AN ASSESSMENT OF USER PREFERENCE IN ARTIFICIAL PATHWAY LIGHTING IN URBAN PARKS; Cases from Greater Colombo region

Urban parks are critical in converting cities to liveable spaces, where artificial lighting directly affects the users’ night-time experience. This study explores the urban park users’ preferences in artificial pathway lighting, through their subjective responses towards Brightness, Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT), and luminaires of the existing lighting design, at four popular urban parks in Colombo. The reasons for the said preferences were investigated under three overarching themes: perceived safety, perceived quality of light, and restorative experience. A mixed methods approach was employed for data collection, where questionnaires were used together with measurements, in-situ observations, and photographic analysis for better understanding. The user preferences were found to be directly associated with their perception of the lit environment. The existing brightness levels are insufficient for majority of the users and has affected their perception of safety. The poor selection and placement of luminaires have negatively affected the lighting quality, while the positive effect on the users’ restorative experience has induced a higher preference towards the CCT of the light sources. The results revealed that the majority of the users opted for changes in the current lighting design, indicating that the user needs and requirements are not effectively addressed in this regard.

Alar Rim Deformities in Korean Primary Rhinoplasty Patients

Background and Objectives: The alar-columellar relationship plays an important role in the esthetic balance of the nose. We analyzed alar rim deformities and aesthetic concerns and expectations among patients by deformity type in Korean primary rhinoplasty patients.Materials and Methods: Retrospective photographic analysis was done on 336 patients planning to undergo primary rhinoplasty at Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong. We categorized their alar rim deformities as normal, hanging columella, retracted columella, hanging ala, retracted ala, convex ala, concave ala, thick ala, and a combination of the above. Patients’ aesthetic concerns and expectations about their nose were analyzed by preoperative questionnaire.Results: Of the enrolled patients, 38 (11.3%) had no alar rim deformities, and the other 298 patients (88.7%) had one or more deformities. The most prevalent alar rim deformity was hanging ala (59.2%), followed by convex ala (53.3%) and thick ala (32.1%). Male patients were more likely to have convex ala and retracted columella than female patients. More than one-half of the patients (64.1%) had two or more deformities and tended to be young (p=0.028). Patients with thick ala had several reasons for being dissatisfied with their nose and various demands for correction.Conclusion: Distinctive characteristics of alar rim deformities should be considered in surgical planning in order to obtain satisfactory results in Korean primary rhinoplasty patients.

Tracing morphological transformations in Cairo's historic cemeteries, a step toward urban conservation

PurposeThis paper focuses on the morphological transformations of Cairo's historic cemeteries that currently form a significant part of historic Cairo designated by the UNESCO as a world heritage site. Cairo's historic cemetery continues to be a main burial ground for the city reflecting layers of funeral epochs. Besides offering burial grounds, Cairo's city of the dead had always hosted living functions including residential and crafts among other activities.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a historico-geographical approach, this study traces morphological transformations of the eastern necropolis of Cairo. Using analysis of archival documents, cartographic and photographic analysis of the eastern necropolis, the study detects changes on three major aspects: (1) impacts of the ever-growing urban city core; (2) transformation of the cemetery's internal urban fabric and (3) change of the size of the residential urban block inside the cemetery.FindingsFindings highlight alarming transformations on the said aspects, threatening the historic value and the urban integrity of Cairo's eastern necropolis. This calls for rising necessities of documentation projects for Cairo's necropolis, as well as urgent necessity of strict applications of local laws of urban conservation.Originality/valueDespite their rich urban variety, cemeteries have been rarely investigated within the scope of urban morphology. This paper is among the few works that investigate cemeteries using tools and approaches of urban morphology. It also calls for further applications of morphological investigations and wider adoption of morphological approaches for the study of historic cemeteries in order to support their preservation.

Efficiency is Doing Things Right: High Throughput, Automated, 3D Methods in the Modern Era of Otolith Morphometrics

The morphometrics of fish otoliths have been commonly used to investigate population structures and the environmental impacts on ontogeny. These studies can require hundreds if not thousands of otoliths to be collected and processed. Processing these otoliths takes up valuable time, money, and resources that can be saved by automation. These structures also contain relevant information in three dimensions that is lost with 2D morphometric methods from photographic analysis. In this study, the otoliths of three populations of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) were examined with manual 2D, automated 2D, and automated 3D otolith measurement methods. The automated 3D method was able to detect an 8% difference in average otolith density, while 2D methods could not. Due to the loss of information in the z-axis, and the longer processing time, 2D methods can take up to 100 times longer to reach the same statistical power as automated 3D methods. Automated 3D methods are faster, can answer a wider range of questions, and allow fisheries scientists to automate rather monotonous tasks.

