Search results for: natural pattern

Authors: Mohd Yussni Hashim, Mohd Nazrul Roslan, Shahruddin Mahzan Mohd Zin, Saparudin Ariffin

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Fiber cross-sectional area value is a crucial factor in determining the strength properties of natural fiber. Furthermore, unlike synthetic fiber, a diameter and cross-sectional area of natural fiber has a large variation along and between the fibers. This study aims to determine the main and interaction effects of alkali treatment conditions that influence kenaf bast fiber mean cross-sectional area. Three alkali treatment conditions at two different levels were selected. The conditions setting were alkali concentrations at two and ten w/v %; fiber immersed temperature at room temperature and 1000C; and fiber immersed duration for 30 and 480 minute. Untreated kenaf fiber was used as a control unit. Kenaf bast fiber bundle mounting tab was prepared according to ASTM C1557-03. The cross-sectional area was measured using a Leica video analyzer. The study result showed that kenaf fiber bundle mean cross-sectional area was reduced 6.77% to 29.88% after alkali treatment. From the analysis of variance, it shows that the interaction of alkali concentration and immersed time has a higher magnitude at 0.1619 compared to alkali concentration and immersed temperature interaction that was 0.0896. For the main effect, alkali concentration factor contributes to the higher magnitude at 0.1372 which indicated the decrease pattern of variability when the level changed from lower to the higher level. Then, it was followed by immersed temperature at 0.1261 and immersed time at 0.0696 magnitudes.

Keywords: natural fiber, kenaf bast fiber bundles, alkali treatment, cross-sectional area

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Authors: Yulin Liang

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Under the background of protecting ecology, natural education is an effective way for people to understand nature. At the same time, it is a new means of sustainable development of eco-tourism, which can improve the functions of China's protected areas and develop new business formats for the development of national parks. This study takes national park gateway communities as the research object and uses literature review, inductive reasoning and other research methods to sort out the development process of natural education in China and the research progress of natural education design in national park gateway communities. Finally, we discuss how gateway communities can use natural education to transform their development methods and provide a theoretical and practical basis for the development of gateway communities in national parks.

Keywords: natural education, gateway communities, national parks, sustainable development

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Authors: Marwa H. Salah

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Modern consumption culture represents a widespread phenomenon that affects young people, as it affects all age groups in both urban and rural societies. It has been helped by globalization, specifically cultural globalization, also internal and external migration, and the immense development in information technology as well, these factors have led to the appearance of the conspicuous consumption pattern among young people. This research firstly interested in identifying the nature of this pattern of consumption among young people in the countryside, which represents a society with a special nature, was characterized by the pattern of traditional consumption. Secondly to find out whether the rural character has an impact on the conspicuous consumption of youth. Finally to identify the reasons for the rural youth's tendency to such type of consumption and if it contributes in satisfying certain social needs. The research used the anthropological method. Observation and open-ended interviews were used as tools to collect data and an interview guide was applied on a selective youth sample (40:20 male and 20 female) aged between 17to 34 in an Egyptian village located in Dakahlia governorate. The research showed that rural youth has impacted with the modern consumption culture and not isolated from it despite the lack of financial abilities. The conspicuous consumption is a dominant pattern of consumption among the Egyptian rural youth and it has been practicing by rural youth regardless of their educational & financial levels. Also, the wish to show the social and economic status, bragging and show off is the main reason for the rural youth to adopt the conspicuous consumption, moreover to face the inferior view from their counterparts’ urban youth.

Keywords: consumption culture, youth, conspicuous consumption, rural society

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Authors: T. Garba, Y. Y. Babanyara, M. Isah, A. K. Muktari, R. Y. Abdullahi

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The increased in demand of fuel wood for heating, cooking and sometimes bakery has continued to exert appreciable impact on natural vegetation. This study focus on the use of multi-temporal data from land sat TM of 1986, land sat EMT of 1999 and lands sat ETM of 2006 to investigate the changes of Natural Vegetation resulting from charcoal production activities. The three images were classified based on bare soil, built up areas, cultivated land, and natural vegetation, Rock out crop and water bodies. From the classified images Land sat TM of 1986 it shows natural vegetation of the study area to be 308,941.48 hectares equivalent to 50% of the area it then reduces to 278,061.21 which is 42.92% in 1999 it again depreciated to 199,647.81 in 2006 equivalent to 30.83% of the area. Consequently cultivated continue increasing from 259,346.80 hectares (42%) in 1986 to 312,966.27 hectares (48.3%) in 1999 and then to 341.719.92 hectares (52.78%). These show that within the span of 20 years (1986 to 2006) the natural vegetation is depreciated by 119,293.81 hectares. This implies that if the menace is not control the natural might likely be lost in another twenty years. This is because forest cleared for charcoal production is normally converted to farmland. The study therefore concluded that there is the need for alternatives source of domestic energy such as the use of biomass which can easily be accessible and affordable to people. In addition, the study recommended that there should be strong policies enforcement for the protection forest reserved.

