Megaprojects-Challenges and Lessons Learned

AbstractProjects have become popular work form in modern organizations. Megaprojects can be seen as the wild beasts in the project world, they are hard to tame, known for their complexity, vast size, expensive cost, and long time frame. These projects bring big changes in the geography of countries and life of people. Some of these megaprojects become landmarks for a country and bring significant prosperity, but some become unforgettable catastrophes. One of the definitions of megaprojects is that they are the projects in which the cost exceeds one billion US dollars. Examples of megaprojects include, “Channel tunnel”, “London Olympics 2012” and “Ormen Lange offshore project”. Though several pitfalls and challenges have been pointed out with respect to managing megaprojects, the relevance and the need of carrying out this kind of projects attract both the industries (practitioners) and academics. There are many significant issues that must be addressed in connection with managing megaprojects. This paper focuses on the different initiatives taken to date, presents them and tries to find the area of the missing expertise to understand the characteristics and the management of megaprojects

Project Evaluation Holistic Framework – Application on Megaproject Case

AbstractThis paper is about developing a holistic framework for project evaluation; it is applied in a case study of an Algerian highway megaproject. This project has attracted the attention of all the local media and even many of the international media. Several media discussions on the project are limited to the completion of the project itself seen in a short-term perspective. In this regard, the discussions were notably associated with delays and expenditures coming in over budget, which is project efficiency signified by aspects such as time, cost and the scope. One reason that made the media focus only on these aspects is that they can easily be measured and are usually the first criteria against which the project can be assessed. The relevance of the project and its effects, whether it attains its goals and objectives measured in terms of effectiveness, including impact and sustainability – all these four measures can only be verified at a later stage, after the project has delivered its results. These are much broader aspects and are therefore difficult to measure. This paper is about developing an ex-post evaluation framework model. This is achieved by going through the different definitions of the measures of project success or failure and then reflecting on them with respect to the whole project life cycle by considering all the process groups in the project (i.e., conception phase, front-end analysis phase, planning and design phase, engineering phase, procurement phase, construction phase, closing phase and operating phase). This would provide us with a holistic way of evaluating projects

The Black Swan – Knowing the Unknown in Projects

A “Black Swan” is produced when the gap between what we know and what we think we know becomes dangerously wide (Taleb, 2007). This concept is closely related to uncertainty and learning. A Black Swan event is usually a surprise, at least to the observer. However the Black Swan event very much depends on the observer. What may be a Black Swan surprise for a turkey is not a Black Swan surprise to its butcher; so the main objective is to “avoid being the turkey” by exploring and identifying areas of vulnerability in order to avoid surprises. In projects, while some may disagree, almost all failures, even catastrophic ones, are not really Black Swan events but a series of failures that alone may have a negative impact on project outcomes but combined lead to catastrophic failure. However it is surprising how often experienced project teams ignore the early warning signs and move forward into the project lifecycle despite serious problems in many areas that are keys to project success. This will ultimately lead to the Black Swan event materializing. That is when it is too late to take any preventive actions. This paper will characterize the Black Swan concept in projects and describe its nature and identify organizational mechanisms that can be useful in dealing with Black Swan surprises in projects. This study is mainly based on literature study, however carries out an assessment on examples of Black Swan events in order to better clarify the concept under study

Mechanical model of the ultra-fast underwater trap of Utricularia

The underwater traps of the carnivorous plants of the Utricularia species catch their preys through the repetition of an "active slow deflation / passive fast suction" sequence. In this paper, we propose a mechanical model that describes both phases and strongly supports the hypothesis that the trap door acts as a flexible valve that buckles under the combined effects of pressure forces and the mechanical stimulation of trigger hairs, and not as a panel articulated on hinges. This model combines two different approaches, namely (i) the description of thin membranes as triangle meshes with strain and curvature energy, and (ii) the molecular dynamics approach, which consists in computing the time evolution of the position of each vertex of the mesh according to Langevin equations. The only free parameter in the expression of the elastic energy is the Young's modulus E of the membranes. The values for this parameter are unequivocally obtained by requiring that the trap model fires, like real traps, when the pressure difference between the outside and the inside of the trap reaches about 15 kPa. Among other results, our simulations show that, for a pressure difference slightly larger than the critical one, the door buckles, slides on the threshold and finally swings wide open, in excellent agreement with the sequence observed in high-speed videos.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review

The Prevalence of Previously Undiagnosed Leprosy in the General Population of Northwest Bangladesh

