Kish Island Research Articles

Analysis of the Challenges and Technical Solutions for Revitalization of Traditional Buildings in Hot and Humid Climate (Case Study: Anthropology Museum of Local Residents in Kish Island)

In every nation ancient buildings are rich sources for inspiration from local traditional architecture. Manu of such buildings still have potentials for conservation and renovation. This article reviews the issue of revitalization of old traditional buildings in south part of Iran with hot and humid climate. The key technical challenges of revitalization and renovation of such buildings were explored via literature review. Then, the technical solution for such challenges were identified via cases study analysis. In order to reach comprehensive and practical solutions, tree key field of built environment studies which are architecture, structure and infrastructure design were explored together. The case study for this research was the project of revitalization of a traditional building into “Anthropology Museum of Local Residents” in Kish Island. The analysis and case study showed that most of the technical challenges for revitalization of such buildings are resolvable via simple solutions. Based on this, economic and socio-cultural supports of local authorities and planning departments are necessary in order to make such revitalization projects more feasible.

Challenges Ahead of Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Environmentally Sensitive Islands: A Case Study

Small islands around the world encounter special challenges due to vulnerability to acute climates, human-induced activities and pollution. The challenges even become more intricate where the island is located in environmentally sensitive regions. In order to address the problems in coastal areas, Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) whose concept was born in 1992 during the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro, has been recommended by United Nations. This paper focuses on challenges ahead of ICZM in environmentally sensitive islands through Interaction-Stakeholder and Option Matrices. Kish Island is a beautiful small island located in Persian Gulf. With regard to environmental sensitivities and susceptibilities of the island, its ICZM plan requires special attention. The method utilized in this article combines the perception of stakeholders’ need and coastal issues with the effects of management interventions. The method developed for Kish’s ICZM plan can provide comprehensible tools for decision makers in order to find the sources of conflicts and problems. According to the results, most of the interactions belong to “coastal environment” and “tourism” and also many groups of primary stakeholders are involved by many changes. The results of Option Matrix imply that “environmental legislation and mandatory EIA for any project and any discharge” and also “allocation of some regions to national park” interact with various components of the matrix and many primary stakeholders engage. Finally, some of the obstacles are scrutinized in this study such as: environmental legislation, lack of local environmental standards, lack of enough incentive among primary and secondary stakeholders, etc.

Developing an island destination brand equity model: the case of Kish Island in Iran

The extant tourism literature contains only a limited number of studies that have examined brand equity and its determining factors for an island tourist destination. This paper aims to address this gap by developing a brand equity model in an island destination context from the perspective of both domestic visitors and experts. To this end, a two-stage qualitative and quantitative mixed method was taken into consideration. Applying content analysis and structural equation modeling, the results led to the conclusion that there are six dimensions for island brand equity construct as in the following: familiarity, image, value, quality, loyalty, and cultural and natural assets. According to the total effects, out of the dimensions, the construct of cultural and natural assets had the highest explanatory power. The results offer significant insight into island destination managers and policy makers to tailor their brand-building strategies.

Techno‐economic assessment of employing hybrid power system for residential, public, and commercial buildings in different climatic conditions of Iran

As the world population grows rapidly, and the limited amount of fossil fuels begins to diminish along with their impact on the environment, countries have been taking action to promote a greater use of renewable energy resources. In this article, the feasibility of providing electricity from a hybrid power system (HPS) comprising diesel/wind/photovoltaic (PV), and battery considering residential, public, and commercial buildings, consuming the largest portion of energy in Iran is investigated. Tehran, Kish Island, and Binalood are the chosen cities in Iran with distinctive geographic and climatic conditions. In order to determine the optimal design and operational planning of the HPS, the hourly electricity demand data is required to be over 8760 hs during a 1‐yr study. The required hourly data was calculated by employing Carrier (HAP4.5) software. The economic analysis is performed based on net present cost (NPC), cost of energy (COE), diesel consumption, and renewable fraction for all cases by applying HOMER software. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses are carried out to specify the impact of fuel cost on the system by considering two different diesel fuel systems. The results of the economic analysis indicate that Kish Island with warm and temperate climatic conditions would be the optimum zone to install HPS for supplying the energy demand of projected buildings. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38: 614–623, 2019

Comparative study of solar-powered underfloor heating system performance in distinctive climates

