Search results for: pelvic floor

Authors: Liam Martin, Martha Watson

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Patients with learning disabilities (LD) are at increased risk of physical and mental illness due to health inequality. To address this, NICE recommends that people from the age of 14 with a learning disability should have an annual LD health check. This consultation should include a holistic review of the patient’s physical, mental and social health needs with a view of creating an action plan to support the patient’s care. The expected standard set by the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is that each general practice should review at least 75% of their LD patients annually. During COVID-19, there have been barriers to primary care, including health anxiety, the shift to online general practice and the increase in GP workloads. A surgery in North London wanted to assess whether they were falling short of the expected standard for LD patient annual reviews in order to optimize care post Covid-19. A baseline audit was completed to assess how many LD patients were receiving their annual reviews over the period of 29th September 2020 to 29th September 2021. This information was accessed using EMIS Web Health Care System (EMIS). Patients included were aged 14 and over as per QOF standards. Doctors were not notified of this audit taking place. Following the results of this audit, the creation of learning disability clinics was recommended. These clinics were recommended to be on the ground floor and should be a dedicated time for LD reviews. A re-audit was performed via the same process 6 months later in March 2022. At the time of the baseline audit, there were 71 patients aged 14 and over that were on the LD register. 54% of these LD patients were found to have documentation of an annual LD review within the last 12 months. None of the LD patients between the ages of 14-18 years old had received their annual review. The results were discussed with the practice, and dedicated clinics were set up to review their LD patients. A second pass of the audit was completed 6 months later. This showed an improvement, with 84% of the LD patients registered at the surgery now having a documented annual review within the last 12 months. 78% of the patients between the ages of 14-18 years old had now been reviewed. The baseline audit revealed that the practice was not meeting the expected standard for LD patient’s annual health checks as outlined by QOF, with the most neglected patients being between the ages of 14-18. Identification and awareness of this vulnerable cohort is important to ensure measures can be put into place to support their physical, mental and social wellbeing. Other practices could consider an audit of their annual LD health checks to make sure they are practicing within QOF standards, and if there is a shortfall, they could consider implementing similar actions as used here; dedicated clinics for LD patient reviews.

Keywords: COVID-19, learning disability, learning disability health review, quality and outcomes framework

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Authors: Harry J. Witchel, James Ackah, Carlos P. Santos, Nachiappan Chockalingam, Carina E. I. Westling

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Introduction: Proxemics is the study of how people perceive and use space. It is commonly proposed that when people like or engage with a person/object, they will move slightly closer to it, often quite subtly and subconsciously. Music videos are known to add entertainment value to a pop song. Our hypothesis was that by adding appropriately matched video to a pop song, it would lead to a net approach of the head to the monitor screen compared to simply listening to an audio-only version of the song. Methods: We presented to 27 participants (ages 21.00 ± 2.89, 15 female) seated in front of 47.5 x 27 cm monitor two musical stimuli in a counterbalanced order; all stimuli were based on music videos by the band OK Go: Here It Goes Again (HIGA, boredom ratings (0-100) = 15.00 ± 4.76, mean ± SEM, standard-error-of-the-mean) and Do What You Want (DWYW, boredom ratings = 23.93 ± 5.98), which did not differ in boredom elicited (P = 0.21, rank-sum test). Each participant experienced each song only once, and one song (counterbalanced) as audio-only versus the other song as a music video. The movement was measured by video-tracking using Kinovea 0.8, based on recording from a lateral aspect; before beginning, each participant had a reflective motion tracking marker placed on the outer canthus of the left eye. Analysis of the Kinovea X-Y coordinate output in comma-separated-variables format was performed in Matlab, as were non-parametric statistical tests. Results: We found that the audio-only stimuli (combined for both HIGA and DWYW, mean ± SEM, 35.71 ± 5.36) were significantly more boring than the music video versions (19.46 ± 3.83, P = 0.0066 Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test (WSRT), Cohen's d = 0.658, N = 28). We also found that participants' heads moved around twice as much during the audio-only versions (speed = 0.590 ± 0.095 mm/sec) compared to the video versions (0.301 ± 0.063 mm/sec, P = 0.00077, WSRT). However, the participants' mean head-to-screen distances were not detectably smaller (i.e. head closer to the screen) during the music videos (74.4 ± 1.8 cm) compared to the audio-only stimuli (73.9 ± 1.8 cm, P = 0.37, WSRT). If anything, during the audio-only condition, they were slightly closer. Interestingly, the ranges of the head-to-screen distances were smaller during the music video (8.6 ± 1.4 cm) compared to the audio-only (12.9 ± 1.7 cm, P = 0.0057, WSRT), the standard deviations were also smaller (P = 0.0027, WSRT), and their heads were held 7 mm higher (video 116.1 ± 0.8 vs. audio-only 116.8 ± 0.8 cm above floor, P = 0.049, WSRT). Discussion: As predicted, sitting and listening to experimenter-selected pop music was more boring than when the music was accompanied by a matched, professionally-made video. However, we did not find that the proxemics of the situation led to approaching the screen. Instead, adding video led to efforts to control the head to a more central and upright viewing position and to suppress head fidgeting.

Keywords: boredom, engagement, music videos, posture, proxemics

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Authors: T. Garlan, I. Gabelotaud, S. Lucas, E. Marchès

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Production of a global sedimentological seabed map has been initiated in 1995 to provide the necessary tool for searches of aircraft and boats lost at sea, to give sedimentary information for nautical charts, and to provide input data for acoustic propagation modelling. This original approach had already been initiated one century ago when the French hydrographic service and the University of Nancy had produced maps of the distribution of marine sediments of the French coasts and then sediment maps of the continental shelves of Europe and North America. The current map of the sediment of oceans presented was initiated with a UNESCO's general map of the deep ocean floor. This map was adapted using a unique sediment classification to present all types of sediments: from beaches to the deep seabed and from glacial deposits to tropical sediments. In order to allow good visualization and to be adapted to the different applications, only the granularity of sediments is represented. The published seabed maps are studied, if they present an interest, the nature of the seabed is extracted from them, the sediment classification is transcribed and the resulted map is integrated in the world map. Data come also from interpretations of Multibeam Echo Sounder (MES) imagery of large hydrographic surveys of deep-ocean. These allow a very high-quality mapping of areas that until then were represented as homogeneous. The third and principal source of data comes from the integration of regional maps produced specifically for this project. These regional maps are carried out using all the bathymetric and sedimentary data of a region. This step makes it possible to produce a regional synthesis map, with the realization of generalizations in the case of over-precise data. 86 regional maps of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean have been produced and integrated into the world sedimentary map. This work is permanent and permits a digital version every two years, with the integration of some new maps. This article describes the choices made in terms of sediment classification, the scale of source data and the zonation of the variability of the quality. This map is the final step in a system comprising the Shom Sedimentary Database, enriched by more than one million punctual and surface items of data, and four series of coastal seabed maps at 1:10,000, 1:50,000, 1:200,000 and 1:1,000,000. This step by step approach makes it possible to take into account the progresses in knowledge made in the field of seabed characterization during the last decades. Thus, the arrival of new classification systems for seafloor has improved the recent seabed maps, and the compilation of these new maps with those previously published allows a gradual enrichment of the world sedimentary map. But there is still a lot of work to enhance some regions, which are still based on data acquired more than half a century ago.

Keywords: marine sedimentology, seabed map, sediment classification, world ocean

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Authors: Sheyla Moroni

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A number of scholars around the world have analyzed the great architectural and urban planning revolution proposed by Skopje 2014, but so far, there are no readings of the parallels between the museums in the Balkan area (including Greece) that share the same name as the museum at the center of that political and cultural revolution. In the former FYROM (now renamed North Macedonia), a museum called "Macedonian Struggle" was born during the reconstruction of the city of Skopje as the new "national" capital. This new museum was built under the "Skopje 2014" plan and cost about 560 million euros (1/3 of the country's GDP). It has been a "flagship" of the government of Nikola Gruevski, leader of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party. Until 2016 this museum was close to the motivations of the Macedonian nationalist movement (and later party) active (including terrorist actions) during the 19th and 20th centuries. The museum served to narrate a new "nation-building" after "state-building" had already taken place. But there are three other museums that tell the story of the "Macedonian struggle" by understanding "Macedonia" as a territory other than present-day North Macedonia. The first one is located in Thessaloniki and primarily commemorates the "Greek battle" against the Ottoman Empire. While the first uses a new dark building and many reconstructed rooms and shows the bloody history of the quest for "freedom" for the Macedonian language and people (different from Greeks, Albanians, and Bulgarians), the second is located in an old building in Thessaloniki and in its six rooms on the ground floor graphically illustrates the modern and contemporary history of Greek Macedonia. There are also third and fourth museums: in Kastoria (toward the Albanian border) and in Chromio (near the Greek-North Macedonian border). These two museums (Kastoria and Chromio) are smaller, but they mark two important borders for the (Greek) regions bordering Albania to the east and dividing it to the northwest not only from the Ottoman past but also from two communities felt to be "foreign" (Albanians and former Yugoslav Macedonians). All museums reconstruct a different "national edifice" and emphasize the themes of language and religion. The objective of the research is to understand, through four museums bearing the same name, what are the main "mental boundaries" (religious, linguistic, cultural) of the different states (reconstructed between the late 19th century and 1991). Both classical historiographic methodology (very different between Balkan and "Western" areas) and on-site observation and interactions with different sites are used in this research. An attempt is made to highlight four different political focuses with respect to nation-building and the Public History (and/or propaganda) approaches applied in the construction of these buildings and memorials tendency often that one "defines" oneself by differences from "others" (even if close).