Keywords: charcoal, classification, data, images, land use, natural vegetation

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Authors: Hosna Pourhashemi

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Chahar Bagh, the symbol of the world, displayed around the pool of life in the centre, attempts to emulate Eden. It represents a duality concept based on the division of the universe into two perceptional insights, a celestial and an earthly one. Chahar Bagh garden pattern refers to the Garden of Eden, that was watered and framed by main four rivers. This microcosm is combined with a mystical love of flowers, sweet-scented trees, the variety of colors, and the sense of eternal life. This symbol of the integration of spontaneous expressivity of the natural elements and reasoning awareness of man strives for the ideal of divine perfection. Through collecting and analyzing the data, the prevalence and continuous influence of Chahar Bagh concept on selected historical gardens was elaborated and evaluated. After the conquest of Persia by the Arabs in the 7th century, Chahar Bagh was adopted and spread throughout the Islamic expansion, from the Middle East, westward across northern Africa to Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula, and eastward through Iran to Central Asia and India. Furthermore, its continuity to the mid of 16th century Renaissance period is shown. By adapting the semiotic theory of Peirce and Saussure on the Persian garden, Chahar Bagh was defined as the basic pattern language for the garden culture. The hypothesis of the continuous influence of Chahar Bagh pattern language on today’s landscape architecture was examined on selected works of Dieter Kienast, as the important and relevant protagonist of his time (end of twentieth ct.) and up to our time. Chahar Bagh pattern language offers collective cultural sensitive healing wisdom transmitted down through the millennia. Through my reflections in Dieter Kienast’s works, I transformed my personal experience into a transpersonal understanding regarding the Sufi philosophy and the Jung psychology, which brings me to define new design theories and methods to form a spiritual, as I call it” Quaternary Perception Model” for landscape architecture. Based on a cognition process through self-journeying in this holistic model, human consciousness can be developed to access to “higher” levels of being and embrace the unity. The self-purification and mindfulness through transpersonal confrontation in the ”Quaternary Perception Model” generates a form of heart-based treatment. I adapted the seven spiritual levels of Sufi self-development on the perception of landscape, representing the stages of the self, ranging from absolutely self-centered to pure spiritual humanity. I redefine and reread the elements and features of Chahar Bagh pattern language for today’s landscape architecture. The “lost paradise” lies in our heart and can be perceived by all humans in landscapes and cities designed in the spirit of” Quaternary Model”.

Keywords: persian garden, pattern language of Chahar Bagh, wholistic Perception, dieter kienast, “quaternary model”

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Authors: A. R. Momeninezhad

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Erosion of Slurry Pumps in Related Industries, is one of the major costs in their production process. Many factories in extractive industries try to find ways to diminish this cost. In this paper, we consider the flow pattern modifications by geometric variations made of numerical simulation of flow inside pump casing, which is one of the most important parts analyzed for erosion. The mentioned pump is a cyclone centrifugal slurry pump, which is operating in Sarcheshmeh Copper Industries in Kerman-Iran, named and tagged as HM600 cyclone pump. Simulation shows many improvements in local wear information and situations for better and more qualified design of casing shape and impeller position, before and after geometric corrections. By theory of liquid-solid two-phase flow, the local wear defeats are analyzed and omitted.

Keywords: flow pattern, slurry pump, simulation, wear

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Authors: Kuni Vergauwen, Ivan P. J. Huijnen, Astrid Depuydt, Jasmine Van Regenmortel, Mira Meeus

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A lower activity level and imbalanced activity pattern are frequently observed in persons with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) / myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) due to debilitating fatigue and post-exertional malaise (PEM). Identification of measurement instruments to evaluate the activity level and pattern is therefore important. The objective is to identify measurement instruments suited to evaluate the activity level and/or pattern in patients with CFS/ME and review their psychometric properties. A systematic literature search was performed in the electronic databases PubMed and Web of Science until 12 October 2016. Articles including relevant measurement instruments were identified and included for further analysis. The psychometric properties of relevant measurement instruments were extracted from the included articles and rated based on the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. The review was performed and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. A total of 49 articles and 15 unique measurement instruments were found, but only three instruments were evaluated in patients with CFS/ME: the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Activity Questionnaire (CFS-AQ), Activity Pattern Interview (API) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF), three self-report instruments measuring the physical activity level. The IPAQ-SF, CFS-AQ and API are all equally capable of evaluating the physical activity level, but none of the three measurement instruments are optimal to use. No studies about the psychometric properties of activity monitors in patients with CFS/ME were found, although they are often used as the gold standard to measure the physical activity pattern. More research is needed to evaluate the psychometric properties of existing instruments, including the use of activity monitors.

