Search results for: sustainable business growth

Authors: Rehab Mahmoud El Sayed, Toka Fahmy Nasr, Dalia M. Rasmi

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Environmental psychology studies the interaction between the user and the environment. This field is crucial in understanding how the built environment affects human behaviour, moods and feelings. Studying and understanding the aspects and influences of environmental psychology is a crucial key to investigating how the design can influence human behaviour to be environmentally friendly. This is known as pro-environmental behaviour where human actions are sustainable and impacts the environment positively. Accordingly, this paper aims to explore the impact of built environment design on environmental psychology to foster pro-environmental behaviour in university campus open spaces. In order to achieve this, an exploratory research method was conducted where a detailed study of the influences of environmental psychology was done and clarified its elements. Moreover, investigating the impact of design elements on human psychology took place. Besides, an empirical study of the outdoor spaces of the British University in Egypt occurred and a survey for students and staff was distributed. The research concluded that the four main psychological aspects are mostly influenced by the following design elements colours, lighting and thermal comfort respectively. Additionally, focusing on these design elements in the design process will create a sustainable environment. As a consequence, the pro-environmental behaviour of the user will be fostered.

Keywords: environmental psychology, pro-environmental behavior, sustainable environment, psychological influences

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Authors: Amir Mohtarami, Hadi Kandjani

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The amount of business-critical information in enterprises is growing at an extraordinary rate, and the ability to catalog that information and properly protect it using traditional security mechanisms is not keeping pace. Alongside the Information Technology (IT), information security needs a holistic view in enterprise. In other words, a comprehensive architectural approach is required, focusing on the information itself, understanding what the data are, who owns it, and which business and regulatory policies should be applied to the information. Enterprise Architecture Frameworks provide useful tools to grasp different dimensions of IT in organizations. Usually this is done by the layered views on IT architecture, but not requisite security attention has been held in this frameworks. In this paper, after a brief look at the Enterprise Architecture (EA), we discuss the issue of security in the overall enterprise IT architecture. Due to the increasing importance of security, a rigorous EA program in an enterprise should be able to consider security architecture as an integral part of its processes and gives a visible roadmap and blueprint for this aim.

Keywords: enterprise architecture, architecture framework, security architecture, information systems

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Authors: Ali H. Muhammad

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The present study examines some antecedents and consequences of employee job involvement in Kuwaiti business organization. The model presented in the current study suggests that job satisfaction and organizational commitments are determinates of job involvements. Employees who are satisfied with their jobs tend to be more attached to their jobs and view their jobs as an essential part of their existence. Similarly, employees who are committed to organizational goals, and identify with organizational values, tend to have high level of involvement. Furthermore, our model suggests that job involvement is positively related to work performance and organizational citizenship behavior. The negative consequences of job involvement include burnout and work family conflict. To test the hypotheses, a sample of 204 Kuwaiti employees representing 8 Kuwaiti work organizations is used. The sample covers a variety of business sectors in Kuwait, including manufacturing, services, and transportation. The data were analyzed using non-parametric tests, Pearson correlations, and structural equation modeling. Results indicate that job satisfaction and organizational commitment have significant positive effects on job involvement. Furthermore, findings reveal that job involvement is positively associated with performance, organization citizenship behavior, and work family conflict. Findings are discussed, and future areas of research are identified.

Keywords: job involvement, organizational citizenship behavior, work family conflict, burnout

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Authors: M. Nadeem, S. Nasir, K. A. Moazzam, R. Kashif

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The remarkable growth and evolution in information and communication technology (ICT) in the past few decades has transformed modern society in almost every aspect of life. The impact and application of ICT have been observed in almost all walks of life including science, arts, business, health, management, engineering, sports, and education. ICT in education is being used extensively for student learning, creativity, interaction, and knowledge sharing and as a valuable source of teaching instrument. Apart from the student’s perspective, it plays a vital role for teacher education, instructional methods and curriculum development. There is a significant difference in growth of ICT enabled education in developing countries compared to developed nations and according to research, this gap is widening. ICT gradually infiltrate in almost every aspect of life. It has a deep and profound impact on our social, economic, health, environment, development, work, learning, and education environments. ICT provides very effective and dominant tools for information and knowledge processing. It is firmly believed that the coming generation should be proficient and confident in the use of ICT to cope with the existing international standards. This is only possible if schools can provide basic ICT infrastructure to students and to develop an ICT-integrated curriculum which covers all aspects of learning and creativity in students. However, there is a digital divide and steps must be taken to reduce this digital divide considerably to have the profound impact of ICT in education all around the globe. This study is based on theoretical approach and an extensive literature review is being conducted to see the successful implementations of ICT integration in education and to identify technologies and models which have been used in education in developed countries. This paper deals with the modern applications of ICT in schools for both teachers and students to uplift the learning and creativity amongst the students. A brief history of technology in education is presented and discussed are some important ICT tools for both student and teacher’s perspective. Basic ICT-based infrastructure for academic institutions is presented. The overall conclusion leads to the positive impact of ICT in education by providing an interactive, collaborative and challenging environment to students and teachers for knowledge sharing, learning and critical thinking.

