Clustering tales from the Greek construction sector: lessons from experience

The idea of increasing regional and national economic competitiveness through the implementation of cluster strategies is not something new. In each business sector, in each country, the creation of clusters has been used to capitalise on sector characteristics and address country specific productivity needs. While clusters have met with significant success in many context, the Greek context and in particularly the Greek Construction sector has not been so fruitful. This paper, through the development of a conceptual framework, questionnaires with 92 firms and interviews with 10 key firms, sought to investigate the critical success factors for the creation of a cluster within the challenging context of the Greek construction sector. Using evidence of good practicefrom other European countries facing similar challenges and the empirical data, the findings indicated a series of factors which firms could adopt, mitigate against or manage to help improve the potential success of the cluster. The findingstherefore have important implications for interventions not only by the state and local authorities that will encourage construction firms to participate in a cluster, but also by the managers/owners/practitioners for the creation of the required foundations for their participation in an environment where competitors cooperate

An Event-Driven Approach for Changing User Behaviour towards an Enhanced Building’s Energy Efficiency

Worldwide, buildings are one of the main energy consumers and the improvement of their energy performance has attracted great interest and has been typically related to the optimisation, both design and operational, of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), lighting and DHW systems, to innovation in building materials, as well as to the integration of renewable technology in buildings. More recently, occupant behaviour has received increasing attention. Occupants’ interactions with the building systems influence their energy consumption in diverse ways. Their behaviour may affect energy use just as the systems and materials may do. Researchers identified and highlighted various aspects of this occupant behaviour and were gradually led to the conclusion that its effect might be worth investigating. This study has a twofold aim. First, to present a general conceptual framework to define, monitor and eventually change user behaviour in buildings. This framework is called “event-driven”; events are distinct moments in time associated with a potentially problematic behaviour, and the framework aims at tracking, acting upon and reporting on these events. Second, we aim to demonstrate and discuss the application and the savings achieved by means of our proposed approach and in the case of such behavioural events, in the Challenger building of Bouygues, in France

Knowledge Networking in Supply Chains: A Case Study in the Wood/Furniture Sector

: In the new global economy, where value and differentiation are the essential ingredients for business success, an organisation's knowledge is often the company's primary value proposition. Increasingly more companies, even in traditional, manufacturing sectors, are expanding the knowledge management concept externally: they explore new ways to put enterprise knowledge in the hands of customers, suppliers, and partners and share with them their intellectual capital. This study examines how Internet-based, networked infrastructures can support supply chain entities participation in emerging knowledge markets. WIT, a software toolset developed to facilitate knowledge sharing in the wood/furniture sector, is used as a case study

Reduction of motion, truncation and flow artifacts using BLADE sequences in cervical spine MR imaging

Purpose To assess the efficacy of the BLADE technique (MR imaging with ‘rotating blade-like k-space covering’) to significantly reduce motion, truncation, flow and other artifacts in cervical spine compared to the conventional technique. Materials and methods In eighty consecutive subjects, who had been routinely scanned for cervical spine examination, the following pairs of sequences were compared: a) T2 TSE SAG vs. T2 TSE SAG BLADE and b) T2 TIRM SAG vs. T2 TIRM SAG BLADE. A quantitative analysis was performed using the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) measures. A qualitative analysis was also performed by two radiologists, who graded seven image characteristics on a 5-point scale (0: non-visualization; 1: poor; 2: average; 3: good; 4: excellent). The observers also evaluated the presence of image artifacts (motion, truncation, flow, indentation). Results In quantitative analysis, the CNR values of the CSF/SC between TIRM SAG and TIRM SAG BLADE were found to present statistically significant differences (p < 0.001). Regarding motion and truncation artifacts, the T2 TSE BLADE SAG was superior compared to the T2 TSE SAG, and the T2 TIRM BLADE SAG was superior compared to the T2 TIRM SAG. Regarding flow artifacts, T2 TIRM BLADE SAG eliminated more artifacts than T2 TIRM SAG. Conclusions In cervical spine MRI, BLADE sequences appear to significantly reduce motion, truncation and flow artifacts and improve image quality. BLADE sequences are proposed to be used for uncooperative subjects. Nevertheless, more research needs to be done by testing additional specific pathologies

The Effect of Prolonged Intradialytic Exercise in Hemodialysis Efficiency Indices

Optimal hemodialysis (HD) dose is very important to patients' health and survival, and various indices of adequacy have been incorporated into the current clinical practice to monitor HD efficiency. Exercise during HD could facilitate solute removal; however, it is still unknown whether prolonged intradialytic exercise could further improve HD efficiency. Ten stable "high-functioning" HD patients volunteered to participate. The patients were studied under two scenarios during HD: 1) supine exercise (cycling) for 3 hours at 40% of maximum exercise capacity and 2) no exercise as usual. Blood sampling was acquired pre- and post-HD in both scenarios to calculate the HD efficiency indices. All patients completed the exercise regime with no adverse effects. Rather, all efficiency indices significantly improved in the prolonged exercise scenario, compared with the no-exercise one. In particular Kt/V, urea reduction ratio, and creatinine reduction ratio significantly improved by 20%, 11%, and 26%, respectively, while potassium plasma levels were reduced by 77.5% (p < 0.05). In conclusion, prolonged low-intensity intradialytic exercise improved HD efficiency, with no adverse effects. HD patients should be encouraged to participate in exercise regimes not only for the known long-term benefits regarding their cardiovascular health but also for the acute effect of exercise in the HD adequacy. ASAIO Journal 2011; 57: 213-218