Search results for: regional coordination.

Authors: Chang-Guk Sun, Jin-Soo Shin

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In this study, an inland metropolitan area, Gwangju, in Korea was selected to assess the amplification potential of earthquake motion and provide the information for regional seismic countermeasure. A geographic information system-based expert system was implemented for reliably predicting the spatial geotechnical layers in the entire region of interesting by building a geo-knowledge database. Particularly, the database consists of the existing boring data gathered from the prior geotechnical projects and the surface geo-knowledge data acquired from the site visit. For practical application of the geo-knowledge database to estimate the earthquake hazard potential related to site amplification effects at the study area, seismic zoning maps on geotechnical parameters, such as the bedrock depth and the site period, were created within GIS framework. In addition, seismic zonation of site classification was also performed to determine the site amplification coefficients for seismic design at any site in the study area. KeywordsEarthquake hazard, geo-knowledge, geographic information system, seismic zonation, site period.

Keywords: Earthquake hazard, geo-knowledge, geographic information system, seismic zonation, site period.

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Authors: E. Bensaci, M. Saheb, Y. Nouidjem, A. Zoubiri, A. Bouzegag, M. Houhamdi

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The Greater flamingo is considered the flagship species of wetlands across semi-arid and Saharan regions of Africa, especially Chotts and Sebkhas, which also concentrate significant numbers of bird species. Flamingos have different status (wintering and breeder) which vary between sites in different parts of Algeria. We conducted surveys and recorded banded flamingos across distinct regions within two climatic belts: semi-arid (Hauts Plateaux) and arid (Sahara), showing the importance of these sites in the migratory flyways particularly the relation between West Mediterranean and West Africa populations. The distribution of Greater flamingos varied between sites and seasons, where the concentrations mainly were in the wide, lees deep and salt lakes. Many of the sites (17) in the surveyed area were regularly supporting at least 1% of the regional population during winter. The analysis of Greater flamingos behaviour in different climatic regions in relation showed that the feeding is the dominant diurnal activity with rates exceeding 60% of the time. While feeding varies between seasons, and showed a negative relationship with the degree of disturbance.

Keywords: Algeria, greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus, Sahara, semi-arid.

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Authors: Vakhtang Geladze, Nana Bolashvili, Nino Machavariani, Tamazi Karalashvili, Nino Chikhradze, Davit Kartvelishvili

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Fresh water deficit is one of the most important global problems today. In the countries with scarce water resources, they often become a reason of armed conflicts. The peaceful settlement of relations connected with management and water consumption issues within and beyond the frontiers of the country is an important guarantee of the region stability. The said problem is urgent in Georgia as well because of its water objects are located at the borders and the transit run-off that is 12% of the total one. Fresh water resources are the major natural resources of Georgia. Despite of this, water supply of population at its Eastern part is an acute issue. Southeastern part of the country has been selected to carry out the research. This region is notable for deficiency of water resources in the country. The region tends to desertification which aggravates fresh water problem even more and presumably may lead to migration of local population from the area. The purpose of study was creation geographical information system (GIS) of water resources. GIS contains almost all layers of different content (water resources, springs, channels, hydrological stations, population water supply, etc.). The results of work provide an opportunity to identify the resource potential of the mentioned region, control and manage it, carry out monitoring and plan regional economy.

Keywords: GIS, irrigation, water resources.

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Authors: Arundhati Devi Maibam, K. Ingocha Singh

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Cervical cancer is preventable if detected early. Determination of risk factors is essential to plan screening programmes to prevent the disease. To study the demographic risk factors of cervical cancer among Manipuri women, information on age, marital status, educational level, monthly family income and socioeconomic status were collected through a pre-tested interview schedule. In this study, 64 incident cases registered at the RT Dept, RIMS (Regional Institute of Medical Sciences), Imphal, Manipur, India during 2008-09 participated. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and the results were expressed in percentages. Among the 64 patients with cervical cancer, 56 (88.9%) were in the age group of 40+ years. The majority of the patients were from rural areas (68.75%) and 31.25% were from urban areas. The majority of the patients were Hindus (73%), 55(85.9%) were of low educational level, 43(67.2%) were married, and 36 (56.25%) belonged to Class IV socioeconomic status. In conclusion, if detected early, cervical cancer is preventable and curable. The potential risk factors need to be identified and women in the risk group need to be motivated for screening. Affordable screening programmes and health care resources will help in lessening the burden of the disease.

Keywords: Cervical cancer, Manipuri women, RIIMS, Socio-demographic risk factors.

