Environmental Restoration Database

Environmental restoration projects face many challenges. Public awareness, funding constraints, unpredictable weather, unknown biological/chemical factors and the uncertainty about how the targeted ecosystem will develop work against the planned and ideal restoration. One way the projects’ efficiency can be improved is by using software tools for data and quality management systems, in order to share information, make field practice follow rules, keep track of maintenance tasks, measure results and, therefore, increase the rate of success by the amount of resources invested. Since the conception of every project, all resources involved need to be focused and coherent to the final restoration goals. Rework and mistakes are highly undesirable and should be avoided. Restoration works all over the world face these challenges. Add on top of that the usual difficulty on resource allocation, labor issues and insufficient knowledge of restoration professionals about good management practices, restoration works can turn into a quagmire of wrong decisions, poor management and waste of money. The sponsors won’t be happy with losses. Restoration is a big business today, and whoever works in this area needs to be cost efficient to win bids and be competitive. So, this is the main reason a management system is necessary to implement good administrative practices on restoration. Besides business management is not a skill frequently required for environmental professionals, when it comes for a real life projects those skills are essential. Like it or not, everything needs numbers, a figure, which represents how much resources (i.e. money) will be taken from some organization to be used on a restoration project. So, a management tool and set of procedures/good practices established on a computer database will definitely make restoration more productive. Money and environment frequently are considered to be opposite to each other. The fact is that without wise money usage the environment can’t be restored or preserved. Sponsors are willing to pay for restoration costs, provided they are necessary and justified. If they make profits or reduce losses, it’s even better. Good and correct information are crucial for a good job. A database can make it available for restoration workers when needed, and it’s very true when many projects and sites have to be managed simultaneously. One of the core objectives of this project is to make restoration tasks easy to follow every participant in the project. Online field access will bring information on what to do on each site, preventing many errors during maintenance or monitoring. Furthermore, tasks will be updated by the field teams, reducing paperwork and filling-out errors, while making possible a fast feedback of field work. This is the reason why some guidelines and routines should be established, with help of software tools, to make restoration more efficient with less resources. This means also more successful restoration with the same resources. It restoration works are efficient and successful, stakeholders will be more likely to support their costs, either direct or indirect ones. A good record keeping and monitoring routine can provide statistics and data to demonstrate the good results, or early detect the fails. Good data and metrics help the continuity of restoration projects and make statistical research much easier. This data can be used later for research, saving a lot of time on data tabulation. Therefore, some duties could be safely delegated to people under training or without advanced specialization and experience

A quantitative analysis of the impact of a computerised information system on nurses' clinical practice using a realistic evaluation framework

Objective: To explore nurses' perceptions of the impact on clinical practice of the use of a computerised hospital information system. Design: A realistic evaluation design based on Pawson and Tilley's work has been used across all the phases of the study. This is a theory-driven approach and focuses evaluation on the study of what works, for whom and in what circumstances. These relationships are constructed as context-mechanisms-outcomes (CMO) configurations. Measurements: A questionnaire was distributed to all nurses working in in-patient units of a university hospital in Spain (n = 227). Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS 13.0. Descriptive statistics were used for an overall overview of nurses' perception. Inferential analysis, including both bivariate and multivariate methods (path analysis), was used for cross-tabulation of variables searching for CMO relationships. Results: Nurses (n = 179) participated in the study (78.8% response rate). Overall satisfaction with the IT system was positive. Comparisons with context variables show how nursing units' context had greater influence on perceptions than users' characteristics. Path analysis illustrated that the influence of unit context variables are on outcomes and not on mechanisms. Conclusion: Results from the study looking at subtle variations in users and units provide insight into how important professional culture and working practices could be in IT (information technology) implementation. The socio-technical approach on IT systems evaluation suggested in the recent literature appears to be an adequate theoretical underpinning for IT evaluation research. Realistic evaluation has proven to be an adequate method for IT evaluation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Security in online learning assessment towards an effective trustworthiness approach to support e-learning teams

(c) 2014 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.This paper proposes a trustworthiness model for the design of secure learning assessment in on-line collaborative learning groups. Although computer supported collaborative learning has been widely adopted in many educational institutions over the last decade, there exist still drawbacks which limit their potential in collaborative learning activities. Among these limitations, we investigate information security requirements in on-line assessment, (e-assessment), which can be developed in collaborative learning contexts. Despite information security enhancements have been developed in recent years, to the best of our knowledge, integrated and holistic security models have not been completely carried out yet. Even when security advanced methodologies and technologies are deployed in Learning Management Systems, too many types of vulnerabilities still remain opened and unsolved. Therefore, new models such as trustworthiness approaches can overcome these lacks and support e-assessment requirements for e-Learning. To this end, a trustworthiness model is designed in order to conduct the guidelines of a holistic security model for on-line collaborative learning through effective trustworthiness approaches. In addition, since users' trustworthiness analysis involves large amounts of ill-structured data, a parallel processing paradigm is proposed to build relevant information modeling trustworthiness levels for e-Learning.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Energy efficiency in discrete-manufacturing systems: insights, trends, and control strategies

