Search results for: prestressed concrete bridge

Authors: Muhammad Saqib Manzoor, Camille Dickson-Deane, Prashan Karunaratne

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Cobb-Douglas production (utility) function is a fundamental function widely used in economics teaching and research. The key reason is the function's characteristics to describe the actual production using inputs like labour and capital. The characteristics of the function like returns to scale, marginal, and diminishing marginal productivities are covered in the introductory units in both microeconomics and macroeconomics with a 2-dimensional static visualisation of the function. However, less insight is provided regarding three-dimensional surface, changes in the curvature properties due to returns to scale, the linkage of the short-run production function with its long-run counterpart and marginal productivities, the level curves, and the constraint optimisation. Since (freshman) learners have diverse prior knowledge and cognitive skills, the existing “one size fits all” approach is not very helpful. The aim of this study is to bridge this gap by introducing technological intervention with interactive animations of the three-dimensional surface and sequential unveiling of the characteristics mentioned above using Python software. A small classroom intervention has helped students enhance their analytical and visualisation skills towards active and authentic learning of this topic. However, to authenticate the strength of our approach, a quasi-Delphi study will be conducted to ask domain-specific experts, “What value to the learning process in economics is there using a 2-dimensional static visualisation compared to using a 3-dimensional dynamic visualisation?’ Here three perspectives of the intervention were reviewed by a panel comprising of novice students, experienced students, novice instructors, and experienced instructors in an effort to determine the learnings from each type of visualisations within a specific domain of knowledge. The value of this approach is key to suggesting different pedagogical methods which can enhance learning outcomes.

Keywords: cobb-douglas production function, quasi-Delphi method, effective teaching and learning, 3D-visualisations

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Authors: Daphne Alroy-Thiberge

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Trauma-impacted individuals present unique treatment challenges that include high reactivity, hyper-and hypo-arousal, poor adherence to therapy, as well as powerful transference and counter-transference experiences in therapy. This work provides an overview of the clinical tenets most often encountered in trauma-impacted individuals. Further, it provides readily applicable clinical techniques to optimize therapeutic rapport and facilitate accelerated positive mental health outcomes. Finally, integrated neuroscience and clinical evidence-based data are discussed to shed new light on crisis states in trauma-impacted individuals. This knowledge is utilized to provide effective and concrete interventions towards rapid and successful de-escalation of the impacted individual. A highly interactive, adult-learning-principles-based modality is utilized to provide an organic learning experience for participants. The information and techniques learned aim to increase clinical effectiveness, reduce staff injuries and burnout, and significantly enhance positive mental health outcomes and self-determination for the trauma-impacted individuals treated.

Keywords: clinical competencies, crisis interventions, psychotherapy techniques, trauma informed care

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Authors: Agus Masrukhin

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This research aims to find and analyze the model of character building in the Police Headquarters in Bali with a case study of Muslim members in improving the quality of the morality of its members. The formation of patterns of thinking, behavior, mentality, and police officers noble character, later can be used as a solution to reduce the hedonistic nature of the challenges in the era of globalization. The benefit of this study is expected to be a positive recommendation to find a constructive character building models of police officers in the Republic of Indonesia, especially Bali Police. For the long term, the discovery of the character building models can be developed for the entire police force in Indonesia. The type of research that would apply in this study researchers mix the qualitative research methods based on the narrative between the subject and the concrete experience of field research and quantitative research methods with 92 respondents from the police regional police Bali. This research used a descriptive analysis and SWOT analysis then it is presented in the FGD (focus group discussion). The results of this research indicate that the variable modeling the leadership of the police and variable police offices culture have significant influence on the implementation of spiritual development.

Keywords: positive constructive, hedonistic, character models, morality

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Authors: Muqarrab Akbar

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Pakistan is considered as a state confronting different internal and external challenges. Extremism is one of the most vital internal challenges faced by Pakistani society. The state’s contradictory policies, political instability, socio-economic injustice, absence of the rule of law are the major reasons behind the proliferation of violence and extremism in society. The fall of the Shah of Iran, the Iranian revolution, the 1979 Afghan war of 1979, the emergence of Al-Qaeda, Talibanisation, war against terrorism, and involvement of Saudia and Iran have further aggravated the culture of violence and extremism in Pakistan. The absence of a narrative of peaceful coexistence and harmony has created a vacuum for youth in Pakistani society. In the contemporary era, civil society and the government of Pakistan has initiated different steps to introduce a narrative to counter violent extremism. These narratives have helped a lot in creating community resilience to promote peace and harmony among Pakistani society in general and to bridge the gap between the Sunni Shia divide in particular. This paper will highlight those factors in detail that threw the society into extremism and violence, particularly with reference to Sunni Shia divide in Pakistan. This paper explores the impact of sectarian violence in Pakistan and highlights the different initiatives and their impacts on Pakistani society at large. A quantitative method has been adopted to explore the results. Empirical study used in the paper was based on the survey conducted by distributing questionnaires among 300 people from both community Sunni and Shia in Pakistan. Some interviews of the religious scholars of both communities are also conducted for this research. The recent developments on the government level and society levels have created community resilience. The results of the survey show that Pakistani society in the contemporary era is more peaceful and tolerant as compared to the past. The research concludes that the counter-narrative approach is positively affecting the peaceful environment in Pakistan.

