The Ethics of Decoration in Architecture

اقترن التزيين ومنذ القدم بمختلف الانجازات الانسانية وعدته بعض الطروحات كماليا لا الزاميا قابل للازالة والطرح يمكن الاستغناء عنه، واسيء فهمه كونه مجرد اضافة ووسيلة للتجميل لخصائصه الفنية لاسيما صيغة الحلي الديكورية ، وعلى عكس مفهوم الاخلاق الالزامي المقترن بالاغراض النفعية والقيمية على السواء، ليبرز ذلك التعارض بين المفهومين ضرورة مناقشتهما معا للكشف والتقصي عن الجوانب الاخلاقية للتزيين في النتاج المعماري تحديدا لتقويض تلك الافكار التي عدت التزيين فائضا لا غير،فتوضحت مشكلة البحث بـ "عدم وجود تصور واضح حول المؤشرات الاخلاقية للتزيين في نتاج العمارة "، وبالتالي تحدد هدف البحث بـ "طرح المؤشرات الاخلاقية للتزيين في النتاج المعماري في مستوى المخططات والواجهات"، ووضع البحث فرضيته البحثية متمثلة بـ "تبرز اخلاقيات التزيين في العمارة ضمن المستويين الباطن والظاهر على السواء، في كل من المخططات والواجهات وصولا لتحقيق هيأة الناتج المعماري ككل" ، ولاختبار صحتها اعتمد البحث منهجا استقرائيا ركز على كشف مؤشرات الوظيفة الاخلاقية للتزيين في النتاج المعماري وصولا الى طرح اطار نظري خاص لمؤشرات التزيين الاخلاقية في النتاج المعماري على مستوى المخططات والواجهات معا ،اذ تم التأكد من وقوع التزيين في مستوى المخطط والواجهة على السواء وبما أكد التزامه بالجوانب النفعية الوظيفية البيئية الانشائية الاقتصادية وبما يحقق السلامة والامان ، فضلا عن التزامه بالجوانب الجمالية التعبيرية والرمزية الاتصالية لاسيما التكتونية اذ حددت هيأة النتاج المعماري ككل ووصلت ذروتها اليوم بعد تطورها الى التكتونية الرقمية لانتاج السطوح الرقمية والتي وصفت كجلود لتداخل بنية (الهيكل- القشرة) ومادتهما معا نسجتها عملية التزيين بفضل الامكانات الرقمية لتمثيل السطح الرقمي فضاءا او نسيجا ميتافيزيقيا ومجالا حيا انتقاليا لمختلف القيم الوظيفية والجمالية في العصر الحالي بما اغنى وظيفية المخططات وتعبيرية الواجهات على السواء.The decoration has been associated with various human achievements since ancient times and has been considered by some of theses  as an additional, non-mandatory , can be probability  remove , subtract and dispensable. It is misunderstood as a mere addition and an instrument  for beauty as its artistic characteristics, especially the decorative  jewelry. In contrast to the concept of mandatory  ethics concept  which associated with both for purposes and values aspects, that contrast highlighted the need to discuss them together to investigate the ethical aspects of decorating in architectural output to undermine those ideas, which considered decorating as a surplus only. The research problem was explained by "absence  a clear conception of the ethical indicators of decorating the product of architecture", Thus the goal of the research is that "put the ethical indicators of decoration the architectural output at the level of plans and facades" , so the research put hypothesis as "highlighting the ethics of decoration within both the subcontractor and the apparent levels In each of plans and facades, to achieve architectural output as a whole", it focused on uncovering the ethical indicators of decoration the architectural output, in order to present a special theoretical framework for the indicators of moral decoration at the level of plans and the facades together, It has been confirmed that the decoration at the level of the plans and the facade both, that confirmed its commitment to the functional aspects economic , safety environmental construction, as well as to the aesthetic aspects of expressive and symbolic especially Tectonics, as determined the apperance of architectural output as a whole Today, after its development into digital tectonics for the production of digital surfaces, which were described as skins to overlap the structure (the structure - the skin) and their material together weaving decoration process thanks to the digital potentials to represent the digital surface space or metaphysical fabric and a living space for various functional and aesthetic values in the current era, including richer functional plans and expression facades

Channel, Phase Noise, and Frequency Offset in OFDM Systems: Joint Estimation, Data Detection, and Hybrid Cramer-Rao Lower Bound