Keywords: information and communication technology, ICT, education, ICT infrastructure, learning

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Authors: Mujahid Farid, Shafaqat Ali, Muhammad Bilal Shakoor

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Heavy metals pollution of soil is a prevalent global problem and oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) are considered useful for the restoration of metal contaminated soils. Phytoextraction is an in-situ environment-friendly technique for the clean-up of contaminated soils. Response to cadmium (Cd) toxicity in combination with a chelator, Ethylenediamminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was studied in oilseed rape grown hydroponically in greenhouse conditions under three levels of Cd (0, 10, and 50 µM) and two levels of EDTA (0 and 2.5 mM). Cd decreased plant growth, biomass and chlorophyll concentrations while the application of EDTA enhanced plant growth by reducing Cd-induced effects in Cd-stressed plants. Significant decrease in photosynthetic parameters was found by the Cd alone. Addition of EDTA improved the net photosynthetic and gas exchange capacity of plants under Cd stress. Cd at 10 and 50 μM significantly increased electrolyte leakage, the production of hydrogen peroxidase (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) and a significant reduction was observed in the activities of catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and superoxide dismutase under Cd stress plants. Application of EDTA at the rate of 2.5 mM alone and with combination of Cd increased the antioxidant enzymes activities and reduced the electrolyte leakage and production of H2O2 and MDA. Oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) actively accumulated Cd in roots, stems and leaves and the addition of EDTA boosted the uptake and accumulation of Cd in oil seed rape by dissociating Cd in culture media. The present results suggest that under 8 weeks Cd-induced stress, application of EDTA significantly improve plant growth, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic, gas exchange capacity, improving enzymes activities and increased the metal uptake in roots, stems and leaves of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) respectively.

Keywords: antioxidant enzymes, cadmium, chelator, EDTA, growth, oilseed rape

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Authors: Afshan Saad, Muhammad Saad, Shah Muhammad Emaduddin

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Nowadays the business condition is so quick paced that enhancing ourselves consistently has turned into a huge factor for the presence of an undertaking. We can check this for structural building and significantly more so in the quick-paced universe of data innovation and programming designing. The lithe philosophies, similar to Scrum, have a devoted advance in the process that objectives the enhancement of the improvement procedure and programming items. Pivotal to process enhancement is to pick up data that grants you to assess the condition of the procedure and its items. From the status data, you can design activities for the upgrade and furthermore assess the accomplishment of those activities. This investigation builds a model that measures the product nature of the improvement procedure. The product quality is dependent on the useful and auxiliary nature of the product items, besides the nature of the advancement procedure is likewise vital to enhance programming quality. Utilitarian quality covers the adherence to client prerequisites, while the auxiliary quality tends to the structure of the product item's source code with reference to its practicality. The procedure quality is identified with the consistency and expectedness of the improvement procedure. The product quality model is connected in a business setting by social occasion the information for the product measurements in the model. To assess the product quality model, we investigate the information and present it to the general population engaged with the light-footed programming improvement process. The outcomes from the application and the client input recommend that the model empowers a reasonable evaluation of the product quality and that it very well may be utilized to help the persistent enhancement of the advancement procedure and programming items.

Keywords: Agile SDLC Tools, Agile Software development, business value, enterprise applications, IBM, IBM Rational Team Concert, RTC, software quality, software metrics

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Authors: Made Ayu Aristyana Dewi

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Due to the importance of knowledge in today’s competitive world, an understanding of how to enhance employee knowledge sharing has become critical. This study discerning employees’ knowledge sharing intentions according to the type of knowledge to be shared, whether tacit or explicit. This study provides a critical and systematic review of the current literature on knowledge sharing, with a particular focus on the most critical factors influencing employees’ tacit and explicit knowledge sharing intentions. The extant literature was identified through four electronic databases, from 2006 to 2016. The findings of this review reveal that most of the previous studies only focus on individual and social factors as the antecedents of knowledge sharing intention. Therefore, those previous studies did not consider some other potential factors, like organizational and technological factors that may hinder the progress of knowledge sharing processes. Based on the findings of the critical review, a conceptual framework is proposed, which presents the antecedents of employees’ tacit and explicit knowledge sharing intentions and its impact on innovation and sustainable competitive advantage.

Keywords: antecedents, explicit knowledge, individual factors, innovation, intentions, knowledge sharing, organizational factors, social factors, sustainable competitive advantage, tacit knowledge, technological factors

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Authors: Doufoungognon C. Kone

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Global change, in particular pollution and global warming, threatens ecosystems and the biodiversity they harbor. Due to pollutants exposure, organisms might modify their thermal niches in order to track the thermal conditions limiting the negative impacts of chemical stressors depending on their mode of action. This study tests the influence of different pollutants, copper, salt, and chloramphenicol, on the thermal preferences of the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. Six genotypes were exposed to a gradient of concentrations ranging from 0 to 500mg/L for copper, 0 to 300 mg/l for chloramphenicol, and 0 to 12g/l for salt in synthetic media at eight temperatures ranging from 11 to 39° C. The measured fitness proxies are the maximum growth rate and the 50% growth inhibitory concentration (IC50). The results show that the majority of genotypes are more resistant to chloramphenicol in temperatures below their thermal optimum without pollutants, while they better tolerate other salt and copper in temperatures above their thermal optimum. In addition, generalists reduce their niche width while specialists widen it in chloramphenicol. Overall, results suggest that global warming would have a particularly deleterious effect in the case of chemical pollution. This pollution would induce the full disruption of the thermal habitats.

