Challenges for implementation of a new model of collaborative design management: Analyzing the impact of human factor

The ineffectiveness of current design processes has been well studied and has resulted in widespread calls for the evolution and development of new management processes. Even following the advent of BIM, we continue to move from one stage to another without necessarily having resolved all the issues. CAD design technology, if well handled, could have significantly raised the level of quality and efficiency of current processes, but in practice this was not fully realized. Therefore, technology alone can´t solve all the problems and the advent of BIM could result in a similar bottleneck. For a precise definition of the problem to be solved we should start by understanding what are the main current bottlenecks that have yet to be overcome by either new technologies or management processes, and the impact of human behaviour-related issues which impact the adoption and utilization of new technologies. The fragmented and dispersed nature of the AEC sector, and the huge number of small organizations that comprise it, are a major limiting factor. Several authors have addressed this issue and more recently IDDS has been defined as the highest level of achievement. However, what is written on IDDS shows an extremely ideal situation on a state to be achieved; it shows a holistic utopian proposition with the intent to create the research agenda to move towards that state. Key to IDDS is the framing of a new management model which should address the problems associated with key aspects: technology, processes, policies and people. One of the primary areas to be further studied is the process of collaborative work and understanding, together with the development of proposals to overcome the many cultural barriers that currently exist and impede the advance of new management methods. The purpose of this paper is to define and delimit problems to be solved so that it is possible to implement a new management model for a collaborative design process.

A variable diffusivity model for the drying of spherical food particulates

An investigation of the drying of spherical food particles was performed, using peas as the model material. In the development of a mathematical model for drying curves, moisture diffusion was modelled using Fick’s second law for mass transfer. The resulting partial differential equation was solved using a forward-time central-space finite difference approximation, with the assumption of variable effective diffusivity. In order to test the model, experimental data was collected for the drying of green peas in a fluidised bed at three drying temperatures. Through fitting three equation types for effective diffusivity to the data, it was found that a linear equation form, in which diffusivity increased with decreasing moisture content, was most appropriate. The final model accurately described the drying curves of the three experimental temperatures, with an R2 value greater than 98.6% for all temperatures.

Upregulated MT1-MMP/TIMP-2 axis in the TSU-Pr1-B1/B2 model of metastatic progression in transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder

Muscle invasive transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder is associated with a high frequency of metastasis, resulting in poor prognosis for patients presenting with this disease. Models that capture and demonstrate step-wise enhancement of elements of the human metastatic cascade on a similar genetic background are useful research tools. We have utilized the transitional cell carcinoma cell line TSU-Pr1 to develop an in vivo experimental model of bladder TCC metastasis. TSU-Pr1 cells were inoculated into the left cardiac ventricle of SCID mice and the development of bone metastases was monitored using high resolution X-ray. Tumor tissue from a single bone lesion was excised and cultured in vitro to generate the TSU-Pr1-B1 subline. This cycle was repeated with the TSU-Pr1-B1 cells to generate the successive subline TSU-Pr1-B2. DNA profiling and karyotype analysis confirmed the genetic relationship of these three cell lines. In vitro, the growth rate of these cell lines was not significantly different. However, following intracardiac inoculation TSU-Pr1, TSU-Pr1-B1 and TSU-Pr1-B2 exhibited increasing metastatic potential with a concomitant decrease in time to the onset of radiologically detectable metastatic bone lesions. Significant elevations in the levels of mRNA expression of the matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) membrane type 1-MMP (MT1-MMP), MT2-MMP and MMP-9, and their inhibitor, tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease-2 (TIMP-2), across the progressively metastatic cell lines, were detected by quantitative PCR. Given the role of MT1-MMP and TIMP-2 in MMP-2 activation, and the upregulation of MMP-9, these data suggest an important role for matrix remodeling, particularly basement membrane, in this progression. The TSU-Pr1-B1/B2 model holds promise for further identification of important molecules.