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Authors: Maryam Khalili, Fateme Ghanei

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As one of the most significant phenomena of industrialized societies, tourism plays a key role in encouraging regional developments and enhancing higher standards of living for local communities in particular. Traveling is a formative experience endowed with lessons on various aspects of life. It allows us learning how to enhance the social position as well as the social relationships. However, people forget the need to travel and gain first-hand experiences as they have to cope with the ever-increasing rate of stress created by the disorders and routines of the urban dwelling style. In this paper, various spaces of such experiences were explored through a virtual tour with two underlying aims: 1) encouraging, informing, and educating the community in terms of tourism development, and 2) introducing a temporary release from the routines. This study enjoyed a practical-qualitative research methodology, and the required data were collected through observation and using a multiple-response questionnaire. The participants (19-48 years old) included 41 citizens of both genders (63.4% male and 36.6% female) from two regions in Tehran, selected by cluster-probability sampling. The results led to development of a spatial design for a virtual tour experience in Tehran where different areas are explored to both raise people’s awareness and educate them on their cultural heritage.

Keywords: Ecotourism, education, gamification, social interaction, urban design, virtual tour.

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Authors: Vasilii V. Ananev

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Oil-and-gas potential of Cuba is found through the discoveries among which there are the most large-scale deposits, such as the Boca de Jaruco and Varadero fields of heavy oils. Currently, the petroleum and petroleum products needs of the island state are satisfied by own sources by less than a half. The prospects of the hydrocarbon resource base development are connected with the adjacent water area of the Gulf of Mexico where foreign companies had been granted license blocks for geological study and further development since 2001. Two Russian companies - JSC Gazprom Neft and OJSC Zarubezhneft, among others, took part in the development of the Cuban part of the Gulf of Mexico. Since 2004, five oil wells have been drilled by various companies in the deep waters of the exclusive economic zone of Cuba. Commercial oil-and-gas bearing prospects have been established in neither of them for both geological and technological reasons. However, only a small part of the water area has been covered by drilling and the productivity of the drill core has been tested at the depth of Cretaceous sediments only. In our opinion, oil-and-gas bearing prospects of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cuba in the Gulf of Mexico remain undervalued and the mentioned water area needs additional geological exploration. The planning of exploration work in this poorly explored region shall be carried out systematically and it shall be based on the results of the regional scientific research.

Keywords: Cuba, Catoche, geology, exploration.

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Authors: Danuvasin Charoen

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This research investigates cluster development in the area called the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), which consists of Thailand, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Myanmar, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Cambodia, and Vietnam. The study utilized Porter’s competitiveness theory and the cluster mapping approach to analyze the competitiveness of the region. The data collection consists of interviews, focus groups, and the analysis of secondary data. The findings identify some evidence of cluster development in the GMS; however, there is no clear indication of collaboration among the components in the clusters. GMS clusters tend to be stand-alone. The clusters in Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Cambodia tend to be labor intensive, whereas the clusters in Thailand and the PRC (Yunnan) have the potential to successfully develop into innovative clusters. The collaboration and integration among the clusters in the GMS area are promising, though it could take a long time. The most likely relationship between the GMS countries could be, for example, suppliers of the low-end, labor-intensive products will be located in the low income countries such as Myanmar, Lao PDR, and Cambodia, and these countries will be providing input materials for innovative clusters in the middle income countries such as Thailand and the PRC.

Keywords: Greater Mekong Subregion, competitiveness, cluster, development.

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Authors: Ambuj Srivastava, Narender Singh

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This paper presents the effect of installation of cylindrical external store on the performance, stability, control and handling qualities of light transport category aircraft. A pair of long cylindrical store was installed symmetrically on either side of the fuselage (port and starboard) ahead of the wing and below the fuselage bottom surface running below pilot and co-pilot window. The cylindrical store was installed as hanging from aircraft surface through specially designed brackets. The adjoining structure was sufficiently reinforced for bearing aerodynamic loads. The length to diameter ratio of long cylindrical store was ~20. Based on academic studies and flow simulation analysis, a considerable detrimental effect on single engine second segment climb performance was found which was later validated through extensive flight testing exercise. The methodology of progressive flight envelope opening was adopted. The certification was sought from Regional airworthiness authorities and for according approval.

Keywords: Second segment climb, maximum operating speed, cruise performance, single engine and twin engine, minimum control speed, and additional trim required.

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Authors: Hekmatpanah, M.