Keywords: ciliate, thermal niche, growth rate, toxicity, multiple stressors

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Authors: Habib Noorbhai

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History of Cricket: Cricket has a known history spanning from the 16th century till present, with international matches having been played since 1844. The game of cricket arrived in Australia as soon as colonization began in 1788. Cricketers started playing on turf wickets in the late 1800’s and dimensions for both the boundary and pitch later became assimilated. As the years evolved, cricket bats and balls, protective equipment, playing surfaces and the three formats of the game adapted to the playing conditions and laws of cricket. Business of Cricket: During the late 1900's, the shorter version of the game (T20) was introduced in order to attract the crowds to stadiums and television viewers for broadcasting rights. One could argue if this was merely a business venture or a platform for enhancing the performance of cricketers. Between the 16th and 20th century, cricket was a common sport played for passion and pure enjoyment. Industries saw a potential in diversified business ventures in the game (as well as other sports played globally) and cricket subsequently became a career for players, administrators and coaches, the media, health professionals, managers and the corporate world. Pros and Cons of Cricket Developments: At present, the game has significantly gained from the use of technology, sports sciences and varied mechanisms to optimize the performances and forecast frameworks for injury prevention in cricket players. Unfortunately, these had not been utilized in the earlier times of cricket and it would prove interesting to observe how the greats of the game would have benefited with such developments. Cricketers in the 21st century are faced with many overwhelming commitments. One of these is playing cricket for 11 months in a year, making it more than 250 days away from home and their families. As the demand of player contracts increase, the supply of commitment and performances from players increase. Way Forward and Future Implications: The questions are: Are such disadvantages contributing to the overload and injury risks of players? How far have we really come in the cricketing world or has everything since the game’s inception become institutionalized with a business model? These are the fundamental questions which need to be addressed and legislation, policies and ethical considerations need to be drafted and implemented. These will ensure that there is equilibrium of effective transitions and management of not only the players, but also the credibility of the wonderful game.

Keywords: enterprising business of cricket, technology, legislation, credibility

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Authors: Spase Janevski

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We, as designers, should be aware of the consequences of our material selection, at the early stages of the design process. Some of the designer’s decisions can have a very significant impact on design for sustainability. The influence of this concept has led to years of research studies into eco-friendly materials and their potentials for creating new sustainable products. In order to answer the question, 'how cork has become a design trend', this paper will present an overview of the implications of the concept of design for sustainability on the potential uses of cork material. A decade ago, cork as a material had an association with wine stoppers, but with the evolution of sustainable product design as part of the concept of design for sustainability, cork now offers product designers a wide range of new materials and applications. The purpose of this paper is to show how the phenomenon of sustainability has had an impact on the progress of the material which is currently not being an integral component of the design material palette. At the beginning, the nature of the relationship between cork and sustainability will be explained through the following stages: 1) fundamental understanding of the concept of Design for Sustainability and the importance of material selection for sustainable product design, and 2) the importance of cork oak trees for the environment and the environmental impacts of cork products. In order to examine and present the influence of the sustainability on the innovation in cork applications, the paper will provide a historical overview of designing with cork. The overview will consist of four stages: 1) pre-industrial period - the period when ancient nations used cork and amphoras to store their wine; 2) industrial period - emergence and industrialization of well-known wine stoppers; 3) post-industrial period - commercializing cork products in the area of floors and coverings and first developments in industrial research; and 4) the period when large cork realized the importance of sustainability and started to focus more markedly on research and development. The existence of new cork materials, the investigation in new applications and the investment in new innovations have proved that the sustainability approach has had a great influence on the revival of this material. In addition, the paper will present some of the new cork innovative materials and applications and their potentials for designing promising and sustainable solutions with additive manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing. Lastly, the paper will introduce some questions for further study, such as the environmental impacts of the new hybrid materials and the gap between cork industry and cork research and development teams. The paper concludes by stating that cork is not only a material for wine stoppers anymore, thanks to the awareness of the concept of design for sustainability.

Keywords: cork, design for sustainability, innovation, sustainable materials

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Authors: T. Santiboon, S. Tongbu, P. S. Saihong

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This study focuses on investigating students' perceptions of their physics classroom learning environments of their individualizations and their interactions with the instructional practicum in teaching physics of the master science trainee educational students for improving and creating attitude skills’ sustainable development toward physics for upper secondary educational students in Thailand. Associations between these perceptions and students' attitudes toward physics were also determined. The learning environment perceptions were obtained using the 35-item Physics Laboratory Environment Inventory (PLEI) modified from the original Science Laboratory Environment Inventory. The 25-item Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire (ICEQ) was assessed those dimensions which distinguish individualized physics classrooms from convention on individualized open and inquiry-based education Teacher-student interactions were assessed with the 48-item Questionnaires on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Both these questionnaires have an Actual Form (assesses the class as it actually is) and a Preferred Form (asks the students what they would prefer their class to be like - the ideal situation). Students’ creating attitude skills’ sustainable development toward physics were assessed with the Test Of Physics-Related Attitude (TOPRA) modified from the original Test Of Science-Related Attitude (TOSRA) The questionnaires were administered in three phases with the Custer Random Sampling technique to a sample consisted of 989 students in 28 physics classes from 10 schools at the grade 10, 11, and 12 levels in the Secondary Educational Service Area 26 (Maha Sarakham Province) and Area 27 (Roi-Et). Statistically significant differences were found between the students' perceptions of actual-1, actual-2 and preferred environments of their physics laboratory and distinguish individualized classrooms, and teacher interpersonal behaviors with their improving and creating attitudes skills’ sustainable development to their physics classes also were found. Predictions of the monitoring and evaluation of master science trainee educational students of their practicum in teaching physics; students’ skills developments of their physics achievements’ sustainable for the set of actual and preferred environments as a whole and physics related attitudes also were correlated. The R2 values indicate that 58%, 67%, and 84% of the variances in students’ attitudes to their actuale-1, actual-2 and preferred for the PLEI; 42%,science trainee educational students of their practicum in teaching physics; students’ skill developments of their physics achievements’ sustainable for the set of actual and preferred environments as a whole and physics related attitudes also were correlated. The R2 values indicate that 58%, 67%, and 84% of the variances in students’ attitudes to their actuale-1, actual-2 and preferred for the PLEI; 42%, 63%, and 72% for the ICEQ, and 38%, 59%, and 68% for the QTI in physics environment classes were attributable to their perceptions of their actual and preferred physics environments and their developing creative science skills’ sustainable toward physics, consequently. Based on all the findings, suggestions for improving the physics laboratory and individualized classes and teacher interpersonal behaviors with students' perceptions are provided of their improving and creating attitude skills’ sustainable development by the master science trainee educational students ’ instructional administrations.