Keywords: chronic fatigue syndrome, data collection, physical activity, psychometrics

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Authors: Najwa Mimouni, Omar Rahli, Rachid Bennacer, Salah Chikh

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In the present work 2D and 3D numerical simulations of double diffusion natural convection in an elongated enclosure filled with a binary fluid saturating a porous medium are carried out. In the formulation of the problem, the Boussinesq approximation is considered and cross Neumann boundary conditions are specified for heat and mass walls conditions. The numerical method is based on the control volume approach with the third order QUICK scheme. Full approximation storage (FAS) with full multigrid (FMG) method is used to solve the problem. For the explored large range of the controlling parameters, we clearly evidenced that the increase in the depth of the cavity i.e. the lateral aspect ratio has an important effect on the flow patterns. The 2D perfect parallel flows obtained for a small lateral aspect ratio are drastically destabilized by increasing the cavity lateral dimension. This yields a 3D fluid motion with a much more complicated flow pattern and the classically studied 2D parallel flows are impossible.

Keywords: bifurcation, natural convection, heat and mass transfer, parallel flow, porous media

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Authors: Sosina Adedayo O., Babyemi Olaniyi J.

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The location, population, and distribution pattern of sheep are severe challenges to agribusiness investment and policy formulation in the livestock industry. There is a significant disconnect between farmers' needs and the policy framework towards ameliorating the sheep production constraints. Information on the population, production, and distribution pattern of sheep remains very scanty. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to elicit information from 180 purposively selected respondents from the study area comprised of Oluyole, Ona-ara, Akinyele, Egbeda, Ido and Ibarapa East LGA. The Global Positioning Systems (GPS) of the farmers' location (distribution), and average sheep herd size (Total Livestock Unit, TLU) (population) were recorded, taking the longitude and latitude of the locations in question. The recorded GPS data of the study area were transferred into the ARC-GIS. The ARC-GIS software processed the data using the ARC-GIS model 10.0. Sheep production and distribution (TLU) ranged from 4.1 (Oluyole) to 25.0 (Ibarapa East), with Oluyole, Akinyele, Ona-ara and Egbeda having TLU of 5, 7, 8 and 20, respectively. The herd sizes were classified as less than 8 (smallholders), 9-25 (medium), 26-50 (large), and above 50 (commercial). The majority (45%) of farmers were smallholders. The FR CP (%) ranged from 5.81±0.26 (cassava leaf) to 24.91±0.91 (Amaranthus spinosus), NDF (%) ranged from 22.38±4.43 (Amaranthus spinosus) to 67.96 ± 2.58 (Althemanthe dedentata) while ME ranged from 7.88±0.24 (Althemanthe dedentata) to 10.68±0.18 (cassava leaf). The smallholders’ sheep farmers were the majority, evenly distributed across rural areas due to the availability of abundant feed resources (crop residues, tree crops, shrubs, natural pastures, and feed ingredients) coupled with a large expanse of land in the study area. Most feed resources available were below sheep protein requirement level, hence supplementation is necessary for productivity. Bio-informatics can provide relevant information for sheep production for policy framework and intervention strategies.

Keywords: sheep enterprise, agribusiness investment, policy, bio-informatics, ecological zone

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Authors: Rabia Almas

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Today’s world is demanding natural and biological colorants on priority bases as an alternative to toxic and unsustainable synthetic dyes. Sustainable natural colors from plants and/or living organisms such as bacteria's and fungi attracted the world research scholars and textile industries recently due to the excitement and opportunities they covered. So, in the present study, natural colors from food waste, such as orange peels and peanuts, were extracted and applied to cotton fabric. The dyeing recipes were optimized in terms of dye concentration, processing temperature and time for higher color strength. The characterization of the dyes and fabric, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and fastness properties were measured for the identification of the chemical groups involved for a better understanding of the dyeing behavior. The results revealed that proper mordanting and concentration of dye on cotton fabric could give high color strength and good fastness to wash and light and these natural dyes can be used as an alternative to synthetic toxic colorants.

