scholarly journals The importance of geotechnical research in building projects: case study sustainable rural housing

Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Uribe ◽  
Juan Serrano-Arellano ◽  
Zaira Betzabeth Trejo-Torres

When conceiving the project of a building, we understand that it will be interacting with the ground through a "soil-structure" system, and that it will be the appropriate interaction between the ground and the foundation that will guarantee functionality and stability from the geotechnical perspective as structural of the project. Today we identify buildings that present problems concerning structural stability due to a deficient geotechnical study that entails a negative impact from the point of view of safety, functionality and economics of the project. The professional in charge to determine the geotechnical conditions of a site is the Geotechnical Engineer or Engineer specializing in Soil Mechanics, in fact, it must be a professional with comprehensive training with knowledge in various disciplines such as geotechnics, structures, foundations and construction. The document with which we base ourselves to establish the guidelines to follow from an analysis and design perspective is the geotechnical study. This document also allows us to understand the possible threats to which the project will be at some point and how to carry out the analysis and design of the buildings, so that they can interact in perfect harmony with their surroundings. By means of a case study concerning the project of a sustainable rural house, we show the stages and elements that make up the report of the geotechnical study that was carried out, indicating the development, analysis and methodology of the study, as well as the various elements that comprise it.

Author(s):  
Benoît Courcelles

To improve the attractiveness of the undergraduate course of Soil Mechanics at Polytechnique Montreal, a new approach relying on the study of the Teton Dam failure from a forensic point of view was introduced in 2012. A course evaluation performed at the end of the session demonstrated that the case study was very interesting to sensitize the students to technical and non-technical aspects, but that the formula was not ideal for active learning. Indeed, the lack of hindsight was not adequate to warranty an active participation of all students. As a consequence, a new version of the case study based on team projects is under development. The paper presents the new case study approach, the methodology and the tools under development to help the students with the case study and finally concludes with the implication of the case study in the formation of future engineers.


2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lubomír Kopeček

This article is a case study of the Green Party in Slovakia. The line of explanation of the party’s trajectory is chronological, from foundation to its present marginal status. The two main causes of repeated internal party splits identified by the article are the influence of nationalism and the party’s relationship to the most important formation in Slovak politics during the 1990s, Vladimír Mečiar’s Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. It, furthermore, points to the barrier of a relatively high clause in the electoral system to national parliament which determined the Greens’ tendency to enter wider coalition partnerships. These partnerships, however, had a negative impact on the long-term perspective on the distinctiveness of the Greens from the point of view of voters. Other important factors in the party’s lack of political success have been their isolation from the environmental movement and the public’s low level of interest in ecological and other post-material issues.


Author(s):  
Awneet Sivia ◽  
Sheryl MacMath

This paper focuses on the divide between the university as a site of teacher education and the profession of practicing teachers. We employed a theoretical inquiry methodology on a singular case study which included formulating questions about the phenomena of the university-profession divide (UPD), analysing constituents of the UPD, and developing a language system to represent our findings about the UPD. The questions guiding our examination were: How do we conceptualize this divide? How are these concepts represented in the literature? How can a Teacher Education Program (TEP) respond to the divide? The theoretical inquiry was conducted within a singular case study of a TEP in order to explore the chasm between these two settings in a limited and focused manner. Our inquiry led to the identification of three key concepts: competing cultures, competing expectations, and theory-practice dichotomy. In analyzing these concepts and responding to questions which drove this inquiry from the beginning, we assert that these concepts contribute to the divide and therefore, have implications for teacher education programming. We summarize findings about these three concepts, suggest causes for the chasm, and offer recommendations to address the divide. Finally, we argue that while it is important to address the divide to enhance teacher education, the divide itself is a potentially rich site of possibilities. We contend that a reconceptualization of the UPD in this way might mitigate its negative impact on teacher education curriculum and programming. Cet article se concentre sur l’écart qui existe entre l’université en tant que lieu de formation des enseignants et la profession d’enseignant en exercice. Nous avons employé une méthodologie d’enquête théorique basée sur une seule étude de cas qui comprenait des questions sur l’écart entre université et profession, l’analyse des composantes de cet écart et le développement d’un système de langue pour représenter nos résultats concernant l’écart entre université et profession. Les questions qui ont guidé notre examen étaient les suivantes : Comment conceptualisons-nous cet écart? Comment ces concepts sont-ils représentés dans les publications? Comment un programme de formation des enseignants peut-il répondre à cet écart? L’enquête théorique a été menée sur une seule étude de cas d’un programme de formation des enseignants afin d’explorer le gouffre qui existe entre ces deux domaines d’une manière limitée et ciblée. Notre enquête a permis d’identifier trois concepts clés : la concurrence entre les cultures, la concurrence entre les attentes et la dichotomie entre théorie et pratique. Suite à l’analyse de ces concepts et aux réponses obtenues aux questions qui étaient à l’origine de cette enquête dès le départ, nous pouvons affirmer que ces concepts contribuent à l’écart et, par conséquent, ont une incidence sur les programmes de formation des enseignants. Nous résumons nos résultats concernant ces concepts, suggérons des raisons à l’origine du gouffre et proposons des recommandations pour remédier à l’écart. Pour finir, nous suggérons que, bien qu’il soit important de remédier à l’écart afin d’améliorer la formation des enseignants, l’écart lui-même est un lieu potentiellement rempli de riches possibilités. Nous soutenons qu’une reconceptualisation de l’écart entre université et profession selon cette manière pourrait mitiger ses effets négatifs sur le curriculum et les programmes de formation des enseignants.


