Search results for: transport policy

Authors: Hussein Lujuo Mohamed

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Introduction: Public health has always been influenced by climate and weather. Changes in climate and climate variability, particularly changes in weather extremes affect the environment that provides people with clean air, food, water, shelter, and security. Tanzania is not an exception to the threats of climate change. The health sector is mostly affected due to emergence and proliferation of infectious diseases, thereby affecting health of the population and thus impacting achievement of sustainable development goals. Methodology: A desk review on documented issues pertaining to climate change and health in Tanzania was done using Google search engine. Keywords included climate change, link, health, climate initiatives. In cases where information was not available, documents from Ministry of Health, Vice Presidents Office-Environment, Local Government Authority, Ministry of Water, WHO, research, and training institutions were reviewed. Some of the reviewed documents from these institutions include policy brief papers, fieldwork activity reports, training manuals, and guidelines. Results: Six main climate resilience activities were identified in Tanzania. These were development and implementation of climate resilient water safety plans guidelines both for rural and urban water authorities, capacity building of rural and urban water authorities on implementation of climate-resilient water safety plans, and capacity strengthening of local environmental health practitioners on mainstreaming climate change and health into comprehensive council health plans. Others were vulnerability and adaptation assessment for the health sector, mainstreaming climate change in the National Health Policy, and development of risk communication strategy on climate. In addition information, education, and communication materials on climate change and to create awareness were developed aiming to sensitize and create awareness among communities on climate change issues and its effect on public health. Conclusion: Proper implementation of these interventions will help the country become resilient to many impacts of climate change in the health sector and become a good example for other least developed countries.

Keywords: climate, change, Tanzania, health

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Authors: Shatakshi Garg

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As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, India, one of the most populous democratic federal developing nation, continues to report the highest active cases and deaths, as well as struggle to let its health infrastructure not succumb to the exponentially growing requirements of hospital beds, ventilators, oxygen to save thousands of lives daily at risk. In this context, the paper outlines the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic since it first hit India in January 2020 – the policy decisions taken by the Union and the State governments from the larger perspective of its federal structure. The Constitution of India adopted in 1950 enshrined the federal relations between the Union and the State governments by way of the constitutional division of revenue-raising and expenditure responsibilities. By way of the 72nd and 73rd Amendments in the Constitution, powers and functions were devolved further to the third tier, namely the local governments, with the intention of further strengthening the federal structure of the country. However, with time, several constitutional amendments have shifted the scales in favour of the union government. The paper briefly traces some of these major amendments as well as some policy decisions which made the federal relations asymmetrical. As a result, data on key fiscal parameters helps establish how the union government gained upper hand at the expense of weak state governments, reducing the local governments to mere constitutional bodies without adequate funds and fiscal autonomy to carry out the assigned functions. This quasi-federal structure of India with the union government amassing the majority of power in terms of ‘funds, functions and functionaries’ exposed the perils of weakening sub-national governments post COVID-19 pandemic. With a complex quasi-federal structure and a heterogeneous population of over 1.3 billion, the announcement of a sudden nationwide lockdown by the union government was followed by a plight of migrants struggling to reach homes safely in the absence of adequate arrangements for travel and safety-net made by the union government. With limited autonomy enjoyed by the states, they were mostly dictated by the union government on most aspects of handling the pandemic, including protocols for lockdown, re-opening post lockdown, and vaccination drive. The paper suggests that certain policy decisions like demonetization, the introduction of GST, etc., taken by the incumbent government since 2014 when they first came to power, have further weakened the states and local governments, which have amounted to catastrophic losses, both economic and human. The role of the executive, legislature and judiciary are explored to establish how all these three arms of the government have worked simultaneously to further weaken and expose the fault-lines of the federal structure of India, which has lent the nation incapacitated to handle this pandemic. The paper then suggests the urgency of re-looking at the federal structure of the country and undertaking measures that strengthen the sub-national governments and restore the federal spirit as was enshrined in the constitution to avoid mammoth human and economic losses from a pandemic of this sort.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, India, federal structure, economic losses

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Authors: M. Naidoo

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AI in healthcare can have a massive positive effect in low-resource states like South Africa, where patients outnumber personnel greatly. However, the complexity and ‘black box’ aspects of these technologies pose challenges for the liability regimes of states. This is currently being discussed at the international level. This research finds that within the South African medical negligence context, the current common law fault-based inquiry proves to be wholly inadequate for patient redress. As a solution to this, this research paper culminates in legal reform recommendations designed to solve these issues.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, law, liability, policy

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Authors: Emil Mathew

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Liberalisation policies adopted by a large number of countries, implementation of technological innovations with development in communication networks and continuous reduction in transport costs contributed towards the growth of international transportation of goods over the last 50 to 60 years. The present paper examines the environmental externalities of maritime transportation, that is, externalities associated with the movement of cargoes, as distinct from those emanate from production and consumption of goods. Though shipping is less polluting compared to other modes of transportation, considering the huge volume of goods transported and future growth prospects, it is important to examine environmental externalities of maritime transportation. It focuses on varied types of environmental externalities of maritime transportation and suggests that appropriate policies may be adopted by international agencies to address this issue without adversely affecting the course of international trade and also its possibility to get diverted to alternate modes of transportation.

