scholarly journals Improving Design by Partnering in Engineering–Procurement–Construction (EPC) Hydropower Projects: A Case Study of a Large-Scale Hydropower Project in China

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 3410
Author(s):  
Yang Liu ◽  
Wenzhe Tang ◽  
Colin F. Duffield ◽  
Felix Kin Peng Hui ◽  
Lihai Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Organizational Design ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Design Management ◽  
Hydropower Project ◽  
Project Outcomes ◽  
Term Energy

Hydropower, as a renewable energy resource, has become an important way to fit for Chinese long-term energy policy of energy transformation. Engineering–procurement–construction (EPC) has been increasingly adopted for improving hydropower project delivery efficiency in the utilization of water resources and generation of clean energy, where design plays a critical role in project success. Existing studies advocate the need to use partnering for better solutions to designs in EPC hydropower projects. However, there is a lack of a theoretical framework to systematically address design-related issues considering different participants’ interactions. This study coherently examined the causal relationships among partnering, design management, design capability, and EPC hydropower project performance by establishing and validating a conceptual model, with the support of data collected from a large-scale EPC hydropower project. Path analysis reveals that partnering can directly promote design management and design capability and exert an effect on design capability through enhancing design management, thereby achieving better hydropower project outcomes. This study’s contribution lies in that it theoretically builds the links between intra- and inter-organizational design-related activities by systematically mapping EPC hydropower project performance on partnering, design management, and design capability. These findings also suggest broad practical strategies for participants to optimally integrate their complementary resources into designs to achieve superior hydropower project performance.

scholarly journals Mitigating biodiversity impacts associated with solar and wind energy development: guidelines for project developers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Bennun ◽  
J. van Bochove ◽  
C. Ng ◽  
C. Fletcher ◽  
D. Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Energy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Industrial Systems ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
Mitigation Hierarchy ◽  
Practical Support ◽  
Development Life Cycle ◽  
Wind Energy Development

Achieving a climate-resilient future requires rapid, sustained and far-reaching transformations in energy, land-use, infrastructure and industrial systems. Large-scale expansion of renewable energy can play a critical role in meeting the world’s growing energy demands and in the fight against climate change. However, even ‘clean’ energy sources can have significant unintended impacts on the environment. The guidelines aim to provide practical support for solar and wind energy developments by effectively managing risks and improving overall outcomes related to biodiversity and ecosystem services. They are industry-focused and can be applied across the whole project development life cycle, from early planning through to decommissioning and repowering, using the mitigation hierarchy as a clear framework for planning and implementation. The mitigation hierarchy is applied to direct, indirect and cumulative impacts.

Nursing professionals’ attitudes toward use of physical restraints in Styrian nursing homes Austria

Pflege ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-63
Author(s):  
Hannes Mayerl ◽  
Tanja Trummer ◽  
Erwin Stolz ◽  
Éva Rásky ◽  
Wolfgang Freidl
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Physical Restraint ◽  
Care Practice ◽  
Physical Restraints ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Restraint Use ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Nursing Professionals

Abstract. Background: Given that nursing staff play a critical role in the decision regarding use of physical restraints, research has examined nursing professionals’ attitudes toward this practice. Aim: Since nursing professionals’ views on physical restraint use have not yet been examined in Austria to date, we aimed to explore nursing professionals’ attitudes concerning use of physical restraints in nursing homes of Styria (Austria). Method: Data were collected from a convenience sample of nursing professionals (N = 355) within 19 Styrian nursing homes, based on a cross-sectional study design. Attitudes toward the practice of restraint use were assessed by means of the Maastricht Attitude Questionnaire in the German version. Results: The overall results showed rather positive attitudes toward the use of physical restraints, yet the findings regarding the sub-dimensions of the questionnaire were mixed. Although nursing professionals tended to deny “good reasons” for using physical restraints, they evaluated the consequences of physical restraint use rather positive and considered restraint use as an appropriate health care practice. Nursing professionals’ views regarding the consequences of using specific physical restraints further showed that belts were considered as the most restricting and discomforting devices. Conclusions: Overall, Austrian nursing professionals seemed to hold more positive attitudes toward the use of physical restraints than counterparts in other Western European countries. Future nationwide large-scale surveys will be needed to confirm our findings.