Keywords: extremism, Pakistan, Shia, Sunni, violence

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Authors: Gabriel Sunday Ayayia

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The paper argues that Ubuntu, as a philosophy that emphasizes the interconnectedness of all living things and importance of community and mutual support, can be used as a social framework to address the problems of climate change and promote environmental sustainability. The research demonstrate that Ubuntu is an ideological concept that encourages collective action on climate change, with the emphasis on individual and collective commitment to taking concrete action to address the problems of climate change. The paper shows that Ubuntu can be employed as a social tool that would enhance the cultivation of shared identity and promote the sense of shared response responsibility to develop the resilience to cope with climate change. Using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the study establishes the imperativeness of mutual support and cooperation through the lens of Ubuntu as a human-centered scalable response to the debacle of climate change. It recommends that we can build a society that values the environment and promotes sustainable practices by encouraging community involvement in sustainable initiatives by integrating Ubuntu-based principles to our decision-making processes, collaboration, leadership, human agency and governance.

Keywords: ubuntu, climate change, humanity, collective actions, community-based

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Authors: Stefano Sorace, Gloria Terenzi

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The study of a base isolation seismic retrofit solution for a reinforced concrete school building is presented in this paper. The building was assumed as a benchmark structure for a Research Project financed by the Italian Department of Civil Protection, and is representative of several similar public edifices designed with earlier Technical Standards editions, in Italy as well as in other earthquake-prone European countries. The structural characteristics of the building, and a synthesis of the investigation campaigns developed on it, are initially presented. The mechanical parameters, dimensions, locations and installation details of the base isolation system, incorporating double friction pendulum sliding bearings as protective devices, are then illustrated, along with the performance assessment analyses carried out in original and rehabilitated conditions according to a full non-linear dynamic approach. The results of the analyses show a remarkable enhancement of the seismic response capacities of the structure in base-isolated configuration. This allows reaching the high performance levels postulated in the rehabilitation design with notably lower costs and architectural intrusion as compared to traditional retrofit interventions designed for the same objectives.

Keywords: seismic retrofit, seismic assessment, r/c structures, school buildings, base isolation

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Authors: Mohammad Parsaeimaram, Fang Congqi

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In this paper, one of the significant seismic design parameter as response modification factor in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with base isolation system was evaluated. The seismic isolation system is a capable approach to absorbing seismic energy at the base and transfer to the substructure with lower response modification factor as compared to non-isolated structures. A response spectrum method and static nonlinear pushover analysis in according to Uniform Building Code (UBC-97), have been performed on building models involve 5, 8, 12 and 15 stories building with fixed and isolated bases consist of identical moment resisting configurations. The isolation system is composed of lead rubber bearing (LRB) was designed with help UBC-97 parameters. The force-deformation behavior of isolators was modeled as bi-linear hysteretic behavior which can be effectively used to create the isolation systems. The obtained analytical results highlight the response modification factor of considered base isolation system with higher values than recommended in the codes. The response modification factor is used in modern seismic codes to scale down the elastic response of structures.

Keywords: response modification factor, base isolation system, pushover analysis, lead rubber bearing, bi-linear hysteretic

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Authors: Andreas Johansson

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Conceptual understanding needs to be grounded on observation of physical phenomena, experiences or metaphors. Observation of physical phenomena using demonstration experiments has a long tradition within physics education and students need to develop mental models to relate the observations to concepts from scientific theories. This study investigates how live and video experiments involving an acoustic trap to visualize particle-field interaction, field properties and particle properties can help develop students' mental models and how they can be used differently to realize their potential as teaching tools. Initially, they were treated as analogs and the lesson designs were kept identical. With a design-based approach, the experimental and video designs, as well as best practices for a respective teaching tool, were then developed in iterations. Variation theory was used as a theoretical framework to analyze the planned respective realized pattern of variation and invariance in order to explain learning outcomes as measured by a pre-posttest consisting of conceptual multiple-choice questions inspired by the Force Concept Inventory and the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation. Interviews with students and teachers were used to inform the design of experiments and videos in each iteration. The lesson designs and the live and video experiments has been developed to help teachers improve student learning and make school physics more interesting by involving experimental setups that usually are out of reach and to bridge the gap between what happens in classrooms and in science research. As students’ conceptual knowledge also rises their interest in physics the aim is to increase their chances of pursuing careers within science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

Keywords: acoustic trap, design-based research, experiments, variation theory

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Authors: Ramorola Mmankoko Ziphorah

