patterns inside the candlestick chart and predict the future movements of the stock market. The effectiveness of our method is evaluated in stock market prediction with promising results; 92.2% and 92.1 % accuracy for Taiwan and Indonesian stock market dataset respectively.

Keywords: candlestick chart, deep learning, neural network, stock market prediction

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Authors: Lovis Ingrid Hakala

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This paper provides an example of how the dating app Tinder can be used as a tool in queer research and what the use of the app among lesbians can tell us about the production of particular kinds of lesbian identities paired with technology. This study seeks to understand the ways in which the app is understood by lesbian women and how it is brought into their understandings of what being a lesbian means. Dating apps are becoming increasingly common as tools for meeting a potential partner and research has shown how these apps gain new meaning depending on the context. This paper will show both how Tinder has gained a particular meaning in a lesbian context in Bologna, and also how the use of Tinder produces specific ideas of what lesbians are and how they act. While doing ethnographic fieldwork among young lesbians (20-30 years old) in Bologna in the autumn of 2017, as a part of the research methodology, Tinder was used together with interviews and participant observation. By signing up on Tinder and contacting potential informants on the app the aim was to reach women who were not necessarily involved in the queer activist spaces in the city and who might thus provide a different perspective than their activist counterparts. Using Tinder as a tool in research proved to be a useful methodology both when it came to contacting potential informants as well as in gaining a better understanding for queer identity building, and the role Tinder played in defining lesbianism in Bologna. The app itself was often deemed useless, and informants often complained about the lack of women on the app who had their profile showing an interest in women. Apart from being away for the interlocutors to get in touch with potential romantic or sexual partners, the app did provide a concrete object around which to define particular lesbian behavior. Lesbians were described to be slow at answering and not being very eager to meet. This placed lesbian women, in contrast to gay men who were seen as doing the opposite, using dating apps a lot and be quick to propose meetings. Tinder among lesbians in Bologna thus proved to have a dual function as both a way of creating connections between queer women but also as a tool to define what a lesbian is. This paper provides insight into the ways in which dating apps provides a community and identity building function and how a certain behavior on said apps can be a part of defining identity. This work stands out among other literature on dating apps since it does not only focus on the methodological aspects of using Tinder as a tool in research but also provides an insight in how the way in which individuals use the app comes to add to an understanding of what a lesbian is.

Keywords: dating apps, identity, Italy, lesbian, queer

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Authors: Abdulsalami Muyideen Deji

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Nigeria as nation got independence in 1960 from British government which allowed indigenous people to form self-government and rule themselves base on the acceptable laws and orders provided by indigenes. All citizens saw it as a welcome development that gave them opportunity to develop at their own pace. Certainly, this occurred at the first instance up to the first republic of 1963. But things became worse for the country when the first military coup of January 15, 1966 sowed apple of discord between the three major tribes in Nigeria Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo as a result of miscarriage of well-conceived plan of master-minder of that coup Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. Although, the argument had emanated from different quarters that if Nigeria was given opportunity to develop at the pace it was going at that time probably the Nigeria would have been among developed nation today, but that ill-fated coup was a clog in the wheel of nation’s progress. The base of this argument is that Nigeria achievements after independence still depend on the work of leaders who secure independence and also directed the affairs of nation within that short period of time up till today. Since then Nigeria has been grasping with different system of government, yet, the nation is still far from the solution. This paper will analyze Nigeria politics from independence, offer suggestion on the way forward. The source is strictly base on secondary source from textbook, newspapers, internet and journals.

Keywords: politics, government, independence, development

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Authors: G. Gurkan Inan, Umit S. Bititci

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Purpose of this study is to understand development of organizational capabilities in micro enterprises. Organizational capabilities underpin companies` competitive advantages as well as their ability to respond internal and external change. Current literature is focused on mainly large enterprises, with some interest on SMEs. However there is little research attempting to understand the applicability of organizational capability theories on micro enterprises. In this paper we propose a research framework and a research agenda for addressing this gap.

Keywords: micro enterprises, organizational capabilities, dynamic capabilities, management

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Authors: Tarik Bouguerba

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Thomas Heywood was an outstanding, prolific playwright of the period, writing both in prose and verse. Unlike Shakespeare in particular, Heywood could be considered as a playwright who was well informed about Morocco and wrote in greater detail about a possible dialogue among cultures. As it is a historical platform for power relations, The Fair Maid of the West recalled the heroism and excitement of English counterattacks against Spain in the Post-Armada period. This paper therefore pins down the acts of narration and representation of Morocco and Moroccans and examines how the Occident has contributed to the production of the Orient and finally attests to the metamorphosis the plot undergoes in Part I and Part II. As an adventure play, The Fair Maid of the West teaches about, informs of and confirms the existing patterns of virtue in European voyagers and at the same time it asserts how honor and chastity are European par excellence whereas villainy and wickedness are Oriental assets. Once taken captive, these virtues and traits are put into task as the plot disentangles. This paper also examines how the play in both parts generates a whole history of stereotypes about Morocco and unexpectedly subverts this stereotype; such a biased mode of narration of the Orient the playwright took up at first was played down at a later phase in the narrative.

Keywords: Heywood, Occident, Orientalism, Stereotype, Virtue

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Authors: T. Yasmin, M. A. Farrelly, B. C. Rogers

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Urban water governance in developing countries faces numerous challenges arising from uncontrolled urban population expansion, water pollution, greater economic push and more recently, climate change impact while undergoing transitioning towards a sustainable system. Sustainability transition requires developing adaptive capacities of the socio-ecological and socio-technical system to be able to deal with complexity. Adaptive capacities deliver strategies to connect individuals, organizations, agencies and institutions at multiple levels for dealing with such complexity. Understanding the level of adaptive capacities for sustainability transformation thus has gained significant research attention within developed countries, much less so in developing countries. Filling this gap, this article develops a conceptual framework for analysing the level of adaptive capacities (if any) within a developing context. This framework then applied to the chronological development of urban water governance strategies in Bangladesh for almost two centuries. The chronological analysis of governance interventions has revealed that crisis (public health, food and natural hazards) became the opportunities and thus opened the windows for experimentation and learning to occur as a deviation from traditional practices. Self-organization and networks thus created the platform for development or disruptions to occur for creating change. Leadership (internal or external) is important for nurturing and upscaling theses development or disruptions towards guiding policy vision and targets as well as championing ground implementation. In the case of Bangladesh, the leadership from the international and national aid organizations and targets have always lead the development whereas more often social capital tools (trust, power relations, cultural norms) act as disruptions. Historically, this has been evident in the development pathways of urban water governance in Bangladesh. Overall this research has shown some level of adaptive capacities is growing for sustainable urban growth in big cities, nevertheless unclear regarding the growth in medium and small cities context.

Keywords: adaptive capacity, Bangladesh, sustainability transformation, water governance

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