The role of desire in understanding intentions to drink responsibly : an application of the model of goal-directed behaviour

This study models young people's moderate drinking decision-making using the Model of Goal-Directed Behaviour (MGB), thus presenting insights into young people's desires and intentions to drink responsibly. Testing the applicability of the MGB to quantitatively analyse responsible drinking, the explanatory sphere of the MGB is extended. An online survey resulted in 1522 completed questionnaires from respondents aged between 18 and 25 years. Collected data were analysed with structural equation modelling (SEM) using SPSS AMOS21 (IBM, New York, NY, USA) software. The key finding of this study is that an individual's desire to drink moderately is the most important predictor of young people's responsible drinking intentions. Our use of MGB provides further evidence that there is a strong distinction between consumer desires and intentions.

lacZ transduced human breast cancer xenografts as an in vivo model for the study of invasion and metastasis

A number of human cancer cell lines have been described as being invasive and metastatic in immune incompetent animals. However, it is difficult to assess metastatic spread of a subcutaneously injected or inoculated cell line, since an exact detection of all microfoci of human tumour cells in the animals by usual histological procedures would require extensive sectioning of the whole animal. To overcome this problem, we transduced human breast cancer cells with a replication-defective Moloney murine leukaemia retroviral vector (M-MuLV) containing both neo(R) (neomycin resistance) and lacZ genes. The resulting cell lines were selected for antibiotic (G418) resistance, and cell-sorted for lacZ expression. lacZ continued to be expressed in cultured cells for at least 20 passages without further G418 selection. The lacE gene codes for β-D-galactosidase, and cells expressing this gene stain blue with the chromogenic substrate X-gal. The lacZ-expressing cells retained the pre-transduction ability to traverse Matrigel in vitro, to form subcutaneous tumours in nude mice, and to grow invasively with the formation of metastases. X-gal staining showed high specificity, staining the tumour cells but not the surrounding mouse tissue on either whole tissue blocks or histological sections. The staining procedure was highly sensitive, allowing detection of microfoci of human cancer cells, and quantitative estimation of the metastatic capacity of the cells. These results indicate that lacZ transduction of human tumour cells is a powerful means of studying human cancer cell invasion and metastases in vivo.

An endogenously deposited fibrin scaffold determines construct size in the surgically created arteriovenous loop chamber model of tissue engineering

Background: An arteriovenous loop (AVL) enclosed in a polycarbonate chamber in vivo, produces a fibrin exudate which acts as a provisional matrix for the development of a tissue engineered microcirculatory network. Objectives: By administering enoxaparin sodium - an inhibitor of fibrin polymerization, the significance of fibrin scaffold formation on AVL construct size (including the AVL, fibrin scaffold, and new tissue growth into the fibrin), growth, and vascularization were assessed and compared to controls. Methods: In Sprague Dawley rats, an AVL was created on femoral vessels and inserted into a polycarbonate chamber in the groin in 3 control groups (Series I) and 3 experimental groups (Series II). Two hours before surgery and 6 hours post-surgery, saline (Series I) or enoxaparin sodium (0.6 mg/kg, Series II) was administered intra-peritoneally. Thereafter, the rats were injected daily with saline (Series I) or enoxaparin sodium (1.5 mg/kg, Series II) until construct retrieval at 3, 10, or 21 days. The retrieved constructs underwent weight and volume measurements, and morphologic/morphometric analysis of new tissue components. Results: Enoxaparin sodium treatment resulted in the development of smaller AVL constructs at 3, 10, and 21 days. Construct weight and volume were significantly reduced at 10 days (control weight 0.337 ± 0.016 g [Mean ± SEM] vs treated 0.228 ± 0.048, [P < .001]: control volume 0.317 ± 0.015 mL vs treated 0.184 ± 0.039 mL [P < .01]) and 21 days (control weight 0.306 ± 0.053 g vs treated 0.198 ± 0.043 g [P < .01]: control volume 0.285 ± 0.047 mL vs treated 0.148 ± 0.041 mL, [P < .01]). Angiogenesis was delayed in the enoxaparin sodium-treated constructs with the absolute vascular volume significantly decreased at 10 days (control vascular volume 0.029 ± 0.03 mL vs treated 0.012 ± 0.002 mL [P < .05]). Conclusion: In this in vivo tissue engineering model, endogenous, extra-vascularly deposited fibrin volume determines construct size and vascular growth in the first 3 weeks and is, therefore, critical to full construct development.

