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THE IMPACT OF ATRIUMS ON THERMAL AND DAYLIGHTING PERFORMANCE
Get PDFThe energy crisis is one of the main focuses of attention across the world. Atrium spaces have become a main part of most public buildings all over the world, regardless of their environmental aspects. The arguments of a good space, the psychological atmosphere and the impact on energy consumption are the main problems that face any designer, environmental designers in particular. In atrium design, there is more than one aspect to be considered; architectural, functional, economic, environmental, construction and psychological aspects are the main aspects that should be considered in the early design stage. The environmental aspect is the most important of all; this is affected by several factors, such as the daylighting and thermal performance. Much research has studied this aspect in relation to a certain location, case, factor or multiple factors; these results might thus be limited. The complication and contradiction of these factors leads to the necessity of studying and analysing them. The question that this research aims to answer is how a building can benefit from daylighting with or without excess heat gain according to the climatic conditions, through determining the main factors that should be studied and their impacts on the design of atrium space
أثر التكنولوجيا على التغيير البنائي للأسرة المعاصر
Get PDFNowadays there are many different types of family compared to 50 years ago when the ‘nuclear’ family, considered the ‘normal’ one, was the most dominant type. Affected by the advancement of many aspects, particularly technology, communication and globalization, the main changes have been changes to marriage and partnership as well as changes to children and families. In respect to changes to marriage fewer people, who are getting married later in life, are getting married nowadays with higher divorce rate. However, in regard to partnership, more couples are now living together without marriage –co-habitation with an increased number of same sex couples who are becoming more and more legally recognized in developed countries such as European, North Americans and Australia as well as more people are living alone. On the other hand, changes to children and families are noticed through women are having fewer or no children with more births outside marriage. With focus on the family patterns in the human history, this paper addresses the changes that occurred to family types between modernity and post- modernity as well as the main social aspects that led to these changes.
الملخص: تشهد المجتمعات المعاصرة أنواعاً مختلفة من الأسر، بالمقارنة مع ما عرفته منذ خمسين سنة حيث كانت الأسرة النواة تعتبر النموذج الطبيعي والمسيطر في اغلب المجتمعات المتقدمة، وذلك كنتيجة للتطور الحاصل في تلك الدول في كافة المجالات خاصة: التكنولوجيا، وسائل التواصل والعولمة. أدت هذه التغييرات الاساسية الى تغييرات في نظام الزواج والعلاقات الثنائية بين الجنسيين بالإضافة الى تغيير في علاقة الأسرة والأبناء. بالنسبة لنظام الزواج: ارتفع متوسط سن الزواج وقل عدد الذين يقدمون عليه مع تزايد في احتمال الطلاق، وازداد عداد الذين يتساكنون خارج مظلة الزواج مع ارتفاع نسبة الأزواج من نفس الجنس (المثليين) الذين يحصلون على المزيد من الاعتراف القانوني بعلاقتهم في الكثير من الدول المتقدمة. بالنسبة للأسرة والأبناء، فالتغيير واضح في انخفاض عدد الأطفال للمرأة، او اختيارها عدم الانجاب، مع المزيد من الولادات خارج الزواج. تقوم هذه الورقة البحثية بتوضيح التغييرات المختلفة التي مرت بها الاسرة من الماضي وحتى الآن ، مع محاولة التعرف على اسباب نشوء الأسر اللانمطية ، وانواعها وأثارها على الفرد والمجتمع في العالم المتقدم بين الحداثة وما بعد الحداثة
L’EUROPE FACE AU DÉSIR D’EUROPEL’EUROPE FACE AU DÉSIR D’EUROPE
No full textIn Eldorado (2006), Laurent Gaudé confronts a man from Europe with the desire for Europe directed at him, thru the characters of a Sicilian coastguard and the migrants he rescues to hand them over to the authorities in charge of turning them back. The novel, which recounts the intertwined trajectories of the Italian captain, torn apart by his contradictory functions, and a young Sudanese migrant, makes us hear the challenge addressed by Eldorado’s dream to an existence losing its meaning. The reception of the book has enhanced its humanistic scope and the author has clearly pleaded, in his public interventions, for European hospitality. However, a careful reading raises troubling questions. Violence opens up grey areas within the protagonists; their behavior sometimes has more to do with the one-sidedness of tragic characters, or even a Nietzschean exaltation of the will, than with a humanistic ethos; the vision of the human condition engenders hermeneutic hesitations. But the strength of the work may well lie in these ambiguities, which distance it from demonstrative militancy and even from a comfortable compassionate posture. Tragedy, which ignites the energies and contradictions of action without defining practical or political solutions, offers a model for reading the novel. The humanistic significance of the text is less in the explicit message than in the experience of the reader to feel himself as another. The writer’s sense of responsibility calls for the response of a partner reader, assuming the construction of meaning required by the symbolic dimension of the narrative.
