Search results for: Urban sustainability

Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohamed

Abstract:

This paper will explore the influence of energy sector in Arab Republic of Egypt which has shared its responsibilities of many environmental challenges as the second largest economy in the Middle East (after Iran). Air and water pollution, desertification, inadequate disposal of solid waste and damage to coral reefs are serious problems that influence environmental management in Egypt. The intensive reliance of high population density and strong industrial growth are wearing Egypt's resources, and the rapidly-growing population has forced Egypt to breakdown agricultural land to residential and relevant use of commercial ingestion. The depletion effects of natural resources impose the government to apply innovation techniques in emission control and focus on sustainability. The cogeneration will be presented to control thermal losses and increase efficiency of energy power system.

Keywords: Cogeneration, energy indicators, power plant, electricity, environmental loads, environmental impact assessment.

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Authors: A. Ionita, A. Zafiu, C. Ghita

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In this article, we present a web server based solution for implementing a system for intelligent navigation. In this solution we use real time collected data and traffic history to establish the best route for navigation. This is a low cost solution that is easily to implement and extend. There is no need any infrastructure at road network level except only a device that collect data about traffic in key road crossing. The presented solution creates a strong base for traffic pursuit and offers an infrastructure for navigation applications.

Keywords: navigation, real time, route, traffic pursuit, webservice.

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Authors: Hélder Spínola

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Sustainable development is highly dependent on the implementation of environmental education programs, which has as its ultimate goal to produce environmentally literate citizens that undertake environmentally friendly actions. Efforts on environmental education along past years are now perceived on the increase of citizens awareness on European countries and, particularly, in Portugal. However, we still have a lack of information on the prevalence of specific behaviors that contributes to sustainability, influenced by a new attitude toward the environment. The determination of pro-environmental behaviors prevalence in higher education students is an important approach to understand to which extend the next leading generation is, in practice, committed with the goals of sustainable development. Therefore, present study evaluates the prevalence of a specific set of behaviors (water savings, energy savings, environmental criteria on shopping, and mobility) on the University of Madeira students and discusses their commitment with sustainable development.

Keywords: Pro-environmental behaviors, sustainable development, environmental education, higher education students

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Authors: Peter Hardi, Bala Mulloth

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To be considered a socially entrepreneurial organization today requires achieving what can be termed a “hybrid middle ground” equilibrium, comprising of economic as well as social sustainability. This middle ground requires some blend of both business and social commitments. In this paper, we use the case of Hungary's second ranked mobile operator, Telenor Hungary to illustrate an example of a company that is moving to the hybrid middle ground by transitioning from a for-profit company to a socially responsible business using the concept of strategic CSR. In this line of thinking, the organization explicitly supports programs and initiatives that have a direct link to the core business and bring operational and/or financial advantages for the company, while creating a positive social and/or environmental impact. The important lessons learned from the company transition are also discussed. 

Keywords: Hybrid middle ground, social entrepreneurship, strategic corporate social responsibility.

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Authors: A.H. Sajedipoor, N. Hedayat, A.Rohani, Z.Yazdi

