Integrating BIM and GIS in railway projects: A critical review

The railway plays a significant role in human life by providing safe, reliable, costeffective services, which are environmental and drive economic growth. Significant decisions are taken at early stage of rail projects which need effective tools to avoid rework and save time, cost and increase work efficiency. Indeed, the continuous upgrading of this sector is needed to respond to technological advances, environmental change and increased customer demands. Integrating Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information systems (GIS) is promising since the scope of BIM usually does not extend beyond the footprint of the “building”; it does not provide geospatial data. Therefore, integrating BIM with GIS provides a complete picture of the project. However, this integration is challenging especially in rail projects as they are amongst the most complicated projects and numerous parties are involved in making important decisions. This paper reviews the literature regarding integrating BIM with GIS systematically, with the aim of analysing the need for this integration and its benefits. The paper highlights a lack of a clear guideline for collaboration in the railway project lifecycle and indicates the need for research to focus on this issue as well as the possibility of applying integrated BIM with GIS as a potential solution to improve collaboration for better decision among project participants

Sustainable seafood using octopus as a model

The global catch of octopus and squid shows annual variability and demand is likely to increase for both locally-supplied and imported products. However, the vulnerability of seafood resources is now well known, the reliability of fisheries catch data is still unclear, management of cephalopod stocks is mostly rudimentary, and there is uncertainty and concern about their sustainability among fisheries managers, the fishing industry, retailers, researchers and consumers. Here, a new project is presented which aims to address and resolve ways to enhance the effectiveness of seafood sustainability in general, with the aid of a freely accessible identification and traceability tool linked to sophisticated databases, and using artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain technology, to provide an easy and reliable way to trace seafood using octopus as a model. The project is a contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goals 2, 9, 14, and 17

Collaboration through integrated BIM and GIS for the design process in rail projects: formalising the requirements

Many of the obstacles to effective delivery of rail projects (in terms of cost, time and quality) can be traced back to poor collaboration across complex design teams and supply chains. As in any infrastructure delivery process, it is important to make decisions collaboratively at an early design stage. Advanced systems such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can facilitate collaboration during the decision-making process and boost work efficiencies. Such potential benefits are not realised because the roles of BIM and GIS in facilitating collaboration are not clearly understood or articulated. This paper aims to identify and articulate collaboration requirements during the design stage of rail projects. To achieve this, a mixed-method approach was employed to examine the issues that hinder collaboration in rail projects. An online questionnaire was designed to assess the state-of-art in BIM and GIS, followed by fifteen follow-up face to face interviews with experts to identify collaboration issues and suggestions to overcome them. The research identified the main challenges to effective collaboration and provided suggestions to overcome them. The main challenges were managing information and a reluctance to use new collaboration technologies. The main solution which emerged from the data was to develop an original Collaborative Plan of Work (CPW). The developed CPW is tailored to rail projects and has been formulated by combining the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Plan of Work and the GRIP Stages (Governance for Railway Investment Projects). This comprehensive plan of work, which is uniquely collaboration-focused, is significant because it can be further developed to formulate a precise process model for collaboration during the design process of rail projects. Such a process can (for example) be configured into the workflow prescribed by a Common Data Environment

A process model for collaboration at the design stage of rail project delivery

The absence of a clear collaboration process at the design stage of rail projects hinders the ability to provide the right information at the right time for the right purposes. The scope and complexity of rail projects make them particularly sensitive to problems arising from poor collaboration. Within projects, collaboration is a key enabler for effective decision making and rework reduction and this leads to time and cost savings. Strategies and technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) facilitate collaboration among project stakeholders during the asset delivery phase but require a roadmap to ensure successful implementation. Using collaboration as a theoretical lens, and applying collaboration technologies, this paper conceptualizes the collaboration processes for rail delivery with the focus on the design stage. The aim of this research is to develop a collaboration process model at the design stage of rail delivery. Ten in-depth interviews with BIM, GIS and rail delivery experts were carried out to identify the dimensions and characteristics of the collaboration process model. The collaboration process emerging from the results was modelled using Integrated Definition (IDEF) notation and reveals the project activities, key players’ roles and responsibilities for effective BIM-GIS19 based collaboration in the design stage of rail projects. The process was operationalized by customizing a commercial Common Data Environment platform and was validated using a focus group and in-depth interview to establish the trustworthiness of the theoretically modelled collaboration process for rail delivery. The precise model of the collaboration process, based on integrated use of BIM and GIS, constitutes a significant original contribution of this research. This model should facilitate smoother implementation of these technologies, timely information flows between project participants, and ultimately more effective delivery of rail projects.</p

