bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Liebeslyrik und Biedermeierprosa: Bürgerliche Familienkonzepte bei Betty Paoli (1814–1894)
Authors: Wozonig Karin S.
Published: April 2015

This article deals with different representations of bourgeois family concepts in the work of the Austrian writer Betty Paoli (pseudonym of Elisabeth Glück, 1814–1894). In her poetry Paoli follows a late Romantic individualism and anticipates the cult of the genius as well as Weltschmerz poetry, which allows her to create a passionate and occasionally exuberant female lyrical “I,” a voice rarely heard in the love poetry of the time. Although Paoli stresses individual freedom and autonomy in her poems and therefore challenges the female gender role and hierarchic relationships, her prose is characterized by an affirmative account of bourgeois family concepts and emphasizes the significance of the prevalent family narrative. An analysis of some of Paoli’s early poetry, two novellas, and her only novel demonstrates the significance of literature in the construction and undermining of the socio-historical concept of bourgeois family, a vital part of the self-image of the nineteenth-century middle class.
“Das Schreckliche Ist Schon Schrecklich Genug”: Predators, Power, and Patriarchy in Three Contemporary Austrian Works
Authors: Souchuk Anna C.
Published: April 2015

Linda Stift’s novel Kein einziger Tag and Markus Schleinzer’s film Michael both emerged in 2011 with a common theme: the protagonist in each has a prisoner locked in his basement. Reviews of both works drew immediate parallels to the Austrian Kampusch and Fritzl cases. Meanwhile, Elfriede Jelinek’s Im Verlassenen (2008) uses the Fritzl story to instigate a critique of power structures in Austrian society. Taken together, all three texts use the basement and the predator as devices to comment on the nature of evil, patriarchy in Austria, and the media and its audience.
Anti-Court Satire, Religious Polemic, and the Many Faces of Antichrist: An Intertextual Reading of Donne’s “Satyre 4” and Spenser’s Faerie Queene
Authors: DiPasquale Theresa M.
Published: April 2015

Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene and John Donne’s “Satyre 4” are related in several ways; both works critique the vices of the Elizabethan court, both feature a putatively virtuous individual’s morally compromising sojourn at court, both explicitly address the didactic function of poetry, and both—according to Joseph Wybarne’s The New Age of Old Names (1609)—portray the Antichrist in terms that evoke Roman Catholic polemical writing. These points of intertextual correspondence invite a reading of Donne’s “Satyre 4” that explores the images, narrative details, and thematic emphases shared by Donne’s poem and specific episodes in Spenser’s allegory: Redcrosse’s battle with Errour and his visit to the House of Pride in book 1 and the defeat of Malengin in book 5. Wybarne’s commentary, which links Spenser’s and Donne’s works to the writings of the Counter-Reformation polemicist Fr. Nicholas Sander, helps to establish an early seventeenth-century reader’s perspective on these texts’ relationships to one another and facilitates new insights into Donne’s satirical agenda.
Turning the Tables: Richard Crashaw Reads the Protestant Altar
Authors: Perry Nandra
Published: April 2015

This article contextualizes Richard Crashaw’s epigram “Blessed be the paps which thou hast sucked” within a contemporary debate about the proper role of ceremony in Protestant worship. More specifically, it identifies the scandalous feeding celebrated in the epigram with a pamphlet war raging in the mid- to late 1630s over the naming and placement of the altar. Far from articulating a clear “Laudian” position, Crashaw’s imaginative invocation of Luke 11:27–28 exposes and explodes the shared hermeneutic underlying both pro-altar and pro-table arguments. Crashaw’s poetic interrogation of the depth/surface hermeneutic informing the altar debate historicizes the affiliation between “literary” and “sacramental” habits of reading.
“All that appears most casuall to us”: Fortune, Compassion, and Reason in Lucy Hutchinson’s Exploratory Providentialism
Authors: Patrick Patricia
Published: April 2015

In a project so committed to locating God’s providential care as Lucy Hutchinson’s Memoir of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson , her use of fortune seems out of place. This article argues, however, that this term characterizes Hutchinson’s engagement with a wide-ranging intellectual culture and with her experience of adversity. Her terminology represents an exploratory and charitable attempt to fathom the workings of providence.
“A Mastery in Fooling”: Marvell, the Mock-Book, and the Surprising Life of “Mr. Bayes”
Authors: Augustine Matthew C.
Published: April 2015

