Immigration social challenges in public spaces in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

After the economic rise in Saudi Arabia in 1938, workers migrated from across Saudi Arabia seeking better work opportunities. Statistics from the General Census of Population and Housing in 2010 reveal that the total number of international immigrants increased from 0.7 to 1.73 million between 2002 and 2010 (from 29.4% to 50% of the Population), coming from different countries, cultural, social and religious backgrounds. Over recent years, a perception has developed by some citizens that there are too many Immigrants, which has exposed increased feelings of insecurity. Anti-immigrant attitudes and social exclusion have become more prominent, Saudi nationals have become concerned about diminishing national identity, in addition to believe that expatriates take available work and economic opportunities away from nationals, main cause of crime, and moral corruption. Immigrants have brought with them new ideas, skills and practices from their home cultures, which add to the new urban cultures in Jeddah. This has helped to create a culturally vibrant urban environment. The study will discuss the challenges faced by immigrants in Jeddah, in terms of interaction and social harmony with Saudi citizens in public spaces, and the underlying causes of those challenges. Qualitative method is used in this study, through discuss and analyse general literature review about the objective of the research (Public space and Immigration social challenges in Jeddah), then propose general recommendations that contribute to the improvement of the immigrants social life in the public space

Synthetic aperture guided wave imaging using a mobile sensor platform

This oral session at conference looks at synthetic aperture guided wave imaging using a mobile sensor platfor

A noncontact ultrasonic platform for structural inspection

Miniature robotic vehicles are receiving increasing attention for use in nondestructive testing (NDE) due to their attractiveness in terms of cost, safety, and their accessibility to areas where manual inspection is not practical. Conventional ultrasonic inspection requires the provision of a suitable coupling liquid between the probe and the structure under test. This necessitates either an on board reservoir or umbilical providing a constant flow of coupling fluid, neither of which are practical for a fleet of miniature robotic inspection vehicles. Air-coupled ultrasound offers the possibility of couplant-free ultrasonic inspection. This paper describes the sensing methodology, hardware platform and algorithms used to integrate an air-coupled ultrasonic inspection payload into a miniature robotic vehicle platform. The work takes account of the robot's inherent positional uncertainty when constructing an image of the test specimen from aggregated sensor measurements. This paper concludes with the results of an automatic inspection of a aluminium sample

The impact of open spaces in the social life : the case of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

This study discusses social life in public open spaces within an urban context of Jeddah city, by examining the quality and design of these spaces. Jeddah is a multicultural city, with a high proportion of immigrant people, so also provides a research context for critiquing transnational practices and social interaction. The study strategy was developed from two key methodological principles. The first develops investigation of open space as an integration of form, fabric and cultural practice, allowing the study to link social patterns with the physical design of the public realm. The second foregrounds storytelling methods to elicit complexity of social interaction, enabling investigation of intangible influences, such as social norms, gender norms, religion and ethnicity. A qualitative case study approach was used to investigate users’ cultural practices and experiences of public spaces. The methods used in this study were a review of documents and maps, car surveys, observations and on-site interviews. It was fundamental to develop an open space typology to meet the diversity of use in a case study selection specific to a Gulf region context. The present study has the potential to make an important contribution to academic research on the value and roles of open space in social life and interaction. The focus on Saudi Arabian open spaces is rare, and contributes to address the Western and North European bias in academic literature. The practical implications of the study are also important, as it highlights the necessity to develop open spaces design, planning, and management in order to better meet residents’ social needs. However, despite the numerous weaknesses of the open space provision in Jeddah, the study confirms the potential of creation of strong social relations between the residents of Jeddah when they are provided public spaces that attract them and meet their needs and expectations.Este estudio discute la vida social en espacios públicos abiertos dentro de un contexto urbano de la ciudad de Jiddah, examinando la calidad y el diseño de estos espacios. Jiddah es una ciudad multicultural, con una alta proporción de inmigrantes, por lo que también proporciona un contexto de investigación para criticar las prácticas transnacionales y la interacción social. La estrategia de estudio se desarrolló a partir de dos principios metodológicos clave. El primero desarrolla la investigación del espacio abierto como una integración de la forma, el tejido y la práctica cultural, permitiendo que el estudio vincule patrones sociales con el diseño físico del ámbito público. El segundo pone en primer plano los métodos de narración de cuentos para provocar la complejidad de la interacción social, permitiendo la investigación de influencias intangibles, como las normas sociales, las normas de género, la religión y la etnicidad. Se utilizó un enfoque de estudio de caso cualitativo para investigar las prácticas culturales de los usuarios y las experiencias de los espacios públicos. Los métodos utilizados en este estudio fueron una revisión de documentos y mapas, encuestas de coches, observaciones y entrevistas en el sitio. Era fundamental desarrollar una tipología de espacio abierto para cumplir con la diversidad de uso en una selección de estudio de caso específica para un contexto de la región del Golfo. El presente estudio tiene el potencial de hacer una contribución importante a la investigación académica sobre el valor y los roles del espacio abierto en la vida social y la interacción. El enfoque en los espacios abiertos de Arabia Saudita es raro, y contribuye a abordar el sesgo occidental y del norte de Europa en la literatura académica. Las implicaciones prácticas del estudio también son importantes, ya que resalta la necesidad de desarrollar el diseño, la planificación y la gestión de espacios abiertos para satisfacer mejor las necesidades sociales de los residentes. Sin embargo, a pesar de las numerosas debilidades de la provisión de espacios abiertos en Jiddah, el estudio confirma el potencial de la creación de fuertes relaciones sociales entre los residentes de Jiddah cuando se les proporciona espacios públicos que los atraen y satisfacen sus necesidades y expectativas