Keywords: promotion, instructional model, qualitative method, reflective thinking, trainee teacher student

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Authors: Kate Allman, Heather Maranges, Elise Dykhuis

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Moral Growth Mindset (MGM) is the belief that one has the capacity to become a more moral person, as opposed to a fixed conception of one’s moral ability and capacity (Han et al., 2018). Building from Dweck’s work in incremental implicit theories of intelligence (2008), Moral Growth Mindset (Han et al., 2020) extends growth mindsets into the moral dimension. The concept of MGM has the potential to help researchers understand how both mindsets and interventions can impact character development, and it has even been shown to have connections to voluntary service engagement (Han et al., 2018). Understanding the contexts in which MGM might be cultivated could help to promote the further cultivation of character, in addition to prosocial behaviors like service engagement, which may, in turn, promote larger scale engagement in social justice-oriented thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In particular, college may be a place to intentionally cultivate a growth mindset toward moral capacities, given the unique developmental and maturational components of the college experience, including contextual opportunity (Lapsley & Narvaez, 2006) and independence requiring the constant consideration, revision, and internalization of personal values (Lapsley & Woodbury, 2016). In a semester-long, quasi-experimental study, we examined the impact of a pedagogical approach designed to cultivate college student character development on participants’ MGM. With an intervention (n=69) and a control group (n=97; Pre-course: 27% Men; 66% Women; 68% White; 18% Asian; 2% Black; <1% Hispanic/Latino), we investigated whether college courses that intentionally incorporate character education pedagogy (Lamb, Brant, Brooks, 2021) affect a variety of psychosocial variables associated with moral thoughts, feelings, identity, and behavior (e.g. moral growth mindset, honesty, compassion, etc.). The intervention group consisted of 69 undergraduate students (Pre-course: 40% Men; 52% Women; 68% White; 10.5% Black; 7.4% Asian; 4.2% Hispanic/Latino) that voluntarily enrolled in five undergraduate courses that encouraged students to engage with key concepts and methods of character development through the application of research-based strategies and personal reflection on goals and experiences. Moral Growth Mindset was measured using the four-item Moral Growth Mindset scale (Han et al., 2020), with items such as You can improve your basic morals and character considerably on a six-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Higher scores of MGM indicate a stronger belief that one can become a more moral person with personal effort. Reliability at Time 1 was Cronbach’s ɑ= .833, and at Time 2 Cronbach’s ɑ= .772. An Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to explore whether post-course MGM scores were different between the intervention and control when controlling for pre-course MGM scores. The ANCOVA indicated significant differences in MGM between groups post-course, F(1,163) = 8.073, p = .005, R² = .11, where descriptive statistics indicate that intervention scores were higher than the control group at post-course. Results indicate that intentional character development pedagogy can be leveraged to support the development of Moral Growth Mindset and related capacities in undergraduate settings.

Keywords: moral personality, character education, incremental theories of personality, growth mindset

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Authors: Ashok Kumar, Shiv Brat Singh, Kalyan Kumar Ray

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There is growing awareness to design steels against fatigue damage Ferrite martensite dual-phase steels are known to exhibit favourable mechanical properties like good strength, ductility, toughness, continuous yielding, and high work hardening rate. However, dual-phase steels containing bainite as second phase are potential alternatives for ferrite martensite steels for certain applications where good fatigue property is required. Fatigue properties of dual phase steels are popularly assessed by the nature of variation of crack growth rate (da/dN) with stress intensity factor range (∆K), and the magnitude of fatigue threshold (∆Kth) for long cracks. There exists an increased emphasis to understand not only the long crack fatigue behavior but also short crack growth behavior of ferrite bainite dual phase steels. The major objective of this report is to examine the influence of microstructures on the short and long crack growth behavior of a series of developed dual-phase steels with varying amounts of bainite and. Three low carbon steels containing Nb, Cr and Mo as microalloying elements steels were selected for making ferrite-bainite dual-phase microstructures by suitable heat treatments. The heat treatment consisted of austenitizing the steel at 1100°C for 20 min, cooling at different rates in air prior to soaking these in a salt bath at 500°C for one hour, and finally quenching in water. Tensile tests were carried out on 25 mm gauge length specimens with 5 mm diameter using nominal strain rate 0.6x10⁻³ s⁻¹ at room temperature. Fatigue crack growth studies were made on a recently developed specimen configuration using a rotating bending machine. The crack growth was monitored by interrupting the test and observing the specimens under an optical microscope connected to an Image analyzer. The estimated crack lengths (a) at varying number of cycles (N) in different fatigue experiments were analyzed to obtain log da/dN vs. log °∆K curves for determining ∆Kthsc. The microstructural features of these steels have been characterized and their influence on the near threshold crack growth has been examined. This investigation, in brief, involves (i) the estimation of ∆Kthsc and (ii) the examination of the influence of microstructure on short and long crack fatigue threshold. The maximum fatigue threshold values obtained from short crack growth experiments on various specimens of dual-phase steels containing different amounts of bainite are found to increase with increasing bainite content in all the investigated steels. The variations of fatigue behavior of the selected steel samples have been explained with the consideration of varying amounts of the constituent phases and their interactions with the generated microstructures during cyclic loading. Quantitative estimation of the different types of fatigue crack paths indicates that the propensity of a crack to pass through the interfaces depends on the relative amount of the microstructural constituents. The fatigue crack path is found to be predominantly intra-granular except for the ones containing > 70% bainite in which it is predominantly inter-granular.