Keywords: nationalisms, museum, nation building, public history

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Authors: Ching-Yi Yiu, Hui-Chen Hsu

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Objectives: Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a big global health problem in the world. Despite the development of diagnosis and treatment, the overall survival of HNC is still low. The well recognition of the interaction of the host immune system and cancer cells has led to realizing the processes of tumor initiation, progression and metastasis. Many systemic inflammatory responses have been shown to play a crucial role in cancer progression. The pre and post-treatment nutritional and immunological status of HNC patients is a reliable prognostic indicator of tumor outcomes and survivors. Methods: Between July 2020 to June 2022, We have enrolled 60 HNC patients, including 59 males and 1 female, in Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Taiwan. The age distribution was from 37 to 81 years old (y/o), with a mean age of 57.6 y/o. We evaluated the pre-and post-treatment nutritional and immunological status of these HNC patients with body weight, body weight loss, body mass index (BMI), whole blood count including hemoglobin (Hb), lymphocyte, neutrophil and platelet counts, biochemistry including prealbumin, albumin, c-reactive protein (CRP), with the time period of before treatment, post-treatment 3 and 6 months. We calculated the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) to assess how these biomarkers influence the outcomes of HNC patients. Results: We have carcinoma of the hypopharynx in 21 cases with 35％, carcinoma of the larynx in 9 cases, carcinoma of the tonsil and tongue every 6 cases, carcinoma soft palate and tongue base every 5 cases, carcinoma of buccal mucosa, retromolar trigone and mouth floor every 2 cases, carcinoma of the hard palate and low lip each 1 case. There were stage I 15 cases, stage II 13 cases, stage III 6 cases, stage IVA 10 cases, and stage IVB 16 cases. All patients have received surgery, chemoradiation therapy or combined therapy. We have wound infection in 6 cases, 2 cases of pharyngocutaneous fistula, flap necrosis in 2 cases, and mortality in 6 cases. In the wound infection group, the average BMI is 20.4 kg/m2; the average Hb is 12.9 g/dL, the average albumin is 3.5 g/dL, the average NLR is 6.78, and the average PLR is 243.5. In the PC fistula and flap necrosis group, the average BMI is 21.65 kg/m2; the average Hb is 11.7 g/dL, the average albumin is 3.15 g/dL, average NLR is 13.28, average PLR is 418.84. In the mortality group, the average BMI is 22.3 kg/m2; the average Hb is 13.58 g/dL, the average albumin is 3.77 g/dL, the average NLR is 6.06, and the average PLR is 275.5. Conclusion: HNC is a big challenging public health problem worldwide, especially in the high prevalence of betel nut consumption area Taiwan. Besides the definite risk factors of smoking, drinking and betel nut related, the other biomarkers may play significant prognosticators in the HNC outcomes. We concluded that the average BMI is less than 22 kg/m2, the average Hb is low than 12.0 g/dL, the average albumin is low than 3.3 g/dL, the average NLR is low than 3, and the average PLR is more than 170, the surgical complications and mortality will be increased, and the prognosis is poor in HNC patients.

Keywords: nutritional, immunological, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, paltelet-to-lymphocyte ratio.

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Authors: Redie Kidane Ghebrehawariat, Betiel Habte Hadgu, Filmon Berhane Kahsay, Rim Berhane Fisehaye, Samuel Haile Kahsay, Saron Yemane Yosief, Selemawit Mosazghi Gilazghi

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A cross-sectional study was conducted from 22 February to 9 April 2022 on small, medium, and large holder dairy farms to determine the bovine mastitis prevalence and associated risk factors in the Anseba region, Eritrea. A total of 34 dairy farms and 193 dairy cows were randomly selected. Dairy cows were physically examined for any change on the udder and milk; a California mastitis test was performed to check sub-clinical mastitis; a closed-ended semi-structured questionnaire composed of 28 variables/risk factors (21 management risk factors and 7 animal-level risk factors) was used to determine the risk factors responsible for clinical and sub-clinical mastitis in the dairy cows. The overall cow-level prevalence of mastitis was 147 (76.2%). The animal level prevalence rate of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis was found to be 22 (11.4%) and 125 (64.8%), respectively, while herd level prevalence both for clinical and subclinical mastitis was found to be 14 (41.2%) and 26 (76.5%) respectively. Based on the already set P-value, which is <0.05, a number of risk factors were found to have a significant relationship with the occurrence of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis. Generally, animal risk factors such as animal age, parity, injury on the udder or teat, and previous history of mastitis presence of injury on the udder and lactation stage were risk factors with a significant relationship with the occurrence of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis. On the other hand, management risk factors with a significant relationship to the occurrence of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis were herd size, failure to milk mastitic cow, at last, educational level, floor type, failure to use a towel, using one towel for more than one cow and failure to practice mastitis test. From a total of 772 quarters, 280 (36.3%) were found positive for sub-clinical mastitis using the California mastitis test; of these, 70 (9%) were weakly positive, 90 (11.7%) were distinct positive, and 120 (15.5%) were strongly positive. Furthermore, 13 (1.7%) quarters were blocked. Quarter level prevalence was right front 80 (41.5%), left front 64 (33.3%), right hind 69 (35.8%) and left hind 67 (34.7%). The study has shown that mastitis is a major problem for dairy farms and the findings suggested that mastitis is one of the limiting factors in increasing milk production. Subclinical mastitis was found to be a devastating problem, and it occurred in all three breeds of lactating dairy cattle. Therefore, farmers should work hard to avoid the above-mentioned risk factors to minimize the infection of their dairy cattle by mastitis and thereby increase their profit. On the other hand, the Ministry of Agriculture, through the extension unit, should work in close contact with the farmers to increase awareness of the economic importance of the disease and associated risk factors.

Keywords: mastitis, prevalence, dairy cattle, Anseba, Eritrea

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Authors: Kazuki Kohama, Hiroko Ono

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The rainfall in Japan is gradually increasing every year according to Japan Meteorological Agency and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report. It means that the rainfall difference between rainy season and non-rainfall is increasing. In addition, the increasing trend of strong rain for a short time clearly appears. In recent years, natural disasters have caused enormous human injuries in various parts of Japan. Regarding water disaster, local heavy rain and floods of large rivers occur frequently, and it was decided on a policy to promote hard and soft sides as emergency disaster prevention measures with water disaster prevention awareness social reconstruction vision. Okinawa prefecture in subtropical region has torrential rain and water disaster several times a year such as river flood, in which is caused in specific rivers from all 97 rivers. Also, the shortage of capacity and narrow width are characteristic of river in Okinawa and easily cause river flood in heavy rain. This study focuses on Kohatu River that is one of the specific rivers. In fact, the water level greatly rises over the river levee almost once a year but non-damage of buildings around. On the other hand in some case, the water level reaches to ground floor height of house and has happed nine times until today. The purpose of this research is to figure out relationship between precipitation, surface outflow and total treatment water quantity of Kohatu River. For the purpose, we perform hydrological analysis although is complicated and needs specific details or data so that, the method is mainly using Geographic Information System software and outflow analysis system. At first, we extract watershed and then divided to 23 catchment areas to understand how much surface outflow flows to runoff point in each 10 minutes. On second, we create Unit Hydrograph indicating the area of surface outflow with flow area and time. This index shows the maximum amount of surface outflow at 2400 to 3000 seconds. Lastly, we compare an estimated value from Unit Hydrograph to a measured value. However, we found that measure value is usually lower than measured value because of evaporation and transpiration. In this study, hydrograph analysis was performed using GIS software and outflow analysis system. Based on these, we could clarify the flood time and amount of surface outflow.

