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A strategic framework managing challenges of integrating lean construction and integrated project delivery on construction megaprojects, towards global integrated delivery transformative initiatives in multinational organisations
No full textBuilt environment encounters substantial risks and challenges in its evolution towards sustainable development. International businesses, and multinational engineering organisations face global connectivity challenges between business units, especially during the outbreak of novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) which has profoundly disrupted the construction industry throughout the world. That raises the need to manage global connectivity as a main strategic goal of multinational architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) organisations. This research aims to develop a strategic framework managing challenges of integrating lean construction (LC) and integrated project delivery (IPD) on construction megaprojects (CMPs) towards global integrated delivery (GID) transformative initiatives in multinational AEC organisations.‘Mixed research methods’ involving a two-stage quantitative and qualitative research approach is adopted. The qualitative research methodology consists of a literature review to assess challenges to integrate LeanIPD&GID on CMPs. There is an assessment of conceptualisation of LeanIPD&GID and GID strategy placements, development of LeanIPD&GID integration framework, and future of work (FOW) global initiatives with multiple validations. The analysis involved semi-structured interviews and focus group techniques. Stage two consisted of an empirical questionnaire survey that shaped the foundation of analysis and findings of 190 respondents from 23 countries with an extensive cosmopolitan experience of megaprojects in construction. The survey examined a set of 20 challenges to integrate LeanIPD&GID on CMPs resulting from a detailed analysis of extant literature after validation. Descriptive and inferential statistical tests were exploited for data analysis, and percentage score analysis.The research conceptualised LeanIPD&GID principles, proposed GID strategy placements, a framework for managing challenges of LeanIPD&GID transformative initiatives, FOW global initiatives and key performance indicators (KPIs). It concluded that the most significant challenges to integrate of LeanIPD&GID on CMPs are ‘lack of governmental incentives, policies, regulations or legal frameworks,’ ‘lack of client’s awareness and IPD experience amongst key stakeholders,’ ‘lack of organisation’s senior-management and client’s commitment to IPD approaches,’ ‘resistance of industry to change from traditional procurement to IPD,’ and ‘lack of integrated synergies between LC, IPD working towards LeanIPD&GID.’ Awareness of building BIM in the MENA region is higher than LC, and LC awareness is higher than IPD knowledge. While BIM adoption in the MENA region is higher than LC, LC is still taking its first steps and IPD has little implementation. LeanBIM is slightly integrated, while LeanIPD integration is almost not present.The research findings, conclusions and recommendations provide a proposed framework for implementation, KPIs, and GID strategy placements for LeanIPD&GID transformative initiatives to integrate LeanIPD&GID on CMPs and FOW global initiatives. This will allow project key stakeholders to place emphasis on managing LeanIPD&GID challenges identified in this research and commence GID strategies. The study has provided effective practical strategies for enhancing integration of LeanIPD&GID transformative initiatives on CMPs
Evaluating a new trauma and critical care management course for nurses
No full textA new practical-based course for nurses on the management of major trauma has been developed using high-level simulation and moulage to deliver education based on established trauma competencies. The Nurse Trauma and Critical Care course was developed by nurses with input from the Anaesthesia Trauma and Critical Care group and has been accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons. This article describes the development of the course and discusses the findings of a course evaluation that aimed to measure candidates' confidence and knowledge after completion
6G Wireless Communication Systems: Applications, Opportunities and Challenges
No full textAs the technical specifications of the 5th Generation (5G) wireless communication standard are being wrapped up, there are growing efforts amongst researchers, industrialists, and standardisation bodies on the enabling technologies of a 6G standard or the so-called Beyond 5G (B5G) one. Although the 5G standard has presented several benefits, there are still some limitations within it. Such limitations have motivated the setting up of study groups to determine suitable technologies that should operate in the year 2030 and beyond, i.e., after 5G. Consequently, this Special Issue of Future Internet concerning what possibilities lie ahead for a 6G wireless network includes four high-quality research papers (three of which are review papers with over 412 referred sources and one regular research). This editorial piece summarises the major contributions of the articles and the Special Issue, outlining future directions for new research
A novel deep learning model for detection of severity level of the disease in citrus fruits
