Physical Environmental Data Research Articles

How does Concept Transform into Product? An Appraisal of Analogy-based Design Practices in Architecture Education

When defining the concept of ‘metaphor’ as ‘an intuitive abstraction of uniqueness in diversities’, Aristoteles also creates a common-sense in comprehending analogy-based design processes. Therefore, as in all design practices, drawing analogies -with/to/between- by generating metaphors is also an important tuition for learners/students in architectural design education. Starting from the question of ‘how a designer's initial concept is transformed into an architectural product’, this study generates a discussion on architectural thinking and designing practices based on analogies, aiming at creating perspectives with regard to architectural design education which primarily intends to improve students’ designing abilities by providing the sustainability of current environmental data through the subsequent designs. In this education, the students are firstly directed to reveal metaphors in their specific studying areas by gathering inspiration from directly formal and physical environmental data or from indirectly informal and contextual data; and secondly expected to transform analogies into spatial decisions with architectural programs. In this sense, this study is methodologically carried out in two sections. The first part analyses the stages of the process that lead students from concept to product in the education of architectural design by emphasizing the relational potential of design by considering analogies/metaphors. In the second section, six student studies/products selected from design education studios are appraised in context of the metaphors they captured in their study areas and the analogies they created –or in other words, the reasons they asked for to design-. Among the consequences of the study are the inferences to be made on how to transform design practices, in which the students interrelates between environmental data, into architectural products.

Environmental Cues: Their Influence within Assisted Living Facilities.

This observational study examined the relationship between the number of environmental sensory cues within assisted living facilities (ALFs) and the number of falls by residents, using Lawton's environmental press theory as framework. A result of declining physical health is unintentional injury, for example, falling, which is one of the leading causes of death for older adults. Physical limitations increase largely due to age-related physical and sensory decline, which can increase the risk of people falling. Therefore, fall prevention becomes essential (Willis, 2000). On-site interviews were scheduled with 140 ALF directors located in the lower peninsula of Michigan. The researchers collected physical environmental data using a sensory cue checklist on a subset of rooms, for example, Lounge/Living Room, Dining Room, Corridor, Public Restroom, and Foyers in ALFs, because of the prevalence of falls within these rooms. Findings showed that fall rates and environmental cues sometimes have a negative correlation. A positive correlation was found between the number of residents living in an ALF and the mean number of cues included in the overall environment. Finally, there were a greater number of environmental cues incorporated when design professionals were involved. The need to control for facility size and for some room types when relating environmental cues to falls became clear. In addition, design professionals should have a thorough understanding of the nature of the facility and the need to control some factors in facilities, especially when including environmental cues. Built environment, elderly, evidence-based design, falls, safety.

Measuring Walkability: A Note on Auditing Methods

This study contributes to the literature on walkability measurement by proposing a hybrid auditing method that combines the efficiency of a GIS-based approach with the pedestrian perspective possible with Google Street View. The paper first reviews the various in-person and secondary source auditing methods that have been developed over the past decade. It then tests the feasibility of a GIS/Google Street View hybrid method against an in-person auditing method. The approach here is based on the Irvine-Minnesota Inventory (IMI), selecting 94 objectively measured items that were available and accessible using a combination of GIS and Google Street View. The goal was to test the degree to which some of the measures employed in IMI could be streamlined using GIS and Google Street View as data sources. It is concluded that the combination of information from Google Street View and updated GIS layers can be an effective way of obtaining physical environment data that is very comparable to in-person observation.

New approach for evaluating habitat stability using scarce records for both historical and contemporary specimens: a case study using Carabidae specimen records

AbstractNatural history collections, such as specimen records, are crucial resources for conservation and habitat management. However, these data are usually scarce compared to physical environmental data (e.g., digital terrain maps) that we often have little species data and a lot of physical environmental data with which to evaluate habitats. In this paper, we propose a method for evaluating habitat stability using scarce natural history records and abundant physical environmental data. We used both historical and contemporary specimen records of carabid beetles (areas in which records of the same species were recorded during both periods) and evaluated the attributes of these areas using terrain characteristics. We found two common terrain characteristics among the occupied areas: large total river length and low variation in elevation. These terrain characteristics suggest that habitats of carabid species have been conserved in disturbed and wet environments for a long time. These results are consistent with the ecological characteristics of carabid beetles. Our study shows that scarce natural history collections, combined with ingenuity, can be useful for evaluating habitats.

