11,976 research outputs found
Knowledge and technology transfer from universities to industries: A case study approach from the built environment field
Enabling kowledge societies and knowledge based economies is a key policy in the UK. KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) scheme initiated by the Technology Strategy Board is a pathway for collaboration and partnerships between Higher Education institutions and companies to transfer innovative knowledge based solutions from universities to businesses in order to equip them with the leading edge knowledge and technology infrastructure for sustainable long term competitive advantages in both national and international market.
The paper explains a KTP project between the University of Salford and John McCall Architects (JMA) in Liverpool in the UK that aimed to identify, map and re-engineer JMA’s strategic and operational change processes through Lean thinking and the implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM), which is a foundational tool for implementing an efficient process and invariably leads to lean-orientated, team based approach to design and construction by enabling the intelligent interrogation of designs; provide a quicker and cheaper design production; better co-ordination of documentation; more effective change control; less repetition of processes; a better quality constructed product; and improved communication both for JMA and across the supply chain whereas it provided opportunity to increase business relevance of knowledge based research and teaching for the Higher Education.
Case Study approach is employed in the paper and the KTP project is assessed for i) how it helped in improving JMA’s knowledge and technology capacity in conducting their practice, and, ii) how it helped the university in improving its knowledge based research and teaching
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Effect of Different Media on the Bactericidal Activity of Colistin and on the Synergistic Combination With Azidothymidine Against mcr-1-Positive Colistin-Resistant Escherichia coli
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) performed according to defined guidelines is important to identify resistance and to predict the clinical success or failure of specific antibiotic therapy. However, these guidelines do not cover all physiological conditions that can have a tremendous impact on in vivo resistance. In this study, we tested the susceptibility of thirteen mcr-1-positive Escherichia coli strains against colistin, one of the last resort antibiotics for treating multi-drug resistant pathogens, in media recommended for ASTs as well as – physiologically more relevant – in human serum and artificial urine (AU). Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values in heat-inactivated human serum were similar to those in cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth (CAMHB), but reduced in native serum for almost all strains that could grow in this media. In AU MIC values for mcr-1 positive E. coli were increased significantly up to 16-fold compared to that in CAMBH, which did not apply to the colistin-susceptible E. coli strains tested. Although different growth media could affect the MIC of colistin alone, their impact on the synergistic effect of the combination with the antiviral drug azidothymidine was minimal. The higher divalent cation concentration combined with acidic pH values is most likely responsible for the increased MIC values of the mcr-1 harboring E. coli strains tested against colistin in AU compared to that in CAMHB. Antimicrobial susceptibility screening procedures for colistin using CAMHB only could lead to an underestimation of resistance under different physiological conditions. Therefore, not only pharmacokinetic but also pharmacodynamic studies in urine are as important as in serum or plasma
BOUDREAU, Claude et Michel GAUMOND, Le Québec sous l’oeil de l’arpenteur-géomètre. Depuis Champlain (Québec, Les Publications du Québec, 2007), 140 p.
Monuments and Memories: The Evolution of British Columbian Cemeteries, 1850-1950
Cemeteries represent the most material, and therefore public, means by which people express their reactions to death. This article analyzes the changing aesthetic qualities of British Columbian cemeteries between 1850 and 1950, the physical divisions created within them, and the monuments that populated them. A nineteenth-century garden where the family "visited" the deceased evolved into an increasingly invisible twentieth-century lawn cemetery. For the middle-class people who controlled cemetery regulations, the graveyard remained a place where social distinctions were established, although it had lost its role as a refuge for the mourning family. By 1950. the mourners' memories had supplanted the cemetery as the final resting place for the deceased.
Résumé
C'est dans les cimetières que les gens expriment le plus tangiblement et le plus ouvertement leurs réactions à la mort. L'article s'attache aux cimetières de Colombie-Britannique; il analyse l'évolution de leur esthétique de 1850 à 1950, la façon dont ils étaient compartimentés et les monuments funéraires qui s'y trouvaient. Le jardin du XIXe siècle on la famille ^rendait visite» à ses défunts a graduellement cédé le pas, au XX' siècle, à des pelouses, ce qui a rendu la présence de cimetières de moins en moins manifeste. Bien qu'il ne serve plus de refuge à la famille du défunt, le cimetière demeure un lieu où les distinctions sociales sont bien établies, tout au moins pour la classe moyenne qui en contrôle la regimentation. Les gens ont fini par délaisser les cimetières, préférant conserver intérieurement le souvenir de leurs proches
Management of native vegetation on farmland in the wheatbelt of Western Australia
Clearing in the wheatbelt region of Western Australia has been rapid and extensive. The mapping of remnant vegetation in the shires of Dumbleyung, Lake Grace, Pingelly and Tammin with the use of the most recent aerial photography (1984) demonstrates the extent of clearing especially in the old established farming areas. Only 7 per cent of the Tammin shire had been retained under native vegetation, 10 per cent of the Dumbleyung shire and 14 per cent of the Pingelly shire. In the Lake Grace shire where large areas have only recently been developed for agriculture, approximately 31 per cent had been retained under native vegetation. Most of the blocks of remnant vegetation in the older farming areas were small and scattered and therefore prone to deterioration and in need of active management
BIM adoption and implementation for architectural practices
Severe issues about data acquisition and management arise during the design creation and development due to complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. BIM (Building Information Modelling) is a tool for a team based lean design approach towards improved architectural practice across the supply chain. However, moving from a CAD (Computer Aided Design) approach to BIM (Building Information Modelling) represents a fundamental change for individual disciplines and the construction industry as a whole. Although BIM has been implemented by large practices, it is not widely used by SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises).
Purpose: This paper aims to present a systematic approach for BIM implementation for Architectural SMEs at the organizational level
Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is undertaken through a KTP (Knowledge transfer Partnership) project between the University of Salford and John McCall Architects (JMA) a SME based in Liverpool. The overall aim of the KTP is to develop lean design practice through BIM adoption. The BIM implementation approach uses a socio-technical view which does not only consider the implementation of technology but also considers the socio-cultural environment that provides the context for its implementation. The action research oriented qualitative and quantitative research is used for discovery, comparison, and experimentation as it provides �learning by doing�.
Findings: The strategic approach to BIM adoption incorporated people, process and technology equally and led to capacity building through the improvements in process, technological infrastructure and upskilling of JMA staff to attain efficiency gains and competitive advantages.
Originality/Value: This paper introduces a systematic approach for BIM adoption based on the action research philosophy and demonstrates a roadmap for BIM adoption at the operational level for SME companie
Collaborative, Trust-Based Security Mechanisms for a National Utility Intranet
This thesis investigates security mechanisms for utility control and protection networks using IP-based protocol interaction. It proposes flexible, cost-effective solutions in strategic locations to protect transitioning legacy and full IP-standards architectures. It also demonstrates how operational signatures can be defined to enact organizationally-unique standard operating procedures for zero failure in environments with varying levels of uncertainty and trust. The research evaluates layering encryption, authentication, traffic filtering, content checks, and event correlation mechanisms over time-critical primary and backup control/protection signaling to prevent disruption by internal and external malicious activity or errors. Finally, it shows how a regional/national implementation can protect private communities of interest and foster a mix of both centralized and distributed emergency prediction, mitigation, detection, and response with secure, automatic peer-to-peer notifications that share situational awareness across control, transmission, and reliability boundaries and prevent wide-spread, catastrophic power outages
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