Since the publication of Marvell’s prose works a decade ago, our understanding of Marvell’s place within Restoration debates over political theology has been richly extended and deepened. This article focuses new attention on the literary significance of Marvell’s controversial prose for the early eighteenth century. Students of Swift have long known that Swift turned to Marvell’s satire The Rehearsal Transpros’d as a model for A Tale of a Tub . In this essay I suggest a much wider debt to Marvell among eighteenth-century satirists than has so far been acknowledged. Not only did Marvell’s character “Mr. Bayes” provide a template for images of the mad, Modern author in the works of Scriblerian “wits” and Grub Street “dunces,” but also, Marvell’s fooling with the nature of the book, I argue, hints at a vital link with the materialist poetics of The Dunciad . This essay thus discovers some novel points of contact between the murky world of Restoration controversy and the “golden age of satire” in England.
An English Source for a Latin Text?: Wind Prognostication in Oxford, Bodleian, Hatton 115 and Ashmole 345
Authors: Cesario Marilina
Published: April 2015

This article focuses on a type of prognostication that bases its predictions on the behavior of the wind during the twelve nights of Christmas and in particular on the relationship between the Old English version in Oxford, Bodleian, Hatton 115, and a fourteenth/fifteenth-century English text in Latin of the same prognostication, which appears in Oxford, Bodleian, Ashmole 345, fol. 69r. The wind prognostication in Ash-mole 345 is remarkably similar to the twelfth-century OE version in Hatton 115, fol. 149v, to the extent that one might be tempted to argue for direct transmission, if it were not for the large temporal gap between the two manuscripts and for the fact that the two texts are being transmitted in two different languages. Interestingly the Latin text in A contains an Old English word that may make us reconsider the relationship between the two manuscripts and may shed light on the reception and transmission of Old English and prognostication by the wind between the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries in English monastic centers.
The Tactful Genius: Abiding the End in the Confessio Amantis
Authors: Beer Lewis
Published: April 2015

This article argues that John Gower’s Confessio Amantis is a coherent poem, that its bleak conclusion is inevitable, and that the exemplary moral tales in the main body of the poem work to anticipate and prepare the ground for that conclusion. In support of this argument, I analyze a sequence of tales from book 5—the tales of Echo, Babio and Croceus, Adrian and Bardus, and Theseus and Ariadne—in order to show how they function on multiple levels. Ostensibly, they warn against sins of which the hapless Amans is not guilty (and which he accuses his lady of having committed herself); on a deeper level, and with the help of tactful hints from Genius, they warn Amans of the dangers to which his unrequited love may expose him, and of its inevitable end-point. In advancing these claims, I contest the views of scholars who have argued for the Confessio ’s incoherence, or for a more optimistic view of Genius’s advice to Amans, and suggest that coming to terms with the poem’s coherence and bleakness enhances our appreciation of its subtlety and profundity.
Constant-stress partially accelerated life tests for inverted Weibull distribution with multiple censored data
Authors: Hassan Amal S. , Assar Salwa M. , Zaky Ahmed N.
Published: April 2015

Testing the lifetime of items under normal use condition often requires a long period of time, especially for products having high reliability. To minimize the costs involved in testing without reducing the quality of the data obtained, the items run at higher than usual level of stresses to induce early failures in a short time. This article concerns with constantâ€“stress partially accelerated life test with multiple censored data. The life time of test item is assumed to follow inverted Weibull distribution. Maximum likelihood estimates are obtained for the model parameters and acceleration factor. In addition, asymptotic variance and covariance matrix of the estimators is given. The confidence intervals of the unknown parameters and acceleration factor are constructed for large sample sizes. Simulation studies are performed to investigate the performance of the estimators.
A Case of Rupioid Syphilis Masquerading as Aggressive Cutaneous Lymphoma
Authors: Braue Jonathan , Hagele Thomas , Yacoub Abraham Tareq , Mannivanan Suganya , Glass Frank , Sokol Lubomir , Greene John Norman
Published: April 2015

Secondary syphilis has been known since the late 19th century as the great imitator; however, some experts now regard cutaneous lymphoma as the great imitator of skin disease. Either disease, at times an equally fastidious diagnosis, has reported to even mimic each other. It is thus vital to consider these possibilities when presented with a patient demonstrating peculiar skin lesions. No other manifestation of secondary syphilis may pose such quandary as a rare case of rupioid syphilis impersonating cutaneous lymphoma. We present such a case, of a 36-year-old HIV positive male, misdiagnosed with aggressive cutaneous lymphoma, actually exhibiting rupioid syphilis thought secondary to immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS).
AGE-STANDARDIZED INCIDENCE RATES FOR LEUKEMIA ASSOCIATED WITH CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGES IN 68 COUNTRIES, AN ECOLOGICAL STUDY
Authors: Saadat Mostafa
Published: April 2015