Keywords: textile, textile dyes, natural dyes, bio colors

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Authors: Seda Yavuz, Anıl Çelebi, Aysun Taşyapı Çelebi, Oğuzhan Urhan

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Nowadays, demand for using real-time video transmission capable devices is ever-increasing. So, high resolution videos have made efficient video compression techniques an essential component for capturing and transmitting video data. Motion estimation has a critical role in encoding raw video. Hence, various motion estimation methods are introduced to efficiently compress the video. Low bit‑depth representation based motion estimation methods facilitate computation of matching criteria and thus, provide small hardware footprint. In this paper, a hardware implementation of a two-bit transformation based low-complexity motion estimation method using local binary pattern approach is proposed. Image frames are represented in two-bit depth instead of full-depth by making use of the local binary pattern as a binarization approach and the binarization part of the hardware architecture is explained in detail. Experimental results demonstrate the difference between the proposed hardware architecture and the architectures of well-known low-complexity motion estimation methods in terms of important aspects such as resource utilization, energy and power consumption.

Keywords: binarization, hardware architecture, local binary pattern, motion estimation, two-bit transform

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Authors: ShuHui Yang, ChingChing Lu

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Measuring event-related potentials (ERPs) has been fundamental to our understanding of how people process language. One specific ERP component, a P600, has been hypothesized to be associated with syntactic reanalysis processes. We, however, propose that the P600 is not restricted to reanalysis processes, but is the index of the structural pattern processing. To investigate the structural pattern processing, we utilized the effects of stimulus degradation in structural priming. To put it another way, there was no P600 effect if the structure of the prime was the same with the structure of the target. Otherwise, there would be a P600 effect if the structure were different between the prime and the target. In the experiment, twenty-two participants were presented with four sentences of Tang poetry. All of the first two sentences, being prime, were conducted with SVO+VP. The last two sentences, being the target, were divided into three types. Type one of the targets was SVO+VP. Type two of the targets was SVO+VPVP. Type three of the targets was VP+VP. The result showed that both of the targets, SVO+VPVP and VP+VP, elicited positive-going brainwave, a P600 effect, at 600~900ms time window. Furthermore, the P600 component was lager for the target’ VP+VP’ than the target’ SVO+VPVP’. That meant the more dissimilar the structure was, the lager the P600 effect we got. These results indicate that P600 was the index of the structure processing, and it would affect the P600 effect intensity with the degrees of structural heterogeneity.

Keywords: ERPs, P600, structural pattern, structural priming, Tang poetry

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Authors: Annalakshmi G., Sakthivel Murugan S.

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This paper presents a local directional encoded derivative binary pattern (LDEDBP) feature extraction method that can be applied for the classification of submarine coral reef images. The classification of coral reef images using texture features is difficult due to the dissimilarities in class samples. In coral reef image classification, texture features are extracted using the proposed method called local directional encoded derivative binary pattern (LDEDBP). The proposed approach extracts the complete structural arrangement of the local region using local binary batten (LBP) and also extracts the edge information using local directional pattern (LDP) from the edge response available in a particular region, thereby achieving extra discriminative feature value. Typically the LDP extracts the edge details in all eight directions. The process of integrating edge responses along with the local binary pattern achieves a more robust texture descriptor than the other descriptors used in texture feature extraction methods. Finally, the proposed technique is applied to an extreme learning machine (ELM) method with a meta-heuristic algorithm known as weighted distance grey wolf optimizer (GWO) to optimize the input weight and biases of single-hidden-layer feed-forward neural networks (SLFN). In the empirical results, ELM-WDGWO demonstrated their better performance in terms of accuracy on all coral datasets, namely RSMAS, EILAT, EILAT2, and MLC, compared with other state-of-the-art algorithms. The proposed method achieves the highest overall classification accuracy of 94% compared to the other state of art methods.

Keywords: feature extraction, local directional pattern, ELM classifier, GWO optimization

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Authors: Annop Jaewisorn

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This study explores the relationship between natural disasters and inequalities -both income and expenditure inequality- at a micro-level of Thailand as the first study of this nature for this country. The analysis uses a unique panel and remote-sensing dataset constructed for the purpose of this research. It contains provincial inequality measures and other economic and social indicators based on the Thailand Household Survey during the period between 1992 and 2019. Meanwhile, the data on natural disasters, which are remote-sensing data, are received from several official geophysical or meteorological databases. Employing a panel fixed effects, the results show that natural disasters significantly reduce household income and expenditure inequality as measured by the Gini index, implying that rich people in Thailand bear a higher cost of natural disasters when compared to poor people. The effect on income inequality is mainly driven by droughts, while the effect on expenditure inequality is mainly driven by flood events. The results are robust across heterogeneity of the samples, lagged effects, outliers, and an alternative inequality measure.

