Saving lives in the time of COVID-19. Case study of harm reduction, homelessness and drug use in Dublin, Ireland.

Dublin has outperformed even best-case scenarios for COVID-19 mortality among homeless and drug using populations. The experience provides important lessons for policy discussions on the pandemic, as well as broader lessons about pragmatic responses to these key client groups irrespective of COVID-19. The overarching lessons is that when government policy is well coordinated and underpinned by a science-driven and fundamentally pragmatic approach, lives are saved. Within this, the importance of strategic clarity and delivery, housing, lowered thresholds to methadone provision, Benzodiazepine (BZD) provision and Naloxone availability were key determinants of policy success. Further, given the rapid collapse in policy barriers to these interventions that COVID-19 produced, it is important to secure and protect these improved policy responses into the post-COVID-19 era

A milestone in drug policy: saving the lives of people who use drugs and were homeless in Dublin during the covid-19 pandemic

Dublin has outperformed even best-case scenarios for COVID-19 mortality among homeless and drug-using populations, write Austin O’Carroll, Tony Duffin and John Collins (LSE). When government policy is well coordinated and underpinned by a science-driven and fundamentally pragmatic approach, lives are saved

FCCU PRT Compressor Blade Failure Case Study

Case Stud

An electronic healthcare record server implemented in PostgreSQL

This paper describes the implementation of an Electronic Healthcare Record server inside a PostgreSQL relational database without dependency on any further middleware infrastructure. The five-part international standard for communicating healthcare records (ISO EN 13606) is used as the information basis for the design of the server. We describe some of the features that this standard demands that are provided by the server, and other areas where assumptions about the durability of communications or the presence of middleware lead to a poor fit. Finally, we discuss the use of the server in two real-world scenarios including a commercial application

Development of a viable concrete printing process

A novel Concrete Printing process has been developed, inspired and informed by advances in 3D printing, which has the potential to produce highly customised building components. Whilst still in their infancy, these technologies could create a new era of architecture that is better adapted to the environment and integrated with engineering function. This paper describes the development of a viable concrete printing process with a practical example in designing and manufacturing a concrete component (called Wonder Bench) that includes service voids and reinforcement. The challenges met and those still to be overcome particularly in the evaluation of the manufacturing tolerances of prints are also discussed

Technical training and development in Papua 1894 - 1941

The sparse literature on educational development in pre-war Papua has stressed the extent to which education in the territory was neglected. Australia's pre-war colonial record in education was unquestionably poor. The parsimonious grants made available for Papua's development meant that no government schools were built before World War II. Nevertheless, it is apparent that some notable achievements of the period have been overlooked. This study shows that significant advances were made in the area of technical education. The training of skilled and semi-skilled artisans was a feature of mission education in Papua as far back as the 1880s. The initial impetus for this training was provided by a number of enthusiastic mission educators. Subsequently, Hubert Murray, Papua's Administrator for over three decades, provided the financial support necessary for the operation of five mission-run technical schools. In addition, numerous small-scale, low level training schemes were implemented by the missions with government financial support. Technical Training and Deve lopment in Papua 1874-1941 describes the growth that took place and analyses the reasons for that development. The author suggests that the effects of the training on Papua's development have been understated. The impact of the training on Papuan villages was of ten marked and the contribution of skilled Papuan artisans to the colony's post-war development was probably much greater than has hitherto been recognized. Furthermore, not only was the self-confidence of Papuans enhanced as a consequence of the skills they developed ; so was the esteem they were accorded by the white residents of the territory. This constituted a significant break-through in race relations in the colony

Utilising the risky shift phenomenon in construction project management

The risky shift phenomenon predicts that groups are happier to live with uncertainty than are the individuals that comprise the group. This paper reports on the replication of the Wallach et al. (1962) 12 question, choice dilemma questionnaire which highlights the risky shift and its implications for construction project risk management

Management and planning of a collaborative construction planning process

Construction planning is performed in a multi-disciplinary environment in which it is crucial to explore interdependencies, manage the uncertainty of the information exchange and the understanding of the context. Current construction planning often works on a “throw over the wall” basis - plans are developed only or mainly for control purpose, and ignore the “how” aspect. Construction method planning is treated as a linear process and isolated from information and logistics management. Planners are often puzzled by information; they usually receive a large amounts of formal and informal communications with different formats, some of which are not relevant to their role. The quality of the information received is also often poor (i.e. incomplete design information). In order to deal with the uncertainty caused by insufficient information, guesses are frequently made in the planning process, which neither the initial planner, nor the downstream planner will later check. They are usually ignored and left until execution of the plan, when the problems reveal themselves. This paper argues the importance of effective management of information flow in a planning process and the need to improve the management and planning of construction planning. A collaborative planning process model using a dependency structure matrix tool to manage and optimize the construction planning process is presented

Shifts in stability and control effectiveness during evolution of Paraves support aerial maneuvering hypotheses for flight origins

The capacity for aerial maneuvering shaped the evolution of flying animals. Here we evaluate consequences of aviaian morphology for aerial performance (1,2) by quantifying static stability and control effectiveness of physical models (3) for numerous taxa sampled from within the lineage leading to birds (Paraves, 4). Results of aerodynamic testing are mapped phylogenetically (5-9) to examine how maneuvering characteristics correlate with tail shortening, fore- and hindwing elaboration, and other morphological features (10). In the evolution of the Avialae we observe shifts from static stability to inherently unstable aerial planforms; control effectiveness also migrated from tails to the forewings. These shifts suggest that some degree of aerodynamic control and and capacity for maneuvering preceded the evolution of strong power stroke. The timing of shifts also suggests some features normally considered in light of development of a power stroke may play important roles in control.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 1 supplemental figures and 5 supplemental table

Phytoremediation of heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn) in controlled running water system by using vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides)

This study was conducted to identify phytoremediation potential of vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides) for removal of five heavy metals (Lead (Pb), Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu) and Manganese (Mn)) in controlled running water system. Plants with different root length (10 cm, 20 cm and 30 cm) were exposed to a concentration of Pb, Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn (10 mg/L) in flowing water system (0.0012 m3/s) and harvested at different time intervals (24, 48, 72, 96, 120 144 and 168 h). The initial concentration (10 mg/L) depicted a decreasing trend from 24 h up to 168 h of the experiment. The highest amount of heavy metal uptake by the plant was Fe (95.8% removal) with the concentration left was 0.42 ± 0.004 mg/L by 168 h. This was followed by Zn with 75% removal (2.55 ± 0.03 mg/L left in the water), Pb; 50% removal with 4.97 ± 0.007 mg/L remain, Mn (33% removal and 6.70 ± 0.006 mg/L remain) and the least uptake is Cu (25% removal with remaining 7.46 ± 0.005 mg/L in the water). In general, removal of the heavy metals from water follow the order of Fe > Zn > Pb > Mn > Cu. Heavy metals were detected in the roots after 24-hours of exposure with level in roots were higher compare to level in the shoots. Based on the ANOVA, no significant different in uptake of Zn, Pb, Fe and Cu by different root length in the running water except for Mn. The morphological changes particularly the change in leaf colour of the plants (chlorosis effect) was observed specifically after 6 days of the experiment for plants with 10 cm root length and the chlorosis effect was seen at day 7 for plants with root length of 20 cm and 30 cm. This study shows Vetiver grass has great potential for phytoremediation of wastewater polluted with Pb, Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn in running water