Defining sustainability requirements for design-build (DB) contractor selection in public sector projects

The design-build (DB) delivery system is an effective means of delivering a green construction project and selecting an appropriate contractor is critical to project success. Moreover, the delivery of green buildings requires specific design, construction and operation and maintenance considerations not generally encountered in the procurement of conventional buildings. Specifying clear sustainability requirements to potential contractors is particularly important in achieving sustainable project goals. However, many client/owners either do not explicitly specify sustainability requirements or do so in a prescriptive manner during the project procurement process. This paper investigates the current state-of-the-art procurement process used in specifying the sustainability requirements of the public sector in the USA construction market by means of a robust content analysis of 40 design-build requests for proposals (RFPs). The results of the content analysis indicate that the sustainability requirement is one of the most important dimensions in the best-value evaluation of DB contractors. Client/owners predominantly specify the LEED certification levels (e.g. LEED Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum) for a particular facility, and include the sustainability requirements as selection criteria (with specific importance weightings) for contractor evolution. Additionally, larger size projects tend to allocate higher importance weightings to sustainability requirements.This study provides public DB client/owners with a number of practical implications for selecting appropriate design-builders for sustainable DB projects.

Learning in host selection in Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) (Lepidoptera : Noctuidae)

The effect of experience on pre- and post-alighting host selection in adult female Helicoverpa armigera was tested in an indoor flight cage, and in a large greenhouse. The moths had experienced either tobacco or tomato plants (both are hosts of H. armigera) for 3 days, or were given no experience. Individuals were then released and their host selection assessed. All individuals caught in the greenhouse were identified and tested for post-alighting acceptance on each host. Experience significantly influenced both pre- and post-alighting host selection in ovipositing moths. This modification in behaviour is attributed to 'learning', and presents the first detailed evidence for learning in moths. Possible behavioural mechanisms involved are discussed, and a hypothesis is presented regarding learning in post-alighting host acceptance. The existence of learning in H. armigera, a highly polyphagous agricultural pest, is discussed in the light of current theories on environmental predictability and the advantages of learning. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Host selection in phytophagous insects: a new explanation for learning in adults

Insect learning can change the preferences an egg laying female displays towards different host plant species. Current hypotheses propose that learning may be advantageous in adult host selection behaviour through improved recognition, accuracy or selectivity in foraging. In this paper, we present a hypothesis for when learning can be advantageous without such improvements in adult host foraging. Specifically, that learning can be an advantageous strategy for egg laying females when larvae must feed on more than one plant in order to complete development, if the fitness of larvae is reduced when they switch to a different host species. Here, larvae benefit from developing on the most abundant host species, which is the most likely choice of host for an adult insect which increases its preference for a host species through learning. The hypothesis is formalised with a mathematical model and we provide evidence from studies on the behavioural ecology of a number of insect species which demonstrate that the assumptions of this hypothesis may frequently be fulfilled in nature. We discuss how multiple mechanisms may convey advantages in insect learning and that benefits to larval development, which have so far been overlooked, should be considered in explanations for the widespread occurrence of learning.

A general model for host plant selection in phytophagous insects

We develop a general theoretical framework for exploring the host plant selection behaviour of herbivorous insects. This model can be used to address a number of questions, including the evolution of specialists, generalists, preference hierarchies, and learning. We use our model to: (i) demonstrate the consequences of the extent to which the reproductive success of a foraging female is limited by the rate at which they find host plants (host limitation) or the number of eggs they carry (egg limitation); (ii) emphasize the different consequences of variation in behaviour before and after landing on (locating) a host (termed pre- and post-alighting, respectively); (iii) show that, in contrast to previous predictions, learning can be favoured in post-alighting behaviour--in particular, individuals can be selected to concentrate oviposition on an abundant low-quality host, whilst ignoring a rare higher-quality host; (iv) emphasize the importance of interactions between mechanisms in favouring specialization or learning.