Abstract According to the International Energy Agency, buildings are the largest energy-consuming sector globally, producing over one-third of greenhouse gas emissions in 2013. Renewable energies such as solar can be harnessed to fully or partially meet the energy demands of buildings. In this study, solar thermal collectors are used in a building to provide the hot water required for an underfloor heating system. Three cities in Iran, namely Tabriz, Tehran and Kish island, with distinctive climatic conditions are considered to gain a better understanding of the performance of solar-powered underfloor heating systems in different climates. Moreover, an economic analysis is conducted to assess the feasibility of the proposed system. DesignBuilder software is applied to simulate the energy performance of the building. The results indicate that the annual fuel consumption of the building with a solar collector located in Tehran, Tabriz and Kish island is reduced by 125.39, 303.58 and 1.41 MWh compared to that of without collector, respectively. The payback period of the system for Tehran, Tabriz and Kish Island is found to be 8.2, 9.4 and 12.1 years, respectively.

Recreational cycling in a coastal city: Investigating lifestyle, attitudes and built environment in cycling behavior

Active mobility and especially cycling can play an important role in increasing sustainable travel behavior of urban residents. While increased recreational cycling can lead to further bicycling for other purposes, this study highlights the factors influencing recreational cycling. Recreational cycling in a coastal city is explored through investigating individuals’ lifestyles, attitudes, and the effects of built environmental features on frequent cycling. Data were collected from 426 residents of Kish Island, an Iranian city which has been provided with well-designed, dedicated cycling paths. Using confirmatory factor analysis, lifestyle patterns have been extracted from leisure activities which are mostly engaged by both tourists and residents. Additionally, attitudes were evaluated by exploring individuals’ preferences through selecting various cycling facilities. Results from ordinal regression analysis revealed that residents with an active and beach-oriented lifestyle have a higher tendency toward recreational cycling. Among other classifications of attitudes, landscape design made the highest contribution to recreational cycling. Furthermore, findings demonstrated that network connectivity does not significantly influence recreational cycling. Although findings from this study suggest that identifying lifestyle patterns and cyclist attitudes in coastal cities can enhance the probability of recreational cycling among residents as well as tourists, they can also be of interest to planners and policy makers in terms of enhancing the frequency of cycling in other regions with similar situations, namely, being a tourist destination and having a well-organized infrastructure in terms of cycling paths and other required cycling facilities that support recreational as well as other types of cycling behavior.

Molecular identification of zoantharians from around Hormuz, Qeshm and Kish islands, the Persian Gulf

Zoantharians have an important ecological role in marine ecosystems. However, only a few studies have been conducted on the zoantharians of the Persian Gulf (PG). In the current study, mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA (16S rDNA) and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) regions of zoantharian colonies from Hormuz, Qeshm and Kish islands were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and directly sequenced. Based on obtained 16S rDNA and COI gene sequences, three species-level clades were identified including Zoanthus sansibaricus, Palythoa tuberculosa and Palythoa aff. mutuki, all of which have been previously reported from the PG. In spite of morphological similarity of Palythoa aff. mutuki to Palythoa mutuki, mitochondrial DNA sequences obtained from these specimens resolved in a highly supported species-level clade. Since zoantharian identification studies are scant in other parts of the PG, further studies using both nuclear and mitochondrial markers are required to investigate the origins of this putative new species and to further complete the knowledge of zoantharian diversity in the region.

Situational Impacts on Attitudes & Behavior of Customers at Kish Island Trading Centers

Situational Impacts on Attitudes & Behavior of Customers at Kish Island Trading Centers

Creative economy assessment: a case study of Kish Island

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the case of Kish, which is a small island off the coast of Iran, using the creative indicators of a creative economy. Design/methodology/approach Based on the extant literature, a set of performance measures and factors are identified for the creative economy. This set is mainly based on Florida’s theory on the creative class. The case of Kish Island is evaluated based on these indicators, and after analysis, conclusions are drawn. Findings Kish Island, with its numerous tourist attractions, shows remarkable creative industries that highlight the presence of the creative class and the development of a creative economy in this area. Originality/value The paper illustrates the model of a creative economy assessment for the small Kish Island and finally provides a good understanding of the concept of the creative economy as a key element of the creative city.

