Preliminary Planning Research Articles

Building Information Modelling Strategies in Sustainable Housing Construction Projects in Malaysia

Building Information Modelling (BIM) plays a very significant role in the construction industry, especially in project management decision-making and data integration efforts during the preliminary planning and design stage. This is aligned with the National Construction Policy (NCP 2030) by the Ministry of Work Malaysia, highlighting that it is timely for the construction industry players to move towards sustainability. BIM must be implemented to ensure the smooth delivery of sustainable housing construction projects in Malaysia due to its critical role in assisting in construction cost optimisation, green building implementation, minimising environmental impact, and waste reduction. However, the BIM implementation rate in Malaysia is still minimal due to the challenges in its execution. Therefore, this paper is aimed to propose BIM’s critical strategies in the development of Malaysian sustainable housing construction projects as envisaged in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). A thorough systematic literature review and questionnaire survey of fifty (50) BIM players in housing construction projects in Malaysia shows that from sixteen (16) BIM strategies, three (3) items are identified as critically important strategies, whereas another five (5) items are identified as important strategies. The outcome of the study shall benefit the construction industry players who are involved in the sustainable housing construction project and mainly drives the Public Work Department (PWD) BIM Strategic Plan 2021–2025, thus supporting the earlier mentioned NCP 2030 agenda by the Ministry of Work Malaysia.

Development of Smart Kiddo Games as an Effort to Improve Physical Motor and Language Abilities in Early Childhood

Sensitive period is when children quickly learn and build mindsets through experiences. This research aims to develop Smart Kiddo Games as an Effort to Improve Physical Motor and Language Ability in Early Childhood. This research is Research and Development using the approaching model developed by Borg & Gall. Starting with a preliminary study, planning, and game product development, continued to the product validation stage (game model) by two material expert validators and two game experts. Product validity analysis using the Aiken formula. Based on the results of the validity test of the assessment instrument by material experts and game experts, all showed results ≥ 0.05 (valid). Thus, it can be concluded that Smart Kiddo Games are appropriate for use in learning as an effort to improve the physical motoric and language abilities of early childhood. Furthermore, it is hoped that it can become one of the most effective and enjoyable early childhood learning strategies, according to the principles and stages of early childhood development.

Sustainable refugee camp design in the Dalhamyie settlement (Bekaa, Lebanon) for climate change context

Emergency shelters are often designed to be of temporary nature but end up adopting a more permanent nature in becoming informal settlements. On one hand, these settlements suffer from the conflicts and environmental pressures. On the other hand, they also bear the inadequacies of services and facilities. This adds to the vulnerability of the refugee population to climatic extremes and environmental extremes along with a low quality of life. The present study aims to identify the pressures both environmental and socio-economic on a refugee camp in the Dalhamyie settlement in Bekaa, Lebanon and design a resilient model which address both internal and external risks. We propose a master plan as a suggested guideline representing a preliminary design umbrella plan that may be updated and altered depending on the population of the community, the site's limitations, and the general availability of resources. To help the local refugees become more resilient and self-sufficient in times of crisis, recommendations are here presented are not strict structural plans but rather a strategic, data-driven collection of actions. With the increasing mental stress that refugees experience, the idea of resilience at all levels is needed to lessen and reinforce the constant environmental, physical, and economic threat that they are subjected to. Residential zoning has been detailed out with respect to the form, structure and assembling of components along with cluster planning within the settlement. Recommendations are not a rigid structural plan but a strategic, data driven set of actions that can be implemented by the local refugee community in order to achieve greater resilience and self-sustainability during crisis situations. Such model is applicable with modifications for other emergency settlements also with varying risk factors. The proposed model addresses the challenges and the multiple risks that the people are exposed to present a framework that can lead to better quality of life in temporary settlements. With more climate refugees, conflict driven refugees and internal refugees, absence of such models was a gap and the authors have tried to build the same through one case study.

Geospatial Wildfire Risk Assessment from Social, Infrastructural and Environmental Perspectives: A Case Study in Queensland Australia

Although it is hard to predict wildfires, risky areas can be systematically assessed and managed. Some of the factors for decision-making are hazard, vulnerability, and risk maps, which are the end product of wildfire mapping. This study deals with wildfire risk analysis in Queensland, Australia. A review of the previous studies focusing on each aspect has been done and used with wildfire records from 2011 to 2019 in Queensland, Australia, to compile the required input models to detect risky wildfire regions. Machine learning (ML) methods of Decision Tree (DT) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were used to perform hazard assessment. The reason was to select the most accurate outcomes for the rest of the analysis. Among accuracy assessment techniques, the Area Under Curvature (AUC) method was used to evaluate the hazard maps. Prediction rates of 89.21% and 83.78% were obtained for DT and SVM, respectively. The DT prediction value showed that the DT-hazard map was more accurate than the SVM-hazard map. Vulnerability analysis was implemented by assigning weights to each factor according to the literature. Lastly, in order to create the wildfire risk map, the hazard and vulnerability indices were combined. The risk map showed that particularly dense urbanization regions are under future wildfire risk. To perform preliminary land use planning, this output can be used by local governmental authorities.

