4101 research outputs found
Sort by
The impact of project sustainability management (PSM) on project success A systematic literature review
No full textPurpose The purpose of this paper is to answer the research question: "does the incorporation of sustainability as a new school of thought in project management support project success?" The authors carried out a systematic literature review (SLR) on relevant empirical studies before 2018 to answer this question. Design/methodology/approach The authors carried out an SLR by selecting, extracting, analysing and critically appraising relevant literature that met pre-specified criteria by using transparent, well-organised and replicable steps. The main sources are publications in peer-reviewed journals regardless of their impact factor because the topic of incorporating sustainability in project management practices is restrained by a lack of research. Findings Based on the analysis, it seems that incorporating sustainability into project management may support project success. However, more evidence is required to support this finding as there are too few relevant empirical studies in the literature. Originality/value Project success needs to be the main endeavour when incorporating sustainability into project management, and it should be a key criterion when considering sustainability as a new school of thought in managing projects. The most challenging elements of project success that need to be addressed are cost and time. This study contributes to a better understanding of the impact of PSM on project success. It facilitates decision making in considering sustainability as a new school of thought in project management. Furthermore, it defines a need for more research work in this potential paradigm shift in managing projects
A Scoping Review of Differential Attainment in Undergraduate Medicine Bridging the Gap - Thematic series on Tackling Differential Attainment in Medical Profession 2020
No full textDifferential attainment exists in all professions and is a manifestation of systemic factors creating an unequal environment where individual careers and aspirations may be thwarted. Although this inequality which affects some groups of students unfairly, has been recognised over the last 2 decades, it remains a significant issue.
This scoping review explores the causes and contributors in relation to undergraduate medical education. Using thematic analysis, the authors present the case for tackling the disparity in education and training. There are evidence-based solutions for individuals, organisations and at a societal level. The recommendations from this review will be discussed and debated in the series of workshops, as part of the ‘Bridging the Gap’ series from the Alliance for Tackling Inequalities in Health, chaired by the British Association of Physicians of Indian origin. The output of the consensus-building workshops and thematic synthesis with the accompanying qualitative research will be presented in the final report due in 2021
Risk assessment framework of mHealth system vulnerabilities: A multilayer analysis of the patient hub
No full textAlthough there have been remarkable technological developments in healthcare, the privacy and security of mobile health systems (mHealth) still raise many concerns with considerable consequences for patients using these technologies. For instance, potential security and privacy threats in wireless devices, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connected to a patient hub at the application, middleware and sensory layers, may result in the disclosure of private and sensitive data. This paper explores the security and privacy of the patient hub, including patient applications and their connections to sensors and cloud technology. Addressing the privacy and security concerns of the patient hub called for a comprehensive risk assessment by using the OCTAVE risk assessment framework. Findings reveal that the highest risk concerned data exposure at the sensory layer. In spite of the countermeasures presented in this paper, most served as a means to identify risk early as opposed to mitigating them. The findings can serve to inform users of the potential vulnerabilities in the patient hub before they arise
Project Delivery Methods Impact on efficient delivery of road construction projects in Malawi.
No full textThis study will contribute to the body of knowledge by developing a broad-based theory in the form of a holistic framework for optimising the selection and use of project delivery methods (PDM) in developing countries like Malawi. Most industries in recent times have turned to improving their processes to achieve efficiency and the road construction industry has been no exception with particular emphasis being drawn on the use and selection of PDMs. However the impact and the importance of PDMs in developing countries like Malawi has been ignored with current literature revealing a lack of in depth understanding of this subject. This study attempts fill this knowledge gap and address the following research problem: ‘How can the selection and use of PDMs be optimized to improve delivery of major road construction projects in Malawi?’ This research study adopted an interpretivist paradigm and a qualitative research methodology. Data was collected using case study research strategy. Multiple case studies were conducted on the key implementing agencies in all major cities in Malawi. The studied organisations included Roads Authority, Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu and Zomba City Assemblies. The empirical data was analysed using thematic analysis approach.The findings of the study show that there are six key elements that have an effect on the selection and use of PDMs in the Malawi road construction industry (MRCI); project management capacity, internal organisational influence, external organisational influence, operational structures and strategies, industry characteristics and ethical behaviour. For each key element the challenges and the proposed strategies have been described. Consequently the RK PDM-MRCI Framework has been developed based on the key elements, the framework has been constructed by integrating the findings of this study with the current literature on PDMs. The framework describes the interrelationships between the different key elements and how they each have an impact on the optimised selection and use of PDMs in the MRCI
Positive psychology: social connectivity and its role within mental health nursing
