Supply Chain Management in Confined Site Construction: Strategies to Reduce Delay in the Delivery of Materials to Site

With the increase in construction in dense urban environments, the delays associated with managing the material supply chain to site is called into question. Purpose: The aim of this investigation is to gain the perspective of construction contractors operating in a dense urban environment and the resulting strategies adopted to reduce delays in the delivery of materials to site. Methodology: This is achieved through incorporating a comprehensive literature review on the subject in conjunction with industry interviews with construction professionals in the identification of various management issues and corresponding strategies in the reduction of delays in the delivery of materials to site. Findings: The key issue which emerges is the lack of space for unloading bays while the corresponding key strategy is to schedule deliveries outside peak congestion times. Practical Implication: With confined site construction evident throughout the industry and the noted importance of an effective supply chain, the findings here in further assist on-site management in the daily task of ensuring the effective delivery and off-loading of materials in a complex and hazardous environment. Originality/Value: This research aids on-site management of confined site environments in the coordination of the material supply chain to site.

Abstinence from alcohol may indeed be the best policy: 32 month longitudinal outcomes among adolescents in the United Kingdom.

The present study investigated the longitudinal relationship between alcohol consumption at age 13, and at age 16. Alcohol-specific measures were frequency of drinking, amount consumed at last use and alcohol related harms. Self-report data were gathered from 1113 high school students at T1, and 981 students at T2. Socio-demographic data were gathered, as was information on context of use, alcohol-related knowledge and attitudes, four domains of aggression and delay reward discounting. Results indicated that any consumption of alcohol, even supervised consumption, at T1 was associated with significantly poorer outcomes at T2. In other words, compared to those still abstinent at age 13, those engaging in alcohol use in any context reported significantly more frequent drinking, more alcohol-related harms and more units consumed at last use at age 16. Results also support the relationship between higher levels of physical aggression at T1 and a greater likelihood of more problematic alcohol use behaviours at T2. The findings support other evidence suggesting that abstinence in early adolescence has better longitudinal outcomes that supervised consumption of alcohol. These results suggest support for current guidance on adolescent drinking in the United Kingdom (UK).

Multiuser Scheduling for Cognitive MIMO with Channel Estimation Errors and Feedback Delay

A multiuser scheduling multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) cognitive radio network (CRN) with space-time block coding (STBC) is considered in this paper, where one secondary base station (BS) communicates with one secondary user (SU) selected from K candidates. The joint impact of imperfect channel state information (CSI) in BS → SUs and BS → PU due to channel estimation errors and feedback delay on the outage performance is firstly investigated. We obtain the exact outage probability expressions for the considered network under the peak interference power IP at PU and maximum transmit power Pm at BS which cover perfect/imperfect CSI scenarios in BS → SUs and BS → PU. In addition, asymptotic expressions of outage probability in high SNR region are also derived from which we obtain several important insights into the system design. For example, only with perfect CSIs in BS → SUs, i.e., without channel estimation errors and feedback delay, the multiuser diversity can be exploited. Finally, simulation results confirm the correctness of our analysis.

Enhanced target detection in clutter using dispersive delay lines and time reversal

On the basis of the technique of time reversal (TR), a new method for low dielectric contrast target detection in clutter by adding dispersive delay lines (DDLs) to each element of the TR mirror (TRM) is proposed. When compared with a conventional TR system, the proposed method improves refocusing to a target by reducing the impact of other scatterers in the environment. The proposed method makes it unnecessary to estimate the position of the target and removes the need for subsequent subtraction as traditionally required. Theoretical and numerical simulated results demonstrate the proposed method.

Application of Evidence Theory and Discounting Techniques to Aerospace Design

Critical decisions are made by decision-makers throughout
the life-cycle of large-scale projects. These decisions are crucial as they
have a direct impact upon the outcome and the success of projects. To aid
decision-makers in the decision making process we present an evidential
reasoning framework. This approach utilizes the Dezert-Smarandache
theory to fuse heterogeneous evidence sources that suffer from levels
of uncertainty, imprecision and conflicts to provide beliefs for decision
options. To analyze the impact of source reliability and priority upon
the decision making process, a reliability discounting technique and a
priority discounting technique, are applied. A maximal consistent subset
is constructed to aid in dening where discounting should be applied.
Application of the evidential reasoning framework is illustrated using a
case study based in the Aerospace domain.

Using dispersive delay lines and time reversal for low contrast tumour detection

On the basis of the technique of time reversal (TR), through adding dispersive delay lines to each element of a TR mirror, a method for low contrast tumour detection is proposed. When compared with a conventional detection method, the proposed method improves refocusing onto a low dielectric contrast tumour. The method does not require an accurate estimate of the position of the tumour. The theoretical basis for the approach is given and numerical simulated results demonstrate the capability of the proposed method.

Exploring the Influence of Reporting Delay on Criminal Justice Outcomes: Comparing Child and Adult Reporters of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Delay between disclosure and reporting child sexual abuse is common and has significant implications for the prosecution of such offenses. While we might expect the relationship to be a linear one with longer delay reducing the likelihood of prosecution, the present study confirms a more complex interaction. Utilizing data from 2,079 police records in Northern Ireland, the study investigated the impact of reporting delay on pretrial criminal justice outcomes for child and adult reporters of child sexual abuse. While teenagers were found to be the group most disadvantaged by reporting delay, increased delay actually appeared advantageous for some groups, notably adult females reporting offenses that occurred when they were 0 to 6 years old. Conversely, adult males reporting child sexual abuse did not appear to benefit from increased delay, suggesting both an adult and gender bias within decision-making processes. The implications for future research are discussed.