No full textCitrus fruit diseases have an egregious impact on both the quality and quantity of the citrus fruit production and market. Automatic detection of severity is essential for quality productions of fruits. In current work, citrus fruits dataset is preprocessed by rescaling and establishing bounding boxes with labeled image software. Then Selective search, which combines the capabilities of both an extensive search and graph based segmentation, is applied. The proposed DNN (deep neural network) model is trained to detect targeted area of the disease with its severity level using citrus fruits that have been labeled by taking help of a domain expert with four severity level(high, medium ,low and healthy) as ground truth. Transfer learning using VGGNet is applied to implement multi- classification framework for each class of severity. The model predicts the low severity level with 99% accuracy, and the high severity level with 98% accuracy. Model produces 96% accuracy in detecting 1 healthy conditions and 97% accuracy in detecting medium severity levels. The result of the work 1 shows that the proposed approach is valid, and it is efficient for detecting citrus fruit disease at four 1 levels of severity
Young people’s experiences of death anxiety and responses to the Covid-19 pandemic
No full textCapacity for death awareness and death anxiety in young people has been previously documented but the impact of Covid-19 is not currently known. Therefore, the aim of this study of this study was to explore young people’s experiences and responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Qualitative data was collected from young people via a two-stage process across the United Kingdom: Stage One consisted of an online questionnaire; Stage Two comprised online semi-structured interviews. Responses for Stage One of the study totalled 120 young people; 9 of these were interviewed for Stage Two of the study. Thematic analysis of data identified four themes relating to young people’s experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic: death anxiety; mental health; normalising death; and identified support needs. Young people experienced heightened death anxiety due to the pandemic but death also became normalized for them and their mental health was negatively affected
Fullerene-related carbon nanomaterials for biomedical applications
No full textIn the past decades, fullerene (C60) has attracted significant scientific and technological attention since being discovered in 1985. Among various C60-related nanomaterials, wire-like C60 nanocrystals, also known as C60 nanowires, as 1-dimensional nanostructure of C60, are of particular interest due to their unique properties and great potential in diverse application areas. As the C60 nanowires are mostly composed of carbon with only a very tiny amount of hydrogen, they are expected to exhibit excellent biocompatibility, which renders them more promising in applications in biological areas.Over the years, effort has been devoted to exploring the growth methods, structural and compositional characterizations, and application-related investigations of this novel carbon nanomaterial. However, the growth mechanism and the possible biochemical applications of this material have not been studied in depth and fully understood, and the lack of efficient large-scale synthesis method remains a big problem which limits the exploration of application-oriented studies on this material. To solve these problems, the research and achievements which have been made in this PhD project are summarized as follows:Firstly, a novel solid–liquid two-phase precipitation method utilizing a good solvent and a counter-solvent of C60 to form a solid–liquid two-phase interface is proposed for the synthesis of C60 nanowires. The obtained C60 nanowires possessed high crystallinity, a length-to-diameter ratio of up to several thousand with a diameter as small as ~85 nm.To assess the viability and scalability of the process, synthesis was also carried out at a larger solution volume of 40 ml. The overall consistency of the growth results of different scales indicated that the SLTPP method is promising for large-scale preparation of C60 nanowires.To improve the synthesis efficiency and to control the shape and size of C60 nanowires, experimental conditions have been studied by investigating the dependence of C60 nanowire growth on solvent volume ratio and C60 concentration. It was observed that the optimal growth conditions for C60 nanowire growth were 2–3 mg/ml of C60-m-xylene and m-xylene to IPA volume ratio of 1:2, respectively. Moreover, a comparison study to the LLIP method has been performed under identical experimental conditions. Compared with LLIP method, the new SLTPP method not only has higher efficiency, but also is more controllable in the formation of C60 nanowires.The morphology, chemical composition and the structure of the as-obtained C60 nanowires have been studied in detail through a variety of characterization techniques.The optical and fluorescence properties of C60 nanowires, which is expected to be significantly useful in exploration of their potential bio-applications, have also been studied. A clear enhancement in fluorescence emission was found in C60 nanowires than pristine C60 powder, and a unique optical phenomenon of C60 nanowires was observed, where the fluorescence emission of a C60 nanowire was much stronger at both wire-tips than that of the wire-body, which has never been reported in previous studies. Studies were also carried out to understand their fluorescence mechanism and the cause of the difference in fluorescence intensity of a single nanowire. The solvent molecules trapped in the nanowire structure were found to play an important role in fluorescence of C60 nanowires.In conclusion, this work gave insights to not only large-scale synthesis of C60 nanocrystals, but also the properties and the relevant mechanism of this 1D C60 nanomaterial. The reliable synthesis route of 1D C60 related carbon nanomaterial developed here showed novelty, validity and superiority as compared to the current widely used method. Furthermore, by fully understanding the properties of this material, this work went a step further for the exploration of the potential applications of C60 nanowires