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Videoconference technology represents a recent experiment of technology integration into teaching and learning in South Africa. Increasingly, videoconference technology is commonly used as a substitute for the traditional face-to-face approaches to teaching and learning in helping tutors to reshape and change their teaching practices. Interestingly, though, some studies point out that videoconference technology is commonly used for knowledge dissemination by tutors and not so much for the actual teaching of course content in Open and Distance Learning context. Though videoconference technology has become one of the dominating technologies available among Open and Distance Learning institutions, it is not clear that it has been used as effectively to bridge the learning distance in time, geography, and economy. While tutors are prepared theoretically, in most tutor preparation programs, on the use of videoconference technology, there are still no practical guidelines on how they should go about integrating this technology into their course teaching. Therefore, there is an urgent need to focus on tutor development, specifically on their capacities and skills to use videoconference technology. The assumption is that if tutors become competent in the use of the videoconference technology for course teaching, then their use in Open and Distance Learning environment will become more commonplace. This is the imperative of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) on education generally. Against the current vacuum in the practice of using videoconference technology for course teaching, the current study proposes a qualitative phenomenological approach to investigate the efficacy of videoconferencing as an approach to student learning. Using interviews and observation data from ten participants in Open and Distance Learning institution, the author discusses how dialogue and structure interacted to provide the participating tutors with a rich set of opportunities to deliver course content. The findings to this study highlight various challenges experienced by tutors when using videoconference technology. The study suggests tutor development programs on their capacity and skills and on how to integrate this technology with various teaching strategies in order to enhance student learning. The author argues that it is not merely the existence of the structure, namely the videoconference technology, that provides the opportunity for effective teaching, but that is the interactions, namely, the dialogue amongst tutors and learners that make videoconference technology an attractive vehicle for challenging and changing tutors practice.

Keywords: open distance learning, transactional distance, tutor, videoconference

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Authors: Pradeep Kumar, Shalinee Shukla

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Pavement plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of a country. Bituminous roads construction with conventional paving grade bitumen obtained from hot mix plant creates pollution and involves emission of greenhouse gases, also the construction of pavements at very high temperature is not feasible or desirable for high rainfall and snowfall areas. This problem of overheating can be eliminated by the construction of pavements with the usage of emulsified cold mixes which will eliminate emissions and help in the reduction of fuel requirement at mixing plant, which leads to energy conservation. Cold mix is a mixture of unheated aggregate and emulsion or cutback and filler. The primary objective of this research is to assess the volumetric mix design parameters of recycled aggregates with cold mixing technology and also to assess the impact of additives on volumetric mix characteristics. In this present study, bituminous pavement materials are reclaimed using cold mix technology, and Marshall specimens are prepared with the help of slow setting type 2 (SS-2) cationic bitumen emulsion as a binder for recycled aggregates. This technique of road construction is more environmentally friendly and can be done in adverse weather conditions.

Keywords: cold mixes, bitumen emulsion, recycled aggregates, volumetric properties

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Authors: Maurice Steinhoff, Lucas Costantino, Dominik Kanbach

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Measurement approaches to corporate venturing (CV) success are highly diverse in the extant literature. Furthermore, these approaches rarely build on each other, making it difficult to derive comparable conclusions about CV outcomes. Employing a systematic literature review of three decades of research, the objective of this study is to provide transparency and structure in the broad field of CV research. Subsequently, the paper examines 28 studies in detail, resulting in two main contributions to the research field. First, three structural dimensions of measurement approaches are derived from the studies in the sample, namely, “level of analysis” (parent, program, and venture levels), “measurement perspective” (objective, subjective, and mixed measurement), and “locus of opportunity” (internal, external, and general CV activities). Second, an integrated overview of nine unique clusters structures the different measurement approaches. These clusters allow to encapsulate measurement approaches, but also make visible the approaches’ heterogeneity, as well as specific measurement items. Thereby, the study contributes to CV research by revealing and reconciling the variety of CV success-measurement approaches. The study also provides relevant insights for practitioners, by making transparent the various approaches to measuring the success of CV activities and presenting a list of 114 concrete and distinct measurement items.

Keywords: corporate venturing, measurement items, success measurement, structured literature review

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Authors: Victor Toom

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Albeit it is never possible to anticipate the full range of difficulties after a catastrophe, efforts to identify victims of mass casualty events have become institutionalized and standardized with the aim of effectively and efficiently addressing the many challenges and contingencies. Such ‘disaster victim identification’ (DVI) practices are dependent on the forensic sciences, are subject of national legislation, and are reliant on technical and organizational protocols to mitigate the many complexities in the wake of catastrophe. Apart from such technological, legal and bureaucratic elements constituting a DVI operation, victims’ families and their emotions are also part and parcel of any effort to identify casualties of mass human fatality incidents. Take for example the fact that forensic experts require (antemortem) information from the group of relatives to make identification possible. An identified body or body part is also repatriated to kin. Relatives are thus main stakeholders in DVI operations. Much has been achieved in years past regarding facilitating victims’ families’ issues and their emotions. Yet, how families are dealt with by experts and authorities is still considered a difficult topic. Due to sensitivities and required emphatic interaction with families on the one hand, and the rationalized DVI efforts, on the other hand, there is still scope for improving communication, providing information and meaningful inclusion of relatives in the DVI effort. This paper aims to bridge the standardized world of DVI efforts and families’ experienced realities and makes suggestions to further improve DVI efforts through inclusion of victims’ families. Based on qualitative interviews, the paper narrates involvement and experiences of inter alia DVI practitioners, victims’ families, advocates and clergy in the wake of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide which killed approximately 8,000 men, and the 9/11 in New York City with 2,750 victims. The paper shows that there are several models of including victims’ families into a DVI operation, and it argues for a model of where victims’ families become a partner in DVI operations.

