Abstract: Reduction of energy consumption in built
infrastructure, through the installation of energy-efficient
technologies, is a major approach to achieving sustainability. In
practice, the viability of energy efficiency projects strongly depends
on the cost reimbursement and profitability. These projects are
subject to failure if the actual cost savings do not reimburse the
project cost promptly. In such cases, refinancing could be a solution
to benefit from the long-term returns of the project, if implemented
wisely. However, very little is still known about the effect of
refinancing options on financial performance of energy efficiency
projects. In order to fill this gap, the present study investigates the
financial behavior of energy efficiency projects with focus on
refinancing options, such as Leveraged Loans. A System Dynamics
(SD) model is introduced, and the model application is presented
using an actual case-study data. The case study results indicate that
while high-interest start-ups make using Leveraged Loan inevitable,
refinancing can rescue the project and bring about profitability. This
paper also presents some managerial implications of refinancing
energy efficiency projects based on the case-study analysis. Results
of this study help to implement financially viable energy efficiency
projects so that the community could benefit from their
environmental advantages widely.
Abstract: Cooperative groups through much research have been
recognized to churn remarkable achievements instead of solitary or
individualistic efforts. Based on Johnson and Johnson’s model of
cooperative learning, the five key components of cooperation are
positive interdependence, face-to-face promotive interaction,
individual accountability, social skills, and group processing. In
2011, the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE)
introduced the Holistic Student Development policy with the aim to
develop morally sound individuals equipped with lifelong learning
skills. The Community Service project was included in the
improvement initiative. The purpose of this study is to assess the
relationship of team-based learning in facilitating particularly
students’ positive interdependence and face-to-face promotive
interaction. The research methods involve in-depth interviews with
the team leaders and selected team members, and a content analysis
of the undergraduate students’ reflective journals. A significant
positive relationship was found between students’ progressive
outlook towards teamwork and the highlighted two components. The
key findings show that students have gained in their individual
learning and work results through teamwork and interaction with
other students. The inclusion of Community Service as a MOHE
subject resonates with cooperative learning methods that enhances
supportive relationships and develops students’ social skills together
with their professional skills.
Abstract: Lagos urban mini bus drivers play a critical role in the
transportation sector. The current major mode of transportation
within Lagos metropolis remains road transportation and this
confirms the relevance of urban mini-bus drivers in transporting the
populace to their various destinations. Other modes of transportation
such as the train and waterways are currently inadequate. Various
threats to the well-being of urban bus drivers include congested
traffic typical of modern day lifestyles, dwindling financial returns
due to long hours in traffic, fewer hours of sleep, inadequate diet,
time pressure, and assaults related to fare disputes. Several healthrelated
problems have been documented to be associated with urban
bus driving. For instance, greater rates of hypertension, obesity and
cholesterol level have been reported. Research studies are yet to
identify the influence of age and marital status on the well-being of
urban mini-bus drivers in Lagos metropolis. A study of this nature is
necessary as it is culturally perceived in Nigeria that older and
married people are especially influenced by family affiliation and
would behave in ways that would project positive outcomes. The
study sample consisted of 150 urban mini-bus drivers who were
conveniently sampled from six (6) different terminuses where their
journey begins and terminates. The well-being questionnaire was
administered to participants. The criteria for inclusion in the study
included the ability to read in English language and the confirmation
that interested participants were on duty and suited to be driving
mini-buses. Due to the nature of the job of bus driving, the researcher
administered the questionnaires on participants who were free and
willing to respond to the survey. All participants were males of
various age groups and of different marital statuses. Results of
analyses conducted revealed no significant influence of age and
marital status on the well-being of urban mini-bus drivers. This
indicates that the well-being of urban mini bus drivers is not
influenced by age or marital status. The findings of this study have
cultural implications. It negates the popularly held belief that older
and married people care more about their well-being than younger
and single people. It brings to fore the need to also identify and
consider other factors when certifying people for the job of urban bus
driving.