Studies related to the degradation of food colouring matters

A differential pulse polarographic method has been developed for the determination of ascorbic acid and food colours in the same solution. Aniline, sulphanilic acid and naphthionic acid were shown to be formed from particular food colours: visible spectrophotometric methods involving diazotization and coupling with N-l-naphthylethylenediamine dihydrochloride.were developed for monitoring their formation. The method is not subject to interference from the other amines formed from the cleavage of the azo bonds. Ammonia was shown to be present in the degraded solution and an indophenol method was developed for following its formation. These methods have been used to monitor permitted food colouring matters and ascorbic acid during interaction in accelerated light and heat degradation studies in the presence and absence of EOTA. Heat degradation studies were also carried out in the absence of ascorbic acid. EOTA was found not only to stabilise ascorbic acid but also to stabilise food colouring matters in the presence of ascorbic acid. Full yields of ammonia were obtained from the degradation of azo groups via sulphanilic acid and naphthionic acid during the light degradation studies. Interaction of food colours and ascorbic acid has also been shown to occur at room temperature in the dark and to yield ammonia and simple amines. In the heat degradation studies (130°C) relatively low yields of amines and ammonia were obtained despite complete visible degradation of food colours. This indicated the formation of more complex nitrogen containing compounds. EOTA was shown to stabilise acetamido groups from photolytic hydrolysis in several drug compounds as well as in the food colouring matters Red 2G and Black PN. A rapid differential pulse polarographic method for the determination of food colours in boiled sweets directly without prior separation or extraction procedures has been developed. A detector cell designed and constructed in our workshops and previously used with a glassy carbon electrode has been adapted very successfully for use with a sessile mercury drop electrode. The use of the system in flow injection analysis has been demonstrated by determining food colours in the reductive and oxidative modes. Ascorbic acid, sulphite and other species have also been determined. In the determination of ascorbic acid deoxygenation is not necessary

The impact of open spaces in the social life : the case of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

This study discusses social life in public open spaces within an urban context of Jeddah city, by examining the quality and design of these spaces. Jeddah is a multicultural city, with a high proportion of immigrant people, so also provides a research context for critiquing transnational practices and social interaction. The study strategy was developed from two key methodological principles. The first develops investigation of open space as an integration of form, fabric and cultural practice, allowing the study to link social patterns with the physical design of the public realm. The second foregrounds storytelling methods to elicit complexity of social interaction, enabling investigation of intangible influences, such as social norms, gender norms, religion and ethnicity. A qualitative case study approach was used to investigate users’ cultural practices and experiences of public spaces. The methods used in this study were a review of documents and maps, car surveys, observations and on-site interviews. It was fundamental to develop an open space typology to meet the diversity of use in a case study selection specific to a Gulf region context. The present study has the potential to make an important contribution to academic research on the value and roles of open space in social life and interaction. The focus on Saudi Arabian open spaces is rare, and contributes to address the Western and North European bias in academic literature. The practical implications of the study are also important, as it highlights the necessity to develop open spaces design, planning, and management in order to better meet residents’ social needs. However, despite the numerous weaknesses of the open space provision in Jeddah, the study confirms the potential of creation of strong social relations between the residents of Jeddah when they are provided public spaces that attract them and meet their needs and expectations.Este estudio discute la vida social en espacios públicos abiertos dentro de un contexto urbano de la ciudad de Jiddah, examinando la calidad y el diseño de estos espacios. Jiddah es una ciudad multicultural, con una alta proporción de inmigrantes, por lo que también proporciona un contexto de investigación para criticar las prácticas transnacionales y la interacción social. La estrategia de estudio se desarrolló a partir de dos principios metodológicos clave. El primero desarrolla la investigación del espacio abierto como una integración de la forma, el tejido y la práctica cultural, permitiendo que el estudio vincule patrones sociales con el diseño físico del ámbito público. El segundo pone en primer plano los métodos de narración de cuentos para provocar la complejidad de la interacción social, permitiendo la investigación de influencias intangibles, como las normas sociales, las normas de género, la religión y la etnicidad. Se utilizó un enfoque de estudio de caso cualitativo para investigar las prácticas culturales de los usuarios y las experiencias de los espacios públicos. Los métodos utilizados en este estudio fueron una revisión de documentos y mapas, encuestas de coches, observaciones y entrevistas en el sitio. Era fundamental desarrollar una tipología de espacio abierto para cumplir con la diversidad de uso en una selección de estudio de caso específica para un contexto de la región del Golfo. El presente estudio tiene el potencial de hacer una contribución importante a la investigación académica sobre el valor y los roles del espacio abierto en la vida social y la interacción. El enfoque en los espacios abiertos de Arabia Saudita es raro, y contribuye a abordar el sesgo occidental y del norte de Europa en la literatura académica. Las implicaciones prácticas del estudio también son importantes, ya que resalta la necesidad de desarrollar el diseño, la planificación y la gestión de espacios abiertos para satisfacer mejor las necesidades sociales de los residentes. Sin embargo, a pesar de las numerosas debilidades de la provisión de espacios abiertos en Jiddah, el estudio confirma el potencial de la creación de fuertes relaciones sociales entre los residentes de Jiddah cuando se les proporciona espacios públicos que los atraen y satisfacen sus necesidades y expectativas.Postprint (published version