KAUTILYA ON THE SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY OF ACCOUNTING, ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND THE ROLE OF ETHICS IN ANCIENT INDIA

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balbir S. Sihag
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Organizational Design ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Allocation Of Resources ◽  
Economic Data ◽  
Ancient India

Kautilya, a 4th century B.C.E. economist, recognized the importance of accounting methods in economic enterprises. He realized that a proper measurement of economic performance was absolutely essential for efficient allocation of resources, which was considered an important source of economic development. He viewed philosophy and political science as separate disciplines but considered accounting an integral part of economics. He specified a very broad scope for accounting and considered explanation and prediction as its proper objectives. Kautilya developed bookkeeping rules to record and classify economic data, emphasized the critical role of independent periodic audits and proposed the establishment of two important but separate offices - the Treasurer and Comptroller-Auditor, to increase accountability, specialization, and above all to reduce the scope for conflicts of interest. He also linked the successful enforcement of rules and regulations to their clarity, consistency and completeness. Kautilya believed that such measures were necessary but not sufficient to eliminate fraudulent accounting. He also emphasized the role of ethics, considering ethical values as the glue which binds society and promotes economic development.

scholarly journals A Novel Iron Chloride Red-Ox Concentration Flow Cell Battery (ICFB) Concept; Power and Electrode Optimization

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1109
Author(s):  
Robert Bock ◽  
Björn Kleinsteinberg ◽  
Bjørn Selnes-Volseth ◽  
Odne Stokke Burheim
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Flow Cell ◽  
Iron Chloride ◽  
Carbon Electrodes ◽  
Concentration Difference ◽  
Term Energy ◽  
Short And Long Term

For renewable energies to succeed in replacing fossil fuels, large-scale and affordable solutions are needed for short and long-term energy storage. A potentially inexpensive approach of storing large amounts of energy is through the use of a concentration flow cell that is based on cheap and abundant materials. Here, we propose to use aqueous iron chloride as a reacting solvent on carbon electrodes. We suggest to use it in a red-ox concentration flow cell with two compartments separated by a hydrocarbon-based membrane. In both compartments the red-ox couple of iron II and III reacts, oxidation at the anode and reduction at the cathode. When charging, a concentration difference between the two species grows. When discharging, this concentration difference between iron II and iron III is used to drive the reaction. In this respect it is a concentration driven flow cell redox battery using iron chloride in both solutions. Here, we investigate material combinations, power, and concentration relations.

scholarly journals STEM-20. A CANCER STEM CELL-SELECTIVE APOPTOSIS-INDUCING SMALL MOLECULE FOR THE TREATMENT OF GBM

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii200-ii200
Author(s):  
Stephen Skirboll ◽  
Natasha Lucki ◽  
Genaro Villa ◽  
Naja Vergani ◽  
Michael Bollong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cancer Stem Cells ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Tumor Formation ◽  
Cell Type ◽  
Caspase 1 ◽  
Activation Assay

Abstract INTRODUCTION Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive form of primary brain cancer. A subpopulation of multipotent cells termed GBM cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a critical role in tumor initiation and maintenance, drug resistance, and recurrence following surgery. New therapeutic strategies for the treatment of GBM have recently focused on targeting CSCs. Here we have used an unbiased large-scale screening approach to identify drug-like small molecules that induce apoptosis in GBM CSCs in a cell type-selective manner. METHODS A luciferase-based survival assay of patient-derived GBM CSC lines was established to perform a large-scale screen of ∼one million drug-like small molecules with the goal of identifying novel compounds that are selectively toxic to chemoresistant GBM CSCs. Compounds found to kill GBM CSC lines as compared to control cell types were further characterized. A caspase activation assay was used to evaluate the mechanism of induced cell death. A xenograft animal model using patient-derived GBM CSCs was employed to test the leading candidate for suppression of in vivo tumor formation. RESULTS We identified a small molecule, termed RIPGBM, from the cell-based chemical screen that induces apoptosis in primary patient-derived GBM CSC cultures. The cell type-dependent selectivity of RIPGBM appears to arise at least in part from redox-dependent formation of a proapoptotic derivative, termed cRIPGBM, in GBM CSCs. cRIPGBM induces caspase 1-dependent apoptosis by binding to receptor-interacting protein kinase 2 (RIPK2) and acting as a molecular switch, which reduces the formation of a prosurvival RIPK2/TAK1 complex and increases the formation of a proapoptotic RIPK2/caspase 1 complex. In an intracranial GBM xenograft mouse model, RIPGBM was found to significantly suppress tumor formation. CONCLUSIONS Our chemical genetics-based approach has identified a small molecule drug candidate and a potential drug target that selectively targets cancer stem cells and provides an approach for the treatment of GBMs.

scholarly journals Complex Network Modelling of Origin–Destination Commuting Flows for the COVID-19 Epidemic Spread Analysis in Italian Lombardy Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4381
Author(s):  
Angela Lombardi ◽  
Nicola Amoroso ◽  
Alfonso Monaco ◽  
Sabina Tangaro ◽  
Roberto Bellotti
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Epidemic Spread ◽  
Network Modelling ◽  
Lombardy Region ◽  
Commuting Flows ◽  
Dynamic Growth ◽  
Spread Analysis