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Since the beginning of human history, human activities have caused many changes in the environment. Today, a particular attention should be paid to gaining knowledge about water quality of wetlands which are pristine natural environments rich in genetic reserves. If qualitative conditions of industrial areas (in terms of both physicochemical and biological conditions) are not addressed properly, they could cause disruption in natural ecosystems, especially in rivers. With regards to the quality of water resources, determination of pollutant sources plays a pivotal role in engineering projects as well as designing water quality control systems. Thus, using different methods such as flow duration curves, dischargepollution load model and frequency analysis by HYFA software package, risk of various industrial pollutants in international and ecologically important Gavkhoni wetland is analyzed. In this study, a station located at Varzaneh City is used as the last station on Zayanderud River, from where the river water is discharged into the wetland. Results showed that elements- concentrations often exceeded the allowed level and river water can endanger regional ecosystem. In addition, if the river discharge is managed on Q25 basis, this basis can lower concentrations of elements, keeping them within the normal level.

Keywords: Pollutants Risk, Industry, Flow Discharge, Management, Gavkhoni Wetland

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Authors: Saeid Rabiei Majd, Motahareh Alvandi, Mehrad Rabiei

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The rapid economic and technological development of any country depends on access to cheap sources of energy. Competition for access to petroleum resources is always accompanied by numerous environmental risks. These factors have caused more attention to environmental issues and sustainable development in petroleum contracts and activities. Nowadays, a sign of developed countries is adhering to the principles and rules of international environmental law and sustainable development of commercial contracts. China has entered into play through the massive project plan, One Belt, One Road. China is becoming a new emerging power in the world. China's bilateral investment treaties have an impact on environmental rights and sustainable development through regional and international foreign direct investment. The aim of this research is to examine China's key position to promote and improve environmental principles and international law and sustainable development in the energy sector in the world through the initiative, One Belt, One Road. Based on this hypothesis, it seems that in the near future, China's investment bilateral investment treaties will become popular investment model used in global trade, especially in the field of energy and sustainable development. They will replace the European and American models. The research method is including literature review, analytical and descriptive methods.

Keywords: Principles of sustainable development, oil and gas law, Chinas BITs, one belt one road, environmental rights.

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Authors: K. Ishii, T. Furuichi, A. Fujiyama, S. Hariya

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Rice straw pellets are a promising fuel as a renewable energy source. Financial analysis is needed to make a utilization system using rise straw pellets financially feasible, considering all regional conditions including stakeholders related to the collection and storage, production, transportation and heat utilization. We conducted the financial analysis of feasibility for a heat utilization system using rice straw pellets which has been developed for the first time in Nanporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Especially, we attempted to clarify the effect of factors required for the system to be financial feasibility, such as the heating energy demand and collection and storage method of rice straw. The financial feasibility was found to improve when increasing the heating energy demand and collecting wheat straw in August separately from collection of rice straw in November because the costs of storing rice straw and producing pellets were reduced. However, the system remained financially unfeasible. This study proposed a contractor program funded by a subsidy from Nanporo local government where a contracted company, instead of farmers, collects and transports rice straw in order to ensure the financial feasibility of the system, contributing to job creation in the region.

Keywords: Rice straw, pellets, heating energy demand, collection, storage.

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Authors: Zhanna Mingaleva, Irina Mirskikh

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Innovational development of regions in Russia is generally faced with the essential influence from federal and local authorities. The organization of effective mechanism of innovation development (and self-development) is impossible without establishment of defined institutional conditions in the analyzed field. Creative utilization of scientific concepts and information should merge, giving rise to continuing innovation and advanced production. The paper presents an analysis of institutional conditions in the field of creation and development of innovation activity infrastructure and transferring of knowledge and skills between different economic agents in Russia. Knowledge is mainly privately owned, developed through R&D investments and incorporated into technology or a product. Innovation infrastructure is a strong concentration mechanism of advanced facilities, which are mainly located inside large agglomerations or city-regions in order to benefit from scale effects in both input markets (human capital, private financial capital) and output markets (higher education services, research services). The empirical results of the paper show that in the presence of more efficient innovation and knowledge transfer and transcoding system and of a more open attitude of economic agents towards innovation, the innovation and knowledge capacity of regional economy is much higher.

Keywords: knowledge economy, innovational development, transfer of knowledge, institutional preconditions, innovation andknowledge capacity.

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Authors: Sarayu Agarwal

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This paper aims to teach English (secondary language) by bridging the understanding between the Regional language (primary language) and the English Language (secondary language). Here primary language is the one a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, while secondary language would be any other language one learns or speaks. The paper also focuses on evolving old teaching methods to a contemporary participatory model of learning and teaching. Pilot studies were conducted to gauge an understanding of student’s knowledge of the English language. Teachers and students were interviewed and their academic curriculum was assessed as a part of the initial study. Extensive literature study and design thinking principles were used to devise a solution to the problem. The objective is met using a holistic learning kit/card game to teach children word recognition, word pronunciation, word spelling and writing words. Implication of the paper is a noticeable improvement in the understanding and grasping of English language. With increasing usage and applicability of English as a second language (ESL) world over, the paper becomes relevant due to its easy replicability to any other primary or secondary language. Future scope of this paper would be transforming the idea of participatory learning into self-regulated learning methods. With the upcoming govt. learning centres in rural areas and provision of smart devices such as tablets, the development of the card games into digital applications seems very feasible.