Metallurgical Analysis as a Useful Method for Fire Investigation: the Case of Galvanized Steel Sheets

In this work, fire simulations were carried out on zinc-coated steel sheets usually employed for the structural parts of furniture, transformer rooms and aeration pipes. The thermal alteration induced by the fire was simulated by heating samples at 13 different temperatures (from 20° C to 1050° C) and for different exposure times (1 h and 6 h) in a laboratory furnace. The metallurgical investigation concerned the surface coloring by photographic analysis, the morphology and chemical composition of the surface oxides by SEM and EDS and the microstructure modifications as a function of the temperature by LOM. The influence of the different parameters was discussed by a statistical approach. The obtained results allowed to associate the temperature to one or more alteration of the steel microstructure and of the color, the morphology and the chemical composition of the surface oxides.

A Novel Dental Caries Model Replacing, Refining, and Reducing Animal Sacrifice

In vitro and in vivo models simulating the dental caries process enable the evaluation of anti-caries modalities for prevention and treatment. Animal experimentation remains important for improving human and animal health. Nonetheless, reducing animal sacrifice for research is desirable. The aim of the study was to establish a new reproducible in vitro caries model system and compare it to an in vivo model using similar conditions. Hemi-mandibles were extracted from previously euthanized healthy 10-week-old BALB/C female mice. Jaws were subjected to saliva, high-sucrose diet, and dental caries bacteria Streptococcus mutans UA159 for 5 days. Similar caries induction protocol was used in vivo in fifteen BALB/c female mice (6–7 weeks old) and compared to the in vitro model. Caries lesions were assessed clinically by photographic analysis and µCT analysis, and bacterial growth was evaluated. Under in vitro experimental conditions, carious lesions evolved within 5 days, prominently in the depth of the occlusal fissures in the control group as depicted by photographic analysis, µCT analysis, and bacterial growth. The developed in vitro caries model presented in this study may be a novel animal sparing model for caries disease studies and can be used widely to evaluate the efficacy of different antibacterial dental materials.

Selective memory: an analysis of albums compiled at the return of the 1904 Younghusband mission into Tibet

Focusing on a collection of albums at the Archive of Modern Conflict related to the Younghusband Mission in Tibet (1903-1904), this thesis explores the the analysis of personal albums and their contribution to the history of the Mission. The first chapter, a literature survey, outlines the existing textual histories of the invasion, highlighting the absence of photographic analysis in the works, while also highlighting Tibet’s absence from contemporary criticisms of colonial photography. The second chapter is an overview of the visual conventions ascribed to Tibetans in British India’s photography prior to the Younghusband Mission, and the third chapter provides provenance information and detailed descriptions of the AMC’s albums. Finally, the fourth chapter discusses the objects, revealing their contribution to the perpetuation of Tibetan tropes, implicit visual documentation of British superiority, and the development of constructed narratives favouring the British colonizers. Each analysis acts as an example of how photographs should be used to articulate the colonial history of not only the Younghusband Mission, but of Tibet’s greater history with the West.

Selective memory: an analysis of albums compiled at the return of the 1904 Younghusband mission into Tibet

Focusing on a collection of albums at the Archive of Modern Conflict related to the Younghusband Mission in Tibet (1903-1904), this thesis explores the the analysis of personal albums and their contribution to the history of the Mission. The first chapter, a literature survey, outlines the existing textual histories of the invasion, highlighting the absence of photographic analysis in the works, while also highlighting Tibet’s absence from contemporary criticisms of colonial photography. The second chapter is an overview of the visual conventions ascribed to Tibetans in British India’s photography prior to the Younghusband Mission, and the third chapter provides provenance information and detailed descriptions of the AMC’s albums. Finally, the fourth chapter discusses the objects, revealing their contribution to the perpetuation of Tibetan tropes, implicit visual documentation of British superiority, and the development of constructed narratives favouring the British colonizers. Each analysis acts as an example of how photographs should be used to articulate the colonial history of not only the Younghusband Mission, but of Tibet’s greater history with the West.