Keywords: disaster prevention, water disaster, river flood, GIS software

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Authors: Moses Jenkins

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Much of the focus when improving energy efficiency in buildings fall on the raising of standards within new build dwellings. However, as a significant proportion of the building stock across Europe is of historic or traditional construction, there is also a pressing need to improve the thermal performance of structures of this sort. On average, around twenty percent of buildings across Europe are built of historic masonry construction. In order to meet carbon reduction targets, these buildings will require to be retrofitted with insulation to improve their thermal performance. At the same time, there is also a need to balance this with maintaining the ability of historic masonry construction to allow moisture movement through building fabric to take place. This moisture transfer, often referred to as 'breathable construction', is critical to the success, or otherwise, of retrofit projects. The significance of this paper is to demonstrate that substantial thermal improvements can be made to historic buildings whilst avoiding damage to building fabric through surface or interstitial condensation. The paper will analyze the results of a wide range of retrofit measures installed to twenty buildings as part of Historic Environment Scotland's technical research program. This program has been active for fourteen years and has seen interventions across a wide range of building types, using over thirty different methods and materials to improve the thermal performance of historic buildings. The first part of the paper will present the range of interventions which have been made. This includes insulating mass masonry walls both internally and externally, warm and cold roof insulation and improvements to floors. The second part of the paper will present the results of monitoring work which has taken place to these buildings after being retrofitted. This will be in terms of both thermal improvement, expressed as a U-value as defined in BS EN ISO 7345:1987, and also, crucially, will present the results of moisture monitoring both on the surface of masonry walls the following retrofit and also within the masonry itself. The aim of this moisture monitoring is to establish if there are any problems with interstitial condensation. This monitoring utilizes Interstitial Hygrothermal Gradient Monitoring (IHGM) and similar methods to establish relative humidity on the surface of and within the masonry. The results of the testing are clear and significant for retrofit projects across Europe. Where a building is of historic construction the use of materials for wall, roof and floor insulation which are permeable to moisture vapor provides both significant thermal improvements (achieving a u-value as low as 0.2 Wm²K) whilst avoiding problems of both surface and intestinal condensation. As the evidence which will be presented in the paper comes from monitoring work in buildings rather than theoretical modeling, there are many important lessons which can be learned and which can inform retrofit projects to historic buildings throughout Europe.

Keywords: insulation, condensation, masonry, historic

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Authors: Munenari Inoguchi, Keiko Tamura

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In Japan, we were suffered by earthquake, typhoon, and flood disaster in 2019. Especially, 38 of 47 prefectures were affected by typhoon #1919 occurred in October 2019. By this disaster, 99 people were dead, three people were missing, and 484 people were injured as human damage. Furthermore, 3,081 buildings were totally collapsed, 24,998 buildings were half-collapsed. Once disaster occurs, local responders have to inspect damage level of each building by themselves in order to certificate building damage for survivors for starting their life reconstruction process. At that disaster, the total number to be inspected was so high. Based on this situation, Cabinet Office of Japan approved the way to detect building damage level efficiently, that is collectively detection. However, they proposed a just guideline, and local responders had to establish the concrete and infallible method by themselves. Against this issue, we decided to establish the effective and efficient methodology to detect building damage level collectively with flood depth. Besides, we thought that the flood depth was relied on the land height, and we decided to utilize GIS (Geographic Information System) for analyzing the elevation spatially. We focused on the analyzing tool of spatial interpolation, which is utilized to survey the ground water level usually. In establishing the methodology, we considered 4 key-points: 1) how to satisfy the condition defined in the guideline approved by Cabinet Office for detecting building damage level, 2) how to satisfy survivors for the result of building damage level, 3) how to keep equitability and fairness because the detection of building damage level was executed by public institution, 4) how to reduce cost of time and human-resource because they do not have enough time and human-resource for disaster response. Then, we proposed a methodology for detecting building damage level collectively with flood depth utilizing GIS with five steps. First is to obtain the boundary of flooded area. Second is to collect the actual flood depth as sampling over flooded area. Third is to execute spatial analysis of interpolation with sampled flood depth to detect two-dimensional flood depth extent. Fourth is to divide to blocks by four categories of flood depth (non-flooded, over the floor to 100 cm, 100 cm to 180 cm and over 180 cm) following lines of roads for getting satisfaction from survivors. Fifth is to put flood depth level to each building. In Koriyama city of Fukushima prefecture, we proposed the methodology of collectively detection for building damage level as described above, and local responders decided to adopt our methodology at typhoon #1919 in 2019. Then, we and local responders detect building damage level collectively to over 1,000 buildings. We have received good feedback that the methodology was so simple, and it reduced cost of time and human-resources.

Keywords: building damage inspection, flood, geographic information system, spatial interpolation

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Authors: Valentina Adduci

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The developing research aims to define in general the criteria of environmental sustainability of rural buildings in Puglia and particularly in the manor farm. The main part of the study analyzes the relationship / dependence between the rural building and the landscape which, after many stratifications, results clearly identified and sometimes also characterized in a positive way. The location of the manor farm, in fact, is often conditioned by the infrastructural network and by the structure of the agricultural landscape. The manor farm, without the constraints due to the urban pattern’s density, was developed in accordance with a logical settlement that gives priority to the environmental aspects. These vernacular architectures are the most valuable example of how our ancestors have planned their dwellings according to nature. The 237 farms, analysis’ object, have been reported in cartography through the GIS system; a symbol has been assigned to each of them to identify the architectural typology and a different color for the historical period of construction. A datasheet template has been drawn up, and it has made possible a deeper understanding of each manor farm. This method provides a faster comparison of the most recurring characters in all the considered buildings, except for those farms which benefited from special geographical conditions, such as proximity to the road network or waterways. Below there are some of the most frequently constants derived from the statistical study of the examined buildings: southeast orientation of the main facade; placement of the sheep pen on the ground tilted and exposed to the south side; larger windowed surface on the south elevation; smaller windowed surface on the north elevation; presence of shielding vegetation near the more exposed elevations to the solar radiation; food storage’s rooms located on the ground floor or in the basement; animal shelter located in north side of the farm; presence of tanks and wells, sometimes combined with a very accurate channeling storm water system; thick layers of masonry walls, inside of which were often obtained hollow spaces to house stairwells or depots for the food storage; exclusive use of local building materials. The research aims to trace the ancient use of bioclimatic constructive techniques in the Apulian rural architecture and to define those that derive from an empirical knowledge and those that respond to an already encoded design. These constructive expedients are especially useful to obtain an effective passive cooling, to promote the natural ventilation and to built ingenious systems for the recovery and the preservation of rainwater and are still found in some of the manor farms analyzed, most of them are, today, in a serious state of neglect.

Keywords: bioclimatic devices, farmstead, rural landscape, sustainability

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Authors: Champika Amarasinghe

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Introduction: Covid 19 pandemic was badly hit to the Sri Lankan economy during the year 2021. More than 65% of the Sri Lankan work force is engaged with small and medium scale businesses which no doubt that they had to struggle for their survival and business continuity during the pandemic. Objective: To assess the association of adherence to the new norms during the Covid 19 pandemic and maintenance of healthy working environmental conditions for business continuity. A cross sectional study was carried out to assess the OSH status and adequacy of Covid 19 preventive strategies among the 200 SME’S in selected two districts in Sri Lanka. These two districts were selected considering the highest availability of SME’s. Sample size was calculated, and probability propionate to size was used to select the SME’s which were registered with the small and medium scale development authority. An interviewer administrated questionnaire was used to collect the data, and OSH risk assessment was carried out by a team of experts to assess the OSH status in these industries. Results: According to the findings, more than 90% of the employees in these industries had a moderate awareness related to COVID 19 disease and preventive strategies such as the importance of Mask use, hand sainting practices, and distance maintenance, but the only forty percent of them were adhered to implementation of these practices. Furthermore, only thirty five percent of the employees and employers in these SME’s new the reasons behind the new norms, which may be the reason for reluctance to implement these strategies and reluctance to adhering to the new norms in this sector. The OSH risk assessment findings revealed that the working environmental organization while maintaining the distance between two employees was poor due to the inadequacy of space in these entities. More than fifty five percent of the SME’s had proper ventilation and lighting facilities. More than eighty five percent of these SME’s had poor electrical safety measures. Furthermore, eighty two percent of them had not maintained fire safety measures. Eighty five percent of them were exposed to heigh noise levels and chemicals where they were not using any personal protectives nor any other engineering controls were not imposed. Floor conditions were poor, and they were not maintaining the occupational accident nor occupational disease diseases. Conclusions: Based on the findings, proper awareness sessions were carried out by NIOSH. Six physical training sessions and continues online trainings were carried out to overcome these issues, which made a drastic change in their working environments and ended up with hundred percent implementation of the Covid 19 preventive strategies, which intern improved the worker participation in the businesses. Reduced absentees and improved business opportunities, and continued their businesses without any interruption during the third episode of Covid 19 in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: working environment, Covid 19, occupational diseases, occupational accidents