Security analysis of the non-aggressive challenge response of the DNP3 Protocol using a CPN Model

Distributed Network Protocol Version 3 (DNP3) is the de-facto communication protocol for power grids. Standard-based interoperability among devices has made the protocol useful to other infrastructures such as water, sewage, oil and gas. DNP3 is designed to facilitate interaction between master stations and outstations. In this paper, we apply a formal modelling methodology called Coloured Petri Nets (CPN) to create an executable model representation of DNP3 protocol. The model facilitates the analysis of the protocol to ensure that the protocol will behave as expected. Also, we illustrate how to verify and validate the behaviour of the protocol, using the CPN model and the corresponding state space tool to determine if there are insecure states. With this approach, we were able to identify a Denial of Service (DoS) attack against the DNP3 protocol.

A model of a large-area planar plasma producer based on surface wave propagation in a plasma-metal structure with a dielectric sheath

A theoretical model of a large-area planar plasma producer based on surface wave (SW) propagation in a plasma-metal structure with a dielectric sheath is presented. The SW which produces and sustains the microwave gas discharge in the planar structure propagates along an external magnetic field and possesses an eigenfrequency within the range between electron cyclotron and electron plasma frequencies. The spatial distributions of the produced plasma density, electromagnetic fields, energy flow density, phase velocity and reverse skin depth of the SW are obtained analytically and numerically.

Semantic interference in object naming : an fMRI study of the postcue naming paradigm

It is well established that the time to name target objects can be influenced by the presence of categorically related versus unrelated distractor items. A variety of paradigms have been developed to determine the level at which this semantic interference effect occurs in the speech production system. In this study, we investigated one of these tasks, the postcue naming paradigm, for the first time with fMRI. Previous behavioural studies using this paradigm have produced conflicting interpretations of the processing level at which the semantic interference effect takes place, ranging from pre- to post-lexical. Here we used fMRI with a sparse, event-related design to adjudicate between these competing explanations. We replicated the behavioural postcue naming effect for categorically related target/distractor pairs, and observed a corresponding increase in neuronal activation in the right lingual and fusiform gyri-regions previously associated with visual object processing and colour-form integration. We interpret these findings as being consistent with an account that places the semantic interference effect in the postcue paradigm at a processing level involving integration of object attributes in short-term memory.

Commitment to internationalisation : an extension of the internationalisation process model

Notwithstanding the interest over many years by scholars in modeling the internationalization of the firm, the initial transition for the firm from domestic to international operations remains under-researched. We identify the behavioral factors that are important at the pre-internationalization state and discuss how they may interrelate to influence a decision to commit to internationalization through export commencement. We study export commitment by proposing and constructing an index that incorporates the factors that influence a firm’s propensity to commit to export activities. Utilizing the items from this index in a logistic regression analysis, we distinguish between the pre-internationalization characteristics of exporting and non-exporting firms to better understand the key influences in export commitment. Implications are discussed.

Flupirtine enhances the anti-hyperalgesic effects of morphine in a rat model of prostate bone metastasis

Objective Current treatments for cancer pain are often inadequate, particularly when metastasis to bone is involved. The addition to the treatment regimen of another drug that has a complementary analgesic effect may increase the overall analgesia without the necessity to increase doses, thus avoiding dose-related side effects. This project investigated the synergistic effect of the addition of the potassium channel (KCNQ2–3) modulator flupirtine to morphine treatment in a rat model of prostate cancer-induced bone pain. Design Syngeneic prostate cancer cells were injected into the right tibia of male Wistar rats under anesthesia. This led to expanding tumor within the bone in 2 weeks, together with the concurrent development of hyperalgesia to noxious heat. Paw withdrawal thresholds from noxious heat were measured before and after the maximum non-sedating doses of morphine and flupirtine given alone and in combinations. Dose-response curves for morphine (0.13–5.0 mg/kg ip) and flupirtine (1.25–10.0 mg/kg ip) given alone and in fixed-dose combinations were plotted and subjected to an isobolographic analysis. Results Both morphine (ED50 = 0.74 mg/kg) and flupirtine (ED50 = 3.32 mg/kg) caused dose-related anti-hyperalgesia at doses that did not cause sedation. Isobolographic analysis revealed that there was a synergistic interaction between flupirtine and morphine. Addition of flupirtine to morphine treatment improved morphine anti-hyperalgesia, and resulted in the reversal of cancer-induced heat hyperalgesia. Conclusions These results suggest that flupirtine in combination with morphine may be useful clinically to provide better analgesia at lower morphine doses in the management of pain caused by tumors growing in bone.