Disaster risk management approaches in construction and built environment: A research collaboration networks perspective

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Currently there is no analysis of the development of disaster risk management literature in the construction and built environment context, the changes in its research paradigms over time and the role of different key players in the advance of its current body of knowledge. This study aims to address that gap by investigating the longitudinal data of disaster risk management literature published over the past three decades. Design/methodology/approach: A social network analysis approach is used in this study to show the overall development of the field and specifically the impact of research collaborations between different organisations and countries on research productivity. Findings: The results indicate that the focus of disaster risk management research in the built environment context is heavily biased towards reactive strategies (response and recovery) over proactive strategies (mitigation and preparedness). The findings also demonstrate that collaboration between disaster risk management researchers has a significant influence on their research productivity. Originality/value: The findings from this study should be of value to researchers, policymakers and academic strategists. This study for the first time shows the ability of the social networks paradigm to reveal frailties in research connections in the field of disaster risk management in construction and built environment and highlights where networking strategies are needed

Efficacy of intrauterine infusion of granulocyte colony stimulating factor on patients with history of implantation failure: A randomized control trial

Background: Although pregnancy rate in in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cycles has been increased over the preceding years, but the majority of IVF-ET cycles still fail. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF) is a glycoprotein that stimulates cytokine growth factor and induces immune system which may improve pregnancy rate in women with history of implantation failure. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate GCSF ability to improve pregnancy rate in women with history of implantation failure Materials and Methods: 0.5 ml (300 μg/ml) GCSF was infused intrauterine in intervention group. Pregnancy outcomes were assessed based on clinical pregnancy. Results: The mean age of participants was 31.95±4.71 years old. There were no significant differences between demographic characteristics in two groups (p>0.05). The pregnancy outcome in GCSF group was improved significantly (p=0.043). Conclusion: GCSF can improve pregnancy outcome in patients with history of implantation failur

The impact on neighbourhood residential property valuations of a newly proposed public transport project: The Sydney Northwest Metro case study

© 2019 The Authors The development of new and upgraded transport infrastructure projects are driving economic benefits for business, the environment and society. Major transport projects can fundamentally reshape the very fabric of urban development. However, they are also incredibly expensive to build and can represent a significant burden on the public purse. A vexed question is how the broader benefit of improved transport infrastructure in operation might usefully be leveraged to contribute to the capital investment cost. The Transit-Oriented Development impact of new transportation infrastructure on the value of local property is gaining increasing attention as a potential source of capital contribution. This study investigates the extent of value uplift in property brought about by the announcement and construction of a major transport infrastructure development in Sydney, Australia. A Hedonic Price Model approach is used to assess data on the market valuation of nearby properties and relevant Census data over two distinct project stages: project announcement (2008–2012), and project construction (2013–2019). Findings of the case study show that the impact of rail transit on property prices is significant, but are generally negative at the announcement stage and positive at the construction stage. At the construction stage, residential prices rose an average of 0.037% for every 1% reduction in the distance to the nearest metro station. Of the three models considered for the Hedonic Price Model the Log-linear model (elastic model) has been shown to perform best in representing the relationships in this particular case

Comparison of Personality Factors among People with Substance Dependence Disorder and non-addicted People

Abstract Prescription of drug abuse is an important and significant world issue. This study aims to compare sixteen personality factors among patients with substance abuse disorder and normal people. The research method was ex post facto and statistical population consisted of two groups of addicted individuals and normal individuals in Tehran. 100 addicted patients were selected by convenient sampling method among patients who had referred to addiction treatment centers in Tehran. The control group with 100 people was selected from normal people. Research instruments included Cattell’s Sixteen Personality Factor Inventory (16PF) and the collected data was analyzed using ANOVA. Findings revealed that there are significant differences in factor A, factor C, factor E, factor F, factor G, factor H, factor I, factor L, factor M, factor N, factor O, factor Q1, factor Q2, factor Q3, and factor Q4 among addicted and healthy groups. It is concluded that an awareness of the effects of personality factors on substance abuse can help to decrease, or even prevent, addiction disorder. Key words: addiction, personality factors, substance dependence disorde

