The UK Retail Industry and its Effect on Construction Sectors

The retail industry originated from the local high street to expanding shopping centres and out of town shopping centres. However, in the past 15 - 20 years the industry has taken multiple hits and is now currently at its lowest point ever. There is now a growing amount of shop closing, leaving multiple empty units due to previous recession and increase in online shopping. Ever since the recession, many businesses struggled to survive and had reported losses during this period due to lack of business, lack of investment in retail outlet, and shoppers having less disposable income for shopping. Online shopping iscontinuouslygrowing, increasing from 5% in 2008 to 18% in 2019 as shoppers’ habits change in terms of where and how they shop[1].However, how frequent they shop will play major roles on future procurement opportunities for the retail construction industry. The recent pandemic (covid-19) with lockdown around the world, will change the way we shop though theeffects are not yet fully established. Procurement for constructing retail units are not as low as earlier anticipated in comparison to the struggling market.Hence, this research aims to analyse the changes in the retail industry, its effect on procurement of retail outlets and longevity of the construction industry, with the objectives of creating an awareness within the industry and government policy maker so that the resulting effect can be address to prevent unemployment this might generate or loosing our high street retail outlet completely. The research uses secondary data and tender information from Building Cost Information Services (BCIS), and identifies the following changes in Retail Industry: increase online shopping, changes in consumer buying habits and changes to the customer shopping experience

Cost Changes in UK Design and Build Projects

The UK construction industry has seen many improvements over recent years, however one of the main ongoing issues is cost. Many projects face the problem of exceeding their initial budget resulting in unanticipated additional costs. It is important to avoid the client going over budget as this can ultimately affect the feasibility of a project. This research aim to investigate the factors driving cost changes in design and build projects within the residential sector in the UK construction industry. The gap in knowledge this study intends to contribute, is to investigate and proffer solutions to the causes of variance between contract sum and final account in design and build procurement option in the UK residential building projects. The research began with a brief literature review on different procurement routes and the factors which drive cost changes in construction projects. The findings of the literature review were used as the basis of the positivist research approach. The research used a mixed methodological approach, consisting of a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews to investigate the research problem. This research identified the design and build procurement route has succeeded in improving overall cost performance of construction projects by allocating the responsibilities of certain additional costs to contractors. However, despite these improvements, cost overruns are still problematic. Regardless of the chosen procurement route, complete design information at tender stage is essential to reducing cost overruns. This research established that subcontractors‟ performance ultimately depends upon the quality of site management. It is recommended to minimise any additional costs to a project, firstly design information should be complete at the time of tender and secondly the construction phase of the project should be managed by suitably qualified and experienced site management team. However, this study was limited to the residential building industry in the UK, hence further studies is highly recommended in developing countries as factors that causes this differences in contract sum and final account may be prioritised differently from the analysis within this study

Rate and extent of losses from top spoilage in alfalfa silages stored in bunker silos

Alfalfa silages were made in pilot- and farm-scale silos, and five sealing treatments were compared. After 90 days, sealing dramatically reduced dry matter (DM) losses at the 5 and 10 inch depths in the farm silos and at the 0 to 12, 12 to 24, and 24 to 36 inch depths in the pilot silos. Extending the storage period to 180 days in pilot silos had no effect on DM losses for sealed or delay-sealed silages, but DM losses for unsealed silages continued to increase at all three depths. Placing a roof over the unsealed, farm-scale silo increased the silage DM content at all three depths, increased storage temperatures at the 10 and 20 inch depths, and reduced DM loss at the 10 inch depth compared to the unsealed silo without a roof. Rainfall was much above normal (16.8 inches during the first 90 days of storage; 11.2 inches the second 90 days) and contributed to huge increases in the moisture content of silage at the lower depths in the unsealed, no roof, pilot- and farm-scale silos. Sealing also increased the nutritive value of the silages at the 5 and 10 inch depths.; Dairy Day, 1994, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 1994

Losses from top spoilage in horizontal silos

The top 3 ft of silage from 127 horizontal silos was sampled at three locations across the width of the silo during a 4-year period (1990 through 1993). Ninety-six percent of the silages were either corn or forage sorghum, and only 18 percent of the silos were sealed with polyethylene sheeting . Losses of organic matter (OM) from spoilage were estimated by using ash content as an internal marker. Sealing silos dramatically reduced the estimated spoilage losses in the top 3 ft. All silages had greater estimated spoilage losses in the top 18 inches in 1991 and 1993 than 1990 and 1992. Sealing reduced spoilage losses of OM in the to p 18 inches by 16, 37, 19, and 36 percentage units in 1990 through 1993, respectively , and in the second 18 inches by 4, 13, 3, and 7 percentage units. Dry matter (DM) contents were lower for forage sorghum silages in the top 18 inches than for corn silages in the first 3 years, and i n all 4 years, DM contents for sealed silages were lower than those for unsealed silages. Silage had higher pH values in the top 1 8 inches than in the second 18 inches

Improving silage quality

Results at Kansas State University from over 200 laboratory-scale trials and 28 farm-scale trials showed that bacterial inoculants consistently improved preservation efficiency and nutritive value of the ensiled material. In contrast, anhydrous ammonia or urea decreased dry matter recovery and production per ton of crop ensiled. Economic analysis also favored the use of bacterial inoculants over nonprotein nitrogen additives. Research conducted using corn, sorghum, and alfalfa silages showed that sealing the exposed surface dramatically reduced top spoilage losses in bunker, trench, or stack silos

Rate and extent of losses from top spoilage in alfalfa silages stored in bunker silos