Keywords: externalities of globalisation, maritime environment, maritime externality, transportation externality

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Authors: Constantinos Adamides, Petros Petrikkos

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In the era of growing hybrid threats, small states find themselves in need to re-evaluate existing foreign and defense policies. The pressure to establishing or maintain a status of a reliable partner in the community in which they belong to, vis-à-vis their multilateral relations with other organisations and entities, small states may need to shift their policies in the field to accommodate security needs that are not only pertinent to their security, but also to that of the organisations (bloc) in which they interact. Unlike potential shortcomings in a small state’s mainstream security and defence framework where the threat would be limited to the state itself, in more contemporary times with dominating hybrid threats, the small states’ security shortcomings may also become a security problem for the bloc in which these states belong to. An indicative example is small states like Cyprus and Malta, which belong and 'interact' in the European Union. As a result, the nature of hybrid threats can be utilised to hurt bigger states in a bloc by exploiting the small states’ vulnerabilities and security gaps. Inevitably, both the defensive and foreign policy collaborations of small states with bigger states have been and are constantly re-evaluated to tackle and prevent such problems. In essence, the goal of this ‘re-evaluation’ aims to achieve a twofold goal: The first is the small states’ quest to appear as a reliable partner within the bloc, while the second is to avoid being the weakest security link in the bloc’s defence against hybrid threats. Indeed, the hybrid arena is a security area where they can excel in the bloc, despite the potential and expected conventional military deficiencies. This new environment prompts us to think security from the perspective of small states differently and in relation to their role as members or big organisations. The paper focuses on the case of Cyprus following its accession to the European Union and examines how a country that has had a very focused security orientation –not least due to its ongoing security problems– altered its foreign and defence policies within the European Union to ensure compliance with the rest of the bloc, while at the same time maximizing its role as a security player. Specifically, it examines the methods through which the country shifted its policies as well as the challenges and opportunities that emerged from these security shifts.

Keywords: Cyprus, defence, foreign policy, hybrid threats, ontological security, small states

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Authors: Guannan Ren, Thomas Mazzuchi, Shahram Sarkani

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Electric vehicle battery recycling has emerged as a critical process in the transition toward sustainable transportation. As the demand for electric vehicles continues to rise, so does the need to address the end-of-life management of their batteries. Electric vehicle battery recycling benefits resource recovery and supply chain stability by reclaiming valuable metals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite. The reclaimed materials can then be reintroduced into the battery manufacturing process, reducing the reliance on raw material extraction and the environmental impacts of waste. Current battery recycling rates are insufficient to meet the growing demands for raw materials. While significant progress has been made in electric vehicle battery recycling, many areas can still improve. Standardization of battery designs, increased collection and recycling infrastructures, and improved efficiency in recycling processes are essential for scaling up recycling efforts and maximizing material recovery. This work delves into key factors, such as regulatory frameworks, economic incentives, and technological processes, that influence the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of battery recycling systems. A system dynamics model that considers variables such as battery production rates, demand and price fluctuations, recycling infrastructure capacity, and the effectiveness of recycling processes is created to study how these variables are interconnected, forming feedback loops that affect the overall supply chain efficiency. Such a model can also help simulate the effects of stricter regulations on battery disposal, incentives for recycling, or investments in research and development for battery designs and advanced recycling technologies. By using the developed model, policymakers, industry stakeholders, and researchers may gain insights into the effects of applying different policies or process updates on electric vehicle battery recycling rates.

Keywords: environmental engineering, modeling and simulation, circular economy, sustainability, transportation science, policy

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Authors: A. G. Back

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Urban planning is a relevant tool to address, in a systemic way, several sectoral policies capable of linking the urban agenda with the reduction of socio-environmental risks. The Sao Paulo’s master plan (2014) presents innovations capable of promoting the transition to sustainability in the urban space, with a view to its regulatory instruments related to i) promotion of density in the axes of mass transport involving the mixture of commercial, residential, services, and leisure uses (principles related to the compact city); ii) vulnerabilities reduction based on housing policies including regular sources of funds for social housing and land reservation in urbanized areas; iii) reserve of green areas in the city to create parks and environmental regulations for new buildings focused on reducing the effects of heat island and improving urban drainage. However, its long-term implementation involves distributive conflicts and can undergo changes in different political, economic, and social contexts over time. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to identify and analyze the dynamics of conflicts of interest between social groups in the implementation of Sao Paulo’s urban development policy, particularly in relation to recent attempts at a (re) interpretation of the Master Plan guidelines, in view of the proposals for revision of the urban zoning law. In this sense, we seek to identify the demands, narratives of urban actors, including the real estate market, middle-class neighborhood associations ('not in my backyard' movements), and social housing rights movements. And we seek to analyze the power resources that these actors mobilize to influence the decision-making process, involving five categories: social capital, political access; discursive resource; media, juridical resource. The major findings of this research suggest that the interests and demands of the real estate market do not always prevail in urban regulation. After all, other actors also press for the definition of urban law with interests opposite to those of the real estate market. This is the case of associations of middle-class neighborhoods, which work to protect the characteristics of the locality, acting, in general, to prevent constructive and population densification in neighborhoods well located near the center, in São Paulo. One of the main demands of these “not in my backyard” movements is the delimitation of exclusively residential areas in the central region of the city, which is not only contrary to the interests of the real state market but also contrary to the principles of the compact city. On the other hand, social housing rights movements have also made progress in delimiting special areas of social interest in well-located and valued areas in the city dedicated to building social housing, also contrary to the interests of the real estate market. An urban development that follows the principles of the compact city must take into account the insertion of low-income populations in well-located regions; otherwise, such a development model may continue to push the less favored to the peripheries towards the preservation areas and/or risk areas.