Keywords: disaster victim identification (DVI), victims’ families, social science (qualitative), 9/11 attacks, Srebrenica genocide

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Authors: Abdel Qader Al Bawab, Mohannad Odeh, Rami Amer

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Recently, there has been an increasing interest in innovative business development. Nevertheless, in the pharmacy practice field, there seems to be a gap in perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge about innovation between practicing pharmacists and academia. This study explores this gap and aspects of pharmaceutical innovation in Jordan, comparing pharmacists and last-year pharmacy students. A validated (r2 = 0.74) and reliable (Pearson’s r = 0.88) online questionnaire was designed to assess and compare knowledge, attitude, and perceptions about pharmaceutical innovation. A total of 397 participants (215 pharmacy students and 182 pharmaceutical professionals) responded. Compared with 50% of the pharmacists, only 32.1% of the students claimed that they knew the differences between pharmaceutical innovation, discovery, invention, and entrepreneurship [x2 (2) = 14.238, p = 0.001; Cramer’s V = 0.189]. Pharmacists demonstrated a higher level of trust in the innovative website design for their institution compared with students (25.3% vs. 16.3%, p < 0.001, Cramer’s V = 0.327). However, 60% of the students did not know the innovative design standards for websites, while the corresponding percentage was 37% for the pharmacists (p < 0.001; Cramer’s V = 0.327). The majority of the students were interested in pharmaceutical innovation (81.9%). Unfortunately, 76.3% never studied innovation in their pharmacy curricula. Similarly, most pharmacists (76.4%) considered adopting innovation, but only 30% had a concrete plan. For the field where pharmacists aim to innovate in the next 5 years, new pharmaceutical services were the dominant field (34.6%). Despite a positive attitude and perception, pharmacists and pharmacy students expressed poor knowledge about innovation. Policies to enhance awareness about innovation and professional educational tools should be implemented.

Keywords: pharmacy, innovation, knowledge, attitude, practice

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Authors: Ahmed A. Mohamed Aly

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Ground movements induced from excavations is a major cause of deformation and damage to the adjacent buildings and utilities. With the increasing rate of construction work in urban area, this problem is growing more significant and has become the cause of numerous legal disputes. This problem is investigated numerically in the present study using finite element method. Five-story reinforced concrete building rests on raft foundation is idealized as two dimensional model. The building is considered to be constructed adjacent to excavation affected by an adjacent excavation in medium sand. Excavation is supported using sheet pile wall. Two dimensional plane strain program PLAXIS is used in this study. 15 nodes triangular element is used to idealize soil with Mohr-Coulomb model. Five nodes isoperimetric beam element is used to idealize sheet pile and building. Interface element is used to represent the contact between beam element and soil. Two parameters were studied, the first is the foundation depth and the second is the building distance from the excavation. Nodal displacements and elements straining actions were obtained and studied from the analyzed finite element model results.

Keywords: excavation, relative distance, effective stresses, lateral deformation, relative depth

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Authors: Saemee Jun, Dong-Hyeon Shin, Tae-Sang Ahn, Hyung-Joon Kim

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Building loss estimation methodologies which have been advanced considerably in recent decades are usually used to estimate socio and economic impacts resulting from seismic structural damage. In accordance with these methods, this paper presents the evaluation of an annual loss probability of a reinforced concrete moment resisting frame designed according to Korean Building Code. The annual loss probability is defined by (1) a fragility curve obtained from a capacity spectrum method which is similar to a method adopted from HAZUS, and (2) a seismic hazard curve derived from annual frequencies of exceedance per peak ground acceleration. Seismic fragilities are computed to calculate the annual loss probability of a certain structure using functions depending on structural capacity, seismic demand, structural response and the probability of exceeding damage state thresholds. This study carried out a nonlinear static analysis to obtain the capacity of a RC moment resisting frame selected as a prototype building. The analysis results show that the probability of being extensive structural damage in the prototype building is expected to 0.004% in a year.