Consanguineous marriage which defines as a union between biologically related persons has a variety of known deleterious correlations with factors that affect public health within human populations. To investigate the association between mean of inbreeding coefficient (a) and incidence of leukemia, the present ecological study on 67 countries was carried out. Statistical analysis showed that the age-standardized incidence rate of leukemia positively correlated with log10GNI per capita (r=0.693, df=65, P<0.001) and negatively correlated with log10a (r=-0.599, df=65, P<0.001). After controlling for log10GNI per capita, significant negative correlation between log10a and the age-standardized incidence rate of leukemia was observed (r=-0.386, df=64, P<0.001). The countries were stratified according to their GNI per capita, low and high income countries with GNI per capita less than and more than 10,000$, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that in high income countries, after controlling for log10GNI per capita, correlation between the age-standardized incidence rate of leukemia and log10a was still significant (r=-0.600, df=36, P<0.001). It should be noted that there was no significant association between the age-standardized mortality rate due to leukemia and log10a (P>0.05). The present finding indicating that the age-standardized for incidence rate of leukemia is lower in countries with high prevalence of consanguineous marriages.
DISSEMINATED HISTOPLASMOSIS IN IMMUNOCOMPETENT INDIVIDUALS- NOT A SO RARE ENTITY
Authors: De Dibyendu , Nath Uttam Kumar
Published: April 2015

Introduction:Histoplasmosis is a rare fungal disease caused by dimorphic fungi Histoplasma capsulatum. The causative fungus is present in soil, infects through inhalation and manifests in three main types-acute primary, chronic cavitary and progressive disseminated Histoplasmosis. Disseminated Histoplasmosis (DH) is defined as a clinical condition where fungus is present in more than one location. Among the forms of histoplasmosis, DH is the rarest and generally found in immune-compromised individual.Here we are presenting our experiences of the series of cases of Disseminated Histoplasmosis in immune-competent individuals who have been diagnosed in our institute in last 5 years.Materials and methods:This is a single centre retrospective observational study, from May 2009 to April 2014. Only cases with Disseminated Histoplasmosis in otherwise healthy immune-competent individuals were included in the study. The Histoplasmosis is confirmed by either presence of Histoplasma in biopsy specimen from extra-pulmonary organ or by positive growth in fungal cultureResult:Total seven patients met the inclusion criteria. Five out of 7 patients were male. The mean age was 35 years. Five of the 7 patients presented with fever for long duration. Six patients complained of significant weight loss before diagnosis. On examination, one patient had skin nodules, five patients had hepato-splenomegaly, and two patients had lymphadenopathy.The laboratory investigation revealed anaemia in six out of 7 patients, and pancytopenia in 3 patients. Two patients had features of hemophagocytic syndrome in the bone marrow.All of the patient had undergone treatment with conventional amphotericine B  deoxy-cholate and azole antifungal. One patient with adrenal involvement died in hospital. The patient with skin nodule had recurrent relapses. The other patients had resolution of symptoms and clinically cured.Conclusion:Disseminated Histoplasmosis is not an uncommon etiology of fever of prolonged duration even in immuno-competent individual, and should be kept as a differential diagnosis. Targeted investigation with early bone marrow biopsy and fungal culture may help in diagnosis of DH. Imaging study to exclude adrenal involvement prevents case fatality in DH. Cytopenia may be due to secondary hemophagocytic syndrome, which improves with anti-fungal therapy. Treatment with either amphotericine B or itraconazole gives excellent outcome, though therapy may have to given for prolonged period in case of relapses.
PERCEPTION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE WORKERS ABOUT PATIENTS WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE AFTER AN EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION
Authors: Xavier Gomes Ludmila Mourão , Viana Marcos Borato , Pereira Igor Alcântara
Published: April 2015

Introduction.Despite advances in the management of sickle cell disease, gaps still exist in the training of primary health care professionals for monitoring patients with the disease. Objective. To assess the perception of community health care workers about the care and monitoring of patients with sickle cell disease after an educational intervention.Method. This exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative study was conducted in Montes Claros, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The intervention involved the educational training of community health care workers from the Family Health Program of the Brazilian Unified Health System. The following discussion topics were covered: assessment of educational workshops, changes observed in the perception of professionals after training, profile of home visits, and access to and provision of basic health care services to individuals with sickle cell disease. The discussions were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were subjected to content analysis and empirically organized into two categories.Results.Changes in the health care practices of community health workers were observed after the educational intervention. The prioritization of health care services for patients with sickle cell disease and monitoring of clinical warning signs in health care units were observed. Furthermore, changes were observed in the profile of home visits to patients, which were performed using a script provided in the educational intervention.Conclusion.The educational intervention significantly changed the work process of community health workers with regard to patient monitoring in primary health care.
EFFECT OF NEBULIZED COLISTIN ON THE VENTILATOR CIRCUIT: A PROSPECTIVE PILOT CASE-CONTROL STUDY FROM A SINGLE CANCER CENTER
Authors: Ghonimat Iyad M , Nazer Lama H , Aqel Flsteen , Mohammad Mohammad K , Hawari Feras I , Le Jennifer
Published: April 2015