Keywords: interest groups, Sao Paulo, sustainable urban development, urban policies implementation

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Authors: Iva Buchberger, Vesna Kovač

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Global education policy trends and recommendations underline the importance of (distributive) school leadership as a school effectiveness key factor. In this context, the broader aim of this research (supported by the Croatian Science Foundation) is to identify school leadership characteristics in Croatian schools and to examine the correlation between school leadership and school effectiveness. The aim of the proposed conference paper is to focus on the school leadership characteristics which are additionally explained with school leadership facilitators that contribute to (distributive) school leadership development. The aforementioned school leadership characteristics include the following dimensions: (a) participation in the process of making different types of decisions, (b) influence in the decision making process, (c) social interactions between different stakeholders in the decision making process in schools. Further, the school leadership facilitators are categorized as follows: (a) principal’s activities (such as providing support to different stakeholders and developing mutual trust among them), (b) stakeholders’ characteristics (such as developed stakeholders’ interest and competence to participate in decision-making process), (c) organizational and material resources (such as school material conditions, the necessary information and time as resources for making decisions). The data were collected by a constructed and validated questionnaire for examining the school leadership characteristics and facilitators from teachers’ perspective. The main population in this study consists of all primary schools in Croatia while the sample is comprised of 100 primary schools, selected by random sampling. Furthermore, the sample of teachers was selected by an additional procedure taking into consideration the independent variables of sex, work experience, etc. Data processing was performed by standard statistical methods of descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistical program IBM SPSS 20.0 was used for data processing. The results of this study show that there is a (positive) correlation between school leadership characteristics and school leadership facilitators. Specifically, it is noteworthy to mention that all the dimensions of school leadership characteristics are in positive correlation with the categories of school leadership facilitators. These results are indicative for the education policy creators who should ensure positive and supportive environment for the school leadership development including the development of school leadership characteristics and school leadership facilitators.

Keywords: distributive school leadership, school effectiveness , school leadership characteristics, school leadership facilitators

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Authors: M. Naidoo

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Artificial intelligence often requires large amounts of good quality data. Within important fields, such as healthcare, the training of AI systems predominately relies on health and personal data; however, the usage of this data is complicated by various layers of law and ethics that seek to protect individuals’ privacy rights. This research seeks to establish the challenges AI and data sciences pose to (i) informational rights, (ii) privacy rights, and (iii) data protection. To solve some of the issues presented, various methods are suggested, such as embedding values in technological development, proper balancing of rights and interests, and others.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, data science, law, policy

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Authors: L. Mouzai, M. Bouhadef

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Rills begin to be generated once overland flow shear capacity overcomes the soil surface resistance. This resistance depends on soil texture, the arrangement of soil particles and on chemical and physical properties. The rill density could affect soil erosion, especially when the distance between the rills (interrill) contributes to the variation of the rill characteristics, and consequently on sediment concentration. To investigate this point, agricultural sandy soil, a soil tray of 0.2x1x3m³ and a piece of hardwood rectangular in shape to build up rills were the base of this work. The results have shown that small lines have been developed between the rills and the flow acceleration increased in comparison to the flow on the flat surface (interrill). Sediment concentration increased with increasing rill number (density).

Keywords: artificial rainfall, experiments, rills, soil erosion, transport capacity

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Authors: Mercedes Sepulveda, Saras Henderson, Dana Farrell, Gaby Heuft