Keywords: inequality, natural disasters, remote-sensing data, Thailand

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Authors: Mirco Tarozzi, Giacomo Pignagnoli, Andrea Benedetti

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Structural systems are often subjected to degradation processes due to different kind of phenomena like unexpected loadings, ageing of the materials and fatigue cycles. This is true especially for bridges, in which their safety evaluation is crucial for the purpose of a design of planning maintenance. This paper discusses the experimental evaluation of the stiffness reduction from frequency changes due to uniform damage scenario. For this purpose, a 1:4 scaled bridge has been built in the laboratory of the University of Bologna. It is made of concrete and its cross section is composed by a slab linked to four beams. This concrete deck is 6 m long and 3 m wide, and its natural frequencies have been identified dynamically by exciting it with an impact hammer, a dropping weight, or by walking on it randomly. After that, a set of loading cycles has been applied to this bridge in order to produce a uniformly distributed crack pattern. During the loading phase, either cracking moment and yielding moment has been reached. In order to define the relationship between frequency variation and loss in stiffness, the identification of the natural frequencies of the bridge has been performed, before and after the occurrence of the damage, corresponding to each load step. The behavior of breathing cracks and its effect on the natural frequencies has been taken into account in the analytical calculations. By using a sort of exponential function given from the study of lot of experimental tests in the literature, it has been possible to predict the stiffness reduction through the frequency variation measurements. During the load test also crack opening and middle span vertical displacement has been monitored.

Keywords: concrete bridge, damage detection, dynamic test, frequency shifts, operational modal analysis

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Authors: Samaneh Khalili

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Natural law theory, in moral philosophy, refers to a system of unchanging values held to be mutual to all humans and can be discovered through reason. The natural law theory is commonly associated with western Philosophers. In contrast, discussions on notions of natural law in Islamic intellectual history were relatively rare. This paper aims to show that the moral theory developed by the Mu'tazilite thinkers can be classified in the ideas of natural law. In doing so, this study will demonstrate that the objective and unchanging values, according to Mu'tazilite theologians, provide the guidelines for assessing the Islamic law rules in the field of human coexistence. The focus of the paper lies on ʿAbd al-Ğabbār, who was the most influential thinker in the late epoch of the Muʿtazila. Although ʿAbd al-Ǧabbār did not leave a text with a systematic discussion of natural law, his teaching of nature, human reason, and the moral values of actions are all scattered throughout his work -'al-Muġnī fī abwāb at-tawḥīd wa-l-'adl'. It is necessary to focus on ʿAbd al-Ǧabbār's theories on reason, nature, and ethics since natural law revolves around the basic concepts of nature, reason, and moral value. While analyzing the concept of the Nature, it will attempt to answer how he explains the world's physical structure and God's relationship to natural events. Moreover, from ʿAbd al-Ǧabbār's point of view, is nature a self-determined system that follows its inner principle in every kind of change, or is nature guided by an external power? Does causality govern natural events? About the concept of reason, an attempt is made to examine how human reason, according to ʿAbd al-Ǧabbār, conceives moral attributes. Finally, the Autor will discuss the concepts of objective values and the place of rights and duties derived from Islamic law in ʿAbd al-Ǧabbār's thought.

Keywords: Islamic law, Mu'tazilite theology, natural law in Islamic theology, objective and unchanging values.

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Authors: Sandeep, A. Joshi, Kamal, Piu Dhibar, Parveen Kumar

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In the present work strong ground motion has been simulated using a modified semi-empirical technique (MSET), with frequency dependent radiation pattern model. Joshi et al. (2014) have modified the semi-empirical technique to incorporate the modeling of strong motion generation areas (SMGAs). A frequency dependent radiation pattern model is applied to simulate high frequency ground motion more precisely. Identified SMGAs (Kurahashi and Irikura 2012) of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake (Mw 9.0) were modeled using this modified technique. Records are simulated for both frequency dependent and constant radiation pattern function. Simulated records for both cases are compared with observed records in terms of peak ground acceleration and pseudo acceleration response spectra at different stations. Comparison of simulated and observed records in terms of root mean square error suggests that the method is capable of simulating record which matches in a wide frequency range for this earthquake and bears realistic appearance in terms of shape and strong motion parameters. The results confirm the efficacy and suitability of rupture model defined by five SMGAs for the developed modified technique.