Nebulized colistin (NC) is used for the treatment of pneumonia due to multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. In this one-year case-control study, our objective was to evaluate the effect of NC on the ventilator circuit (VC) components. The case group consisted of 25 mechanically-ventilated patients who received NC, while the control group was 25 mechanically-ventilated patients who did not receive NC. Respiratory therapists inspected the VC every 4 hrs and whenever a ventilator alarm was reported. The VC component was changed if the alarm did not subside after necessary measures were performed. Patients from both groups were treated at the adult ICU in King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC). In the case group, 22(88%) patients required changing at least one of the circuit components (flow sensor, exhalation membrane, or nebulizer kit). The median number of changes (range) per patient of the flow sensor, exhalation membrane, and nebulizer kit were: 2(1-3), 2(1-6), and 1(1-2), respectively. Large amounts of white crystals, which resembled the colistin powder, were reported on the replaced VC components. The flow sensor was changed in 2 control patients, but white crystals were absent. Crystals obtained from one case subject were confirmed to be colistin by chromatographic mass spectroscopy. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of crystal formation on the efficacy of NC and clinical outcomes.
PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF BRAIN AND ACUTE LEUKEMIA CYTOPLASMIC GENE EXPRESSION IN EGYPTIAN CHILDREN WITH ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA
Authors: Hagag Adel Abd elhaleim
Published: April 2015

Abstract      Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) accounts for 25%-35% of the acute leukemia in children. BAALC (Brain and Acute Leukemia, Cytoplasmic gene) is a recently identified gene on chromosome 8q22.3 that has prognostic significance in AML.  The aim of this work was to study the impact of BAALC gene expression on prognosis of AML in Egyptian children. Patients and methods: This study was conducted on 40 patients of newly diagnosed AML who were subjected to the following: Full history taking, clinical examination, laboratory investigations including: complete blood count, LDH, bone marrow aspiration, cytochemistry and immunophenotyping, assessment of BAALC Gene by real time PCR in bone marrow aspirate mononuclear cells before the start of chemotherapy. Results: BAALC gene expression showed positive expression in 24 cases (60%) and negative expression in 16 cases (40%). Patients who showed positive BAALC gene expression included 10 patients achieved complete remission, 8 patients died and 6 relapsed patients, while patients who showed negative expression include 12 patients achieved complete remission, 1 relapsed patient and 3 patients died. There was significant association between BAALC gene expression and FAB classification of patients of AML patientsas positive BAALC expression is predominantly seen in FAB subtypes M1 and M2 compared with negative BAALC gene expression that was found more in M3 and M4 (8 cases with M1, 12 cases with M2, 1 case with M3 and 3 cases with M4 in positive BAALC expression versus 2 cases with M1, 3 cases with M2, 4 cases with M3 and 7 cases with M4 in BAALC gene negative expression group with significant difference regarding FAB subtypes). As regard age, sex, splenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, pallor, purpura, platelets count, WBCs count, and percentage of blast cells in BM, the present study showed no significant association with BAALC. Conclusion: BAALC expression is an important prognostic factor in AML patients and its incorporation into novel risk-adapted therapeutic strategies will improve the currently disappointing cure rate of this group of patients.
Repeated checking induces uncertainty about future threat
Authors: Giele Catharina L. , Engelhard Iris M. , van den Hout Marcel A. , Dek Eliane C.P. , Damstra Marianne F. , Douma Ellen
Published: April 2015

Studies have shown that obsessive-compulsive (OC) -like repeated checking paradoxically increases memory uncertainty. This study tested if checking also induces uncertainty about future threat by impairing the distinction between danger and safety cues. Participants (n = 54) engaged in a simulated checking task, in which they completed two series of 19 checking trials. The experimental group checked burners on a stove and the control group checked light bulbs. Participants completed two pre-tests (before the first series of checks) and two post-tests (one after the first series of checks, the other after the second series). In these tests, they first checked the stove and answered questions about memory confidence and accuracy. Then one of two conditioned stimuli (CS; i.e., a circle) was presented. A CS+ replaced a burner that was on, and a CS- replaced a burner that had been switched off. During each CS presentation, participants rated their shock (UCS) expectancy and confidence about UCS occurrence. Next, the CS+ was followed by the UCS. Analyses showed that the first series of checks did not affect memory accuracy and UCS expectancy, but did reduce confidence about memory and about UCS occurrence in the experimental group, relative to the control group. The second series of checks did not lead to these group differences, compared to the first series. The results demonstrate that repeated checking increases uncertainty not only about memory, but also about future threat.
Impact of Corporate Governance index on Firm Performance: evidence from Pakistani manufacturing sector
Authors: Javaid Faisal , Saboor Abdul
Published: April 2015