Abstract: This paper is concerned with the ways in which
Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) affect women’s lives
and perceptions regarding their infertility, contraception and
reproductive health. The paper is based on a qualitative feminist
survey study to explore and analyze issues arising from the use of
ARTs by women in New Delhi, the capital of India. A rapid growth in
the number of fertility clinics has been noticed recently. A critical
analysis of interviews revealed that these technologies are used and
developed for making profits at the cost of women’s lives. In this
way, these technologies are influencing and changing the traditional
patterns of motherhood requiring a rethinking about new ways of
reproduction introduced through the use of ARTs.
Abstract: Recovering resources from water purification sludge
(WPS) have been gradually stipulated in environmental protection
laws and regulations in many nations. Hence, reusing the WPS is
becoming an important topic, and recovering alum from WPS is one of
the many practical alternatives. Most previous research efforts have
been conducted on studying the amphoteric characteristic of aluminum
hydroxide for investigating the optimum pH range to dissolve the
Al(III) species from WPS, but it has been lack of reaction kinetics or
mechanisms related discussion. Therefore, in this investigation, water
purification sludge (WPS) solution was broken by ultrasound to make
particle size of reactants smaller, specific surface area larger.
According to the reaction kinetics, these phenomena let the dissolved
aluminum salt quantity increased and the reaction rate go faster.
Abstract: Noninvasive diagnostics of diseases via breath
analysis has attracted considerable scientific and clinical interest for
many years and become more and more promising with the rapid
advancements in nanotechnology and biotechnology. The volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath, which are mainly
blood borne, particularly provide highly valuable information about
individuals’ physiological and pathophysiological conditions.
Additionally, breath analysis is noninvasive, real-time, painless, and
agreeable to patients. We have developed a wireless sensor array
based on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-functionalized single-walled
carbon nanotubes (SWNT) for the detection of a number of
physiological indicators in breath. Seven DNA sequences were used
to functionalize SWNT sensors to detect trace amount of methanol,
benzene, dimethyl sulfide, hydrogen sulfide, acetone, and ethanol,
which are indicators of heavy smoking, excessive drinking, and
diseases such as lung cancer, breast cancer, and diabetes. Our test
results indicated that DNA functionalized SWNT sensors exhibit
great selectivity, sensitivity, and repeatability; and different
molecules can be distinguished through pattern recognition enabled
by this sensor array. Furthermore, the experimental sensing results
are consistent with the Molecular Dynamics simulated ssDNAmolecular
target interaction rankings. Thus, the DNA-SWNT sensor
array has great potential to be applied in chemical or biomolecular
detection for the noninvasive diagnostics of diseases and personal
health monitoring.
Abstract: The plastic industry plays very important role in the
economy of any country. It is generally among the leading share of
the economy of the country. Since metals and their alloys are very
rarely available on the earth. Therefore, to produce plastic products
and components, which finds application in many industrial as well
as household consumer products is beneficial. Since 50% plastic
products are manufactured by injection moulding process. For
production of better quality product, we have to control quality
characteristics and performance of the product. The process
parameters plays a significant role in production of plastic, hence the
control of process parameter is essential. In this paper the effect of
the parameters selection on injection moulding process has been
described. It is to define suitable parameters in producing plastic
product. Selecting the process parameter by trial and error is neither
desirable nor acceptable, as it is often tends to increase the cost and
time. Hence, optimization of processing parameter of injection
moulding process is essential. The experiments were designed with
Taguchi’s orthogonal array to achieve the result with least number of
experiments. Plastic material polypropylene is studied. Tensile
strength test of material is done on universal testing machine, which
is produced by injection moulding machine. By using Taguchi
technique with the help of MiniTab-14 software the best value of
injection pressure, melt temperature, packing pressure and packing
time is obtained. We found that process parameter packing pressure
contribute more in production of good tensile plastic product.
Abstract: The paper is focused on the application of the security
audit method on the selected objects of the critical infrastructure. The
emphasis is put on security audit method to find gaps in the critical
infrastructure security. The theoretical part describes objects of the
critical infrastructure. The practical part describes using of the
security audit method. The main emphasis was put on the protection
of the critical infrastructure in the Czech Republic.
