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Recovery of Iconic Places The Importance of Placemaking in Town Planning
Get PDFA response to the crisis of civic architecture in thepostwar period, the placemaking aims at reconciling man with hiscommunity and his city. Nowadays, creating such places is stillneeded to support formation of the modern civil society.To understand the process of designing unique places, it isparticularly useful analyze some of the successful placemakingprojects which do adapt former industrial sites to a new culturalfunction and which can sometimes be referred to as recovering oficonic places, giving a new life to the historically important places.This is, for example, the case of placing the European SolidarityCentre on the grounds of the famous Gdańsk Shipyard or reusing avast area of a former coal mine to raise a modern cultural district inthe city of Katowice. To create these unique places, as the analysisproves, the architects have taken into account the indicationsoriginating from the site analysis and have incorporated them intothe design, balancing them with contemporary architectural andtechnological solutions. Derived from the character of theirparticular locations, the unique places are not only public spaces, butcan sometimes become icons for the local society
Flexible Pavement Distress Evaluation and Analysis
Get PDFFlexible pavement needs to be inventoried periodically, and evaluated for surface performance, distresses intensity and frequency. Flexible pavement distress data need to be updated to implement the required maintenance program. The pavement surface can't therefore be kept perfectly and comfortably in service. The evaluation and analysis of flexible pavement surface conditions can be reflected and expressed in term of pavement serviceability rating (PSR) which denotes a scale of a lower limit of 10 to an upper of 100. Also, the cost of maintenance and rehabilitation program can be predicted based on PSR. 18 sections were selected and surveyed for the distress types, intensity and extension. Also, the PSR was evaluated through the client PSR by the engineers and technicians in the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and user PSR through drivers, costumers on the road. The cost of maintenance was estimated by the client staff and modeled with client and user PSRs. Validation of models showed the usage of results to predict PSR value depending on distresses appearance, so cost can be calculated for maintenance
Amnesty as a Panacea for the Resolution of Resource Control Conflicts in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region
Get PDFThe objective of this paper is to determine the extentto which the implementation of the amnesty programme in theNigeria’s Niger Delta region has reduced the incidence ofmilitancy insurrection and conflicts in the area. The paperadopted qualitative approach and relies on secondary data,using the combination of analytical and descriptive method toassess the effects of amnesty programme in the resolution ofresource control conflicts in Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Thepaper observes that in spite of the implementation of theAmnesty programme by various civilian administrations since2008, recent reports demonstrate that militancy and theattendant consequences are still being experienced in the region.The paper submits that unless the factors causing violentconflicts in the region such as marginalisation, environmentaldegradation, inequitable distribution of oil revenues andunderdevelopment are addressed; the present peace in theregion may not subsist for long. It recommends measures forsuccessful implementation of amnesty in order to achieverelative peace in the region in particular and Nigeria as a whole
Multistage Filtering Algorithm for Salt and Pepper Noise Removal from Highly Corrupted Microscopic Blood Images
Get PDFImage quality mainly affects the performance of anymedical image processing system. Salt & pepper noise is onetype of noise that significantly degrades the image quality. Suchnoise can be frequently encountered in digital microscopicimages due to technical reasons. Moreover, high ratios of Salt &pepper noise make the image excessively corrupted orunreadable. Standard and modified median filters can usuallyhandle low/medium Salt & Pepper noise densities, mostly at theexpense of edge/details preservation. However, they totally failfor highly corrupted images where noise density reaches 90%.In this paper, we present a new multistage filtering algorithmfor Salt & pepper noise reduction from highly corrupted imageswhile preserving image details and edges as better as possible.The proposed algorithm includes two filtering stages throughwhich image is firstly de-noised via utilizing adaptive medianfilter then decision based median filter. Our multistage filterhas been successfully applied on noisy microscopic blood imagesobtained from Malaria-infected blood smears. Results revealthat the presented filtering algorithm outperforms standard andmodified median algorithms in terms of PSNR, MSE and IEFvalues, specifically for images with more than 80% of salt &pepper noise. This indicates that using our multistage filteringalgorithm against high Salt & Pepper noise densities, does notonly remove the noise effectively but also achieves a better edgeand details preservation, hence a better image enhancement
