The development of a sustainable construction design process

The construction industry uses large volumes of physical resource and employs many. Yet its performance often falls short of expectations. Increasing demand for their products to be sustainable requires a radical change in methods employed. Prefabricated construction has been adopted at times of constrained resources. As such it may be able to meet sustainability expectations. However, using this type of design without changing the industries methods will not be enough. Systematic design methods have led to large improvement in the car and electrical product industries and may be able to support change in construction. The research developed a systematic design process, for use with prefabricated construction. The method was adapted to ensure sustainability requirements were considered during the early design stages by incorporating them into the design process at the product specification. The adapted method was applied to a building outline and the sustainability of the design solutions were compared to a traditional construction method. In the case study the best performing solution had the design with open timber framed panels, using the largest panel size, without a structural frame. The design tools used were shown to improve the users understanding of the design space and creating possible solutions. The tools included social issues that were poorly addressed elsewhere. The tool improved some aspects of the building’s sustainability but additional tools or redefining some of the functional requirements would be required to fully address whole life sustainability. To improve accuracy the tool would benefit from comprehensive LCA databases for use in the early stages of the design process. Such a database would have value across the industry. The industry should also focus on the development of better relationship along the supply chain

Diffusion-controlled phase growth on dislocations

We treat the problem of diffusion of solute atoms around screw dislocations. In particular, we express and solve the diffusion equation, in radial symmetry, in an elastic field of a screw dislocation subject to the flux conservation boundary condition at the interface of a new phase. We consider an incoherent second-phase precipitate growing under the action of the stress field of a screw dislocation. The second-phase growth rate as a function of the supersaturation and a strain energy parameter is evaluated in spatial dimensions d=2 and d=3. Our calculations show that an increase in the amplitude of dislocation force, e.g. the magnitude of the Burgers vector, enhances the second-phase growth in an alloy. Moreover, a relationship linking the supersaturation to the precipitate size in the presence of the elastic field of dislocation is calculated.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, a revised version of the paper presented in MS&T'08, October 5-9, 2008, Pittsburg

Habitual meal frequency, body composition and blood lipid profile in non-competitive bodybuilders

The ultimate aim of bodybuilding is to achieve an aesthetically pleasing physique through gains in lean tissue mass (LTM) and reductions in fat mass (FM). Favourable blood lipid profile (BLP) adaptations have been reported but research is equivocal. Total energy intake (EI) has been suggested to be one of the biggest dietary predictors for optimum body composition with daily distribution of meals less important. However, high quality protein per meal as a means to maintain muscle protein synthesis suggests that higher daily meal frequency (MF) may be a more appropriate dietary strategy. Our aim was to investigate the interplay between habitual MF, body composition and BLP in non-competitive bodybuilders. Following ethical approval, 44 males and 10 females met participation criteria. Upper and lower 25th percentiles of response to number of eating occasions were calculated. Arranged into a low (LFG, 2.6±0.8) (n=12, 27.9±5.1 years, 80.9±17.8 kg) or high (HFG, 6.6±0.8) (n=12, 27.3±7.2 years, 85.2±16.8 kg) daily MF group, participants (n=24, 27.9±6.1 years, 83.0±17.1 kg), completed a 3-day diet diary, had a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scan, blood lipids measured. The HFG (13.9±3.8%) had significantly lower (P=0.024) %body fat than the LFG (19.2±6.7%). There was a trend for higher LTM in the HFG (70.2±14.4 kg) compared to the LFG (62.1±14.5 kg). Blood lipids were within normal range, while the HFG completed significantly (P=0.000) more weekly training sessions (4.3±0.8) than the LFG (5.5±0.7). Despite the HFG consuming more energy (2564±681 kcal) than the LFG (2215±533), the difference was not significant. Protein intake in the HFG was significantly higher (P=0.54) than the LFG (2.6±1.0 vs 1.9±0.5 g/kg-1/BW/d-1). Differences were not observed in fat (1.2±0.6 and 1.4±0.6 g/kg-1/BW/d-1) or carbohydrate (2.5±1.4 and 1.9±1.1 g/kg-1/BW/d-1 in LFG and HFG respectively) intakes. In relative terms, the carbohydrate intake in the HFG (25±9.0%) was significantly lower (P=0.027) than that of the LFG (35±12%). In conclusion, BLP was within healthy range in both groups. Furthermore, higher MF was associated with optimum sport-specific body composition outcomes. This is potentially due to higher consumption of dietary proteins (35% of daily EI) resulting in optimisation of muscle synthetic response and training capacity