A Low-Cost, DIY Ultrasonic Water Level Sensor for Education, Citizen Science, and Research

A low-cost (~$100), do-it-yourself (DIY) ultrasonic water level sensor/datalogger has been designed, constructed, and tested for use in education, citizen/community science, and research settings. The sensor package comprises an ultrasonic distance sensor, a microcontroller running Arduino firmware, a micro-SD card for datalogging, a real-time clock for timekeeping and sleep functions, and an OLED screen for real-time display. Electronics are housed in low-cost custom containers using either upcycled plastic containers or laser-cut acrylic. Reported ultrasonic sensor accuracy is 5 cm across a range of 15–645 cm, with an estimated power budget of 76 days of operation on a rechargeable 10 amp-hr battery. The DIY sensor has been field tested alongside two commercial sensors for 18 days in Wilmington, North Carolina, including during Tropical Storm Colin, with all sensor measurements in close agreement (e.g., root mean squared error of 1.5 cm between the DIY sensor and a proven commercial unit). Potential applications, design and construction, and deployment recommendations for the sensors are described, as well as simple and inexpensive modifications to the sensor and its packaging that could further improve performance. Preliminary lesson plans written to accompany the device for high school- and undergraduate-level educational projects are available.

Research on Digital Twin Technology and Application in Campus

With the continuous development of the science and technology, driven by the emerging industrial information systems and industrial intelligence, the digital twin technology has become a new research hotpot. In view of this, the basic concepts, application prospects, technical connotations and development trends of digital twin technology, as well as the existing preliminary research plans and the phased achievements are reviewed. The digital twin technology system, key technologies, development trends and technical challenges in the field of campus oriented intelligent operation and maintenance are summarized. It is expected to provide some references for the application of digital twin technology in campus.

РАЗРАБОТКА МЕТОДИКИ ПРИНЯТИЯ РЕШЕНИЙ ПРИ ПЛАНИРОВАНИИ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ РАБОТ ПО РЕМОНТУ ПРОМЫСЛОВЫХ ТРУБОПРОВОДОВ

The authors explore the topic of accident rates in field pipelines. To increase the efficiency of using the results of inline diagnostics, the authors have developed a decisionmaking technique that, based on an analysis of identified defects, allows one to identify the most suitable type of repair, including taking into account their relative position. The use of the methodology in preliminary planning of work makes it possible to optimize the schedule of repair work and reduce the cost of operating pipelines.

Development of Hypertext-Based Teaching Materials in Curriculum and Learning Courses during the Covid-19 Pandemic

This study aims to develop hypertext-based teaching materials during the Covid-19 pandemic so that they can effectively improve learning outcomes for Curriculum and Learning courses. The development of teaching materials follows the steps of developing the Rowntree model with the stages of preliminary research, development planning, validation, evaluation and revision (expert judgment review, face to face, filed test), and implementation. The value of product development obtained from the review of material experts is 3.12, instructional design experts are 3.68, and design and layout experts are 3.72. The average results obtained from the face to face and field tests are 3.55. At the implementation stage, the results of the pretest showed a value of 65.5 and the results of the posttest showed a value of 82.7. This shows that the product development of hypertext-based teaching materials is feasible to use and can effectively improve learning outcomes for Curriculum and Learning courses.

ARCHAEOLOGY AS A SPECIALIZED FIELD OF TRANSLATION: A PRELIMINARY LESSON PLAN IN TERMINOLOGY TRANSLATION PRACTICE

This study focuses on relations between archaeology as a specialized field of translation and Translation Studies as an interdisciplinary area and draws a framework for a preliminary lesson plan in terminology translation practice through a text that will allow Translation Studies students to get acquainted with term translation strategies in a specialized translation course on archaeology. This study consists of three parts. In the first part, interdisciplinary aspects of translation studies are analyzed from the perspective of different turns in translation research. In the second part, approaches to archaeology texts in translation studies and thoughts on translation practice in this field are brought forward, while the potential uses of a text in archaeology for a specialized translation course are evaluated in the third part. In the study, it has been concluded that background knowledge and terminology translation practice in archaeology texts have the potentials to improve students’ awareness with regards to translation of other specialized texts and to enhance their perspectives on other cultures in the world.

