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Review on building retro-commissioning: a systematic-cascade literature analysis with expert validation
Full text linkTo optimize the energy performance of buildings, governments worldwide have introduced retro-commissioning (RCx), a systematic investigation of opportunities to improve the performance of existing buildings. However, RCx studies and applications are not as prevalent as those in the other building energy related domains. The past and recent states of RCx research have not been thoroughly investigated, and future research directions remain unclear. Therefore, a review is conducted to address these gaps using a systematic-cascade approach that includes: retrieval of RCx publications from the ScienceDirect and Scopus databases; bibliometric analysis of the publications using the VOSviewer software; in-depth qualitative analysis of key RCx publications and real case studies; and expert validation of the analysed findings. Key results include the identification of the regions of the past RCx studies, types of buildings and building systems investigated, data types, and data collection and analysis methods used in the studies. Distinct from the continual growth of research in the building energy domain, there was no discernible trend of RCx research. Among the past studies utilizing empirical data, universities and schools are mainly selected for testing RCx scenarios or hypotheses. Barriers and enablers for RCx implementation were found to fall into six categories: knowledge, manpower, finance, motivation, time, and data/information. Nine research gaps and corresponding future research directions were also identified. In addition to contributing to the existing body of RCx knowledge, the results of this study serve as a reference for RCx stakeholders and offer guidance for researchers to pursue further RCx studies
Navigating the Endemic Era: Understanding the Carry-On Forces That Influence Business Travel Decisions
Full text linkThe COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected global trade, including business travel, despite its importance in promoting economic growth and innovation. This study investigated the factors that motivate companies and organisations to engage in business travel during the pandemic era, using data from 1948 decision-makers in the Asia Pacific region. The results showed that the significance of the trip and the demand of clients were critical influencers of business travel decisions. These findings address the research gap in explaining organisational travel decisions and behaviours and can help stakeholders in the aviation, hospitality, and tourism industries develop effective strategies to attract business travellers. Physical business travel remains crucial to many companies and organizations while understanding the factors driving business travel decisions is essential for the travel industry to thrive in the international market
Prosocial Behaviour, Individualism, and Future Orientation of Chinese Youth: The Role of Identity Status as a Moderator
No full textThere is a lack of research directly examining the relationships between future orientation, individualism, prosocial engagement and identity status among Chinese youth. This study focuses on the moderating role of identity status in the relationship between individualistic values, future orientation and prosocial behaviours. The study sample consists of 1817 Chinese youth aged between 15 and 28. Six patterns of identity statuses were identified by a hierarchical cluster analysis. Path analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the independent variables and youths’ prosocial engagement and the moderating effects of identity status. The results showed that future orientation is significantly related to prosocial engagement, while individualistic value is not significantly associated with it. The interaction of future orientation and identity status significantly affects prosocial engagement. The effect of future orientation is greater for those in searching moratorium and carefree diffusion and lower for those in achievement and foreclosure. These imply that time perspective intervention may facilitate the prosocial engagement of students who lack a mature and committed identity
AI-assisted diffuse correlation tomography for identifying breast cancer
Full text linkSignificance: Diffuse correlation tomography (DCT) is an emerging technique for the noninvasive measurement of breast microvascular blood flow, whereas its capability to categorize benign and malignant breast lesions has not been extensively validated thus far, due to the difficulties in instrumentation, image reconstruction algorithms, and appropriate approaches for imaging analyses. Aim: This artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted DCT instrumentation was constructed based on a unique source–detector array and image reconstruction algorithm. Approach: The DCT images of breasts were obtained from 61 females, and AI models were utilized to classify breast lesions. During this process, the blood flow images were either extracted as feature parameters or as global inputs to the AI models. Results: As the validations of DCT instrumentation, the blood flow images obtained from longitudinal monitoring of healthy subjects demonstrated the stability of DCT measurements. For patients with breast diseases, comprehensive analyses yield an AI-assisted classification with excellent performance for distinguishing between benign and malignant breast lesions, at an accuracy of 97%. Conclusions: The AI-assisted DCT reflects functional abnormalities that are associated with cancellous-induced high metabolic demands, thus demonstrating the great potential for early diagnosis and timely therapeutic assessment of breast cancer, e.g., prior to the tumor formation or proliferation of microvascular networks
Interview - The Ripples Caused by a Vinyl Record / V Music Library Drives Change in the Music Industry / An Interview with Dr Wong Chi-chung
Full text linkIn recent years, a resurgence of retro culture has seen vinyl records embraced by a new generation. Dr Wong Chi-chung is a prominent local music enthusiast as well as a radio DJ, curator, university professor, and music producer. In the 1980s, he volunteered at Commercial Radio\u27s second channel (now known as CR903) during his undergraduate years. He created music programmes that showcasing local and international music and their backstories, establishing a nearly 40-year DJ career that has made him a pioneer in expanding the local music scene. Recently, Dr Wong collaborated with the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) on the V Music initiative, which launched the V Music Library in October 2024