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In Australia, there is a significant number of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Grandparent Carers who are sole carers for their grandchildren. Services in the community such as accessible healthcare, financial support, legal aid, and transport to services can assist Grandparent Carers to continue to live in their own home whilst caring for their grandchildren. Community nurses can play a major role by being aware of the needs of these grandparents and link them to services via information and referrals. The CALD Grandparent Carer experiences have only been explored marginally and may be similar to the general Grandparent Carer population, although cultural aspects may add to their difficulties. This Needs-Gap Analysis aimed to uncover ‘hidden issues’ for CALD Grandparent Carers such as service gaps and actions needed to address these issues. The stakeholders selected for this Needs-Gap Analysis were drawn from relevant service providers such as community and aged care services, child and/or grandparents support services and CALD specific services. One hundred relevant service providers were surveyed using six structured questions via face to face, phone interviews, or email correspondence. CALD Grandparents who had a significant or sole role of being a carer for grandchildren were invited to participate through their CALD community leaders. Consultative Forums asking five questions that focused on the caring role, issues encountered, and what needed to be done, were conducted with the African, Asian, Spanish-Speaking, Middle Eastern, European, Pacific Islander and Maori Grandparent Carers living in South-east Queensland, Australia. Data from the service provider survey and the CALD Grandparent Carer forums were content analysed using thematic principles. Our findings highlighted social determinants of health grouped into six themes. These were; 1) service providers and Grandparent Carer perception that there was limited research data on CALD grandparents as carers; 2) inadequate legal and financial support; 3) barriers to accessing information and advice; 4) lack of childcare options in the light of aging and health issues; 5) difficulties around transport; and 6) inadequate technological skills often leading to social isolation for both carer and grandchildren. Our Needs-Gap Analysis provides insight to service providers especially health practitioners such as doctors and community nurses, particularly on the impact of caring for grandchildren on CALD Grandparent Carers. Furthermore, factors such as cultural differences, English language difficulties, and migration experiences also impacted on the way CALD Grandparent Carers are able to cope. The findings of this Need-Gap Analysis signposts some of the ‘ hidden issues’ that CALD Grandparents Carers face and draws together recommendations for the future as put forward by the stakeholders themselves.

Keywords: CALD grandparents, carer needs, community nurses, grandparent carers

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Authors: Aita Bishowkarma

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Ensuring quality education in primary level in multi-ethnic, multi- religious, multi-cultural and multilingual country Nepal which accommodates 123 ethnic languages (CBS 2011) has come across a big challenge. The discourse on the policies and practices to take advantage of the rich heritage of cultural and linguistic diversity in the pursuit of quality primary education to ethnic/linguistic minority children in Nepal gives in a critical observation of Nepalese perspective in the global academia. Situating the linguistic diversity of Nepal, primary education to children is better through mother tongue. Nepali as official or national language is another important language to be taught to the children. Similarly, craze for English has been inevitable for international communication and job opportunity in the global markets. This paper critically examines the current use of trilingual policy in mother tongue based multilingual education (MT-MLE) in Nepal from the perspective of exploiting linguistic diversity in classroom pedagogy. The researcher adopted mixed method research design applying descriptive measure and explanatory research methods. 24 teachers and 48 students from 6 multilingual schools were selected purposively to dig out their language use, language attitude and language preferences to reveal their preference and attitude towards mother tongue, Nepali and English through questionnaire, interview and focus group discussion. The study shows, in a true multilingual system, all languages (mother tongue, languages of region, nation and wider communication) can have their legitimate place; bridging from the mother tongue to the regional language and national to international language; further leading to meaningful participation in the wider democratic global context. Trilingual policy of mother tongue, national language and international language seemed pertinent however, not sufficient. The finding of the study shows that for quality education in primary education mother tongue based critical multilingual pedagogy through language coexistence approach with contextual variation seems enviable.

Keywords: critical pedagogy, language co-existence, linguistic diversity, quality education

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Authors: Md. Aftabuzzaman, Md. Kamruzzaman

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Road-related expenditure and building construction activity are two significant drivers of the Victorian economy. This paper investigates the relationship between building construction activity and road-related expenditure. Data for construction activities were collected from Victorian Building Authority, and road-related expenditure data were explored by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics. The trend between these two sectors was compared. The analysis found a strong relationship between road-related expenditure and the volume of construction activity, i.e., the more construction activities, the greater the requirement of road-related expenditure, or vice-versa. The road-related expenditure has a two-year lag period, suggesting that the road sector requires two years to respond to the growth in the building sector.

Keywords: building construction activity, infrastructure, road expenditure, Victorian Building Authority

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Authors: Journey Whitfield

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This study investigates the United States' ongoing violation of Black Americans' fundamental human rights, as evidenced by mass incarceration, social injustice, and economic deprivation. It argues that the U.S. contravenes Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights through policies that uphold systemic racism. The analysis dissects current practices within the criminal justice system, social welfare programs, and economic policy, uncovering the racially disparate impacts of seemingly race-neutral policies. This study establishes a clear lineage between past systems of oppression – slavery and Jim Crow – and present-day racial disparities, demonstrating their inextricable link. The thesis proposes that only a comprehensive reparations program for Black Americans can begin to redress these systemic injustices. This program must transcend mere financial compensation, demanding structural reforms within U.S. institutions to dismantle systemic racism and promote transformative justice. This study explores potential forms of reparations, drawing upon historical precedents, comparative case studies from other nations, and contemporary debates within political philosophy and legal studies. The research employs both qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative methods include historical analysis of legal frameworks and policy documents, as well as discourse analysis of political rhetoric. Quantitative methods involve statistical analysis of socioeconomic data and criminal justice outcomes to expose racial disparities. This study makes a significant contribution to the existing literature on reparations, human rights, and racial injustice in the United States. It offers a rigorous analysis of the enduring consequences of historical oppression and advocates for bold, justice-centered solutions.

