Bicycling suitability in downtown, Cairo, Egypt

The Greater Cairo is one of the most crowded cities in the world and it is the biggest metropolitan area in Middle East. The high population density in the Greater Cairo causes traffic problems that harm many living aspects. This study discusses one of the solutions for limiting the traffic congestions using bicycle as an alternative transportation mean which is already applied in many other countries. There are many models have been introduced to study the suitability of having bicyclists on a motor road. This study will apply some of the most commonly used models created to measure bicycling suitability.in Down Town Cairo area. A GIS tool has been created to conduct applying the bicycling suitability models on the study area’s streets. The tool was developed in ArcMap using Microsoft Visual Studio. The results of this study encourage having alternative transportation network for bicycles in Down Town Cairo. A GIS tool created that is a user-friendly tool and it could be used for other researches in different areas or countries.The Greater Cairo is one of the most crowded cities in the world and it is the biggest metropolitan area in Middle East. The high population density in the Greater Cairo causes traffic problems that harm many living aspects. This study discusses one of the solutions for limiting the traffic congestions using bicycle as an alternative transportation mean which is already applied in many other countries. There are many models have been introduced to study the suitability of having bicyclists on a motor road. This study will apply some of the most commonly used models created to measure bicycling suitability.in Down Town Cairo area. A GIS tool has been created to conduct applying the bicycling suitability models on the study area’s streets. The tool was developed in ArcMap using Microsoft Visual Studio. The results of this study encourage having alternative transportation network for bicycles in Down Town Cairo. A GIS tool created that is a user-friendly tool and it could be used for other researches in different areas or countries

The Innovation Interface: Business model innovation for electric vehicle futures

There is huge potential to link electric vehicles, local energy systems, and personal mobility in the city. By doing so we can improve air quality, tackle climate change, and grow new business models. Business model innovation is needed because new technologies and engineering innovations are currently far ahead of the energy system’s ability to accommodate them. This report explores new business models that can work across the auto industry, transport infrastructure and energy systems

Ex Situ Preservation of Historic Monuments in the Era of Climate Change

Cultural heritage (historic buildings, landscapes, and natural monuments) is being threatened by all manner of evils--attacks by belligerents seeking military advantages, increased consumptive uses, and significantly, the idiosyncratic effects of climate change. Climate change portends sea level rise and coastal erosion threats that will inundate coastal areas and the historic structures located there. Melting permafrost and changes in soil composition threaten the loss of buried archaeological evidence and compromise the integrity of ancient buildings designed for a less malevolent climate. State and local governments have been undertaking measures to build sustainable communities to mitigate the coming changes in the climate, by limits on the volume and siting of new construction, building green infrastructure, growing renewable energy sources, and by relocating populations from climate-sensitive areas. As with measures to protect populations from the effects of storm surges, heat and flooding, the preservation of cultural heritage may also require barriers, fortifications, and strict enforcement of maintenance requirements. But as sea levels rise and as the next superstorm looms, protection of cultural heritage may require its relocation, that is, preservation ex situ. This article explores the challenges of ex situ preservation of historic monuments--the fact of immovability, the fragility of aging structures, and the importance of locational context for historic and cultural value--suggesting that preservation may mean seeing our monuments from a different vantage

Spartan Daily, May 16, 1995

Volume 104, Issue 70https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/8714/thumbnail.jp

Spartan Daily, May 16, 1995

Volume 104, Issue 70https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/8714/thumbnail.jp

Analytical Framework for a Comparative Analysis of Accessible Technology Law and Policy

Deliverable 7.1 poses the basis of the comparative analysis to be conducted throughout the whole WP 7 and reviews existing studies on accessible technology and accessibility law and policy in Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Sweden and the UK. Deliverable 7.1 is divided into two main sections: an Analytical Framework and an Annotated Bibliography. The Analytical Framework discusses the interrelation between accessible technology and ‘active citizenship’, and defines the scope, the main concepts and the methodology of the research conducted under WP 7. It also positions WP7 within current legal scholarship, highlighting its innovative contribution. The Annotated Bibliography, annexed to the Analytical Framework is composed of two main complementary parts (i.e. parts A and B), each one preceded by a roadmap. Part A reviews selected sources on accessibility law and policy in Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Sweden and the UK. Even though it cannot be regard as exhaustive, it aims to give a ‘big picture’ of current official legislation and policy on accessibility, and scholarship on accessibility. It is intended to be an immediate and easy to read bibliographic tool for scholars approaching accessibility law and policy in Europe. Part B has complements Part A: it does not list legislation or policy programmes on accessible technology, but focusses on the most recent literature on accessible technology

A social network of collaborating industrial assets

The IoT (Internet of Things) concept is being widely regarded as the fundamental tool of the next industrial revolution – Industry 4.0. As the value of data generated in social networks has been increasingly recognised, social media and the IoT have been integrated in areas such as product-design, traffic routing, etc. However, the potential of this integration in improving system-level performance in industrial environments has rarely been explored. This paper discusses the feasibility of improving system-level performance in industrial systems by integrating social networks into the IoT concept. We propose the concept of a social internet of industrial assets (SIoIA) which enables the collaboration between assets by sharing status data. We also identify the building blocks of SIoIA and characteristics of one of its important components – social assets. A sketch of the general architecture needed to enable a social network of collaborating industrial assets is proposed and two illustrative application examples are given.</jats:p

