Railway right-of-ways, traditionally reserved for transportation, present significant potential for development as environmental and recreational spaces, particularly in urban areas. In the Municipality of Dora, the active railway line is crucial to the region's transportation network, yet the adjacent lands remain underutilized and could be transformed into spaces that benefit the community. The key challenge lies in balancing the operational integrity of the railway with the local community’s aspirations for green and recreational developments. This study aims to assess the preferences of local residents and key decision-makers regarding the potential development of the railway right-of-way in Dora. The goal is to propose sustainable solutions that align with both the community’s desires for enhanced green spaces and recreational areas and the operational needs of the railway. The broader objective is to create a framework that can be applied to similar urban spaces with active railways, ensuring that the infrastructure can coexist with community-oriented developments. The findings show strong community interest in utilizing the railway right-of-way for recreational and environmental purposes, with particular emphasis on green spaces, walking and cycling paths, and community gardens. However, stakeholders highlighted the importance of addressing safety, budgetary, and environmental challenges in the development process. The proposed solutions provide a balanced approach that integrates community needs with the technical and safety requirements of the railway, offering a blueprint for sustainable urban development in other contexts with active railways. Copyright: ©2025 The authors.
This paper is concerned with the numerical solutions of the vorticity transport equation (VTE) in two-dimensional space with homogenous Dirichlet boundary conditions. Namely, for this problem, the Crank-Nicolson finite difference equation is derived. In addition, the consistency and stability of the Crank-Nicolson method are studied. Moreover, a numerical experiment is considered to study the convergence of the Crank-Nicolson scheme and to visualize the discrete graphs for the vorticity and stream functions. The analytical result shows that the proposed scheme is consistent, whereas the numerical results show that the solutions are stable with small space-steps and at any time levels.
Micro-perforated panel (MPP) absorber is increasingly gaining popularity as an alternative sound absorber in buildings compared to the well-known synthetic porous materials. A single MPP has a typical feature of a Helmholtz resonator with a high amplitude of absorption but a narrow absorption frequency bandwidth. To improve the bandwidth, a single MPP can be cascaded with another single MPP to form a double-layer MPP. This paper proposes the introduction of inhomogeneous perforation in the double-layer MPP system (DL-iMPP) to enhance the absorption bandwidth of a double-layer MPP. Mathematical models are proposed using the equivalent electrical circuit model and are validated with experiments with good agreement. It is revealed that the DL-
... Show MoreThe present study experimentally and numerically investigated the impact behavior of composite reinforced concrete (RC) beams with the pultruded I-GFRP and I-steel beams. Eight specimens of two groups were cast in different configurations. The first group consisted of four specimens and was tested under static load to provide reference results for the second group. The four specimens in the second group were tested first under impact loading and then static loading to determine the residual static strengths of the impacted specimens. The test variables considered the type of encased I-section (steel and GFRP), presence of shear connectors, and drop height during impact tests. A mass of 42.5 kg was dropped on the top surface at the m
... Show MoreIncreasing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of silicon solar cells by improving their junction properties or minimizing light reflection losses remains a major challenge. Extensive studies were carried out in order to develop an effective antireflection coating for monocrystalline solar cells. Here we report on the preparation of a nanostructured cerium oxide thin film by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) as an antireflection coating for silicon solar cell. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of a cerium oxide nanostructure film are investigated as a function of the number of laser pulses. The X-ray diffraction results reveal that the deposited cerium oxide films are crystalline in nature and have a cubic fluorite. The field
... Show MoreSeepage through earth dams is one of the most popular causes for earth dam collapse due to internal granule movement and seepage transfer. In earthen dams, the core plays a vital function in decreasing seepage through the dam body and lowering the phreatic line. In this research, an alternative soil to the clay soil used in the dam core has been proposed by conducting multiple experiments to test the permeability of silty and sandy soil with different additives materials. Then the selected sandy soil model was used to represent the dam experimentally, employing a permeability device to measure the amount of water that seeps through the dam's body and to represent the seepage line. A numerical model was adopted using Geo-Studio software i
... Show MoreAortic valve replacement (AVR) is the gold standard method for management of severe aortic stenosis (AS), with transcatheter balloon valvoplasty (BAV) increasingly used as palliative option for calcified valve in experienced hand. In the AVR era, BAV was not considered a long-term definitive treatment for severe calcific AS due to a high restenosis rate and short durability of gradient improvement. However, it continues to have an important role as a bridge-to-decision or bridge-to-intervention in cases where definitive therapy must be delayed due to clinical instability, imaging uncertainty or failed trial of surgical valve replacement. We report a case of heavily calcified AS in an adolescent female, in which the calcification in
... Show MoreThis research is carried out to investigate the externally post-tensioning technique for strengthening RC beams. In this research, four T-section RC beams having the same dimensions and material properties were casted and tested up to failure by applying two mid-third concentrated loads. Three of these beams are strengthened by using external tendons, while the remaining beam is kept without strengthening as a control beam. Two external strands of 12 mm diameter were fixed at each side of the web of the strengthened beams and located at depth of 200 mm from top fiber of the section (dps). So that the depth of strands to overall depth of the section ratio (dps
... Show MoreEchocardiography is a widely used imaging technique to examine various cardiac functions, especially to detect the left ventricular wall motion abnormality. Unfortunately the quality of echocardiograph images and complexities of underlying motion captured, makes it difficult for an in-experienced physicians/ radiologist to describe the motion abnormalities in a crisp way, leading to possible errors in diagnosis. In this study, we present a method to analyze left ventricular wall motion, by using optical flow to estimate velocities of the left ventricular wall segments and find relation between these segments motion. The proposed method will be able to present real clinical help to verify the left ventricular wall motion diagnosis.