Afghanistan witnessed rapid urbanization in recent decades due to the post-war recovery process. When the war ended in 2001 by fall of Taliban regime, most Afghans refugees returned to urban areas of Afghanistan, especially in Kabul city. Moreover, the rapid urbanization, migration from rural areas, and population growth impacted on Kabul city with the manifestation of informal settlement. It is acknowledged that the residents of informal settlements suffer social, spatial, and economic exclusion from the benefit and opportunity of an urban environment. Furthermore, the residents of informal settlements experience disadvantages by geographical marginalization, shortage of basic infrastructure, improper governance framework, vulnerability into the effect of poor environment, and natural disaster. With all the above, the problems of informal settlements are considered challenges for and informal residents. Thus, it is a dire need to tackle and overcome problems of informal settlements. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the most proper approaches to addressing informal settlement problems in District13 of Kabul city. In order to reach this aim, interviews and a questionnaire survey have been conducted with government officials and local inhabitants. And the finding of this paper indicates that through the resident’s preferences, government capacity, and District 13 physical condition there are three approaches which can be implemented and adopted for improvement of informal settlement in District 13 of Kabul city, which is settlement upgrading as the first option, the land readjustment as the second option and urban redevelopment as the last option.
This study aims to Analyzing the nature of Construction Projects, Analyzing the Nature of Construction Projects Risk, and Analyzing The mechanism of Risk Management. This Study adopted The Quantitative Method. The Summary Concluded From The Study Lies in the Theoretical Study of construction Project`s Risk. The Construction Project Contains Many Risk Which Related to Different Factors: Legal, Organizational, Technical, Zoning, Financial, Social and Political Factors. The Process of Management of Construction Projects includes: Planning of Risk Management, Risk Identification By (Checklist Analysis, Questionnaire, Personal Interview, Brainstorming Technique, Delphi Technique), Risk Analysis By Qualitative Analysis By (Probability and Impact Assessment, Cause and Effect Diagram, Probability and Impact Matrix) and Quantitative Analysis By (Probability Distributions, interviews , Sensitivity Analysis, Fault tree, Events tree, Munte Carlo Simulation), Planning the Response to Risk By (Strategies for Response to Negative Risk , and Strategies to Positive Risks), and Risk Control and Cheek. Depending on The Conclusions, The Study Recommends the Following: Process of Assessing The Efficiency of Construction Companies. Use Qualitative Analysis and Quantitative Analysis in The Process of diagnosis, and Categorization of Risk in the Process of Risk Management. Studying Types of Contracts of Construction Projects.
Conceptual cost estimates are often made at the beginning of the project when project scope is not yet well defined. Hence, predicting the conceptual costs on time, with high accuracy, presents a considerable challenge. One potential solution is to more effectively utilize historical data via integration with predictive analytical models. In this project, a decision support system was developed which predicts conceptual costs of construction projects and supports decision-making for long-term capital planning in public universities. The prototype system was developed based on historical data for roofing projects at the University of Alabama. We collected this historical data via a web-based data entry form subsystem. The developed system uses ridge regression models to train historical data. This system has a user-friendly interface and supports what-if analysis, allowing the user to see multiple scenarios of the estimation. The system also encompasses capabilities to forecast the effects of inflation on multi-year projects. Subsequent validation has demonstrated improvement in the resulting accuracy of the conceptual estimates.
The purpose of this paper is to study the innovation performance with regards to the input of collaborative partners in new product development processes leading to an innovation. A thoroughly-designed questionnaire was distributed to operations managers of 729 manufacturers. Data collected was subjected to regression analysis indicating significant comparative effect on innovation performance in favor of lead users.
