Advanced use of the urban metabolism model in rapidly changing cities

For the calculation of energy and other flows in urban environments, we should take as a starting point relatively stable urban settlements. This makes it possible to calculate in and outgoing flows accurately, but only at a single moment in time. In this paper an adjusted approach to urban metabolism is proposed in which dynamic circumstances can be incorporated, suitable for urban settlements under pressure of rapid and unprecedented change. As examples we take the nearly uncontrollable growth of Almafraq in Jordan as a result of Syrian refugees and the changes in the population of Vlagtwedde in the Netherlands under influence from natural shrinkage and influx of (temporary) asylum seekers. The core questions answered here are: the way to calculate energy flows as input for sustainable urban design when population change is serious and the way to design cities when incorporating the results of dynamic urban metabolism. The research is ongoing and promises innovative results in the near future. © 2014 WIT Press

Using YouTube to Learn Anatomy: Perspectives of Jordanian Medical Students

Purpose. The study is aimed at exploring the popularity, impact, and usefulness of using YouTube in learning anatomy as perceived by Jordanian medical students studying at Jordan University of Science and Technology. Methods. The present work is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. First-, second-, and third-year medical students were invited to complete an anonymous questionnaire. Students’ responses were numerically coded, and the results were analyzed to reveal any statistically significant differences related to gender or level of study. Results. The results showed that 96.4% of the students used YouTube in general, 91.2% used it as a source of information, and 83.9% used YouTube as a learning tool in medical school. Further, YouTube was used by 79.1% of the students as an anatomy-learning tool. Most of these students used this platform in learning gross anatomy. The study also revealed that dissection videos were the most viewed anatomy-related content. Regarding the perceived value of YouTube as an anatomy-learning tool, the majority of the students reported that YouTube offered them useful anatomical information and enhanced their understanding, memorization, and recall of anatomical information. In addition, most of them recommended using YouTube as an anatomy-learning tool. Statistical analysis of the results revealed the presence of gender-related significant differences in students’ perspectives. Such differences were also found among students of different levels of study. Conclusion. Medical students have positive attitudes toward using YouTube in augmenting their anatomy learning. For this, educators are encouraged to adopt YouTube as an educational tool in their anatomy instruction and to create new anatomy-related YouTube videos to enhance their students’ learning.</jats:p

Service-centric heterogeneous vehicular network modeling for connected traffic environments

Heterogeneous vehicular communication on the Internet of connected vehicle (IoV) environment is an emerging research theme toward achieving smart transportation. It is an evolution of the existing vehicular ad hoc network architecture due to the increasingly heterogeneous nature of the various existing networks in road traffic environments that need to be integrated. The existing literature on vehicular communication is lacking in the area of network optimization for heterogeneous network environments. In this context, this paper proposes a heterogeneous network model for IoV and service-oriented network optimization. The network model focuses on three key networking entities: vehicular cloud, heterogeneous communication, and smart use cases as clients. Most traffic-related data–oriented computations are performed at cloud servers for making intelligent decisions. The connection component enables handoff-centric network communication in heterogeneous vehicular environments. The use-case-oriented smart traffic services are implemented as clients for the network model. The model is tested for various service-oriented metrics in heterogeneous vehicular communication environments with the aim of affirming several service benefits. Future challenges and issues in heterogeneous IoV environments are also highlighted