Keywords: bainite, dual phase steel, fatigue crack growth rate, long crack fatigue threshold, short crack fatigue threshold

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Authors: Etukudo, M. Mbosowo, Nyananyo, L. Bio, Negbenebor, A. Charles

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An aqueous extract of palm bunch ash from Elaeis guineensis Jacq., equilibrated with water was used to assess the growth and minerals composition of Amaranthus hybridus L. in agricultural soil of Abak, Akwa Ibom State, nigeria. Various concentrations, 0 (control), 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% of palm bunch extract per 4kg of sandy-loam soil were used for the study. Chemical characteristics of the extract, Growth parameters (Plant height, root length, fresh weight, dry weight and moisture content), leaf minerals composition (Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium) of the crop and soil chemical composition before and after harvest (pH, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium) were examined. The results showed that palm bunch ash extract significantly (P < 0.05) increased the soil pH at all levels of treatments compared to the control. Similarly, the soil and leaf minerals component (N, P, K. Ca, and Mg) of the crop increased with increase in the concentration of palm bunch extract, except at 40 and 50% for leaf minerals composition, Soil organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus J(before and after harvest). In addition, The plant height, Root length, fresh weight, dry weight and moisture content of the crop increased significantly (P < 0.05) with increase in the concentration of the extract, Except at 30, 40 and 50% where these growth parameters decreased in relation to the control treatment. Therefore, this study suggests that palm bunch ash extract could be utilized at lower concentration as a nutrient supplement for both Amaranthus hubridus L. and soil medium, most especially in the tropical soils of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Keywords: Amaranthus hybridus L., growth, leaf minerals composition, palm bunch ash extract

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Authors: Agnes Utari Widyaningdyah

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This study investigates the relationship between strategy, intellectual capital (IC) disclosure, and the firm’s performance by considering business competition as a moderating variable. The secondary sectors manufacturing firms in the Jakarta Stock Industrial Classification as sample because this group represents a knowledge-intensive firm according to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) criteria. Using path analysis, this study reveals that there is a significant influence of strategy toward IC disclosure. Firms with differentiation strategy tend to withhold its strategic information included IC because of afraid in losing their competitive advantage. The results also indicate that firms are more likely to withhold information about IC if they perceive that current or potential competition is strong. However, firms should consider that IC disclosure is a positive signal to the investor.

Keywords: strategy, IC disclosure, market performance, business competition

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Authors: Jun Hyung Lee, Robin B. Guevarra, Jin Ho Cho, Bo-Ra Kim, Jiwon Shin, Doo Wan Kim, Young Hwa Kim, Minho Song, Hyeun Bum Kim

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Salmonella is one of the most important swine pathogens, causing acute or chronic digestive diseases, such as enteritis. The acute form of enteritis is common in young pigs of 2-4 months of age. Salmonellosis in swine causes a huge economic burden to swine industry by reducing production. Therefore, it is necessary that swine industries should strive to decrease Salmonellosis in pigs in order to reduce economic losses. Thus, we tested three types of natural plant extracts(PEs) to evaluate antibacterial effects against Salmonella enterica Typhimurium isolated from the piglet with Salmonellosis. Three PEs including turmeric oleoresin (containing curcumin 79 to 85%), capsicum oleoresin (containing capsaicin 40%-40.1%), and garlic essential oil (100% natural garlic) were tested using the direct contact agar diffusion test, minimum inhibitory concentration test, growth curve assay, and heat stability test. The tests were conducted with PEs at each concentration of 2.5%, 5%, and 10%. For the heat stability test, PEs with 10% concentration were incubated at each 4, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 °C for 1 hour; then the direct contact agar diffusion test was used. For the positive and negative controls, 0.5N HCl and 1XPBS were used. All the experiments were duplicated. In the direct contact agar diffusion test, garlic essential oil with 2.5%, 5%, and 10% concentration showed inhibit zones of 1.5cm, 2.7cm, and 2.8cm diameters compared to that of 3.5cm diameter for 0.5N HCl. The minimum inhibited concentration of garlic essential oil was 2.5%. Growth curve assay showed that the garlic essential oil was able to inhibit Salmonella growth significantly after 4hours. The garlic essential oil retained the ability to inhibit Salmonella growth after heat treatment at each temperature. However, turmeric and capsicum oleoresins were not able to significantly inhibit Salmonella growth by all the tests. Even though further in-vivo tests will be needed to verify effects of garlic essential oil for the Salmonellosis prevention for piglets, our results showed that the garlic essential oil could be used as a potential natural agent to prevent Salmonellosis in swine.