Dans Eldorado, en 2006, Laurent Gaudé confronte un homme d’Europe au désir d’Europe vers lui dirigé, sous les traits d’un garde-côtes sicilien et des migrants qu’il sauve des eaux pour les livrer aux autorités chargées de les refouler. Le roman, qui relate les trajectoires entrecroisées du commandant italien, écartelé par ses fonctions contradictoires et d’un jeune migrant soudanais, fait résonner l’interpellation qu’adresse le rêve d’Eldorado à une existence en perte de sens. La réception du livre a valorisé sa visée humaniste et l’auteur a clairement plaidé, dans ses interventions publiques, pour une hospitalité européenne. Pourtant, une lecture attentive fait naître des questions troublantes. La violence ouvre chez les protagonistes des zones d’ombre ; leurs comportements relèvent parfois plus de l’unilatéralité des caractères tragiques, voire d’une exaltation nietzschéenne de la volonté, que d’un éthos humaniste ; la vision donnée de la condition humaine engendre des hésitations herméneutiques. Mais la force de l’œuvre pourrait bien tenir à ces ambiguïtés, qui l’écartent de la militance démonstrative et même d’une posture compassionnelle confortable. La tragédie, qui embrase les énergies et contradictions de l’action sans définir de solutions pratiques ou politiques, offre un modèle de lecture du roman. La portée humaniste du texte se loge moins dans un message explicite que dans l’expérience proposée au lecteur de se ressentir soi-même comme un autre. Le sens de la responsabilité, chez l’écrivain, appelle la réponse d’un lecteur partenaire, assumant la construction de sens requise par la dimension symbolique du récit
POTENTIAL MALE CONTRACEPTIVE EFFECT OF ERIOBOTRYA JAPONICA LEAVES EXTRACT
Get PDFNowadays, the stability of population growth is becoming one of the common global social and health problems that could be solved via contraception. Current research in the field of male contraceptives is focusing on the use of oral herbs. Eriobotrya japonica (Loquat) is a medicinal plant that has been commonly valued for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, hypocholesteremic, and antitumor properties. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the oral administration of loquat aqueous leaves extract on the fertility of male Balb/c mice. For this aim, six-eight-weeks old male Balb/c mice (~25g) were orally administered (100 mg/Kg/day) loquat leaves extract for 10 and 30 days. The effects of this extract on semen parameters, seminiferous tubules architecture, levels of male sex hormones, glucose and cholesterol, and mRNA levels of key enzymes involved in steroidogenesis were determined. These parameters were also measured following 20 days post-treatment withdrawal. Our results showed that loquat extract administered for 10 and 30 days exerted antifertility effects including a significant decrease in sperm motility, viability and count, and in testosterone and progesterone levels concomitant with serious arrest in spermatogenesis. The levels of prolactin significantly increased with loquat treatment for 10 and 30 days. This extract inactivated the steroidogenesis pathway. All these alterations were significantly restored to normal in all the treated animals after 20 days of treatment withdrawal. No changes in the levels of glucose and cholesterol were noticed. Loquat extract is an effective and potential reversible male contraceptive herb
A CRITERION FOR MEASURING URBAN INTELLIGENCE
Get PDFThe emergence of complicated problems encountering the urban environment, like absence of sustainability, has led to the initiation of the notion called Intelligent Urban Conglomerations . It aimed to maintain a minimal level of balance between features of the urban environment, through clinging to more prudent actions towards urban policies, like increasing awareness of healthy environment, energy, mobility organization, and other issues. A great and persisting need has emerged for a practical scientific evaluation means for urban plans in all of their technical phases. The research aims to advance a practical methodology for monitoring and evaluating urban projects, throughout designing, implementation, and operation phases, and parallel to the designer thoughts and ideas. It proposes a criterion for measuring the efficiency, positive conformation, and consequently the “intelligence” of the urban conglomeration under study. Aiming for certain standards to be achieved in policies throughout the planned or currently functioning urban clusters, the proposed measuring scale was able to assign a certain rank to a specific urban cluster put under study in order to evaluate its intelligence . This measuring scale resembles an upgradable measuring means that is capable of altering its measurement criteria covering diverse types of projects and through different points of viewing