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Sediment formation and its transport along the river course is considered as important hydraulic consideration in river engineering. Their impact on the morphology of rivers on one hand and important considerations of which in the design and construction of the hydraulic structures on the other has attracted the attention of experts in arid and semi-arid regions. Under certain conditions where the momentum energy of the flow stream reaches a specific rate, the sediment materials start to be transported with the flow. This can usually be analyzed in two different categories of suspended and bed load materials. Sedimentation phenomenon along the waterways and the conveyance of vast volume of materials into the canal networks can potentially influence water abstraction in the intake structures. This can pose a serious threat to operational sustainability and water delivery performance in the canal networks. The situation is serious where ineffective watershed management (poor vegetation cover in the water basin) is the underlying cause of soil erosion which feeds the materials into the waterways that intern would necessitate comprehensive study. The present paper aims to present an analytical investigation of the sediment process in the waterways on one hand and estimation of the sediment load transport into the lined canals using the SHARC software on the other. For this reason, the paper focuses on the comparative analysis of the hydraulic behaviors of the Sabilli main canal that feeds the pumping station with that of the Western canal in the Greater Dezful region to identify effective factors in sedimentation and ways of mitigating their impact on water abstraction in the canal systems. The method involved use of observational data available in the Dezful Dastmashoon hydrometric station along a 6 km waterway of the Sabilli main canal using the SHARC software to estimate the suspended load concentration and bed load materials. Results showed the transport of a significant volume of sediment loads from the waterways into the canal system which is assumed to have arisen from the absence of stilling basin on one hand and the gravity flow on the other has caused serious challenges. This is contrary to what occurs in the Sabilli canal, where the design feature which incorporates a settling basin just before the pumping station is the major cause of reduced sediment load transport into the canal system.Results showed that modification of the present design features by constructing a settling basin just upstream of the western intake structure can considerably reduce the entry of sediment materials into the canal system. Not only this can result in the sustainability of the hydraulic structures but can also improve operational performance of water conveyance and distribution system, all of which are the pre-requisite to secure reliable and equitable water delivery regime for the command area.

Keywords: Sedimentation, main canal, Sabilli, western canal, dez diversion weir.

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Authors: Jae-Neung Lee, Keun-Chang Kwak

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This paper describes an analysis of domestic and international trends of image processing for data in UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and also explains about UAV and Quadcopter. Overseas examples of image processing using UAV include image processing for totaling the total numberof vehicles, edge/target detection, detection and evasion algorithm, image processing using SIFT(scale invariant features transform) matching, and application of median filter and thresholding. In Korea, many studies are underway including visualization of new urban buildings.

Keywords: Image Processing, UAV, Quadcopter, Target detection.

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Authors: Vladimira Vytlacilova

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The article presents findings from the study and analysis of the results of an experimental programme focused on the production of concrete and fibre reinforced concrete in which natural aggregate has been substituted with brick or concrete recyclate. The research results are analyzed to monitor the effect of mechanicalphysical characteristics on the durability properties of tested cementitious composites. The key parts of the fibre reinforced concrete mix are the basic components: aggregates – recyclate, cement, fly ash, water and fibres. Their specific ratios and the properties of individual components principally affect the resulting behaviour of fresh fibre reinforced concrete and the characteristics of the final product. The article builds on the sources dealing with the use of recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste in the production of fibre reinforced concrete. The implemented procedure of testing the composite contributes to the building sustainability in environmental engineering.

Keywords: Recycled aggregate, Polypropylene fibres, Fibre Reinforced Concrete, Fly ash.

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Authors: Hoong C. Chin, Soon H. Chew, Zhaoxia Wang

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Work on sustainable developments and the call for action in education for sustainable development have been ongoing for a number of years. Training engineering students with the relevant competencies, particularly in sustainable development literacy, has been identified as an urgent task in universities. This requires not only a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to education but also a suitable training environment to develop the needed skills and to inculcate the appropriate attitudes in students towards sustainable development. To demonstrate how this can be done, a module involving an overseas field trip was introduced in 2013 at the National University of Singapore. This paper provides details of the module and describes its training philosophy and methods. Measured against the student learning outcomes, stipulated by the Engineering Accreditation Board, the module scored well on all of them, particularly those related to complex problem solving, environmental and sustainability awareness, multi-disciplinary team work and varied-level communications.

Keywords: Civil engineering education, student learning outcomes, sustainable development.

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Authors: Paul Y. Oh, William E. Green

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This paper describes a prototype aircraft that can fly slowly, safely and transmit wireless video for tasks like reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition. The aircraft is designed to fly in closed quarters like forests, buildings, caves and tunnels which are often spacious but GPS reception is poor. Envisioned is that a small, safe and slow flying vehicle can assist in performing dull, dangerous and dirty tasks like disaster mitigation, search-and-rescue and structural damage assessment.