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Authors: Jonathan A. Noble

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‘Origins’ is an exhibition designed and installed by MMA Design Studio, at the 2023 Venice Biennale. The instillation formed part of the ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ group exhibition at the Arsenale building. An immersive experience was created for those who visited, where video projection and the bodies of visitors interacted with the scene. Designed by South African architect, Mphethi Morojele – founder and owner of MMA – the primary inspiration for ‘Origins’ was the recent discovery by Professor Karim Sadr in 2019, of a substantial Tswana settlement. Situated in present day Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, some 45km south of Johannesburg, this precolonial city named Kweneng, has been dated back to the fifteenth century. This remarkable discovery was achieved thanks to advanced aerial, LiDAR scanning technology, which was used to capture the traces of Kweneng, spanning a terrain of some 10km long and 2km wide. Discovered by light (LiDAR) and exhibited through light, Origins presents a simulated experience of Kweneng. The presentation of Kweneng was achieved primarily though video, with a circular projection onto the floor of an animated LiDAR data sequence, and onto the walls a filmed dance sequence choreographed to embody the architectural, spatial and symbolic significance of Kweneng. This paper documents the design process that was involved in the conceptualization, development and final realization of this noteworthy exhibition, with an elucidation upon key social and cultural questions pertaining to precolonial heritage, reimagined histories and postcolonial identity. Periods of change and of social awakening sometimes spark an interest in questions of origin, of cultural lineage and belonging – and which certainly is the case for contemporary, post-Apartheid South Africa. Researching this paper has required primary study of MMA Design Studio’s project archive, including various proposals and other design related documents, conceptual design sketches, architectural drawings and photographs. This material is supported by the authors first-hand interviews with Morejele and others who were involved, especially with respect to the choreography of the interpretive dance, LiDAR visualization techniques and video production that informed the simulated, immersive experience at the exhibition. Presenting a ‘dangerous liaison’ between architecture and dance, Origins looks into the distant past to frame contemporary questions pertaining to intangible heritage, animism and embodiment through architecture and dance – considerations which are required “to survive the future”, says Morojele.

Keywords: architecture and dance, Kweneng, MMA design studio, origins, Venice Biennale

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Authors: Magdalena Grudzińska

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Passive systems allow solar radiation to be converted into thermal energy thanks to appropriate building construction. Greenhouse systems are particularly worth attention, due to the low costs of their realization and strong architectural appeal. The paper discusses the energy effects of using passive greenhouse systems, such as glazed balconies, in an example residential building. The research was carried out for five localities in Poland, belonging to climatic zones different in terms of external air temperature and insolation: Koszalin, Poznań, Lublin, Białystok and Zakopane The analysed apartment had a floor area of approximately 74 m² Three thermal zones were distinguished in the flat - the balcony, the room adjacent to it, and the remaining space, for which various internal conditions were defined. Calculations of the energy demand were made using the dynamic simulation program, based on the control volume method. The climatic data were represented by Typical Meteorological Years, prepared on the basis of source data collected from 1971 to 2000. In each locality, the introduction of a passive greenhouse system led to a lower demand for heating in the apartment, and the shortening of the heating season. The smallest effectiveness of passive solar energy systems was noted in Białystok. Demand for heating was reduced there by 14.5% and the heating season remained the longest, due to low temperatures of external air and small sums of solar radiation intensity. In Zakopane, energy savings came to 21% and the heating season was reduced to 107 days, thanks to the greatest insolation during winter. The introduction of greenhouse systems caused an increase in cooling demand in the warmer part of the year, but total energy demand declined in each of the discussed places. However, potential energy savings are smaller if the building's annual life cycle is taken into consideration, and amount from 5.6% up to 14%. Koszalin and Zakopane are localities in which the greenhouse system allows the best energy results to be achieved. It should be emphasized that favourable conditions for introducing greenhouse systems are connected with different climatic conditions. In the seaside area (Koszalin) they result from high temperatures in the heating season and the smallest insolation in the summer period, while in the mountainous area (Zakopane) they result from high insolation in the winter and low temperatures in the summer. In the region of middle and middle-eastern Poland active systems (such as solar energy collectors or photovoltaic panels) could be more beneficial, due to high insolation during summer. It is assessed that passive systems do not eliminate the need for traditional heating in Poland. They can, however, substantially contribute to lower use of non-renewable fuels and the shortening of the heating season. The calculations showed diversification in the effectiveness of greenhouse systems resulting from climatic conditions, and allowed to identify areas which are the most suitable for the passive use of solar radiation.

Keywords: solar energy, passive greenhouse systems, glazed balconies, climatic conditions

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Haley Gershon

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The transition from using fossil fuel-based building material to formulating eco-friendly and biobased building materials plays a key role in sustainable building. The growing demand on a global level for biobased materials in the building and construction industries heightens the importance of carbon-14 testing, an analytical method used to determine the percentage of biobased content that comprises a material’s ingredients. This presentation will focus on the use of carbon-14 analysis within the building materials sector. Carbon-14, also known as radiocarbon, is a weakly radioactive isotope present in all living organisms. Any fossil material older than 50,000 years will not contain any carbon-14 content. The radiocarbon method is thus used to determine the amount of carbon-14 content present in a given sample. Carbon-14 testing is performed according to ASTM D6866, a standard test method developed specifically for biobased content determination of material in solid, liquid, or gaseous form, which requires radiocarbon dating. Samples are combusted and converted into a solid graphite form and then pressed onto a metal disc and mounted onto a wheel of an accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) machine for the analysis. The AMS instrument is used in order to count the amount of carbon-14 present. By submitting samples for carbon-14 analysis, manufacturers of building materials can confirm the biobased content of ingredients used. Biobased testing through carbon-14 analysis reports results as percent biobased content, indicating the percentage of ingredients coming from biomass sourced carbon versus fossil carbon. The analysis is performed according to standardized methods such as ASTM D6866, ISO 16620, and EN 16640. Products 100% sourced from plants, animals, or microbiological material are therefore 100% biobased, while products sourced only from fossil fuel material are 0% biobased. Any result in between 0% and 100% biobased indicates that there is a mixture of both biomass-derived and fossil fuel-derived sources. Furthermore, biobased testing for building materials allows manufacturers to submit eligible material for certification and eco-label programs such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) BioPreferred Program. This program includes a voluntary labeling initiative for biobased products, in which companies may apply to receive and display the USDA Certified Biobased Product label, stating third-party verification and displaying a product’s percentage of biobased content. The USDA program includes a specific category for Building Materials. In order to qualify for the biobased certification under this product category, examples of product criteria that must be met include minimum 62% biobased content for wall coverings, minimum 25% biobased content for lumber, and a minimum 91% biobased content for floor coverings (non-carpet). As a result, consumers can easily identify plant-based products in the marketplace.

Keywords: carbon-14 testing, biobased, biobased content, radiocarbon dating, accelerator mass spectrometry, AMS, materials

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Robert Wimmer, Soeren Eikemeier, Michael Berger, Anita Preisler

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A relatively large percentage of energy and resource consumption occurs in the building sector. This concerns the production of building materials, the construction of buildings and also the energy consumption during the use phase. Therefore, the overall objective of this EU LIFE project “LIFE Cycle Habitation” (LIFE13 ENV/AT/000741) is to demonstrate innovative building concepts that significantly reduce CO₂emissions, mitigate climate change and contain a minimum of grey energy over their entire life cycle. The project is being realised with the contribution of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union. The ultimate goal is to design and build prototypes for carbon-neutral and “LIFE cycle”-oriented residential buildings and make energy-efficient settlements the standard of tomorrow in line with the EU 2020 objectives. To this end, a resource and energy-efficient building compound is being built in Böheimkirchen, Lower Austria, which includes 6 living units and a community area as well as 2 single family houses with a total usable floor surface of approximately 740 m². Different innovative straw bale construction types (load bearing and pre-fabricated non loadbearing modules) together with a highly innovative energy-supply system, which is based on the maximum use of thermal energy for thermal energy services, are going to be implemented. Therefore only renewable resources and alternative energies are used to generate thermal as well as electrical energy. This includes the use of solar energy for space heating, hot water and household appliances like dishwasher or washing machine, but also a cooking place for the community area operated with thermal oil as heat transfer medium on a higher temperature level. Solar collectors in combination with a biomass cogeneration unit and photovoltaic panels are used to provide thermal and electric energy for the living units according to the seasonal demand. The building concepts are optimised by support of dynamic simulations. A particular focus is on the production and use of modular prefabricated components and building parts made of regionally available, highly energy-efficient, CO₂-storing renewable materials like straw bales. The building components will be produced in collaboration by local SMEs that are organised in an efficient way. The whole building process and results are monitored and prepared for knowledge transfer and dissemination including a trial living in the residential units to test and monitor the energy supply system and to involve stakeholders into evaluation and dissemination of the applied technologies and building concepts. The realised building concepts should then be used as templates for a further modular extension of the settlement in a second phase.

