The planning and urban design of liveable public open spaces in Oman : case study of Muscat

Public open space has performed a considerable role in society since the first human settlements. Since the 1960s the understanding of liveable public open space has grown dramatically as exhibiting good quality and being well-used by the public. There is evidence of the social, economic and environmental benefits of public open spaces in any city. Planning and urban design practice are the mechanisms behind providing liveable public open space which entices and encourages the public to choose to spend more of their spare time in them. This thesis is concerned with liveability in contemporary public open spaces in Middle Eastern cities, where historically public open spaces were developed based on Islamic religion and Sharī‘ah, which provided norms for the production of the built environment and social engagement with this. As a focus for the exploration of contemporary public open space in Middle Eastern cities, this study examines the design of squares and plazas in particular. Squares and plazas were introduced by colonisation and reinforced by modernity, being later emphasised by globalisation. Nevertheless, squares and plazas in the Middle East have not been as successful as the traditional local open spaces, nor as the Western versions. This research has attempted to evaluate the liveability in public open spaces in Muscat through detailed case studies of two squares and two plazas in three ways, including evaluating: the physical quality, users’ perception and professional perception. In order to achieve this, a mixed methods strategy was designed based on the theoretical perspective of social constructionism. These methods included: desk-top study of documents; three built environment assessment tools, applied by professionals; behavioural mapping and observation; a survey of open space users; and semi-structured interviews with professional involved in the provision of public open space and community representatives in Oman. The empirical work showed that though public open spaces are viewed as beautification elements of the city structure, there are major weaknesses in meeting users’ requirements, engaging users and in considering local climate in those spaces. Although the planning and urban design system in Oman has been adopted from the West, it is not established adequately in different plan sequences and strategies to govern the provision process and control the quality of the spaces; in addition, there is lack of clarity and coordination in institutional responsibilities over the provision and management of public open space. It is concluded that providing more liveable public open space in Oman would require improvements to the planning and urban design systems, as well as learning from traditional practice in the production and management of open space in the Middle East

Role of Social Media in Creating Awareness during COVID-19 Pandemic

Social media (SM) applications have played a critical role for the rapid dissemination of information during the COVID-19 pandemic. Limited insight is provided into the main reliable SM source for information and awareness about the pandemic. This study examines the role of SM applications in creating awareness during the pandemic in Saudi Arabia. The study used a quantitative approach and distributed an online questionnaire via SM platforms during October 2020 and received 343 valid responses from university students, healthcare professionals, and the public. Findings showed that despite the wide use of SM applications, the MOH website was the main source of information relied upon during the pandemic. Gender differences were found on the reliance of SM platforms for information. Developing SM policies and best-practice guidelines are necessary to better perceive SM applications as effective public health educational sources and awareness channels during crises

Elemental Narcissism and the Decline of Empathy: A Biocultural Reading of the Fall in William Golding’s Fiction

This research began with the modest idea that bringing an evolutionary, cognitive and existential understanding to Golding’s novels is going to help to establish the universality and historical specificity of his writerly engagements as well as shed new light on his moral preoccupations and concerns. In fact, the endeavour was initially launched in keeping with the spirit of Literary Darwinism, a movement which sought to foreground the field of literary study on more scientific foundations, using the emerging discipline of evolutionary psychology as a means to bridging the gap between the sciences and the humanities, and to bringing the two cultures together. Of course, most of the past critical efforts dedicated to understanding Golding’s work tended to overlook or downplay the asserted relation between rationalism and biologism in the formation and articulation of Golding’s moral preoccupations in order to favour a broadly religious reading. This was especially the case given the overt biblical overtones in Golding’s novels as well as his confessed antagonism to the overwhelming rationalism of the sciences and the ubiquity of scientific reductionism in accounts and justifications of knowledge. Despite this antagonism, however—which included a confessed dislike for notions of Darwinian evolution and its progressive overtones—the rational dimension to Golding’s novels cannot be denied. It can be detected in his early writings where attempts at establishing the universality of evil are linked to an engagement with, sometimes even an endorsement of, some of the evolutionary propositions of his own period as well as those relevant to the periods that provided the contexts for his historically or prehistorically located fictions. There are even instances when Golding appears to be sharing not only the evolutionary literary theorists’ preference for examining human behaviour within a biological frame, but also their tendency to regard art as an innate propensity that constitutes an undeniable and definitive part of human nature. However, as illuminating as the field of evolutionary psychology initially proved in relation to Golding’s work, the completed thesis reveals how an attempt to frame his work entirely in terms of evolutionary theorizing is unhelpfully reductionist. This is particularly the case with his later creations that seem to be written intentionally to challenge simplistic or reductionist templates of interpretation as a way of asserting the necessary complexity of literary texts if they are to be an adequate exploration or reflection of the complexity of life itself. Consequently, it became necessary to move beyond the limited scope of evolutionary theory and incorporate a range of views from diverse, yet consilient schools in contemporary psychology that can help account for the increasingly diverse spiritual, social and cultural realities characterizing his creations in general, and his later novels in particular

