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Integration of Building Services in Modular Construction: A PRISMA Approach
Get PDFModular construction is gaining worldwide attention. Building services are the systems that make buildings comfortable and efficient. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems provide heating, cooling, lighting, energy distribution, and water services. Modular construction integrates building services into prefabricated modules at the manufacturing site, which are then transported to the construction site. A systematic review (SR) of building services integration within modular construction is thus necessary. Prior to the SR, a quantitative analysis of the retrieved 115 publications from the Scopus database was explored. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guide, 13 relevant publications from the Scopus database and via the Research Rabbit application were profiled. MEP systems integration approaches and research needs were examined. Recent literature emphasizes technology integration and sustainability, while early studies laid the framework for modular approaches. The findings highlight the potential of digital technologies like building information modeling (BIM) and recommend a holistic framework for the entire building’s lifetime, from design to operation. Future research directions include performance studies, modular building service adaptation, and industry-wide standards building. Researchers and practitioners seeking to improve modular construction methods and integrate complex building services will gain insights from this study
Shear and Torsion
No full textEurocode 5 provides verifications for design for timber beams subjected to shear and to torsion.It gives verifications for design for shear, for stress components (both parallel and perpendicular to the grain), as well as advice on design for torsion, based on shear strength of the section
A self-efficacy enhancement alcohol reduction intervention for men on-remand in prison: the APPRAISE feasibility pilot RCT
No full textBackgroundAs many as 70% of remand prisoners have admitted to being under the influence of alcohol when committing the crime leading to their imprisonment. Providing support and advice regarding alcohol consumption can be effective in some groups of people. There is little evidence regarding this for men on remand in prison.ObjectiveTo pilot the study measures and evaluation methods to assess the feasibility of conducting a future definitive multicentre, pragmatic, parallel group, randomised controlled trial.DesignA two-arm, parallel group, individually randomised pilot study of a self-efficacy-enhancing psychosocial alcohol intervention to reduce levels of alcohol consumption for males on remand in prison and on liberation.SettingTwo purposively selected prisons in Scotland and England.ParticipantsAdult men on remand in prison with an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score of ≥ 8.InterventionThe APPRAISE intervention delivery comprised four steps: Step 1: 1 × 40-minute face-to-face session, delivered by a trained practitioner from Change Grow Live in prison. Steps 2, 3 and 4: 20-minute sessions conducted by phone, on or as close as possible to days 3, 7 and 21 post liberation. Control: assessment, screening and referral onto further alcohol support options.Main outcome measuresRecruitment and retention rates, completion of follow-ups, outcome measures at 12 months and interventions delivered. The primary outcome for the pilot study was alcohol consumed in the 28 days prior to Time Point 2, assessed using the extended Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-C.ResultsOf 182 men on remand approached across two study sites, 132 were randomised (90 in England; 42 in Scotland) with 46 randomised to intervention and 44 to care as usual in England and 22 randomised to intervention and 20 to care as usual in Scotland. A total of 53 in-prison interventions were delivered. One day-3 post-liberation intervention was delivered, no day-7 and one day-21. At 12 months, of 132 randomised, 18 (13%) were followed up, 53 (40%) were not liberated; 47 (36%) were uncontactable and 14 (11%) had been released but could not be located. Data completeness was 96% at baseline and 8% at 12 months. The process evaluation reported good acceptability of the intervention with investment in time, capacity and space to support implementation identified. The economic study produced guidance on how to assess costs associated with implementing the APPRAISE intervention which could be applied more broadly.HarmsNo adverse events or side effects were noted.ConclusionsA future definitive trial would be possible, but only if follow-up mechanisms can be addressed as well as full access to recidivism and health data. Collaboration with the probation service in future could offer the opportunity to develop a robust process and system to optimise follow-up post liberation. Dedicated resources to support the intervention delivery both in and out of the prison setting are recommended.LimitationsCoronavirus disease discovered in 2019 impacted recruitment and follow-up, with access to prisons restricted. We were unable to deliver the post-liberation element of the intervention. We did not include probation services or other agencies in the trial.Trial registrationThis trial is registered as Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN36066
The Impact of Government Policy Responses to the COVID‐19 Pandemic and Brexit on the UK Financial Market: A Behavioural Perspective
Get PDFAt the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the Governor of the Bank of England, while granting an interview, described the pandemic as an unprecedented economic emergency and said that the Bank could go as far as radical money-printing operations. In reaction, the UK financial market, particularly the FTSE 100 and pound sterling, witnessed record-breaking losses. Considering this evidence, we hypothesized that the emotions and moods of investors towards the financial market might have been impacted by the information they obtained from frequent government policy announcements. Furthermore, we proposed that the United Kingdom's final exit from the European Union (Brexit), which coincided with the pandemic, could have worsened the outlook of the UK financial market, as investors began to diversify their portfolios. Consequently, we examined the impact of government's policy announcements on investors’ reactions to the concurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit. Our findings reveal that the psychology of investors during the pandemic was significantly shaped by frequent policy announcements, which in turn affected overall market behaviour
