Entire Duration Of Project Research Articles

Implementation of a telemedical urgency assessment procedure in the pediatric emergency room: evaluation results.

In rural areas in Germany, the number of emergency departments with pediatric expertise decreases. Telemedicine solutions are used sporadically, but they lack certain parameters for assessing a child's health status, such as touch and smell. We tested and evaluated the implementation of a telemedical, cross-hospital urgency assessment in pediatric emergency rooms. The telemedical urgency assessments were carried out via video conferences and were compared to the usual on-site procedure. Primary results of the concordance analysis have been published elsewhere. This work describes the results of the evaluation of the implementation. The telemedical urgency assessment was carried out in 5 pediatric emergency departments during the years 2015-2019. Various methods were used to evaluate the implementation. The following reports are based on (a) a parent questionnaire with two statements to be evaluated (entire project duration), (b) a survey of the physicians using telemedicine after each case (entire project duration) and (c) detailed process documentation (July 2017 until end of the project). A total of 266 patients under 18 years old, recruited from four hospitals, were included in the study. (a) 210 parents completed the questionnaire. 78% of the parents felt adequately cared for and 70% could imagine telemedicine becoming established as a future supplementary care procedure. (b) The physicians' questionnaires for the telemedicine site were completed in 232 cases (87%). The average satisfaction rating was 1.8 on a 6-point-likert-scale (95% confidence interval: 1.64; 1.95). (c) The most frequent implementation problem concerned the technical implementation of the video conference. The evaluation of the accompanying documentation revealed in particular implementation barriers in the technical area (e. g. limited video and/or audio quality) and in the provision of human resources. Despite implementation barriers, the project showed that telemedical urgency assessment in acute pediatric care is a promising option for supporting care. Most of the participating clinicians needed a high level of support, which in some cases indicated a rather low level of digital competence. Increasing acceptance of telemedicine functionalities requires changes in society as a whole with improved framework conditions.

Optimal sizing of hybrid renewable energy systems using quasi-optimal control

This paper addresses the critical challenge of sizing hybrid renewable energy systems over their lifespan while accounting for uncertainties in energy sources and load demands. By leveraging stochastic programming, we introduce a novel modeling technique that ensures robust optimization without compromising numerical tractability. Unlike conventional methods, which determine system parameters for the entire project duration upfront, our approach enables annual adjustments to the renewable components’ sizing. This dynamic strategy alleviates early-stage under-utilization, aligning system capacity with evolving demand patterns. Central to our approach is the reformulation of the two-stage stochastic program as a quasi-optimal control. This reduces the number of optimization variables significantly, simplifying the solution process. Moreover, thousands of constraints are replaced with a system of differential equations, enhancing computational efficiency. By minimizing capital costs and dynamic operating expenses, we achieve an optimal system size. Through a real-world application in a rural area of South Africa, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. The results showed a remarkable improvement in problem-solving efficiency, reduced under-utilization, and heightened adaptability to unpredictable weather conditions. This innovative framework represents a substantial leap forward in hybrid renewable energy systems design, offering a more agile and efficient solution for sustainable energy generation.

Evaluation of a new Short-Project Based Learning (PBL) method in an engineering 1st year programme

Teaching approaches in engineering undergraduate programmes develop over time, to accommodate latest industry demands and technological needs, toincorporate new technologies in teaching and learning, or it adapts to become more relevant to climatic changes in cultural and societal shifts ushered by thenext student generation.
 This study presents a new developed approach towards traditional Project Based Learning (PBL) in an engineering undergraduate 1st year program. PBL (Project Based Learning) also known as Problem Based Learning is a pedagogy which organises learning around projects. The project must involve some development of new understanding or new skills within a space occupied by group of students solving the task and teacher providing feedback. The duration of a PBL project spans traditionally from a few weeks in a semester to a full teaching year.
 The new approach presented in this study, was to implement a PBL project in an engineering paper which ran its full duration, start to finish in half a day. Shortened PBL projects offer an advantage of maintaining student engagement and cognitive impact throughout the entire project duration. A task often difficult to maintain by students during a normal length project.
 This study presents the evaluation of a short PBL project delivered in a 1st year undergraduate engineering programme. In the project, students were provided a physical space to tackle sustainable re-design of disaster-aid relief items and were also given access to interactive 3D visualisation technology known as CAVE environment as a design development tool. This study evaluates the effectiveness of short PBL projects as a teaching approach and impact on student engagement.

Chaos Attractors as an Alignment Mechanism between Projects and Organizational Strategy

Chaos attractors have been studied in detail in the biological and environmental sciences and used to explain phenomena such as the Butterfly effect. Limited research has been done to identify and understand the use of chaos attractors in projects to help with alignment of project activities towards the project objective throughout the entire project duration. This paper will explore the literature on the use of chaos attractors as alignment mechanism between projects and organizational strategy. A conceptual model and propositions are proposed that could form the basis for further research.