Keywords: Unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous collisionavoidance, optic flow, near-Earth environments

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Authors: Kwok Tak Kit

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Under the Paris Agreement 2015, the countries committed to address and combat the climate change and its negative impacts and agree to the target of reducing the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission substantially by limiting the global temperature to 2 0C above the pre-industrial level in this century. An international submit named “26th United Nations Climate Conference” (COP26) was held in Glasgow in 2021 with all committed countries agreed to finalize the outstanding element in Paris Agreement and Glasgow Climate Pact to keep 1.5 0C. In this paper, we will focus on the basic approach of waste strategy, recycling policy, circular economy strategy, net-zero strategy and sustainability strategy and the importance of the elements which affect the carbon emission, waste generation and energy conservation will be further reviewed with recommendation for future study.

Keywords: Net-zero carbon, climate change, carbon emission, energy consumption.

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Authors: Daningsih Sulaeman, Achmad Sjarmidi, Djoko T. Iskandar

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Komodo National Park can be associated with the implementation of ecotourism program. The result of Principal Components Analysis is synthesized, tested, and compared to the basic concept of ecotourism with some field adjustments. Principal aspects of professional management should involve ecotourism and wildlife welfare. The awareness should be focused on the future of the Natural Park as 7^th Wonder Natural Heritage and its wildlife components, free from human wastes and beneficial to wildlife and local people. According to perceptions and expectations of visitors from various results of tourism programs, the visitor’s perceptions showed that the tourism management in Komodo National Park should pay more attention to visitor's satisfaction and expectation and gives positive impact directly to the ecosystem sustainability, local community and transparency to the conservation program.

Keywords: 7th Wonders of Nature, Ecotourism, Komodo dragon, visitor’s perceptions, wildlife management.

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Authors: Anthony Ikechukwu Agboeze, Walter Timo de Vries, Pamela Durán-Díaz

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Since attaining urban status, the population of Enugu, Nigeria, has continued to grow rapidly, leading to growing demands for housing by the teeming population which is predominantly low income. Several government dispensations have developed various affordable housing projects to help deliver decent housing to the Enugu populace. However, over a long period of usage, some of those housing projects in Enugu are unabatedly deteriorating into slums alongside rising housing deficits which has remained problematic for most Nigerian urban centers to address. Emerging from a literature review, this research posits that the link between slum and affordable housing is that both the seekers of affordable housing and slum housing are the low-income earners. This research further investigated the possible causalities of slum emergence from decently built affordable housing projects in Enugu, Nigeria. To do so, we first analyzed the Nigerian housing policy to examine how the policy addresses slum prevention. We further conducted semi-structured expert interviews (qualitative) to sample the views of private housing developers on the degeneration of government housing projects into slums in Enugu, Nigeria. Findings from the housing policy analysis suggest that the housing policy itself is not legally binding on anybody to implement. Sequel to this non-compulsory nature of the housing policy is the poor/non-implementation of the Nigerian housing policy, leading to a constant tendency by the government developers (contractors) to deliver potential slums. The expert respondents corroborated this viewpoint by suggesting that poor planning (including designs of the housing units and the master plan) and poor management (including non-maintenance, poor documentation, and inaccurate housing inventory) are germane to the emergence of slums from affordable housings. This research recommends periodic auditing of delivered housing projects to evaluate the developers’ adherence to the housing policy guidelines – it proposes incentives to policy adherents since the housing policy is not legally binding. We also recommend a participatory management to engage the occupants in the monitoring and reporting of breakdowns in the housing properties – to help improve the quality of management and maintenance to have slum-free settlements.

Keywords: Affordable housing, Enugu, low income, Nigeria, slum.

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Authors: R. Nayak, T. Panwar, R. Padhye

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Protective textiles get soiled, stained and even worn during their use, which may not be usable after a certain period due to the loss of protective performance. They need regular cleaning and maintenance, which helps to extend the durability of the clothing, retains their useful properties and ensures that fresh clothing is ready to wear when needed. Generally, the cleaning processes used for various protective clothing include dry-cleaning (using solvents) or wet cleaning (using water). These cleaning processes can alter the fabric surface properties, dimensions, and physical, mechanical and performance properties. The technology of laundering and dry-cleaning has undergone several changes. Sustainable methods and products are available for faster, safer and improved cleaning of protective textiles. We performed a comprehensive and systematic review of green technologies and eco-friendly products for sustainable cleaning of protective textiles. Special emphasis is given on the care and maintenance procedures of protective textiles for protection from fire, bullets, chemical and other types of protective clothing.