Keywords: energy-efficiency, green architecture, renewable resources, sustainable building

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: M. Vezir Kahraman, Emre Basturk

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Energy storage technology offers new ways to meet the demand to obtain efficient and reliable energy storage materials. Thermal energy storage systems provide the potential to acquire energy savings, which in return decrease the environmental impact related to energy usage. For this purpose, phase change materials (PCMs) that work as 'latent heat storage units' which can store or release large amounts of energy are preferred. Phase change materials (PCMs) are being utilized to absorb, collect and discharge thermal energy during the cycle of melting and freezing, converting from one phase to another. Phase Change Materials (PCMs) can generally be arranged into three classes: organic materials, salt hydrates and eutectics. Many kinds of organic and inorganic PCMs and their blends have been examined as latent heat storage materials. PCMs have found different application areas such as solar energy storage and transfer, HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) systems, thermal comfort in vehicles, passive cooling, temperature controlled distributions, industrial waste heat recovery, under floor heating systems and modified fabrics in textiles. Ultraviolet (UV)-curing technology has many advantages, which made it applicable in many different fields. Low energy consumption, high speed, room-temperature operation, low processing costs, high chemical stability, and being environmental friendly are some of its main benefits. UV-curing technique has many applications. One of the many advantages of UV-cured PCMs is that they prevent the interior PCMs from leaking. Shape-stabilized PCM is prepared by blending the PCM with a supporting material, usually polymers. In our study, this problem is minimized by coating the fatty alcohols with a photo-cross-linked thiol-ene based polymeric system. Leakage is minimized because photo-cross-linked polymer acts a matrix. The aim of this study is to introduce a novel thiol-ene based shape-stabilized PCM. Photo-crosslinked thiol-ene based polymers containing fatty alcohols were prepared and characterized for the purpose of phase change materials (PCMs). Different types of fatty alcohols were used in order to investigate their properties as shape-stable PCMs. The structure of the PCMs was confirmed by ATR-FTIR techniques. The phase transition behaviors, thermal stability of the prepared photo-crosslinked PCMs were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). This work was supported by Marmara University, Commission of Scientific Research Project.

Keywords: differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Polymeric phase change material, thermal energy storage, UV-curing

Procedia PDF Downloads 201

Authors: Juan S. Mantilla, Peter Thomson

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Seismic events may result in discomfort on occupants of the buildings, structural damage or even buildings collapse. Traditional design aims to reduce dynamic response of structures by increasing stiffness, thus increasing the construction costs and the design forces. Structural control systems arise as an alternative to reduce these dynamic responses. A commonly used control systems in buildings are the passive friction dampers, which adds energy dissipation through damping mechanisms induced by sliding friction between their surfaces. Passive friction dampers are usually implemented on the diagonal of braced buildings, but such devices have the disadvantage that are optimal for a range of sliding force and out of that range its efficiency decreases. The above implies that each passive friction damper is designed, built and commercialized for a specific sliding/clamping force, in which the damper shift from a locked state to a slip state, where dissipates energy through friction. The risk of having a variation in the efficiency of the device according to the sliding force is that the dynamic properties of the building can change as result of many factor, even damage caused by a seismic event. In this case the expected forces in the building can change and thus considerably reduce the efficiency of the damper (that is designed for a specific sliding force). It is also evident than when a seismic event occurs the forces in each floor varies in the time what means that the damper's efficiency is not the best at all times. Semi-Active Friction devices adapt its sliding force trying to maintain its motion in the slipping phase as much as possible, because of this, the effectiveness of the device depends on the control strategy used. This paper deals with the development and performance evaluation of a low cost Semiactive Variable Friction Damper (SAVFD) in reduced scale to reduce vibrations of structures subject to earthquakes. The SAVFD consist in a (1) hydraulic brake adapted to (2) a servomotor which is controlled with an (3) Arduino board and acquires accelerations or displacement from (4) sensors in the immediately upper and lower floors and a (5) power supply that can be a pair of common batteries. A test structure, based on a Benchmark structure for structural control, was design and constructed. The SAVFD and the structure are experimentally characterized. A numerical model of the structure and the SAVFD is developed based on the dynamic characterization. Decentralized control algorithms were modeled and later tested experimentally using shaking table test using earthquake and frequency chirp signals. The controlled structure with the SAVFD achieved reductions greater than 80% in relative displacements and accelerations in comparison to the uncontrolled structure.

Keywords: earthquake response, friction damper, semiactive control, shaking table

Procedia PDF Downloads 357

Authors: Nadia Noor, Farida Faisal

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Horizontal hostility has been identified as a special type of workplace violence and refers to the aggressive behavior inflicted by women towards other women due to gender issues or towards minority group members due to minority issues. Many women, while they want eagerly to succeed and invest invigorated efforts to achieve success, harbor negative feelings for other women to succeed in their career. This phenomenon has been known as Horizontal Violence, Horizontal Hostility, Lateral Violence, Indirect Aggression, or The Tall Poppy Syndrome in Australian culture. Tall Poppy is referred to as a visibly successful individual who attracts envy or hostility due to distinctive characteristics. Therefore, horizontal hostility provides theoretical foundation to examine fierce competition among females than males for their limited access to top level management positions. In Pakistan, gender discrimination persists due to male dominance in the society and women do not enjoy basic equality rights in all aspects of life. They are oppressed at social and organizational level. As Government has been trying to enhance women participation through providing more employment opportunities, provision of peaceful workplace is mandatory that will enable aspiring females to achieve objectives of career success. This research study will help to understand antecedents, dimensions and outcomes of horizontal hostility that hinder career success of competitive females. The present paper is a review paper and various forms of horizontal hostility have been discussed in detail. Different psychological and organizational level drivers of horizontal hostility have been explored through literature. Psychological drivers include oppression, lack of empowerment, learned helplessness and low self-esteem. Organizational level drivers include sticky floor, glass ceiling, toxic work environment and leadership role. Horizontal hostility among working women results in psychological and physical outcomes including stress, low motivation, poor job performance and intention to leave. The study recommends provision of healthy and peaceful work environment that will enable competent women to achieve objectives of career success. In this regard, concrete actions and effective steps are required to promote gender equality at social and organizational level. The need is to ensure the enforcement of legal frameworks by government agencies in order to provide healthy working environment to women by reducing harassment and violence against them. Organizations must eradicate drivers of horizontal hostility and provide women peaceful work environment. In order to develop coping skills, training and mentoring must be provided to them.

Keywords: gender discrimination, glass ceiling, horizontal hostility, oppression

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Michel Soto Chalhoub

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Building code-related literature provides recommendations on normalizing approaches to the calculation of the dynamic properties of structures. Most building codes make a distinction among types of structural systems, construction material, and configuration through a numerical coefficient in the expression for the fundamental period. The period is then used in normalized response spectra to compute base shear. The typical parameter used in simplified code formulas for the fundamental period is overall building height raised to a power determined from analytical and experimental results. However, reinforced concrete buildings which constitute the majority of built space in less developed countries pose additional challenges to the ones built with homogeneous material such as steel, or with concrete under stricter quality control. In the present paper, the particularities of reinforced concrete buildings are explored and related to current methods of equivalent static analysis. A comparative study is presented between the Uniform Building Code, commonly used for buildings within and outside the USA, and data from the Middle East used to model 151 reinforced concrete buildings of varying number of bays, number of floors, overall building height, and individual story height. The fundamental period was calculated using eigenvalue matrix computation. The results were also used in a separate regression analysis where the computed period serves as dependent variable, while five building properties serve as independent variables. The statistical analysis shed light on important parameters that simplified code formulas need to account for including individual story height, overall building height, floor plan, number of bays, and concrete properties. Such inclusions are important for reinforced concrete buildings of special conditions due to the level of concrete damage, aging, or materials quality control during construction. Overall results of the present analysis show that simplified code formulas for fundamental period and base shear may be applied but they require revisions to account for multiple parameters. The conclusion above is confirmed by the analytical model where fundamental periods were computed using numerical techniques and eigenvalue solutions. This recommendation is particularly relevant to code upgrades in less developed countries where it is customary to adopt, and mildly adapt international codes. We also note the necessity of further research using empirical data from buildings in Lebanon that were subjected to severe damage due to impulse loading or accelerated aging. However, we excluded this study from the present paper and left it for future research as it has its own peculiarities and requires a different type of analysis.