Corporate governance is considered to have significant impact on the growth and development perspective of an economy. Sound corporate governance practices leads the economy towards the achievement of higher performance, provide sources for capital investment by increasing the creditability of shareholders. The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the relationship of corporate governance and firm performance in terms of accounting as well as market performance i.e.to be measured by Return on asset, Return on equity and Tobin’s Q. The theoretical base to conduct the study is the demand of separation of ownership and control characterize as agency theory. The previous studies have yielded inconsistent result. To achieve the purpose 58 manufacturing sector companies were selected listed in the Karachi stock exchange and data was taken from annual reports of the companies for the period of 2009 to 2013. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and regression estimation using pooled, fixed effect, random effect and Hausman specification test were carried out after developing a composite index based on 21 proxies. The result entails that corporate governance index (CGI) and firm performance has positive and significant association but the relationship for each specific index is dependent upon the measure of firm performance. The result also shows that companies having strong corporate governance mechanism has greater chances to acquire finance. The implication of study demands that the reform effort should be directed towards the improvement in internal corporate governance mechanism and regulatory framework for the governance system.
Measuring the health of a city
Authors: Nicol Simon Paul
Published: April 2015

As more cities are built and existing cities and their populations become larger and older, they will become more vulnerable to climate change, infrastructure failure, pollution, overcrowding, and the associated health problems. The challenge for future cities is to gain all the benefits that urban environments offer while reducing and managing potential health and safety problems. For successful cities of the future, one of the major current gaps in knowledge relates to understanding the factors that impact communities in terms of health and well being.
Other attempts have been made to promote the development of healthy cities, and indeed the World Health Organisation has dedicated a programme to this very heading. But there is currently no way of benchmarking, measuring and comparing healthy cities.
This presentation will report on progress with a BRE Trust funded research project that sets out to develop a Healthy Cities Index, which will measure cities against 8 indicators of environmental health and produce an overall score on a scale of 1-100 (with 1 being the worst and 100 being the best). The 8 indicators are: housing and neighbourhood; infrastructure; transport; open space/access to leisure; noise; air quality; safety/security; educational facilities; access to nutrition and clean water; and access to medical support. The housing indicator has been created using existing data sources and mapped against English cities, to prove the concept. The remaining indicators are in the process of being developed for England, before getting adapted to other world cities.
Renewable algal bricks
Authors: Adel Beshara Abdelhamid
Published: April 2015

The construction material industry is responsible for approximately 25% of global CO2 emissions associated with material manufacturing in addition to consumption of significant non-renewable natural resources. Leading environmental and energy guidelines and certification bodies therefore promote the reduction of carbon footprint of the building and the use of a high recycling content in the construction materials.The aim of this research is to tackle the issues of natural resources conservation, carbon footprint of construction materials and waste management by producing a renewable construction brick made from micro algae, with almost 100% renewable and recycled content using a very low energy process.Micro-Algae has a higher yield of oil production than terrestrial crops whilst providing no competition for agricultural land and water. It could be cultivated using seawater and solar heat, the most abundant resources on the planet. This research paper will present a holistic approach (patent pending) to produce the algal bricks which comprise of:Â· The most suitable microalgae species as precursors for the brick manufacturing; Â· Associated oil yields and characteristics; and Â· A novel low energy polymerisation process to produce an engineered brick with variable properties depending on the intended use. Compressive Strengths that could be achieved exceed those of conventional Portland cement concrete.The engineered brick is characterised by a negative carbon footprint, and is manufactured from renewable and recycled feedstock.
The role of rating systems in the development of sustainable urban environments
Authors: Al Nasa'a Rashed
Published: April 2015