Keywords: Sustainable cleaning, protective textiles, eco-friendly cleaning, ozone laundering, ultrasonic cleaning.

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Authors: Tharunika Sridhar

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This paper addresses sustainable eco-connectivity within the telecommunications sector studying its importance to tackle the contemporary challenges and data regulation issues. The paper also investigates the role of Big Data and its integration in this context, specific to telecom industry. One of the major focus areas in this paper is studying and examining the pathways explored, that are state-of-the-art ecological infrastructure solutions and sector-led measures derived from expert analyses and reviews. Additionally, the paper analyses critical factors involving cost-effective route planning, and the development of green telecommunications infrastructure that adds qualitative reasoning to the research idea. Furthermore, the study discusses in detail a potential green roadmap towards sustainability by exploring green routing software, eco-friendly infrastructure and other eco-focused initiatives. The paper is also directed at the special linguistic needs of the telecommunications sector by focusing on targeted select range of telecom environment.

Keywords: Big Data, telecom, sustainable telecom sector, telecom networks.

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Authors: Nor Hafizah S., Salfarina A. G., Intan Hashimah H., Juliana A. W.

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Collective action can be an effective means for local development as well as important strategy to enhance livelihoods especially among rural people. This article explores the level of collective action among members of Fishermen-s Wives Group (KUNITA) in Malaysia. KUNITA was established by the Malaysian Fishery Development Authority (LKIM) with an objective to increase the socio-economic status of fishermen-s families. The members who are mostly the wives and daughters of fishermen are strongly encouraged by LKIM to venture into entrepreneurship activities. The objective of this research was to see the level of collective action among members in KUNITA groups in the state of Selangor. The finding shows that high level of collective action among KUNITA members is strongly based on volunteerism. However, the level of cooperation among members in the group is relatively low. The findings present significant challenges for the group in maintaining the sustainability of KUNITA organization.

Keywords: Collective action, entrepreneurship, fishermen' swives group, LKIM.

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Authors: L. Mota, O. Frausto

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Marine Protected Areas can benefit from nature based tourism, monitoring environmental impacts and also become target for human presence. From more than 3 million tourists visiting Cozumel Island every year, an average of 2,8 million arrive by cruise ship, and 41% are estimated to have motivation for water activities. The destination is relying so much on the tourism activity, that scuba diving and snorkeling in the National Park Reef of Cozumel sustain the major economic activity. In order to achieve the sustainable development indicator designed for regional environmental development, the PNAC offers a training course to tourism providers to access the protected area. This way, the update of the last 5 years of such training is directed to diving staff, boat crew and professionals, making them able to assist in managing the natural resource. Moreover, the case study is an example to be used for raising awareness among tourists visiting protected areas.

Keywords: Education, Marine Protected Area, scuba diving, sustainability, tourism.

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Authors: John Walton, Vishal Parikh

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Contact centres have been exemplars of scientific management in the discipline of operations management for more than a decade now. With the movement of industries from a resource based economy to knowledge based economy businesses have started to realize the customer eccentricity being the key to sustainability amidst high velocity of the market. However, as technologies have converged and advanced, so have the contact centres. Contact Centres have redirected the supply chains and the concept of retailing is highly diminished due to over exaggeration of cost reduction strategies. In conditions of high environmental velocity together with services featuring considerable information intensity contact centres will require up to date and enlightened agents to satisfy the demands placed upon them by those requesting their services. In this paper we examine salient factors such as Power Distance, Knowledge structures and the dynamics of job specialisation and enlargement to suggest critical success factors in the domain of contact centres.

