Virtual public administration: improving public administration procedures through project management

The best way to contribute electronic and mobile Government is by creating a public administration network in virtual communities. This is essentially the definition of Virtual Public Administration (VPA). A virtual community (a good example of which would be the well acclaimed virtual reality world Second Life), could potentially provide the platform to offer improved public administration services. Arguably, the quality of these services to citizens and businesses in virtual communities are more competitive than in reality. Therefore, the social, economic and technological impact is more inquiring because we could potentially offer to the end users more motivation to join these communities. Furthermore the success of the VPA is based on the virtual project management application. Our paper examines, theoretically and empirically, how VPA could potentially contribute to better public administration services and how effective project management application could facilitate the proposed transition. The research strategy is based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches. In that respect pertinent data is been collected through both semi structured interviews and questionnaires, with executives and others, in the Greek and UK public administration sector. Preliminary theoretical results demonstrate the improvement achieved by integrating time in virtual and real worlds and by testing impact to the quality of service provided by public sector to citizens/businesses. To that end, our study provides both qualitative (statements of directors, observations) and quantitative (metrics) examples related to these improvements. Three UK based councils have agreed in principle to participate to the study. Furthermore, in Greece the General Inspector of Public Administration, the National University of Athens and others has also agreed to participate. Our paper concludes with the contribution of our work along with some interesting avenues for further research

Biomarker-Drug and Liquid Biopsy Co-development for Disease Staging and Targeted Therapy: Cornerstones for Alzheimer's Precision Medicine and Pharmacology.

Systems biology studies have demonstrated that different (epi)genetic and pathophysiological alterations may be mapped onto a single tumor's clinical phenotype thereby revealing commonalities shared by cancers with divergent phenotypes. The success of this approach in cancer based on analyses of traditional and emerging body fluid-based biomarkers has given rise to the concept of liquid biopsy enabling a non-invasive and widely accessible precision medicine approach and a significant paradigm shift in the management of cancer. Serial liquid biopsies offer clues about the evolution of cancer in individual patients across disease stages enabling the application of individualized genetically and biologically guided therapies. Moreover, liquid biopsy is contributing to the transformation of drug research and development strategies as well as supporting clinical practice allowing identification of subsets of patients who may enter pathway-based targeted therapies not dictated by clinical phenotypes alone. A similar liquid biopsy concept is emerging for Alzheimer's disease, in which blood-based biomarkers adaptable to each patient and stage of disease, may be used for positive and negative patient selection to facilitate establishment of high-value drug targets and counter-measures for drug resistance. Going beyond the "one marker, one drug" model, integrated applications of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, receptor expression and receptor cell biology and conformational status assessments during biomarker-drug co-development may lead to a new successful era for Alzheimer's disease therapeutics. We argue that the time is now for implementing a liquid biopsy-guided strategy for the development of drugs that precisely target Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology in individual patients

Digital Construction Strategies and BIM in Railway Tunnelling Engineering

Technology has been a strong driver for industrial efficiency in the twenty-first century. Rapid growth in infrastructure projects such as tunnels is synonymous with both disruptive and supportive technologies that automate operations. The sector has rapidly risen to the challenge from buyers demanding a more digitalised experience when looking to (re)design new tunnels. Currently there are projects in the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy investing in tunnels for their transport networks to help commuters to travel quicker. We could argue that construction has evolved because the tunnels developed nowadays are expected to last for several generations but such an argument is count intuitive. Think of having to spend billions of pounds for a tunnel that does not provide an enhanced travel experience and in a few years’ time requiring a major investment to remodel in order to operate it. This chapter discusses what, why and how digital construction can add value during the lifecycle of a tunnel

Of Stacks and Muses: Adventures in Learning Analytics at Marist College

International audienceWe describe the development of MUSE, an early-alert system of academically at-risk students implemented at Marist College, based on a stacked ensemble of classifiers. Experimental tests are carried out to demonstrate the predictive performance of the stack when making predictions on college-wide data

A STUDY ON EMERGING ADULTHOOD IN HELLENIC AIR FORCE CADETS IN GREECE

This paper presents the findings of the research carried out at the Hellenic Air Force’s 120 Air Training Wing, with the objective to define the characteristics and dimensions of emerging adulthood among student pilots during the initial and basic phase of flight training, and also to investigate the extent to which these characteristics are related to the type and content of their training. As shown by comparing the findings of the research with similar studies in the Greek context, in which students have participated, student pilots seem to be crossing the threshold of adulthood much earlier than their peers who are university students. Moreover, due to the content of their training, their views on the characteristics and dimensions of adulthood focus mostly on responsibilities and duties rather than on the rights of the adult phase of life. Article visualizations

Smart Airport : Mobile Asset Information Modeling Management based on Gamificative VR Environment-A Case Study of Ningbo Lishe International Airport Staff Restaurant

Acknowledgments We would like to convey our gratitude to MIT Ningbo Supply Chain Innovation Institute and Ningbo Airport Group Co., LTD, for their full support for the research.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Design of a large scale MIMD computer

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1994.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-44).by Eleni Kapogiannis.M.Eng

Incorporating BIM in the Final Semester Undergraduate Project of Construction Management — A Case Study in Fuzhou University

This pedagogical study presents building information modeling (BIM) education in the final semester construction management (CM) program. The case study conducted in Fuzhou University extends BIM education from a single BIM course in earlier undergraduate years to the senior year’s final semester project, which was designed to enable BIM utilization in multiple construction tasks (e.g., 3D site planning). This study consists of two major parts. The first part starts with the newly designed course of the final semester project of CM students. Students’ final semester project work is demonstrated depending on their selected deliverable type, which includes full BIM application group work, two partial BIM application types (i.e., construction planning/scheduling, and take-off estimate), and a research dissertation. The second part starts from the research hypothesis of whether the different deliverable type selected by students would affect their perceptions towards the final project and their professional career. Based on a follow-up questionnaire survey to the whole CM student sample aiming to test the hypotheses with statistical analyses (e.g., analysis of variance and the post-hoc analysis), it was indicated that all the four different deliverable types (i.e., subgroups) could lead to consistent perceptions of the final semester project towards their career development. However, subgroup differences were found. For example, students from the subgroup of full BIM application perceived that they had the highest level of hands-on skill enhancement throughout the project, possibly due to the fact that they linked BIM software tools to virtual reality (VR) hardware. Suggestions were provided to update the future BIM pedagogy in the final semester project, such as proper guide of CM students to opt their project deliverable type depending on their career interests, motivations in BIM utilization, and skill development needs. This current study provides insights in BIM education in terms that: 1) BIM education could be enhanced from a single course level to the senior year project in the CM program level; 2) different options offered in the final stage project within the CM curriculum might affect students’ perceptions towards BIM or their career development; and 3) the experience learned from this case study could be shared in the global community of construction education to update the curriculum incorporating information and communication technologies (e.g., BIM and VR). Future educational work in BIM could continue adopting existing educational theories (e.g., Bloom’s Taxonomy) by addressing the various levels of student learning, and viewing BIM in the bigger picture of digital construction