Pseudorehearsal in value function approximation

Catastrophic forgetting is of special importance in reinforcement learning, as the data distribution is generally non-stationary over time. We study and compare several pseudorehearsal approaches for Q-learning with function approximation in a pole balancing task. We have found that pseudorehearsal seems to assist learning even in such very simple problems, given proper initialization of the rehearsal parameters

Selective exposure to deserved outcomes

Research has shown that people often reinterpret their experiences of others' harm and suffering to maintain the functional belief that people get what they deserve (e.g., by blaming the victim). Rather than focusing on such reactive responses to harm and suffering, across 7 studies we examined whether people selectively and proactively choose to be exposed to information about deserved rather than undeserved outcomes. We consistently found that participants selectively chose to learn that bad (good) things happened to bad (good) people (Studies 1 to 7)—that is, they selectively exposed themselves to deserved outcomes. This effect was mediated by the perceived deservingness of outcomes (Studies 2 and 3), and was reduced when participants learned that wrongdoers otherwise received “just deserts” for their transgressions (Study 7). Participants were not simply selectively avoiding information about undeserved outcomes but actively sought information about deserved outcomes (Studies 3 and 4), and participants invested effort in this pattern of selective exposure, seeking out information about deserved outcomes even when it was more time-consuming to find than undeserved outcomes (Studies 5 and 6). Taken together, these findings cast light on a more proactive, anticipatory means by which people maintain a commitment to deservingness

A Microsoft-Excel-based tool for running and critically appraising network meta-analyses--an overview and application of NetMetaXL.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.BACKGROUND: The use of network meta-analysis has increased dramatically in recent years. WinBUGS, a freely available Bayesian software package, has been the most widely used software package to conduct network meta-analyses. However, the learning curve for WinBUGS can be daunting, especially for new users. Furthermore, critical appraisal of network meta-analyses conducted in WinBUGS can be challenging given its limited data manipulation capabilities and the fact that generation of graphical output from network meta-analyses often relies on different software packages than the analyses themselves. METHODS: We developed a freely available Microsoft-Excel-based tool called NetMetaXL, programmed in Visual Basic for Applications, which provides an interface for conducting a Bayesian network meta-analysis using WinBUGS from within Microsoft Excel. . This tool allows the user to easily prepare and enter data, set model assumptions, and run the network meta-analysis, with results being automatically displayed in an Excel spreadsheet. It also contains macros that use NetMetaXL's interface to generate evidence network diagrams, forest plots, league tables of pairwise comparisons, probability plots (rankograms), and inconsistency plots within Microsoft Excel. All figures generated are publication quality, thereby increasing the efficiency of knowledge transfer and manuscript preparation. RESULTS: We demonstrate the application of NetMetaXL using data from a network meta-analysis published previously which compares combined resynchronization and implantable defibrillator therapy in left ventricular dysfunction. We replicate results from the previous publication while demonstrating result summaries generated by the software. CONCLUSIONS: Use of the freely available NetMetaXL successfully demonstrated its ability to make running network meta-analyses more accessible to novice WinBUGS users by allowing analyses to be conducted entirely within Microsoft Excel. NetMetaXL also allows for more efficient and transparent critical appraisal of network meta-analyses, enhanced standardization of reporting, and integration with health economic evaluations which are frequently Excel-based.CC is a recipient of a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (funding reference number—CGV 121171) and is a trainee on the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network team grant (funding reference number—116573). BH is funded by a New Investigator award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network. This research was partly supported by funding from CADTH as part of a project to develop Excel-based tools to support the conduct of health technology assessments. This research was also supported by Cornerstone Research Group