Keywords: Post Taylorism, Knowledge Management, Power Distance, Organisational Learning

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Authors: V. Iakovoglou, G. N. Zaimes, M. P. Arraiza Bermúdez-Cañete, J. L. García, M. C. Giménez, C. Calderón- Guerrero, F. Ioras, I. Abrudan

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A new fast growing trend in tourism is ecotourism, in which tourists visit natural ecosystems under low impact, nonconsumptive and locally oriented activities. Through these activities species and habitats are maintained and typically, underdeveloped regions are emphasized. Ecotourism provides a great alternative, especially for rural and undeveloped area. At the same time, despite its many benefits, it also poses many risks for the naturally protected areas. If ecotourism is practiced improperly degradation and irreversible damages could be the unwanted result. In addition, the lack of MSc programs in the field of Ecotourism in Europe makes it a necessity to be developed. Such an MSc program is being implemented with the lead partner the Technical University of Madrid. The entire partnership has six Universities, seven SMEs and one National Park from seven different countries all over Europe. The MSc will have 10 educational modules that will be available online and will prepare professionals that will be able to implement ecotourism in a sustainable way. Only through awareness and education a sustainable ecotourism will be achieved in the protected areas of Europe.

Keywords: Sustainability, MSc program, protected areas, Erasmus.

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Authors: Kati Kõrbe Kaare, Ott Koppel

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Transport and logistics are the lifeblood of societies. There is a strong correlation between overall growth in economic activity and growth of transport. The movement of people and goods has the potential for creating wealth and prosperity, therefore the state of transportation infrastructure and especially the condition of road networks is often a governmental priority. The design, building and maintenance of national roads constitute a substantial share of government budgets. Taking into account the magnitude and importance of these investments, the expedience, efficiency and sustainability of these projects are of great public interest. This paper provides an overview of supply chain management principles applied to road construction. In addition, road construction performance measurement systems and ICT solutions are discussed. Road construction in Estonia is analyzed. The authors propose the development of a national performance measurement system for road construction.

Keywords: ICT in road construction, key performance indicators, quality performance measurement, road construction supply chain.

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Authors: Vakhtang Charaia

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The article focuses on the role of FDI in Georgia’s economic development for the last decade. To attract as much FDI as possible a proper investment climate should be on the place - institutional, policy and regulatory environment. Well developed investment climate is the chance and motivation for both, local economy and foreign companies, to generate maximum income, create new work places and improve the quality of life. FDI trend is one of the best indicators of country’s economic sustainability and its attractiveness. Especially for small and developing countries, the amount of FDI matters, therefore most of such countries are trying to compete with each other through improving their investment climate according to different world famous indexes. As a result of impressive reforms since 2003, Georgian economy was benefited with large invasion of FDI, however the level of per capita GDP is still law in comparison to Eastern European countries and it should be improved. The main idea of the paper is to show a real linkage between FDI and employment ration, on the case of Georgian economy.

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment, Sustainable Development, Corruption, Employment/Unemployment.

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Authors: B. Selma

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to test the feasibility of SIPINA method to predict the harmfulness parameters controlling the seismic response. The approach developed takes into consideration both the focal depth and the peak ground acceleration. The parameter to determine is displacement. The data used for the learning of this method and analysis nonlinear seismic are described and applied to a class of models damaged to some typical structures of the existing urban infrastructure of Jassy, Romania. The results obtained indicate an influence of the focal depth and the peak ground acceleration on the displacement.

Keywords: SIPINA method, seism, focal depth, peak ground acceleration, displacement.

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Authors: Yan Wang, Yasushi Asami, Yukio Sadahiro

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In urban area, several landmarks may affect housing price and rents, and hedonic analysis should employ distance variables corresponding to each landmarks. Unfortunately, the effects of distances to landmarks on housing prices are generally not consistent with the true price. These distance variables may cause magnitude error in regression, pointing a problem of spatial multicollinearity. In this paper, we provided some approaches for getting the samples with less bias and method on locating the specific sampling area to avoid the multicollinerity problem in two specific landmarks case.

Keywords: Landmarks, hedonic regression, distance variables, collinearity, multicollinerity.