Creating sustainable urban environments is one of the biggest challenges that the Middle East will be facing over the coming years. Fueled by an economic boom that adds pressure on available resources, Qatar, like other countries in the region, is at a crossroads to rethink its approach to urban planning and design to create more sustainable built environments on a macro level and redefine the impact of its future cities. First steps have already been taken as part of the country’s ongoing efforts to realize the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.This presentation highlights sustainability rating systems as tools that enable planners and designers to redefine their approach to creating neighborhoods and cities in the Middle East. It examines LEED Neighborhoods and GSAS Districts as two rating systems that are currently applied in Qatar and sheds some light on their structure, scope and application to projects. Comparing both systems reveals unique aspects for each but most importantly highlights important similarities when it comes to defining sustainability on an urban scale. Analyzing both shows the importance of considering a number of key factors that make cities more resilient: buildings, infrastructure, transportation, social and cultural factors, security, the use of natural resources and other important factors. These tools can also provide insight into how well new urban environments would perform, revealing valuable lessons for everyone to learn from.
Technology and performance contracting to retrofit Doha
Authors: Blaschke Charles , Mahboob Mohammed , Burkhardt Chris
Published: April 2015

Insight and live case studies to show performance and actual uses in the field, along with an outline how energy performance contracting, technology and engineering is being applied in the UAE to help the country retrofit 30,000 buildings by 2020 and reduce the countrywide power demand by 30% over the period; and how Doha can reap large energy capacity, generation, distribution and cost savings by implementing policy with targeted goals and enforcement. Insight into how BIM is being used for a variety of energy efficiency, performance contracting and energy management projects to help the energy consumption and demand of the building sector to be reduced by up to 50% shared savings retrofit models that require no capital cost to the owner. It will offer an opportunity to see how building information is helping to streamline work during planning, implementation, documentation and operation of Energy Performance Contracting, commissioning and energy management projects. This includes energy modeling and analysis, visualization, energy reporting, measurement and verification through BIM, while organizing building data of existing buildings. A brief discussion about how building data from existing buildings (drawings, O&M manuals, maintenance logs) can be organized using BIM to better suit facilities managers, owners and operators of buildings.
Neighbourhood Sustainable assessment tools analytical overview
Authors: Sabour Eman Abdel
Published: April 2015

Worldwide recession, rapid increase in energy cost, inefficient use of nonrenewable resources, global climatic changes and pollution are all indicators of a deteriorating built environment. Improving the living conditions in the built environment became essential. To obtain living conditions improvement there has to be balance between the triple bottom lines of sustainability i.e environmental, social & economic bases. .
The aim of this paper is to determine sustainability goals and objectives that are needed to be achieved on the neighborhood scale through discussing the benchmarks set by different sustainability oriented rating systems. There is a number of rating systems in the world for sustainable buildings, but a few have dealt with neighborhood assessment. Neighborhood sustainable assessment tools measure the success in approaching sustainable goals. In this study, five tools from the Gulf region, Europe, Japan, and the United States (Estidama, GSAS, CASBEE, BREEAM and LEED) are selected and analyzed to provide insights on
the current situation; highlight the strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures; and make recommendations for future improvements for the development of local adaptable assessment tools. Using a content analysis, sustainability issues including coverage, pre-requisites, local adaptability, participation, scoring and weighting, reporting, and applicability are discussed in this paper.
The results of this study indicate that most of the tools do not cover social and economic aspects, as well as the main sustainable pillars. There are ambiguities and shortcomings in the weighting, scoring and rating. In most cases, there is no mechanism for local adaptability and participation; only those tools which are embedded within the broader planning framework are doing well with regard to applicability.
Design as tactic: A proposal for Doha’s neighborhoods and their public realm
Authors: Qaddumi Dena , Ahmadi Ameena
Published: April 2015

As the capital of Qatar, Doha is undeniably in a state of profound change. The aspiration to complete significant additions to the built environment in time for the FIFA World Cup in 2022 coupled with the ambitious goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030 promise to continue this state of flux for the better part of the coming decade. Urban practice and research in Doha have been preoccupied with the master planning of new developments, often at the expense of existing neighborhoods and their inherent sustainable elements and character. Even in cases where efforts have been made to emulate ‘traditional’ forms of urbanism it remains to be resolved as to how this relates to traditional ways of living. At the local scale the public realm has often been neglected due to the rapid pace of development and a general prioritization of creating notable architectural objects over the generation of a cohesive and shared space between buildings. As a result, reliance on the automobile increases, personal health decreases, and the quality of social interaction deteriorates. Given this context, this paper proposes the development of an alternative to master planning; one that addresses different scales and is entrepreneurial in nature. The objective is to investigate and demonstrate – through the use of design tactics – a multidisciplinary approach to maximize the potential of Doha neighborhoods potential to become vibrant places with an active public realm that serves the community. With the vision of evolving into integrated sustainable neighborhoods, the focus becomes about creating an appropriate, inclusive, and tangible public realm rather than merely planning it. In this way, design is not just a solution to urban challenges but also a means to identify them, becoming inherent to both research and practice methodologies. The framework to test such an approach would involve identifying a relevant neighborhood, conducting localized spatial analysis; considering stakeholders and actors including governmental, private and community-based ones in all their diversity; designing tactics for developing the public realm and establishing a public platform to participate in such proposals. Ultimately, design tactics should be applied to examine their potential for broader implementation at the level of the city and to evaluate the efficacy of such a methodology.
Energy audit and energy conservation procedures which can be used in retrofitting of buildings
Authors: Muneer Saira
Published: April 2015