The study analyzed changes in land use and land cover overtime in Port-Harcourt metropolis using remote sensing techniques from 1984-2013.The Geo-referencing properties of 1984, 1999, 2003 and 2013 include; universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection, and datum WGS 84, zone 32, ERDAS Imagine (2014).These were used for displaying processing, enhancement, classification of the imageries and also used for the delineation of the study area imagery. IDRIS SELVA was used for the development of land use land cover classes. ArcGIS 10.1was used in developing, display and processing of the location maps. Total percentage change and total rate of change for the entire trend after conversion are thus: Saltwater Wetland 23.44%, to- 2.17, Freshwater Wetland - 26.44%to- 11.49 Fallow land- 47.13%to- 5.41 Built-up Area 43.33% to 7.41Water bodies 43.36% to 3.06.The study recommended that activities shrinking wetlands size should be thoroughly put to check by the government and better efforts should be focused on those activities that inspire wetland conservation.
This paper is about Interlocking Stabilized Soil Blocks (ISSB) as developed in Thailand. ISSB are seen as an eco-friendly building material for home building and structures such as water tanks and sanitation facilities. For several decades the Thai R&D Institute TISTR has worked on developing and testing ISSB, which in other countries are called compressed stabilized earth blocks or CSEB. The composition of building blocks and the quality of building structures determine together the structural quality of the house or building. If there is a need for earthquake- and storm resistance, the building blocks and the structures must have specific features. Building stacked houses is an important issue given the growing scarcity of land for housing and the increasing land prices. ISSB is not only applied in Thailand, but also in Cambodia for low-cost housing and in Nepal for home reconstruction after the 2015 earthquake. ISSB or CSEB is also applied in other countries as an alternative building material and technology to replace the use of fired bricks and concrete building blocks for housing. Reducing the use of cement in the materials and structures is important for environmental reasons, but in ISSB/CSEB the use of cement as a stabilizer cannot always be avoided. This is surely the case in areas where earthquakes, heavy storms and floods can occur. Although this paper focuses mainly on technical aspects of sustainable housing and construction, there is also a focus on social sustainability, meaning a strong involvement of local communities in the production of sustainable building materials for walls, newly developed construction technologies, and mutual house and facility construction.
This paper surveys the literature on resilience, provides several definitions of resilience, and proposes a new comprehensive definition for a resilient engineered system, which is: a system that is able to successfully complete its planned mission(s) in the face of disruption(s) (environmental or adversarial), and has capabilities allowing it to successfully complete future missions with evolving threats. This definition captures the subtle differences between resilience and a resilient engineered system. We further examine the terminology associated with resilience to understand the various resilient time-frames and use the terminology to propose a resilience cycle, which differentiates mission resilience (short term) and platform resilience (long term). We then provide insight into various resilience evaluation methodologies and discuss how understanding the full scope of resilience enable designers to better incorporate resilience into system design, decision makers to consider resilient trade-offs in their assessment, and operators to better manage their systems. A resilient engineered system can lead to improved performance, reduced life-cycle costs, increased value, and extended service life for engineered systems.
This study was conducted on flood sensitive areas in parts of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, in order to determine the impact of flood on the residents of the area. The method of study involved field work and laboratory analysis. Field studies involved flood height measurements. Flood heights monitored and measured over a period of one week was used to determine the flood daily encroachment rates and the flood daily receding rates. Flood encroachment rates ranged from 9.47 to 19.67 cm/day in Rumuigbo, and 6.47 to 9.00 cm/day in Ozuoba. Flood recede rates ranged from 0.87 to 3.93 cm/day and 5.00 to 8.00 cm/day in Rumuigbo and Ozuoba. These results were confirmed by the high annual rainfall (2198.73 mm/hr on average) that occurs on average round the year in Rivers State. The buildings in these flood prone areas were constructed with concrete and blocks which are susceptible to cracking and failure when constantly immersed in water for prolonged time. It is therefore recommended that large sloping gutters be constructed within strategic places in the area in order to properly transport water to the nearby rivers and ensure that dumpsites around flood prone areas are evacuated to prevent contaminated water from recharging the aquifer.