Author(s):  
Małgorzata Jasiulewicz-Kaczmarek ◽  
Patryk Żywica ◽  
Arkadiusz Gola

AbstractDuring the last five decades, manufacturing has radically changed not only due to the technology development but also because of the new market and environmental requirements. Nowadays, companies are focused not only on cost-reduction and effectiveness or realized processes but also on reducing the negative impact on natural and social environment. Therefore, the maintenance is also transforming its role in order to better support value creation, both contributing to the economic dimension as well as extending its care for the environmental and social aspects. The paper presents a new method to solve the problem of the initial maintenance indicator merge into a new synthetic index that allows measuring the level of maintenance sustainability. The proposed approach allows to look at the process of combining indicators from a different perspective (i.e. through interactions between criteria) to help decision-makers in improving economic, social and environmental results of maintenance system. To justify effectiveness of proposed approach, it was applied to Composite Maintenance Sustainability Indicator, which was therefore generalized and expanded, so that it could be used in decision support system. The included case study shows the real benefit of using the proposed approach to analyse the actual results of maintenance system from sustainability point of view and forecasting future actions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4-s) ◽  
pp. 171-176
Author(s):  
Ritwiz Bhardwaj Shukla ◽  
N Ganesh ◽  
M.L. Kori

Cancer radiotherapy and modern synthetic medicine are critical for the treatment of cancer patients, but on the other hand they may have tremendous harmful side effect from the point of view of a weakened immune system. The focus of current research efforts in the industry and academia is not only to find affordable treatment methodologies but also to discover sources that mitigates or prevents the negative impact of these treatments on the patient’s immune system. This review will provide details of optimal methodology involving Invitro application of techniques such as phytochemical analysis, thin layer chromatography, cytogenetic analysis that were adopted to assess the efficacy of Alpinia Zerumbet extracts as a radioprotector. These methodologies provide a holistic evaluation technique for assessing any potential cytoprotective agent, especially if it’s from the herbal domain. As a case study, analytical and inferential results summary of the research conducted to assess radioprotective property of Alpinia Zerumbet, a herbal and readily available derivative, will be presented. The key findings from the research indicate that the Alpinia Zerumbet extract has potential to be an effective radioprotector, with minimal side effects as compared to synthetic chemical cytoprotective agents. Keywords: Radioprotection; cancer; herbal; Alpinia Zerumbet