Keywords: expected annual loss, loss estimation, RC structure, fragility analysis

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Authors: Brittany L. Kang

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One familiar theory of the origin of multiple personalities focuses on how symptoms of trauma or abuse are central causes, as seen in paradigmatic examples of the condition. The theory states that multiple personalities constitute a congenital condition, as babies all exhibit multiplicity, and that generally alters only remain separated due to trauma. In more typical cases, the alters converge and become a single identity; only in cases of trauma, according to this account, do the alters remain separated. This theory is misleading in many aspects, the most prominent being that not all multiple personality patients are victims of child abuse or trauma, nor are all cases of multiple personality observed in early childhood. The use of this criterion also causes clinical problems, including an inability to identify multiple personalities through the variety of symptoms and traits seen across observed cases. These issues present a need for revision in the currently applied criterion in order to separate the notion of child abuse and to be able to better understand the origins of multiple personalities itself. Identifying multiplicity through the application of identity theories will improve the current criterion, offering a bridge between identifying existing cases and understanding their origins. We begin by applying arguments from Wiggins, who held that each personality within a multiple was not a whole individual, but rather characters who switch off. Wiggins’ theory is supported by observational evidence of how such characters are differentiated. Alters of older ages are seen to require different prescription lens, in addition to having different handwriting. The alters may also display drastically varying styles of clothing, preferences in food, their gender, sexuality, religious beliefs and more. The definitions of terms such as 'personality' or 'persons' also become more distinguished, leading to greater understanding of who is exactly able to be classified as a patient of multiple personalities. While a more common meaning of personality is a designation of specific characteristics which account for the entirety of a person, this paper argues from Wiggins’ theory that each 'personality' is in fact only partial. Clarification of the concept in question will allow for more successful future clinical applications.

Keywords: identification, multiple personalities, origin, Wiggins' theory

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Authors: Sulaem Musaddiq Laskar, Sudip Talukdar

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Sustainable supplementary cementitious material is the prime need in the construction industry. Geopolymer has strong potential for replacing the conventional Portland cement used in mortar and concrete in the industry. This study deals with experimental investigations performed on geopolymer mixes prepared from both ultra-fine ground granulated blast furnace slag and fly ash in a certain proportion. Geopolymer mixes were prepared with alkali activator composed of sodium hydroxide solution and varying amount of superplasticizer. The mixes were tested to study fresh and hardened state properties such as setting time, workability and compressive strength. Influence of concentration of alkali activator on effectiveness of superplasticizer in modifying the properties of geopolymer mixes was also investigated. Results indicated that addition of superplasticizer to ultra-fine slag-fly ash based geopolymer is advantageous in terms of setting time, workability and strength performance but up to certain dosage level. Higher concentration of alkali activator renders ineffectiveness in superplasticizer in improving the fresh and hardened state properties of geopolymer mixes.

Keywords: ultra-fine slag, fly ash, superplasticizer, setting time, workability, compressive strength

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Authors: Salman Ali Nisar, Suzuki Koji

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In this paper we developed a new algorithm to convert the project scheduling time into calendar date in order to handle non-interruptible activities not to be split by non-working days (such as weekend and holidays). In a construction project some activities might require not to be interrupted even on non-working days, or to be finished on the end day of business days. For example, concrete placing work might be required to be completed by the end day of weekdays i.e. Friday, and curing in the weekend. This research provides an algorithm that imposes time constraint for start and finish times of non-interruptible activities. The algorithm converts working days, which is obtained by Critical Path Method (CPM), to calendar date with consideration of the start date of a project. After determining the interruption by non-working days, the start time of a certain activity should be postponed, if there is enough total float value. Otherwise, the duration is shortened by hiring additional resources capacity or/and using overtime work execution. Then, time constraints are imposed to start time and finish time of the activity. The algorithm is developed in Excel Spreadsheet for microcomputer and therefore we can easily get a feasible, calendared construction schedule for such a construction project with some non-interruptible activities.

Keywords: project management, scheduling, critical path method, time constraint, non-interruptible tasks

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Authors: Debasis Sarkar

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Development of a Smart City would depend upon the development of its infrastructure in a smart way. Primarily based on the ideology of the fourth industrial revolution a Smart City project should have Smart governance, smart health care, smart building, smart transportation, smart mobility, smart energy, smart technology and smart citizen. Considering the Indian scenario of current state of cities in India, it has become very essential to decide the specific parameters which would govern the development of a Smart City project. It has been observed that there are significant parameters beyond Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which govern the development of a Smart City project. This paper is an attempt to identify the Critical Success Factors (CSF) which are significantly responsible for the development of a Smart City project in Western India. Responses to questionnaire survey were analyzed on basis of Likert scale. They were further critically evaluated with help of Factor Comparison Method (FCM) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The project authorities need to incorporate Building Information Modeling (BIM) to make the smart city project more collaborative. To make the project more sustainable, use of flyash in the concrete used, reduced usage of cement and steel, use of alternate fuels like biodiesel is recommended.

Keywords: analytical hierarchical process, building information modeling, critical success factors, factor comparison method

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Authors: Yong Wook Kim

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The diversity of students in regular classrooms is increasing due to expand inclusive education and increase multicultural students in South Korea. In this diverse classroom environment, the universal design for learning (UDL) has been proposed as a way to meet both the educational need and social expectation of student achievement. UDL offers a variety of practical teaching methods, one of which is a differentiating instruction. The differentiating instruction has been pointed out resource limitation, organizational resistance, and lacks easy-to-implement framework. However, through the framework provided by the UDL, differentiating instruction is able to be flexible in their implementation. In practice, the UDL and differentiating instruction are complementary, but there is still a lack of research that suggests specific implementation methods that apply both concepts at the same time. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of differentiating instruction strategies according to learner characteristics (readiness, interest, learning profile), components of differentiating instruction (content, process, performance, learning environment), especially UDL principles (representation, behavior and expression, participation) existed in differentiating instruction, and implementation of UDL-based differentiating instruction through the Planning for All Learner (PAL) and UDL Lesson Plan Cycle. It is meaningful that such a series of studies can enhance the possibility of more concrete and realistic UDL-based teaching and learning strategies in the classroom, especially in inclusive settings.