Cleaning Up After Sex: An Environmental History of Contraceptives in the United States, 1873—2010

I argue in my dissertation, \u27Cleaning Up After Sex: An Environmental History of Contraceptives in the United States, 1873—2010,\u27 that through the processes of contraceptive production, consumption, and disposal, over time, the role of contraceptives in human/nature interactions has become more significant and the impact more direct. I examine the production, consumption, and disposal histories of condoms, diaphragms and cervical caps, intrauterine devices, and hormonal birth control. Production, consumption, and disposal of the birth control methods I study have determined physical experiences with both our bodies and with the non-human natural world, but those three processes have also shaped discourse about nature and bodies. Likewise, discourse about nature and bodies helped to determine which contraceptives were made, how they were made, who had access to them, the manners in which they could be used, and what happened to them when humans were done with them. This environmental history of contraceptives in the United States illustrates the interwoven, contingent, and reciprocal relationships among device production, consumption, and disposal; contraceptive discourse; and human bodies

Evaluation of empirical approaches to estimate the variability of erosive inputs in river catchments

Die Dissertation erforscht die Unsicherheit, Sensitivität und Grenzen großskaliger Erosionsmodelle. Die Modellierung basiert auf der allgemeinen Bodenabtragsgleichung (ABAG), Sedimenteintragsverhältnissen (SDR) und europäischen Daten. Für mehrere Regionen Europas wird die Bedeutung der Unsicherheit topographischer Modellparameter, ABAG-Faktoren und kritischer Schwebstofffrachten für die Anwendbarkeit empirischer Modelle zur Beschreibung von Sedimentfrachten und SDR von Flusseinzugsgebieten untersucht. Der Vergleich alternativer Modellparameter sowie Kalibrierungs- und Validierungsdaten zeigt, dass schon grundlegende Modellentscheidungen mit großen Unsicherheiten behaftet sind. Zur Vermeidung falscher Modellvorhersagen sind kalibrierte Modelle genau zu dokumentieren. Auch wenn die geschickte Wahl nicht-topographischer Algorithmen die Modellgüte regionaler Anwendungen verbessern kann, so gibt es nicht die generell beste Lösung. Die Ergebnisse zeigen auch, dass SDR-Modelle stets mit Sedimentfrachten und SDR kalibriert und evaluiert werden sollten. Mit diesem Ansatz werden eine neue europäische Bodenabtragskarte und ein verbessertes SDR-Modell für Einzugsgebiete nördlich der Alpen und in Südosteuropa abgeleitet. In anderen Regionen Europas ist das SDR-Modell bedingt nutzbar. Die Studien zur jährlichen Variabilität der Bodenerosion zeigen, dass jahreszeitlich gewichtete Niederschlagsdaten geeigneter als ungewichtete sind. Trotz zufriedenstellender Modellergebnisse überwinden weder sorgfältige Algorithmenwahl noch Modellverbesserungen die Grenzen europaweiter SDR-Modelle. Diese bestehen aus der Diskrepanz zwischen modellierten Bodenabtrags- und maßgeblich zur beobachteten bzw. kritischen Sedimentfracht beitragenden Prozessen sowie der außergewöhnlich hohen Sedimentmobilisierung durch Hochwässer. Die Integration von nicht von der ABAG beschriebenen Prozessen und von Starkregentagen sowie die Disaggregation kritischer Frachten sollte daher weiter erforscht werden.This dissertation thesis addresses the uncertainty, sensitivity and limitations of large-scale erosion models. The modelling framework consists of the universal soil loss equation (USLE), sediment delivery ratios (SDR) and European data. For several European regions, the relevance of the uncertainty in topographic model parameters, USLE factors and critical yields of suspended solids for the applicability of empirical models to predict sediment yields and SDR of river catchments is systematically evaluated. The comparison of alternative model parameters as well as calibration and validation data shows that even basic modelling decisions are associated with great uncertainties. Consequently, calibrated models have to be well-documented to avoid misapplication. Although careful choices of non-topographic algorithms can also be helpful to improve the model quality in regional applications, there is no definitive universal solution. The results also show that SDR models should always be calibrated and evaluated against sediment yields and SDR. With this approach, a new European soil loss map and an improved SDR model for river catchments north of the Alps and in Southeast Europe are derived. For other parts of Europe, the SDR model is of limited use. The studies on the annual variability of soil erosion reveal that seasonally weighted rainfall data is more appropriate than unweighted data. Despite satisfactory model results, neither the careful algorithm choice nor model improvements overcome the limitations of pan-European SDR models. These limitations are related to the mismatch of modelled soil loss processes and the relevant processes contributing to the observed or critical sediment load as well as the extraordinary sediment mobilisation during floods. Therefore, further research on integrating non-USLE processes and heavy-rainfall data as well as on disaggregating critical yields is needed