A new approach to ecological land classification for the Canadian boreal forest that integrates disturbances

Traditional approaches to ecological land classification (ELC) can be enhanced by integrating, a priori, data describing disturbances (natural and human), in addition to the usual vegetation, climate, and physical environment data. To develop this new ELC model, we studied an area of about 175,000 km2 in the Abies balsamea–Betula papyrifera and Picea mariana-feathermoss bioclimatic domains of the boreal forest of Quebec, in eastern Canada. Forest inventory plots and maps produced by the Ministere des Ressources naturelles du Quebec from 1970 to 2000 were used to characterize 606 ecological districts (average area 200 km2) according to three vegetation themes (tree species, forest types, and potential vegetation-successional stages) and four sets of explanatory variables (climate, physical environment, natural and human disturbances). Redundancy, cluster (K-means) and variation partitioning analyses were used to delineate, describe, and compare homogeneous vegetation landscapes. The resulting ELC is hierarchical with three levels of observation. Among the 14 homogeneous landscapes composing the most detailed level, some are dominated by relatively young forests originating from fires dating back to the period centered on 1921. In others, forest stands are older (fires from the period centered on 1851), some are under the influence of insect outbreaks and fires (southern part), while the rest are strongly affected by human activities and Populus tremuloides expansion. For all the study area and for parts of it, partitioning reveals that natural disturbance is the dominant data set explaining spatial variation in vegetation. However, the combination of natural disturbances, climate, physical environment and human disturbances always explains a high proportion of variation. Our approach, called “ecological land classification of homogeneous vegetation landscapes”, is more comprehensive than previous ELCs in that it combines the concepts and goals of both landscape ecology and ecosystem-based management.

KEADAAN SANITASI HOTEL MElATI SINGARAJA INDAH DAN GRIYO MUlYO SURABAYA TAHUN 2012

Melati is one type of hotel frequented by a lot of consumers since they are affordable by communitiesespecially the middle class, local or international. In their operational activities hotels that provide facilitiesshould be supervised regularly. Impairments with regard to health standard may support transmission ofdiseasesamong guests and to and from hotel employees.The study took place at the Hotel Melati Singaraja Indah and Griyo Mulyo within the operationall areaof PuskesmasPenelehSurabaya. This descriptive research aimed to describe objectively the sanitary conditionof such an establishment such as the exterior and interior environment in a hotel building; sanitary facilities,and facilities for hotel employees. Researchwas carried out upon the lodging component of the hotel, usingpredetermined criteria in an appraisal scoring system. Data were gathered by means of observation,interviews, measurement of several quality parameter of the physical environment and assessment ofsecondary data records.The results showed that sanitary condition of Hotel Melati Singaraja Indah and Griyo Mulyo Surabayawere satisfactory, having a total score of 1099 ( 86 % ).Reviewing all variables assessment of lodging sanitation there are several health requirements whichhave not been satisfied, such as : hotel surroundings, there was no efforts in preventing infestation of insectsand pests due to open garbage containers located in outer courtyard, resting quarters for employees arecomfortable and but there was no separation between male and female employee,there is a need foradditional shower and toilet facilities for employees. Linens should be stored in closed cabinets andwarehouses should be kept neat and clean.Among the suggestions are the provisions of covers for existing garbage containerslocated outside inthe hotel courtyard to prevent rodents and cockroaches harborage; provision of closed cabinet for storinglinens, improvement of cleanliness and managing the goods warehouses, provision of comfortable and saferesting quarters for employees.Classification: The state of sanitation, sanitary facilities, hotel melati

A laboratory cave for the study of wall degradation in rock art caves: an implementation in the Vézère area

The aim of this proposal is to present an original approach to the study and preservation of rock art caves. A multidisciplinary study of cave wall alteration will be performed to understand the impact of environmental context on the evolution of wall surfaces. The approach involves the choice of a cave with characteristics similar to painted caves in the studied area (Vézère Valley in Dordogne, France): e.g., cave wall alteration, lithology, morphology, etc. This selected cave is intended to become a laboratory cave, monitored for the acquisition of chemical, physical and biological environmental data on bedrock, air and fluids along with their characteristics. A cave without art or archaeological interest has been chosen specifically to conduct experiments, to make in situ analysis and to obtain samples. The results are to be completed by specific observations in several other caves and compiled in a database.