Keywords: garlic essential oil, pig, salmonellosis, Salmonella enterica

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Authors: Jun Hyung Lee, Robin B. Guevarra, Jin Ho Cho, Bo-Ra Kim, Jiwon Shin, Doo Wan Kim, Young Hwa Kim, Minho Song, Hyeun Bum Kim

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Colibacillosis is one of the major health problems in young piglets ultimately resulting in their death, and it is common especially in young piglets. For the swine industry, colibacillosis is one of the important economic burdens. Therefore, it is necessary for the swine industries to prevent Colibacillosis in piglets in order to reduce economic losses. Thus, we tested three types of natural plant extracts (PEs) to evaluate antibacterial effects against Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) isolated from the piglet. Three PEs including turmeric oleoresin (containing curcumin 79 to 85%), capsicum oleoresin (containing capsaicin 40%-40.1%), and garlic essential oil (100% natural garlic) were tested using the direct contact agar diffusion test, minimum inhibitory concentration test, growth curve assay, and heat stability test. The tests were conducted with PEs at each concentration of 2.5%, 5%, and 10%. For the heat stability test, PEs with 10% concentration were incubated at each 4, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 °C for 1 hour, then the direct contact agar diffusion test was used. For the positive and negative controls, 0.5N HCl and 1XPBS were used. All the experiments were duplicated. In the direct contact agar diffusion test, garlic essential oil with 2.5%, 5%, and 10% concentration showed inhibit zones of 1.1cm, 3.0cm, and 3.6 cm in diameters compared to that of 3.5cm diameter for 0.5N HCl. The minimum inhibited concentration of garlic essential oil was 2.5%. Growth curve assay showed that the garlic essential oil was able to inhibit STEC growth significantly after 4 hours. The garlic essential oil retained the ability to inhibit STEC growth after heat treatment at each temperature. However, turmeric and capsicum oleoresins were not able to significantly inhibit STEC growth by all the tests. Even though further tests using the piglets will be required to evaluate effects of garlic essential oil for the Colibacillosis prevention for piglets, our results showed that the garlic essential oil could be used as a potential natural agent to prevent Colibacillosis in swine.

Keywords: garlic essential oil, pig, Colibacillosis, Escherichia coli

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Authors: Mohamad Ibrahim Al Ladan

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Social networks, such as Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Google+, and Twitter have experienced exponential growth and a remarkable adoption rate in recent years. They provide attractive means of online social interactions and communications with family, friends, and colleagues from around the corner or across the globe, and they have become an important part of daily digital interactions for more than one and a half billion users around the world. The various personal information sharing practices that social network providers encourage have led to their success as innovative social interaction platforms. However, these practices have resulted in ample concerns with respect to privacy and security from different stakeholders. Addressing these privacy and security concerns in social networks is a must for these networks to be sustainable. Existing security and privacy tools may not be enough to address existing concerns. Some guidelines should be followed to protect users from the existing risks. In this paper, we have investigated and discussed the various privacy and security issues and concerns pertaining to social networks. Moreover, we have classified these privacy and security issues and presented a thorough discussion of the implications of these issues and concerns on the future of the social networks. In addition, we have presented a set of guidelines as precaution measures that users can consider to address these issues and concerns.

Keywords: social networks privacy issues, social networks security issues, social networks privacy precautions measures, social networks security precautions measures

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Authors: M. Pushparani, A. Sagaya

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Embedded systems have emerged as important elements in various domains with extensive applications in automotive, commercial, consumer, healthcare and transportation markets, as there is emphasis on intelligent devices. On the other hand, Business Intelligence (BI) has also been extensively used in a range of applications, especially in the agriculture domain which is the area of this research. The aim of this research is to create a framework for Embedded Weight Comparison Algorithm with Business Intelligence (EWCA-BI). The weight comparison algorithm will be embedded within the plantation management system and the weighbridge system. This algorithm will be used to estimate the weight at the site and will be compared with the actual weight at the plantation. The algorithm will be used to build the necessary alerts when there is a discrepancy in the weight, thus enabling better decision making. In the current practice, data are collected from various locations in various forms. It is a challenge to consolidate data to obtain timely and accurate information for effective decision making. Adding to this, the unstable network connection leads to difficulty in getting timely accurate information. To overcome the challenges embedding is done on a portable device that will have the embedded weight comparison algorithm to also assist in data capture and synchronize data at various locations overcoming the network short comings at collection points. The EWCA-BI will provide real-time information at any given point of time, thus enabling non-latent BI reports that will provide crucial information to enable efficient operational decision making. This research has a high potential in bringing embedded system into the agriculture industry. EWCA-BI will provide BI reports with accurate information with uncompromised data using an embedded system and provide alerts, therefore, enabling effective operation management decision-making at the site.

Keywords: embedded business intelligence, weight comparison algorithm, oil palm plantation, embedded systems

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Authors: Samira Haghbin, Behnam Daryayelaal, Zeinab Amiri

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As a result of rapid progress of technology in various industries, the only way to survive in a competitive market of business is to update one's situation along with the said developments. During recent decades, Robotics and automation of the construction operation has emerged as one of the important technologies grabbing the attention of various industries and specially the construction industry. Because of the coming labor shortage of the aging society in the near future, robots will be used in construction fields more than ever. By predicting the condition of Robotics in world's future construction industry, we can make necessary preparations to face with needs imposed by the time and stay ahead. This article takes a library study approach and presents a literature review of existing studies with an aim to investigate the use of robotics in past, present and future of construction industry and make predictions on its' growth and change process. Therefore, to make familiar with this kind of technology and its' requirements in the construction industry, the status of Robotics in construction industry of different countries of the world has been studied and necessary context for its' future progress is expressed. It is hoped that identifying needs and required contexts will facilitate further development of advanced technologies such as robotics industry and lead to more preparation for future.

