Assessing the Impact of land-use types on the groundwater quality: a case study of Mid River Njoro Catchment, Kenya

The study assessed the impact of land-use types on the groundwater quality of the mid River Njoro catchment, Kenya. Groundwater samples were collected from eight boreholes between the period of October 2017 to February 2018 and analyzed for pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, ammonium, and total phosphorus. These parameters were used to calculate the Groundwater Quality Index (GQI) value of the study area. The concentration maps (“primary maps I”) were constructed using Kriging interpolation of ArcGIS software from the seven groundwater quality parameters. The “primary maps I” were standardized with the KEBS and WHO standards to the “primary maps II” for ease of integration into a GIS environment. The “primary maps II” were then rated and weighted using a polynomial function to generate “rank maps” before calculating the GQI using spatial analyst tools of ArcGIS software. The land use map was prepared from a high-resolution Google earth satellite imagery of 2015. The mean GQI values for the different land use polygons were calculated and compared using GIS techniques. The GQI ranged from 68.38 to 70.92, indicating a high groundwater quality of mid River Njoro catchment. The major land-use types identified include settlement area, forest cover, agricultural land and mixed area. The agricultural land dominated the study area, followed by settlement area, forest cover and finally mixed area. The mean GQI value in each land use type varied minimally and this could be because of the diffuse nature of the land use types of the study area. Settlement area had low GQI, followed by agricultural land, mixed area and the forest cover had the highest mean GQI value, which corresponds to good quality of groundwater. Even though the variation is insignificant in this particular study, it somehow indicates the adverse effects of different land use on the quality of groundwater.

Languages and actors in the linguistic landscape in the Slovak-Hungarian ethnically mixed area in Slovakia

The aim of this paper is to characterize the linguistic landscape of municipalities in Slovakia inhabited by Hungarian minority. Empirical data come from two sources: from BA and MA theses, which were defended in 2015 – 2020 at the Institute of Hungarian Linguistics and Literary Studies at the Faculty of Central European Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra and from research project VEGA “Minority variety of the Hungarian language in Slovakia”. As part of the above field research, the linguistic landscape of 82 municipalities in which the Hungarian population makes up at least 20% of the population was mapped. The results fundamentally confirm the research findings of P. Laihonen, who studied linguistic landscape in two municipalities. In all municipalities, the most frequent language was Slovak, this applies to all types of analyzed signs with texts (inscriptions of state and municipal authorities, commercial and private signs). Slovak occurs on at least 80% of signs, the representation of Hungarian as the second most frequent language is between 25 – 55%. The most bilingual Slovak-Hungarian signs are in the southwest of Slovakia, where the largest Hungarian minority lives and where Hungarians form the local majority. On bilingual Slovak-Hungarian signs, the preferred language is Slovak, in terms of information content, it is a duplicate publication of information. Municipal authorities and the commercial sphere have the greatest influence on the formation of the linguistic landscape.

Metode poučevanja italijanščine kot drugega jezika na dvojezičnem območju slovenske Istre med teorijo in prakso

Italian-L2 Teaching Methods in the Bilingual Zone of Slovenian Istria The present article presents a diachronic overview of the didactic approaches that have been used in teaching foreign and second languages in the world until present day. The objective is to check their use in the glottodidactics of Italian as a second language in the ethnically mixed area of Slovenian Istria. After having compared them with the curriculum, the author evaluates the most widespread approaches in modern pedagogical practice and, based on concrete examples, examines and gives guidelines for their possible application in the first three classes of primary school. Keywords: glottodidactics, Italian, bilingualism, primary school, Slovenian Istria

The Status of Noise Pollution in the Major Traffic Intersections of Khulna Metropolitan City in Bangladesh and its Possible Effect on Noise-Exposed People

This study was conducted in the Khulna metropolitan city to determine the status of noise pollution at major traffic intersections and assess the possible effect of noise on regular noise afflicted people. For this research, five busiest roadways and traffic intersections; two mixed zone and three commercial zones were selected purposively and 'ST-8850 Sound Level Meter' was used to record the noise pressure level. Average noise pressure level and some noise parameters (Leq, L10, L50, L90, and Lnp) were measured at different shifts in each location both on working days and holidays. The result evidently specified that noise level in all major traffic circles of Khulna metropolitan city was much higher than the recommended threshold of acceptable noise level set by the Department of Environment (DOE) of Bangladesh. It was observed that the mixed area (Sonadanga, Gollamari) tends to have a higher average noise level than those of the commercial area (Shibbari, Notunrasta, Dakbangla). The noise pollution level (Lnp) in mixed areas varied from 92.77 dB (A) to 104.74 dB(A) on working days and 86.9 dB(A) to 105.5 dB(A) on holidays. On working days, the highest Leq was observed 92.65 ± 4.15 dB(A) in Sonadanga (mixed area), whereas the lowest was 85.13 ± 2.83 dB(A) in Dakbangla (commercial area). However, on holidays the highest level of Leq was found 90.41 ± 2.25 dB(A) in Sonadanga, while the lowest levels were 80.43 ± 3.20 dB(A) in Dakbangla. One-way ANOVA with LSD post-hoc test results illustrated that on working days there was a significant difference between the noise pollution levels (NPL) in different shifts of day time (F = 8.412, p < .05). The respondents of the study area addressed that they were the most affected by annoyance (70%), headache (62%), and hearing loss (46%) due to regular exposure to the traffic noise. Therefore, it is recommended to enhance awareness regarding the cause and effect of noise pollution among the noise producers and oppressed people. Subsequently, administrative measures have to take to attenuate noise pollution and indemnify the quality health of the citizens.

