Critical success competencies for the BIM implementation process : UK construction clients

Construction clients’/owners’ demand is currently being recognised as a significant motivation and drive for the construction industry to begin to transform and adopt Building Information Modelling (BIM). In addition, clients can stimulate the innovation to achieve crucial benefits from BIM. However, the implementation of BIM is prevented from being more widely accepted across the construction industry by client fears and a lack of the full understanding of the benefits of BIM, as well as the requirements needed to realise these benefits. Therefore, it is important for client organisations to develop the required competencies that support the BIM implementation process and help to achieve the desired benefits of BIM. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success competencies that facilitate clients to fulfil their roles in the BIM implementation process. Multiple holistic case studies were used as the research strategy and semi-structured interviews were employed as the principal data collection technique. Code-based content analysis and cognitive mapping were used to analyse the verbatim interview transcripts. The data analysis process was facilitated by the computer-aided software, Nvivo. Several types of competencies are identified as critical success factors that enable client organisations to lead the BIM implementation process and increase the efficiency in BIM uses within the UK. In addition, it is concluded that by adopting these competencies, client organisations can enhance their Employer Information Requirements (EIR) and improve their ability to validate the outcome BIM models. These developments will increase client opportunities to meet their desired benefits. This paper provides a contribution to the body of knowledge by identifying BIM organisational maturity competencies for UK clients and their roles in the BIM implementation process, together with establishing the relationship between them. This will enhance the importance of the BIM maturity competencies within the BIM implementation from a clients’ perspective. In addition, it will facilitate client organisations evaluating their ability to fulfil their roles through assessing the related competencies

PLANTWIDE CONTROL OF ACETYLENE HYDROGENATION PROCESS

As an application of Plantwide control, where few papers have been published about the integrated process design and control of complete plants, the acetylene hydrogenation process has been considered as the goal of this research. Firstly, all plant units were controlled separately using PID controllers, then, complete plant control was based on the 15 steps of Luyben’s plantwide control strategy. An acceptable overall plant control behavior was achieved in terms of settling times and overshoot. An improvement was also, noticed on the plantwide control application when cascaded controllers are used for the developed control system. The improvement was clearly on the temperature control

Perceptually Important Points-Based Data Aggregation Method for Wireless Sensor Networks

يستهلك إرسال واستقبال البيانات معظم الموارد في شبكات الاستشعار اللاسلكية (WSNs). تعد الطاقة التي توفرها البطارية أهم مورد يؤثر على عمر WSN في عقدة المستشعر. لذلك، نظرًا لأن عُقد المستشعر تعمل بالاعتماد على بطاريتها المحدودة ، فإن توفير الطاقة ضروري. يمكن تعريف تجميع البيانات كإجراء مطبق للقضاء على عمليات الإرسال الزائدة عن الحاجة ، ويوفر معلومات مدمجة إلى المحطات الأساسية ، مما يؤدي بدوره إلى تحسين فعالية الطاقة وزيادة عمر الشبكات اللاسلكية ذات للطاقة المحدودة. في هذا البحث ، تم اقتراح طريقة تجميع البيانات المستندة إلى النقاط المهمة إدراكيًا (PIP-DA) لشبكات المستشعرات اللاسلكية لتقليل البيانات الزائدة عن الحاجة قبل إرسالها إلى المحطة الاساسية. من خلال استخدام مجموعة بيانات Intel Berkeley Research Lab (IBRL) ، تم قياس كفاءة الطريقة المقترحة. توضح النتائج التجريبية فوائد الطريقة المقترحة حيث تعمل على تقليل الحمل على مستوى عقدة الاستشعار حتى 1.25٪ في البيانات المتبقية وتقليل استهلاك الطاقة حتى 93٪ مقارنة ببروتوكولات PFF و ATP.The transmitting and receiving of data consume the most resources in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The energy supplied by the battery is the most important resource impacting WSN's lifespan in the sensor node. Therefore, because sensor nodes run from their limited battery, energy-saving is necessary. Data aggregation can be defined as a procedure applied for the elimination of redundant transmissions, and it provides fused information to the base stations, which in turn improves the energy effectiveness and increases the lifespan of energy-constrained WSNs. In this paper, a Perceptually Important Points Based Data Aggregation (PIP-DA) method for Wireless Sensor Networks is suggested to reduce redundant data before sending them to the sink. By utilizing Intel Berkeley Research Lab (IBRL) dataset, the efficiency of the proposed method was measured. The experimental findings illustrate the benefits of the proposed method as it reduces the overhead on the sensor node level up to 1.25% in remaining data and reduces the energy consumption up to 93% compared to prefix frequency filtering (PFF) and ATP protocols

The Importance of Implementing Modern Accounting and Automation Systems in Russian Higher Education Institutions

Automation technology has brought great changes to the accounting profession. However, opponents of the technology revolution view this progress as a step back because many accountants will fail to adapt to this new environment and this will lead to their decline. Therefore, our study aims to stimulate scientific discussion extensively about the importance of using automation technology in accounting information systems of Russian higher education institutions. There are many accounting processes and activities that are still being updated and are not automated or partially automated in universities. Russia is considered one of the developed countries in many fields, and its universities must be among the institutions that keep pace with modern developments in the world. We have followed the description, comparison, analysis and presentation methodology in this article for clarification. The importance of using modern accounting information systems and automation, and the importance of developing the skill of accountants on modern systems so that they can know the programs and mechanisms currently used. By using this technology, it leads to improving efficiency, saving time, increasing the level of transparency and productivity, predictability, increasing the level of reliability and lowering costs. The limitations are represented by the difficulty of regulatory compliance due to the application of automation