Keywords: universal design for learning, differentiating instruction, UDL lesson plan, PAL

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Authors: Polly Parkinson, Emma Mecham, Fawn Groves, Amy Wilson-Lopez, Ivonne Santiago

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In the rush to meet electric vehicle (EV) adoption goals that address environmental and health concerns, engineering planners and community policy experts cannot separate the socioeconomic and equity factors from transportation needs. Two gaps are identified in existing research: concrete proposals that address affordable micromobility options and provide for needs of community members without cars, and community-engaged research that elevates the concerns and solutions brought forward by historically-marginalized community members. This data analysis from a recent case study in a vulnerable community indicates that because transportation decisions are inextricably linked to health, work, and housing, EV adoption must also address multifaceted human needs. Communities focused on building more electric vehicle charging stations must find ways for lower-income households to also benefit. This research engaged residents in the planning process and resulted in a template for charging stations to advance mobility justice with a range of options that purposefully benefit the whole community.

Keywords: community engagement, electric vehicle charging, environmental justice, participatory research, transportation equity

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Authors: Rishabh Nagpal, Riya Uchagaonkar, Venkata Naga Narasimha Ashish Mernedi, Ahmed Hambaba

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The rapid evolution of technology in the communication sector continually seeks to bridge the gap between different communities, notably between the deaf community and the hearing world. This project develops a comprehensive American Sign Language (ASL) recognition system, leveraging the advanced capabilities of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and vision transformers (ViTs) to interpret and translate ASL in real-time. The primary objective of this system is to provide an effective communication tool that enables seamless interaction through accurate sign language interpretation. The architecture of the proposed system integrates dual networks -VGG16 for precise spatial feature extraction and vision transformers for contextual understanding of the sign language gestures. The system processes live input, extracting critical features through these sophisticated neural network models, and combines them to enhance gesture recognition accuracy. This integration facilitates a robust understanding of ASL by capturing detailed nuances and broader gesture dynamics. The system is evaluated through a series of tests that measure its efficiency and accuracy in real-world scenarios. Results indicate a high level of precision in recognizing diverse ASL signs, substantiating the potential of this technology in practical applications. Challenges such as enhancing the system’s ability to operate in varied environmental conditions and further expanding the dataset for training were identified and discussed. Future work will refine the model’s adaptability and incorporate haptic feedback to enhance the interactivity and richness of the user experience. This project demonstrates the feasibility of an advanced ASL recognition system and lays the groundwork for future innovations in assistive communication technologies.

Keywords: sign language, computer vision, vision transformer, VGG16, CNN

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Authors: Abdullah Alenezi, Mane Alsudrawi, Rafat Misak

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Kuwait is faced with a potentially wide and harmful range of both natural and anthropogenic hazardous events such as dust storms, floods, fires, nuclear accidents, earthquakes, oil spills, tsunamis and other disasters. For Kuwait can be highly vulnerable to these complex environmental risks, an up-to-date and in-depth understanding of their typology, genesis, and impact on the Kuwaiti society is needed. Adequate anticipation and management of environmental crises further require a comprehensive system of decision support to the benefit of decision makers to further bridge the gap between (technical) risk understanding and public action. For that purpose, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), intends to establish a decision support center for management of the environmental crisis in Kuwait. The center will support policy makers, stakeholders and national committees with technical information that helps them efficiently and effectively assess, monitor to manage environmental disasters using decision support tools. These tools will build on state of the art quantification and visualization techniques, such as remote sensing information, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), simulation and prediction models, early warning systems, etc. The center is conceived as a central facility which will be designed, operated and managed by KISR in coordination with national authorities and decision makers of the country. Our vision is that by 2035 the center will be recognized as a leading national source of scientific advice on national risk management in Kuwait and build unity of effort among Kuwaiti’s institutions, government agencies, public and private organizations through provision and sharing of information. The project team now focuses on capacity building through upgrading some KISR facilities manpower development, build strong collaboration with international alliance.