Keywords: English as a second language, vocabulary-building, learning through gamification.

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Authors: Min Kook Choi, Hyun Gyu Lee, Ryan You, Byeong-Seok Shin, Sang-Chul Lee

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Wireless capsule Endoscopy (WCE) has rapidly shown its wide applications in medical domain last ten years thanks to its noninvasiveness for patients and support for thorough inspection through a patient-s entire digestive system including small intestine. However, one of the main barriers to efficient clinical inspection procedure is that it requires large amount of effort for clinicians to inspect huge data collected during the examination, i.e., over 55,000 frames in video. In this paper, we propose a method to compute meaningful motion changes of WCE by analyzing the obtained video frames based on regional optical flow estimations. The computed motion vectors are used to remove duplicate video frames caused by WCE-s imaging nature, such as repetitive forward-backward motions from peristaltic movements. The motion vectors are derived by calculating directional component vectors in four local regions. Our experiments are performed on small intestine area, which is of main interest to clinical experts when using WCEs, and our experimental results show significant frame reductions comparing with a simple frame-to-frame similarity-based image reduction method.

Keywords: Wireless capsule endoscopy, optical flow, duplicated image, duplicated frame.

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Authors: Ju Young Lee, Jung-Seok Yang, Jaeyoung Choi

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The purpose of this paper primarily intends to develop GIS interface for estimating sequences of stream-flows at ungauged stations based on known flows at gauged stations. The integrated GIS interface is composed of three major steps. The first, precipitation characteristics using statistical analysis is the procedure for making multiple linear regression equation to get the long term mean daily flow at ungauged stations. The independent variables in regression equation are mean daily flow and drainage area. Traditionally, mean flow data are generated by using Thissen polygon method. However, method for obtaining mean flow data can be selected by user such as Kriging, IDW (Inverse Distance Weighted), Spline methods as well as other traditional methods. At the second, flow duration curve (FDC) is computing at unguaged station by FDCs in gauged stations. Finally, the mean annual daily flow is computed by spatial interpolation algorithm. The third step is to obtain watershed/topographic characteristics. They are the most important factors which govern stream-flows. In summary, the simulated daily flow time series are compared with observed times series. The results using integrated GIS interface are closely similar and are well fitted each other. Also, the relationship between the topographic/watershed characteristics and stream flow time series is highly correlated.

Keywords: Integrated GIS interface, spatial interpolation algorithm, FDC.

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Authors: A. Zahedi Yeganeh, A. Khademolhosseini, R. Mokhtari Malekabadi

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Undoubtedly one of the most far-reaching and controversial topics considered in the past few decades, has been globalization. Globalization lies in the essence of the modern culture. It is a complex and rapidly expanding network of links and mutual interdependence that is an aspect of modern life; though some argue that this link existed since the beginning of human history. If we consider globalization as a dynamic social process in which the geographical constraints governing the political, economic, social and cultural relationships have been undermined, it might not be possible to simply describe its impact on the urban fabric. But since in this phenomenon the increase in communications of societies (while preserving the main cultural - regional characteristics) with one another and the increase in the possibility of influencing other societies are discussed, the need for more studies will be felt. The main objective of this study is to grade based on some globalization factors on urban fabric applying the TOPSIS model. The research method is descriptive - analytical and survey. For data analysis, the TOPSIS model and SPSS software were used and the results of GIS software with fourteen cities are shown on the map. The results show that the process of being influenced by the globalization of the urban fabric of fourteen zones of Isfahan was not similar and there have been large differences in this respect between city zones; the most affected areas are zones 5, 6 and 9 of the municipality and the least impact has been on the zones 4 and 3 and 2.

Keywords: Grading, Globalization, Urban fabric, 14 zones of Isfahan, TOPSIS model.

