The role of the supply chain in the elimination and reduction of construction rework and defects: an action research approach

Since 2007, Ireland has suffered a circa 80% reduction in construction output. This has resulted in bankruptcy, unemployment and bad debt. Contractors have attached greater emphasis to production efficiency and cost reduction as a means of survival. An Action Research (AR) strategy was used in this research to improve processes adopted by a SME contractor for the control of defects in its supply chain. It is conservatively estimated that rework, typically accounts for, circa 5% of total project costs. Rework is wasteful and presents an obvious target for improvement. The research reported here concerns the (first) diagnosing stage of the AR cycle only, involving: observation of fieldwork, analysis of contract documents, and semi-structured interviews with supply chain members. The results indicate potential for supply chain participants to identify root causes of defects and propose solutions, having regard to best practice to avoid re-occurrence. A lack of collaborative forums to contribute to production improvement was identified. Additionally the processes, used to collect, manage and disseminate data were unstructured and uncoordinated, indicating scope for developing more efficient methods. The research indicates good understanding of the potential benefits for supply chain collaboration but suggests that the tools and knowledge to collaborate are currently lacking in the SME sector

Avoiding Coral Reef Functional Collapse Requires Local and Global Action

oral reefs face multiple anthropogenic threats, from pollution and overfishing to the dual effects of greenhouse gas emissions: rising sea temperature and ocean acidification [1]. While the abundance of coral has declined in recent decades [2, 3], the implications for humanity are difficult to quantify because they depend on ecosystem function rather than the corals themselves. Most reef functions and ecosystem services are founded on the ability of reefs to maintain their three-dimensional structure through net carbonate accumulation [4]. Coral growth only constitutes part of a reef's carbonate budget; bioerosion processes are influential in determining the balance between net structural growth and disintegration [5, 6]. Here, we combine ecological models with carbonate budgets and drive the dynamics of Caribbean reefs with the latest generation of climate models. Budget reconstructions using documented ecological perturbations drive shallow (6-10 m) Caribbean forereefs toward an increasingly fragile carbonate balance. We then projected carbonate budgets toward 2080 and contrasted the benefits of local conservation and global action on climate change. Local management of fisheries (specifically, no-take marine reserves) and the watershed can delay reef loss by at least a decade under "business-as-usual" rises in greenhouse gas emissions. However, local action must be combined with a low-carbon economy to prevent degradation of reef structures and associated ecosystem services

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Constitutive Analysis and Hot Deformation Behavior of Fine-Grained Mg-Gd-Y-Zr Alloys

Mg-Gd-Y-Zr alloys are among the newly developed magnesium alloys with superior strength properties at elevated temperatures. Accordingly, the hot shear deformation behavior of fine-grained extruded Mg-9Gd-4Y-0.4Zr (GWK940), Mg-5Gd-4Y-0.4Zr (GWK540), and Mg-5Gd-0.4Zr (GK50) alloys was investigated using the localized shear punch testing (SPT) method. Shear punch tests were performed at 573 K, 623 K, 673 K, 723 K, and 773 K (300 °C, 350 °C, 400 °C, 450 °C, and 500 °C) under shear strain rates in the range of 6.7 × 10 to 6.7 × 10 s. The new fitting method of Rieiro, Carsi, and Ruano was used for direct calculation of the Garofalo constants. It was concluded that the Garofalo equation can be used satisfactorily for describing the deformation behavior of the alloys in the entire studied ranges of strain rates and temperatures. In addition, stability maps were obtained by calculations based on the Lyapunov criteria using the Garofalo constants. The predicted stability ranges of temperature and strain rate were similar for the studied alloys. At an intermediate strain rate of 0.05 s, the optimal temperature at which a stable region is expected was found to be 648 K to 673 K (375 °C to 400 °C) for all three materials. The most pronounced effect of the Gd and Y elements was to enhance the high-temperature strength of the alloys.The authors thank the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) for support of this work under Grant No. 94028861. The Spanish MAT2015-68919 program is acknowledged.Peer Reviewe