Keywords: Black Americans, reparations, mass incarceration, racial injustice, human rights, united states

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Authors: Abdelkrim Belhaoua, Jean-Pierre Radoux

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In France, the railway network is one of the main transport infrastructures and is the second largest European network. Therefore, railway inspection is an important task in railway maintenance to ensure safety for passengers using significant means in personal and technical facilities. Artificial vision has recently been applied to several railway applications due to its potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy when analyzing large databases of acquired images. In this paper, we present a vision system able to detect fastening elements based on artificial vision approach. This system acquires railway images using a CCD camera installed under a control carriage. These images are stitched together before having processed. Experimental results are presented to show that the proposed method is robust for detection fasteners in a complex environment.

Keywords: computer vision, image processing, railway inspection, image stitching, fastener recognition, neural network

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Authors: Francisco Fernandez de Castro

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The Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) model gives monetary transfers to beneficiary families on the condition that they take specific education and health actions. According to the economic rationale of CCTs the poor need incentives to invest in their human capital because they are trapped by a lack of information and misleading beliefs. If left to their own decision, the poor will not be able to choose what is in their best interests. The basic assumption of the CCT model is that the poor need incentives to take care of their own education and health-nutrition. Due to the incentives (income cash transfers and conditionalities), beneficiary families are supposed to attend doctor visits and health talks. Children would stay in the school. These incentivized behaviors would produce outcomes such as better health and higher level of education, which in turn will reduce poverty. Based on a grounded theory approach to conduct a two-year period of qualitative data collection in northern Mexico, this study shows that this explanation is incomplete. In addition to the information failure and inadequate beliefs, there are structural barriers in everyday life of households that make health-nutrition and education investments difficult. In-depth interviews and observation work showed that the program takes for granted local conditions in which beneficiary families should fulfill their co-responsibilities. Data challenged the program’s assumptions and unveiled local obstacles not contemplated in the program’s design. These findings have policy and research implications for the CCT agenda. They bring elements for late programming due to the gap between the CCT strategy as envisioned by policy designers, and the program that beneficiary families experience on the ground. As for research consequences, these findings suggest new avenues for scholarly work regarding the causal mechanisms and social processes explaining CCT outcomes.

Keywords: conditional cash transfers, incentives, poverty, structural barriers

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Authors: Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael

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Addis Ababa City Administration is engaged in a massive facelift of the inner-city. The paper, therefore, aims to analyze the challenges of the current urban regeneration effort by paying special attention to Lideta and Basha Wolde Chilot projects. To this end, the paper has adopted a documentary research strategy to collect the data and Institutionalist perspective as well as the concept of urban regeneration to analyze the data. The sources were selected based on relevance and recency. Academic research outputs were used primarily. However, where much scholastic publications are not available institutional reports, newspaper articles, and expert presentations were used. The major findings of the research revealed that although the second generation of urban redevelopment projects have attempted to involve affected groups and succeeded in designing better neighborhoods, they are riddled with three major drawbacks. The first one is institutional constraints, i.e. absence of urban redevelopment strategy as well as housing policy, broad definition of ‘public purpose’, little regard for informal businesses, limitation on rights groups, negotiation power not devolved at sub-city level and no plan for groups that cannot afford to pay the down payment for low-cost apartments. The second one is planning limitation, i.e. absence of genuine affected group participation as well as consultative level of public engagement. The third one is implementation failure, i.e. no regard to maintaining social bond, non-participatory and ill-informed resettlement, interference from senior government officials, failure to protect the poor from speculators, corruption and disregard to heritage buildings. Based on the findings, the paper concluded that the current inner-city redevelopment has failed to be socially sustainable and calls for enactment of housing policy as well as redevelopment strategy, affected group participation, on-site resettlement, empowering the Sub-city to manage the project and allowing housing rights groups to advocate for the poor slum dwellers.

Keywords: participation, redevelopment, planning, implementation, consultation

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Authors: Stefania Fortino, Petr Hradil, Timo Avikainen

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Timber bridges have an excellent environmental performance, are economical, relatively easy to build and can have a long service life. However, the durability of these bridges is the main problem because of their exposure to outdoor climate conditions. The moisture content accumulated in wood for long periods, in combination with certain temperatures, may cause conditions suitable for timber decay. In addition, moisture content variations affect the structural integrity, serviceability and loading capacity of timber bridges. Therefore, the monitoring of the moisture content in wood is important for the durability of the material but also for the whole superstructure. The measurements obtained by the usual sensor-based techniques provide hygro-thermal data only in specific locations of the wood components. In this context, the monitoring can be assisted by numerical modelling to get more information on the hygro-thermal response of the bridges. This work presents a hygro-thermal model based on a multi-phase moisture transport theory to predict the distribution of moisture content, relative humidity and temperature in wood. Below the fibre saturation point, the multi-phase theory simulates three phenomena in cellular wood during moisture transfer, i.e., the diffusion of water vapour in the pores, the sorption of bound water and the diffusion of bound water in the cell walls. In the multi-phase model, the two water phases are separated, and the coupling between them is defined through a sorption rate. Furthermore, an average between the temperature-dependent adsorption and desorption isotherms is used. In previous works by some of the authors, this approach was found very suitable to study the moisture transport in uncoated and coated stress-laminated timber decks. Compared to previous works, the hygro-thermal fluxes on the external surfaces include the influence of the absorbed solar radiation during the time and consequently, the temperatures on the surfaces exposed to the sun are higher. This affects the whole hygro-thermal response of the timber component. The multi-phase model, implemented in a user subroutine of Abaqus FEM code, provides the distribution of the moisture content, the temperature and the relative humidity in a volume of the timber deck. As a case study, the hygro-thermal data in wood are collected from the ongoing monitoring of the stress-laminated timber deck of Tapiola Bridge in Finland, based on integrated humidity-temperature sensors and the numerical results are found in good agreement with the measurements. The proposed model, used to assist the monitoring, can contribute to reducing the maintenance costs of bridges, as well as the cost of instrumentation, and increase safety.