Uncertainty-based simulation-optimization using Gaussian process emulation: Application to coastal groundwater management

Combined simulation-optimization (S/O) schemes have long been recognized as a valuable tool in coastal groundwater management (CGM). However, previous applications have mostly relied on deterministic seawater intrusion (SWI) simulations. This is a questionable simplification, knowing that SWI models are inevitably prone to epistemic and aleatory uncertainty, and hence a management strategy obtained through S/O without consideration of uncertainty may result in significantly different real-world outcomes than expected. However, two key issues have hindered the use of uncertainty-based S/O schemes in CGM, which are addressed in this paper. The first issue is how to solve the computational challenges resulting from the need to perform massive numbers of simulations. The second issue is how the management problem is formulated in presence of uncertainty. We propose the use of Gaussian process (GP) emulation as a valuable tool in solving the computational challenges of uncertainty-based S/O in CGM. We apply GP emulation to the case study of Kish Island (located in the Persian Gulf) using an uncertainty-based S/O algorithm which relies on continuous ant colony optimization and Monte Carlo simulation. In doing so, we show that GP emulation can provide an acceptable level of accuracy, with no bias and low statistical dispersion, while tremendously reducing the computational time. Moreover, five new formulations for uncertainty-based S/O are presented based on concepts such as energy distances, prediction intervals and probabilities of SWI occurrence. We analyze the proposed formulations with respect to their resulting optimized solutions, the sensitivity of the solutions to the intended reliability levels, and the variations resulting from repeated optimization runs.

EXPERIMENTAL COMPARISON BETWEEN MAHONEY AND COMPLEMENTARY SENSOR FUSION ALGORITHM FOR ATTITUDE DETERMINATION BY RAW SENSOR DATA OF XSENS IMU ON BUOY

Abstract. The accurate measurement of platform orientation plays a critical role in a range of applications including marine, aerospace, robotics, navigation, human motion analysis, and machine interaction. We used Mahoney filter, Complementary filter and Xsens Kalman filter for achieving Euler angle of a dynamic platform by integration of gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer measurements. The field test has been performed in Kish Island using an IMU sensor (Xsens MTi-G-700) that installed onboard a buoy so as to provide raw data of gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometer measurements about 25 minutes. These raw data were used to calculate the Euler angles by Mahoney filter and Complementary filter, while the Euler angles collected by XSense IMU sensor become the reference of the Euler angle estimations. We then compared Euler angles which calculated by Mahoney Filter and Complementary Filter with reference to the Euler angles recorded by the XSense IMU sensor. The standard deviations of the differences between the Mahoney Filter, Complementary Filter Euler angles and XSense IMU sensor Euler angles were about 0.5644, 0.3872, 0.4990 degrees and 0.6349, 0.2621, 2.3778 degrees for roll, pitch, and heading, respectively, so the numerical result assert that Mahoney filter is precise for roll and heading angles determination and Complementary filter is precise only for pitch determination, it should be noted that heading angle determination by Complementary filter has more error than Mahoney filter.

Analysis of symbiotic Symbiodinium in scleractinian corals off Northwestern Kish Island, Persian Gulf

AbstractThe genus Symbiodinium plays an essential role in the resistance and survival of reef‐building corals during temperature anomalies. Coral colonies inhabiting the Persian Gulf (PG) experience extended periods of different stresses. Kish Island is located in the harsh environment of the Northern PG with previously reported bleaching episodes. Samples of six coral species from Northwestern Kish Island were analysed by internal transcribed spacer 2 of ribosomal DNA to identify in hospite Symbiodinium populations. The results showed that lineage D of Symbiodinium was the most prevalent clade among different coral colonies, while clade C was only detected in symbiosis with a single coral species. However, the detected Symbiodinium subclades belonged to two host generalists. The predominance of the stress tolerant Symbiodinium trenchii and subclade C3 could suggest an acclimatization strategy to cope with the hostile environment of the PG.

Health status of corals surrounding Kish Island, Persian Gulf.