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Authors: Worachat Wannawong, Usa W. Humphries, Prungchan Wongwises, Suphat Vongvisessomjai

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The three steps of the standard one-way nested grid for a regional scale of the third generation WAve Model Cycle 4 (WAMC4) is scrutinized. The model application is enabled to solve the energy balance equation on a coarse resolution grid in order to produce boundary conditions for a smaller area by the nested grid technique. In the present study, the model takes a full advantage of the fine resolution of wind fields in space and time produced by the available U.S. Navy Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) model with 1 degree resolution. The nested grid application of the model is developed in order to gradually increase the resolution from the open ocean towards the South China Sea (SCS) and the Gulf of Thailand (GoT) respectively. The model results were compared with buoy observations at Ko Chang, Rayong and Huahin locations which were obtained from the Seawatch project. In addition, the results were also compared with Satun based weather station which was provided from Department of Meteorology, Thailand. The data collected from this station presented the significant wave height (Hs) reached 12.85 m. The results indicated that the tendency of the Hs from the model in the spherical coordinate propagation with deep water condition in the fine grid domain agreed well with the Hs from the observations.

Keywords: energy balance equation, Gulf of Thailand, nested gridapplication, South China Sea, wave model.

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Authors: Amir Gandomkar, Tahereh Soltani Gord faramarzi, Parisa Safaripour Chafi, Abdol-Reza Amani

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Temperature, humidity and precipitation in an area, are parameters proved influential in the climate of that area, and one should recognize them so that he can determine the climate of that area. Climate changes are of primary importance in climatology, and in recent years, have been of great concern to researchers and even politicians and organizations, for they can play an important role in social, political and economic activities. Even though the real cause of climate changes or their stability is not yet fully recognized, they are a matter of concern to researchers and their importance for countries has prompted them to investigate climate changes in different levels, especially in regional, national and continental level. This issue has less been investigated in our country. However, in recent years, there have been some researches and conferences on climate changes. This study is also in line with such researches and tries to investigate and analyze the trends of climate changes (temperature and precipitation) in Sefid-roud (the name of a river) basin. Three parameters of mean annual precipitation, temperature, and maximum and minimum temperatures in 36 synoptic and climatology stations in a statistical period of 49 years (1956-2005) in the stations of Sefid-roud basin were analyzed by Mann-Kendall test. The results obtained by data analysis show that climate changes are short term and have a trend. The analysis of mean temperature revealed that changes have a significantly rising trend, besides the precipitation has a significantly falling trend.

Keywords: Trend, Climate changes, Sefid-roud, Mann-Kendall

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Authors: Rita U. Onolemhemhen, Saheed L. Bello, Akin P. Iwayemi

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The effectiveness of energy demand policy depends on identifying the key drivers of energy demand both in the short-run and the long-run. This paper examines the influence of regional differences on the link between energy demand and other explanatory variables for Nigeria, China and USA using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) approach. This study employed annual time series data on energy consumption (ED), real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (RGDP), real energy prices (P) and urbanization (N) for a thirty-six-year sample period. The utilized time-series data are sourced from World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI, 2016) and US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Results from the study, shows that all the independent variables (income, urbanization, and price) substantially affect the long-run energy consumption in Nigeria, USA and China, whereas, income has no significant effect on short-run energy demand in USA and Nigeria. In addition, the long-run effect of urbanization is relatively stronger in China. Urbanization is a key factor in energy demand, it therefore recommended that more attention should be given to the development of rural communities to reduce the inflow of migrants into urban communities which causes the increase in energy demand and energy excesses should be penalized while energy management should be incentivized.

Keywords: Economic growth, energy demand, income, real GDP, urbanization, VECM.

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Authors: Amirmohsen Behjat, Aleck Ostry, Christina Miewald, Bernie Pauly

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Substantial research has indicated that socioeconomic and demographic characteristics’ of neighborhoods are strong determinants of food security. The aim of this study was to develop a Food Insecurity Neighborhood Index (FINI) based on the associated socioeconomic and demographic variables to identify the areas at potential risk of food insecurity in rural British Columbia (BC). Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique was used to calculate the FINI for each rural Dissemination Area (DA) using the food security determinant variables from Canadian Census data. Using ArcGIS, the neighborhoods with the top quartile FINI values were classified as food insecure. The results of this study indicated that the most food insecure neighborhood with the highest FINI value of 99.1 was in the Bulkley-Nechako (central BC) area whereas the lowest FINI with the value of 2.97 was for a rural neighborhood in the Cowichan Valley area. In total, 98.049 (19%) of the rural population of British Columbians reside in high food insecure areas. Moreover, the distribution of food insecure neighborhoods was found to be strongly dependent on the degree of rurality in BC. In conclusion, the cluster of food insecure neighbourhoods was more pronounced in Central Coast, Mount Wadington, Peace River, Kootenay Boundary, and the Alberni-Clayoqout Regional Districts.

Keywords: Neighbourhood food insecurity index, socioeconomic and demographic determinants, principal component analysis, Canada Census, ArcGIS.

