Vital Places Research Articles

Application of flywheel energy storage equipment in vital places

Application of flywheel energy storage equipment in vital places

A Review of Key Factors That Affect University Building Maintenance Costs

As Malaysia continues to focus its efforts on becoming an education hub, universities are vital places where learning processes, teaching and research activities are conducted. A university is a factor of production in producing graduates, and the university buildings are considered to be assets and resources. Hence, to prolong a university building lifecycle to ensure all university activities continue performing at an optimum level, building maintenance management is vital. Despite the fact that several previous studies have been conducted in this area, there continues to be maintenance issues surrounding university buildings. The maintenance of university buildings has always been viewed as an insignificant activity. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to critically review key factors that affected maintenance costs of university buildings, and consequently propose different approaches to resolve this issue. The present paper reviewed related literature from previous studies and publications. As a result of the comprehensive review, it was identified that key factors that affected university building maintenance costs were fund allocations allocated by university management teams for maintenance departments, user behaviours, environmental factors, university design complexities and the quality of components and materials of university buildings. Each factor identified was critically examined and addressed to ensure that university buildings would be well-maintained.

Vital places: Facilitators of behavioral and social health mechanisms in low-income neighborhoods

Starkly unequal built and social environments among urban neighborhoods are part of the explanation for health disparities in the United States. This study is a qualitative investigation of the ways that residents of a low-income neighborhood in Madison, WI, use and interpret nearby neighborhood places. Specifically, I ask how and why certain places may facilitate beneficial behavioral and social mechanisms that impact health. I develop the organizing concept of “vital places”: nearby destinations that are important to and frequently-used by neighborhood residents, and that have theoretical relevance to health. I argue that conceiving of certain places as vital integrates our understanding of the essential components of places that are beneficial to health, while also allowing policy-makers to be creative about the ways they intervene to improve the life chances of residents in disadvantaged neighborhoods. I synthesize the findings into the characteristics of three types of vital places. First, I find that a convenient, comprehensive, and affordable food source can facilitate a healthy diet. An attractive, accessible, and safe recreational facility can support greater physical and social activity. Finally, shared, casual, focused social spaces provide opportunities to create and sustain supportive social ties. This study adds depth and complexity to the ways we conceptualize health-relevant community assets and provides insight into revitalization strategies for distressed low-income housing.

Integrated Expert Recommendation Model for Online Communities

Online communities have become vital places for Web 2.0 users to share knowledge and experiences. Recently, finding expertise user in community has become an important research issue. This paper proposes a novel cascaded model for expert recommendation using aggregated knowledge extracted from enormous contents and social network features. Vector space model is used to compute the relevance of published content with respect to a specific query while PageRank algorithm is applied to rank candidate experts. The experimental results show that the proposed model is an effective recommendation which can guarantee that the most candidate experts are both highly relevant to the specific queries and highly influential in corresponding areas.

Integrated Expert Recommendation Model for Online Communities

Online communities have become vital places for Web 2.0 users to share knowledge and experiences. Recently, finding expertise user in community has become an important research issue. This paper proposes a novel cascaded model for expert recommendation using aggregated knowledge extracted from enormous contents and social network features. Vector space model is used to compute the relevance of published content with respect to a specific query while PageRank algorithm is applied to rank candidate experts. The experimental results show that the proposed model is an effective recommendation which can guarantee that the most candidate experts are both highly relevant to the specific queries and highly influential in corresponding areas.

Wolf (Canis lupus) and elk (Alces alces): The killing of prey

The process of killing of an elk by wolves (from the first grip to death) was investigated. Applying the methodology developed by the author for locating the grips (bites) according to tufts of elk wool cut or torn out by a predator from the prey’s body, the sequence and frequency of grips on the elk body were determined at different stages of the killing process. The greatest number of grips was inflicted to perineum (42.5%), thigh, shin (29.6%), and neck (16.5%), while the least number of grips was made into the belly (3.5%), head (3.5%), breast (2.6%), side (0.9%), and sacrum (0.9%). It was established that, during a killing, predators tended to immobilize the prey and damage the tendons of hind legs or grip vital places. When wolves grip an elk’s breast or neck, large veins or lungs are broken and an air embolism occurs, which causes the blockage of blood vessels and the rapid death of the prey. When killing prey, a pair of wolves (adult male and female) produces fewer grips but damages the vital points, while a family of wolves (pack) injures different parts of the body, making more grips. The latter is associated with the final stage of training the young individuals in killing the prey. This stage was preceded by a training course in hunting small and mid-sized wild and domestic animals. Young wolves first learn to hunt cattle, mostly calves; only after this do they participate in the hunt for elk. General regularities of the killing characteristics of the whole population, pairs, and packs (families) were established.

Sex and the community: the implications of neighbourhoods and social networks for sexual risk behaviours among urban gay men

Gay neighbourhoods have historically served as vital places for gay socialising, and gay social networks are important sources of social support. Yet, few studies have examined the influence of these forms of community on sexual health. Informed by theoretical frameworks on neighbourhoods and networks, we employ multi-level modelling to test hypotheses concerning whether gay neighbourhoods and social network factors are associated with five sexual risk behaviours: receptive and insertive unprotected anal intercourse (UAI), barebacking identity, recent internet use for finding sexual partners, and 'Party and Play' (PnP). Our analyses of a community-based sample of gay men in New York City reveal little evidence for the direct effect of gay enclaves on sexual risk with the exception of PnP, which was more likely among gay enclave residents. Having a network composed predominantly of other gay men was associated with insertive UAI, PnP, and internet use for meeting sexual partners. This network type also mediated the association between gay neighbourhoods and higher odds of insertive UAI as well as PnP. Our findings highlight the sexual health implications of two important facets of gay community and, in doing so, indicate the need to better contextualise the sexual health risks faced by gay men.

Community and Drug Use among Gay Men

Gay neighborhoods serve as vital places for gay men's socializing, yet few studies have examined their contributions to gay men's health-either directly or indirectly via residents' social networks. Drawing from theoretical perspectives on community and networks, we test hypotheses concerning whether gay neighborhoods and social network factors are associated with patterns of recent illicit drug use among a sample of 740 urban gay men from New York City. Higher odds of drug use were observed among individuals who resided in gay neighborhoods, had networks composed predominantly of other gay men, and had increased socialization with gay men. Network factors did not mediate associations between gay neighborhoods and drug use. These findings highlight the need to better contextualize the health risks faced by gay men by accounting for both neighborhood and network structures.