Keywords: decision support, environment, hazard, Kuwait

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Authors: B. S. Al-Tulaian, M. J. Al-Shannag, A. M. Al-Hozaimy

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The development of new construction materials using recycled plastic is important to both the construction and the plastic recycling industries. Manufacturing of fibers from industrial or post-consumer plastic waste is an attractive approach with such benefits as concrete performance enhancement, and reduced needs for land filling. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of plastic fibers obtained locally from recycled waste on plastic shrinkage cracking of ordinary cement based mortar. Parameters investigated include: Fiber length ranging from 20 to 50 mm, and fiber volume fraction ranging from 0% to 1.5% by volume. The test results showed significant improvement in crack arresting mechanism and substantial reduction in the surface area of cracks for the mortar reinforced with recycled plastic fibers compared to plain mortar. Furthermore, test results indicated that there was a slight decrease in compressive strength of mortar reinforced with different lengths and contents of recycled fibers compared to plain mortar. This study suggests that adding more than 1% of RP fibers to mortar, can be used effectively for controlling plastic shrinkage cracking of cement based mortar, and thus results in waste reduction and resources conservation.

Keywords: mortar, plastic, shrinkage cracking, compressive strength, RF recycled fibers

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Authors: K. A. Kemelov, Z. K. Maymekov, D. A. Sambaeva, W. Frenzel

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Benzo(a)pyrene is widespread carcinogenic and mutagenic environmental pollutant, which is formed in combustion processes of carbonaceous materials at high temperature and still health safety problem related benz(a)pyrene continues to remain actual. At the moment the mechanisms of formation of benzo(a)pyrene are not studied in detail, there is not concrete certain full scheme of synthesis of benzo(a)pyrene. Studies in this area are mainly dedicated to development of measuring tools and chemical reactions analyzes, or to obtain specific evidence of a large group of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Consequently in this study we try to create physical and chemical model of oxidation and thermo destruction processes of benzo(a)pyrene, using critical thermodynamical parameters in order to estimate theoretical derivatives of benzo(a)pyrene and which conditions benzo(a)pyrene degraded into more harmful substances. According to this physical and chemical modeling of thermal destruction process of benzo(a)pyrene in wide ranges of change of temperature value were calculated. C20H12 - H2O-O2 system was taken for modeling of thermal destruction process of benzo(a)pyrene in order to establish distribution range of equilibrium structures and concentrations of molecules in a gas phase. Also technological ways of reduction of concentration of benzo(a)pyrene in a gas phase were supposed.

Keywords: benzo(a)pyrene, emission, PAH, thermodynamic parameters

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Authors: Alexey Yu. Martynov, Sulejman Bayramov

Abstract:

Introduction: The myocardial bridging is the most common anomaly of the coronary arteries (CA). Depending on the examination method, the frequency of detected myocardial bridges (MB) varies in a rather wide range. The typical clinical manifestations of MB are angina pectoris, arrhythmias, sudden cardiac death. Objective: To study the incidence of MB in patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease (CAD). To assess clinical manifestations of MB in patients admitted with CAD. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of 19159 case histories of patients admitted at clinical city hospital in Moscow from 01.01.2018 to 31.12 2019 with CAD was performed. 9384 patients’ coronary angiographies (CAG) were examined for MB. The localization of MB, the degree of coronary contraction by MB, the number of MB, isolated MB and combined with CAD were assessed. The clinical manifestations of MB were determined. Results: MB was detected in 52 patients all with one myocardial bridge. 20 patients with MB have intact CA, and 32 patients have MB combined with CAD. Among 20 patients with intact CA: I degree of MB contraction (up to 50%) was detected in 9 patients. Clinical manifestations in five cases were angina pectoris, in 3 myocardial infarction (MI) - 1 patients with ST segment elevation MI (STEMI), 2 without ST segment elevation MI (NSTEMI), 1 post-infarction cardiosclerosis (PICS). Stable angina II FC in 3, III FC in 1, vasospastic angina (VSA) in 1 patient. II degree of MB contraction (up to 50-70%) was determined in 9 patients: in seven cases angina pectoris was detected, 1 NSTEMI, 1 PICS. Stable angina II FC in 3, III FC in 1, VSA in 3 patients. III degree of MB contraction (> 70%) detected in 2 patients. II FC stable angina in one case, PICS in another. Among 32 patients having MB combined with CAD I degree of MB contraction was observed in 20 patients. Clinical manifestations in 12 cases were angina pectoris in 8 II FC and in 4 III FC, 7 MI 6 with STEMI and 1 NSTEMI, 1 PICS. II degree of MB contraction was detected in 7 patients, 4 of them had angina pectoris, 3 MI 2 with STEMI and 1 NSTEMI. Stable angina II FC in 3, VSA in 1 patients. III degree of MB contraction was diagnosed in five patients. In two cases, II FC and III FC stable angina were observed, 2 MI with STEMI and NSTEMI, 1 PICS. Conclusions: MB incidence is one in 368 patients with CAD. The most common involvement (68%) is MB combined with CA atherosclerotic lesions. MB with intact CA are detected in one-third (32%) of patients. The first-degree MB contraction is most frequent condition. MI is more often detected in intact CA with first degree MB than in the second degree. The degree of MB contraction was not correlated with the severity of the clinical manifestations.