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Authors: Yukiyo Yamamoto, Jun Furuya, Shintaro Kobayashi

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Using 1km grid datasets representing monthly mean precipitation, monthly mean temperature, and dry matter production (DMP), we considered the regional plant production ability in Southeast and South Asia, and also employed pixel-by-pixel correlation analysis to assess the intensity of relation between climate factors and plant production. While annual DMP in South Asia was approximately less than 2,000kg, the one in most part of Southeast Asia exceeded 2,500 - 3,000kg. It suggested that plant production in Southeast Asia was superior to South Asia, however, Rain-Use Efficiency (RUE) representing dry matter production per 1mm precipitation showed that inland of Indochina Peninsula and India were higher than islands in Southeast Asia. By the results of correlation analysis between climate factors and DMP, while the area in most parts of Indochina Peninsula indicated negative correlation coefficients between DMP and precipitation or temperature, the area in Malay Peninsula and islands showed negative correlation to precipitation and positive one to temperature, and most part of India dominating South Asia showed positive to precipitation and negative to temperature. In addition, the areas where the correlation coefficients exceeded |0.8| were regarded as “susceptible" to climate factors, and the areas smaller than |0.2| were “insusceptible". By following the discrimination, the map implying expected impacts by climate change was provided.

Keywords: Asia, correlation analysis, plant production, precipitation, temperature.

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Authors: Su Ying-Ming

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High density of high rise buildings in urban areas lead to a deteriorative Urban Heat Island Effect, gradually. This study focuses on discussing the relationship between urban layout and ventilation comfort in street canyons. This study takes Songjiang Nanjing Rd. area of Taipei, Taiwan as an example to evaluate the wind environment comfort index by field measurement and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to improve both the quality and quantity of the environment. In this study, different factors including street blocks size, the width of buildings, street width ratio and the direction of the wind were used to discuss the potential of ventilation. The environmental wind field was measured by the environmental testing equipment, Testo 480. Evaluation of blocks sizes, the width of buildings, street width ratio and the direction of the wind was made under the condition of constant floor area with the help of Stimulation CFD to adjust research methods for optimizing regional wind environment. The results of this study showed the width of buildings influences the efficiency of outdoor ventilation; improvement of the efficiency of ventilation with large street width was also shown. The study found that Block width and H/D value and PR value has a close relationship. Furthermore, this study showed a significant relationship between the alteration of street block geometry and outdoor comfortableness.

Keywords: Urban ventilation path, ventilation efficiency indices, CFD, building layout.

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Authors: Indrijuli Magsari Putri, Dicky R. Munaf

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The purpose of this paper is to guide the effort in improving the economic added value of Indonesian fisheries product through post fishing program, which is cold storage program. Indonesia's fisheries potential has been acknowledged by the world. FAO (2009) stated that Indonesia is one of the tenth highest producers of fishery products in the world. Based on BPS (Statistics Indonesia data), the national fisheries production in 2011 reached 5.714 million tons, which 93.55% came from marine fisheries and 6.45% from open waters. Indonesian territory consist of 2/3 of Indonesian waters, has given enormous benefits for Indonesia, especially fishermen. To improve the economic level of fishermen requires efforts to develop fisheries business unit. On of the efforts is by improving the quality of products which are marketed in the regional and international levels. It is certainly need the support of the existence of various fishery facilities (infrastructure to superstructure), one of which is cold storage. Given the many benefits of cold storage as a means of processing of fishery resources, Indonesia Maritime Security Coordinating Board (IMSCB) as one of the maritime institutions for maritime security and safety, has a program to empower the coastal community through encourages the development of cold storage in the middle and lower fishery business unit. The development of cold storage facilities which able to run its maximum role requires synergistic efforts of various parties.

Keywords: Cold Storage, Fish, Regulation.

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Authors: Amado, M. P., Amado, A., Poggi, F., Correia de Freitas, J.

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Today is widely understood that global energy consumption patterns are directly related to the urban expansion and development process. This expansion is based on the natural growth of human activities and has left most urban areas totally dependent on fossil fuel derived external energy inputs. This status-quo of production, transportation, storage and consumption of energy has become inefficient and is set to become even more so when the continuous increases in energy demand are factored in. The territorial management of land use and related activities is a central component in the search for more efficient models of energy use, models that can meet current and future regional, national and European goals.

In this paper a methodology is developed and discussed with the aim of improving energy efficiency at the municipal level. The development of this methodology is based on the monitoring of energy consumption and its use patterns resulting from the natural dynamism of human activities in the territory and can be utilized to assess sustainability at the local scale. A set of parameters and indicators are defined with the objective of constructing a systemic model based on the optimization, adaptation and innovation of the current energy framework and the associated energy consumption patterns. The use of the model will enable local governments to strike the necessary balance between human activities and economic development and the local and global environment while safeguarding fairness in the energy sector.