The economic feasibility of apartment building complexes is mainly done by using one of the economic analysis methods: present worth, future worth, annual worth, rate of return, or benefit-cost ratio. The cash-flow used is based on the assumption that a certain fraction of the apartments will be sold during the construction period, and the rest equally sold annually over a certain period of time. This model may work sometimes, but its estimated profitability is inaccurate. The actual cash-flow to be used is stochastic. In this paper, we shall use a cash-flow with random separation time between successive sales of apartments after the construction period. We shall find a compact form of the expected present worth, and determine a range for the annual discount rate so that the project is profitable.
This study is aimed at investigation for foundation designs at the West Bank Creek, Lagos deep offshore. All field tests were conducted in accordance with standard geotechnical procedure. The soil profiles obtained within the depth explored at the site consist essentially of two soil zones. They are very soft silty clays and medium dense sands. Results revealed that within the depths bored, a relatively high deposit of clay overlies the boreholes from the river-bed to average depth of 3.0 m. In BHs 8, 10, 11 and 12, the clay extends beyond 3.0m thickness with varying depths ranging from 5.0 m to 8.0 m. However, prevalent deposits of sand underlie the clay to the end of the boreholes. In BHs 6 and 9, the entire holes are characterized by huge deposits of sand formation. Notably, the sandy formation exhibited appreciable Standard Penetration Test (SPT) blows indicating sands of medium densification. Based on the field investigations and comprehensive studies, the estimated volume of available sand fill material is 691,863 m3. Sand volume estimate was limited to -10.50 m from the river-bed. All the boreholes have potentials for sand borrows. Scooping of the clayey materials is required to expose the sand deposits. Dredging operation with appropriate dredger should be limited to the area covered by the survey.
This study evaluated the physico-chemical properties of the soil and water in Elebele Community in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Standard sampling and analytical methods were employed. The predominant soils of the region are mainly sandy-loam and clayey-loamy. The soil physico-chemical properties were in good status as they were not toxic. Soil particle size distribution (sand silt and clay) was observed as follows: sand content ranged between 50.6%-86.2% with a mean of 64.5% at the surface soil while the subsurface soil ranged between 35%-80.2% with a mean of 60.2%. Silt on the other hand ranged between 7.8%-36% and a mean of 25.1% at the surface and ranged between 12.8-49.6% and mean of 25.4% at the subsurface while clay ranged between 3.4%-16% and mean of 9.4% at the surface and also ranged between 7%-16% and mean value of the soil. However, the soil physical properties were relativity good for sustainability. Also, the metals studied were detected in all the sites. Generally the concentrations of the metals were highest at the top soils. This is expected since the top soil is the point of contact. The metal levels in all the sites were significantly higher than the levels observed in the control sites. Sources of heavy metals in soils like inorganic fertilizers and pesticides need to be controlled.
In many urban environments, so-called Living Labs have been created. A Living Lab (LL) is an emerging innovation methodology that may serve to reduce the gap between new technology development and the adoption of this new technology by users, by bringing together all key actors in the innovation process: public administration, education institutes, companies, and citizens. However, a substantial number of LLs struggle to translate the customer value created into a sustainable business model. As a result, many LLs are financially not sustainable. Several previous studies found that most LLs primarily rely on public grants; thus, they often stop their activities when public funding ends. In this paper, we draw on a comprehensive literature review and practical evidence from three cases, to develop a framework of various funding options which can be employed by any LL that seeks to become more financially sustainable.
Quality costs are those resulting from producing, identifying, repairing, and avoiding defective products. Quality costs consist of the following four categories Internal costs, failure costs, external failure costs, and appraisal costs. A survey of several plastic and glass industries in Saudi Arabia is conducted. The survey includes a cross representation of manufacturing activities existing in the region. The survey is intended to assess the level of awareness and quantitative estimates of quality costs as related to the plastic and glass industries. The survey design and findings are presented along with analysis. Specific conclusions are drawn regarding quality costs studies and reduction/improvements programs as related to the surveyed industry category.