Since the depletion of fossil energy sources, rising energy prices, and governmental regulation restrictions, the current manufacturing industry is shifting towards more efficient and sustainable systems. This transformation has promoted the identification of energy saving opportunities and the development of new technologies and strategies oriented to improve the energy efficiency of such systems. This paper outlines and discusses most of the research reported during the last decade regarding energy efficiency in manufacturing systems, the current technologies and strategies to improve that efficiency, identifying and remarking those related to the design of management/control strategies. Based on this fact, this paper aims to provide a review of strategies for reducing energy consumption and optimizing the use of resources within a plant into the context of discrete manufacturing. The review performed concerning the current context of manufacturing systems, control systems implemented, and their transformation towards Industry 4.0 might be useful in both the academic and industrial dimension to identify trends and critical points and suggest further research lines.Peer ReviewedPreprin

Ciri-ciri yang mempengaruhi pelatih aliran kemahiran untuk menjadi seorang usahawan : satu tinjauan di Institut Kemahiran Mara Lumut, Manjung Perak

Kajian ini beijudul "Ciri-ciri yang Mempengaruhi Pelatih Aliran Kemahiran Untuk Menjadi Seorang Usahawan : Satu Tinjauan di Institut Kemahiran Mara Lumut, Manjung Perak. Tujuan kajian ini ialah untuk menilai sejauhmana tahap ciriciri usahawan di kaiangan pelatih IKM untuk menjadi seorang usahawan daripada lima aspek ciri-ciri usahawan iaitu kemahiran berkomunikasi, kemahiran berfikir, kemahiran merancang dan mentadbir, bermotivasi dan ilmu dalam bidang keusahawanan. Kajian ini adalah berbentuk deskriptif. Instrumen yang digunakan di dalam kajian adalah borang soal selidik. Sampel kajian terdiri daripada 48 orang pelatih semester akhir kursus Kejuruteraan Awam (Bangunan). Data-data kajian dianalisa dengan menggunakan program SPSS Versi 11.0 for windows dan dianalisis daripada soal selidik ke dalam bentuk min dan frekuensi. Keseluruhan hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa pelatih-pelatih mempunyai ciri-ciri keusahawanan yang tinggi berdasarkan skor min keseluruhan (skor min = 4.06). Akhir sekali, pengkaji mencadangkan agar diwujudkan satu senarai semak yang boleh digunakan sebagai kriteria untuk menilai sama ada terdapat ciri-ciri usahawan di kaiangan pelatih dan dicadangkan supaya kajian ini dilanjutkan ke seluruh Pusat Latihan Kemahiran yang lain di Malaysia

A rework reduction model for construction projects

Rework is an endemic problem in building construction projects and is an area of research that has received limited attention. Recent research has shown that rework is the primary cause of time and schedule overruns in projects and that rework levels do not significantly differ between current procurement methods despite calls from government for the use of more integrated procurement approaches such as design-and-construct to improve project performance. To reduce the incidence of rework throughout the construction supply chain, data from 161 completed projects were gathered using a questionnaire survey. Stepwise multiple regression was used to determine the significant variables that contributed to rework in projects. In conjunction with previously reported research, these variables were used to develop an alternative procurement model for reducing rework in projects. It is suggested that the proposed model could be used to stimulate interorganizational relations and promote teambuilding during the formative stages of a project, which is essential for reducing design-related reworking

A Review of Trip Planning Systems.

This report reviews current information provision in all modes of transport and assesses the needs for and benefits of trip planning systems. The feasibility of trip planning systems is discussed given the current state of technology and information availability and supply. The review was stimulated by technological developments in telecommunications and information technology which are providing the possibility of a greatly enhanced quality of information to aid trip planning decisions. Amongst the conclusions reached were the following: Current information provision is considered deficient in many respects. Travellers are often unaware of alternative routes or services and many are unable to acquire adequate information from one source especially for multi-modal journeys. In addition, there is a lack of providing real time information where it is required (bus stops and train stations) and of effective interaction of static and real time information. Most of the projects, which integrate static and dynamic data, are single mode systems. Therefore there is a need for an integrated trip planning system which can inform and guide on all aspects of transport. Trip planning systems can provide assistance in trip planning (before and during the journey) using one or a number of modes of travel, taking into account travellers preferences and constraints, and effectively integrating static and dynamic data. Trip planning systems could adversely affect traffic demand as people who become aware of new opportunities might be encouraged to make more journeys. It could also affect travellers choice as a result of over-saturation of information, over-reaction to predictive information, and concentration on the same 'best' routes. However, it can be argued, based on existing evidence, that such a system can benefit travellers, and transport operators as well as the public sector responsible for executing transport policies. Travellers can benefit by obtaining adequate information to help them in making optimal decisions and reducing uncertainty and stress associated with travel. Public transport operators can benefit by making their services known to customers, leading to increased patronage. Public transport authorities can use the supply of information to execute their transport policies and exercise more control over traffic management