ASSESSMENT OF LAND RESOURCES OF THE ZHAMBYL REGION AS THE BASIS OF RECREATION DEVELOPMENT AND FOOD SECURITY OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

The article presents the scientific results of a study for the assessment of agricultural land in Zhambyl region of the Republic of Kazakhstan based on field studies in 2020-2021 and modern GIS technologies. The purpose of the study of the article is a comprehensive assessment of land resources used for agricultural production in Zhambyl region, identifying the prevailing areas of agricultural land, irrigated and rainfed pastures by administrative districts of the region. In the course of the scientific study, proven Kazakhstani methods of assessing the state of agricultural land, successfully applied to the arid agricultural regions of Kazakhstan, as well as methods of geographical and agricultural sciences for land analysis and calculation according to the structure of use, were used. Based on the statistical data of the Committee of Land Resources and preliminary regional plans, a map of the land fund of the Zhambyl region by land categories was created. The results of the study allow business entities, especially farms, to organize the rational use of irrigated lands, including pastures and hayfields, including the sustainability and profitability of agricultural production, as well as successfully develop agro-landscape tourism.

The landscape of Route 854 in Israel's Galilee: Integrating nature, construction, and art in the service of a national project

The article unfolds a micro-narrative historical case study that explores the process of building Route 854 and the intricate relations between landscape architecture and highway design. Employing a critical-historical inquiry based on a qualitative discourse and extensive archival research, it examines a process of planning, design, and construction over two decades, from 1976 to 1996. In the context of national development and the state's roads network, the emergence of environmental awareness, and the expansion of landscape architecture's disciplinary boundaries, the article addresses four themes: statutory and preliminary planning; landscape architecture and hardscapes; softscapes and vegetation design; the joint work of environmental artists and landscape architects in quarries rehabilitation. Revealing Route 854 as a milestone in Israeli highway-landscape planning, the article articulates the key role of landscape architects in landscape rehabilitation, their mediating position between planning agencies and the environmentalists, and between associated disciplines, including planning, engineering, design, art, and environmental activism.

Decolonization of Digital Learning Spaces: It’s Not About Knowing More but Knowing Better

Working alongside members of communities who are remote and/or marginalized from the dominant socio-economic powers, the long-term goal of the Decolonisation of Digital Learning Spaces project is to empower communities in choosing, adopting, developing, and/or appropriating culturally appropriate and sustainable digital learning technologies. Before we can co-envision useful options, however, we must first know what questions to ask and how to ask. It is necessary, therefore, to find appropriate, efficient, and innovative approaches to better understand community needs and values. This paper describes the preliminary planning of the research project in creating an international network of community members, activists, and researchers, and in identifying and testing methods for eliciting needs, values, and ways of understanding the world. Selected methods must allow the researchers to step outside their own pre-conceived understandings to avoid dominating or imposing meaning upon the participants’ understandings. In this presentation, we describe: a) the goals and concerns that were the impetus for the project, b) the nascent network, c) potential knowledge elicitation methods, and d) the repeated single-criterion card sort method as the first method that will be piloted. This deceptively simple method allows research participants to use their own words to express their conceptualizations thereby reducing the influence of the researcher upon participants’ mental model and values.

Rapidly accelerated development of neutralizing COVID-19 antibodies by reducing cell line and CMC development timelines.

Since the Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19) outbreak, unconventional cell line development (CLD) strategies have been taken to enable development of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)-neutralizing antibodies at expedited speed. We previously reported a novel chemistry, manufacturing, and control (CMC) workflow and demonstrated a much-shortened timeline of 3-6 months from DNA to investigational new drug (IND) application. Hereafter, we have incorporated this CMC strategy for many SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibody programs at WuXi Biologics. In this paper, we summarize the accelerated development of a total of seven antibody programs, some of which have received emergency use authorization approval in less than 2 years. Stable pools generated under good manufacturing practice (GMP) conditions consistently exhibited similar productivity and product quality at different scales and batches, enabling rapid initiation of phase I clinical trials. Clones with comparable product quality as parental pools were subsequently screened and selected for late-stage development and manufacturing. Moreover, a preliminary stability study plan was devised to greatly reduce the time required for final clone determination and next-generation sequencing-based viral testing was implemented to support rapid conditional release of the master cell bankfor GMP production. The successful execution of these COVID-19 programs relies on our robust, fit for purpose, and continuously improving CLD platform. The speed achieved for pandemic-related biologics development may innovate typical biologics development timelines and become a new standard in the industry.