No full textThis is the sixth article in a series that explores the meaning of positive psychology and the importance of applying the latest related research findings for the wellbeing of the mental health workforce. It will focus on the positive psychology interventions to increase social connectivity as a vital idea for ‘happiness’, while experiencing their uplifting effect through contemporary use in the field of mental health nursing. It will explain what the term means and report on neurological changes that occur when it is practiced. Finally, it emphasises the importance of effective social connectivity in how the application can benefit the client, the individual and the organisation. The practical tasks provided in the boxes throughout the article will help the reader identify what social connectivity means for them and understand how to further develop its transferability through evidence-based, user-friendly exercises
Beauty and Recollection: from the Phaedrus to the Enneads
No full textIt is often claimed in the scholarly literature that Plotinus departs from Plato in mostly dispensing with the concept of anamnēsis (recollection). The essay is aimed at disproving such a claim. The supportive argument will proceed in five stages. First, a brief outline will be given of the role that recollection plays in the Phaedrus, a dialogue to which Plotinus returns time and again. Second, a critical reading will be offered of the most salient passages in the Enneads where Plotinus makes use of the notion. Third, the function of anamnēsis, in Plotinus’ understanding of the term, will be shown to enable the embodied human soul to become aware of the presence in herself of riches she had previously been unaware of possessing, namely logoi of a reality higher than herself. Fourth, in building a normative element into the concept of anamnēsis, Plotinus, it will be argued, made it a key factor in the inward process through which human souls can reverse the self-forgetfulness that had led them to become alienated from their ontological source in Intellect. Fifth, despite having profoundly modified Plato’s concept of anamnēsis, Plotinus, it will be concluded, remained at one with him in presenting the apprehension of beauty as the stimulus most likely to lead the human soul back to her true self in Intellect
Wind energy state of the art: present and future technology advancements
No full textRenewables today are the first-choice option for a modern power system. Wind and solar are now competitive with conventional sources and commanded a high percentage of investments in renewable power. The cost of wind turbines has fallen by nearly 1/3rd since 2009 and that of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules by 80%. The number of countries that held auctions to deploy renewables has increased (from 6 in 2005 to 67 countries in 2017) with a very large increase in global investment. Global cumulative installed wind power capacity had more than 645 GW by the first quarter of 2019. The paper reviews the recent developments in wind energy conversion systems technology and discusses future expectations. Offshore wind turbines are the most possible technology for future utilization and of this, floating wind turbines are to dominate with larger scales could reach three times the present introduced scales. This is to provide more than 20% of the global demand in 2030. The paper presents several case studies for each case and highlights the technological aspects that support each development. The most important design advancements are also discussed with a forecast of the future design expectation that will affect the wind power generation program
The Barbarians Arrive Today
No full textA Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2020 A Review 31 Book of the Year 2020 With The Barbarians Arrive Today, Evan Jones has produced the classic English Cavafy for our age. Expertly translated from Modern Greek, this edition presents Cavafy's finest poems, short creative prose and autobiographical writings, offering unique insights into his life's work. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Constantine Petrou Cavafy (1863-1933) was a minor civil servant who self-published and distributed his poems among friends; he is now regarded as one of the most significant poets of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, an influence on writers across generations and languages. The broad, rich world of the Mediterranean and its complex history are his domain, its days and nights of desire and melancholy, ambition and failure - with art always at the centre of life
Factors Determining the Intention of Using Online Learning Videos: A Study from Uzbekistan
No full textIn recent years, ICTs have been used increasingly in teaching and learning. With the onset of e-learning, m-learning, MOOCs, SPOOCs, ICT is becoming an imperative part of the education domain. Organizations such as Khan Academy, Coursera, edX, and Udacity have produced and made thousands of educational videos available to the masses globally. The number of users using these online platforms have been increasing steeply. Although it is known that the online learning videos are popular among the students, little is known about the drivers of the user's intentions and use of these videos. The paper intends to answer this gap. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that influence the students' behavioral intentions to adopt online learning videos in an economically developing country like Uzbekistan. Not only does our study inform educators about what motivates student to use educational videos, it is also one of the very rare studies to explore ICT use in Uzbekistan
Birdsong on Mars poems
No full text"The teasing title poem of this book is about weather. Rain falls, wind cracks its cheeks as in Lear; the noises are drops like kisses falling, 'fallen into birdsong on Mars'. What would it sound like, be like, to hear it? The poem wants to know what it can't yet know. But as the book proceeds, the poet -- on a human heath, tormented by loss -- hears something like it, unearthly sounds on a planet without atmosphere, sound making quite another kind of sense. Jon Glover wrote most of the poems in this collection before his wife's sudden death from cancer in 2019. He developed the themes and fragmenting style of his previous book, Glass is Elastic (2012), where language was always quizzing itself and how it might relate to the actual and the historical world. Intense, playful, unpredictable, the poems surprised. Here, in the disturbing environments of Upstate New York, Calgary Bay or his Bolton front room the poet confronts illness (his own), hospitals (his visits) and wonderful ambulances (his transports). He resists attempts to see hints or destinies. Then bereavement throws up an actuality of a different order. The collection ends with a mock-sonnet sequence, written during the pandemic, in which the poet tries all the doors and windows to find her, to speak with her -- love poems where love has not changed but its circumstances have. 'Will I want ever to get out of this place -- the past of the poems in this book?' the poet asks. There are no answers, yet."--Provided by publisher