Particle Swarm Optimization for Resource Constrained-project Scheduling Problem with Varying Resource Levels

This paper proposes Particle swarm optimization for resource constrained project scheduling problem with varying resource levels (RCPSPVRL). RCPSPVRL uses resources of limited availability but varying predetermined levels. The activities are of known durations and resource requests, linked by precedence relations. In project scheduling problems, project activities are assumed to have constant resources throughout the entire project duration. In RCPSPVRL, resources are not kept constant, the total project duration is divided in to different time periods, within a particular time period the quantity of resources are kept constant and the quantity of resources can be varied on various time periods. The objective is to schedule the activities in such a way that effective utilization of resources are made by utilizing varying resource levels. RCPSPVRL is tested by using CPLEX ILOG optimization studio and is validated by using PSO on MATLAB 2014.

Biochar for Climate Change Mitigation: Tracing the in-situ Priming Effect on a Forest Site

A significant amount of Carbon (C) on global soils consists of black carbon or charred organic matter. Biochar amendment in soils is therefore seen as a potential geoengineering method for climate change mitigation and adaptation. We tested the effects of biochar amendment (10 t.ha-1) on soil respiration trace a potential priming effect until 15 months after amendment. Our results indicate that after a short period of initially weak positive priming, there was no significant difference between control and biochar plots during the entire project duration. From a carbon sequestration point of view, it can be concluded, that biochar amendment leads to higher stable C stocks in the organic horizon.

Analysis of Risk of Commercial Real Estate Based on Multiple Attribute Group Decision-Making

Abstract: Commercial real estate is the real estate primarily used for commercial. This paper proposes using the multi-attribute group decision method to identifying the risks of commercial real estate. By calculating the weight of each risk attributes to reflect the degree of influence of different decision makers and risks on the results,and to deduce the degree of similarity and diversity of each decision makers. It introduces the concept of entropy to calculate the weight of each risk attributes, infer the integrated decision-making value of very risk factors, and arrange every risk in order. Finally, it identifies the feasibility. Introduction Commercial real estates are real estates for commercial purposes classified according to use. They include retail shops, supermarkets, community business, commercial plazas, shopping malls and so on. Compared with residential real estate, commercial real estate has larger profits. However, high profits always accompanied with high risk. Developers can obtain the value of compensation and benefits after sold residential real estate, while the payback periods of commercial real estates are longer, even extended to the entire project duration, and are affected by various factors. The risks of commercial real estate including policy risk, funding risk, operational risk, urban planning risk, technology risk, natural risk, market supply and demand risk, capital risk and so on. Previous studies based mainly on qualitative research[1-3], but quantitative analysis of risk identification is less. Based on this, this paper proposes a method of multiple attribute group decision.

Dynamic Site Layout Planning Using Approximate Dynamic Programming

Dynamic site layout planning requires identifying and updating the positions of all temporary construction facilities such as offices, storage areas, and workshops over the entire project duration. Existing models do not guarantee global optimal solutions because they focus on optimizing the planning and layout of successive construction stages in a chronological order, without considering the future implications of layout decisions made in early stages. This paper presents the development of an approximate dynamic programming model that is capable of searching for and identifying global optimal dynamic site layout plans. The model applies the concepts of approximate dynamic programming to estimate the future effects of layout decisions in early stages on future decisions in later stages. The model is developed in three main phases: (1) formulating the decision variables, geometric constraints, and objective function of the dynamic site layout planning problem; (2) modeling the problem using approximate dynamic programming; and (3) implementing and evaluating the performance of the model. An evaluation example is analyzed to illustrate the use of the model and demonstrate its capabilities in generating global optimal solution for dynamic site layout planning of construction projects.

The analysis of liquidity flow associated to an investment project.

It is well known that the decisional process involves three fundamental stages: the identification of the opportunities, the evaluation of the liquidities and the application of the selected choices criteria (the calculations of the efficiency indicators). For the first stage, there are three important investment projects: opportunities for increasing the activity: drafting a project aimed at increasing the existing activity, either in the present domain of the firm’s activity, or in a new one. projects meant to improve the productivity. projects associated to legal restrictions, institutional or even social requirements, projects urged by the law, public opinion, etc This first stage in identification of an investment project it is frequently decentralized, whilst the decisional process is most frequently located at the management level. This study focuses on the second and the third stage of the decisional process. The objective of evaluating the liquidity flow is to find out an estimate of the total cashflow imposed by the future investment objective. To answer these questions, we consider following rules: the cash-flows will be estimated for the entire project duration. Some of the investments projects involve objectives with a long fulfillment period. In the calculations of the investment decision, the optimum calculation period is between 5-10 years. For the accuracy of the calculations, in that situation, for the last year of project period, a liquidation value will be considered. This rule is supported by the fact that later liquidity flows are hard to predict. all indirect effects linked to the project realization have to be considered. For example, if the project leads to the realization of a new product, or in services rendering that compete with other products or services in the company’s portfolio, it is imperatively necessary that the liquidity flow includes an estimation of these negative concurrent effects. In the circumstances in which the project has already incurred costs, that will not be recuperated, those costs will not be considered for the calculation of the liquidity flow; -it is necessary to include in the liquidity flow the whole cashing and expenditures linked to the firm changes, in the eventuality of the project realization. The above mentioned rules focuse on the obtaining of general rational decision, but in the analyzing process will consider the financial arguments. Thus, we will first examine for whose benefits the acceptance decision for the project will be taken. The realization of an investment project will modify the situation of the incoming financial resources of the company. The share holders will find that their wealth will be affected by the acceptance or