Research on the Investment Value of the Healthcare Industry: Analysis of Azenta, Universal Health Services, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Nowadays, investors pay more attention to investing in different fields in order to generate significant value. There are numerous sectors in the stock market that have different characteristics, but it is obvious that there would be a shift, no matter good or bad, happening in the healthcare sector during the pandemic period. By collecting data of multiple ratios and factors from professional statistics websites including Yahoo Finance and Macrotrends, this paper focuses on three leading stocks in the healthcare sector by analyzing the risk, profitability, and investment value to produce a suitable investment strategy during post-covid-19 for the three stocks, thus applying it to the whole healthcare sector. The result shows that the healthcare sector, especially some fields in it, is worthy to invest. This paper provides a very distinct representation of stock analysis based on rigorous statistics, thereby the investors can come up with a preliminary investment plan for the present healthcare stock market. This paper will be an elementary analysis of healthcare in the US stock market today and provide valuable suggestions for investors.

A Study on the Preliminary Plan for Environmental Health in Seoul, Korea.

In the Republic of Korea, the Environmental Health Act was amended in January 2021, making it mandatory for each local government to establish a plan for environmental health. Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) must establish the Local Plan for Environmental Health (LPEH) to protect citizens' health from environmental hazards. The plan would support existing environmental health policies in Seoul to improve population health and achieve their goals. As a proof-of-concept to establish the LPEH, we developed a preliminary plan for environmental health in Seoul. We analyzed environmental health conditions of Seoul, identified driving conditions for execution of environmental health policies, set basic policy directions, and identified tasks needed to establish the preliminary plan. As a result, we established the vision and the goals of the preliminary plan. The vision is "a safe Seoul environment, healthy citizens". The strategies are "active monitoring of environmental health issues", "minimization of health damage and meticulous and systematic response", and "building a foundation for environmental health". To achieve the vision and the goals, we developed three strategies, eight tasks, and 25 sub-tasks. Under the preliminary plan we developed, we expect that SMG is able to protect citizens' health from threats of environmental hazards; improve environmental health conditions, especially in susceptible populations such as infants; and promote environmental justice.

Practical remote sensing data analysis for efficient geological field mapping: An example from the southwest portion of the Three Peaks 7.5ʹ quadrangle, southwest Utah

ABSTRACT We present the results of remote sensing analysis of U.S. Geological Survey digital elevation models, Landsat spectral data, and National Agriculture Imagery Program orthophotos to generate a preliminary geologic map that significantly aided our boots-on-the-ground geologic mapping of the southwest portion of the Three Peaks 7.5ʹ quadrangle in southwest Utah. Sedimentary rocks, intrusive rocks, and a variety of geologic contacts, including unconformities and faults, as well as unconsolidated alluvium are recognized in the study area. We constructed a series of geologic maps using remote sensing data and analysis techniques that are readily available to geoscientists. These techniques include band-ratioing, random forest analysis, and these analyses. Resolution of the resulting geologic maps generated by random forest analysis and principal component analysis were greatly improved by incorporating both the high resolution orthophoto and the 1/3 arc second digital elevation model into the principal component analysis. Our final remotely sensed geologic map integrated results from each technique. We used this remotely sensed geologic map to develop our preliminary plan for the field campaign. We preselected high priority targets (e.g., previously unrecognized units and faults) for in-person field analysis. We also identified highly accessible areas that allowed for efficient use of in-person field time needed for evaluation of large areas covered by relatively homogeneous units. The authors spent 25 days in the field over a seven-week field season, mapping the same area. Here, we compare the remote-sensed geologic maps with the final in-person field checked geologic map and discuss the utility of remote sensing data for detailed geologic field investigations. Preparing a remote sensing geologic map prior to field work has several advantages, including identification of mappable units, recognition of geologic contacts, and selection of priority target areas for direct evaluation of hypothesized field relationships, thereby promoting more efficient geologic mapping.