Design and Implementation of SMS Based Cattle Healthcare System for Mandera County, North Eastern Kenya
Get PDFIn general, across Africa, livestock sector provides alarge proportion of agricultural value added, almost one thirdand in some countries more than one-half. Close to two third ofthe value of edible livestock products is generated by cattle(meat and milk), sheep and goats (meat and milk) and poultry(meat and eggs) contribute about quarter each. However,Mandera community in North Eastern Kenya province arepastoralists and does not settle in one place. With the increaseof disease diagnosis, and lack of available veterinary createdthe need to limit animal health-related risks and majorconsequences of disease outbreaks. In this paper, the authorsanalyse the current cattle healthcare issues in Mandera Countyand proposes an SMS bases system that farmers themselvesquery for animal healthcare information. Finally, at the end afurther recommendation and suggestions are presented.Keywords: Cattle Healthcare, SMS Based System, Keny
Adaptive Computer Testing For Online Courses
Get PDFHerewith we propose multi-step algorithm forcomputer-based testing allowing to differentiate andindividualize academic performance rating procedure andsubsequent testing path. Formulas to calculate quality pointsachieved by examinees are proposed. Exit criteria from thetesting system are defined. A new function Rr was constructedto take decision based on three variables Ykn, Y6, Yc specifyingstudent’s knowledge and skills
The Mediator Effect of Knowledge Management Orientation in the Relationship between Information Technology Support and Knowledge Quality
Get PDFThis correlational study assessed the effect ofinformation technology within the health sector on knowledgequality. In this context, the mediator roles of explicit and tacitknowledge management orientation in the relationship betweeninformation technology and knowledge quality wereinvestigated.Healthcare employees of four public hospitals in Konya that is aprovince of Turkey were administrated knowledge quality scaleof wood (2005), explicit and tacit knowledge managementorientation scale and information technology support scale,which were developed by Choi and Lee (2003) and cited fromthe study of Wood (2005).Study results focused on that information technology amonghealthcare employees has a positive effect on knowledge qualityand explicit and tacit knowledge management orientation has amediator role within this relation
Pneumatic Radial Loading To Ease Preloading – An Innovative Technique
Get PDFSoft ground improvement gained prominence all overthe world in view of ever growing engineering activities forvarious purposes. In view of serious problems during and afterconstruction in these deposits, vertical drains method usingpreloading is being frequently applied to improve these soil beds.However, in view of the difficulties associated with this technique,an alternative vacuum preloading technique was developed. Butvacuum preloading is also limited to the available atmosphericpressure with inevitable technical difficulties. The present paperdiscusses an innovative technique of applying radial pneumaticpressure with the help of inflatable balloons/tubes. The drainageis facilitated along the surface of inflatable tubes by providingfabric strips/the traditional strip drains. The laboratoryexperimentation in test tank indicated that this technique has thepotential for practical applications
Camels Rating Model For Evaluating Financial Performance of Banking Sector: A Theoretical Perspective
Get PDFThe function and significance of banking sector cannotbe under-estimated in the development of an economy. Thestrength of economy of any country basically hinges on thestrength and efficiency of financial system, which, in turn, dependsupon a sound banking system. Reserve Bank of Indiarecommended two supervisory rating models named as CAMELS(Capital Adequacy, Assets Quality, Management, Earning,Liquidity, Systems and Controls) and CACS (Capital Adequacy,Assets Quality, Compliance, Systems and Controls) for rating ofIndian commercial, private and foreign banks operating in India.The present study describes the various financial ratios used in theabove mentioned models to measure the financial performance ofbanking sector. The study examined each parameter of CAMELSsystem by review of literature and empirical studies
Membrane Separation for Gases: Materials, Preparation Methods and Transport Mechanism
Get PDFGas adsorption and permeation of CO2 gas weremeasured on two carbon molecular sieve membranes over awide pressure range. The two membrane samples werefabricated under similar conditions but with different degreesof carbonization. The pressure dependence of the permeationtime lag was investigated and it is found that the diffusioncoefficient takes a stronger functional dependence on loadingthan the Darken relation and this dependence increases withthe degree of carbonization