Conceptualising information misinterpretation in digital asset delivery

Information misinterpretation is considered an implicit backdrop to ineffective communication in the Built Environment, underpinning errors, reworks, and defects. This research conceptualises misinterpretation in Digital Asset Delivery (DAD) to enable its impact mitigation using hermeneutics as a lens, and a critical literature review approach. A synthesis of literature was undertaken to define misinterpretation and identify its people-process-technology enablers across Digital and Non-Digital Asset Delivery. Misinterpretation, defined as assigning a divergent meaning to information from the sender’s intended meaning by a receiver, is rooted in the epistemological fragmentation of Built Environment stakeholders and processes, which culminates in discreet ideologies, representations, and tools/technologies. Human-technology interactions in DAD interpretation, conceptualised as a Sender-Asset information-Receiver-Technology (SART) Interpretive Model, facilitate misinterpretation, hence the need for its dimensions and antecedents to be identified. This research enriches information quality and value debates and extends the need for socio-technical frameworks that support effective digitalisation adoption to improve interpretation

Conceptualising information misinterpretation in digital asset delivery

Information misinterpretation is considered an implicit backdrop to ineffective communication in the Built Environment, underpinning errors, reworks, and defects. This research conceptualises misinterpretation in Digital Asset Delivery (DAD) to enable its impact mitigation using hermeneutics as a lens, and a critical literature review approach. A synthesis of literature was undertaken to define misinterpretation and identify its people-process-technology enablers across Digital and Non-Digital Asset Delivery. Misinterpretation, defined as assigning a divergent meaning to information from the sender’s intended meaning by a receiver, is rooted in the epistemological fragmentation of Built Environment stakeholders and processes, which culminates in discreet ideologies, representations, and tools/technologies. Human-technology interactions in DAD interpretation, conceptualised as a Sender-Asset information-Receiver-Technology (SART) Interpretive Model, facilitate misinterpretation, hence the need for its dimensions and antecedents to be identified. This research enriches information quality and value debates and extends the need for socio-technical frameworks that support effective digitalisation adoption to improve interpretation

Case Report: Successful liver transplantation after achieving complete clinical remission of advanced HCC with Atezolizumab plus Bevacizumab combination therapy

Background Atezolizumab plus Bevacizumab combination therapy has recently emerged as the new standard of care for unresectable HCC. Significant tumor burden reduction can be observed under that treatment, raising the question of liver transplantation (LT). The safety of another immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), nivolumab, is unclear in the pre-transplant setting. Method We report the case of a 57-y old man, with initial unresectable multinodular HCC contraindicated to LT and locoregional therapies, who achieves complete tumor response after Atezolizumab/Bevacizumab, and subsequently underwent LT for liver failure. Results Explant analysis revealed complete pathological response with no tumor remnant. The patient suffered from several post-operative complications but no HCC recurrence or biopsy-proven acute rejection occurred 10 months after LT. Conclusions Atezolizumab/Bevacizumab therapy may enable complete pathological response of advanced HCC. Safety of prolonged treatment need to be assessed

Subtotal hepatectomy in swine for studying small-for-size syndrome and portal inflow modulation: is it reliable?

AbstractBackgroundSmall-for-size syndrome (SFSS) is a feared complication of extended liver resection and partial liver transplantation. Swine models of extended hepatectomy have been developed for studying SFSS and its different treatment options. Although portal inflow modulation (PIM) by splenectomy or splenic artery ligation (SAL) has been proposed in humans to prevent SFSS, such procedures have not yet been evaluated in swine.ObjectivesThe present study was designed to evaluate modifications in splanchnic haemodynamics yielded by extended hepatectomy with and without PIM in swine.MethodsNineteen animals underwent 70% hepatectomy (H70, n = 7), 90% hepatectomy (H90, n = 7) or sham laparotomy (H0, n = 5). Haemodynamic measurements were performed at baseline, after hepatectomy and after PIM by SAL and splenectomy.ResultsPortal vein flow increased after both H70 (273 ml/min/100 g versus 123 ml/min/100 g; P = 0.016) and H90 (543 ml/min/100 g versus 124 ml/min/100 g; P = 0.031), but the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) increased only after H90 (10.0 mmHg versus 3.7 mmHg; P = 0.016). Hepatic artery flow did not significantly decrease after either H70 or H90. In all three groups, neither splenectomy nor SAL induced any changes in splanchnic haemodynamics.ConclusionsSubtotal hepatectomy of 90% in swine is a reliable model for SFSS inducing a significant increase in HVPG. However, in view of the relevant differences between swine and human splanchnic anatomy, this model is inadequate for studying the effects of PIM by SAL and splenectomy