In order to estimate the level of leprosy in an area with many leprosy patients, we determined the prevalence of previously undiagnosed leprosy in the general population and compared this with the registered (or known) number of leprosy patients. We also compared it with the known prevalence of leprosy in contacts of leprosy patients. We examined 20 randomly selected geographical clusters of 1,000 persons each in two districts of Bangladesh, with over 4 million population. Physical examination was performed on all individuals. The number of newly found leprosy cases among 17,862 people above 5 years of age from the clusters was 27, giving a rate of previously undiagnosed leprosy of 15.1 per 10,000. This rate is six times higher than the registered prevalence, but three times lower than the rate in the most distant subgroup of contacts (neighbour of neighbour and social contacts) of leprosy patients in the same area. We conclude that in areas where leprosy is common, it may be preferable to do full village or neighbourhood surveys when a new leprosy patient is found, rather than to limit contact surveys to close contacts only, such as household members

Synthesis and down conversion emission property of Eu3+ doped LaAlO3 CsAlO2 and LiLaO2 phosphors

[EN] LaAlO3:Eu3+, CsAlO2:Eu3+ and LiLaO2:Eu3+ phosphors with varying concen- trations of Eu3+ from 3 to 10 mol% were prepared by combustion synthesis method and the samples were further heated to 1,000ºC to improve the crystallinity of the materials. The structure and morphology of materials have been examined by X-ray diffraction and scan- ning electron microscopy. SEM images depicted that the morphology of crystallites have no uniform shapes and sizes. Small and coagulated particles of irregular shapes of different sizes are obtained. The characteristic emissions of Eu3+ were clearly observed at nearly 580, 592, 650, 682 to 709 (multiplet structure) nm for 5D - 7 Fn transitions where n = 0, 1, 3, 4 respectively, including the strongest emission peaks at 614 and 620 nm for 5 D0 - 7 F2 transitions in CsAlO2:Eu3+ and LiLaO2:Eu3+ host lattices. The intensity of emission peak corresponding to 5 D0 !→ 7 F1 transitions in LaAlO3 :Eu3+ material is comparable to that of 5D0 5D-7F2 transitions which is also a singlet. Photoluminescence intensity follows the order as in LiLaO2 > LaAlO3 > CsAlO2 lattices. Remarkable high photoluminescence intensity with 7 mol% doping of Eu3+ in LiLaO2 makes it a strong contender for red colored display applications.This work was supported by the European Commission through Nano CIS project (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IRSES ref. 269279).Marí Soucase, B.; Singh, KC.; Moya Forero, MM.; Singh, I.; Om, H.; Chand, S. (2015). Synthesis and down conversion emission property of Eu3+ doped LaAlO3 CsAlO2 and LiLaO2 phosphors. Optical and Quantum Electronics. 47(7):1569-1578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-014-9997-9S15691578477Abbattista, F., Vallino, M.: Remarks on the $$\text{La}_{2}\text{O}_{3}-\text{Li}_{2}\text{O}$$ La 2 O 3 - Li 2 O binary system between 750 and 1,000  $$^{\circ}$$ ∘ C. Ceram. Int. 9, 35–38 (1983)Bae, Y., Lee, K., Byeon, S.: Synthesis and $$\text{Eu}^{3+}$$ Eu 3 + concentration-dependent photoluminescence of $$\text{Gd}_{\rm 2-x}\text{Eu}_{\rm x}\text{O}_{3}$$ Gd 2 - x Eu x O 3 nanowires. J. Lumin. 129, 81–85 (2009)Blasse, G., Grambier, B.: Luminescent Materials, vol. 43. Springer, Berlin, pp. 43–46 (1994)Dereń, P., Krupa, J.: Spectroscopic investigations of $$\text{LaAlO}_{3}$$ LaAlO 3 : $$\text{Eu}^{3+}$$ Eu 3 + . J. Lumin. 102–103, 386–390 (2003)Ekambaram, S., Patil, K.: Synthesis and properties of $$\text{Eu}^{2+}$$ Eu 2 + activated blue phosphors. J. Alloys Compd. 248, 7–12 (1997)Gao, X., Lei, L., Lv, C., Sun, Y., Zheng, H., Cui, Y.: Preparation and photoluminescence property of a loose powder, $$\text{Ca}_{3}\text{Al}_{2}\text{O}_{6}$$ Ca 3 Al 2 O 6 : $$\text{Eu}^{3+}$$ Eu 3 + by calcination of a layered double hydroxide precursor. J. Solid State Chem. 181, 1776–1781 (2008)Hayakawa, T., Kamt, N., Yamada, K.: Visible emission characteristics in $$\text{Tb}^{3+}$$ Tb 3 + -doped fluorescent glasses under selective excitation. J. Lumin. 