Genetic improvement of giant freshwater prawn in Vietnam

The giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) or GFP is one of the most important freshwater crustacean species in the inland aquaculture sector of many tropical and subtropical countries. Since the 1990’s, there has been rapid global expansion of freshwater prawn farming, especially in Asian countries, with an average annual rate of increase of 48% between 1999 and 2001 (New, 2005). In Vietnam, GFP is cultured in a variety of culture systems, typically in integrated or rotational rice-prawn culture (Phuong et al., 2006) and has become one of the most common farmed aquatic species in the country, due to its ability to grow rapidly and to attract high market price and high demand. Despite potential for expanded production, sustainability of freshwater prawn farming in the region is currently threatened by low production efficiency and vulnerability of farmed stocks to disease. Commercial large scale and small scale GFP farms in Vietnam have experienced relatively low stock productivity, large size and weight variation, a low proportion of edible meat (large head to body ratio), scarcity of good quality seed stock. The current situation highlights the need for a systematic stock improvement program for GFP in Vietnam aimed at improving economically important traits in this species. This study reports on the breeding program for fast growth employing combined (between and within) family selection in giant freshwater prawn in Vietnam. The base population was synthesized using a complete diallel cross including 9 crosses from two local stocks (DN and MK strains) and a third exotic stock (Malaysian strain - MY). In the next three selection generations, matings were conducted between genetically unrelated brood stock to produce full-sib and (paternal) half-sib families. All families were produced and reared separately until juveniles in each family were tagged as a batch using visible implant elastomer (VIE) at a body size of approximately 2 g. After tags were verified, 60 to 120 juveniles chosen randomly from each family were released into two common earthen ponds of 3,500 m2 pond for a grow-out period of 16 to 18 weeks. Selection applied at harvest on body weight was a combined (between and within) family selection approach. 81, 89, 96 and 114 families were produced for the Selection line in the F0, F1, F2 and F3 generations, respectively. In addition to the Selection line, 17 to 42 families were produced for the Control group in each generation. Results reported here are based on a data set consisting of 18,387 body and 1,730 carcass records, as well as full pedigree information collected over four generations. Variance and covariance components were estimated by restricted maximum likelihood fitting a multi-trait animal model. Experiments assessed performance of VIE tags in juvenile GFP of different size classes and individuals tagged with different numbers of tags showed that juvenile GFP at 2 g were of suitable size for VIE tags with no negative effects evident on growth or survival. Tag retention rates were above 97.8% and tag readability rates were 100% with a correct assignment rate of 95% through to mature animal size of up to 170 g. Across generations, estimates of heritability for body traits (body weight, body length, cephalothorax length, abdominal length, cephalothorax width and abdominal width) and carcass weight traits (abdominal weight, skeleton-off weight and telson-off weight) were moderate and ranged from 0.14 to 0.19 and 0.17 to 0.21, respectively. Body trait heritabilities estimated for females were significantly higher than for males whereas carcass weight trait heritabilities estimated for females and males were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Maternal and common environmental effects for body traits accounted for 4 to 5% of the total variance and were greater in females (7 to 10%) than in males (4 to 5%). Genetic correlations among body traits were generally high in both sexes. Genetic correlations between body and carcass weight traits were also high in the mixed sexes. Average selection response (% per generation) for body weight (transformed to square root) estimated as the difference between the Selection and the Control group was 7.4% calculated from least squares means (LSMs), 7.0% from estimated breeding values (EBVs) and 4.4% calculated from EBVs between two consecutive generations. Favourable correlated selection responses (estimated from LSMs) were detected for other body traits (12.1%, 14.5%, 10.4%, 15.5% and 13.3% for body length, cephalothorax length, abdominal length, cephalothorax width and abdominal width, respectively) over three selection generations. Data in the second selection generation showed positive correlated responses for carcass weight traits (8.8%, 8.6% and 8.8% for abdominal weight, skeleton-off weight and telson-off weight, respectively). Data in the third selection generation showed that heritability for body traits were moderate and ranged from 0.06 to 0.11 and 0.11 to 0.22 at weeks 10 and 18, respectively. Body trait heritabilities estimated at week 10 were not significantly lower than at week 18. Genetic correlations between body traits within age and genetic correlations for body traits between ages were generally high. Overall our results suggest that growth rate responds well to the application of family selection and carcass weight traits can also be improved in parallel, using this approach. Moreover, selection for high growth rate in GFP can be undertaken successfully before full market size has been reached. The outcome of this study was production of an improved culture strain of GFP for the Vietnamese culture industry that will be trialed in real farm production environments to confirm the genetic gains identified in the experimental stock improvement program.

