Climate Responsive Design and the Milam Residence

Energy conservation and efficiency is an essential area of focus in contemporary building design. The perception that the designers of buildings during the Modernist period of architecture ignored these principles is a false one. The present study, an examination of Paul Rudolph’s Milam Residence, a masterpiece of American residential architecture, is part of a larger project endeavoring to create a knowledge base of the environmental performance of iconic modernist homes. A critical examination of the Milam House allows insight into specific design characteristics that impact energy efficiency and conservation. Located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, the Milam Residence was constructed in 1962. It was the last of a series of Florida residences designed by Rudolph, Chairman of the Department of Architecture at Yale University (1958–1965). The structure’s form is strongly related to its location on a subtropical beachfront. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the building’s solar responsiveness. Specifically, we examine design strategies such as orientation and sunscreening and their effect on daylighting, shading, and heat gain. The analysis is based on parametric energy modeling studies using Autodesk’s Ecotect, an environmental analysis tool that allows simulation of building performance. While the initial target of the program was early design, the program allows the input of complex geometries and detailed programming of zones, materials, schedules, etc. The program\u27s excellent analyses of desired parameters are augmented by visualizations that make it especially valuable in communicating results. Our findings suggest that the building, as built and situated on the site, does take advantage of daylighting and solar shading and does so in both expected and unexpected ways

A Belief Rule Based Expert System for Datacenter PUE Prediction under Uncertainty

A rapidly emerging trend in the IT landscape is the uptake of large-scale datacenters moving storage and data processing to providers located far away from the end-users or locally deployed servers. For these large-scale datacenters, power efficiency is a key metric, with the PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) and DCiE (Data Centre infrastructure Efficiency) being important examples. This article proposes a belief rule based expert system to predict datacenter PUE under uncertainty. The system has been evaluated using real-world data from a data center in the UK. The results would help planning construction of new datacenters and the redesign of existing datacenters making them more power efficient leading to a more sustainable computing environment. In addition, an optimal learning model for the BRBES demonstrated which has been compared with ANN and Genetic Algorithm; and the results are promising

Consumption of Stem Cell Meat : An Islamic Perspective

Islam provides specific guidelines for meat production and consumption based on halal and hygiene laws. This study mainly focuses on the permissibility of emerging lab-cultivated meat from the Shari’ah perspective. It also examines the notion and significance of halal food (especially meat) within the purview of Islamic jurisprudence and assesses the position of lab-grown meat for Muslim consumers. This work further highlights the underlying reasons behind the prohibition of Haram food and it investigates the production process of in vitro meat to see whether it is done in accordance with Shari’ah guidelines. Furthermore, the study explores consumer rights to halal meat within the ambit of the Shari’ah. The objective of this research is to explore this new kind of meat and evaluate its legitimacy under Islamic law. This will hopefully create awareness in Muslim consumers and create an interest among researchers. The research adopts doctrinal research where the researcher consults relevant literature in the form of books, research articles and reports on the views of experts in the subject matter. This leads to the basic conclusion that whilst Islam supports the use of technology to improve human lives, such use needs to correspond to the promotion and protection of the Maqasid al-Shari’ah

Language Movement Museum and Library, Dhaka, Bangladesh

The project aims to restore the cultural and historical richness of Bengali nation in urban scale and preserve the historical site of the area which contains some glorious memories of our Language Movement. To pass the history to new generation and to establish our cultural richness, a Language Movement Museum and a Library are proposed to be designed in the Shaheed Minar (Martyr Monument) Complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This museum and library will represent the movement of 21 February, 1952 that depicts our love for the mother tongue which is an unprecedented event for the whole world

Comparative Study of Treatment of HBV ACLF Patients by Tenofovir without Albumin Infusion and Tenofovir with Albumin Infusion

Background: ACLF is an acute hepatic insult manifesting as jaundice, complicated within 4 weeks by clinical ascites and/or encephalopathy in a patient with previously diagnosed or undiagnosed chronic liver disease/cirrhosis and is associated with a high 28-day mortality (ranging from 30% to 70). The aim of this study was to compare treatment of   HBV ACLF patients by antiviral tenofovir without albumin therapy and tenofovir with albumin infusion. Methods: This prospective comparative study was conducted at the Department of Hepatology, Kurmitola General Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, from July 2022 to June 2024. A total of 32 patients aged over 18 years with HBV-ACLF were enrolled and randomized into two groups: tenofovir with albumin infusion (n = 16) and tenofovir without albumin infusion (n = 16). Patients were followed for 90 days. Key clinical parameters including Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score, MELD score, serum albumin, and survival outcomes were assessed at baseline and during follow-up. Results: The group receiving albumin demonstrated significantly better outcomes. At day 90, survival was 81.2% in the albumin group vs. 43.7% in the non-albumin group (p = 0.018). Mean CTP scores decreased to 5.8 vs. 9.3, and MELD scores to 9.3 vs. 17, respectively. Serum albumin levels were significantly higher in the albumin group (3.5 vs. 3.0 mg/dL, p = 0.023). Conclusion: Adjunctive albumin infusion with tenofovir significantly improves liver function and survival in HBV-ACLF patients, suggesting a potential role in standard care protocols