Predicting the potential current and future distribution of the endangered endemic vascular plant primula boveana decne. ex duby in Egypt

Knowledge about population attributes, current geographic distribution, and changes over predicted climate change for many threatened endemic vascular plants is particularly limited in arid mountain environments. Primula boveana is one of the rarest and threatened plants worldwide, surviving exclusively in Saint Catherine Protectorate in the Sinaic biogeographic subsector of Egypt. This study aimed to define the current state of P. boveana populations, predict its current potential distribution, and use the best-model outputs to guide in field sampling and to forecast its future distribution under two climate change scenarios. The MaxEnt algorithm was used by relating 10 occurrence-points with different environmental predictors (27 bioclimatic, 3 topographic, and 8 edaphic factors). At the current knowledge level, the population size of P. boveana consists of 796 individuals, including 137 matures, distributed in only 250 m2. The Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCorA) displayed that population attributes (density, cover, size index, and plant vigor) were positively correlated with elevation, precipitation, and pH. Based on the best-fitting model, most predicted suitable central sites (69 km2) of P. boveana were located in the cool shaded high-elevated middle northern part of St. Catherine. Elevation, precipitation, temperature, and soil pH were the key contributors to P. boveana distribution in Egypt. After field trips in suitable predicted sites, we confirmed five extinct localities where P. boveana has been previously recorded and no new population was found. The projected map showed an upward range shift through the contraction of sites between 1800 and 2000 m and expansion towards high elevation (above 2000 m) at the southern parts of the St. Catherine area. To conserve P. boveana, it is recommended to initiate in situ conservation through reinforcement and reintroduction actions

Development of Bismuth-Doped Fibers (BDFs) in Optical Communication Systems

This chapter will provide background information in the development of BDFs and their applications in optical communication systems. Herein, the main focus is briefly described previous studies on BDFs that have attracted much interest over the last two decades. This necessary information and concepts are very much relevant to understanding this book, mainly due to the doping of Bi in the studied bismuth and erbium-doped silicate fibers (BEDFs). The remaining chapter is consisting of the following sections: Sec.2: General introduction about optical fibers. Sec. 3 discusses the general spectral characteristics of BDFs. Sec.4: Including the active centers (namely the bismuth (Bi) active centers (BACs)) responsible for the spectral properties in Bi-doped fibers. Sec.4 Discusses the Bismuth Doped Fiber Amplifier (BDFA)

Evaluation of Green Corrosion Inhibition by Extracts of Citrus aurantium Leaves Against Carbon Steel in 1 M HCl Medium Complemented with Quantum Chemical Assessment

Employing plants as corrosion inhibitors is a physical direction to detect less expensive green friendly inhibitors. Researchers found that the Citrus aurantium leaves extracts are mixtures containing vitamins, minerals, phenolic compounds and terpenoids. The flavonoids contained in C. aurantium can be divided into four groups, including flavones, flavanones, flavonols, and anthocyanins. These compounds indicate the extracts of Citrus aurantium leaves are appropriate to be applied as green corrosion inhibitors. Extracts of Citrus aurantium leaves have been researched by utilizing EIS, gravimetric and SEM techniques as novel eco-friendly corrosion inhibitors for carbon steel in corrosive environments. Inhibition effectiveness of tested extract depends on different concentrations of extract, starting from 0 to 40% v/v. Inhibition effectiveness of 81.2% is reached at the concentration of 20% v/v of the extract in 1 M corrosive solution for three hours at 25℃. Temperature effects and activation parameters have been investigated. A theoretical investigation of Citrus aurantium leaves extract isomers as corrosion inhibitors have been done using DFT/ B3LYP density functional theory. The results shows that, in general, Citrus aurantium leaves have good inhibiting activities at relatively low concentrations. Phenolic groups of Citrus aurantium leaves were picked for examination as substituents of the four inhibitors. Hydroxyl groups of the studied extract compounds result in an increase in inhibition effectiveness, while methylation of the hydroxyl group leads to decrease in inhibitive effectiveness. Citrus aurantium leaves extracted isomers symbolize a considerable enhancement in the inhibition performance

Plasma Parameters Diagnosis of Laboratory Ar/O2 Cold Atmospheric Plasma Jet using Different Potential Discharges

This paper offers a clear methodology for the characterization of cold atmospheric plasmas and their development. The optical emission spectra of an Ar/O2 plasma jet produced in a plasma jet system at constant flow rates and for various potential discharges between 14 kV and 18 kV revealed that variations in voltage caused a significant difference in the intensity of the Ar/O2 emission. The plasma characteristics of electron temperature (Te), electron density (ne), plasma frequency (fp), Debye length (λD), and the number of particles in the Debye sphere (ND), were estimated using the technique of optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The obtained data are subject to further analysis and discussion. It was determined that potential discharges increased, and an electron temperature increased from 1.34 eV to 1.54 eV. With rising potential discharges, the Debye length decreases while the electron density, plasma frequency, and number of particles in the Debye sphere increase.

Synthesis and characterization of erbium trioxide nanoparticles as photocatalyzers for degradation of methyl orange dye

The present work focuses on the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) on erbium trioxide nanoparticles (Er2O3 NPs). In this study, Er2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized and fully characterized via various techniques, including X-ray diffraction, UV–visible spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The results revealed that the photocatalytic activity of the prepared Er2O3 NPs was manifested in MO photodegradation. The optimum efficiency obtained was 16&thinsp;%.</p