Drinking water from Water Vending Machines (WVM) may pose health risks to consumers especially to students who are primary end-users in the public school setting. A one-shot survey of WVM water samples from 8 public schools in Cebu City Philippines was analyzed for microbial test and 3 schools were further investigated for physicochemical analysis. Results revealed that 8 water samples registered a total coliform count of 2.6 CFU/mL while specific E.coli testing posted (<1.1 to 2.6 CFU/mL). These data are higher than the national standard for permissible value for clean water (<1.1/100 ml) and international standard of 0.00 CFU/100 ml except in 2 schools that fall within the normal level (<1.1 CFU/mL). The water samples passed the physicochemical evaluation but failed in the microbiological test due to the presence of high levels of E.coli. Hence, water dispensed from the WVM is not safe for students’ consumption. Schools and other institutions that utilized WVM must require private companies as well as the management of the institutions to routinely check, clean, and maintain the machine to avoid accumulation of coliforms and E.coli contamination.

This study reports on a case study using a systems thinking approach, system dynamics modeling tools, and communication strategies in dealing with a complex disaster management issue in Haiphong, a vulnerable coastal city in northern Vietnam. Desktop studies together with a number of interactive workshops were organized to provide inputs for developing a big picture of the current situation using Vensim software. Bayesian network modeling was then used to identify systemic interventions aiming at achieving the final goal of a disaster ready, resilient, and smart city. A number of communication strategies have been formulated and implemented. Initial evident successes of the interventions are discussed in this article.

According to estimates from the Center for Disease Control (CDC"s) in 2008 and the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network in 2010, about 1 in 88 children had Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in 2008 and about 1 in 68 children had Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in (2010). The eighth Scientific Conference for Autism held by the College of Education in conjunction with the Egyptian Society for Hydration Capacities of Children with Special Needs revealed that 1 out of every 80 children in Egypt are suffering from autism and this number in Egypt was expected to rise from 2.3 million in 2001 to 2.9 million in 2017. The reason for many of autistic children"s symptoms is sensory integration; it is the power to understand, organize, and feel sensory data from the environment and body. The issues surrounding sensory integration are presented in hyposensitive and hypersensitive reactions by children with autism to the vestibular, proprioception, tactile, audio, visual, and olfactory senses. A great deal of research has been conducted on gardens and their effect on health outcomes and how a garden may provide benefit: 1. Relief from physical symptoms or awareness of those symptoms. 2. Stress reduction. 3. Improvement in overall sense of well-being. The aim of this paper is to establish a group of guidelines for designing a therapeutic garden for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder to treat the sensory integration problems of children with ASD by designing a sensory garden which should focus on therapeutic interference. By using the elements and principles of design, the guidelines for this garden are focused on producing calming effects for hyper reactive children with ASD and stimulating effects for hypo reactions.

Ever since the completion of the High Dam in 1964, Nubians have lost their culture and heritage as a result of sacrificing their land to flooding. Eventually, they became dispersed all over Sudan and Egypt with some ending up in different parts of the world and struggling to return to the shores of Lake Nasser. With short-lived success, Nubians managed to make a resurrection of Wade Half and re-locate in Sudanese towns. This paper aims to conserve the Nubian identity, which has been abandoned throughout the people’s emigration process. This paper presents a proposal of rehabilitation to the Nubians and their homeland along the shore of Lake Nasser. This paper provides recommendations for methods to repairing the damage caused to the Nubian population following their relocation and construction of the Aswan dam. The main idea behind this proposal is to re- link the Nubians to a life they loved and violated in terms of their association with the Nile River. It is an attempt to restore their favorite urban spaces and architectural elements. Without a doubt, the proposal encompasses recommendations to producing new designs to the Nubian house conforming to their identity, cultural heritage, and modern-day civilization as a way of rehabilitation.

Containing and then reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions require designing energy efficient buildings which save energy and emit less GHG. Orientation has an impact on the building"s overall thermal performance and designing heating and cooling to reach occupants" thermal comfort. Correct orientation is a low cost option to improve occupant"s thermal comfort and decrease cooling and heating energy. An appropriate building orientation will allow the desirable winter sun to enter the building and allow ventilation in the summer by facing the summer wind stream. In this paper, a building module in Jordan will be assessed using Design Builder Simulation packages to find the effect of the building orientation on the overall thermal performance. It was found that the larger windows should be in the southern walls in the northern hemisphere to provide the most heat to the building through the window which allows the sun in winter to enter the building and heat it up. This will reduce the amount required for heating by approximately 35% per annum.

In recent years, the technology of constructions witnessed such a development in building materials that assures the sustainability of buildings. Due to the negative effects on the environmental zone, the sustainability of buildings may not be achieved. Nano-technology is not a technology with certain specifications but it is the unification of different fields of ultra-fine units which is measured by a nano-meter. The applications of this technology will appear in the near future in different fields such as: bio-medicine, computers, and energy and building materials. This research focuses here on the ways, materials, and techniques through which nanotechnology is used to have perfect buildings and to save energy. These cells produce 108.261 m.w.h compared to normal cells, which produce 96.174 m.w.h. Nanotechnology will also make these solar cells more efficient, longer, and even environmentally preferable. They will maintain their production of electrical energy over the long term compared to normal cells that produce less than 10% annually. Moreover, the research paper aims to encourage the utilization of solar cells through which the solar energy can produce clean electrical energy. This electrical energy is produced from the materials made by nanotechnology, which results in the cells to live longer and become more sufficient.

The authors, starting from the examination of the historic data of Palermo landscapes on the south-east side, draws up an analysis of the landscape by illustrating the environmental characteristics and the intervention of man in its transformations. Therefore, determined by a certain point to refer to, the author, on the basis of archival, literary, and existing graphic documentation, has therefore sought to illustrate the evolution of the landscape in the geographical area of Maredolce while still presenting relations with the territory of Palermo. Examining the diaries at the end of the eighteenth century with the help of the water colored planks of the sites taking into account the great patrimony left by landscape painters of the period brought a great deal of information. In this sense it is possible to evaluate the transformation of Maredolce from swampy and abandoned land of the last seventeenth century (end of sugary activity) to that of new irrigation agriculture. Transformation that is common to the entire territory of Palermo, with which numerous comparisons are also carried out on the basis of archival documentation. With the introduction of the industrial economy of the citrus which has wiped out any past historical stratification; before being swept by the cementation of the Conca d Oro which still lasts and of which Maredolce (historic palace and its garden) is the last environmental and cultural heritage as a holistic ecosystem that should absolutely be saved by using integrated urban planning with responsible architectonic restoration approaches.