ЗАГАЛЬНІ ВИМОГИ ДО ПОБУДОВИ ТА ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ГІБРИДНИХ МІКРОСИСТЕМ В РОЗПОДІЛЬНИХ МЕРЕЖАХ

The article substantiates the expediency of forming hybrid microgrids that can be integrated into a centralized power supply system or operate autonomously in order to expand the use of renewable energy sources and prevent their possible negative impact on electrical network modes. A two-level approach to managing the operation of a hybrid microgrid is proposed, which involves a preliminary planning stage based on forecasted loads, output power of renewable generation sources, market price of electric energy, and a stage of operational control based on data obtained in real time. A number of objective functions and constraints are proposed to solve the task of optimal planning of the operation of a hybrid microgrid as a multicriteria problem. At the same time, the possibility of transforming this problem into a monocriteria one is substantiated. An analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of each of the proposed approaches was carried out. Ref. 12.

Berth planning and real-time disruption recovery: a simulation study for a tidal port

With the increasing volume of container freight transport, future port planning is crucial. Simulation models provide a means to gain insight in the effects of terminal expansions. Detailed simulations incorporate berth allocation: assigning vessels a time and location at the quay wall, where the vessel is loaded and unloaded. This article develops decision models for both offline preliminary berth planning and for online recovery of this plan during simulation. First, we develop an optimisation-based approach that incorporates realistic aspects—cyclic vessel arrivals, tidal windows, and minimisation of vessel draught during low water periods—in order to develop a cyclic baseline berth allocation plan. The approach can proactively incorporate slack for increased robustness. Exploiting a constraint-based solver, we can obtain optimal or satisficing solutions for a year’s operation of a large port. The resulting preliminary berth plan is used as a basis for the arrival times. However, disruptions can occur, such as vessel arrival and loading times varying from the planned. Hence, second, we develop a real-time disruption management decision model. This multi-level heuristic approach reacts to disruptions while minimising perturbation of the original berth plan. Computational experiments with a high-resolution simulator show our recovery approach finds good solutions until a tipping point of disturbance. Results also show that when the expected occupation of a terminal is higher, strengthening robustness of the preliminary plan has increased importance. The approach described in the article is implemented for a major European inland tidal port, forming the basis of a simulation-based decision support tool for operational planning and exploring port expansion options.

Decolonization of Digital Learning Spaces: It’s Not About Knowing More but Knowing Better

Working alongside members of communities who are remote and/or marginalized from the dominant socio-economic powers, the long-term goal of the Decolonisation of Digital Learning Spaces project is to empower communities in choosing, adopting, developing, and/or appropriating culturally appropriate and sustainable digital learning technologies. Before we can co-envision useful options, however, we must first know what questions to ask and how to ask. It is necessary, therefore, to find appropriate, efficient, and innovative approaches to better understand community needs and values. This paper describes the preliminary planning of the research project in creating an international network of community members, activists, and researchers, and in identifying and testing methods for eliciting needs, values, and ways of understanding the world. Selected methods must allow the researchers to step outside their own pre-conceived understandings to avoid dominating or imposing meaning upon the participants’ understandings. In this presentation, we describe: a) the goals and concerns that were the impetus for the project, b) the nascent network, c) potential knowledge elicitation methods, and d) the repeated single-criterion card sort method as the first method that will be piloted. This deceptively simple method allows research participants to use their own words to express their conceptualizations thereby reducing the influence of the researcher upon participants’ mental model and values.

Landscape architecture design as an art creative practice: A studio teaching model

Landscape Architecture is defined as a blend of art and science. However, it has been acknowledged that configuration of design forms, which is related to spatial composition and element forms is the most challenging design aspect that the students face in learning the design process in the basic design course. This is not the case for the scientific aspects where students can establish their ability and confidence in learning landscape technical issues and functional requirements. This paper discusses the outcomes of the first Landscape Architecture Design Studio at the Department of Landscape Architecture at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), which represents the first foundation stone for Landscape Architecture design education. The Landscape Architecture Studio has examined the role of creative practice in art plays in the landscape architecture design process in the light of Zangwill’s Aesthetic Creation Theory (ACT), and following the Form-Based Design (FBD) approach process defined by Stefano Fillipi. In this studio, students were asked to design a private garden related to, hypothetically, an artist’s family house. Based on the FBD approach, each student chose a specific modern artist, supposedly owning the garden house, and studied his artistic principles of forms, patterns, colours and composition, and used them as an inspiration for their own art paintings. The students’ art pieces acted as the basis for conceptualising their design preliminary plans and 3D images. As a result of this studio, students showed a great interest in the studio artistic approach, and demonstrated a significant ability to translate the artistic principles and qualities existing in creative painting successfully into their landscape architecture design. At the end of the teaching process, a reflective student survey feedback from instructors indicated that students had learned about the aesthetic creative approach and were able to understand the role non-aesthetic properties played into manifesting the design aesthetic quality.