Keywords: strong ground motion, semi-empirical, strong motion generation area, frequency dependent radiation pattern, 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

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Authors: Mohammadreza Sedighi, Mohammad Said Saidi, Hesamoddin Salarian

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A numerical study has been performed to investigate the effect of using different turbulent models on natural convection flow field and temperature distributions in partially heated square cavity compare to benchmark. The temperature of the right vertical wall is lower than that of heater while other walls are insulated. The commercial CFD codes are used to model. Standard k-w model provided good agreement with the experimental data.

Keywords: Buoyancy, Cavity, CFD, Heat Transfer, Natural Convection, Turbulence

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Authors: Sun Gang

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A variety of functional spaces are distributed on the vast mountain waterfront. Their functional positioning presents a spontaneous form of settlement space, and the construction features show a passive impact on the natural environment. As the precious heritage of inheriting human civilization and promoting historical culture, the traditional settlement space in mountainous areas is also the local expression of landscape pattern pattern gene. Under the impact of rapid urban construction and the stimulation of the transformation of social consumption demand, the original texture, scale and ecology of the traditional mountain settlement space, especially the historical and cultural settlement space, have been affected, and the decline of characteristics hinders the development. This paper selects Anju Ancient Town, the fourth largest ancient city in China, which is located in the city of mountains and waters as the research object, and combines spatial analysis and other methods to study the characteristics and causes of its spatial morphology, analyze the internal logic in its formation and development process, build a genetic analysis map, explore the possibility of settlement inheritance and development, and provide reference for the construction, protection and inheritance of traditional mountain settlements.

Keywords: mountain traditional settlement, historical and cultural settlement space, spatial form, spatial gene

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Authors: Kaisy Xinhong Ye, Su Lin Lim, Jialiang Li, Lei Feng

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background: Multiple healthful dietary patterns have been linked with dementia, but limited studies have looked at the role of diet in cognitive health in Asians whose eating habits are very different from their counterparts in the west. This study aimed to derive a dietary pattern that is associated with the risk of cognitive impairment (CI) in the Singaporean population. Method: The analysis was based on 719 community older adults aged 60 and above. Dietary intake was measured using a validated semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Reduced rank regression (RRR) was used to extract dietary pattern from 45 food groups, specifying sugar, dietary fiber, vitamin A, calcium, and the ratio of polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat intake (P:S ratio) as response variables. The RRR-derived dietary patterns were subsequently investigated using multivariate logistic regression models to look for associations with the risk of CI. Results: A dietary pattern characterized by greater intakes of green leafy vegetables, red-orange vegetables, wholegrains, tofu, nuts, and lower intakes of biscuits, pastries, local sweets, coffee, poultry with skin, sugar added to beverages, malt beverages, roti, butter, and fast food was associated with reduced risk of CI [multivariable-adjusted OR comparing extreme quintiles, 0.29 (95% CI: 0.11, 0.77); P-trend =0.03]. This pattern was positively correlated with P:S ratio, vitamin A, and dietary fiber and negatively correlated with sugar. Conclusion: A dietary pattern providing high P:S ratio, vitamin A and dietary fiber, and a low level of sugar may reduce the risk of cognitive impairment in old age. The findings have significance in guiding local Singaporeans to dementia prevention through food-based dietary approaches.

Keywords: dementia, cognitive impairment, diet, nutrient, elderly

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Authors: John Benedict Bernardo

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Crowdsourcing is a way of collecting information provided by the volunteers. This crowdsourced information has the capacity to increase the people’s situational awareness in times of disasters. The research reflected in this paper strives to demonstrate the benefits of crowdsourcing during natural disasters and the ways of utilizing it for disaster response. Shared information regarding natural disasters from social media is often scattered as the inputs from these media are uncategorized. For this reason, the study aims to equip the citizens a medium that is solely intended for sharing and/or obtaining natural disaster-related information. Ergo, an android application was developed to gather and publicize this volunteered information. The capability of crowdsourcing and the effectiveness of the application were evaluated and the result shows overwhelming agreement that this study is indeed efficient in increasing the awareness and response initiatives of the citizens during natural disasters.

Keywords: crowdsourcing, natural disasters, mobile application, social media

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Authors: Bo-Gaun Chen, Chiung-Hui Huang, Mei-Ching Chiang, Kuo-Hsing Lee, Chia-Chen Ho, Chin-Ping Huang, Chin-Heng Tien

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It is known that the natural dyeing of cloth results moderate color, but with poor color fastness. This study points out the correlation between the macroscopic color fastness of natural dye to the cotton fiber and the microscopic binding energy of dye molecule to the cellulose. With the additive metallic mordant, the new-formed coordination bond bridges the dye to the fiber surface and thus affects the color fastness as well as the color appearance. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation is therefore used to explore the most possible mechanism during the dyeing process. Finally, the experimental results reflect the strong effect of three different metal ions on the natural dyeing clothes.

