Towards sustainable architecture and urban form

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.Traditional architectural and urban artefacts are showed over the centuries as a powerful imprint of human actions and practices and are being developed on the basis of concrete socio-cultural factors and environmental rationalities. Spatial and morphological patterns of traditional environments have exceedingly evolved to fulfill and accomplish the social and cultural needs of the populace in their dialectical interplay with the surrounding environment. This relationship conceptualises the man-made environment, as the repository of meaning, in users‟ reciprocal relation with the surrounding environment. In the context of history, the human tends to dwell when experiencing the built environment as meaningful. Traditional contexts are highlighted as physical and spatial interpretations of human activities, skills, thoughts and resources creating identifiable and meaningful realms related to space/place, time and society. The study uncovers the process of the formation of the house and mahalla in order to shed light on how the built environment responds to inhabitants‟ socio-cultural determinants and everyday lives. It unfolds how changes in the nature of Iraqi society and its priorities affect the architecture of home and mahalla by reference to the impact of modernity with all its alien socio-cultural principles. This thesis focuses on the architecture of home and mahalla within the traditional core of Kadhimiya city and similar Iraqi socio-cultural contexts. At the macro analytical level, the research investigates the spatial and physical formation of the mahalla as a whole through detecting the socio-spatial aspects of its realms, and how its spontaneous form has responded to the socio-cultural aspects of the community in an integral pattern. At the micro level, the research will go deeper in the perception of the basic aspects of the individual and the family. It investigates how the traditional house reflects and satisfies the personal values of the individual, and achieves his socio-cultural beliefs and everyday life on the basis of inherent norms and conventions. In this vein, public, semi-public/private and private domains are investigated to highlight the mutual interplay between these spheres as key factors in understanding the architecture of the house and mahalla. The research discusses indigenous aspects and principles contained or embedded in the structure of the traditional environment, such as privacy, social solidarity and stability, neighbourliness and so on. It reveals insight into the male-female relationship in the social life of the traditional context, and how the position of women and their idle qualities impact the structure of the house and the hierarchical sequence and organisation of spaces. Identity, tradition, sustainability and everyday life are the main fields discussed with a specific end goal to outline and uncover the role of social factors, cultural beliefs and daily practices in the creation of this particular form. Building on these values, the research adopts an interpretive historical method in revealing the characters of the traditional environment referring to residents‟ habits, customs, rituals and traditions. Several approaches to the built and home environment are discussed for paving or detecting reliable one in the methodological inquiry within which many tools and methods have been utilised and used i.e. archival records, interviews, historical narratives, personal observation and photographic surveys. Data generated consists of photos, maps, interviewees‟ comments, analytical diagrams and historical and travellers‟ descriptions. Research findings indicate many of the inherent and underlying principles upon which the architecture of Iraqi traditional house depends. Within this context, the study has tried to unfold how the formation of the traditional house and the mahalla responded to the socio-cultural aspects of the community and the daily life of its members. Findings, concerning the design principles of the traditional mahalla, were realised as indigenous norms and standards embedded in the structure of society, which can be useful for architects, designers and planners to reconcile traditional and contemporary urban forms through the application of former rules and conventions in City‟s conservation or redevelopment plans. The study reveals that the traditional environment had less socio-cultural contradictions, active day-to-day practices and clear, identifiable and meaningful identity compared with contemporary built environments. Research findings, thus, lead to a set of relevant recommendations addressed to many of the community categories, architects, planners, stakeholders and those interested in this field. They aim to promote the impressive role of socio-cultural factors and strengthen users‟ competence in their physical and spatial settings for home. Moreover, research recommendations discuss how social factors, cultural values, beliefs, practices and rituals can be re-employed in our approach to achieving a more sustainable living environment. Recommendations relating to identity and tradition aim to draw attention and shed light on the significance of traditional built environments in the development of special identity, which played a big role in the sustainability of these contexts for centuries

Inter-observer agreement of whole-body computed tomography in staging and response assessment in lymphoma : the lugano classification