Keywords: Solar urban planning, solar smart city, urban development, energy efficiency.

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Authors: Sagir M. Yusuf, Chris Baber

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In this paper, we describe how to achieve knowledge understanding and prediction (Situation Awareness (SA)) for multiple-agents conducting searching activity using Bayesian inferential reasoning and learning. Bayesian Belief Network was used to monitor agents' knowledge about their environment, and cases are recorded for the network training using expectation-maximisation or gradient descent algorithm. The well trained network will be used for decision making and environmental situation prediction. Forest fire searching by multiple UAVs was the use case. UAVs are tasked to explore a forest and find a fire for urgent actions by the fire wardens. The paper focused on two problems: (i) effective agents’ path planning strategy and (ii) knowledge understanding and prediction (SA). The path planning problem by inspiring animal mode of foraging using Lévy distribution augmented with Bayesian reasoning was fully described in this paper. Results proof that the Lévy flight strategy performs better than the previous fixed-pattern (e.g., parallel sweeps) approaches in terms of energy and time utilisation. We also introduced a waypoint assessment strategy called k-previous waypoints assessment. It improves the performance of the ordinary levy flight by saving agent’s resources and mission time through redundant search avoidance. The agents (UAVs) are to report their mission knowledge at the central server for interpretation and prediction purposes. Bayesian reasoning and learning were used for the SA and results proof effectiveness in different environments scenario in terms of prediction and effective knowledge representation. The prediction accuracy was measured using learning error rate, logarithm loss, and Brier score and the result proves that little agents mission that can be used for prediction within the same or different environment. Finally, we described a situation-based knowledge visualization and prediction technique for heterogeneous multi-UAV mission. While this paper proves linkage of Bayesian reasoning and learning with SA and effective searching strategy, future works is focusing on simplifying the architecture.

Keywords: Lèvy flight, situation awareness, multi-agent system, multi-robot coordination, autonomous system, swarm intelligence.

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Authors: M. Vogiatzis, K. Perakis

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Spatial-explicit and up-to-date land use/land cover information is fundamental for spatial planning, land management, sustainable development, and sound decision-making. In the last decade, many satellite-derived land cover products at different spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions have been developed, such as the European Copernicus Land Cover product. However, more efficient and detailed information for land use/land cover is required at the regional or local scale. A typical Mediterranean basin with a complex landscape comprised of various forest types, crops, artificial surfaces, and wetlands was selected to test and develop our approach. In this study, we investigate the improvement of Copernicus Land Cover product (CLC2018) using Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 pixel-based classification based on all available existing geospatial data (Forest Maps, LPIS, Natura2000 habitats, cadastral parcels, etc.). We examined and compared the performance of the Random Forest classifier for land use/land cover mapping. In total, 10 land use/land cover categories were recognized in Landsat 8 and 11 in Sentinel-2A. A comparison of the overall classification accuracies for 2018 shows that Landsat 8 classification accuracy was slightly higher than Sentinel-2A (82,99% vs. 80,30%). We concluded that the main land use/land cover types of CLC2018, even within a heterogeneous area, can be successfully mapped and updated according to CLC nomenclature. Future research should be oriented toward integrating spatiotemporal information from seasonal bands and spectral indexes in the classification process.

Keywords: land use/land cover, random forest, Landsat-8 OLI, Sentinel-2A MSI, Corine land cover

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Authors: Vladimir Korovkin, Albert Park, Evgeny Kaganer

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Digital divide, the gap in the access to the world of digital technologies and the socio-economic opportunities that they create is an important phenomenon of the XXI century. This gap may exist between countries, regions within a country or socio-demographic groups, creating the classes of “digital have and have nots”. While the 1st-level divide (the difference in opportunities to access the digital networks) was demonstrated to diminish with time, the issues of 2nd level divide (the difference in skills and usage of digital systems) and 3rd level divide (the difference in effects obtained from digital technology) may grow. The paper offers a systemic review of literature on the measurement of the digital divide, noting the certain conceptual stagnation due to the lack of effective instruments that would capture the complex nature of the phenomenon. As a result, many important concepts do not receive the empiric exploration they deserve. As a solution the paper suggests a composite Digital Life Index, that studies separately the digital supply and demand across seven independent dimensions providing for 14 subindices. The Index is based on Internet-borne data, a distinction from traditional research approaches that rely on official statistics or surveys. The application of the model to the study of the digital divide between Russian regions and between cities in China have brought promising results. The paper advances the existing methodological literature on the 2nd level digital divide and can also inform practical decision-making regarding the strategies of national and regional digital development.