Unnatural selection : curricular conversations in TIP 1962–2012

Our task is to consider the evolving perspectives around curriculum documented in the Theory Into Practice (TIP) corpus to date. The 50 years in question, 1962–2012, account for approximately half the history of mass institutionalized schooling. Over this time, the upper age of compulsory schooling has crept up, stretching the school curriculum's reach, purpose, and clientele. These years also span remarkable changes in the social fabric, challenging deep senses of the nature and shelf-life of knowledge, whose knowledge counts, what science can and cannot deliver, and the very purpose of education. The school curriculum is a key social site where these challenges have to be addressed in a very practical sense, through a design on the future implemented within the resources and politics of the present. The task's metaphor of ‘evolution’ may invoke a sense of gradual cumulative improvement, but equally connotes mutation, hybridization, extinction, survival of the fittest, and environmental pressures. Viewed in this way, curriculum theory and practice cannot be isolated and studied in laboratory conditions—there is nothing natural, neutral, or self-evident about what knowledge gets selected into the curriculum. Rather, the process of selection unfolds as a series of messy, politically contaminated, lived experiments; thus curriculum studies require field work in dynamic open systems. We subscribe to Raymond Williams' approach to social change, which he argues is not absolute and abrupt, one set of ideas neatly replacing the other. For Williams, newly emergent ideas have to compete against the dominant mindset and residual ideas “still active in the cultural process'” (Williams, 1977, p. 122). This means ongoing debates. For these reasons, we join Schubert (1992) in advocating “continuous reconceptualising of the flow of experience” (p. 238) by both researchers and practitioners.

Unravelling (e-)government channel selection: A quantitative analysis of individual customer preferences in Germany and Australia

The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of individual differences on service channel selection for e-government services. In a comparative survey of citizens in Germany and Australia (n=1205), we investigate the impact of age, gender, and mobility issues on the selection of personal or mobile communication as channels for service consumption. The results suggest that Australians are more likely to want to use new technology-oriented channels as internet or mobile applications while Germans tend to use classical channels as telephone or in person. Moreover, differences with respect to age, gender, and mobility exist. Implications for practice and issues for future research are discussed.

The impact of organisational culture in project selection process : case of public infrastructure project in Indonesia

The thesis develops an Organisational Culture (OC) based framework for potentially improving the current practice of the infrastructure project selection process (PSP) in Indonesia, particularly for regional road projects. This framework is developed to address the suggestion emanating from the research that there is a need for strengthening the relevant organisational culture dimensions and making changes to current organisational culture profiles to support the effectiveness of the decision-making process of the current PSP. The findings not only benefit existing knowledge but also provide practical contributions for those decision-makers within the Indonesian regional government that are involved in PSP, i.e. by raising the awareness of the influence and the role of organisational culture.

Towards a model for student selection in clinical psychology

Background Selection of candidates for clinical psychology programmes is arguably the most important decision made in determining the clinical psychology workforce. However, there are few models to inform the development of selection tools to support selection procedures. The study, using a factor analytic structure, has operationalised the model predicting applicants' capabilities. Method Eighty-eight clinical applicants for entry into a postgraduate clinical psychology programme were assessed on a series of tasks measuring eight capabilities: guided reflection, communication skills, ethical decision making, writing, conceptual reasoning, empathy, and awareness of mind and self-observation. Results Factor analysis revealed three capabilities: labelled “awareness” accounting for 35.71% of variance; “reflection” accounting for 20.56%; and “reasoning” accounting for 18.24% of variance. Fourth year grade point average (GPA) did not correlate with performance on any of the selection capabilities other than a weak correlation with performance on the ethics capability. Conclusions Eight selection capabilities are identified for the selection of candidates independent of GPA. While the model is tentative, it is hoped that the findings will stimulate the development and validation of assessment procedures with good predictive validity which will benefit the training of clinical psychologists and, ultimately, effective service delivery.

