Project and production management Intersection: Life-Cycle analysis of on-site and off-site construction

The purpose of this paper is to provide an argument for moving beyond calls for increased construction industry productivity based on the perceived differences between construction projects and manufacture production. Traditionally scholars have claimed that the lack of increased construction industry productivity is attributable to the differences between on-site work and off-site work. However, in 2011 project processes and product outcomes are essential to both. As management theories have become integrated into practice in both industries, the management of both a unique project and product-production have converged. At the same time, almost all construction today utilises both on-site and off-site processes. Therefore, the driver for increased off-site manufacture to ensure increased industry productivity must be reconsidered. One way forward would be to consider issues related to reducing the environmental impacts of construction. That is the aim of this discussion paper. Many researchers have identified difficulties with communication between on-site and off-site production. However, if the focus of productivity gains shifts to measuring environmental impact, based on a Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA), then both the tangible and intangible effects of both on-site and off-site work can be compared. Thus, over-coming identified difficulties with a common language based on LCA could enable co-operative on and off site production. This co-operation could in turn to lead to increased industry productivity. The paper ends by providing a LCA focused research agenda to provide evidence for reconsidering the claim that increasing off-site manufacture will increase construction industry productivity

The Impact of COVID-19 on UK informant use and management

The effect of COVID-19 on informant use and management, during the peak of the imposed Government lockdown measures was felt across English and Welsh police Dedicated Source Units. Within these restrictions, staff managing informants had to develop and then implement new strategies that delivered safe, yet effective, informant handling capacity and capability. Based on a survey of 205 respondents directly involved in the handling, control or authorisation of informants, this article examined their perceptions of the effect of COVID-19 in this highly specialised policing activity. The research findings revealed five broad themes associated with the impact of COVID-19 on informant management practices: (i) health protection; (ii) governance; (iii) innovation and technology; (iv) recruitment, communication and informant development; and (v) tradecraft and intelligence. The article explored the organisational responses to initiating and maintaining informant-handler relationships and ensuring the flow of intelligence within this unique operational environment. Participants perceived that handler-informant relationships were strengthened, and also indications of a willingness to adapt policy and procedure associated with the informant management cycle: targeting, initial recruitment contact, assessment and evaluation, tasking and deployment and payment of informant rewards. It also highlighted a wider consensus that there was further scope for enhancing resilience to similar future pandemics including the use of enabling technology and responsive policy adaptation

Parenting after a history of childhood maltreatment: a scoping review and map of evidence in the perinatal period

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Child maltreatment is a global health priority affecting up to half of all children worldwide, with profound and ongoing impacts on physical, social and emotional wellbeing. The perinatal period (pregnancy to two years postpartum) is critical for parents with a history of childhood maltreatment. Parents may experience 'triggering' of trauma responses during perinatal care or caring for their distressed infant. The long-lasting relational effects may impede the capacity of parents to nurture their children and lead to intergenerational cycles of trauma. Conversely, the perinatal period offers a unique life-course opportunity for parental healing and prevention of child maltreatment. This scoping review aims to map perinatal evidence regarding theories, intergenerational pathways, parents' views, interventions and measurement tools involving parents with a history of maltreatment in their own childhoods. METHODS AND RESULTS:We searched Medline, Psychinfo, Cinahl and Embase to 30/11/2016. We screened 6701 articles and included 55 studies (74 articles) involving more than 20,000 parents. Most studies were conducted in the United States (42/55) and involved mothers only (43/55). Theoretical constructs include: attachment, social learning, relational-developmental systems, family-systems and anger theories; 'hidden trauma', resilience, post-traumatic growth; and 'Child Sexual Assault Healing' and socioecological models. Observational studies illustrate sociodemographic and mental health protective and risk factors that mediate/moderate intergenerational pathways to parental and child wellbeing. Qualitative studies provide rich descriptions of parental experiences and views about healing strategies and support. We found no specific perinatal interventions for parents with childhood maltreatment histories. However, several parenting interventions included elements which address parental history, and these reported positive effects on parent wellbeing. We found twenty-two assessment tools for identifying parental childhood maltreatment history or impact. CONCLUSIONS:Perinatal evidence is available to inform development of strategies to support parents with a history of child maltreatment. However, there is a paucity of applied evidence and evidence involving fathers and Indigenous parents.Catherine Chamberlain, Graham Gee, Stephen Harfield, Sandra Campbell, Sue Brennan, Yvonne Clark, Fiona Mensah, Kerry Arabena, Helen Herrman, Stephanie Brown, for the ‘Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future’ grou