Alfalfa silages were made in pilot- and farm-scale silos, and five sealing treatments were compared. After 90 days, sealing dramatically reduced dry matter (DM) losses at the 5 and 10 inch depths in the farm silos and at the 0 to 12, 12 to 24, and 24 to 36 inch depths in the pilot silos. Extending the storage period to 180 days in pilot silos had no effect on DM losses for sealed or delay-sealed silages, but DM losses for unsealed silages continued to increase at all three depths. Placing a roof over the unsealed, farm-scale silo increased the silage DM content at all three depths, increased storage temperatures at the 10 and 20 inch depths, and reduced DM loss at the 10 inch depth compared to the unsealed silo without a roof. Rainfall was much above normal (16.8 inches during the first 90 days of storage; 11.2 inches the second 90 days) and contributed to huge increases in the moisture content of silage at the lower depths in the unsealed, no roof, pilot- and farm-scale silos. Sealing also increased the nutritive value of the silages at the 5 and 10 inch depths.; Dairy Day, 1994, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 1994

Magnetic field diagnostics and spatio-temporal variability of the solar transition region

Magnetic field diagnostics of the transition region from the chromosphere to the corona faces us with the problem that one has to apply extreme UV spectro-polarimetry. While for coronal diagnostic techniques already exist through infrared coronagraphy above the limb and radio observations on the disk, for the transition region one has to investigate extreme UV observations. However, so far the success of such observations has been limited, but there are various projects to get spectro-polarimetric data in the extreme UV in the near future. Therefore it is timely to study the polarimetric signals we can expect for such observations through realistic forward modeling. We employ a 3D MHD forward model of the solar corona and synthesize the Stokes I and Stokes V profiles of C IV 1548 A. A signal well above 0.001 in Stokes V can be expected, even when integrating for several minutes in order to reach the required signal-to-noise ratio, despite the fact that the intensity in the model is rapidly changing (just as in observations). Often this variability of the intensity is used as an argument against transition region magnetic diagnostics which requires exposure times of minutes. However, the magnetic field is evolving much slower than the intensity, and thus when integrating in time the degree of (circular) polarization remains rather constant. Our study shows the feasibility to measure the transition region magnetic field, if a polarimetric accuracy on the order of 0.001 can be reached, which we can expect from planned instrumentation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physics (4.Mar.2013), 19 pages, 9 figure

High Temperature Electron Localization in dense He Gas

We report new accurate mesasurements of the mobility of excess electrons in high density Helium gas in extended ranges of temperature $[(26\leq T\leq 77) K ]$ and density $[ (0.05\leq N\leq 12.0) {atoms} \cdot {nm}^{-3}]$ to ascertain the effect of temperature on the formation and dynamics of localized electron states. The main result of the experiment is that the formation of localized states essentially depends on the relative balance of fluid dilation energy, repulsive electron-atom interaction energy, and thermal energy. As a consequence, the onset of localization depends on the medium disorder through gas temperature and density. It appears that the transition from delocalized to localized states shifts to larger densities as the temperature is increased. This behavior can be understood in terms of a simple model of electron self-trapping in a spherically symmetric square well.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figure

The National Dutch Breast Implant Registry: user-reported experiences and importance

Background: Robust (inter-)national breast implant registries are important. For some, registries are an administrative burden, for others they represent a solution for the discussions involving breast implants. The DBIR is one of the first national, opt-out, clinical registries of breast implants, providing information for clinical auditing and product recall. Four years after its introduction, it is time to address users’ comments in order to keep improving quality of registration, and patient safety. This study assesses users’ feedback focusing on importance of registration, logistics and user experience, and areas of improvement. Methods: In May 2018, a standardized online study–specific questionnaire was sent out to all members of the Netherlands Society of Plastic Surgery. Descriptive statistics were reported in absolute frequencies and/or percentages. Results: A total of 102 members responded to the questionnaire (response rate, 24.2%). Of all respondents, 97.1% were actively registering in DBIR. Respondents rated the importance of registration in DBIR as 8.1 out of 10 points. Ninety-one respondents suggested improvements for the DBIR. All comments were related to registration convenience and provision of automatically generated data. Conclusions: Respondents believe that registration is highly important and worth the administrative burden. However, we should collectively keep improving accuracy, usability and sustainability of breast

Investigation on the aerosol performance of dry powder inhalation hypromellose capsules with different lubricant levels

HPMC capsules are made by a dipping process and a surface lubricant for the mould pins is an essential processing aid for removing dried capsules shells. For the purpose of this study, the level was determined by quantifying methyloleate (MO) a component found in the lubricant but not in the hypromellose capsules. Here we investigated the influence of the lubricant, low (10.81 μg/capsule = 60 mg/kg MO), medium (15.97 μg/capsule = 90 mg/kg MO) and high (23.23 μg/capsule = 127 mg/kg MO) content on powder (binary mixture of salbutamol: lactose, 1:50 w/w) aerosolization properties was investigated. Results indicated significantly lower emitted dose from capsules with 60 mg/kg MO. Furthermore, the 90 and 127 mg/kg MO level of lubricant capsules produced almost double the Fine Particle Dose & Fine Particle Fraction compared with the low level of lubricant. The data indicates that lubricant level within capsules has an influence on deposition profiles and amount of drug remaining in capsule and inhaler device after actuation. It is suggested lubricant levels greater than 60 mg/kg MO per capsule are required to minimise powder retention within capsules and maximise deposition profiles. AFM (atomic force microscopy) data suggest that internal surface roughness may be related with this phenomena