2019 ◽  
pp. 22-29
Author(s):  
Н. В. Фрадкіна

The purpose and tasks of the work are to analyze the contemporary Ukrainian mass culture in terms of its value and humanistic components, as well as the importance of cultural studies and Ukrainian studies in educational disciplines for the formation of a holistic worldview of modern youth.Analysis of research and publications. Scientists repeatedly turned to the problems of the role of spirituality in the formation of society and its culture. This problem is highlighted in the publications by O. Losev, V. Lytvyn, D. Likhachev, S. Avierintsev, M. Zakovych, I. Stepanenko and E. Kostyshyn.Experts see the main negative impact of mass culture on the quality approach, which determines mass culture through the market, because mass culture, from our point of view, is everything that is sold and used in mass demand.One of the most interesting studies on this issue was the work by the representatives of Frankfurt School M. Horkheimer and T. Adorno «Dialectics of Enlightenment» (1947), devoted to a detailed analysis of mass culture. Propaganda at all socio-cultural levels in the form is similar in both totalitarian and democratic countries. It is connected, according to the authors, with the direction of European enlightenment. The tendency to unify people is a manifestation of the influence of mass culture, from cinema to pop. Mass culture is a phenomenon whose existence is associated with commerce (accumulation in any form – this is the main feature of education), in general, the fact that it exists in this form is related to the direction of the history of civilization.Modern mass culture, with its externally attractive and easily assimilated ideas and symbols, appealing to the trends of modern fashion, becomes a standard of prestigious consumption, does not require intense reflection, allows you to relax, distract, not teach, but entertains, preaches hedonism as the main spiritual value. And as a consequence, there are socio-cultural risks: an active rejection of other people, which leads to the formation of indifference; cruelty as a character trait; increase of violent and mercenary crime; increase in the number of alcohol and drug addicts; anti-patriotism; indifference to the values of the family and as a result of social orphanhood and prostitution.Conclusions, perspectives of research. Thus, we can conclude that modern Ukrainian education is predominantly formed by the values of mass culture. Namely, according to the «Dialectic» by Horkheimer and Adorno, «semi-enlightenment becomes an objective spirit» of our modern society.It is concluded that only high-quality education can create the opposite of the onset of mass culture and the destruction of spirituality in our society. It is proved that only by realizing the importance of cultivating disciplines in the educational process and the spiritual upbringing of the nation, through educational reforms, humanitarian knowledge will gradually return to student audiences.Formation of youth occurs under the influence of social environment, culture, education and self-education. The optimal combination of these factors determines both the process of socialization itself and how successful it will be. In this context, one can see the leading role of education and upbringing. It turns out that the main task of modern education is to spread its influence on the development of spiritual culture of the individual, which eventually becomes a solid foundation for the formation of the individual. Such a subject requires both philosophical and humanitarian approaches in further integrated interdisciplinary research, since the availability of such research will provide the theoretical foundation for truly modern educational and personal development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Elena Blagoeva

The impact of the last global economic crisis (2008) on the European economy put a strain on higher education (HE), yet it also pushed the sector towards intensive reforms and improvements. This paper focuses on the “Strategy for the Development of Higher Education in the Republic of Bulgaria 2014-2020”. With a case study methodology, we explore the strategic endeavours of the Bulgarian government to comply with the European directions and to secure sustainable growth for the HE sector. Our research question is ‘How capable is the Bulgarian HE Strategy to overcome the economic and systemic restraints of Bulgarian higher education?’. Because the development of strategies for HE within the EU is highly contextual, a single qualitative case study was chosen as the research approach. HE institutions are not ivory towers, but subjects to a variety of external and internal forces. Within the EU, this is obviated by the fact that Universities obtain their funds from institutions such as governments, students and their families, donors, as well as EU-level programmes. Therefore, to explore how these pressures interact to affect strategic action on national level, the case method is well suited as it enabled us to study the phenomena thoroughly and deeply. The paper suggests the actions proposed within the Strategy have the potential to overcome the delay, the regional isolation and the negative impact of the economic crisis on the country. Nevertheless, the key elements on which the success or failure of this Strategy hinges are the control mechanisms and the approach to implementation. Shortcomings in these two aspects of strategic actions in HE seem to mark the difference between gaining long-term benefits and merely saving face in front of international institutions.


Author(s):  
V.N. Kurdyukov ◽  
◽  
T.V. Lebedeva ◽  

The article considers common classifications of measures to reduce environmentaleconomic damage from motor vehicles. Classification from the point of view of control impact is proposed, which allows to take into account relations between the state and citizens in the field of reduction of negative impact of motor vehicles on the environment. The analysis of the classification made it possible to identify areas of activity for improving the efficiency of management impacts, taking into account the incentives of citizens to comply with the requirements of the legislation and to create conditions for their exceeding. Increasing the efficiency of resource allocation in the Territory will allow the released funds to be allocated to the development of industry, agriculture, education and science.


Author(s):  
Leila Mahmoudi Farahani ◽  
Marzieh Setayesh ◽  
Leila Shokrollahi

A landscape or site, which has been inhabited for long, consists of layers of history. This history is sometimes reserved in forms of small physical remnants, monuments, memorials, names or collective memories of destruction and reconstruction. In this sense, a site/landscape can be presumed as what Derrida refers to as a “palimpsest”. A palimpsest whose character is identified in a duality between the existing layers of meaning accumulated through time, and the act of erasing them to make room for the new to appear. In this study, the spatial collective memory of the Chahar Bagh site which is located in the historical centre of Shiraz will be investigated as a contextualized palimpsest, with various projects adjacent one another; each conceptualized and constructed within various historical settings; while the site as a heritage is still an active part of the city’s cultural life. Through analysing the different layers of meaning corresponding to these adjacent projects, a number of principals for reading the complexities of similar historical sites can be driven.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document