Oil palm leaf fibre and its suitability for paper-based products

Due to the shortage of wood as origin materials for paper-based production, agro-residue materials have been explored in the quest of finding the best alternative fibre. Oil palm leaf (OPL) is one of agro-residue that has potential due to its comparable characteristics with wood fibre. Studies on chemical compositions, fibre morphology, and mechanical property of OPL have been carried out aiming to evaluate its potential as a substitute raw material for pulp and paper-based production. The chemical compositions were analysed according to the TAPPI standard, Kurscher-Hoffner and chlorite methods accordingly. The mechanical property (tensile, tearing and bursting strengths) were determined as described in TAPPI test methods. Fibre dimensions were determined using Franklin method and analysed under the optical microscope. The content of cellulose in the OPL is determined to be 43.8%. Although, this result is lower than wood fibre (53%), OPL has higher hemicellulose content (36.4%) than the wood fibre (27.5%). In addition, the lignin content (19.7%) of OPL is in the low range of those in wood resources (18 - 25%). These parameters are important components to produce good quality pulp and will provide high mechanical strength of the paper-based products. The measured fibre length of oil palm leaf (1.13 mm) is shorter than the wood fibre (1.90 mm). Meanwhile, the mechanical property of OPL showed lower indexes than wood resources, however, tear (1.80 mN.m2/g) and burst (0.95 kPa.m2/g) indexes of OPL are higher than other published and successful wood resources (Eucalyptus). Based on the analyses, the oil palm leaf is indeed a suitable alternative of raw material for pulp and paper-based industries

FINANCIAL PROFITABILITY AND RESOURCE USE EFFICIENCY OF BRINJAL CULTIVATION IN SOME SELECTED AREA OF GAZIPUR DISTRICT

A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207 In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE (MS) IN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICSThe present study was designed to determine the financial profitability and resource use efficiency of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) cultivation in some selected area of Gazipur district. A total of 90 brinjal farmers from three upazila namely Sreepur (30), Kapasia (30), and Kaliakair (30) were selected. Tabular technique and statistical technique such as Cobb douglas production function was used to achieve the major objectives of the study. The major findings of the study revealed that brinjal production was highly profitable. The total cost of production was estimated Tk. 265617, Tk. 262652 and Tk. 252640 per hectare for Sreepur, Kapasia and Kaliakair upazila respectively. The average total cost was Tk. 260303. Total yield per hectare were 268890 kg, 29905 kg and 26812 kg for Sreepur, Kapasia and Kaliakair respectively. The average per unit brinjal price was Tk. 15 for all areas. Gross return for Sreepur, Kapasia and Kaliakair upazila were Tk. 430240, Tk. 418670 and Tk. 402180 respectively. Net return per hectare was Tk. 164623, Tk. 156018 and Tk. 149540 respectively. The average net return was Tk. 157732 per hectare. BCR on full and variable cost were 1.62 and 2.02, 1.60 and 1.98, 1.59 and 2.08 for Sreepur, Kapasia and Kaliakair upazila respectively. The average BCR on full and variable cost were 1.60 and 2.03 which implies that one taka investment generated 0.60 Tk. and 1.03 Tk. respectively. The regression coefficient of hired labor, land preparation, chemical fertilizers, irrigation and pesticide showed positive and significant effect and seedling, manure showed insignificant effect. The coefficient of multiple determinations, R 2 and F-value were 79% and 43.48 which indicated good fit of a model. The ratio of MVP and MFC of hired labor, seedling, land preparation, manure, chemical fertilizers, irrigation and pesticide was 0.54, 4.25, 3.32, -0.06, 2.03, 2.71 and 4.22 respectively. It indicated that farmers in the study areas were over utilizing hired labor, and manure. On the other hand seedling, land preparation, chemical fertilizers, irrigation, and pesticide were underutilized. Farmers faced many problems in the study area during brinjal production. Among them inset infection, higher price of pesticides, lack of quality seedling, high wage rate of labor, lack of human labor were major problems of brinjal cultivation. Supply of inputs and improvement of market facilities can play an important role in increasing brinjal production

Governance: Exploring the Islamic Approach and its Relevance for the Modern Context

Managing this wealth (amanah) leads to the basic concept of Islamic accountability where proper disclosure and transparency in every business transaction or service is encouraged. This paper attempts to explore the characteristics and application of the principles of Islamic governance. Using qualitative research methods, this study further focuses on trust and accountability with respect to governance mechanisms as required by Islamic principles and in light of today's world affairs. As a doctrinal research, the researcher reviews the relevant literature to identify the main features of government such as shura, caliphate, accountability, transparency, justice and equality as well as the current need for trust in public and private government. The findings of this study are that the Koran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) have provided many guidelines in the field of constitutional affairs that can help the government system. The Qur'an is flexible enough not to mention the details and details that are left for Muslims to formulate according to their particular circumstances. Finally, the aim of this paper is to inform policy makers and practitioners about the main doctrines that have been proposed by the Qur'an and which can be applied for the effective management of our affair