Currently the whole world is affected by the COVID-19 disease. Italy was the first country to be seriously affected in Europe, where the first COVID-19 outbreak was localized in the Lombardy region. The further spreading of the cases led to the lockdown of the most affected regions in northern Italy and then the entire country. In this work we investigated an epidemic spread scenario in the Lombardy region by using the origin–destination matrix with information about the commuting flows among 1450 urban areas within the region. We performed a large-scale simulation-based modeling of the epidemic spread over the networks related to three main motivations, i.e., work, study and occasional transfers to quantify the potential contribution of each category of travellers to the spread of the epidemic process. Our findings outline that the three networks are characterised by different weight dynamic growth rates and that the network “work” has a critical role in the diffusion phenomenon showing the greatest contribution to the epidemic spread.

scholarly journals Can Hydropower Still Be Considered a Clean Energy Source? Compelling Evidence from a Middle-Sized Hydropower Station in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 4261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuerong Li ◽  
Faliang Gui ◽  
Qingpeng Li
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Hydropower Station ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Global Economic Growth

The development of clean energy is of great importance in alleviating both the energy crisis and environmental pollution resulting from rapid global economic growth. Hydroelectric generation is considered climate benign, as it neither requires fossil carbon to produce energy nor emits large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG), unlike conventional energy generation techniques such as coal and oil power plants. However, dams and their associated reservoirs are not entirely GHG-neutral and their classification as a clean source of energy requires further investigation. This study evaluated the environmental impact of the Xiajiang hydropower station based on life cycle assessment (LCA) according to the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines, focusing specifically on GHG emissions after the submersion of the reservoir. Results reveal that although hydropower is not as clean as we thought, it is still an absolute “low emissions” power type in China. The amount of GHG emissions produced by this station is 3.72 million tons with an emissions coefficient of 32.63 g CO2eq/kWh. This figure is lower than that of thermal power, thus implying that hydropower is still a clean energy resource in China. Our recommendations to further minimize the environmental impacts of this station are the optimization of relevant structural designs, the utilization of new and improved construction materials, and the extension of farmland lifting technology.

The Research of Wasting Wind Power and Methods of its Consumption Based on that of Fuxin

2014 ◽  
Vol 986-987 ◽  
pp. 622-629
Author(s):  
Tian Long Shao ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Xu Nan Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Power System ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Power Grids ◽  
Grid Structure ◽  
Wind Power Integration

As a kind of renewable clean energy, the constant access of wind power to power grids is bound to have a great impact on the power system. Based on the grid structure in Fuxin, this paper will state the difficulty of peak regulation and the matter of wasting wind power caused by the large-scale wind power integration and put forward some reasonable methods for using the wasting wind power in the heating in winter. The relevant results indicate that capacity of local consumption of wasting wind power can be improved. Under the circumstances, it can be conductive to solve the problem of wasting wind power results from the difficulty of peak regulation as well as inspire the power system planners.

A Novel Real-Time Thermal Analysis and Layer Time Control Framework for Large Scale Additive Manufacturing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sepehr Fathizadan ◽  
Feng Ju ◽  
Kyle Rowe ◽  
Alex Fiechter ◽  
Nils Hofmann
Keyword(s):  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Production Efficiency ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Time Data

Abstract Production efficiency and product quality need to be addressed simultaneously to ensure the reliability of large scale additive manufacturing. Specifically, print surface temperature plays a critical role in determining the quality characteristics of the product. Moreover, heat transfer via conduction as a result of spatial correlation between locations on the surface of large and complex geometries necessitates the employment of more robust methodologies to extract and monitor the data. In this paper, we propose a framework for real-time data extraction from thermal images as well as a novel method for controlling layer time during the printing process. A FLIR™ thermal camera captures and stores the stream of images from the print surface temperature while the Thermwood Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM™) machine is printing components. A set of digital image processing tasks were performed to extract the thermal data. Separate regression models based on real-time thermal imaging data are built on each location on the surface to predict the associated temperatures. Subsequently, a control method is proposed to find the best time for printing the next layer given the predictions. Finally, several scenarios based on the cooling dynamics of surface structure were defined and analyzed, and the results were compared to the current fixed layer time policy. It was concluded that the proposed method can significantly increase the efficiency by reducing the overall printing time while preserving the quality.

Learning Management System for Greater Learner Engagement in Higher Education—A Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 234763112110498
Author(s):  
Parimala Veluvali ◽  
Jayesh Surisetti
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Management System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Learning Management System ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Online Mode ◽  
Learning Management

Online education helped resume learning that had come to a momentary and uncertain pause with the onset of COVID-19 pandemic across the globe. Since then, learning in many educational institutions continued through synchronous and asynchronous modes, with teaching being undertaken remotely on digital platforms. In this large-scale migration towards online mode of curriculum delivery induced by the pandemic, the institutional learning management system (LMS) had a critical role to play in ensuring uninterrupted learning and student engagement. By drawing heavily from extant works, learnings from MOOC platforms, observations from the LMS applications in corporate training, the present article synthesis the extant literature on how the effective use of LMS can make the learning process interactive, student centric, catering to the needs of diverse learners in higher education.

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