Abstract: Effective internal control system in the bursary unit of
tertiary educational institutions is geared toward achieving quality
teaching, learning and research environment and as well assist the
management of the institutions, particularly when decisions are to be
made. While internal control system exists in all institutions, the
outlined objectives above are far from being achieved. The paper
therefore assesses the effectiveness of internal control system in
tertiary educational institutions in Nasarawa State, Nigeria with
specific focus on the Nasarawa State Polytechnic, Lafia. The study is
survey, hence a simple closed ended questionnaire was developed
and administered to a sample of twenty seven (27) member staff from
the Bursary and the Internal audit unit of the Nasarawa State
Polytechnic, Lafia so as to obtain data for analysis purposes and to
test the study hypothesis. Responses from the questionnaire were
analysed using a simple percentage and chi square. Findings shows
that the right people are not assigned to the right job in the
department, budget, and management accounting were never used in
the institution’s operations and checking of subordinate by their
superior officers is not regular. This renders the current internal
control structure of the Polytechnic as ineffective and weak. The
paper therefore recommends that: transparency should be seen as
significant, as the institution work toward meeting its objectives, it
therefore means that the right staff be assigned the right job and
regular checking of the subordinates by their superiors be ensued.
Abstract: Sub-Saharan Africa is described as the second fastest
growing in mobile phone penetration in the world more than in the
United States or the European Union. Mobile phones have been used
to provide a lot of opportunities to improve people’s lives in the
region such as in banking, marketing, entertainment, and paying for
various bills such as water, TV, and electricity. However, the
potential of mobile phones to enhance teaching and learning has not
been explored. This study presents an experience of developing and
delivering SMS based quiz questions used to assess mastery of
subject content knowledge of science and mathematics secondary
school teachers in Tanzania. The SMS quizzes were used as a follow
up support mechanism to 500 teachers who participated in a project
to upgrade subject content knowledge of teachers in science and
mathematics subjects in Tanzania. Quizzes of 10-15 questions were
sent to teachers each week for 8 weeks and the results were analyzed
using SPSS. Results show that teachers who participated in chemistry
and biology subjects have better performance compared to those who
participated in mathematics and physics subjects. Teachers reported
some challenges that led to poor performance, This research has
several practical implications for those who are implementing or
planning to use mobile phones in teaching and learning especially in
rural secondary schools in sub-Saharan Africa.
Abstract: In Algeria, the most impressive and most known
prehistoric art is the painted or engraved rock art which is present
with abundance in several regions. The existence of rock art in Great
Kabylia region has been known for over sixty years. The main purpose of this research is to show the dangers facing
these rock paintings and engravings and what are the arrangements
for their protection and recovery. As every vestige destroyed is a part of the world's memory which
disappears, some steps have to be taken in order to protect these
historical and archaeological heritages.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the questions raised through the
work of Unit 5: ‘In/Out Crisis, emergent and adaptive’; an
architectural research-based studio at [ARC] University of Nicosia. Students were asked to delve into state of Art Technologies in
order to propose sustainable Emergent and Adaptive Architectures
and Urbanities, the resulting unprecedented spatial conditions and
atmospheres of the emergent new ways of living are deemed to be the
ultimate aim of the investigation. Students explored a variety of sites
and crisis conditions seen through their primary ingredient identified
as soil, water and air and their paired combination. Within this
methodology, crisis is seen as a mechanism for allowing an
emergence of new and fascinating ultimate sustainable future cultures
and cities by taking advantage of the primary materiality of the sites.
Abstract: The paper will focus on the strategic development
deriving from the evolution of the traditional courtyard spatial
organization towards a new, contemporary sustainable way of living.