Oscillator phase noise (PHN) and carrier frequency offset (CFO) can adversely impact the performance of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, since they can result in inter carrier interference and rotation of the signal constellation. In this paper, we propose an expectation conditional maximization (ECM) based algorithm for joint estimation of channel, PHN, and CFO in OFDM systems. We present the signal model for the estimation problem and derive the hybrid Cramer-Rao lower bound (HCRB) for the joint estimation problem. Next, we propose an iterative receiver based on an extended Kalman filter for joint data detection and PHN tracking. Numerical results show that, compared to existing algorithms, the performance of the proposed ECM-based estimator is closer to the derived HCRB and outperforms the existing estimation algorithms at moderate-to-high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In addition, the combined estimation algorithm and iterative receiver are more computationally efficient than existing algorithms and result in improved average uncoded and coded bit error rate (BER) performance

Bolts connection technique of bamboo in construction work

The construction industry is increasingly developing and growing rapidly with more advanced technologies. The world timber demand is increasing at a rapid rate but the timber supply is however depleting. It has been found through research that bamboo can suitably replace timber and other materials in constructions. This study was conducted to investigate the structural strength of bamboo connections involving only spliced joint and compared with control samples strength of bamboo which were not connected. Bending test was conducted on four types of bamboo connection structures which werehalf-lapped splice joint using 3 bolts, half-lapped splice joint using 2 bolts, side plate splice joint, sleeves and insert joint and control sample bamboo. Every connection had six samples to determine the structural strength of the bamboo connection. From the tests conducted, the maximum load that can be borne by the bamboo structure and the bending ofthe bamboo structure will be obtained. Data were compared with the theoretical calculation based on the study of Janssen's. The connection structure that can bear maximum load was sleeves and inserts which was 5.997 kN. The control samples bamboo maximum load was 4.504 kN. Meanwhile, half-lapped splice joint using 3 bolts and 2 bolts were 4.789 kN and 4.04 kN. Structural connections that carriedthe lowest load was side plate splice joint which was only 2.659 kN.Compared with the bending moment of Janssen’s theory, all the connections did not exceed the maximum allowable bending moment. This showed that the study was in accordance with the standards approved by Janssen's theory. The study found that the structure of connections that can be used in the construction work was sleeves and inserts

TO BE RESPONSIBLE SOCIALLY IS VIABLE FINANCIALLY

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Company’s Financial Performance (CFP) operating or based in Pakistan. Emerging CSR practices in the developed world have raised question about the inclination of the developing world towards CSR. Pakistan being a developing country, its corporate sector is more concerned about profit maximization than CSR. Various studies around the globe have established that CSR has a positive impact on the financial performance of a company. In this study, secondary data has been used from audited annual reports of 26 companies listed in KSE of similar size from different sectors, which are striving towards better CSR. The data ranges from 2008 to 2012 (5 years). The researchers have used Stakeholder theory to measure CSR; stakeholders include Government, Employees, Suppliers, Creditors, Shareholders and Customers. Return on Asset (ROA) was used as a surrogate for Company’s financial performance (CFP). The result of Multiple Regression Model showed a significant impact of CSR on CFP for only a few stakeholders. After adjusting the model according to Pakistan’s scenario, customers, shareholders and creditors were identified as the key stakeholders for CSR to have an impact on CFP. Analyses also bifurcated the results for KSE 100 index companies and Non KSE 100 index companies in order to have an idea as to how firm size disparity affects CSR’s impact on CFP. The outcomes of the research would be helpful for the corporate decision makers, government policy formulators and other related quarters to understand the impact of CSR on CFP with reference to Pakistan

Mechanical properties of concrete containing palm oil fuel ash and modified expanded polystyrene beads as replacement materials using finite element method

Nowadays, so much waste material was dumped and produced by the industrial sector. In this research, the Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA) and Modified Expanded Polystyrene beads (EPS) were used as replacement material. The purpose of this research was to focus on replacement of the modified expanded polystyrene beads (EPS) as a fine aggregate and the palm oil fuel ash (POFA) as a cement in term of mechanical properties of concrete. For Modified EPS will replace with aggregate from 10.0 % and 20.0 % While, for POFA will replace with cement from 10.0 %, 20.0 % and 30.0 %. The data of the material replacement for POFA and Modified EPS will be taken from previous study. Furthermore, the concrete cubes will be analyzed using software called ABAQUS. ABAQUS software is used because this software can measure the concrete cubes in such detail. This test will be performed on a cube that has reached the age of 28 days by following the previous experimental results. In addition, the software can also validate the work for the stress and strain of the graph by analyzing the concrete cubes. Information on Modified EPS and POFA can be filled in this software. Furthermore, it can also analyze mechanical properties of concrete that containing. Modified EPS and POFA. Indirectly, this will help compare the strength of concrete cube that containing of Modified EPS and POFA