Keywords: moisture content, multi-phase models, solar radiation, timber decks, FEM

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Authors: Samipraj Mishra

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Despite the successful implementation of community forestry program, a number of pros and cons have been raised on Terai community forestry in the case of lowland locally called Terai region of Nepal, which is climatically belongs to tropical humid and possessed high quality forests in terms of ecology and economy. The study aims to investigate the local pricing strategy of forest products and its impacts on equitable forest benefit sharing, collection of community fund and carrying out livelihood improvement activities. The study was carried out on six community forests revealed that local people have substantially benefited from the community forests. However, being the region is heterogeneous by socio-economic conditions and forest resources have higher economical potential, the decision of low pricing strategy made by the local people have created inequality problems while sharing the forest benefits, and poorly contributed to community fund collection and consequently carrying out limited activities of livelihood improvement. The paper argued that the decision of low pricing strategy of forest products is counter-productive to promote the equitable benefit sharing in the areas of heterogeneous socio-economic conditions with high value forests. The low pricing strategy has been increasing accessibility of better off households at higher rate than poor; as such households always have higher affording capacity. It is also defective to increase the community fund and carry out activities of livelihood improvement effectively. The study concluded that unilateral decentralized forest policy and decision-making autonomy to the local people seems questionable unless their decision-making capacities are enriched sufficiently. Therefore, it is recommended that empowerment of decision-making capacity of local people and their respective institutions together with policy and program formulation are prerequisite for efficient and equitable community forest management and its long-term sustainability.

Keywords: community forest, livelihood, socio-economy, pricing system, Nepal

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Authors: Jan Ceselsky

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Construction and reconstruction of settlements and individual municipalities, environmental management and the creation, deployment of the forces of production and building transport and technical equipment requires a large expenditure of material and human resources. That is why the economic aspects of the majority decision in these planes built in the foreground and are often decisive. Thereby but more serious is that the economic aspects of the settlement, the creation and function remain in their whole, unprocessed, and can not speak of a set of individual techniques and methods traditional indicators and experiments with new approaches. This is true both at the level of the national economy, and in their own urban designs. Still a few remain identified specific economic shaping patterns of settlement and the less it is possible to speak of their control. Also practical assessing economics of specific solutions are often used non-apt indicators in addition to economics usually identifies with the lowest acquisition cost or high-intensity land use with little regard for functional efficiency and little studied much higher operating and maintenance costs.

Keywords: investment, municipal engineering, value for money, construction

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Authors: Odoh Dickson Akpegi

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The paper is about the need for an indigenous language in order to meaningfully harness both our human and material resources for the nation’s integration. It then examines the notty issue of the national language question and advocates a piece meal approach in solving the problem. This approach allows for the development and use of local languages in minority areas, especially in Benue State, as a way of preparing them for consideration as possible replacement for English language as Nigeria’s national or official language. Finally, an arrangement to follow to prepare the languages for such competition at the national level is presented.

Keywords: indigenous language, English language, official language, National integration

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Authors: Fatemeh Faramarzi, Hosein Mahjoob

Abstract:

Building dams on rivers for utilization of water resources causes problems in hydrodynamic equilibrium and results in leaving all or part of the sediments carried by water in dam reservoir. This phenomenon has also significant impacts on water and sediment flow regime and in the long term can cause morphological changes in the environment surrounding the river, reducing the useful life of the reservoir which threatens sustainable development through inefficient management of water resources. In the past, empirical methods were used to predict the sedimentation amount in dam reservoirs and to estimate its efficient lifetime. But recently the mathematical and computational models are widely used in sedimentation studies in dam reservoirs as a suitable tool. These models usually solve the equations using finite element method. This study compares the results from tow software packages, GSTARS4 & HEC-6, in the prediction of the sedimentation amount in Dez dam, southern Iran. The model provides a one-dimensional, steady-state simulation of sediment deposition and erosion by solving the equations of momentum, flow and sediment continuity and sediment transport. GSTARS4 (Generalized Sediment Transport Model for Alluvial River Simulation) which is based on a one-dimensional mathematical model that simulates bed changes in both longitudinal and transverse directions by using flow tubes in a quasi-two-dimensional scheme to calibrate a period of 47 years and forecast the next 47 years of sedimentation in Dez Dam, Southern Iran. This dam is among the highest dams all over the world (with its 203 m height), and irrigates more than 125000 square hectares of downstream lands and plays a major role in flood control in the region. The input data including geometry, hydraulic and sedimentary data, starts from 1955 to 2003 on a daily basis. To predict future river discharge, in this research, the time series data were assumed to be repeated after 47 years. Finally, the obtained result was very satisfactory in the delta region so that the output from GSTARS4 was almost identical to the hydrographic profile in 2003. In the Dez dam due to the long (65 km) and a large tank, the vertical currents are dominant causing the calculations by the above-mentioned method to be inaccurate. To solve this problem, we used the empirical reduction method to calculate the sedimentation in the downstream area which led to very good answers. Thus, we demonstrated that by combining these two methods a very suitable model for sedimentation in Dez dam for the study period can be obtained. The present study demonstrated successfully that the outputs of both methods are the same.