THE IMAGE OF THE HISTORICAL CITY IN THE COURSE OF ITS DEVELOPMENT- TYRE CASE STUDY
Get PDFBuilt heritage constitutes the physical components of the city\u27s identity and image; adding historical, symbolic or cultural values to old buildings justifies the need to protect them, and to find a way to integrate them with the expected development of the city. On the other hand, the modernity of the city reflects the contemporary character of the society by adopting the current architectural trends and the newest technologies in construction. This paper investigates the historical cities image throughout its continuous development, where the built heritage needs to be integrated within the new urban context established by the rational development of the city, through studying the case of Tyre city in South Lebanon. In this city, 1930s-1970s buildings achieved a sense of disjunctive break from the old city fabric (1766-1900s). In spite of the differences between these two fabrics, both represent a clear and strong identity for the two historical stages. This identity is confused in the later urban fabric of the city. As a result, the development of Tyre city should be balanced to improve \u27the sense of place\u27
PSYCHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RYFF’S PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING SCALE (PWB-42) OF A SAMPLE OF KUWAITISالخصائص السيكومترية لمقياس رايف للهناء النفسىي (PWB-42) لدى عينة من الكويتيين
Get PDFتهدف الدراسة الحالية إلى إعداد صورة عربية لمقياس الهناء النفسي (Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB-42 (Ryff,1989) يتكون من (42) بندًا× 6 اختيارات، بواقع (7) بند لكل مقياس فرعي، وتمثل العبارات في المقياس مكونات الهناء النفسى الستة التي اقترحتها رايف (الاستقلالية، والتمكين البيئي، والنمو الشخصي، و العلاقات الإيجابية مع الآخرين ، والحياة الهادفة ، وتقبل الذات ). استخدمت في هذه الدراسة عينتين مستقلتين من طلاب جامعة الكويت إجمالي قوامها (1643) فردا بواقع (762) من الذكور و (881) من الإناث، وذلك لحساب الثبات والصدق ولفحص الفروق بين الجنسين . تم تطبيق مقياس الهناء النفسي PWB-42، و قائمة أوكسفورد للسعادة (OHI)، ومقياس الرضا عن الحياة (SWLS)، واختبار التوجه نحو الحياة المعدل (LOT-R ) ، ومقياس الأمل للراشدين (AHS) ، وقائمة بيك الثانية للاكتئاب (BDI-II) . وقد أسفرت نتائج الدراسة عن تباين معاملات الثبات للمقاييس الفرعية الستة المكونة لمقياس الهناء النفسي PWB-42 بين 0.70 و0.78 بمتوسط للدرجة الكلية علي المقياس 0.74. كما اسفرت نتائج الصدق العاملي الاستكشافي عن استخلاص ستة عوامل مكونة لمقياس الهناء النفسي. كما كشفت النتائج عن ارتباطات جوهرية موجبة بين الهناء النفسي وكل من والسعادة، والرضا عن الحياة، والتفاؤل، والأمل في حين ارتبط الهناء النفسي بارتباط جوهري سالب مع الإكتئاب. وأخيرا كشفت النتائج عن عدم وجود فروق جوهرية بين الجنسين في الهناء النفسي
Chanson douce dans un monde atroce
Get PDFDans un monde devenu complexe et en bouleversement permanent, la littérature, instigatrice du changement social et politique, occupe une place essentielle. L’écrivain, témoin responsable, s’engage à traiter des problématiques contemporaines afin d’aider à construire un avenir meilleur. Leila Slimani est l’une de ces auteurs qui « cherche à changer le monde et la réalité par l’écriture ». Dans son roman Chanson Douce, couronné du prix Goncourt en 2016, l’auteure jette un regard sur le monde moderne à travers l’histoire tragique d’un couple où le devoir maternel de Myriam, une jeune avocate, entre en contradiction avec son ambition professionnelle, ce qui finit par coûter la vie à ses deux enfants. Le roman est inspiré d’un fait divers et l’auteure, qui se veut engagée pour la cause féministe, nous révèle les gouffres d’une société contemporaine où