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Authors: Norsiah Abdul Hamid, Halimah Badioze Zaman

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This paper outlines the research conducted to propose na framework of 'Knowledge Society' (KS) in the Malaysian context. It is important to highlight that the emergence of KS is a result of the rapid growth in knowledge and information. However, the discussion of KS should not only be limited to the importance of knowledge, but a holistic KS is also determined by other imperative dimensions. This article discusses the results of a study conducted previously in Malaysia in order to identify the essential dimensions of KS, and consequently propose a KS framework in the Malaysian context. Two methods were employed, namely the Delphi technique and semi-structured interviews. The modified Delphi involved five rounds with ten experts, while the interviews were conducted with two prominent figures in Malaysia. The results support the proposed framework which contains seven major dimensions in order for Malaysia to become a KS in the future. The dimensions which are crucial for a holistic Malaysian KS are human capital, spirituality, economy, social, institutional, sustainability, and driven by the ICT.

Keywords: Malaysia, Knowledge Society, Framework, Delphi Technique, Interview.

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Authors: Kevser Simsek, Rahime Gunay

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In this paper, we focused primarily on Istanbul data that is gathered by using intelligent transportation systems (ITS), and considered the developments in traffic information delivery and future applications that are being planned for implementation. Since traffic congestion is increasing and travel times are becoming less consistent and less predictable, traffic information delivery has become a critical issue. Considering the fuel consumption and wasted time in traffic, advanced traffic information systems are becoming increasingly valuable which enables travelers to plan their trips more accurately and easily.

Keywords: Data Fusion, Istanbul, ITS, Real Time Information, Traffic Information, Travel Time, Urban Mobility

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Authors: Janaína F. Guidolini, Jean P. H. B. Ometto, Angélica Giarolla, Peter M. Toledo, Carlos A. Valera

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The water crisis, a major problem of the 21^st century, occurs mainly due to poor management. The central issue that should govern the management is the integration of the various aspects that interfere with the use of water resources and their protection, supported by legal basis. A watershed is a unit of water interacting with the physical, biotic, social, economic and cultural variables. The Brazilian law recognized river basin as the territorial management unit. Based on the diagnosis of the current situation of the water resources of the Rio Grande Basin, a discussion informed in the Brazilian legal basis was made to propose measures to fight or mitigate damages and environmental degradation in the Basin. To manage water resources more efficiently, conserve water and optimize their multiple uses, the integration of acquired scientific knowledge and management is essential. Moreover, it is necessary to monitor compliance with environmental legislation.

Keywords: Conservation of soil and water, river basin, sustainability, water governance.

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Authors: Palang Wongtanasuporn

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Rural villagers in Thailand have unique skill for producing craft using local materials. However, the appearance and function of their products are not suited to the demand of international market. The Thai government policy on sustainable economy emphasises the necessity to incorporate a design strategy that will draw out the unique qualities and add value to the products, while raising the satisfaction of international consumer. As an industrial designer, the author sees opportunities that design can enhance sustainability of Thai local products through the potentials that available in village-based enterprises. This research attempts to address, how best use design to practically solve the problems in the development of Thais product in. The privilege solution is expressed through the design of design strategy that supports sustain economic development of microenterprise in Thailand in the way that aligns with product design development. This consideration integrates together with global business outlook in the development of products from rural communities.

Keywords: Community Development, Sufficiency Economy Philosophy, Product Design, Strategy Management.

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Authors: Antonio Estache, Atsushi Iimi

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Limited competition has been a serious concern in infrastructure procurement. Importantly, however, there are normally a number of potential bidders initially showing interest in proposed projects. This paper focuses on tackling the question why these initially interested bidders fade out. An empirical problem is that no bids of fading-out firms are observable. They could decide not to enter the process at the beginning of the tendering or may be technically disqualified at any point in the selection process. The paper applies the double selection model to procurement data from road development projects in developing countries and shows that competition ends up restricted, because bidders are self-selective and auctioneers also tend to limit participation depending on the size of contracts.Limited competition would likely lead to high infrastructure procurement costs, threatening fiscal sustainability and economic growth.

Keywords: Auction theory, endogenous bidder entry, infrastructure development, public procurement.