A Novel Federated Learning Scheme for Generative Adversarial Networks
Get PDFGenerative adversarial networks (GANs) have been advancing and gaining tremendous interests from both academia and industry. With the development of wireless technologies, a huge amount of data generated at the network edge provides an unprecedented opportunity to develop GANs applications. However, due to the constraints such as bandwidth, privacy, and legal issues, it is inappropriate to collect and send all data to the cloud or servers for analysis, training, and mining. Thus, deploying and training GANs at the edge becomes a promising alternative solution. The instability of GANs introduced by non-independent and identical data (Non-IID) poses significant challenges to training GANs. To address these challenges, this paper presents a novel federated learning framework for GANs, namely, Collaborated gAme Parallel Learning (CAP). CAP supports parallel training of data and models for GANs, breaking the isolated training among generators that exists in the previous distributed algorithms, and achieving collaborative learning among cloud, edge servers, and devices. Then, to further enhance the ability of CAP-GAN for addressing Non-IID issues, we propose a Mix-Generator module (Mix-G) which divides a generator into the sharing layer and personalizing layer. The Mix-G module extracts the generic and personalization features and improves the performance of CAP GAN on extremely personalizing datasets. Experimental results and analysis substantiate the usefulness and superiority of our proposed CAP-GAN scheme which can achieve better results in the Non-IID scenarios compared with the state-of-the-art algorithms
The effects of green brand image on brand loyalty: The case of mainstream fast food brands
Get PDFWhile a number of studies have explored consumer attitudes and behaviors towards green brands, the importance of green brand image for mainstream brands is less well understood. This study seeks to explore if the green image of mainstream fast food brands influences consumer loyalty and how their attitudes towards and knowledge of environmental issues may affect perceptions of the environmental performance of fast food brands. Using data gathered from a convenience sample of 2001 Gen Y and Gen Z consumers in France, our study establishes a critical linkage between consumers' environmental values and brand loyalty by including green brand image as a mediator. Further, by exploring mainstream brands, rather than brands that are positioned primarily on green attributes, we find that the mediating effect of green brand image may be dependent on the brand positioning
Effect of supervision and athlete age and sex on exercise-based injury prevention programme effectiveness in sport: A meta-analysis of 44 studies
Get PDFWe aimed to evaluate the influence of supervision, athlete age and sex and programme duration and adherence on exercise-based injury prevention programme effectiveness in sport. Databases were searched for randomized controlled trials evaluating exercise-based injury prevention programme effectiveness compared to “train-as-normal”. A random effects meta-analysis for overall effect and pooled effects by sex and supervision and meta-regression for age, intervention duration and adherence were performed. Programmes were effective overall (risk ratio (RR) 0.71) and equally beneficial for female-only (0.73) and male-only (0.65) cohorts. Supervised programmes were effective (0.67), unlike unsupervised programmes (1.04). No significant association was identified between programme effectiveness and age or intervention duration. The inverse association between injury rate and adherence was significant (β=-0.014, p = 0.004). Supervised programmes reduce injury by 33%, but there is no evidence for the effectiveness of non-supervised programmes. Females and males benefit equally, and age (to early middle age) does not affect programme effectiveness
The effect of value chain importance on regional economic recovery
Get PDFThis paper investigates the link between value chain importance and economic growth for the EU24 regions between 2008 and 2018. It finds that relying more on GVCs worsened regional growth during the financial crisis, but led to higher growth in the long run. The results contribute to the literature on regional resilience and the public debate on the impact of shocks and the desirability of GVCs. Furthermore, by separately analyzing the importance of global and regional value chains it contributes to the discussion on the effect of regionalization and provides insights on how the re-configuring of value chains may affect regional growth
Behavioural Sciences Contribution to Suppressing Transmission of Covid-19 in the UK: A Systematic Literature Review
Get PDFBackground: Governments have relied on their citizens to adhere to a variety of transmission-reducing behaviours (TRBs) to suppress the Covid-19 pandemic. Understanding the psychological and sociodemographic predictors of adherence to TRBs will be heavily influenced by the particular theories used by researchers. This review aims to identify the theories and theoretical constructs used to understand adherence to TRBs during the pandemic within the UK social and legislative context. Methods: A systematic review identified studies to understand TRBs of adults in the UK during the pandemic. Identified theoretical constructs were coded to the Theoretical Domains Framework. Data are presented as a narrative summary. Results: Thirty-five studies (n = 211,209) investigated 123 TRBs, applied 13 theoretical frameworks and reported 50 sociodemographic characteristics and 129 psychological constructs. Most studies used social cognition theories to understand TRBs and employed cross-sectional designs. Risk of sampling bias was high. Relationships between constructs and TRBs varied, but in general, beliefs about the disease (e.g. severity and risk perception) and about TRBs (e.g. behavioural norms) influenced behavioural intentions and self-reported adherence. More studies than not found that older people and females were more adherent. Conclusions: Behavioural scientists in the UK generated a significant and varied body of work to understand TRBs during the pandemic. However, more use of theories that do not rely on deliberative processes to effect behaviour change and study designs better able to support causal inferences should be used in future to inform public health policy and practice. Prospero Registration: CRD42021282699
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