Background: to assess inter-observer agreement of whole-body computed tomography (WBCT) in staging and response assessment in lymphoma according to the Lugano classification. Material/Methods: Retrospective analysis was conducted of 115 consecutive patients with lymphomas (45 females, 70 males; mean age of 46 years). Patients underwent WBCT with a 64 multi-detector CT device for staging and response assessment after a complete course of chemotherapy. Image analysis was performed by 2 reviewers according to the Lugano classification for staging and response assessment. Results: The overall inter-observer agreement of WBCT in staging of lymphoma was excellent (k=0.90, percent agreement=94.9%). There was an excellent inter-observer agreement for stage I (k=0.93, percent agreement=96.4%), stage II (k=0.90, percent agreement=94.8%), stage III (k=0.89, percent agreement=94.6%) and stage IV (k=0.88, percent agreement=94%). The overall inter-observer agreement in response assessment after a completer course of treatment was excellent (k=0.91, percent agreement=95.8%). There was an excellent inter-observer agreement in progressive disease (k=0.94, percent agreement=97.1%), stable disease (k=0.90, percent agreement=95%), partial response (k=0.96, percent agreement=98.1%) and complete response (k=0.87, Percent agreement=93.3%). Conclusions: We concluded that WBCT is a reliable and reproducible imaging modality for staging and treatment assessment in lymphoma according to the Lugano classification

Infrared spectra, thermogravimetric analysis and antifungal studies of noval Cr(III), Fe(III) and Cu(II) 2-methyl-quinazolinone complexes

Some new solid complexes [CrCl3(L)3]×6H2O, [FeCl3(L)3]×6H2O and [Cu(CH3COO)2(L)3]×2H2O have been synthesized quantitatively by the interactions of 2-methyl-quinazolinone (L) with CrCl3.6H2O, FeCl3.6H2O and Cu(CH3COO)2.2H2O in a mixture of an ethanol-bidistilled water (1:1), at 60 °C. They were characterized by melting point, molar conductivity, magnetic moment, elemental analysis, infrared spectra and thermal analyses. The results supported the formation of the complexes and indicated that the ligand reacted as a monodentate ligand bound to the metal ion through the oxygen atom. The antifungal activity of the free ligand and their metal complexes were evaluated against several species, such as Fusarium solani, Rizoctonia solani, Sclortium rolfsii and Botryodiplodia and they showed a good antifungal activity to some selected fungal strain as compared with free ligand. KEY WORDS: Quinazolinone; Cr(III); Fe(III); Cu(II); Antifungal activity, Thermal analyses Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2014, 28(1), 53-66.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v28i1.

Fuzzy Based PC-PUSH in CR-MANETs

In cognitive radio (CR), the secondary user (SU) needs to hand off its ongoing communication to an idle channel in order to avoid interference to the primary user (PU). Spectrum hand off issue becomes challenging in CR mobile ad hoc networks (CR-MANETs) because of the uncertainty in spectrum availability, broad range of spectrum bands and lack of central entity. The purpose of this study is to design a unified spectrum handoff (USH) scheme for CR-MANETs that considers the spectrum heterogeneity and its availability over time and space. A local flow hand off is performed when spectrum hand off cannot be carried out due to the SUs mobility. To improve further USH, preemptive unified spectrum handoff (PUSH) algorithm is proposed in which two different preemptive hand off threshold regions are defined. The PUSH algorithm also predicts the cognitive link availability considering the PU interference boundary. Although the PUSH scheme improves the hand off performance, the number of spectrum hand offs due to the PU activity should be reduced in this scheme. Therefore, the PC-PUSH (Power Controller-PUSH) scheme is proposed in which the fuzzy logic is used to improve the PUSH in terms of the number of spectrum handoffs because of the PU activity. The PC-PUSH decreases the interference to the PUs, while reducing the number of spectrum handoffs. The results show that the proposed scheme improves the link maintenance probability, decreases the hand off delay, and reduces the number of spectrum handoffs

Statistical investigation of the groundwater system in darb el-arbaein, southwestern desert, egypt

In Darb El Arbaein, the groundwater is the only water resources. The aquifer system starts from Paleozoic-Mesozoic to Upper Cretaceous sandstone rocks. They overlay the basement rocks and the aquifer is confined. In the present research, the performance of the statistical analyses to classify groundwater samples depending on their chemical characters has been tested. The hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical data of 92 groundwater samples was obtained from the GARPAD authority in northern, central, and southern Darb El Arbaein. A robust classification scheme for partitioning groundwater chemistry into homogeneous groups was an important tool for the characterization of Nubian sandstone aquifer. We test the performance of the many available graphical and statistical methodologies used to classify water samples. R-mode, Q-mode, correlation analysis, and principal component analysis were investigated. All the methods were discussed and compared as to their ability to cluster, ease of use, and ease of interpretation. The correlation investigation clarifies the relationship among the lithology, hydrogeology, and anthropogenic. Factor investigation revealed three factors namely; the evaporation process-agriculturalimpact-lithogenic dissolution, the hydrogeological characteristics of the aquifer system, and the surface meteoric water that rechargethe aquifer system. Two main clusters that subdivided into four sub clusters were identified in groundwater system based on hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical data. They reflect the impact of geomedia, hydrogeology, geographic position, and agricultural wastewater. The groundwater is undersaturated with respect to most selected minerals. The groundwater was supersaturated with respect to iron minerals in northern and southern Darb El Arbaein. The partial pressure of CO2 of the groundwater versus saturation index of calcite shows the gradual change in PCO2 from atmospheric to the present aquifer pressures