A two-stage dynamic model on allocation of construction facilities with genetic algorithm

By their very nature, activities within the construction site are generally highly dynamic and complex. Hence, it is highly desirable to be able to formulate the optimal strategy for allocating site-level facilities at different times of the project. The principal objective is to minimize the total cost, which comprises the transportation, handling, capital, and operating costs at potential intermediate transfer centers of various plant and material resources over the entire project duration. The problem can be formulated as a mixed integer program, which entails enormous computational effort for the solution, in particular when the problem size is large. In this paper, a two-stage dynamic model is developed to assist construction planners to formulate the optimal strategy for establishing potential intermediate transfer centers for site-level facilities such as batch plants, lay-down yards, receiving warehouses, various workshops, etc. Under this approach, the solution of the problem is split into two stages, namely, a lower-level stage and an upper-level stage. The former can be solved by a standard linear programming method, whereas the latter is solved by a genetic algorithm. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through case examples.

A two-stage dynamic model on allocation of construction facilities with genetic algorithm

By their very nature, activities within the construction site are generally highly dynamic and complex. Hence, it is highly desirable to be able to formulate the optimal strategy for allocating site-level facilities at different times of the project. The principal objective is to minimize the total cost, which comprises the transportation, handling, capital, and operating costs at potential intermediate transfer centers of various plant and material resources over the entire project duration. The problem can be formulated as a mixed integer program, which entails enormous computational effort for the solution, in particular when the problem size is large. In this paper, a two-stage dynamic model is developed to assist construction planners to formulate the optimal strategy for establishing potential intermediate transfer centers for site-level facilities such as batch plants, lay-down yards, receiving warehouses, various workshops, etc. Under this approach, the solution of the problem is split into two stages, namely, a lower-level stage and an upper-level stage. The former can be solved by a standard linear programming method, whereas the latter is solved by a genetic algorithm. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through case examples.

Risk Management: Illustrated Contribution of Insurers and Reinsurers

The role of risk management in complex infrastructure projects from the reinsurer’s standpoint was examined, along with the risk assessment and rating techniques for various engineering disciplines. Risk management includes the implementation of project-specific management and monitoring techniques and contingency planning throughout the entire project duration. Machines, equipment, and building technology undergo rapid development. Insurance plays a vital part in supporting innovation, but an appropriate balance must be attained between retained entrepreneurial risk and transferred trade risk.

Dynamic Layout Planning Using a Hybrid Incremental Solution Method

Efficiently using site space to accommodate resources throughout the duration of a construction project is a critical problem. It is termed the “dynamic layout planning” problem. Solving it involves creating a sequence of layouts that span the entire project duration, given resources, the timing of their presence on site, their changing demand for space over time, constraints on their location, and costs for their relocation. A dynamic layout construction procedure is presented here. Construction resources, represented as rectangles, are subjected to two-dimensional geometric constraints on relative locations. The objective is to allow site space to all resources so that no spatial conflicts arise, while keeping distance-based adjacency and relocation costs minimal. The solution is constructed stepwise for consecutive time frames. For each resource, selected heuristically one at a time, constraint satisfaction is used to compute sets of feasible positions. Subsequently, a linear program is solved to find the optimal position for each resource so as to minimize all costs. The resulting sequence of layouts is suboptimal in terms of the stated global objective, but the algorithm helps the layout planner explore better alternative solutions.

COMSARS: a computer-sequencing approach to multiresource-constrained scheduling: Part 1: Deterministic networks

The paper presents a new methodology, comsars, which has been developed in response to the problems associated with the planning and scheduling of projects where the availability of a multiplicity of resources is constrained. The methodology is such that an assignment is made by selecting at random from the list of activities that could be scheduled at any point in time. During the iterative process, successive improvements of the project completion time are achieved through the ability to deploy resources as soon as they are available. Thus, comsars attempts to produce schedules that minimize the total project-completion time while minimizing the financial costs of resources. In the first part of a two-part paper, the methodology is designed around the framework of deterministic (activity-on-arc) networks; a second paper will integrate the methodology within the framework of stochastic network modelling. The methodology is applied in a case study involving the construction of a bunker project, where the 36 activities involved utilize as many as six different resource types. The results obtained for the case study give a chronological listing of all the activities that start and finish at various identifiable milestones throughout the entire project duration. Further, comsars gives the resources-aggregation profiles corresponding to each of the project milestones enhanced in terms of their availabilities, requirements and actual utilization, as well as their levels of idleness. From such results, one can anticipate future resource demands, and make valuable judgments as to when scarce, expensive and limited resources will be hired or fired, thereby facilitating project-cost savings.