l’humanité ne trouve plus sa place. A travers cette histoire terrible d’infanticide, Slimani soulève des interrogations sur la définition actuelle de la famille, les vices de la société, le conflit des générations, la lutte des classes et l’exploitation des femmes. La responsabilité collective a-t-elle cédé la place à un individualisme indifférent et négligent ? A travers le roman qui est fondé sur la contradiction, à partir du titre qui ne coïncide pas avec le contenu de l’histoire, l’auteure veut nous fait saisir la contradiction du monde dans lequel nous vivons et lancer un message pour avertir les lecteurs des dangers que pourrait causer une moindre négligence. En fait, le titre du roman fait allusion à une comptine célèbre « Le loup, la biche et le chevalier » d’Henri Salvador :
Une chanson douce que me chantait ma maman
En suçant mon pouce, j’écoutais en m’endormant…
Leila Slimani affirme qu’« on essaie non pas de juger mais de comprendre, de raconter, de provoquer des émotions, un questionnement, des doutes et pas du tout de porter des jugements (Entretien dans Culture 2016), définissant ainsi le rôle particulier joué par la littérature contemporain
TOURISM FOR ALL: AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH FORENHANCING WELL-BEING OF SPECIAL NEEDSCASE STUDY (ISLAMIC CAIRO –HISTORICAL CITY)
Get PDFCities are being increasingly recognized and valued for their contributions to the quality of life of their citizens. Urban environments provide enormous variety of physical and cultural components. Due to social and demographic changes, there is an increase of people with disabilities all over the world. According to UNWTO, people with disabilities represent 2 billion persons or 15 % of the world population .Over the years, persons with disabilities has faced barriers to realizing their right to participate in life in general and in cultural life in particular due to inaccessibility of cultural programs, health problems, and lack of services. Persons with disabilities on average as a group are more likely to experience adverse socio economic outcomes such as poorer health less education and Lower level of employment. The researchers will highlight on how accessibility and accessible tourism can improve and enhance the quality of services, promoting social justice through ensuring healthy and safe life for disabled persons. At the same time from Human right perspective they have the right to live, enjoy and participate in all aspects of life. The research was conducted by using the anthropological qualitative approach; i.e. in-depth interviews and different types of observations. In conclusion, therefore the study advocates the right of Special needs to live and enjoy their lives; to enjoy visiting their cultural heritage sites in an accessible way; and to access museums, galleries, hotels easily.
OUZAI ROAD SLUMSAN EXPLORATORY STUDY FOR SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Get PDFThe notion of health and wellbeing issues in urban areas has triggered genuine advances in research and applications striving to achieve valid sustainable outcomes for living environments. According to the 2017 UN Climate Change Conference held in Bonn, Germany, the world is becoming attentive to depending on sustainable policies and practices which are supported in several international environmental agreements and conferences that were initially held to tackle the issue of global warming, economy crisis and social equity. This research addresses one of the most compelling problems in Lebanon; informal settlements and the vice of sustainability and related health and wellbeing issues. The research focuses on Al-Ouzai area as a living example of all disintegrated realities in a residential dense settlement. This is an exploratory study that utilizes available secondary data and some primary ones based on observations done in 2017/18. The aim is to furnish a strong base for a future in-depth investigation in the area that is planned to take place in the following year through NCRS. The research utilizes a comprehensive SWOT analysis approach that covers the basic elements of sustainable development thus furnishing basis for future research and planning intervention in the area