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Enabling the green total factor productivity of the construction industry with the prospect of digital transformation
Get PDFThis research study adopts 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China as the research object in order to explore the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of the construction industry with the prospect of digital transformation. Based on construction industry panel data from 2011 to 2017, the CCR model and PCE model evaluation model are used to measure the GTFP of the construction industry in the context of digital transformation. The results of the research study identify the following: (A) the PCE model was able to differentiate all decision units and complete ranking. (B) The GTFP of the construction industry in East, North, South-Central and Southwest China is relatively high, while that in Northeast and Northwest China is low. Thus, there is room for improvement in Northeast and Northwest China to a certain extent. (C) The higher the optimism of decision makers about the digital transformation of the construction industry is, the higher the GTFP of the construction industry; additionally, when decision makers become increasingly more optimistic about the digital transformation of the construction industry, the GTFP of the construction industry decreases to a certain extent, while when decision makers become increasingly less optimistic about the digital transformation of the construction industry, the GTFP of the construction industry increases to a certain extent
Skin Capacitive Image Stitching and Occlusion Measurements
Get PDFThe aim of this study is to develop new analysis techniques for skin capacitive image stitching and occlusion measurements. Through image stitching, small skin capacitive images can be stitched into large skin capacitive images and, therefore, provide more skin image information. Through occlusion, e.g., keeping the measurement device on skin for a period of time, the skin health status can be studied through time-dependent response curves. Results show that time-dependent skin capacitive imaging curves can tell us the information about transdermal water loss (TEWL) as well as skin surface profiles. By using the structural similarity index measure (SSIM), the TEWL map can be constructed, which shows the water loss map on the skin surface. We first present the theoretical background and then the experimental results
Overcoming the challenges of recruiting and interviewing research participants following critical illness due to Covid-19.
Get PDFBackground: During the strict restrictions of Covid-19 pandemic, recruitment and interviewing of participants in person was no longer possible and virtual methods were required. Virtual recruitment and interviews are not without their challenges, particularly when exploring sensitive topics.
Aim: To discuss how to overcome some of the challenges of recruiting and interviewing participants following critical illness due to covid-19.
Methods: An exploratory descriptive qualitative interview study with 20 survivors of Covid-19 critical illness discharged from two community-based healthcare settings in London, England. Participants were interviewed at home after being discharged from hospital after at least one month.
Findings: Due to the sensitivity of this research topic, adaptations to recruitment and interview strategies were needed, including involvement from Patient Experience Facilitators to increase recruitment. Considerations to interview strategies included use of virtual interviews and subsequent building of rapport with participants, coping with interruptions, managing distress of participants and self-care of the researchers.
Conclusion: Findings from this study will inform our recruitment and interview strategies in future studies with people who have been critically ill, despite relaxations of restrictions related to Covid-19.
Implications for practice: Our findings can be used to guide other qualitative researchers with challenges caused by the pandemic and the sensitive topic. The implications are that researchers can explore innovative ways to recruit participants via hospital/ community staff not usually involved in research. Virtual interviews require additional skills, such as building rapport with participants, and this may require additional training. A distress protocol for participants should always be considered when discussing sensitive topics. Self-care and de-brief strategies for the interviewers are also critical
Low-cost, smartphone-based instant three-dimensional registration system for infant functional near-infrared spectroscopy applications
Get PDFSignificance
To effectively apply functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)/diffuse optical tomography (DOT) devices, a three-dimensional (3D) model of the position of each optode on a subject’s scalp and the positions of that subject’s cranial landmarks are critical. Obtaining this information accurately in infants, who rarely stop moving, is an ongoing challenge.
Aim
We propose a smartphone-based registration system that can potentially achieve a full-head 3D scan of a 6-month-old infant instantly.
Approach
The proposed system is remotely controlled by a custom-designed Bluetooth controller. The scanned images can either be manually or automatically aligned to generate a 3D head surface model.
Results
A full-head 3D scan of a 6-month-old infant can be achieved within 2 s via this system. In testing on a realistic but static infant head model, the average Euclidean error of optode position using this device was 1.8 mm.
Conclusions
This low-cost 3D registration system therefore has the potential to permit accurate and near-instant fNIRS/DOT spatial registration
Social norms and problematic gaming among adolescents: The role of Internet use coping motives.