Keywords: Digital transformation, second-level digital divide, composite index, digital policy.

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Authors: Collins C. Chiemeke, A. Onugba, P. Sule

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High resolution seismic reflection has recently been carried out on Zaria batholith, with the aim of characterizing the granitic Zaria batholiths in terms of its lithology. The geology of the area has revealed that the older granite outcrops in the vicinity of Zaria are exposures of a syntectonics to late-tectonic granite batholiths which intruded a crystalline gneissic basement during the Pan-African Orogeny. During the data acquisition the geophone were placed at interval of 1 m, variable offset of 1 and 10 m was used. The common midpoint (CMP) method with 12 fold coverage was employed for the survey. Analysis of the generated 3D surface of the p wave velocities from different profiles for densities and bulk modulus revealed that the rock material is more consolidated in South East part of the batholith and less consolidated in the North Western part. This was in conformity with earlier identified geology of the area, with the South Eastern part majorly of granitic outcrop, while the North Western part is characterized with the exposure of gneisses and thick overburden cover. The difference in lithology was also confirmed by the difference in seismic sections and Arial satellite photograph. Hence two major lithologies were identified, the granitic and gneisses complex which are characterized by gradational boundaries.

Keywords: Basement Complex, Batholith, High Resolution, Lithologies, Seismic Reflection.

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Authors: Adel S. Alanazi

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The transition of a student with a disability from school to work is the most crucial phase while moving from the stage of adolescence into early adulthood. In this process, young individuals face various difficulties and challenges in order to accomplish the next venture of life successfully. In this respect, this paper aims to examine the challenges encountered by the individuals with intellectual disabilities in transition to work in Saudi Arabia. For this purpose, this study has undertaken a qualitative research-based methodology; wherein interpretivist philosophy has been followed along with inductive approach and exploratory research design. The data for the research has been gathered with the help of semi-structured interviews, whose findings are analysed with the help of thematic analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of persons with intellectual disabilities, officials, supervisors and specialists of two vocational rehabilitation centres providing training to intellectually disabled students, in addition to that, directors of companies and websites in hiring those individuals. The total number of respondents for the interview was 15. The purposive sampling method was used to select the respondents for the interview. This sampling method is a non-probability sampling method which draws respondents from a known population and allows flexibility and suitability in selecting the participants for the study. The findings gathered from the interview revealed that the lack of awareness among their parents regarding the rights of their children who are intellectually disabled; the lack of adequate communication and coordination between various entities; concerns regarding their training and subsequent employment are the key difficulties experienced by the individuals with intellectual disabilities. Training in programmes such as bookbinding, carpentry, computing, agriculture, electricity and telephone exchange operations were involved as key training programmes. The findings of this study also revealed that information technology and media were playing a significant role in smoothing the transition to employment of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Furthermore, religious and cultural attitudes have been identified to be restricted for people with such disabilities in seeking advantages from job opportunities. On the basis of these findings, it can be implied that the information gathered through this study will serve to be highly beneficial for Saudi Arabian schools/ rehabilitation centres for individuals with intellectual disability to facilitate them in overcoming the problems they encounter during the transition to work.

Keywords: Intellectual disability, transition services, rehabilitation centre.

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Authors: E. Ghabouli

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Intermediate cities which also called medium size cities have an important role in the process of globalization. It is argued that, in some cases this type of cities may be depopulated or in otherwise may be transformed as the periphery of metropolitans, so that the personal identity of the city and its local cultural heritage could suffer from its neighbor metropolitan. Over the last decades, the role of tourism in the development process and the cultural heritage has increased. The impact of tourism on socioeconomic growth makes motivation for the study of tourism development in regional and urban planning process. There are evidences that tourism has a positive impact in local development and makes economic motivations for cultural heritage protection. In this study, by considering the role of tourism in local development, especially by its economic and socio-cultural impacts, it is tried to introduce a strategy for tourism development through a method of urban planning for intermediate cities called as Base plan. Damavand is an intermediate city located in Tehran province, Iran with a high potential in tourism by its local specific characteristic like social structure, antiquities and natural attractions. It’s selected as a suitable case study for intended strategy which is a combination of urban planning and tourism development methods. Focusing on recognition of the historical and cultural heritage of Damavand, in this paper through “base plan methodology” a strategy of urban planning toward tourism development is prepared in order to make tourism development as a support for cultural heritage of this city.

Keywords: Urban planning, tourism, cultural heritage, intermediate cities.

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