New sustainable approaches that engulf the social issues, the notion
of place, the understanding of weather architecture blended together
with the bioclimatic behavior will be seen through a series of
experimental case studies in the island of Cyprus, inspired and
originated from its traditional wisdom, ranging from small scale of
living to urban interventions. Weather and nature will be seen as co-architectural authors with
architects. Furthermore, the building will be seen not as an object but
rather as a vessel of human activities. This will further enhance the
notion of merging the material and immaterial, the built and unbuilt,
subject-human, and the object-building. This eventually will enable
to generate the discussion of the understanding of the building in
relation to the place and its inhabitants, where the human topography
is more important than the material topography. The specificities of
the divided island and the dealing with sites that are in vicinity with
the diving Green Line will further trigger explorations dealing with
the regeneration issues and the social sustainability offering
unprecedented opportunities for innovative sustainable ways of
living. Opening up a discourse with premises of weather-nature, materialimmaterial,
human-material topographies in relation to the contested
sites of the borders will lead us to develop innovative strategies for a
profound, both technical and social sustainability, which fruitfully
yields to innovative living built environments, responding to the ever
changing environmental and social needs. As a starting point, a case study in Kaimakli in Nicosia, a
refurbishment with an extension of a traditional house, already
engulfs all the traditional/ vernacular wisdom of the bioclimatic
architecture. The project focusses on the direct and quite obvious
bioclimatic features such as south orientation and cross ventilation.
Furthermore, it tries to reinvent the adaptation of these parameters in
order to turn the whole house to a contemporary living environment.
In order to succeed this, evolutions of traditional architectural
elements and spatial conditions are integrated in a way that does not
only respond to some certain weather conditions, but they integrate
and blend the weather within the built environment. A series of
innovations aiming at maximum flexibility is proposed. The house
can finally be transformed into a winter enclosure, while for the most
part of the year it turns into a ‘camping’ living environment. Parallel to experimental interventions in existing traditional units,
we will proceed examining the implementation of the same
developed methodology in designing living units and complexes.
Malleable courtyard organizations that attempt to blend the
traditional wisdom with the contemporary needs for living, the
weather and nature with the built environment will be seen tested in
both horizontal and vertical developments. Social activities are seen as directly affected and forged by the
weather conditions thus generating a new social identity of people where people are directly involved and interacting with the weather.
The human actions and interaction with the built, material
environment in order to respond to weather will be seen as the result
of balancing the social with the technological sustainability, the
immaterial, and the material aspects of the living environment.
Abstract: The fundamental issue in understanding the origin and
growth mechanism of nanomaterials, from a fundamental unit is a big
challenging problem to the scientists. Recently, an immense attention
is generated to the researchers for prediction of exceptionally stable
atomic cluster units as the building units for future smart materials.
The present study is a systematic investigation on the stability and
electronic properties of a series of bimetallic (semiconductor-alkaline
earth) clusters, viz., BxMg3 (x=1-5) is performed, in search for
exceptional and/ or unusual stable motifs. A very popular hybrid
exchange-correlation functional, B3LYP along with a higher basis
set, viz., 6-31+G[d,p] is employed for this purpose under the density
functional formalism. The magic stability among the concerned
clusters is explained using the jellium model. It is evident from the
present study that the magic stability of B4Mg3
cluster arises due to
the jellium shell closure.
Abstract: A geoelectric survey was carried out in some parts of
Angwan Gwari, an outskirt of Lapai Local Government Area on
Niger State which belongs to the Nigerian Basement Complex, with
the aim of evaluating the soil corrosivity, aquifer transmissivity and
protective capacity of the area from which aquifer characterisation
was made. The G41 Resistivity Meter was employed to obtain fifteen
Schlumberger Vertical Electrical Sounding data along profiles in a
square grid network. The data were processed using interpex 1-D
sounding inversion software, which gives vertical electrical sounding
curves with layered model comprising of the apparent resistivities,
overburden thicknesses, and depth. This information was used to
evaluate longitudinal conductance and transmissivities of the layers.
The results show generally low resistivities across the survey area
and an average longitudinal conductance variation from
0.0237Siemens in VES 6 to 0.1261Siemens in VES 15 with almost
the entire area giving values less than 1.0 Siemens. The average
transmissivity values range from 96.45 Ω.m2 in VES 4 to 299070
Ω.m2 in VES 1. All but VES 4 and VES14 had an average
overburden greater than 400 Ω.m2, these results suggest that the
aquifers are highly permeable to fluid movement within, leading to
the possibility of enhanced migration and circulation of contaminants
in the groundwater system and that the area is generally corrosive.