Keywords: seismic behaviour, reinforced concrete, simplified code formulas, equivalent static analysis, base shear, response spectra

Procedia PDF Downloads 201

Authors: Roberto de Lieto Vollaro, Emanuele de Lieto Vollaro, Gianluca Coltrinari

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The building sector is responsible, in many industrialized countries, for about 40% of the total energy requirements, so it seems necessary to devote some efforts in this area in order to achieve a significant reduction of energy consumption and of greenhouse gases emissions. The paper presents a study aiming at providing a design methodology able to identify the best configuration of the system building/plant, from a technical, economic and environmentally point of view. Normally, the classical approach involves a building's energy loads analysis under steady state conditions, and subsequent selection of measures aimed at improving the energy performance, based on previous experience made by architects and engineers in the design team. Instead, the proposed approach uses a sequence of two well known scientifically validated calculation methods (TRNSYS and RETScreen), that allow quite a detailed feasibility analysis. To assess the validity of the calculation model, an existing, historical building in Central Italy, that will be the object of restoration and preservative redevelopment, was selected as a case-study. The building is made of a basement and three floors, with a total floor area of about 3,000 square meters. The first step has been the determination of the heating and cooling energy loads of the building in a dynamic regime by means of TRNSYS, which allows to simulate the real energy needs of the building in function of its use. Traditional methodologies, based as they are on steady-state conditions, cannot faithfully reproduce the effects of varying climatic conditions and of inertial properties of the structure. With TRNSYS it is possible to obtain quite accurate and reliable results, that allow to identify effective combinations building-HVAC system. The second step has consisted of using output data obtained with TRNSYS as input to the calculation model RETScreen, which enables to compare different system configurations from the energy, environmental and financial point of view, with an analysis of investment, and operation and maintenance costs, so allowing to determine the economic benefit of possible interventions. The classical methodology often leads to the choice of conventional plant systems, while RETScreen provides a financial-economic assessment for innovative energy systems and low environmental impact. Computational analysis can help in the design phase, particularly in the case of complex structures with centralized plant systems, by comparing the data returned by the calculation model RETScreen for different design options. For example, the analysis performed on the building, taken as a case study, found that the most suitable plant solution, taking into account technical, economic and environmental aspects, is the one based on a CCHP system (Combined Cooling, Heating, and Power) using an internal combustion engine.

Keywords: energy, system, building, cooling, electrical

Procedia PDF Downloads 547

Authors: Stojan Kravanja, Andrej Ivanič, Tomaž Žula

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This contribution focuses on structural optimization in civil engineering using mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP). MINLP is characterized as a versatile method that can handle both continuous and discrete optimization variables simultaneously. Continuous variables are used to optimize parameters such as dimensions, stresses, masses, or costs, while discrete variables represent binary decisions to determine the presence or absence of structural elements within a structure while also calculating discrete materials and standard sections. The optimization process is divided into three main steps. First, a mechanical superstructure with a variety of different topology-, material- and dimensional alternatives. Next, a MINLP model is formulated to encapsulate the optimization problem. Finally, an optimal solution is searched in the direction of the defined objective function while respecting the structural constraints. The economic or mass objective function of the material and labor costs of a structure is subjected to the constraints known from structural analysis. These constraints include equations for the calculation of internal forces and deflections, as well as equations for the dimensioning of structural components (in accordance with the Eurocode standards). Given the complex, non-convex and highly non-linear nature of optimization problems in civil engineering, the Modified Outer-Approximation/Equality-Relaxation (OA/ER) algorithm is applied. This algorithm alternately solves subproblems of non-linear programming (NLP) and main problems of mixed-integer linear programming (MILP), in this way gradually refines the solution space up to the optimal solution. The NLP corresponds to the continuous optimization of parameters (with fixed topology, discrete materials and standard dimensions, all determined in the previous MILP), while the MILP involves a global approximation to the superstructure of alternatives, where a new topology, materials, standard dimensions are determined. The optimization of a convex problem is stopped when the MILP solution becomes better than the best NLP solution. Otherwise, it is terminated when the NLP solution can no longer be improved. While the OA/ER algorithm, like all other algorithms, does not guarantee global optimality due to the presence of non-convex functions, various modifications, including convexity tests, are implemented in OA/ER to mitigate these difficulties. The effectiveness of the proposed MINLP approach is demonstrated by its application to various structural optimization tasks, such as mass optimization of steel buildings, cost optimization of timber halls, composite floor systems, etc. Special optimization models have been developed for the optimization of these structures. The MINLP optimizations, facilitated by the user-friendly software package MIPSYN, provide insights into a mass or cost-optimal solutions, optimal structural topologies, optimal material and standard cross-section choices, confirming MINLP as a valuable method for the optimization of structures in civil engineering.

Keywords: MINLP, mixed-integer non-linear programming, optimization, structures

Procedia PDF Downloads 11

Authors: Bruce Wrightsman

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Construction and design are inexorably linked. Traditional building methodologies, including those using wood, comprise a series of material layers differentiated and separated from each other. This results in the separation of two agencies of building envelope (skin) separate from the structure. However, from a material performance position reliant on additional materials, this is not an efficient strategy for the building. The merits of traditional platform framing are well known. However, its enormous effectiveness within wood-framed construction has seldom led to serious questioning and challenges in defining what it means to build. There are several downsides of using this method, which is less widely discussed. The first and perhaps biggest downside is waste. Second, its reliance on wood assemblies forming walls, floors and roofs conventionally nailed together through simple plate surfaces is structurally inefficient. It requires additional material through plates, blocking, nailers, etc., for stability that only adds to the material waste. In contrast, when we look back at the history of wood construction in airplane and boat manufacturing industries, we will see a significant transformation in the relationship of structure with skin. The history of boat construction transformed from indigenous wood practices of birch bark canoes to copper sheathing over wood to improve performance in the late 18th century and the evolution of merged assemblies that drives the industry today. In 1911, Swiss engineer Emile Ruchonnet designed the first wood monocoque structure for an airplane called the Cigare. The wing and tail assemblies consisted of thin, lightweight, and often fabric skin stretched tightly over a wood frame. This stressed skin has evolved into semi-monocoque construction, in which the skin merges with structural fins that take additional forces. It provides even greater strength with less material. The monocoque, which translates to ‘mono or single shell,’ is a structural system that supports loads and transfers them through an external enclosure system. They have largely existed outside the domain of architecture. However, this uniting of divergent systems has been demonstrated to be lighter, utilizing less material than traditional wood building practices. This paper will examine the role monocoque systems have played in the history of wood construction through lineage of boat and airplane building industries and its design potential for wood building systems in architecture through a case-study examination of a unique wood construction approach. The innovative approach uses a wood monocoque system comprised of interlocking small wood members to create thin shell assemblies for the walls, roof and floor, increasing structural efficiency and wasting less than 2% of the wood. The goal of the analysis is to expand the work of practice and the academy in order to foster deeper, more honest discourse regarding the limitations and impact of traditional wood framing.

Keywords: wood building systems, material histories, monocoque systems, construction waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Muhammad Aji Fajari, Ririt Aprilin Sumarsono

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Particular instability of structural building under lateral load (e.g earthquake) will rise due to irregularity in vertical and horizontal direction as stated in SNI 03-1762-2012. The conventional slab has been considered for its less contribution in increasing the stability of the structure, except special slab system such as flat slab turned into account. In this paper, the analysis of flat slab system at Sequis Tower located in South Jakarta will be assessed its performance under earthquake. It consists of 6 floors of the basement where the flat slab system is applied. The flat slab system will be the main focus in this paper to be compared for its performance with conventional slab system under earthquake. Regarding the floor plan of Sequis Tower basement, re-entrant corner signed for this building is 43.21% which exceeded the allowable re-entrant corner is 15% as stated in ASCE 7-05 Based on that, the horizontal irregularity will be another concern for analysis, otherwise vertical irregularity does not exist for this building. Flat slab system is a system where the slabs use drop panel with shear head as their support instead of using beams. Major advantages of flat slab application are decreasing dead load of structure, removing beams so that the clear height can be maximized, and providing lateral resistance due to lateral load. Whilst, deflection at middle strip and punching shear are problems to be detail considered. Torsion usually appears when the structural member under flexure such as beam or column dimension is improper in ratio. Considering flat slab as alternative slab system will keep the collapse due to torsion down. Common seismic load resisting system applied in the building is a shear wall. Installation of shear wall will keep the structural system stronger and stiffer affecting in reduced displacement under earthquake. Eccentricity of shear wall location of this building resolved the instability due to horizontal irregularity so that the earthquake load can be absorbed. Performing linear dynamic analysis such as response spectrum and time history analysis due to earthquake load is suitable as the irregularity arise so that the performance of structure can be significantly observed. Utilization of response spectrum data for South Jakarta which PGA 0.389g is basic for the earthquake load idealization to be involved in several load combinations stated on SNI 03-1726-2012. The analysis will result in some basic seismic parameters such as period, displacement, and base shear of the system; besides the internal forces of the critical member will be presented. Predicted period of a structure under earthquake load is 0.45 second, but as different slab system applied in the analysis then the period will show a different value. Flat slab system will probably result in better performance for the displacement parameter compare to conventional slab system due to higher contribution of stiffness to the whole system of the building. In line with displacement, the deflection of the slab will result smaller for flat slab than a conventional slab. Henceforth, shear wall will be effective to strengthen the conventional slab system than flat slab system.