Characteristics of Indigenous primary health care service delivery models: a systematic scoping review

Published online: 25 January 2018Background: Indigenous populations have poorer health outcomes compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. The evolution of Indigenous primary health care services arose from mainstream health services being unable to adequately meet the needs of Indigenous communities and Indigenous peoples often being excluded and marginalised from mainstream health services. Part of the solution has been to establish Indigenous specific primary health care services, for and managed by Indigenous peoples. There are a number of reasons why Indigenous primary health care services are more likely than mainstream services to improve the health of Indigenous communities. Their success is partly due to the fact that they often provide comprehensive programs that incorporate treatment and management, prevention and health promotion, as well as addressing the social determinants of health. However, there are gaps in the evidence base including the characteristics that contribute to the success of Indigenous primary health care services in providing comprehensive primary health care. This systematic scoping review aims to identify the characteristics of Indigenous primary health care service delivery models. Method: This systematic scoping review was led by an Aboriginal researcher, using the Joanna Briggs Institute Scoping Review Methodology. All published peer-reviewed and grey literature indexed in PubMed, EBSCO CINAHL, Embase, Informit, Mednar, and Trove databases from September 1978 to May 2015 were reviewed for inclusion. Studies were included if they describe the characteristics of service delivery models implemented within an Indigenous primary health care service. Sixty-two studies met the inclusion criteria. Data were extracted and then thematically analysed to identify the characteristics of Indigenous PHC service delivery models. Results: Culture was the most prominent characteristic underpinning all of the other seven characteristics which were identified – accessible health services, community participation, continuous quality improvement, culturally appropriate and skilled workforce, flexible approach to care, holistic health care, and self-determination and empowerment. Conclusion: While the eight characteristics were clearly distinguishable within the review, the interdependence between each characteristic was also evident. These findings were used to develop a new Indigenous PHC Service Delivery Model, which clearly demonstrates some of the unique characteristics of Indigenous specific models.Stephen G. Harfield, Carol Davy, Alexa McArthur, Zachary Munn, Alex Brown and Ngiare Brow

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

New project management models : productivity Improvement for Infrastructure

This research examined new approaches to the construction and maintenance of infrastructure to identify models for improving productivity. Existing solutions were identified across two categories: vertical and horizontal infrastructure. New models are proposed for three phases: Design, Construction and Asset Management

Construction project control methodologies and productivity improvement : EVM, BIM, LBM

Construction productivity has been and remains a concern of organizations and governments. Productivity is also a concern of individual projects. A recent survey of 50 international construction project controls professionals found limited support for the effectiveness of three well known project control systems: Earned Value Management (EVM), Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Location Based Management (LBM). Analysis of the data collected during semi-structured interviews highlights two important problems in both commercial and infrastructure projects. The study found that all organizations used one or more of these methodologies. However, each of the methodologies was considered effective only for some projects or some parts of those projects. It appears that a major reason for lack of effectiveness is that project team capability and capacity to implement the methodology effectively was variable. However, it may be that an even more important factor is linked to the ineffective implementation; lack of understanding the theory that underpins these types of project control methodologies. EVM, BIM and LBM are all systemic methodologies aimed at reduction of waste as a means to improve productivity, thus all require consistent project process: data collection, monitoring, reporting and forecasting for effective control

The Quality of Data and Data Availability for Property Research

Property market performances have great impact on the economy as a whole. Property research is one of the disciplines of scientific research that provide significant information for decision-makers. However, scientific research requires quality data. Quality data plays a vital role in providing reliable and valid information for property market performance. This paper discusses the state of property data in terms of both quality and availability. A possible solution is made concerning the current lack of adequate availability of quality historical datasets for property researcher