Aircraft industry is also finding its way to adapt on the increasing demand not only considering aircraft safety and customer requirements, but also on the increasing legislative requirements in terms of resource efficiency and gas emissions. This document explores Kevlar 49’s application on aircraft components and why this material is specifically selected for such applications above any other Kevlar type of materials. Its functions, properties, advantages and disadvantages are discussed together with some alternative materials in lieu of Kevlar 49. In order to provide credible information, literature search was conducted using significant keywords in Google Scholar and journal repository Deepdyve. Kevalr ® 49 is considered an exceptional material for reinforcement to produce aircraft components. It has high tensile strength, lightweight, inert on some conditions, stiff, and resilient. However, Kevlar’s has poor compressive strength, workability and is overly stiff for some applications. Another disadvantage is its cost, though it was shown to belong to a middle ranged material relative to carbon fiber and Boron. But overall, there are extensive applications in aircraft components that are now continuously using this material as reinforcement with other materials like carbon and boron to arrive on an ideal blend of product.
The objectives of this research is to determine the amount of production planning capacity sow talc products in the future utilizing previous data from january to december in year 2017. This researched considered three forecasting method, there are Weight Moving Average (WMA), Moving Average (MA), and Exponential Smoothing (ES). After calculating the methods, then measuring the error value using a control chart of 3 (three) of these methods. After find the best forecasting method, then do linear programming method to obtain the exact amount of production in further. Based on the data calculated, the method of Average Moving has a size of error value of Mean Absolute Percentage Error of 0.09 or 9%, Weight Moving Average has a size error of Mean Absolute Percentage Error of 0.09 or 9% and with Exponential Method Smoothing has an error value of Mean Absolute Percentage Error of 0.12 or 12%. Moving Average and Weight Moving Average have the same MAPE amount but Weight Moving Average has the smallest amount Mean Absolute Deviation compared to other method which is 262.497 kg. Based on the result, The Weight Moving Average method is the best method as reference for utilizing in demand forecasting next year, because it has the smallest error size and has a Tracking Signal not exceed the maximum or minimum control limit is ≤ 4. Moreover, after obtained Weight Moving Average method is the best method, then is determine value of planning production capacity in next year using linier programming method. Based on the linier programming calculation, the maximum amount of production in next year by considering the forecasting of raw materials, production volume, material composition, and production time obtained in one (1) working day is 11,217,379 pcs / year, or 934,781 pcs / month of finished product. This paper recommends the company to evaluate the demand forecasting in order to achieve higher business growth.
This study aims to develop and implement a new Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to verify and explain users’ acceptance of SAP software. The structural equation model (SEM) technique is used with the AMOS program for the adoption process. General structural model, which includes Experience, Voluntariness, Perceived Enjoyment, Perceptions of External Control, Computer Self Efficacy, Output Quality and Job Relevance, is developed with Analytical Hierarchy Method (AHP) and Pareto Analysis by deciding variables from previously original developed models which are called TAM1, TAM2 and TAM3. New TAM is tested to a sample of 384 SAP users in a company that serves in metal production. Results illustrates that new TAM is an appropriate tool to explain and understand users’ acceptance of SAP besides of being flexible and easily implemented. SAP users’ job relevance and their perceptions of external control are the most important variables that affect perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in the model.
This paper presents the findings of a study that was conducted to investigate the levels of organizational culture values that are present in students and instructors in a higher education organization in Saudi Arabia. A Survey was prepared and conducted to obtain primary data from students and instructors perception of thirty two basic and common values that are relevant to the study of organizational culture. The study findings gives valuable insights into how students and instructors see the importance and presence of organizational values and beliefs in the organization. Moreover, the enthusiasm of instructors and students gave a clear indication of how significantly important the surveys were to them. Higher education organizations may look at this paper’s findings and may choose to apply its methodology to their organization and utilize its outcomes to better understand and then improve their organizational culture. Finally, this study provide a thorough investigation of a higher education organization culture by ranking the thirty two common values and measures their presence in the students and instructors community. The study will hopefully open an area of interest that could provide considerable insight for researchers interested in this topic.