Keywords: binding energy, color fastness, density functional theory (DFT), natural dyeing, metallic mordant

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Authors: Angana Chatterjee

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The feminist scholars point out the various problematic issues in the traditional mainstream western thought and theories. The thought practices behind the discriminatory and oppressive social practices are based on concepts that play a pivotal role in theorisation. Therefore, many feminist philosophers take up reformation or reconceptualisation projects. Such projects have bearings on various aspects of philosophical thought, namely, ontology, epistemology, logic, ethics, social, political thought, and so on. In tune with this spirit, the present paper suggests a well-established thought pattern which is not western but has got the potential to deal with the problems of mainstream western thought culture that are identified by the feminist critics. The Indian thought pattern is theorised in the domain of Indian logic, which is a study of inference patterns. As, in the Indian context, the inference is considered as a source of knowledge, certain epistemological questions are linked with the discussion of inference. One of the key epistemological issues is one regarding justification. The study about the nature of derivation of knowledge from available evidence, and the nature of the evidence itself, are integral parts of the discipline called Indian logic. But if we contrast the western tradition of thought with the Indian one, we can find that the Indian logic has got some peculiar features which may be shown to deal with the problems identified by the feminist scholars in western thought culture more plausibly. The tradition of western logic, starting from Aristotle, has been maintaining sharp differences between two forms of reasoning, namely, deductive and inductive. These two different forms of reasoning have been theorised and dealt with separately within the domain of the study called ‘logic.’ There are various philosophical problems that are raised around concepts and issues regarding both deductive and inductive reasoning. Indian logic does not distinguish between deduction and induction as thought patterns, but their distinction is very usual to make in the western tradition. Though there can be found various interpretations about this peculiarity of Indian thought pattern, these mixed patterns were actually very close to the cross-cultural pattern in which human beings would tend to argue or infer from the available data or evidence. The feminist theories can successfully operate in the domain of lived experience if they make use of such a mixed pattern of reasoning or inference. By offering sound inferential knowledge on contextual evidences, the Indian thought pattern is potent to serve the feminist purposes in a meaningful way.

Keywords: feminist thought, Indian logic, inference, justification, mixed thought pattern

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Authors: Ridzuan Hussin, Mohd Zaihidee Arshad

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The creativity of earlier artists and sculptors in designing geometric is extraordinary provided with only a compass. Indeed, geometric in Islamic art and design are unique and have their own aesthetic values. In order to further understand geometric, self-learning with the approach of hands on would be appropriate. For this study, Islamic themed geometric designed and created, concerning only; i. The Square Repetition Unit and √2, ii. The Hexagonal Repetition Unit and √3 and iii. Double Hexagon. The aim of this research is to evaluate the creativity of Islamic geometric pattern artworks, through Fundamental Arts and Gestalt theory. Data was collected using specific tasks, and this research intends to identify the difference of Islamic geometric between 21 untitled selected geometric artworks (conventional design method), and 25 digital untitled geometric pattern artworks method. The evaluation of creativity, colors, layout, pattern and unity is known to be of utmost importance, although there are differences in the conventional or the digital approach.

Keywords: Islamic geometric design, Gestalt, fundamentals of art, patterns

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Authors: Aref Aasi, Sadegh Mehdi Aghaei, Balaji Panchapakesan

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This work aims to evaluate the free and forced vibration of a beam with two end joints subjected to a concentrated moving mass and a load using the Euler-Bernoulli method. The natural frequency is calculated for different locations of the concentrated mass and load on the beam. The analytical results are verified by the experimental data. The variations of natural frequency as a function of the location of the mass, the effect of the forced frequency on the vibrational amplitude, and the displacement amplitude versus time are investigated. It is discovered that as the concentrated mass moves toward the center of the beam, the natural frequency of the beam and the relative error between experimental and analytical data decreases. There is a close resemblance between analytical data and experimental observations.