Corals in the Persian Gulf exist in a harsh environment with extreme temperature and salinity fluctuations. Understanding the health of these hardy corals may prove useful for predicting the survival of other marine organisms facing the impacts of global climate change. In this study, the health state of corals was surveyed along belt transects at 4 sites on the east side of Kish Island, Iran. Corals had a patchy distribution, low colony densities and species diversity, and were dominated by Acropora, Porites, and Dipsastrea. We found chronic sedimentation on corals, a high prevalence of old partial mortality, abundant bioeroders, and overgrowth of corals by sponges and bryozoans. These are all signs indicating suboptimal environmental conditions for coral reefs. Four types of tissue loss lesions consistent with disease were found: Porites multi-focal chronic tissue loss, Porites peeling tissue loss, Porites focal chronic tissue loss, and Dipsastrea focal sub-acute tissue loss. Overall disease prevalence was 3.6% and there were significant differences in prevalence among the 3 most abundant coral genera. Acropora was numerically dominant within transects yet showed no signs of disease, whereas Porites had a 14% disease prevalence, indicating differential susceptibility to disease among genera. Other coral lesions included pigmentation response in Porites associated with algae invasion or boring organisms, sponge overgrowth, and mucus sheathing in Dipsastrea. The Persian Gulf region is understudied, and this represents one of the first quantitative surveys of coral health and disease on these reefs.

The Principles of Designing Hospital Hotel with the Approach of Health Tourism in Kish Island

Medical tourism is known as one of the fastest growing sectors of the world tourism industry. Today, medical tourism has been highly considered by tourists to take advantage of the health benefits and physical and psychological effects of specific areas. Medical tourism as one of the tourism dimensions helps the economy of the country. Given the lucrative nature of the industry, many developing and even developed countries, focus their attention on the industry sector and plan for it. Hospital hotel is a combination of a hotel as a resort and a hospital as a place of healing and rejuvenation that in addition to the course of treatment provides accommodations after treatment as well. Hence, the present study examined the background of this type of application and its advantages and disadvantages and its feasibility in Kish Island to investigate the growth factors and potential of health tourism and ways to overcome obstacles to attract medical tourism. The findings show that the Island faces challenges in basic and health infrastructure, government’s efficient support, having a program for the development of medical tourism, having centers providing the health service with the international credit and promotion and integrated marketing. Proper planning, cheap prices of tourism services, medical education, creating websites of medical tourism and health tourism policy council are also the strategies mentioned in this study.

Racemicystis persica sp. nov., a myxobacterium from soil.

A novel myxobacterium, strain MSr11462T, was isolated in 2015 from a soil sample collected form Kish Island beach, Persian Gulf, Iran. It displayed general myxobacterial features like Gram-negative staining, rod-shaped vegetative cells, gliding on solid surfaces, microbial lytic activity, fruiting-body-like aggregates and myxospore-like structures. The strain was mesophilic, aerobic and showed a chemoheterotrophic mode of nutrition. It was resistant to many antibiotics like gentamycin, polymyxin, fusidic acid and trimethoprim, and the key fatty acids of whole-cell hydrolysates were iso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0, iso-C17 : 0, C18 : 1, iso-C17 : 1 2-OH, C18 : 1 2-OH, iso-C15 : 0 OAG (O-alkylglycerol) and C16 : 1 OAG. The 16S rRNA gene sequence showed highest similarity (98.6 %) to Racemicystis crocea strain MSr9521T (GenBank accession no. KT591707). The phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and matrix-assisted laser-desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) spectroscopy data supports a novel species of the family Polyangiaceae and the genus Racemicystis. DNA-DNA hybridization showed only about 50 % similarity between the novel strain and the phylogenetically closest species, Racemicystis. crocea MSr9521T. On the basis of a comprehensive taxonomic study, we propose a novel species, Racemicystis persica sp. nov., for strain MSr11462T (=DSM 103165T=NCCB 100606T).

Irritable bowel syndrome is concentrated in people with higher educations in Iran: an inequality analysis.

OBJECTIVESLike any other health-related disorder, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has a differential distribution with respect to socioeconomic factors. This study aimed to estimate and decompose educational inequalities in the prevalence of IBS.METHODSSampling was performed using a multi-stage random cluster sampling approach. The data of 1,850 residents of Kish Island aged 15 years or older were included, and the determinants of IBS were identified using a generalized estimating equation regression model. The concentration index of educational inequality in cases of IBS was estimated and decomposed as the specific inequality index.RESULTSThe prevalence of IBS in this study was 21.57% (95% confidence interval [CI], 19.69 to 23.44%). The concentration index of IBS was 0.20 (95% CI, 0.14 to 0.26). A multivariable regression model revealed that age, sex, level of education, marital status, anxiety, and poor general health were significant determinants of IBS. In the decomposition analysis, level of education (89.91%), age (−11.99%), and marital status (9.11%) were the three main contributors to IBS inequality. Anxiety and poor general health were the next two contributors to IBS inequality, and were responsible for more than 12% of the total observed inequality.CONCLUSIONSThe main contributors of IBS inequality were education level, age, and marital status. Given the high percentage of anxious individuals among highly educated, young, single, and divorced people, we can conclude that all contributors to IBS inequality may be partially influenced by psychological factors. Therefore, programs that promote the development of mental health to alleviate the abovementioned inequality in this population are highly warranted.