Evolution of lure response in tephritid fruit flies : phytochemicals as drivers of sexual selection

The males of many Bactrocera species (Diptera: Tephritidae) respond strongly and positively to a small number of plant-derived chemicals (=male lures). Males that have imbibed the lures commonly have a mating advantage over unfed males, but no female benefits have been demonstrated for females mating with lure-fed males. It has been hypothesized that the strong lure response is a case of runaway selection, where males receive direct benefits and females receive indirect benefits via 'sexy sons', or a case of sensory bias where females have a lower threshold response to lures. To test these hypotheses we studied the effects of lure feeding on male mating, remating and longevity; while for females that had mated with lure-fed males we recorded mating refractoriness, fecundity, egg viability and longevity. We used Bactrocera tryoni as our test animal and as lures the naturally occurring zingerone and chemically related, but synthetic chemical cuelure. Feeding on lures provided direct male benefits in greater mating success and increased multiple mating. For the first time, we recorded direct female effects: increased fecundity and reduced remating receptivity. Egg viability did not differ in females mated with lure-fed or unfed males. The life span of males and females exposed to lures was reduced. These results reveal direct, current-generation fitness benefits for both males and females, although the male benefits appear greater. We discuss that while lure response is indeed likely to be a sexual selection trait, there is no need to invoke runaway selection to explain its evolution.

Genetic response to combined family selection for improved mean harvest weight in giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in Vietnam

We estimated genetic changes in body and carcass weight traits in a giant freshwater prawn (GFP) (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) population selected for increased body weight at harvest in Vietnam. The data set consisted of 18,387 individual body and 1730 carcass weight records, as well as full pedigree information collected over four generations. Average selection response (per generation) in body weight at harvest (transformed to square root) estimated as the difference between the Selection line and the Control group was 7.4% calculated from least squares mean (LSMs), 7.0% from estimated breeding values (EBVs) and 4.4% calculated from EBVs between two consecutive generations. Favorable correlated selection responses (estimated from LSMs) were found for other body traits including: total length, cephalothorax length, abdominal length, cephalothorax width, and abdominal width (12.1%, 14.5%, 10.4%, 15.5% and 13.3% over three selection generations, respectively). Data in the second generation of selection showed positive correlated responses for carcass weight traits including: abdominal weight, exoskeleton-off weight, and telson-off weight of 8.8%, 8.6% and 8.8%, respectively. We conclude that body weight at harvest responded well to the application of combined (between and within) family selection and correlated responses in carcass weight traits were favorable.

The structured and practical approach in development of decision support system for consultant selection in public sector infrastructure project

Nowadays, most of the infrastructure development projects undertaken are complex in nature. Practically, public clients who do not have a good understanding of the design and management may suffer severe losses, especially for infrastructure projects. There is a need for luring the right consultant to secure client's investment in infrastructure developments. Throughout the project life cycle, consultants play vital role from the inception to completion stage of a project. A few studies in Malaysia show that infrastructure projects involving irrigation and drainage have experience problems such as poor workmanship, delay and cost overrun due to the consultant's inability or the client incompetence of recruiting consultants in time. This highlights the need of aided decision making and an efficient system to select the best consultant by using Decision Support System (DSS). On the other hand, recent trends reveal that most DSS in construction only concentrate on decision model development. These models are impractical and unused as they are complicated or difficult for laymen such as project managers to utilize. Thus, this research attempts to develop an efficient DSS for consultant selection namely consultDeSS. Driven by the motivation and research aims, this study deployed Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) dominant with a combination of case studies at the Malaysian Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID). Two real projects involving irrigation and drainage infrastructure were used to design, implement and evaluate the artefact. The 3-tier consultDeSS was revised after the evaluation and the design was significantly improved based on user feedback. By developing desirable tools that fit client's needs will enhance the productivity and minimize conflict within groups and organisations. The tool is more usable and efficient compared to previous studies in construction. Thus, this research has demonstrated a purposeful artefact with a practical and valid structured development approach that is applicable in a variety of problems in construction discipline.