Keywords: Dez Dam, prediction, sedimentation, water resources, computational models, finite element method, GSTARS4, HEC-6

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Authors: Zongyan Yang, Gagan K. Jena, Sankar B. Karanam, Noora M. A. Hokal

Abstract:

Jumeirah First beach, a segment of coastline of length 1.5 km, is one of the popular public beaches in Dubai, UAE. The stability of the beach has been affected by several coastal developmental projects, including The World, Island 2 and La Mer. A comprehensive stabilization scheme comprising of two composite groynes (of lengths 90 m and 125m), modification to the northern breakwater of Jumeirah Fishing Harbour and beach re-nourishment was implemented by Dubai Municipality in 2012. However, the performance of the implemented stabilization scheme has been compromised by La Mer project (built in 2016), which modified the wave climate at the Jumeirah First beach. The objective of the coastal modelling studies is to establish design basis for further beach stabilization scheme(s). Comprehensive coastal modelling studies had been conducted to establish the nearshore wave climate, equilibrium beach orientations and stable beach plan forms. Based on the outcomes of the modeling studies, recommendation had been made to extend the composite groynes to stabilize the Jumeirah First beach. Wave transformation was performed following an interpolation approach with wave transformation matrixes derived from simulations of a possible range of wave conditions in the region. The Dubai coastal wave model is developed with MIKE21 SW. The offshore wave conditions were determined from PERGOS wave data at 4 offshore locations with consideration of the spatial variation. The lateral boundary conditions corresponding to the offshore conditions, at Dubai/Abu Dhabi and Dubai Sharjah borders, were derived with application of LitDrift 1D wave transformation module. The Dubai coastal wave model was calibrated with wave records at monitoring stations operated by Dubai Municipality. The wave transformation matrix approach was validated with nearshore wave measurement at a Dubai Municipality monitoring station in the vicinity of the Jumeirah First beach. One typical year wave time series was transformed to 7 locations in front of the beach to count for the variation of wave conditions which are affected by adjacent and offshore developments. Equilibrium beach orientations were estimated with application of LitDrift by finding the beach orientations with null annual littoral transport at the 7 selected locations. The littoral transport calculation results were compared with beach erosion/accretion quantities estimated from the beach monitoring program (twice a year including bathymetric and topographical surveys). An innovative integral method was developed to outline the stable beach plan forms from the estimated equilibrium beach orientations, with predetermined minimum beach width. The optimal lengths for the composite groyne extensions were recommended based on the stable beach plan forms.

Keywords: composite groyne, equilibrium beach orientation, stable beach plan form, wave transformation matrix

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Authors: Jiachen Wang, Dongxu Ji

Abstract:

Geothermal power generation is a mature technology with zero carbon emission and stable power output, which could play a vital role as an optimum substitution of base load technology in China’s future decarbonization society. However, the development of geothermal power plants in China is stagnated for a decade due to the underestimation of geothermal energy and insufficient favoring policy. Lack of understanding of the potential value of base-load technology and environmental benefits is the critical reason for disappointed policy support. This paper proposed a different energy-economic model to uncover the potential benefit of developing a geothermal power plant in Puer, including the value of base-load power generation, and environmental and economic benefits. Optimization of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for maximum power output and minimum Levelized cost of electricity was first conducted. This process aimed at finding the optimum working fluid, turbine inlet pressure, pinch point temperature difference and superheat degrees. Then the optimal ORC model was sent to the energy-economic model to simulate the potential economic and environmental benefits. Impact of geothermal power plants based on the scenarios of implementing carbon trade market, the direct subsidy per electricity generation and nothing was tested. In addition, a requirement of geothermal reservoirs, including geothermal temperature and mass flow rate for a competitive power generation technology with other renewables, was listed. The result indicated that the ORC power plant has a significant economic and environmental benefit over other renewable power generation technologies when implementing carbon trading market and subsidy support. At the same time, developers must locate the geothermal reservoirs with minimum temperature and mass flow rate of 130 degrees and 50 m/s to guarantee a profitable project under nothing scenarios.

Keywords: geothermal power generation, optimization, energy model, thermodynamics

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Authors: H. A. Erdogan

Abstract:

Historical masonry arch bridges built centuries ago have fulfilled their function until recent decades. However, from the beginning of 20th century, these bridges have remained inadequate as a result of increasing speed, size and capacity of the means of transport. Although new bridges have been built in many places, masonry bridges located within the city limits still need to be used. When the size and transportation loads of modern vehicles are taken into account, it is apparent that historical masonry arch bridges would be exposed to greater loads than their initial design loads. Because of that, many precautions taken either remain insufficient or damage these bridges. In this study, the history of Debbaglar Bridge, one of the historic bridges located in the city center of Aksaray/Turkey is presented and its existing condition is evaluated. Structural analysis of the bridge under present conditions and loads is explained. Moreover, the retrofit and restoration application prepared considering the analysis data is described.