Prediction of 2 years-survival in patients with stage I and II non-small cell lung cancer utilizing (18)F-FDG PET/CT SUV quantification.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the correlation between the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), size of primary lung lesion, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with stage I and II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in 2 years follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS. Forty-nine patients with stage I–II NSCLC were included in this study. Pre-surgical 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron-emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) study was performed for all patients. The relationship between SUVmax, tumour size and clinical outcome was measured. The cut-off value for SUVmax and tumour size with the best prognostic significance, probability of DFS and the correlation between SUVmax and the response to therapy were calculated. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant correlation between SUVmax and DFS (p = 0.029). The optimal cut-offs were 9.00 for SUVmax (p = 0.0013) and 30mm for tumour size (p = 0.0028). Patients with SUVmax > 9 and primary lesion size > 30 mm had an expected 2years-DFS of 37.5%, while this rose to 90% if the tumour was <30 mm and/or SUVmax was <9. CONCLUSIONS: In stage I-II, SUVmax and tumour size might be helpful to identify the subgroup of patients with high chance for recurrence

Evaluating large, high-technology project portfolios using a novel interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy set framework: An automated crane project case study

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd The contemporary organization relies increasingly on developing large, high technology projects in order to gain local and global competitive advantage. Uncertainty and the complexity of project evaluation requires improved and tailored decision making support systems. A new framework for high technology project portfolio evaluation is introduced. Novel development of an interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy set (IVPFS) approach is shown to accommodate degrees of membership, non-membership and hesitancy in the evaluation process. Developed methods of linear assignment, IVPFS ranking, IVPFS knowledge index, and IVPFS comparison provide a new framework for group evaluation based on a weighting for each decision expert. The framework is developed as a last aggregation which avoids information loss and introduces a new aggregation process. A novel multi-objective model is then introduced to address project portfolio selection while optimizing the value of the portfolio in terms of resilience (the risk of disruption and delays) and skill utilization (assignment of human resources). The applicability of this framework is demonstrated through a case study in high technology portfolio evaluation. The case study shows that the presented framework can be applied as the core to a high technology evaluation decision support system

Introducing a multi-criteria evaluation method using Pythagorean fuzzy sets: A case study focusing on resilient construction project selection

© 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Project selection is a critical decision for any organization seeking to commission a large-scale construction project. Project selection is a complex multi-criteria decision-making problem with significant uncertainty and high risks. Fuzzy set theory has been used to address various aspects of project uncertainty, but with key practical limitations. This study aims to develop and apply a novel Pythagorean fuzzy sets (PFSs) approach that overcomes these key limitations. Design/methodology/approach: The study is particular to complex project selection in the context of increasing interest in resilience as a key project selection criterion. Project resilience is proposed and considered in the specific situation of a large-scale construction project selection case study. The case study develops and applies a PFS approach to manage project uncertainty. The case study is presented to demonstrate how PFS is applied to a practical problem of realistic complexity. Working through the case study highlights some of the key benefits of the PFS approach for practicing project managers and decision-makers in general. Findings: The PFSs approach proposed in this study is shown to be scalable, efficient, generalizable and practical. The results confirm that the inclusion of last aggregation and last defuzzification avoids the potentially critical information loss and relative lack of transparency. Most especially, the developed PFS is able to accommodate and manage domain expert expressions of uncertainty that are realistic and practical. Originality/value: The main novelty of this study is to address project resilience in the form of multi-criteria evaluation and decision-making under PFS uncertainty. The approach is defined mathematically and presented as a six-step approach to decision-making. The PFS approach is given to allow multiple domain experts to focus more clearly on accurate expressions of their agreement and disagreement. PFS is shown to be an important new direction in practical multi-criteria decision-making methods for the project management practitioner