Keywords: Euler-Bernoulli beam, natural frequency, forced vibration, experimental setup

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Authors: Alaa Sarhan, Rania Abd El Gelil, Hana Awad

Abstract:

Through the last decades, the impact of thermal comfort on the working performance of users and occupants of an indoor space has been a concern. Research papers concluded that natural ventilation quality directly impacts the levels of thermal comfort. Natural ventilation must be put into account during the design process in order to improve the inhabitant's efficiency and productivity. One example of daily long-term occupancy spaces is educational facilities. Many individuals spend long times receiving a considerable amount of knowledge, and it takes additional time to apply this knowledge. Thus, this research is concerned with user's level of thermal comfort in design studios of educational facilities. The natural ventilation quality in spaces is affected by a number of parameters including orientation, opening design, and many other factors. This research aims to investigate the conscious manipulation of the physical parameters of the spaces and its impact on natural ventilation performance which subsequently affects thermal comfort of users. The current research uses inductive and deductive methods to define natural ventilation design considerations, which are used in a field study in a studio in the university building in Alexandria (AAST) to evaluate natural ventilation performance through analyzing and comparing the current case to the developed framework and conducting computational fluid dynamics simulation. Results have proved that natural ventilation performance is successful by only 50% of the natural ventilation design framework; these results are supported by CFD simulation.

Keywords: educational buildings, natural ventilation, , mediterranean climate, thermal comfort

Procedia PDF Downloads 179

Authors: Anahita Aris

Abstract:

Geometry always plays a key role in natural structures, which can be a source of inspiration for architects and urban designers to create spaces. By understanding formative principles in nature, a variety of options can be provided that lead to freedom of formation. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the geometrical order found in pomegranate to find formative principles explaining its complex structure. The point is how spherical arils of pomegranate pressed together inside the fruit and filled the space as they expand in the growing process, which made a self-organized system leads to the formation of each of the arils are unique in size, topology and shape. The main challenge of this paper would be using advanced architectural modeling techniques to discover these principles.

Keywords: advanced modeling techniques, architectural modeling, computational design, the geometry of natural formation, geometrical analysis, the natural order of pomegranate, voronoi diagrams

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Authors: Yeliz Sarı Nayim, B. N. Nayim

Abstract:

Vertical natural gardens encountered in urban ecosystems are important elements contributing to urban ecology by raising the quality of urban life. This research covers the investigation of the semi-natural plant walls of Bartın city which is located on the western Black Sea coast of Turkey. Landscape analysis and evaluation as a result of land and office work have resulted in vertical garden ecosystems that have been processed in the urban habitat map, mostly in natural stone walls, wooden garden fences, garden entrance doors, historical buildings and building walls. Structural surfaces on old building facades, especially with abandoned or still in use with natural stone walls, have been found to have many natural vertical gardens over time. Parietaria judaica, Cymbalaria longipes and Hedera helix species were dominant, and other types of content were recorded, providing information on the current biotope potential, human activities and effects on them. It has been emphasized that the described vertical gardens together with the species they contain should be protected in terms of Bartin urban ecology and biodiversity. It has been stated that sustainable urban planning, design and management should be considered as a compensation for open and green area losses.

Keywords: semi-natural vertical gardens, urban ecology, sustainable urban planning and design, Bartın

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: Sanjaya Humagain, Rajendra Koju

Abstract:

Background: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is the most common cardiovascular disease in children and young adults. Though declined and almost non-existent in developed nations, RHD is still one of the leading cause for premature death and disability in developing countries. Prevalence of RHD is high in both rural as well as urban area of Nepal. Present study is designed to look at the pattern of valvular involvement and demographic features in RHD. Methods: 326 patients indicated for inj. Benzathine penicillin were selected and echocardiograph performed to see the pattern of vavular involvement. Data analysis was done using SPSS 17. Result: The most common type of lesion was mixed type with mitral valve involvement. MR was the most common isolated lesion. MS was more commonly seen in females whereas AS was more common in males. Secondary prophylaxis was more common than primary prophylaxis. Conclusion: RHD still being a major problem and a preventable disease so extensive screening program is required to identify them early and prevent the complication.

Keywords: acute rheumatic fever, RHD, MS, MR, AS, AR, Inj benzathine penicillin

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: Eui-Jin Kim, Hasik Lee, Su-Jin Park, Dong-Kyu Kim

Abstract:

Smart-card data are expected to provide information on activity pattern as an alternative to conventional person trip surveys. The focus of this study is to propose a method for training the person trip surveys to supplement the smart-card data that does not contain the purpose of each trip. We selected only available features from smart card data such as spatiotemporal information on the trip and geographic information system (GIS) data near the stations to train the survey data. XGboost, which is state-of-the-art tree-based ensemble classifier, was used to train data from multiple sources. This classifier uses a more regularized model formalization to control the over-fitting and show very fast execution time with well-performance. The validation results showed that proposed method efficiently estimated the trip purpose. GIS data of station and duration of stay at the destination were significant features in modeling trip purpose.

Keywords: activity pattern, data fusion, smart-card, XGboost

Procedia PDF Downloads 209