Teacher education in the United Kingdom post devolution: convergences and divergences
No full textThis paper examines the roles of research in teacher education across the four nations of the United Kingdom. Both devolution and on-going reviews of teacher education are facilitating a greater degree of cross-national divergence. England is becoming a distinct outlier, in which the locus for teacher education is moving increasingly away from Higher Education Institutions and towards an ever-growing number of school-based providers. While the idea of teaching as a research-based profession is increasingly evident in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, it seems that England, at least in respect of the political rhetoric, recent reforms and explicit definitions, is fixed on a contrastingly divergent trajectory towards the idea of teaching as a craft-based occupation, with a concomitant emphasis on a (re)turn to the practical. It is recommended that research is urgently needed to plot these divergences and to examine their consequences for teacher education, educational research and professionalism
Children's experiences of death anxiety and responses to the Covid-19 pandemic
No full textThe aim of this study was to explore children's experience and responses to the Covid-19 pandemic through their illustrations and short narrations. During October 2020 and January 2021 data was collected from thirteen children aged 9–10 years old in a primary school in the North-West of England. Children were asked to draw their thoughts and feelings about the pandemic and to write a short narration to accompany the drawing. Thematic analysis of data revealed that during the pandemic children at this age have an understanding of death, experience death anxiety and are able to use creative expression to facilitate meaning of the impact of lockdown on their lives such as feeling isolated, lonely, sad and bored. Creative expression also facilitated adaptive coping mechanisms derived from being able to spend more time with family. The data on primary school children is part of a larger study which involved surveys and interviews with children aged 12–16 years in secondary schools
Hydrologic response of arid and semi-arid river basins in Iraq under a changing climate
No full textAn assessment of the total hydrologic response of arid and semi-arid river basins to various scenarios of climate change by considering evapotranspiration, streamflow, and snowmelt is essential for sustainable management of water resources. The Diyala River Basin in Iraq has been chosen as a typical case study of dozens of river basins in arid and semi-arid regions. Here, the Long Ashton Research Station-Weather Generator (LARS-WG), the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), and the SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Program (CUP) were used to evaluate the total response by considering three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs); RCPs 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5 over three periods, 2021–2040, 2041–2061, and 2061–2080. The results indicate that by the year 2080, the basin will experience a temperature increase by 6.6, 10.1, and 16.6% for RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5, respectively. The corresponding reduction in precipitation will be 3.2, 6.4, and 8.7%, resulting in 38.8, 47.9, and 52.8% fall in streamflow for RCPs 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5, respectively. Due to the increase in temperature, an earlier and less contribution of snowmelt is expected in the projected streamflow. Our findings provide a useful reference and a guide to decision makers for developing adaption plans to sustainably manage water resources in the Diyala River Basin and other similar basins in arid and semi-arid regions
Mitigating postnatal depression: a big data self-help therapy
No full textMother, who gives birth, usually face a mood disorder called postpartum or postnatal depression. It appears immediately after the third week of the baby's birth. However, during the first year of delivery, women can suffer anytime with this situation, and it could lead to a couple of years after birth. Few men as a father can face this condition. If it is not monitored immediately, it triggers severe and permanent disorders such as anger issues, isolation, stress, or anxiety. A significant increase has been observed in postpartum depression incidents with harmful consequences on children as well as parents regarding their physical and emotional well-being. This research paper analysed the literature to evaluate the psychotherapies that can be followed as self-help. We also evaluated automated psychotherapy systems and meta-analysed mobile applications that are available online to cope with postpartum depression. We discussed the acceptability of a therapeutic mobile application for reducing depression during parenting and postpartum period, for the patients themselves. Finally, a combination of cognitive behavioural therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy, an algorithm; we proposed in this paper as a base to develop the mobile application that can help control and reduce depression during a postpartum situation