Industrial building system : does it good for sustainable building? / S. Roshanfekr, N. M Tawil and N. A. Goh

Housing and building construction is an important principle in sustainable development. The industrialization of building systems has been found to be necessary due to several factors: the fast and continuing progress of today’s world, the industrialization of many aspects of modern living, significant population growth, and the inadequacy and incompetence of conventional construction methods particularly in dense housing situations. This paper investigates the relevance of these factors as the drivers for changing people’s habits and perspectives toward building construction and to justify the introduction of industrialized construction approaches to replace the outdated conventional methods as well as the necessity to provide training in order to achieve product quality

Experiences of obesity among Saudi Arabian women contemplating bariatric surgery: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 The Authors.This study explored experiences of obesity, its perceived causes and motives for surgery, as described by seven Saudi women contemplating bariatric surgery. The women experienced cultural restrictions on their physical and social activities. Obesity embodied these restrictions, attracting stigma and moral failure. Traditional clothing, foods, hospitality norms and limited outdoor female activities were regarded as barriers to weight loss. Bariatric surgery was chosen to protect health and to access normative female roles. Some were encouraged by relatives who had undergone surgery. Opting for surgery reflected both participants’ sense of powerlessness to self-manage weight and the social acceptability, within their family context, of this biomedical approach

Evidence-based health policymaking in Iraqi Kurdistan: Facilitators and barriers from the perspectives of policymakers and advisors

Background and objective: Evidence from research is underutilized in policy and practice in the majority of developing countries including Iraq. This aim of this study was to assess the role of research in health policy making in Iraqi Kurdistan context and identify the main barriers and facilitators for enhancing such role. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was carried out between November 2013 and March 2014 in the three governorates of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Erbil, Duhok and Sulaimaniyah. The study participants included 10 key health informants and three health advisors. Two types of combined questionnaires for health policy makers and health advisors were used for data collection. Results: Conferences and seminars were the main sources of scientific evidences identified by health policymakers (80%), followed by consultants (70%). Different jargons/discourse was the main obstacle in consulting researchers (90%), followed by lack of tradition in collaborating (70%). Collection of specialists/advisors, followed by professional associations, scientific committees and international organizations/UN agencies were the main groups identified by health advisors to build bridges between the scientific community and policymakers. Conclusion: Policymakers very rarely consult researchers directly in their decision making. There is poor networking among researchers, policy-makers, practitioners and representatives from civil society which has its negative impact on evidence-based policymaking. There is obviously a lack of any sort of program of funded research that can inform policymaking

Upaya Meningkatkan Hasil Belajar Fisika Peserta Didik Melalui Model Pembelajaran Example Non Example Di Kelas VIII SMPN 1 Tanete Rilau Kabupaten Barru

Masalah utama dalam penelitian ini yaitu bagaimana menerapkan model pembelajaran Example Non Example untuk meningkatakan hasil belajar fisika pada peserta didik kelas VIII SMPN 1 Tanete Rilau Kabupaten Barru. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan hasil belajar fisika peserta didik kelas VIII SMPN 1 Tanete Rilau Kabupaten Barru melalui model pembelajaran Example Non Example. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian tindakan kelas (classroom action research) yang terdiri dari dua siklus dimana setiap siklus dilaksanakan sebanyak tiga kali pertemuan. Prosedur penelitian meliputi perencanaan, pelaksanaan tindakan, observasi dan refleksi. Subjek dalam penelitian ini adalah peserta didik kelas VIII SMPN 1 Tanete Rilau Kabupaten Barru sebanyak 31 orang. Hasil penelitian yang dicapai menunjukkan: (1) pada siklus 1 nilai rata-rata sebesar 68,87 dengan standar deviasi 13,64. Persentase ketuntasan hasil belajar peserta didik sebesar 70,97%; (2) pada siklus 2 nilai rata-rata sebesar 74,68 dengan standar deviasi 8,36. Persentase ketuntasan hasil belajar peserta didik sebesar 80,65%. Dari hasil analisis tersebut menunjukkan bahwa terdapat peningkatan hasil belajar fisika peserta didik kelas VIII SMPN 1 Tanete Rilau Kabupaten Barru sebesar 9,68% setelah diterapkan model pembelajaran Example Non Example dan secara klasikal telah memenuhi KKM. Sehingga model ini dapat dijadikan alternatif dalam proses pembelajaran fisika.Kata kunci: example non example dan hasil belajar fisikaThe main problem in this research is how to implement learning models example non example to increase the learning outcomes of students of physics in class VIII SMPN 1 Tanete Rilau Kabupaten Barru. This study aims to improve the learning outcomes of students of class VIII physics SMPN 1 Tanete Rilau Kabupaten Barru through learning model example non example. This type of research is a classroom action research (penelitian tindakan kelas) that consists of two cycles where each cycle of meetings held three times. Research procedures include planning, action, observation and reflection. Subjects in this study were students of class VIII SMPN 1 Tanete Rilau Kabupaten Barru many as 31 people. Achieved research results show: (1) in the first cycle of the average value of 68.87 with a standard deviation of 13.64. Percentage mastery learning outcomes of students by 70.97%; (2) in the second cycle of the average value of 74.68 with a standard deviation of 8.36. Percentage mastery learning outcomes of students at 80.65%. From the results of the analysis indicate that there is an increase in physics learning outcomes of students of class VIII SMPN1 Tanete Rilau Barru 9.68% after application of learning models Non Example Example and classically has met KKM. So that this model can be used as an alternative in the process of learning physics