This presentation will include energy audit and energy conservation steps and methods. Energy audit presentation will include step by step energy conservation process. Details on retrofitting (energy saving methods and procedures will be included) which can be implemented to achieve the target energy saving and target reduction in carbon emission.The presentation will include following steps in detail.· Energy consumption will be measured in Electrical (KWH), HVAC (BTU), mechanical (m3) and landscape (m3) fields for specific facility.· After careful analysis of these readings in audit report, site visits will be performed to investigate where energy saving procedures can be implemented.· After implementation of energy saving procedures, monitoring will be done to check all the equipments are working properly.· Energy consumption will be measured again in Electrical (KWH), HVAC (BTU), mechanical (m3) and landscape (m3) and compared to the report developed initially. This report will provide saving achieved by implementing energy saving techniques.
Evidence-based design towards sustainable school clinic
Authors: Obeidat Islam M , Odwan Montaha
Published: April 2015

It is important to understand the needs of students and nursing staff by engaging them in the sustainable design process of school clinics. Sustainable design of clinics has a long-term impact on nursing staff and patient students care. Moreover, sustainable design plays an important role in the healthcare environments for student patients and nursing staff.The purpose of this study is to create a pleasant and inviting atmosphere for the students as well as for the nurses on staff. Most patients are not happy to go to clinics; hence this sustainable design will create more of a homey feeling than a medical setting. The question presented in this study is whether optimal sustainable design and the physical environment will affect the health, comfort, relaxation and safety of student patients and nursing staff in school clinics.School clinics are there to serve the healthcare needs of students. School nurses are key players in the delivery of health services in the school clinic. Accordingly school clinics should be designed to support the school nurses in meeting patients’ needs . The specific sustainable design elements were determined through a review of related literature.Characteristics included: components (rooms), space, and size; general sustainable design elements; location; accessibility; the waiting area; the nurses office; the treatment room; the isolation area; the restroom (toilet); security, storage, safety elements; furnishings and treatment. Specific sustainable design elements included: lighting; windows; integrating natural elements into the design; promoting a sense of well-being for users; security and privacy; confidentiality elements; electrical elements; doors and signage; walls and ceilings; acoustics; use of color; heating / ventilation / air conditioning; and flooring elements.
The impact of lighting on guests’ perception: symbiosis between hospitality and sustainability in interior design
Authors: MObeidat Islam M , Obeidat Saif
Published: April 2015

The benefits of lighting in hospitality applications have focused on the quantity of light, color quality, perceptions of multi-cultural guests , and the relationship between emotional state and lighting color quality. In turn, lighting in hospitality design involves employing different light levels that work together to highlight unique features and address specific illumination requirements. A good hospitality lighting design should also provide more efficient light sources so that it can translate into savings in terms of money and energy.
The purpose of this report is to address the basics of lighting and hospitality design through studying how lighting can assist in designing hospitality applications, and its effect on guests’ behavior, needs and perception.
This report involves literature review of lighting, hospitality and sustainability in interior design and their impact on guests’ perception. Design project has been used to create a pleasant atmosphere and provide high-quality lighting design in restaurants as it may create positive perception among guests, potentially influencing their well-being.
The results show that lighting in hospitality design is usually required around the clock to help create an environment in which guests feel comfortable and safe.
It has been found that lighting is a critical design element to guests’ sense of autonomy and quality of life. People often use lighting to modify relations between them and the surrounding environment in order to regulate space and behavior. Lighting can be used to break the monotony, and different spaces can be enhanced with lighting concepts. Lighting is to provide comfort, safety, and well-being, which help lessen confusion, stress, and unsafe situations. Guests’ feeling of crowdedness can impact their sense of satisfaction with their environment and the quality of their interactions with others. Lighting influences feelings and behaviors of crowdedness for users in the built environment. Areas without lighting caused slower wayfinding and were less accurate when it came down to pointing visitors to designated places in buildings. Consequently, using lighting in hospitality environments is the impulse to building a relationship between occupants and the physical environment.
Creating a lasting legacy
Authors: Rossetti Matthew
Published: April 2015