Clayey Sand Soil's Behaviour Analysis and Imaging Subsurface Structure via Engineering Characterizations and Integrated Geophysicals Tomography Modeling Methods

The geoelectrical resistivity and seismic refraction surveys which were used in this study on the test site, delivered a detailed image of the near-surface conditions in generally very good. Electrical resistivity and seismic refraction analysis proved that a combination of these integrated study of the physical environmental data provided a reasonable compromise between measurement time and image resolution. Quantitative interpretation of the resistivity and seismic models based on soil's parameters determined using laboratory practices and field survey could reproduce the range of resistivity and seismic values found on the site very well. The model explains the ambiguity in between resistivity and clayey sands found on the site and predict the dominant role of water saturation. Geophysical methods are used in this research in purpose to determine the internal structure of a soil mass. Various geophysical methods and their merits for imaging subsurface structures and condition are discussed. Seismic methods are often the most suitable because the measurements depend on the mechanical properties which are also important in the mechanical calculation of soil's behaviour analysis. Other geophysical method, such as geoelectric resistivity, is useful to determine the internal structure, but require a correlation of found boundaries with mechanical properties. This research was conducted to investigate the subsurface structures and conditions through geotechnical engineering properties and its geophysical characteristics. The computation analysis is used in this research in purpose to investigate clayey sand soil's behaviour. Electrical resistivity test and engineering laboratory practices such as soil strength test, liquid limit test, plastic limit test and grain size distribution test was also carried out to investigate clayey sand soil behaviour in Batu Uban, Penang area during monitoring period.

The Influence of the Local Neighbourhood Environment on Walking Levels during the Walking for Wellbeing in the West Pedometer-Based Community Intervention

We investigated the relationship between walking levels and the local neighbourhood physical environment during the Walking for Wellbeing in the West (WWW) randomised pedometer-based community intervention. Walking activity was recorded as step counts at baseline (n = 76), and at 3 months (n = 57), 6 months (n = 54), and 12 months (n = 45) post-intervention. Objective physical environment data were obtained from GIS datasets and street surveys conducted using the SWAT audit tool. Sixty-nine environment variables were reduced to eight environment factors using principal axis factoring, and the relationship between environment factors and (i) step counts, and (ii) the change in step counts relative to baseline, was examined using hierarchical multiple linear regression, controlling for age, gender, income, and deprivation. Five environment factors were significant predictors of step counts, but none were significant predictors of the change in step counts relative to baseline. None of the demographic variables included in the analysis were significant predictors at any stage of the study. Total variance explained by the environment ranged from 6% (P < 0.05) to 34% (P < 0.01), with lowest levels during the initial stages of the study. The physical environment appears to have influenced walking levels during the WWW intervention, and to have contributed to the maintenance of walking levels post-intervention.

Using interviews and peer pairs to better understand how school environments affect young children's playground physical activity levels: a qualitative study

School break times provide a daily opportunity for children to be active; however, research indicates this time is underutilized. Reasons for low children's playground activity levels have primarily focused on physical barriers. This research aimed to contribute to physical environmental findings affecting children's playground physical activity levels by identifying additional variables through the interview process. Thirteen public schools were included in the sample (total 2946 children). Physical activity and environmental data were collected over 3 days. Environmental variables were manually assessed at each of the 13 schools. Observational data were used to determine which three schools were the most and least active. The principal, three teachers and 20 students in Grades 4-6 from these six schools (four lower and two average socioeconomic status) were invited to participate in the interview process. Student interviews involved the paired interview technique. The main themes generated from the school interviews included the effect of non-fixed equipment (including balls), playground markings, playground aesthetics, activity preference, clothing, the amount of break time available for play, teacher playground involvement, gender, bullying, school policies, student confidence in break-time activity and fundamental movement skills. The effect of bullying on playground physical activity levels was concerning.

Effects of a tropical cyclone on the distribution of hatchery‐reared black‐spot tuskfish Choerodon schoenleinii determined by acoustic telemetry