Get PDFProblematic gaming (PG) is a public health issue among adolescents worldwide. Although several studies have documented that peer influences constitute a relevant risk factor for adolescent problematic behaviors, little research is currently available on PG. The aim of this study was to examine the contribution of social norms and perceived friends' gaming frequency on participants' own gaming frequency and PG, by testing potential differences among groups with low vs. high motive to use the Internet (e.g., online gaming) as a coping strategy. A survey was administered to 470 adolescent gamers (mean age = 15.49 years; SD = 1.05 years; 77.9 % males). A theoretical model was tested through path analysis and multi-group comparisons were performed. Path analysis revealed that social norms and perceived friends' gaming frequency were positively associated to participants' gaming behaviors and PG. Additionally, different patterns between groups emerged. Our findings confirmed the relative importance of peer influences on adolescents' gaming behaviors and PG and showed that adolescents who rely more on online gaming to cope with negative affect may be more vulnerable to social influence processes than other peers. These findings may provide useful indications for prevention programs targeting adolescent PG. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5: The Role of Design in Conserving Product Value in the Circular Economy
Get PDFDesign is integral to human activity and has been practised since humans first made tools to fulfil specific functions. It was formalised during the first industrial revolution; since then it has evolved to become a multidisciplinary profession. Before, the industrial revolution products and buildings were ‘circular’ by default. However, the development of synthetic and composite materials, and product and component miniaturisation, has encouraged linear economic practices in design and manufacture. This has raised concern in the European Union about rising waste, demand on resources, and risk to supply. In this chapter we explore the role of design in the value chain through four industrial sectors and discuss their evolution to understand the potential for circularity and the extent to which design can influence and contribute to circular practice and sustainable development goals now and in the future
Drug breakdown: Bempedoic Acid
Get PDFIn this column, Sharon Rees aims to refresh knowledge and interest in some of the commonly used drugs in a series of tweets. This month she is talking about #bempedoic aci
Adopting Modern Methods of Construction in Low-Income Housing Projects in Egypt
Get PDFDespite being one of the significant contributors to the global economy, construction has been constantly accused of productivity issues, which resulted in the continuous pursuit of innovative methods to improve its performance. Consequently, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) was proffered as an innovative construction method that brings the advantages of industrialization to construction by manufacturing building components offsite and then transferred and installed onsite. MMC has been adopted in many developed countries to address the housing shortage as it can increase the supply of units, decrease costs and
improve the quality of units.
Egypt, one of the largest countries in Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, is facing a severe shortage of low-income housing. Despite implementing several
housing policies, the shortage continued to grow, especially with the continuous increase in population and other economic and socio-culture challenges. The rationale behind this research is to proffer MMC as a solution to address the shortage of low-income housing as well as the challenges that the Egyptian construction sector is currently facing. The research adopted an inductive approach with an ontological
relativism instance and social constructionism epistemological assumption to identify all the influencing factors to MMC adoption in lowincome housing projects from various data sources. Convergent parallel mixed method approach was adopted for data collection and analysis by merging qualitative and quantitative data to provide comprehensive results.
Governmental support, industrial capabilities, enhancing the socio-cultural aspects and achieving sustainability were identified as critical success factors to MMC adoption in Egypt. At the same time, high capital costs, lack of training facilities, lack of MMC knowledge and reduced technological readiness were illustrated as challenges and barriers to MMC adoption.
From the results, a framework to adopt MMC in social housing projects was established, consisting of seven main pillars that cover the influencing factors on its implementation. The
framework was divided into four phases to ensure successful implementation, including the role of the involved stakeholders during each stage. The framework was validated through a series of interviews with experts in construction management to ensure its effectiveness and
practicality.
The framework provides a clear strategy for adopting and implementing MMC in social housing projects in Egypt by considering all the influencing factors that can impact it. It provides an understanding of the specific nature of the Egyptian construction and housing sectors, where its main target is to integrate MMC systematically. The research contributes to the theory of adoption of MMC in developing countries by considering social and cultural factors that can help accept or reject innovation in social housing projects. This research contributes to knowledge by providing new insights into MMC implementation in developing countries by integrating the socio-cultural factors with other economic and technical factors. The study provided critical analysis on how MMC can address the current challenges in the Egyptian context such as the deteriorated architectural heritage, social-cultural needs and other economic, industrial and technical factors
A Reliable Antenna Array for the 28GHz mmWave Band in a 5G Massive MIMO Communication
Get PDFThe high communication performance specifications of the 5G wireless cellular communication standards require electronic components that can reliably support such standards. One such component is the antenna. The antenna is one of the most useful components in wireless communication, and hence, its performance heavily influences the performance of a wireless communication system. In this study, we propose a planar 10x10 microstrip patch antenna (MPA) array for a 5G massive multiple inputs multiple outputs (mMIMO) wireless communication. The antenna was designed and simulated using Pathwave Advanced Design System (ADS), and it achieves a gain of 21.97dBi, radiation efficiency of 0.93, and bandwidth of 0.45GHz on the 28GHz millimeter wave (mmWave) band
Point of Creation Poster
No full textPoint of Creation symposium took place on the 9th of June 2023 at the LSBU Hub. The discussion focused on current architectural design research paradigms through the critical lens of analogue and digital design and pedagogical practices