Keywords: future of robotics, construction industry, construction automation, trends of automation

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Authors: Zohra Mhedhbi, Meheret Gaston, Sinda Haoues-Jouve, Julia Hidalgo, Pierre Mazzega

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In the current context of climate change, supporting national and local stakeholders to make climate-smart decisions is necessary but still underdeveloped in many countries. To overcome this problem, the Global Frameworks for Climate Services (GFCS), implemented under the aegis of the United Nations in 2012, has initiated many programs in different countries. The GFCS contributes to the development of Climate Services, an instrument based on the production and transfer of scientific climate knowledge for specific users such as citizens, urban planning actors, or agricultural professionals. As cities concentrate on economic, social and environmental issues that make them more vulnerable to climate change, the New Urban Agenda (NUA), adopted at Habitat III in October 2016, highlights the importance of paying particular attention to disaster risk management, climate and environmental sustainability and urban resilience. In order to support the implementation of the NUA, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has identified the urban dimension as one of its priorities and has proposed a new tool, the Integrated Urban Services (IUS), for more sustainable and resilient cities. In the southern countries, there’s a lack of development of climate services, which can be partially explained by problems related to their economic financing. In addition, it is often difficult to make climate change a priority in urban planning, given the more traditional urban challenges these countries face, such as massive poverty, high population growth, etc. Climate services and Integrated Urban Services, particularly in African cities, are expected to contribute to the sustainable development of cities. These tools will help promoting the acquisition of meteorological and socio-ecological data on their transformations, encouraging coordination between national or local institutions providing various sectoral urban services, and should contribute to the achievement of the objectives defined by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the Paris Agreement, and the Sustainable Development Goals. To assess the state of the art on these various points, the Web of Science metadatabase is queried. With a query combining the keywords "climate*" and "urban*", more than 24,000 articles are identified, source of more than 40,000 distinct keywords (but including synonyms and acronyms) which finely mesh the conceptual field of research. The occurrence of one or more names of the 514 African cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants or countries, reduces this base to a smaller corpus of about 1410 articles (2990 keywords). 41 countries and 136 African cities are cited. The lexicometric analysis of the metadata of the articles and the analysis of the structural indicators (various centralities) of the networks induced by the co-occurrence of expressions related more specifically to climate services show the development potential of these services, identify the gaps which remain to be filled for their implementation and allow to compare the diversity of national and regional situations with regard to these services.

Keywords: African cities, climate change, climate services, integrated urban services, lexicometry, networks, urban planning, web of science

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Authors: Syaza Bt. Saifuddin, Rashidi Bin Othman, Muhammad Hafizuddin Akmal Bin Md Hashim, Ismail Bin Jasmani, Noor Hanita Bt. Abdul Majid

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This paper illustrates the background of various concepts, approaches, terminologies used to describe the basic framework of an Islamic Hotel Room design. This paper reviews the theoretical views in establishing a suitable and optimum environment for Muslim as well as non-Muslim guests in hotel rooms while according to shariah. It involves a few research methodologies that requires the researcher to study on a few characteristics needed to create more efficient rooms in terms of social interaction, economic growth and other tolerable elements. This paper intends on revealing the elements that are vital and may contribute for hotels in achieving a more conclusive research on space planning for hotel rooms focusing on the shariah and Muslim guests. Malaysia is an Islamic country and has billion of tourists coming over for business and recreational purposes. Therefore, having a righteous environment that best suit this target user is important in terms of generating the economy as well as providing a better understanding to the community on the benefits of applying these qualities in a conventional resort design.

Keywords: design, Islam, room, shariah compliant hotel

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Authors: Yogesh Bacchaw, Ashish Dabade

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Nowadays oral health is raising concern in society. Acid producing microorganisms changes the oral pH and creates a favorable environment for microbial growth. This growth not only promotes dental decay but also bad breath. Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) listed component was incorporated in chewing gum as an antimicrobial agent. The chewing gum produced exhibited up to 9 hours of antimicrobial activity against oral microflora. The toxicity of GRAS component per RACC value of chewing gum was negligible as compared to actual toxicity level of GRAS component. The antibacterial efficiency of chewing gum was tested by using total plate count (TPC) and colony forming unit (CFU). Nine hours were required to microflora to reach TPC/CFU of before chewing gum consumption. This chewing gum not only provides mouth freshening activity but also helps in lowering dental decay, bad breath, and enamel whitening.

Keywords: colony forming unit (CFU), chewing gum, generally recognized as safe (GRAS), microbial growth, microorganisms, oral health, RACC, total plate count (TPC), antimicrobial agent, enamel whitening, oral pH

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Authors: Aktan Ozsoy, Ali Fırat Cabalar, Eyyub Karakan

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Climate change is one of the biggest issues facing communities. Increasing population, growing economies, rapid industrialization are the main factors triggering it. On the other hand, the millions of tons of waste have generated by the period of rapid global growth not only harm to the environment but also lead to the use of valuable lands around the world as landfill sites. Moreover, it is rapidly consuming our resources and this forcing the human population and wildlife to share increasingly shrinking space. In this direction, it is vital to reuse waste materials with a sustainability philosophy. This study was carried out to contribute to the combat against climate change, conserve our natural resources and the environment. An oedometer (consolidation) test was performed on two waste materials combined in certain proportions to evaluate their sustainable usage. Crushed brick (BD) was mixed with rock powder (RP) in 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% (dry weight of soil). The results obtained revealed the importance of the gradation of the material used in the consolidation test. It was found that there was a negligible difference between the initial and final void ratio of mixtures with brick dust added.

Keywords: waste material, oedometer test, environmental geotechnics, sustainability

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Authors: Suraini Mohd Rhouse, Noor Lela Ahmad, Nek Kamal Yeop Yunus, Rosfizah Md Taib

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This article aims to explore the importance of trust to women entrepreneurs. In particular, the research uses a social constructionist lens to examine ways in which women entrepreneurs construct trust in relation to their various stakeholders. A semi-structured interview was used to gather the data. The findings suggest women highlight the importance of trust in order to establish customer satisfaction that can further develop customer loyalty. In addition, aspect of trust with the employees is seen as vital for building organizational commitment to the business organization. Women also see the trust dimension in terms of their relationships with financial providers in order to gain approval for financial resources. This article contributes to the literature on the value of trust to women’s business environments.