Environmental Study Indoor and Outdoor of the Abu Dhabi Compost Plant

The transformation of municipal solid waste into compost is of double interest: on the one hand, it helps to avoid the deficiencies of natural manure, and on the other it eliminates this major polluting agent which is increasing progressively as a consequence of rising populations. Domestic waste produced per person per annum amounts to 730 kg in Abu Dhabi city. Based on a population in 1992 of 574,745, this gives a current daily refuse collection that amounts to 1120 tons. Refuse is reported to contain a high proportion of organic materials and therefore to be suitable for recycling to produce agricultural compost. Abu Dhabi Compost Plant which commenced production in 1977 has four lines of production with daily input capacity of 480 tons of refuse and output capacity of 200 tons of organic compost. The technology of composting applied in the plant is the accelerated fermentation carried out in digester drums. Air pollution represents one of the major drawbacks of composting process. Air pollutants associated with such source include mainly sulfur dioxide, ammonia and methane. Their impacts on health depend on many factors, the most important of which is their intensity as well as the receptor\u27s susceptibility. To our knowledge, no study has been carried out so far on the environmental problems facing the plant. Therefore, the present investigation was directed toward monitoring the atmospheric pollution levels due to compost manufacturing and to evaluating the associated health effects. The most important finding reached through the air quality monitoring is the responsibility of the Abu Dhabi Compost Plant as a source of sulphur dioxide and methane inside and outside it. Therefore, strong actions should be taken by the Authority responsible for this plant to manage the indoor and hence the outdoor air quality. The clinical examination study reveals that 16% of the total number of plant staff employees are suffering from allergy diseases in their eyes, skin and respiratory system due to the nature of their work in the plant. The respiratory function test study shows that (1) 40 employees representing 45% of the total number of employees (89), have an abnormal respiratory function, concerning the respiratory system, (2) 37 persons representing 49% of the total number of the workers (75), have an abnormal respiratory function in the respiratory system. The comparable percentage for the tested administrators group is 21% and (3) The smoking habit is not responsible for the abnormal respiratory function found in both workers and administrators. The present study may draw attention to the domestic waste recycling through composting and also may help in characterizing the atmospheric pollutants which constitute the main potential adverse effects when released into both indoor and outdoor environments as a result of such strategy of waste management

Analysis of thin strip profile during asymmetrical cold rolling with roll crossing and shifting mill

Strip profile control during rolling is required to assure the dimensional quality of rolled thin strip is acceptable for customers. Throughout rolling, the strip profile is controlled by using the advanced shape control rolling mill, such as the combination of work roll crossing and shifting during asymmetrical rolling, the one of the valuable methods to control the strip profile quality in rolling process. In this paper, the influences of cold rolling parameters such as the crossing angle and axial shifting value of work rolls on the strip profile are analysed. The strip shape control is discussed under both symmetrical and asymmetrical rolling conditions. The obtained results are appropriate to control the rolled thin strip profile in practice. (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland

Research writing and Research Impact Measures: what Librarians need to know?

Library professionals from the MENA region need to contribute more to the global knowledge base of the profession. This session will provide guidance on how to become an effective researcher and writer and how to get published in peer-reviewed journals and proceedings. We will discuss research publication process, quality and optimization of research publication, structuring of research publications, review and indexing process, author profiling and research networks and research impact measures and evaluation metrics. Our aim is to provide more awareness among the library professionals in scholarly publishing and its importance in building professional profile and increased research output from the region

Propfan test assessment testbed aircraft stability and control/performance 1/9-scale wind tunnel tests

One-ninth scale wind tunnel model tests of the Propfan Test Assessment (PTA) aircraft were performed in three different NASA facilities. Wing and propfan nacelle static pressures, model forces and moments, and flow field at the propfan plane were measured in these tests. Tests started in June 1985 and were completed in January 1987. These data were needed to assure PTA safety of flight, predict PTA performance, and validate analytical codes that will be used to predict flow fields in which the propfan will operate

Demonstration of On-Board Maneuver Planning using Autonomous S/W Architectures

The need for higher level of SIC autonomy is gaining increased importance in future space missions planning. These autonomous capabilities are needed not only to reduce the overall mission life-cycle cost but also to enable a new class of planetary missions (comets, asteroids, moons, etc.) requiring rendezvous and/or sample return. Some of the key candidate technologies identified for such missions include, autonomous approach/rendezvous/descent navigation, autonomous maneuver planning and implementation, and target based pointing and tracking. This paper presents the results of implementation and simulation of on-board maneuver planning, where a high level command is implemented while satisfying mission flight rules and spacecraft constraints. As part of this effort, a candidate spacecraft simulation is developed within a S/W architecture that provides a set of constructs suited for implementation of high level task decomposition and planning as well as on-line constraints checking and exception handling functions. The software architecture allows for future incremental refinements or addition of new autonomous capabilities as mission needs evolve

Vascular Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

Two distinct terms are used to describe vascular thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) depending on which structure is predominantly affected: venous TOS (due to subclavian vein compression) and arterial TOS (due to subclavian artery compression). Although the venous and arterial subtypes of TOS affect only 3% and <1% of all TOS patients respectively, the diagnostic and management approaches to venous and arterial TOS have undergone considerable evolution due to the recent emergence of minimally invasive endovascular techniques such as catheter-directed arterial and venous thrombolysis, and balloon angioplasty. In this review, we discuss the anatomical factors, etiology, pathogenesis and clinical presentation of vascular TOS patients. In addition, we use the most up to date observational evidence available to provide a contemporary approach to the diagnosis and management of venous TOS and arterial TOS patients