Catastrophizing mediates the relationship between the personal belief in a just world and pain outcomes among chronic pain support group attendees

Health-related research suggests the belief in a just world can act as a personal resource that protects against the adverse effects of pain and illness. However, currently, little is known about how this belief, particularly in relation to one’s own life, might influence pain. Consistent with the suggestions of previous research, the present study undertook a secondary data analysis to investigate pain catastrophizing as a mediator of the relationship between the personal just world belief and chronic pain outcomes in a sample of chronic pain support group attendees. Partially supporting the hypotheses, catastrophizing was negatively correlated with the personal just world belief and mediated the relationship between this belief and pain and disability, but not distress. Suggestions for future research and intervention development are made

Men's experiences of radiotherapy treatment for localized prostate cancer and its long-term treatment side effects: a longitudinal qualitative study.

PURPOSE: To investigate men's experiences of receiving external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with neoadjuvant Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) for localized prostate cancer (LPCa) in the ProtecT trial. METHODS: A longitudinal qualitative interview study was embedded in the ProtecT RCT. Sixteen men with clinically LPCa who underwent EBRT in ProtecT were purposively sampled to include a range of socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. They participated in serial in-depth qualitative interviews for up to 8 years post-treatment, exploring experiences of treatment and its side effects over time. RESULTS: Men experienced bowel, sexual, and urinary side effects, mostly in the short term but some persisted and were bothersome. Most men downplayed the impacts, voicing expectations of age-related decline, and normalizing these changes. There was some reticence to seek help, with men prioritizing their relationships and overall health and well-being over returning to pretreatment levels of function. Some unmet needs with regard to information about treatment schedules and side effects were reported, particularly among men with continuing functional symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These findings reinforce the importance of providing universal clear, concise, and timely information and supportive resources in the short term, and more targeted and detailed information and care in the longer term to maintain and improve treatment experiences for men undergoing EBRT

Measurement of Creep Deformation across Welds in 316H Stainless Steel Using Digital Image Correlation

Spatially resolved measurement of creep deformation across weldments at high temperature cannot be achieved using standard extensometry approaches. In this investigation, a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) based system has been developed for long-term high-temperature creep strain measurement in order to characterise the material deformation behaviour of separate regions of a multi-pass weld. The optical system was sufficiently stable to allow a sequence of photographs to be taken suitable for DIC analysis of creep specimens tested at a temperature of 545 °C for over 2000 h. The images were analysed to produce local creep deformation curves from two cross-weld samples cut from contrasting regions of a multi-pass V-groove weld joining thick-section AISI Type 316H austenitic stainless steel. It is shown that for this weld, the root pass is the weakest region of the structure in creep, most likely due to the large number of thermal cycles it has experienced during the fabrication process. The DIC based measurement method offers improved spatial resolution over conventional methods and greatly reduces the amount of material required for creep characterisation of weldments

Evidence synthesis as the key to more coherent and efficient research

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Systematic review and meta-analysis currently underpin much of evidence-based medicine. Such methodologies bring order to <it>previous </it>research, but <it>future </it>research planning remains relatively incoherent and inefficient.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To outline a framework for evaluation of health interventions, aimed at increasing coherence and efficiency through i) making better use of information contained within the existing evidence-base when designing future studies; and ii) maximising the information available and thus potentially reducing the need for future studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The framework presented insists that an up-to-date meta-analysis of existing randomised controlled trials (RCTs) should always be considered before future trials are conducted. Such a meta-analysis should inform critical design issues such as sample size determination. The contexts in which the use of individual patient data meta-analysis and mixed treatment comparisons modelling may be beneficial before further RCTs are conducted are considered. Consideration should also be given to how any newly planned RCTs would contribute to the totality of evidence through its incorporation into an updated meta-analysis. We illustrate how new RCTs can have very low power to change inferences of an existing meta-analysis, particularly when between study heterogeneity is taken into consideration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>While the collation of existing evidence as the basis for clinical practice is now routine, a more coherent and efficient approach to planning future RCTs to strengthen the evidence base needs to be developed. The framework presented is a proposal for how this situation can be improved.</p