Keywords: qualitative, social constructionist, trust, women entrepreneurship

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Authors: Rostika Flora, Muhammad Zulkarnain, Syokumawena

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Background: Aerobic physical exercises are recommended to keep body fit and healthy although physical exercises themselves can increase body metabolism and oxygen and can lead into tissue hypoxia. Oxygen pressure can serve as Vascular Endhothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) regulator. Hypoxia increases gene expression of VEGF through ascendant regulation of HIF-1. VEGF is involved in regulating angiogenesis process. Aerobic physical exercises can increase the concentration of VEGF in brain and enables angiogenesis process. We have investigated the influence of aerobic physical exercise to the VGEF concentration of wistar rat’s brain. Methods: This was experimental study using post test only control group design. Independent t-test was used as statistical test. The samples were twenty four wistar rat (Rattus Norvegicus) which were divided into four groups: group P1 (control group), group P2 (treatment group with once-a-week exercise), group P3 (treatment group with three time-a-week exercise), and group P4 (treatment group with seven time-a-week exercise). Group P2, P3, and P4 were treated with treadmil with speed of 20 m/minute for 30 minutes. The concentration of VEGF was determined by ELISA. Results: There was a significant increase of VEGF in treatment group compared with control one (<0.05). The maximum increase was found in group P2 (129.02±64.49) and the minimum increase was in group P4 (96.98±11.20). Conclusion: The frequency of aerobic physical exercises influenced the concentration of Vascular Endhothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) of brain tissue of Rattus Norvegicus.

Keywords: brain tissue, hypoxia, physical exercises, vascular endhothelial growth factor

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Authors: Farrin Ghorbanalavi, Nihal Arıoğlu

Abstract:

The concept of enhancing mechanical /thermal/physical properties of architectural materials is being practiced for over five decades. In comparison with other approaches, the current nanotechnology era equally attracted the structural scientists, engineers, and industries. It simply promises that using building blocks with dimensions in the nano size range makes it possible to design and develop new multi-functional materials. This research focuses on understanding the effects of nanotechnology on the building facade and new facade concepts based on the new possibilities of nanotechnology. Mentioned factors are very prosperous for the comfort as well as sustainability of the building itself. Furthermore, the study suggests that the potential for energy conservation and reduced waste, toxicity, non-renewable resource consumption, and carbon emissions through the architectural applications of nanotechnologies significant. More clearly, it provides us the information about what does the future hold for surface structures.

Keywords: sustainable, nano materials, façade, energy efficiency

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Authors: Ebissa Gadissa Kedir

Abstract:

This paper presents the potential groundwater assessment and sustainable management in the selected study area. It is the most preferred water source in all climatic zones for its convenient availability, drought dependability, excellent quality, and low development cost. The rural areas, which account for more than 85% of the country's population, are encountered a shortage of potable water supply which can be solved by proper groundwater utilization. For the present study area, the groundwater potential is assessed and analysed. Thus, the study area falls in four potential groundwater zones ranging from poor to high. However, the current groundwater management practices in the study area are poor. Despite the pervasive and devastating challenges, immediate and proper responses have not yet been given to the problem. Thus, such frustrating threats and challenges have initiated the researcher to work in the project area.

Keywords: GW potential, GW management, GW sustainability, South gonder, Ethiopia

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Authors: Irina Mikajlo, Jaroslav Záhora, Helena Dvořáčková, Jaroslav Hynšt, Jakub Elbl

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Strong anthropogenic impact has uncontrolled consequences on the nature of the soil. Hence, up-to-date sustainable methods of soil state improvement are essential. Investigators provide the evidence that biochar can positively effects physical, chemical and biological soil properties and the abundance of mycorrhizal fungi which are in the focus of this study. The main aim of the present investigation is to demonstrate the effect of two types of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) inoculums along with the beech wood biochar and mineral N additives on mycorrhizal colonization. Experiment has been set up in laboratory conditions with containers filled with arable soil from the protection zone of the main water source ‘Brezova nad Svitavou’. Lactuca sativa (lettuce) has been selected as a model plant. Based on the obtained data, it can be concluded that mycorrhizal colonization increased as the result of combined influence of biochar and PGPB inoculums amendment. In addition, correlation analyses showed that the numbers of main groups of cultivated bacteria were dependent on the degree of mycorrhizal colonization.

Keywords: Arbuscular mycorrhiza, biochar, PGPB inoculum, soil microorganisms

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Authors: Mafalda Fabiene Ferreira Pantoja, Joao Da Costa Pantoja, Rui Humberto Costa De Fernandes Povoas

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The present paper seeks to present a theoretical and practical reflection about examples of contemporary architecture in the world context where concerns about the planet become prominent and increasingly necessary. Firstly, a brief introduction will be made on the conceptual principles of tectonics in architecture in order to apply such concepts in a perspective of analysis of the intersection between design and construction in contemporary examples of Norman Foster’s architecture, once his work has demonstrated attitudes of composition that concerns about the place, technology, materials, and building life. Foster's compositions are usually focused on the role of technology in the process of architectural design, making his works a mixture of place, program, construction, and formal structures. The main purpose of the present paper is the reflection on the tools of theoretical and practical analysis about tectonics, optimizing the resources that allow cultural anchoring and creation of identity. Also establishing relation between resources, building life cycle and employment of correct materials, in order to find out how the tectonic concept can elevate the status of contemporary architecture, making it qualitative in a more sustainable context and adapted to current needs.

Keywords: contemporary architecture, norman foster, tectonic, sustainable architecture

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