Abstract: Green concrete are generally composed of recycling
materials as hundred or partial percent substitutes for aggregate,
cement, and admixture in concrete. To reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, efforts are needed to develop environmentally friendly
construction materials. Using of fly ash based geopolymer as an
alternative binder can help reduce CO2 emission of concrete. The
binder of geopolymer concrete is different from the ordinary Portland
cement concrete. Geopolymer Concrete specimens were prepared
with different concentration of NaOH solution M10, M14, and, M16
and cured at 60ºC in duration of 24 hours and 8 hours, in addition to
the curing in direct sunlight. Thus, it is necessary to study the effects
of the geopolymer binder on the behavior of concrete. Concrete is
made by using geopolymer technology is environmental friendly and
could be considered as part of the sustainable development. In this
study, the Local Alkaline Activator in Egypt and crashed stone as
coarse aggregate in fly ash based-geopolymer concrete was
investigated. This paper illustrates the development of mechanical
properties. Since the gained compressive strength for geopolymer
concrete at 28 days was in the range of 22.5MPa – 43.9MPa.
Abstract: Recently, many users have begun to frequently share
their opinions on diverse issues using various social media. Therefore,
numerous governments have attempted to establish or improve
national policies according to the public opinions captured from
various social media. In this paper, we indicate several limitations of
the traditional approaches to analyze public opinion on science and
technology and provide an alternative methodology to overcome these
limitations. First, we distinguish between the science and technology
analysis phase and the social issue analysis phase to reflect the fact that
public opinion can be formed only when a certain science and
technology is applied to a specific social issue. Next, we successively
apply a start list and a stop list to acquire clarified and interesting
results. Finally, to identify the most appropriate documents that fit
with a given subject, we develop a new logical filter concept that
consists of not only mere keywords but also a logical relationship
among the keywords. This study then analyzes the possibilities for the
practical use of the proposed methodology thorough its application to
discover core issues and public opinions from 1,700,886 documents
comprising SNS, blogs, news, and discussions.
Abstract: This article proposes a hybrid algorithm for spectrum
allocation in cognitive radio networks based on the algorithms
Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and Technique for Order of
Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to improve the
performance of the spectrum mobility of secondary users in cognitive
radio networks. To calculate the level of performance of the proposed algorithm a
comparative analysis between the proposed AHP-TOPSIS, Grey
Relational Analysis (GRA) and Multiplicative Exponent Weighting
(MEW) algorithm is performed. Four evaluation metrics are used.
These metrics are accumulative average of failed handoffs,
accumulative average of handoffs performed, accumulative average
of transmission bandwidth, and accumulative average of the
transmission delay. The results of the comparison show that AHP-TOPSIS Algorithm
provides 2.4 times better performance compared to a GRA Algorithm
and, 1.5 times better than the MEW Algorithm.
Abstract: At a global level, water stewardship, water stress and
water security are crucial factors in tourism planning and
development considerations. Challenges associated with water is of
particular concern to the Maldives as there is limited availability of
freshwater, high dependency on desalinated water, and high unit cost
associated with desalinating water. While the Maldives is promoted
as an example of sustainable tourism, a key sustainability challenge
facing tourism dependent communities is the efficient use and
management of available water resources. A water crisis event in the
capital island of Maldives highlighted how precarious water related
issues are in this tourism dependent destination. Applying
netnography, the focus of this working paper is to present community
perceptions of how government policies addressed Malé Water and
Sewerage Company (MWSC) water crisis event.
Abstract: It is quite essential to investigate the causes of
pavement deterioration in order to select the proper maintenance
technique. The objective of this study was to identify factors cause
deterioration of recently constructed roads in Khartoum state. A
comprehensive literature concerning the factors of road deterioration,
common road defects and their causes were reviewed. Three major
road projects with different deterioration reasons were selected for
this study. The investigation involved field survey and laboratory
testing on those projects to examine the existing pavement
conditions. The results revealed that the roads investigated
experienced severe failures in the forms of cracks, potholes, and
rutting in the wheel path. The causes of those failures were found
mainly linked to poor drainage, traffic overloading, expansive
subgrade soils, and the use of low quality materials in construction.
Based on the results, recommendations were provided to help
highway engineers in selecting the most effective repair techniques
for specific kinds of distresses.