Destination brand equity in tourism context: evidence on Iran

Abstract Tourism industry provides an important source of income for many countries; it has been considered the second important industry of the 21st century. This study analyses the effect of destination brand equity on tourists’ intention to revisit. Kish Island was chosen for this case study. Components of destination brand equity include destination awareness, destination image, destination quality, perceived value, destination loyalty, satisfaction and intentions to revisit. This research is a descriptive and survey study. The target population was travelers who visited this island in the first half of 2013. The questionnaire was the research tool. Data were analysed using SPSS and LISREL. The results showed that there is a meaningful relationship between the destination awareness and perceived value, image destination and perceived value and satisfaction, destination quality and perceived value and destination loyalty, perceived value and destination loyalty, satisfaction and destination loyalty and intentions to revisit, and finally destination loyalty and intentions to revisit.

Resiliency via integrated coastal management in Kish Island

Small islands around the world face various hazards such as sea-water level rise, hurricanes, human activities over pressure, environmental degradation, and pollution. Resiliency is a critical feature that has to be maintained in these sensitive and vulnerable areas. This paper focuses on the importance of Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) in increasing the level of resiliency in small islands. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) has been recommended for practice by United Nations 1992 Rio Conference resolution to conserve the valuable natural resources of the coastal areas around the globe and improve their deteriorating environmental conditions. Integrated coastal management plan in small islands should resolve their problems in such a way that sustainable development is guaranteed. Kish is a beautiful small island in the Persian Gulf region, which serves the country as a free trade zone. This article describes its characteristics and problems and also the e orts that have been made for integrated coastal management initiatives in the island to identify the basic problems and provide plans for strengthening the island to manage its current and future problems via acquiring an acceptable level of resiliency.

Using wind turbines in high-rise buildings in the development of sustainable architecture (case study: Kish Island)

The increasing consumption of fossil fuels as limited sources of energy and its destructive effect on the environment has drawn many people attention to the use of renewable energy and in the meantime, taking advantage of the renewable energy of wind to produce clean and low-cost energy is one of the most common options throughout the world, however, due to the growing concentration of population and economic activity in contemporary cities and for increasing high-rise buildings in order to answer the problem cause irreparable damage to the environment which in order to protect the God-given natural resources, reducing environmental pollution and reducing energy consumption, using wind turbines for wind energy and converting it into mechanical and electrical energy are objectives of sustainable development plays a major role in the housing sector. Since the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf and coasts of this region are great places for installing wind turbines, in this regard, this study by studying documents and field studies to evaluate how the use of wind energy in high-rise buildings of these areas in order to maintain the environmental and energy efficiency leads to better planning for the construction of high-rise on Kish island in order to achieve the objectives of sustainable development. Keywords: Renewable Energy, Wind Energy, Wind Turbine, High-Rise Buildings, Kish Island, Sustainable Architecture

Using wind turbines in sky scrapers to develop the stable architecture (case study: Kish Island)

The daily increasing and irregular consumption of fossil fuels as the limited energy source and its destructive effect on the environment has attracted all people attention to use the renewable energies and in this extend, application of renewable energies like wind is one of the frequent options in all around the world in order to produce pure and low cost energy, but due to population concentration and economical activities in the recent cities and as the result the sky scrapers building number increase to respond this problems has caused irreparable effects in the environment, therefore to protect the natural sources, reduction of environmental pollution and reduction of energy consumption, supplying the wind turbine has play the important role to produce wind energy and changing it to mechanical energy and also electricity to fulfill the stable development in the building section, so because in the shallow areas in the Persian gulf and beaches in the region are the proper locations for installation of wind turbine, in this article by studying documents and field evaluation we have attempted to evaluate the wind energy application in the sky scrapers buildings structures in this region to save and optimize the energy consumption without any environmental destructive effect that such issue has led to better programming to sky scrapers structures construction in Kish Island to achieve the stable development purposes.Keywords: renewable energy, wind energy, wind turbine, high buildings, Kish Island, stable architecture