The effects of a tropical cyclone on the distribution of hatchery-reared black-spot tuskfish Choerodon schoenleinii were examined using acoustic telemetry. Nine fish were released in Urasoko Bay, Ishigaki Island, Japan, in September 2006, and another nine were released in June to July 2007, before a cyclone's passing through the area in September 2007. Data for the fish released in 2006 were used as the cyclone-inexperienced group to compare their distribution pattern to that of the 2007 cyclone-experienced group. Both groups of fish were monitored for up to 150 days. Of the nine fish in each group, four (44%) and two (22%) were monitored for over 150 days in the cyclone-inexperienced and the cyclone-experienced groups, respectively. Three of the five fish that had settled in the monitoring area left the area within a few days of the cyclone event. To estimate the time of disappearance of the fish, maximum wind speed during a period of 7 days (indicating the occurrence and intensity of the tropical cyclone), fish size and release year were evaluated as explanatory variables using a Cox proportional hazards model with Akaike's information criterion. The best predictive model included the effect of maximum wind speed. One fish that left the monitoring area displayed movement patterns related to strong winds, suggesting that wind-associated strong currents swept the fish away. No relationships were found between the movement patterns of the other two fish and any physical environmental data. The daily detection periods of one of the two fish gradually decreased after the cyclone hit, and this fish eventually left the monitoring area within 3 days, suggesting that it shifted to a habitat outside the monitoring area. These results indicate that tropical cyclones have both direct and indirect effects on the distribution of hatchery-reared C. schoenleinii.

A new approach to mapping marine benthic habitats using physical environmental data

Reliable marine benthic habitat maps at regional and national scales are needed to enable the move towards the sustainable management of marine environmental resources. Due to the paucity of adequate biological data and the prohibitive cost of directly sampling benthic biota over large areas, the most effective means of developing broad-scale benthic habitat maps is to use commonly available marine physical data. A new robust method of mapping marine benthic habitats at this scale was developed based on a stratified approach to habitat classification. This approach explicitly uses knowledge of marine benthic ecology to determine an appropriate number of stratification levels, to choose the most suitable environmental variables for each level, and to select ecologically significant boundary conditions (i.e. threshold values) for each variable. Three stratification levels, with nine environmental variables, were created using a spatial segmentation approach. Each level represents major environmental processes and characteristics of the Australian marine benthic environment. The finest scale of benthic habitat was defined by seafloor physical properties of topography, sediment grain size, and seabed shear stress. The intermediate scale was defined by water-column nutrient parameters and bottom water temperature. The broadest scale was defined by a seabed insolation parameter derived from depth data. The classifications of the three stratified levels were implemented using an object-based fuzzy classification technique that recognises that habitats are largely homogenous spatial regions, and transitions between habitats are often gradual. Classification reliability was indicated in confidence maps obtained from the fuzzy classification. Physical habitat diversity was evaluated for the final benthic habitat map that combines the three classifications. The final benthic habitat map identifies the structurally complex continental shelf break as an area of relatively high habitat diversity. Other extensive areas with a high diversity of habitats include the central and southern Great Barrier Reef and adjacent Coral Sea deep-water platforms, the outer shelf and slope of the Great Australian Blight, and extensive areas of shelf and deep water seabed on the south-western and north-western margins. These areas match well with the distribution of large-scale high-relief geomorphic features (e.g., reefs, ridges, seamounts, valleys, and canyons), likely reflecting the strong influence of bedrock outcrops and reefs on habitat diversity. Overall, the new classification method is relatively easily implemented and updated to include new knowledge and data, and can be applied at spatial scales that are useful for effective management of marine resources at various levels of government.

Hardware-in-the-loop test of advanced driver assistance systems

The new generation of advanced driver assistance systems uses physical environment data along with logical information for the predictive computation of driving situations. This data is obtained from navigation databases, service providers or from networks with other vehicle. It is important to integrate this information into available test processes to assure these systems in the Hardware-in-the-loop test bench. This article demonstrates how Audi AG and Audi Electronics Venture GmbH use innovative technological solutions to facilitate the simulation of such scenarios.

Sistema de informação geográfica como ferramenta de apoio à outorga dos recursos hídricos subterrâneos no Distrito Federal

The aim of this paper is to develop a method to the integration of physical environmental data and earth occupation and vegetation coverage maps appropriately to the management processes of groundwater and the proposition of water users rights in the Federal District, Brazil. By the integration of the digital thematic maps it was possible to obtain the infiltration and recharge conditions, the maximum capacity of water retention in the soils, the index of water exploitability and the groundwater exploitation favorability conditions. Based on the results and in field observations, there were proposed criteria to the management of groundwater resources of the Federal District.

Sistema de informação geográfica como ferramenta de apoio à outorga dos recursos hídricos subterrâneos no Distrito Federal

The aim of this paper is to develop a method to the integration of physical environmental data and earth occupation and vegetation coverage maps appropriately to the management processes of groundwater and the proposition of water users rights in the Federal District, Brazil. By the integration of the digital thematic maps it was possible to obtain the infiltration and recharge conditions, the maximum capacity of water retention in the soils, the index of water exploitability and the groundwater exploitation favorability conditions. Based on the results and in field observations, there were proposed criteria to the management of groundwater resources of the Federal District.