Novel algorithms for 3D surface point cloud boundary detection and edge reconstruction

Tessellated surfaces generated from point clouds typically show inaccurate and jagged boundaries. This can lead to tolerance errors and problems such as machine judder if the model is used for ongoing manufacturing applications. This paper introduces a novel boundary point detection algorithm and spatial FFT-based filtering approach, which together allow for direct generation of low noise tessellated surfaces from point cloud data, which are not based on pre-defined threshold values. Existing detection techniques are optimized to detect points belonging to sharp edges and creases. The new algorithm is targeted at the detection of boundary points and it is able to do this better than the existing methods. The FFT-based edge reconstruction eliminates the problem of defining a specific polynomial function order for optimum polynomial curve fitting. The algorithms were tested to analyse the results and measure the execution time for point clouds generated from laser scanned measurements on a turbofan engine turbine blade with varying numbers of member points. The reconstructed edges fit the boundary points with an improvement factor of 4.7 over a standard polynomial fitting approach. Furthermore, through adding artificial noise it has been demonstrated that the detection algorithm is very robust for out-of-plane noise lower than 25% of the cloud resolution and it can produce satisfactory results when the noise is lower than 75%

Should we be worried about the increasing foreign ownership of UK industries?

Should we be more concerned about the foreign ownership of UK Brands? Is Britain making the most of its industrial brands? Much has been made of these questions and the recent contracting out of nuclear energy to China. This is only one of several examples of recent contracting out of activity. Indeed most rail franchises are now foreign owned and most electricity providers are also from mainland Europe. The process of selling off much industry has been taking place in the UK for many years and it has now gone much further than merely selling off the family silver. Recently in the House of Commons mention was made of the time that has now arrived to sell the fixtures and fittings. This paper sets out to explain the reasons why the UK has been willing to sell off many historic firms and assesses the consequences of this for future generations. The paper draws on theories of international marketing, corporate strategy and production to help explain the relevant thinking behind current policies. It also draws on case examples, relevant theory and data, in order to provide further evidence for future policy making, arguing that it still vitally important for the UK to undertake the strategic stewardship of its remaining brands

Towards an understanding of web based technology and E-Learning in law: a model to enhance learning outcomes

As the learning of law is pushed into the digital age, the requirements for successful learning has to incorporate greater engagement of higher order thinking skills. This paper presents a pioneering approach to the learning of Law at the University of Lincoln which aims to encourage such teaching and learning practices

Error Model of Misalignment Error in a Radial 3D Scanner

A radial 3D, structured light scanner, was developed from a laser projector and a wide field of view machine vision camera to inspect two - four inch diameter pipers, primarily in the nuclear industry. For identifying the nature and the spatial extent of defective regions, the system constructs a surface point cloud. A dominant source of error in the system is caused by manufacturing tolerances which leads to misalignment between the laser projector and the camera. This causes a triangulation error, reducing the accuracy of the result. In this paper, the error model of the misalignment of the laser and image plane. For a given target distance, we derive an almost linear relationship between angular error in degrees and the error in reported radius (distance from the probe to the surface) in mm and found that for the target 0.1 mm accuracy on a 4 inch pipe, the misalignment needs to be controlled to less than 0.05 degrees. Future work will consider a post manufacturing calibration routine to compensate for this misalignment