The living space: Psychological well-being and mental health in response to interiors presented in virtual reality

There has been a recent interest in how architecture affects mental health and psychological well-being, motivated by the fact that we spend the majority of our waking time inside and interacting with built environments. Some studies have investigated the psychological responses to indoor design parameters; for instance, contours, and proposed that curved interiors, when compared to angular ones, were aesthetically preferred and induced higher positive emotions. The present study aimed to systematically examine this hypothesis and further explore the impact of contrasting contours on affect, behavior, and cognition. We exposed 42 participants to four well-matched indoor living rooms under a free-exploration photorealistic virtual reality paradigm. We included style as an explorative second-level variable. Out of the 33 outcome variables measured, and after correcting for false discoveries, only two eventually confirmed differences in the contours analysis, in favor of angular rooms. Analysis of style primarily validated the contrast of our stimulus set, and showed significance in one other dependent variable. Results of additional analysis using the Bayesian framework were in line with those of the frequentist approach. The present results provide evidence against the hypothesis that curvature is preferred, suggesting that the psychological response to contours in a close-to-reality architectural setting could be more complex. This study, therefore, helps to communicate a more complete scientific view on the experience of interior spaces and proposes directions for necessary future research

A preliminary study on the relevancy of sustainable building design to commercial property depreciation

This preliminary study aims to explore the relationship between sustainable building designparadigms and commercial property depreciation, to assist in the understanding of sustainable building design impact towards commercial building value and rental deemploys the qualitative method and analyses valuers’ current perception of sustainable design and depreciation issues in Malaysia. The findings present evidence that the eleven factors of sustainable building design paradigms are relevant to commercial property depreciation and obsolescence as agreed by the sample as a whole. Nevertheless, the level of relevancy varied from one factor to another with sustainable HVAC system, sustainable building status and sustainable building system dominate the top three ranking in this study.Keywords: design and architecture; depreciation; commercial property

Assessment of Significant Causes to School Building Defects

This paper focuses on the contribution factors of building defects in Malaysian school buildings. There are several building defects commonly found in Malaysia school buildings. In fact, building defects are becoming ordinary phenomena in the construction industry which results in negative impacts on schools, in the means of building performance, health and safety aspects and overall environment conditions as well as teaching and learning processes. Thus, a study is planned to identify the common building defects faced by school buildings in Kedah, Malaysia. Then, a thorough inspection is conducted and the respective defects are recorded with the aid of photographic. As the outcomes from the interview between researcher and person-in-charge from some schools, the main factors contributing to those building defects had been determined. Besides, appropriate mitigation solutions on the building defects have been offered, which are extremely essential in retaining a healthy and serviceable school building

Implementasi Model Siklus Belajar (Learning Cycle) untuk Meningkatkan Kualitas Proses dan Hasil Pembelajaran Mengelas dengan Gas Metal Siswa Kelas XII Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan Negeri 3 Makassar

Penelitian tindakan ini bertujuan mengimplementasikan model Siklus Belajar untuk meningkatkan kualitas proses pembelajaran dan hasil belajar mengelas dengan gas metal siswa kelas XII di SMK Negeri 3 Makassar. Masalah penelitian adalah 1) bagaimana cara agar melalui model siklus belajar dapat ditingkatkan proses pembelajaran mengelas dengan gas metal siswa kelas XII SMK Negeri 3 Makassar, dan 2) bagaimana cara agar melalui model siklus belajar dapat ditingkatkan hasil belajar mengelas dengan gas metal siswa kelas XII SMK Negeri 3 Makassar. Teknik analisis data yang digunakan adalah analisis statistik deskriptif. Hasil penelitian tindakan yang diperoleh adalah terjadi peningkatan kualitas proses pembelajaran siswa kelas XII semester 2 SMK Negeri 3 dari siklus I ke siklus II, meliputi: 1) aktivitas belajar semakin baik, 2) reliabilitas pengelolaan pembelajaran model siklus belajar sebesar 51%, 3) respon siswa terhadap pembelajaran sangat baik dan hasil belajar, yang meliputi (a) produk: sebesar 47 persen (ketuntasan individu) dan 55 persen (ketuntasan klasikal), (b) aspek afektif sebesar 30 persen, dan (c) aspek psikomotor 60 persen. Dengan demikian dengan mengimplementasikan model Siklus Belajar dapat meningkatkan kualitas proses pembelajaran dan hasil belajar mengelas dengan gas metal siswa kelas XII SMK Negeri 3 Makassar