68, 179–186 (1996)Hreniak, D., Strek, W., Dereń, P., Bednarkiewicz, A., Łukowiak, A.: J. Alloys Compd. 408, 828–830 (2006)Huang, Y., Jiang, C., Cao, Y., Shi, L., Seo, H.: Luminescence and microstructures of $$\text{Eu}^{3+}$$ Eu 3 + -doped in triple phosphate $$\text{Ca}_{8}\text{MgR}(\text{PO}_{4})_{7}$$ Ca 8 MgR ( PO 4 ) 7 (R = La, Gd, Y) with whitlockite structure. Mater. Res. Bull. 44, 793–798 (2009)Kharbache, H., Mahiou, R., Boutinaud, P., Boyer, D., Zakaria, D., Deren, P.: Experimental evidence of $$\text{Eu}^{3+}$$ Eu 3 + pairs in $$\text{K}_{2}\text{EuF}_{5}$$ K 2 EuF 5 . Opt. Mater. 31, 558–561 (2009)Kijima, T., Shinbori, T., Sekita, M., Uota, M., Sakai, G.: Abnormally enhanced $$\text{Eu}^{3+}$$ Eu 3 + emission in $$\text{Y}_{2}\text{O}_{2}\text{SO}_{4}$$ Y 2 O 2 SO 4 : $$\text{Eu}^{3+}$$ Eu 3 + inherited from their precursory dodecylsulfate-templated concentric-layered nanostructure. J. Lumin. 128, 311–316 (2008)Liu, G., Hong, G., Wang, J., Dong, X.: Hydrothermal synthesis of spherical and hollow $$\text{Gd}_{2}\text{O}_{3}$$ Gd 2 O 3 : $$\text{Eu}^{3+}$$ Eu 3 + phosphors. J. Alloys Compd. 432, 200–204 (2007)Mączka, M., Bednarkiewicz, A., Mendoza-Mendoza, E., Fuentes, A.F., Kępiński, L.: Optical properties of Eu and Er doped $$\text{LaAlO}_{3}$$ LaAlO 3 nanopowders prepared by low-temperature method. J. Solid State Chem. 194, 264–269 (2012)Mao, Z., Wang, D., Lu, Q., Yu, W., Yuan, Z.: Tunable single-doped single-host full-color-emitting $$\text{LaAlO}_{3}$$ LaAlO 3 : $$\text{Eu}$$ Eu phosphor via valence state-controlled means. Chem. 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Evaluation of antiarthritic activity of Strychnos potatorum Linn seeds in Freund's adjuvant induced arthritic rat model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Strychnos potatorum </it>Linn (Loganiaceae) is a moderate sized tree found in southern and central parts of India, Sri Lanka and Burma. In traditional system of medicine, <it>Strychnos potatorum </it>Linn seeds were used for various ailments including inflammation, diabetes etc. To investigate the folkloric use of the seeds the present study was carried out on Freund's adjuvant induced arthritic rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The present study states the effect of the aqueous extract (SPE) and the whole seed powder (SPP) of <it>Strychnos potatorum </it>Linn seeds on the Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) induced arthritic rat paw edema, body weight changes and alterations in haematological and biochemical parameters in both developing and developed phases of arthritis. Histopathology of proximal interphalangeal joints and radiology of hind legs were studied.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In FCA induced arthritic rats, there was significant increase in rat paw volume and decrease in body weight increment, whereas SPP and SPE treated groups, showed significant reduction in paw volume and normal gain in body weight. The altered haematological parameters (Hb, RBC, WBC and ESR) and biochemical parameters (blood urea, serum creatinine, total proteins and acute phase proteins) in the arthritic rats were significantly brought back to near normal by the SPP and SPE treatment at the dose of 200 mg/kg/p.o in both developing and developed phases of arthritis. Further the histopathological and radiological studies revealed the antiarthritic activity of SPP and SPE by indicating fewer abnormalities in these groups when compared to the arthritic control group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion, both SPP and SPE at the specified dose level of 200 mg/kg, p.o. showed reduction in rat paw edema volume and it could significantly normalize the haematological and biochemical abnormalities in adjuvant induced arthritic rats in both developing and developed phases of FCA induced arthritis. Further the histopathological and radiological studies confirmed the antiarthritic activity of SPP and SPE.</p

Emodin Suppresses Migration and Invasion through the Modulation of CXCR4 Expression in an Orthotopic Model of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

10.1371/journal.pone.0057015PLoS ONE83