As the world ages

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Traces of the future

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Evolution of Floor Construction System in Beirut (1840-1940)

This article is going to deal with the evolution of floor structural systems; traditional structural systems during the late Ottoman period and the concrete structural systems during the French mandate period in Beirut. Beyond this, natural constraint timber materials used in the late nineteenth century and the available concrete materials used in the early twentieth century can direct influence the evolution of the floor structural systems which became an integral part of architectural design and typology. Structural principles of traditional floor construction techniques will be characterized and assessed in eight case studies tracing its structural systems in terms of their evolution. The subject matter will be approached in a descriptive manner for floor structural systems and the determination of mechanical properties of timber

Evaluation of Thermal Comfort in the Traditional Bourgeoisie Houses in Beirut

The increasing of energy demands has considerably increased the requirements for new and traditional buildings in different climate zones. Unprecedented heat waves have increased climate temperature, in particular, in moderate climate zones such as Lebanon. In Beirut, only the residential sector consumes 50% of total electricity consumption. HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air conditioning) systems are used to reach acceptable thermal comfort levels in the new residential buildings. In case of the traditional bourgeoisie houses in Beirut, there are no discussions about the use of HVAC systems to achieve the required thermal comfort level. Thus, to reach an acceptable thermal comfort level, these houses which already contain natural ventilation system shall adapt the modern thermal comfort requirements and thermal comfort strategies and technologies where their architectural features and existing materials condition the available solutions. In order to identify the best options within the possible intervention lines (envelopes, passive strategies, equipment, renewable energy systems), it is necessary to perceive the real performance of this type of houses. In this context, the article presents the results of the study of thermal performance and comfort in a three case studies located in Beirut. Detailed field data records collected are analyzed, with a view to identify the indoor thermal environment with respect to outdoor thermal environment in different seasons. Monitoring also included measurement of hygrothermal parameters and surveys of occupant thermal sensation

Performances of a Newly High Sensitive Trilayer F/Cu/F GMI Sensor

We have selected stress-annealed nanocrystalline Fe-based ribbons for ferromagnetic/copper/ferromagnetic sensors exhibiting high magneto-impedance ratio. Longitudinal magneto-impedance reaches 400% at 60 kHz and longitudinal magneto-resistance increases up to 1300% around 200 kHz.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Sensors and Actuators A (in review

La poesie dialectale libanaise

Pendant longtemps, dans les pays arabes et dans les esprits de certains, la prose fut considérée comme un genre mineur ; seul l'art poétique méritait bien ses lettres de noblesse. Il s'agit d'une idée dont les racines remonteraient à la période antéislamique qui aurait réservé à la poésie et aux poètes une place de prédilection. Par la suite, avec l'avènement de l'islam et sous les quatre premiers califes, la poésie se fit plus discrète pour revenir plus forte que jamais avec les Omeyyades et puis avec les Abbassides. La période dite de décadence que nous situons schématiquement entre le XIIIe et le XIXe siècle, n' a pas dérogé à cette règle. Les Mille et Une Nuits, que certains considèrent comme le chef-d'œuvre par excellence de la littérature de l'imaginaire populaire arabe, ne sont toujours pas classées par les spécialistes arabes dans le genre « sérieux » ; cette œuvre est rangée sous la rubrique du conte populaire. Les reproches formulés par l'intelli- gentsia al-&üssa à l'encontre des Mille et Une Nuits et de toutes les œuvres qui appartiennent au même genre soutiennent que ni les thèmes traités ne sont nobles, ni la langue utilisée n'est correcte ni soutenue. La conclusion en fut qu'il s'agit bien là d'un genre mineur destiné à amuser le peuple et à alimenter l'ima- ginaire du vulgum pecus ou la 'âmma. Durant les siècles qui ont précédé la renaissance Nama, la prose, lorsqu 'elle n'avait pas pour objet la philosophie falsafa, la grammaire, les sciences de la religion, l'exégèse coranique ou les sciences d'une manière plus large, et qu'elle ne satisfaisait pas aux principes de l'éloquence et de la rhétorique Fasâ&a et balâàa, n'appartenait pas au corpus du adab au sens noble du terme

Política Nacional de Habitação: análise comparativa entre o BNH e o PMCMV

Este trabalho realiza análise comparativa entre o Banco Nacional de Habitação (BNH) e o Programa Minha Casa, Minha Vida (PMCMV), focando na gestão da Política Nacional de Habitação (PNH), por meio da transferência de recursos públicos para a iniciativa privada. O objetivo do estudo foi comparar a política habitacional do BNH e do PMCMV, destacando como responderam às necessidades habitacionais da população brasileira e influenciaram no crescimento da economia por meio do fomento à construção civil. O método utilizado foi a revisão bibliográfica. Os resultados indicam que a política do BNH foi mais abrangente do que modelos anteriores, possibilitando um processo mais maciço de construção de residências, contudo, teve pouco impacto sobre o déficit habitacional uma vez que embora houvesse maiores facilidades de acesso ao crédito, os investimentos foram mais concentrados em classes economicamente mais ricas, enquanto o problema real de moradia se encontrava nas classes pobres. O PMCMV destaca-se por ter maior penetração no oferecimento de unidades habitacionais para famílias de classes menos favorecidas, por meio de facilidades como subsídios governamentais, contudo, mesmo se tratando de um programa que construiu um número mais elevado de unidades ainda não foi suficiente para dar uma resposta significativa ao déficit habitacional brasileiro. O que se nota em termo de continuidade em ambos os programas se refere à falta de planejamento sobre ocupação do espaço urbano, concentração de famílias pobres em periferias afastadas e sem adequadas condições de acessibilidade e infraestrutura. As conclusões mostram que o déficit habitacional no Brasil ainda continua como problema crônico e sua resolução depende também de melhor adequação do espaço urbano, com linhas de financiamento que visem não somente a construção de novas unidades, como sua correta adequação ao espaço urbano

PIONEERING AN INNOVATIVE INTERVENTION TO REDUCE MENTAL HEALTH RELATED STIGMA IN MUSLIM COMMUNITIES: A PROTOCOL

Despite the prevalence of mental health related stigma in Muslim communities, there are only a limited number of intervention studies reported in the literature. Digital interventions (i.e., YouTube clips, videos) are relatively cheap, highly accessible and easily disseminated and are increasingly being used to improve mental health literacy and reduce mental health related stigma. However , as far as the authors are aware, there are no stigma reduction programmes targeting Muslim communities that leverage digital interventions reported in the literature. This paper outlines a protocol for a digital intervention to challenge mental health related stigma in Muslim communities. The proposed intervention will be a 5 to 10-minute YouTube clip/video the active ingredients of which will be: [1] an interview with a Muslim expert by lived/living experience, [2] an Imam (Muslim faith leader) and [3] a psychiatrist. We will recruit members of Muslim communities living in Muslim minority countries in the Global North (United Kingdom, Unites States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to participate in the study (inclusion criteria: adults a ged 18 years and over, Muslim background). The study will be comprised of two groups: an active group that will be exposed to the Muslim faith appropriate digital intervention and a control group that will be exposed to a digital intervention that is not Mu slim faith appropriate. We will administer validated psychometric stigma scales on participants in both groups before and after expo sure to the interventions. We hypothesize that viewing an anti-stigma clip/video that is Islamic faith appropriate will be associate d with greater reductions in mental health related stigma in members of Muslim communities compared to viewing an anti-stigma clip/video that is not Islamic faith appropriate