Synthesis, structural characterization and nematicidal studies of some new N2O2 Schiff base metal complexes

ABSTRACT. Cobalt(II), copper(II), yttrium(III), zirconium(IV), lanthanum(III) and uranium(VI) complexes of 1,4-di(2-hydroxybenzylidene)thiosemicarbazide (H2L) were prepared and characterized. The proposed structures were determined from their elemental analyses, molar conductivities, magnetic moment, IR, Proton NMR, UV-Vis., mass spectra, X-ray diffraction and thermal analyses measurements. The high conductance data supply evidence for the electrolytic nature of the complexes. The changes in the selected bands in IR of Schiff base ligand upon coordination showed that Schiff base exhibits as a neutral tetradentate manner with oxygen and nitrogen donor sites. The complexes are thermally steady at room temperature and break up to two or three steps. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of complexes have been determined by using Coats-Redfern and Horowitz-Metzeger methods at n=1 and n≠1 and values suggest more ordered activated complex formation. The calculated bond length and force constant, F(U=O), in the uranyl complex are 1.744 Å and 664.886 Nm-1. The nematicidal activity of free Schiff base and all complexes were investigated and showed a low inhibition percentage (%I) of complexes compared with H2L.                     KEY WORDS: Schiff base, IR, Thermal, XRD, Nematicidal activity   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2021, 35(2), 315-335. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v35i2.

Characterization and partial purification of Candida albicans Secretory IL-12 Inhibitory Factor

© 2008 Wang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Spectroscopic, thermal analyses, XRD spectra and nematicidal activity study of some new N2O2 tetradentate Schiff base metal ions complexes

ABSTRACT. A series of metal complexes [Co(HL)2(H2O)2]Cl2.5H2O (A), [Cu(HL)2](CH3COO)2.2H2O (B), [Y(HL)2]Cl3.2H2O (C), [ZrO(HL)2H2O]Cl2.H2O (D), [La(HL)2(H2O)2]Cl3.5H2O (E) and [UO2(HL)2](CH3COO)2 (F) were prepared. The structures of the compounds in solid state were detected by micro analytical, Fourier transform IR, 1H NMR, UV-Vis, mass, X-ray diffraction spectra, molar conductivity, magnetic susceptibility measurements and TG/DTG analysis. The IR spectral data point out that the ligand behaves as tridentate in nature with Cu(II), Y(III), U(VI) and bidentate with Co(II), Zr(IV) and La(III) metal ions. The conductivity values showed that the complexes found as electrolytes and the XRD models of the complexes indicated crystalline nature. The thermodynamic parameters of compounds have been detected using Coats-Redfern and Horowitz-Metzeger methods at n = 1 and n ≠ 1 and values point out more ordered activated complex formation. The nematicidal efficacy of compounds was assessed.                     KEY WORDS: Schiff base, Spectroscopic analysis, Thermal analysis, XRD, Nematicidal   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2021, 35(2), 381-397. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v35i2.1

Treating Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Proteus Spp. were Isolated from Renal Stone Patients by Crataegus rhipidophylla and Adiantum capillus

Nine isolates of Proteus spp. were isolated from 100 urine samples of renal stone patients which were the urine specimens obtained directly from Sulaimani Teaching Hospital Laboratory, and identified according to the cultural characteristic, morphological, biochemical examination. The antibiotic susceptibility test for all isolates were conducted to nine antimicrobial agents including (Ciprofloxacin (Cip), Tetracycline(TE), Neomycin (N), Gentamicin (CN), Erythromycin (E), Nitrofurantoin (F), Naldixic acid (NA), Imipenem (IPM), Amoxicillin (AX). Plasmid analysis of these isolates showed presence are (22) Kb plasmid. Curing of antibiotic resistance genes by using methanol extracts for leave of Crataegus rhipidophylla  and Adiantum capillus was performed. The minimum inhibitory concentration of these medicinal plants through methanol extracts which were 5000 µg/ml and 1000 µg/ml for Ailanthus altissima and Adiantum capillus respectively. The Sub minimum inhibition concentration (SMIC) was also determined. The results of transformation and curing experiments revealed that SMIC of Ailanthus altissima extract was cured or eliminated plasmid completely, and (SMIC) of Adiantum capillus was cured (CN, E, and AX) resistant genes