Keywords: adaptive re-use, Aksaray debbaglar bridge, masonry bridge, reconstruction

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Authors: R. Faiez, M. Mashhoudi, F. Najafi

Abstract:

Implicit in most large-scale numerical analyses of the crystal growth from the melt is the assumption that the shape and position of the phase boundary are determined by the transport phenomena coupled strongly to the melt hydrodynamics. In the present numerical study, the interface shape-effect on the convective interactions in a Czochralski oxide melt is described. It was demonstrated that thermos-capillary flow affects inversely the phase boundaries of distinct shapes. The in homogenity of heat flux and the location of the stagnation point at the crystallization front were investigated. The forced convection effect on the point displacement at the boundary found to be much stronger for the flat plate interface compared to the cone-shaped one with and without the Marangoni flow.

Keywords: computer simulation, fluid flow, interface shape, thermos-capillary effect

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Rasim M. Alguliyev, Alovsat G. Aliyev

Abstract:

In the paper information on economic development trends in developed countries are analyzed. The current status of information society and economy of the country is reviewed and some recommendations are given for future development. The problems of Information Society and establishment of its innovative economy are studied. In this turn, development trends information economy in developed countries are analyzed.

Keywords: information economy, ICT sector, ICT infrastructure, innovation, innovation system hi-tech products, antimonopoly policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Fong-Zuo Lee, Jihn-Sung Lai, Yung-Bin Lin, Xiaoqin Liu, Kuo-Chun Chang, Zhi-Xian Yang, Wen-Dar Guo, Jian-Hao Hong

Abstract:

In recent years, climate change is a major factor to increase rainfall intensity and extreme rainfall frequency. The increased rainfall intensity and extreme rainfall frequency will increase the probability of flash flood with abundant sediment transport in a river basin. The floods caused by heavy rainfall may cause damages to the bridge, embankment, hydraulic works, and the other disasters. Therefore, the foundation scouring of bridge pier, embankment and spur dike caused by floods has been a severe problem in the worldwide. This severe problem has happened in many East Asian countries such as Taiwan and Japan because of these areas are suffered in typhoons, earthquakes, and flood events every year. Results from the complex interaction between fluid flow patterns caused by hydraulic works and the sediment transportation leading to the formation of river morphology, it is extremely difficult to develop a reliable and durable sensor to measure river bed degradation and bridge pier scouring. Therefore, an innovative scour monitoring sensor using vibration-based Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) was developed. This vibration-based MEMS sensor was packaged inside a stainless sphere with the proper protection of the full-filled resin, which can measure free vibration signals to detect scouring/deposition processes at the bridge pier. In addition, a friendly operational system includes rainfall runoff model, one-dimensional and two-dimensional numerical model, and the applicability of sediment transport equation and local scour formulas of bridge pier are included in this research. The friendly operational system carries out the simulation results of flood events that includes the elevation changes of river bed erosion near the specified bridge pier and the erosion depth around bridge piers. In addition, the system is developed with easy operation and integrated interface, the system can supplies users to calibrate and verify numerical model and display simulation results through the interface comparing to the scour monitoring sensors. To achieve the forecast of the erosion depth of river bed and main bridge pier in the study area, the system also connects the rainfall forecast data from Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute. The results can be provided available information for the management unit of river and bridge engineering in advance.

Keywords: flash flood, river bed degradation, bridge pier scouring, a friendly operational system

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Mabrouka Morri, Amel Soualmia, Philippe Belleudy

Abstract:

Vegetation affects the mean and turbulent flow structure. It may increase flood risks and sediment transport. Therefore, it is important to develop analytical approaches for the bed shear stress on vegetated bed, to predict resistance caused by vegetation. In the recent years, experimental and numerical models have both been developed to model the effects of submerged vegetation on open-channel flow. In this paper, different analytic models are compared and tested using the criteria of deviation, to explore their capacity for predicting the mean velocity and select the suitable one that will be applied in real case of rivers. The comparison between the measured data in vegetated flume and simulated mean velocities indicated, a good performance, in the case of rigid vegetation, whereas, Huthoff model shows the best agreement with a high coefficient of determination (R2=80%) and the smallest error in the prediction of the average velocities.

Keywords: analytic models, comparison, mean velocity, vegetation

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: Yuan-Hong Ho, Chiung-Ju Huang

Abstract:

This article presents a monitoring indicators system that predicts whether a local government in Taiwan is heading for fiscal distress and identifies a suitable fiscal policy that would allow the local government to achieve fiscal balance in the long run. This system is relevant to stockholders’ interest, simple for national audit bodies to use, and provides an early warning of fiscal distress that allows preventative action to be taken.

Keywords: fiscal health, fiscal distress, monitoring signals, 10-point scale

Procedia PDF Downloads 459