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Authors: K. P. Odimayomi, A. G. Adeniyi, S. A. Abdulkareem, F. M. Oladipo Emmanuel, C. A. Adeyanju, M. A Amoloye

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The abundant availability of the local clay/plantain fiber coupled with the various renewable and sustainability advantages has led to their choice as co-fillers in the development of a hybrid polystyrene composite. The prime objective of this study is to evaluate the morphological and dynamic mechanical properties using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis. The hybrid polystyrene composite development was developed via the hand-lay-up method. All processing including the constituent mixing and curing were achieved at room temperature (25 ± 2 ℃).   The mechanical characteristics of the developed composites via Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) confirm an indirect relationship between time and storage modulus, this pattern becomes more evident at higher frequencies. It is clearly portrayed that the addition of clay and plantain fiber in the polystyrene matrix increases the stiffness of the developed composite.

Keywords: Morphology, DMA, Akerebiata clay, plantain fiber, hybrid polystyrene composites.

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Authors: Rıza Gürhan Korkut, Metin Çelik, Süleyman Özkaynak

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The early-stage design and development projects for the freight village initiatives require a comprehensive analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data. Considering the literature review on structural and operational management requirements, this study proposed an original taxonomy on criterion structure to assess freight village conceptualization. The potential challenges and uncertainties of the developed taxonomy are extended. Besides requirement analysis, this study is also expected to contribute to forthcoming research on benchmarking of freight villages in different regions. The methodology used in this research is a systematic review on several articles as per their modelling approaches, sustainability, entities and decisions made together with the uncertainties and features of their models taken into consideration. The major findings of the study that are the categories for assessing the projects attributes on their environmental, socio-economical, accessibility and location aspects.

Keywords: Freight village, logistics centers, operational management, taxonomy.

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Authors: Mulugeta Shegaze, Mekitie Wondafrash, Alemayehu A. Alemayehu, Shikur Mohammed, Zewdu Shewangezaw, Mukerem Abdo, Gebresilasea Gendisha

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Background: The 2004 World Health Assembly called for specific actions to halt the overweight and obesity epidemic that is currently penetrating urban populations in the developing world. Adolescents require particular attention due to their vulnerability to develop obesity and the fact that adolescent weight tracks strongly into adulthood. However, there is scarcity of information on the modifiable risk factors to be targeted for primary intervention among urban adolescents in Ethiopia. This study was aimed at determining the magnitude and risk factors of overweight and obesity among high school adolescents in Addis Ababa. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted in February and March 2014 on 456 randomly selected adolescents from 20 high schools in Addis Ababa city.  Demographic data and other risk factors of overweight and obesity were collected using self-administered structured questionnaire, whereas anthropometric measurements of weight and height were taken using calibrated equipment and standardized techniques. The WHO STEPS instrument for chronic disease risk was applied to assess dietary habit and physical activity. Overweight and obesity status was determined based on BMI-for-age percentiles of WHO 2007 reference population. Results: The prevalence rates of overweight, obesity, and overall overweight/ obesity among high school adolescents in Addis Ababa were 9.7% (95%CI = 6.9-12.4%), 4.2% (95%CI = 2.3-6.0%), and 13.9% (95%CI = 10.6-17.1%), respectively. Overweight/obesity prevalence was highest among female adolescents, in private schools, and in the higher wealth category. In multivariable regression model, being female [AOR(95%CI) = 5.4(2.5,12.1)], being from private school [AOR(95%CI) = 3.0(1.4,6.2)], having >3 regular meals [AOR(95%CI) = 4.0(1.3,13.0)], consumption of sweet foods [AOR(95%CI) = 5.0(2.4,10.3)] and spending >3 hours/day sitting [AOR(95%CI) = 3.5(1.7,7.2)] were found to increase overweight/ obesity risk, whereas high Total Physical Activity level [AOR(95%CI) = 0.21(0.08,0.57)] and better nutrition knowledge [AOR(95%CI) = 0.160.07,0.37)] were found protective. Conclusions: More than one in ten of the high school adolescents were affected by overweight/obesity with dietary habit and physical activity are important modifiable risk factors. Well-tailored nutrition education program targeting lifestyle change should be initiated with more emphasis to female adolescents and students in private schools.

Keywords: Adolescents, NCDs, overweight, obesity.

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