Keywords: conventional slab, flat slab, horizontal irregularity, response spectrum, shear wall

Procedia PDF Downloads 166

Authors: Monkiz Khasreen

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In the context of the global trend towards reducing new buildings carbon footprint, the design team is required to make early decisions that have a major influence on embodied and operational carbon. Sustainability strategies should be clear during early stages of building design process, as changes made later can be extremely costly. Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) could be used as the vehicle to carry other tools and processes towards achieving the requested improvement. Although LCA is the ‘golden standard’ to evaluate buildings from 'cradle to grave', lack of details available on the concept design makes LCA very difficult, if not impossible, to be used as an estimation tool at early stages. Issues related to transparency and accessibility of information in the building industry are affecting the credibility of LCA studies. A verified database derived from LCA case studies is required to be accessible to researchers, design professionals, and decision makers in order to offer guidance on specific areas of significant impact. This database could be the build-up of data from multiple sources within a pool of research held in this context. One of the most important factors that affects the reliability of such data is the temporal factor as building materials, components, and systems are rapidly changing with the advancement of technology making production more efficient and less environmentally harmful. Recent LCA studies on different building functions, types, and structures are always needed to update databases derived from research and to form case bases for comparison studies. There is also a need to make these studies transparent and accessible to designers. The work in this paper sets out to address this need. This paper also presents life-cycle case study of a new-build educational building in England. The building utilised very current construction methods and technologies and is rated as BREEAM excellent. Carbon emissions of different life-cycle stages and different building materials and components were modelled. Scenario and sensitivity analyses were used to estimate the future of new educational buildings in England. The study attempts to form an indicator during the early design stages of similar buildings. Carbon dioxide emissions of this case study building, when normalised according to floor area, lie towards the lower end of the range of worldwide data reported in the literature. Sensitivity analysis shows that life cycle assessment results are highly sensitive to future assumptions made at the design stage, such as future changes in electricity generation structure over time, refurbishment processes and recycling. The analyses also prove that large savings in carbon dioxide emissions can result from very small changes at the design stage.

Keywords: architecture, building, carbon dioxide, construction, educational buildings, England, environmental impact, life-cycle assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Dessy Pinem, Rahmadian Sembiring, Adanil Bushra

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Medan Belawan is one of the subdistricts of 21 districts in Medan. Medan Belawan Sub-district is directly adjacent to the Malacca Strait in the North. Due to its direct border with the Malacca Strait, the problem in this sub-district, which has continued for many years, is a flood of rob. In 2015, rob floods inundated Sicanang urban village, Belawan I urban village, Belawan Bahagia urban village and Bagan Deli village. The extent of inundation in the flood of rob that occurred in September 2015 reached 540, 938 ha. Rob flood is a phenomenon where the sea water is overflowing into the mainland. Rob floods can also be interpreted as a puddle of water on the coastal land that occurs when the tidal waters. So this phenomenon will inundate parts of the coastal plain or lower place of high tide sea level. Rob flood is a daily disaster faced by the residents in the district of Medan Belawan. Rob floods can happen every month and last for a week. The flood is not only the residents' houses, the flood also soaked the main road to Belawan Port reaching 50 cm. To deal with the problems caused by the flood and to prepare coastal communities to face the character of coastal areas, it is necessary to know the vulnerability of the people who are always the victims of the rob flood. Are the people of Medan Belawan sub-district, especially in the flood-affected villages, able to cope with the consequences of the floods? To answer this question, it is necessary to assess the vulnerability of the Belawan District community in the face of the flood disaster. This research is descriptive, qualitative and quantitative. Data were collected by observation, interview and questionnaires in 4 urban villages often affected by rob flood. The vulnerabilities measured are physical, economic, social, environmental, organizational and motivational vulnerabilities. For vulnerability in the physical field, the data collected is the distance of the building, floor area ratio, drainage, and building materials. For economic vulnerability, data collected are income, employment, building ownership, and insurance ownership. For the vulnerability in the social field, the data collected is education, number of family members, children, the elderly, gender, training for disasters, and how to dispose of waste. For the vulnerability in the field of organizational data collected is the existence of organizations that advocate for the victims, their policies and laws governing the handling of tidal flooding. The motivational vulnerability is seen from the information center or question and answer about the rob flood, and the existence of an evacuation plan or path to avoid disaster or reduce the victim. The results of this study indicate that most people in Medan Belawan sub-district have a high-level vulnerability in physical, economic, social, environmental, organizational and motivational fields. They have no access to economic empowerment, no insurance, no motivation to solve problems and only hope to the government, not to have organizations that support and defend them, and have physical buildings that are easily destroyed by rob floods.

Keywords: disaster, rob flood, Medan Belawan, vulnerability

Procedia PDF Downloads 103

Authors: Beverly Wang

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Background: Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD), aka sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy, is a rare, idiopathic histiocytic proliferative disorder. Although RDD can be seen involving the head and neck lymph nodes, rarely it can affect other extranodal sites. It present 3 unique cases of RDD affecting the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, and ear canal. The initial clinical presentation on two cases mimicked a malignant neoplasm. The 3rd case of RDD co-existed with a cholesteatoma of the ear canal. The clinical presentation, histology and immunohistochemical stains, and radiographic findings are discussed. Design: An overview of 3 cases of RDD affected sinonasal cavity and ear canal from UCI Medical Center was conducted. Case 1: A 61 year old male complaining of breathing difficulty presented with bilateral polypoid sinonasal masses and severe nasal obstruction. The masses elevated the nasal floor, and involved the anterior nasal septum to lateral wall. It was endoscopically excised. At intraoperative consultation, frozen section reported a pleomorphic spindle cell neoplasm with scattered large atypical spindle cells, resembling a high grade sarcoma. Case 2: A 46 year old male presented with recurrent bilateral maxillary chronic sinusitis with mass formation, clinically suspicious for malignant lymphoma. Excisional tissue sample showed large irregular spindled histiocytes with abundant granular and vacuolated cytoplasm. Case 3: A 36 year old female with a history of asthma initially presented with left-sided chronic otalgia, occasional nausea, vertigo, and fluctuating pain exacerbated by head movement and temperature changes. CT scan revealed an external auditory canal mass extending to the middle ear, coexisting with a small cholesteatoma. Results: The morphology of all cases revealed large atypical spindled histiocytes resembling fibrohistiocytic or myofibroblastic proliferative neoplasms. Scattered emperipolesis was seen. All 3 cases were confirmed as extranodal sinus RDD, confirmed by immunohistochemistry. The large atypical cells were positive for S100, CD68, and CD163. No evidence for malignancy was identified. Case 3 showed concurrent RDD co-existing with a cholesteatoma. Conclusion: Due to its rarity and variable clinical presentations, the diagnosis of RDD is seldom clinically considered. Extranodal sinus RDD morphologically can be pitfall as mimicker of spindly neoplasm, especially at intraoperative consultation. It can create diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Correlation of radiological findings with histologic features will help to reach the diagnosis.

Keywords: head and neck, extranodal, rosai-dorfman disease, mimicker, immunohistochemistry

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Authors: Ahmad Zamzam

Abstract:

With the development of the economy in recent years, Saudi Arabia has been maintaining high economic growth. Therefore, its energy consumption has increased dramatically. This economic growth reflected on the expansion of high-rise tower's construction. Jeddah coastal strip (cornice) has many high-rise buildings planned to start next few years. These projects required a massive amount of electricity that was not planned to be supplied by the old infrastructure. This research studies the effect of the building envelope on its thermal performance. It follows a parametric simulation methodology using Ecotect software to analyze the effect of the building envelope design on its cooling energy load for an office high-rise building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which includes building geometrical form, massing treatments, orientation and glazing type effect. The research describes an integrated passive design approach to reduce the cooling requirement for high-rise building through an improved building envelope design. The research used Ecotect to make four simulation studies; the first simulation compares the thermal performance of five high-rise buildings, presenting the basic shape of the plan. All the buildings have the same plan area and same floor height. The goal of this simulation is to find out the best shape for the thermal performance. The second simulation studies the effect of orientation on the thermal performance by rotating the same building model to find out the best and the worst angle for the building thermal performance. The third simulation studies the effect of the massing treatment on the total cooling load. It compared five models with different massing treatment, but with the same total built up area. The last simulation studied the effect of the glazing type by comparing the total cooling load of the same building using five different glass type and also studies the feasibility of using these glass types by studying the glass cost effect. The results indicate that using the circle shape as building plan could reduce the thermal cooling load by 40%. Also, using shading devices could reduce the cooling loads by 5%. The study states that using any of the massing grooving, recess or any treatment that could increase the outer exposed surface is not preferred and will decrease the building thermal performance. Also, the result shows that the best direction for glazing and openings from thermal performance viewpoint in Jeddah is the North direction while the worst direction is the East one. The best direction angle for openings - regarding the thermal performance in Jeddah- is 15 deg West and the worst is 250 deg West (110 deg East). Regarding the glass type effect, comparing to the double glass with air fill type as a reference case, the double glass with Air-Low-E will save 14% from the required amount of the thermal cooling load annually. Argon fill and triple glass will save 16% and 17% from the total thermal cooling load respectively, but for the glass cost purpose, using the Argon fill and triple glass is not feasible.