Single-agent versus combination chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and a performance status of 2 : prognostic factors and treatment selection based on two large randomized clinical trials

Purpose: Data from two randomized phase III trials were analyzed to evaluate prognostic factors and treatment selection in the first-line management of advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients with performance status (PS) 2. Patients and Methods: Patients randomized to combination chemotherapy (carboplatin and paclitaxel) in one trial and single-agent therapy (gemcitabine or vinorelbine) in the second were included in these analyses. Both studies had identical eligibility criteria and were conducted simultaneously. Comparison of efficacy and safety was performed between the two cohorts. A regression analysis identified prognostic factors and subgroups of patients that may benefit from combination or single-agent therapy. Results: Two hundred one patients were treated with combination and 190 with single-agent therapy. Objective responses were 37 and 15%, respectively. Median time to progression was 4.6 months in the combination arm and 3.5 months in the single-agent arm (p < 0.001). Median survival imes were 8.0 and 6.6 months, and 1-year survival rates were 31 and 26%, respectively. Albumin <3.5 g, extrathoracic metastases, lactate dehydrogenase ≥200 IU, and 2 comorbid conditions predicted outcome. Patients with 0-2 risk factors had similar outcomes independent of treatment, whereas patients with 3-4 factors had a nonsignificant improvement in median survival with combination chemotherapy. Conclusion: Our results show that PS2 non-small cell lung cancer patients are a heterogeneous group who have significantly different outcomes. Patients treated with first-line combination chemotherapy had a higher response and longer time to progression, whereas overall survival did not appear significantly different. A prognostic model may be helpful in selecting PS 2 patients for either treatment strategy. © 2009 by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

Quality based frame selection for face clustering in news video

Clustering identities in a broadcast video is a useful task to aid in video annotation and retrieval. Quality based frame selection is a crucial task in video face clustering, to both improve the clustering performance and reduce the computational cost. We present a frame work that selects the highest quality frames available in a video to cluster the face. This frame selection technique is based on low level and high level features (face symmetry, sharpness, contrast and brightness) to select the highest quality facial images available in a face sequence for clustering. We also consider the temporal distribution of the faces to ensure that selected faces are taken at times distributed throughout the sequence. Normalized feature scores are fused and frames with high quality scores are used in a Local Gabor Binary Pattern Histogram Sequence based face clustering system. We present a news video database to evaluate the clustering system performance. Experiments on the newly created news database show that the proposed method selects the best quality face images in the video sequence, resulting in improved clustering performance.

Ureaplasma parvum undergoes selection in utero resulting in genetically diverse isolates colonising the chorioamnion of fetal sheep

Ureaplasmas are the microorganisms most frequently isolated from the amniotic fluid of pregnant women and can cause chronic intrauterine infections. These tiny bacteria are thought to undergo rapid evolution and exhibit a hypermutatable phenotype; however, little is known about how ureaplasmas respond to selective pressures in utero. Using an ovine model of chronic intra-amniotic infection, we investigated if exposure of ureaplasmas to sub-inhibitory concentrations of erythromycin could induce phenotypic or genetic indicators of macrolide resistance. At 55 days gestation, 12 pregnant ewes received an intra-amniotic injection of a non-clonal, clinical U. parvum strain, followed by: (i) erythromycin treatment (IM, 30 mg/kg/day, n=6); or (ii) saline (IM, n=6) at 100 days gestation. Fetuses were then delivered surgically at 125 days gestation. Despite injecting the same inoculum into all ewes, significant differences between amniotic fluid and chorioamnion ureaplasmas were detected following chronic intra-amniotic infection. Numerous polymorphisms were observed in domain V of the 23S rRNA gene of ureaplasmas isolated from the chorioamnion (but not the amniotic fluid), resulting in a mosaic-like sequence. Chorioamnion isolates also harboured the macrolide resistance genes erm(B) and msr(D) and were associated with variable roxithromycin minimum inhibitory concentrations. Remarkably, this variability occurred independently of exposure of ureaplasmas to erythromycin, suggesting that low-level erythromycin exposure does not induce ureaplasmal macrolide resistance in utero. Rather, the significant differences observed between amniotic fluid and chorioamnion ureaplasmas suggest that different anatomical sites may select for ureaplasma sub-types within non-clonal, clinical strains. This may have implications for the treatment of intrauterine ureaplasma infections.