POLA PERGESERAN FUNGSI HUNIAN PADA BANGUNAN RUMAH TOKO kasus: transformasi bangunan di kawasan Pasar Baru-Bandung

Shop house is one of the building type in the city centre. This type emerged because of the additional trade activity. Both activities, household and trading, harmonically live side by side for a quiet long time. Problems emerged when the tradeing activity became more dominant and demands more space while the lot was limited. This condition tends to drive function and the physical of the building to transform. Nowadays its difficult to recognize the genuine form of a shop house, it has transform into a new shape that don’t reflect the existence of a recidence function. At night, the city centre become quiet and dark, little or no existence of life, complete opposite with the daytime. By observation and typo-morfology approach this research will investigate the transformation on shop houses. Are the shop houses still occupied? Will the building transformation shift or even eliminate the occupancy function of the shop houses? The mass transformation on this area is feared to change the city centre into a busy trade area but no life at nights. The city centre as one of the most expencieve area is only properly to be used maximally both daytime and nightime, so the interference of the Local Government is expected to arrange the rules of changes. Transformation that occour is expected not to change the mixed area function: trade and residence, comfortable and worthy to be used day and night.Keywords: shop house, building transformation, liveable area Abstrak: Rumah-toko adalah salah satu tipe bangunan hunian di kawasan pusat kota. Tipe ini lahir karena adanya tambahan aktifitas berdagang. Ke dua aktifitas ini, berhuni dan berdagang, harmonis berdampingan untuk kurun waktu yang cukup lama. Permasalahan timbul ketika aktifitas berdagang menjadi lebih dominan dan menuntut tambahan ruang sedangkan lahan terbatas. Kondisi ini cenderung mendorong terjadinya transformasi fungsi maupun fisik bangunan. Saat ini rumah-toko lama sudah sulit dikenali bentuk aslinya, telah bertransformasi dan melahirkan bentuk baru yang tidak mencerminkan keberadaan fungsi hunian. Di malam hari kawasan pusat kota menjadi sepi dan gelap, tidak ada kehidupan, hal yang berbeda dengan kondisi sepanjang siang hari. Dengan melakukan observasi dan pendekatan tipo-morfologi studi ini akan meneliti bentuk transformasi pada bangunan rumah-toko. Masihkan rumah-toko dihuni? Apakah transformasi bangunan menggeser atau bahkan menghilangkan fungsi hunian dari bangunan rumah-toko? Maraknya transformasi yang terjadi pada kawasan ini dikhawatirkan akan menghilangkan fungsi hunian pada kawasan perdagangan di pusat kota. Pusat kota sebagai kawasan termahal selayaknya digunakan secara maksimal siang dan malam hari oleh karenanya diperlukan campur tangan Pemerintah Daerah dalam mengatur perubahan. Diharapkan transformasi yang terjadi tidak merubah fungsi kawasan perdagangan sebagai kawasan campuran; hunian dan perdagangan yang nyaman dan layak digunakan sepanjang pagi hingga malam hari. Kata Kunci: rumah-toko, transformasi bangunan, livable area

PEMANFAATAN JALUR PEDESTRIAN PADA AREA MIXED-USE DI JL. MT HARYONO (KORIDOR PETERONGAN-PEREMPATAN BANGKONG)