Keywords: passive cooling, reduce thermal load, Jeddah, building shape, energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Magdalena Idzikowska, Katarzyna Pająk, Kamil Kowalczyk

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Seafloor topography is a fundamental issue in geological, geophysical, and oceanographic studies. Single-beam or multibeam sonars attached to the hulls of ships are used to emit a hydroacoustic signal from transducers and reproduce the topography of the seabed. This solution provides relevant accuracy and spatial resolution. Bathymetric data from ships surveys provides National Centers for Environmental Information – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Unfortunately, most of the seabed is still unidentified, as there are still many gaps to be explored between ship survey tracks. Moreover, such measurements are very expensive and time-consuming. The solution is raster bathymetric models shared by The General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans. The offered products are a compilation of different sets of data - raw or processed. Indirect data for the development of bathymetric models are also measurements of gravity anomalies. Some forms of seafloor relief (e.g. seamounts) increase the force of the Earth's pull, leading to changes in the sea surface. Based on satellite altimetry data, Sea Surface Height and marine gravity anomalies can be estimated, and based on the anomalies, it’s possible to infer the structure of the seabed. The main goal of the work is to create regional bathymetric models and models of the sea surface in the area of the east coast of North America – a region of seamounts and undulating seafloor. The research includes an analysis of the methods and techniques used, an evaluation of the interpolation algorithms used, model thickening, and the creation of grid models. Obtained data are raster bathymetric models in NetCDF format, survey data from multibeam soundings in MB-System format, and satellite altimetry data from Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service. The methodology includes data extraction, processing, mapping, and spatial analysis. Visualization of the obtained results was carried out with Geographic Information System tools. The result is an extension of the state of the knowledge of the quality and usefulness of the data used for seabed and sea surface modeling and knowledge of the accuracy of the generated models. Sea level is averaged over time and space (excluding waves, tides, etc.). Its changes, along with knowledge of the topography of the ocean floor - inform us indirectly about the volume of the entire water ocean. The true shape of the ocean surface is further varied by such phenomena as tides, differences in atmospheric pressure, wind systems, thermal expansion of water, or phases of ocean circulation. Depending on the location of the point, the higher the depth, the lower the trend of sea level change. Studies show that combining data sets, from different sources, with different accuracies can affect the quality of sea surface and seafloor topography models.

Keywords: seafloor, sea surface height, bathymetry, satellite altimetry

Procedia PDF Downloads 53

Authors: Gerd Wilsch, Tobias Guenther, Tobias Voelker

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In view of the ageing of vital infrastructure facilities, a reliable condition assessment of concrete structures is becoming of increasing interest for asset owners to plan timely and appropriate maintenance and repair interventions. For concrete structures, reinforcement corrosion induced by penetrating chlorides is the dominant deterioration mechanism affecting the serviceability and, eventually, structural performance. The determination of the quantitative chloride ingress is required not only to provide valuable information on the present condition of a structure, but the data obtained can also be used for the prediction of its future development and associated risks. At present, wet chemical analysis of ground concrete samples by a laboratory is the most common test procedure for the determination of the chloride content. As the chloride content is expressed by the mass of the binder, the analysis should involve determination of both the amount of binder and the amount of chloride contained in a concrete sample. This procedure is laborious, time-consuming, and costly. The chloride profile obtained is based on depth intervals of 10 mm. LIBS is an economically viable alternative providing chloride contents at depth intervals of 1 mm or less. It provides two-dimensional maps of quantitative element distributions and can locate spots of higher concentrations like in a crack. The results are correlated directly to the mass of the binder, and it can be applied on-site to deliver instantaneous results for the evaluation of the structure. Examples for the application of the method in the laboratory for the investigation of diffusion and migration of chlorides, sulfates, and alkalis are presented. An example for the visualization of the Li transport in concrete is also shown. These examples show the potential of the method for a fast, reliable, and automated two-dimensional investigation of transport processes. Due to the better spatial resolution, more accurate input parameters for model calculations are determined. By the simultaneous detection of elements such as carbon, chlorine, sodium, and potassium, the mutual influence of the different processes can be determined in only one measurement. Furthermore, the application of a mobile LIBS system in a parking garage is demonstrated. It uses a diode-pumped low energy laser (3 mJ, 1.5 ns, 100 Hz) and a compact NIR spectrometer. A portable scanner allows a two-dimensional quantitative element mapping. Results show the quantitative chloride analysis on wall and floor surfaces. To determine the 2-D distribution of harmful elements (Cl, C), concrete cores were drilled, split, and analyzed directly on-site. Results obtained were compared and verified with laboratory measurements. The results presented show that the LIBS method is a valuable addition to the standard procedures - the wet chemical analysis of ground concrete samples. Currently, work is underway to develop a technical code of practice for the application of the method for the determination of chloride concentration in concrete.

Keywords: chemical analysis, concrete, LIBS, spectroscopy

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Franciska Weise, Ralph Bruder

Abstract:

Due to the demographic change in Germany along with the declining birth rate and the increasing age of population, the share of older people in society is rising. This development is also reflected in the work force of German companies. Therefore companies should focus on improving ergonomics, especially in the area of age-related work design. Literature shows that studies on age-related work design have been carried out in the past, some of whose results have been put into practice. However, there is still a need for further research. One of the most important methods for taking into account the needs of an aging population is job rotation. This method aims at preventing or reducing health risks and inappropriate physical strain. It is conceived as a systematic change of workplaces within a group. Existing literature does not cover any methods for the investigation of the attitudes of employees towards job rotation. However, in order to evaluate job rotation, it is essential to have knowledge of the views of people towards rotation. In addition to an investigation of attitudes, the design of rotation plays a crucial role. The sequence of activities and the rotation frequency influence the worker and as well the work result. The evaluation of preliminary talks on the shop floor showed that team speakers and foremen share a common understanding of job rotation. In practice, different varieties of job rotation exist. One important aspect is the frequency of rotation. It is possible to rotate never, more than one time or even during every break, or more often than every break. It depends on the opportunity or possibility to rotate whenever workers want to rotate. From the preliminary talks some challenges can be derived. For example a rotation in the whole team is not possible, if a team member requires to be trained for a new task. In order to be able to determine the relation of the design and the attitude towards job rotation, a questionnaire is carried out in the vehicle manufacturing. The questionnaire will be employed to determine the different varieties of job rotation that exist in production, as well as the attitudes of workers towards those different frequencies of job rotation. In addition, younger and older employees will be compared with regard to their rotation frequency and their attitudes towards rotation. There are three kinds of age groups. Three questions are under examination. The first question is whether older employees rotate less frequently than younger employees. Also it is investigated to know whether the frequency of job rotation and the attitude towards the frequency of job rotation are interconnected. Moreover, the attitudes of the different age groups towards the frequency of rotation will be examined. Up to now 144 employees, all working in production, took part in the survey. 36.8 % were younger than thirty, 37.5 % were between thirty und forty-four and 25.7 % were above forty-five years old. The data shows no difference between the three age groups in relation to the frequency of job rotation (N=139, median=4, Chi²=.859, df=2, p=.651). Most employees rotate between six and seven workplaces per day. In addition there is a statistically significant correlation between the frequency of job rotation and the attitude towards the frequency (Spearman-Rho: 2-sided=.008, correlation coefficient=.223). Less than four workplaces per day are not enough for the employees. The third question, which differences can be found between older and younger people who rotate in a different way and with different attitudes towards job rotation, cannot be possible answered. Till now the data shows that younger people would like to rotate very often. Regarding to older people no correlation can be found with acceptable significance. The results of the survey will be used to improve the current practice of job rotation. In addition, the discussions during the survey are expected to help sensitize the employees with respect to rotation issues, and to contribute to optimizing rotation by means of qualification and an improved design of job rotation. Together with the employees and the results of the survey there must be found standards which show how to rotate in an ergonomic way while consider the attitude towards job rotation.

Keywords: job rotation, age-related work design, questionnaire, automotive industry

Procedia PDF Downloads 280