Sports facilities are particularly vulnerable to waste and inefficiency, both short term and many years into the future, from their operating systems to poor location to lack of legacy planning after special events are concluded. We believe that new stadiums, properly planned and developed, can be a catalyst to help develop sports in a the Middle East region so that the venue will have a life beyond the special event and have a lasting benefit for people within the community. With the large investments coming in for sports venues, there is even more of a focus into the longevity and legacy of the stadium. To assure that a stadium will have a lasting legacy and purpose, ROSSETTI has a unique approach to right sizing a stadium. This requires a modular component to a stadium, so that after a mega event like the World Cup, a stadium can be sized for the permanent tenant going forward. Return On DesignTM is ROSSETTI’s unique approach to every project generating value-oriented design solutions for our client’s investment. It’s the only tool that takes the guess work out of which upgrades will add value to fans because it’s customized for each individual client’s market, venue, ticket buyers and business goals. The real value is that it quantifies the investment and potential payback down to the dollar. We accomplish this by evaluating the fan and VIP experience, hospitality segmentation, sponsor opportunities and more, to supply value predictions based on hundreds of data sources. This puts into place revenue generating mechanisms into place to secure the financial enhancement of a facility, now and well into the future. While many firms say they do this claim doing that, ROSSETTI is the only firm that has a patented approach with detailed cost metrics from for over 10 years that will predict the return on investments, typically between two to four years. · We’ve worked with ownership at the Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the NBA Detroit Pistons, for over fifteen years on a series of renovations that continue to breathe new life into the arena while increasing revenue generation. · At Daytona International Speedy, sponsorship is critical to the event and venue. Our ‘fan injector’ entrances integrate sponsorship with fan experiences from the approach and throughout the venue. For new venues, Return on DesignTM can be used to develop revenue by planning the proper mix of product programming and sponsor opportunities right from the start. Conducted in the earliest phases, it prioritizes and customizes important design elements. For example, instead of finding walls on which to place LED sponsor boards, we design the sponsor activation experience into the venue. We recognize there is a delicate balance between selecting capital improvements for implementation and forecasting the prospects for generation of new revenue or improved fan and operations experiences. RODTM enables owners to make smarter decisions, resulting in a better experience with a higher return.
Towards a holistic approach to sustainability: Heritage, architecture and culture as tools for assembling identity in Qatar
Authors: A.Alraouf Ali
Published: April 2015

Just a few years ago, Doha, the Qatari capital, was referred to as a “sleepy town” (Lonely Planet, 2008). Nevertheless, as a result of its position in the global energy market, the country is going through massive expansion and has the resources to support this growth. Considering Qatar’s current thrive into a post-oil paradigm where knowledge economy might be the generative force for development, an examination of how the State’s new museums contribute to Qatar’s new vision becomes so relevant. This paper analyzes the process of constructing a new urban brand; Dohaization, and the role of new museums in substantiating such brand and new identity. A quest for identity, in the contemporary moment, implies twofold pursuits. First, it would speak to the locality and relate to the community heritage and roots. Second, it should respect the global aspirations and each city’s compelling desire to accommodate a place on the global stage and to brand itself as a global city attracting tourists, knowledge workers and global citizens. The paper will then exploit the findings of this discussion in the assessment and critical review of the two selected museums MIA and QNM.This paper critically narrates the case of two iconic museums in the contemporary urbanization of Doha. By analyzing the process of constructing a new urban identity for Qatar, the paper examines the role of museums in approaching a new paradigm by moving from consuming old heritage to constructing a new tradition and manufacturing an alternative contemporary heritage. The paper addresses crucial questions such as: What is the relation between building museums and pursuing a future development vision? Can the architecture of museums and urbanization facilitate a different level of community engagement?
Green BIM to achieve Passivhaus in the MENA region
Authors: Ibrahim Mohamed
Published: April 2015

The use of building information modeling (BIM) for green projects is expected to grow very fast enhancing the bond between BIM and green construction. The presentation will discuss how BIM technology can be implemented to achieve green, sustainable and ecological buildings through:· Generating the conceptual model to simulation· Simulating building different masses to get the best environmental results and compare them together· Designing and building alternatives and choosing the best design option· Using different materials to reach Indoor thermal comfortAlso the presentation will discuss how Green BIM can support integrated design in Qatar from the conceptual design stage till the operation stage reaching client satisfaction.The presentation will show examples for environmental analysis and simulations, for wind, heating and cooling studies that were extracted from BIM and how they affected the design in each project stage and through the project lifecycle.