This research is based on a new design on the pedestrian ways on MT. Haryono Street corridor of the Peterongan-Bangkong intersection, because the Semarang City Government made several changes to the pedestrian lane design in several locations, one of which was on MT. Haryono Street. Through this new pedestrian ways design, researchers will associate with mixed areas or mixed-use areas in the corridor that will be examined based on factors and indicators of the mixed area and pedestrian ways design. The purpose of this study is to determine the utilization of pedestrian ways in the mixed-use area which gets the highest priority based on pedestrian path users. Field data and interview results on pedestrian path users obtained were then analyzed using a qualitative deductive method combined with quantitative through sampling with purposive sampling. And it was concluded that the highest utilization of the new design of pedestrian ways in the MT Haryono Street is a function and activity.Keyword: Pedestrian ways’ utilization, mixed-use area, MT. Haryono street corridor, fuction and activityAbstrak: Penelitian ini didasari oleh desain baru pada jalur pedestrian di Jalan MT. Haryono koridor Peterongan-Perempatan Bangkong, karena Pemerintah Kota Semarang melakukan beberapa perubahan terhadap desain jalur pedestrian di beberapa lokasi, salah satunya di Jalan MT. Haryono. Melalui desain jalur pedestrian yang baru ini, peneliti akan mengkaitkan dengan area campuran atau mixed-use area pada koridor tersebut yang akan diteliti berdasarkan faktor-faktor dan indikator area campuran dan desain jalur pedestrian. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah mengetahui pemanfaatan jalur pedestrian pada area mixed-use manakah yang mendapat prioritas paling besar berdasarkan pengguna jalur pedestrian. Data lapangan dan hasil wawancara pada pengguna jalur pedestrian yang didapat kemudian dianalisa menggunakan metode deduktif kualitatif yang dikombinasikan dengan kuantitatif melalui pengambilan sample dengan purposive sampling. Dan didapatkan kesimpulan pemanfaatan paling tinggi dari desain baru jalur pedestrian Jalan MT. Haryono adalah fungsi dan aktivitas.Kata Kunci: Pemanfaatan jalur pedestrian, area mixed-use, koridor Jalan MT. Haryono, fungsi dan aktivitas

Intraglandular Ordinary Lipoma of the Submandibular Gland

Lipomas are the most common soft tissue lesions occurring in the salivary glands but have a very low incidence. Lipomas commonly occur in the parotid gland, and lipomas in the submandibular gland (SMG) are rare. Until recently, ordinary lipomas of the parotid gland and some variants of lipomas of the SMG have been reported. However, few reports of ordinary lipomas occurring within the SMG exist in the literature. We report an extremely rare case of ordinary lipoma within the right SMG of a 65-year-old man. The tumor measured a 2.0 × 1.8 × 2.7 cm, was a well-capsulated homogenous yellow mass, which was composed of mature adipose tissue. A partially mixed area with salivary gland tissue was observed. There has not been much research on lipomatous tumors from the SMG because of their rareness. Most lipomatous tumors in the parotid gland are known as ordinary lipomas, but more research is needed to determine whether they can be applied to the SMG. Thus, this report will be instrumental in the understanding of lipomatous tumors of the SMG.

A Cuckoo Based Optimization Approach for Image Enhancement

The notion of enhancement of the image is to ameliorate the perceptibility of information contained in an image. In the present research, a novel technique for the enhancement of image quality is propounded using fuzzy logic technique with a cuckoo optimization algorithm. Generally, the image is transformed from RGB domain to HSV domain keeping the color information intact within the image. The image has been categorized into three regions: underexposed, overexposed and mixed region on the basis of two threshold values. For the fuzzification of under and overexposed area the degree of membership is defined by the Gaussian membership, while the mixed area is fuzzified by parametric sigmoid function. The key parameters like visual factors and fuzzy contrast provide the quantitative analysis of an image. An objective function is framed which involves entropy and visual factor has been optimized by a new evolutionary cuckoo optimization algorithm. The results procured after simulation by the cuckoo optimization algorithm are compared with Bacterial foraging algorithm and ant colony optimization based image enhancement and this approach is found to be improved.

Muslims in Indian cities: Degrees of segregation and the elusive ghetto

In India, the country with the third largest Muslim population in the world, residential segregation along religious lines has long been of concern. Many go so far as to speak of the large-scale ‘ghettoization’ of Muslims, a trend commonly attributed to the state’s negligence towards this religious minority and prolonged histories of so-called ‘communal’ violence between religious groups. Others emphasize long-standing pattern of residential clustering in enclaves and claim that these have always been voluntary. Both the ghetto and the enclave are usually considered highly segregated spaces, though. This paper complicates such views through an in-depth engagement with the seminal ethnographic volume Muslims in Indian Cities, edited by Laurent Gayer and Christophe Jaffrelot. Based on novel quantitative estimates of religious demography, I contrast and compare the same 11 cities studied in their book – Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Aligarh, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Delhi, Cuttack, Kozhikode and Bangalore – using statistical indices of segregation. This comparison with the ethnographic ‘gold standard’ shows that the mere extent of segregation is an insufficient shortcut to the phenomenon of ghettoization: a ghetto actually need not be highly segregated and a ‘mixed area’ can be surprisingly homogenous. Consequently, I argue that one should not only distinguish between voluntary and forced clustering but also consider the wider ‘mental maps’ through which inhabitants experience, perceive and judge their city. Such mental maps specifically help to uncover historical trajectories, feelings of insecurity and the future expectations of people regarding their cities – irrespective of quantitative degrees of segregation.