Transformation of Maqāṣid Shari‘āh in Divorce Mediation in Religious Courts: Revitalization of the Bugis-Mandar Customs, Indonesia

The focus of this research discusses the transformation of maqāṣid shari'āh in mediation practices in divorce cases, and the revitalization of adat in mediation practices in Bugis and Mandar communities. This study is a field legal research using historical and socio-anthropological approaches, while the data is analyzed using maqāṣid shari'ah theory and social change theory. Data collection techniques are based on literature studies on legal sources related to the discussion.This study concludes that divorce is an extraordinary case in the religious courts, dynamics of mediation practice in Religious Courts have successful mediation for a written peace agreement in peace deed, other mediation products are partially successful mediation and partially unsuccessful mediation, mediation products are not successful is that husband and wife are committed to divorce; maqāṣid shari‘āh transformation can be a major consideration by judges in mediation practice to save households on the verge of collapse, so that maqāṣid shari‘āh is very urgent to place in Perma No.1 of 2016, and revitalization of Bugis-Mandar customary is an effort to revive the value of life sirondo-rondoi, siamasei, sianuang pa'mai, and sibaliparri, also animate shara’ which is performed petta kalie (Bugis) or puang kali’ (Mandar)

Prognostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT for identifying high- and low-risk endometrial cancer patients

Objectives: To assess the usefulness of adding PET/CT as a preoperative test for determining the extent of endometrial cancer and discriminating low- and high-risk patients to identify candidates for surgical staging. Material and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 86 patients with pathologically proven endometrial cancer who had undergone preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT. The prognostic relationships between PET/CT parameters and pathology reports were assessed. Results: The SUVmax was significantly higher in patients with FIGO stage IB or higher compared with those with stage IA; for stage III–IV compared with stage I–II; and for patients with lymph node metastasis compared with those without lymph node metastasis. Using 6.70 as a cut-off for SUVmax, low-risk patients can be identified with a sensitivity of 92.9%. Conclusions: PET/CT imaging can be used not only for determining malignancy and lymph node involvement but also for determining candidates for surgical staging with high sensitivity

Travel behaviour and perception of mode public transportation among users in Malaysia

Shared mobility can be defined as the transportations that are shared among users such as public transit (e.g. bus, commuter, LRT, MRT), taxis, bike sharing, car sharing, and e-hailing services (e.g. Grab) to obtain short-term access. Shared mobility sits within the broader phenomenon that has been termed as ‘sharing economy’, in which wide spread usage of emerging information and communications technology (ICT), particularly smartphones, enables new forms of market interactions that can enable both new services and improved efficiency in asset utilization [1, 2]. This scenario has given many benefits especially towards e-hailing services where the users can order a driver to pick up himself or herself at a designated area and send them to the destination that they want only using an application on smartphones. Other than that, it also gives a revolution of public transportation such as bus by purchasing the ticket through online system. This are the transformations and the trend changes from oldest system to further system

Channel, Phase Noise, and Frequency Offset in OFDM Systems: Joint Estimation, Data Detection, and Hybrid Cramer-Rao Lower Bound

Oscillator phase noise (PHN) and carrier frequency offset (CFO) can adversely impact the performance of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, since they can result in inter carrier interference and rotation of the signal constellation. In this paper, we propose an expectation conditional maximization (ECM) based algorithm for joint estimation of channel, PHN, and CFO in OFDM systems. We present the signal model for the estimation problem and derive the hybrid Cramer-Rao lower bound (HCRB) for the joint estimation problem. Next, we propose an iterative receiver based on an extended Kalman filter for joint data detection and PHN tracking. Numerical results show that, compared to existing algorithms, the performance of the proposed ECM-based estimator is closer to the derived HCRB and outperforms the existing estimation algorithms at moderate-to-high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In addition, the combined estimation algorithm and iterative receiver are more computationally efficient than existing algorithms and result in improved average uncoded and coded bit error rate (BER) performance.ARC Discovery Projects Grant DP14010113