Distributed query processing in flash-based sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks are used in a large array of applications to capture, collect, and analyze physical environmental data. Many existing sensor systems instruct sensor nodes to report their measurements to central repositories outside the network, which is expensive in energy cost. Recent technological advances in flash memory have given rise to the development of storagecentric sensor networks, where sensor nodes are equipped with high-capacity flash memory storage such that sensor data can be stored and managed inside the network to reduce expensive communication. This novel architecture calls for new data management techniques to fully exploit distributed in-network data storage. This paper describes some of our research on distributed query processing in such flash-based sensor networks. Of particular interests are the issues that arise in the design of storage management and indexing structures combining sensor system workload and read/write/erase characteristics of flash memory.

Acoustical aspects of travel comfort in the aircraft cabin

In several European projects tests were conducted during real flights and in aircraft simulators in order to identify important parameters of travel comfort. Physical environmental, physiological and questionnaire data were measured and investigated with respect to human perception. Besides numerous intrinsic quantities affecting health, well-being and awareness of ambience defined measurable environmental parameters influence flight and cabin crews' as well as passengers' perception, psychology and physiology. Sound and vibration are relevant environmental parameters with impact on passenger and crew. Other important influence is caused by e.g. air quality, pressure, local climate. Statistical analysis of the collected data reveals significant correlations between environment and human response for selected groups of test persons. A specific acoustic comfort is not well defined but part of common well-being and comfort. The demand for a general human response model is discussed, which relates ambience and perception.

Modeling the Selectivity of the Cod-end of a Trawl Using Chaotic Fish Behavior and Neural Networks

Using empirical data of fish performance and physiological limits as well as physical stimuli and environmental data, a cod-end selectivity model based on a chaotic behavior model using the psycho-hydraulic wheel and neural-network approach was established to predict fish escape or herding responses in trawl and cod-end designs. Fish responses in the cod-end were categorized as escape or herding reactions based on their relative positions and reactions to the net wall. Fish movements were regulated by three factors: escape time, a visual looming effect, and an index of body girth-mesh size. The model was applied to haddock in a North Sea bottom trawl including frequencies of movement components, swimming speed, angular velocity, distance to net wall, and the caught-fish ratio; simulation results were similar to field observations. The ratio of retained fish in the cod-end was limited to 37-95% by optomotor coefficient values of 0.3-1.0 and to 13-67% by looming coefficient values of 0.1-1.0. The selectivity curves generated by this model were sensitive to changes in mesh size, towing speed, mesh type, and mesh shape.

多点水位ハイドログラフを用いた新しい流量推定法の水内川への適用

A new estimation method of discharge hydrograph during floods, which numerically solves the shallow water equations using multipoint water level hydrographs, is applied to a flood in the Minochi river. The physical environmental data of the river is so limited that topographical surveying using GPS, total stations and 3-d terrestrial laser scanning has been carried out along with continuous observation of water levels at several stations. Concurrently a stage-discharge curve in the river reach is produced by 2-d numerical simulations for relatively low and steady flows. The two methods are applied to a flood discharge in 2007 in the river. It is shown that the new discharge estimation method can give discharge hydrograph, whose peak value agrees well with that estimated by the stage-discharge curve.

Dinoflagellates from tropical Brazilian lakes with description of Peridinium brasiliense sp. nova

Characteristics of the algal flora and the water chemical parameters of some tropical lakes in the valley of the Rio Doce (Brazil, Minas Gerais State) were investigated. The collected samples included 9 species of the Dinophyta division. Besides the well known pantropical/temperate taxa two others, Peridinium baliense (considered earlier as narrowly endemic in the Indo-malayan region) and a previously undescribed species was found. These two latter taxa proved to be subdominant in the plankton samples. Both taxa are described and illustrated by drawings and light micrographs. The new species shares features with P. baliense, which belongs to the lomnickii section, but has completely different hypothecal plate structure and shows differences in its ecology as well. These differences allow us to conclude that this taxon is a new species, consequently the name P. brasiliense sp. nova is proposed. Although in the taxonomy of freshwater dinoflagellates the hypothecal plate arrangement is usually neglected, our results indicate that taxonomic weight of this feature sometimes might be remarkable. Quantitative analysis of the microvegetation suggests that the large sized dinoflagellates, owing to their capability of active locomotion can be important members of the phytoplankton in stratified tropical lakes. Selected physical and chemical environmental data are presented for the investigated localities.