Keywords: clinical manifestations, coronary angiography, coronary artery disease, myocardial bridging, myocardial infarction, stable angina

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Authors: Mohammad Amjad, Muhammad Iqbal Zafar, Ashfaq Ahmed Maan, Muhammad Tayyab Kashif

Abstract:

Obesity is an abnormal physical condition where an increased and undesirable fat accumulates in the human body. Obesity is an international phenomenon. In the present study, 12 schools were randomly selected from each district considering the areas i.e. Elite Private Schools in the private sector, Government schools in urban areas and Government schools in rural areas. Interviews were conducted with male students studying in grade 5 to grade 9 in each school. The sample size was 600 students; 300 from Faisalabad district and 300 from Rawalpindi district in Pakistan. A well-structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection. The calibrated scales were used to attain the heights and weights of the respondents. Obesity of school-going children depends on family types, family size, family history, junk food consumption, mother’s education, weekly time spent in walking, and sports facility at school levels. Academic performance, physical health and psychological health of school going children are affected with obesity. Concrete steps and policies could minimize the incidence of obesity in children in Pakistan.

Keywords: body mass index, cardiovascular disease, fast food, morbidity, overweight

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Authors: Venkata Ramana Pamu

Abstract:

This paper is a case study of a 5310 ML capacity Raw Water Reservoir (RWR), situated in Indian state Rajasthan, which is a part of Rajasthan Rural Water Supply & Fluorosis Mitigation Project. This RWR embankment was constructed by locally available material on natural ground profile. Height of the embankment was varying from 2m to 10m.This is due to existing ground level was varying. Reservoir depth 9m including 1.5m free board and 1V:3H slopes were provided both upstream and downstream side. Proper soil investigation, tests were done and it was confirmed that the existing soil is sandy silt. The existing excavated earth was used as filling material for embankment construction, due to this controlling seepage from upstream to downstream be a challenging task. Slope stability and Seismic analysis of the embankment done by Conventional method for both full reservoir condition and rapid drawdown. Horizontal filter at toe level was provided along with upstream side PCC (Plain Cement Concrete) block and HDPE (High Density poly ethylene) lining as a remedy to control seepage. HDPE lining was also provided at storage area of the reservoir bed level. Mulching was done for downstream side slope protection.

Keywords: raw water reservoir, seepage, seismic analysis, slope stability

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Authors: Jennifer Natalya Fink

Abstract:

Since the racial reckoning of 2020, almost every major educational institution has incorporated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles into its administrative, hiring, and pedagogical practices. Yet these DEI principles rarely incorporate explicit language or critical thinking about disability. Despite the fact that according to the World Health Organization, one in five people worldwide is disabled, making disabled people the larger minority group in the world, disability remains the neglected stepchild of DEI. Drawing on disability studies and crip theory frameworks, the underlying causes of this exclusion of disability from DEI, such as stigma, shame, invisible disabilities, institutionalization/segregation/delineation from family, and competing models and definitions of disability are examined. This paper explores both the ideological and practical shifts necessary to include disability in university DEI initiatives. It offers positive examples as well as conceptual frameworks such as 'divers ability' for so doing. Using Georgetown University’s 2020-2022 DEI initiatives as a case study, this paper describes how curricular infusion, accessibility, identity, community, and diversity administration infused one university’s DEI initiatives with concrete disability-inclusive measures. It concludes with a consideration of how the very framework of DEI itself might be challenged and transformed if disability were to be included.

Keywords: diversity, equity, inclusion, disability, crip theory, accessibility

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Authors: Muhammad Abid

Abstract:

The ultimate goal of this research was to produce a cold galvanizing compound (CGC) at reduced pigment volume concentration (PVC) to protect metallic structures from corrosion. The influence of the partial replacement of Zn dust by nano-layered graphene (NGr) and Zn metal nanoparticles on the electrochemical, morphological, rheological, and mechanical properties of CGC was investigated. EIS was used to explore the electrochemical nature of coatings. The EIS results revealed that the partial replacement of Zn by NGr and Zn nanoparticles enhanced the cathodic protection at reduced PVC (4:1) by improving the electrical contact between the Zn particles and the metal substrate. The Tafel scan was conducted to support the cathodic behaviour of the coatings. The sample formulated solely with Zn at PVC 4:1 was found to be dominated in physical barrier characteristics over cathodic protection. By increasing the concentration of NGr in the formulation, the corrosion potential shifted towards a more negative side. The coating with 1.5% NGr showed the highest galvanic action at reduced PVC. FE-SEM confirmed the interconnected network of conducting particles. The coating without NGr and Zn nanoparticles at PVC 4:1 showed significant gaps between the Zn dust particles. The novelty was evidenced when micrographs showed the consistent distribution of NGr and Zn nanoparticles all over the surface, which acted as a bridge between spherical Zn particles and provided cathodic protection at a reduced PVC. The layered structure of graphene also improved the physical shielding effect of the coatings, which limited the diffusion of electrolytes and corrosion products (oxides/hydroxides) into the coatings, which was reflected by the salt spray test. The rheological properties of coatings showed good liquid/fluid properties. All the coatings showed excellent adhesion but had different strength values. A real-time scratch resistance assessment showed all the coatings had good scratch resistance.

Keywords: protective coatings, anti-corrosion, galvanization, graphene, nanomaterials, polymers

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