First-hand Investigation Research Articles

Comparative analysis of forestry systems in the United States and Turkey: Practices, technologies, and challenges

The current study provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of forestry systems in the United States (US) and Turkey, covering various aspects such as forest ownership, natural resources planning, fire management, technological applications, silviculture, forestry education and challenges faced by each country. The findings mainly stems from the author’s first-hand investigations, field observations, and experiences during a postdoctoral research period in the US from 2022 to 2024. Additionally, a variety of information sources, including US forest plans, publications from the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, relevant peer-reviewed literature, and open-source data, was used in the work employing the verbal analysis method. While certain similarities emerge, particularly in technology utilization and the historical development of forestry education, significant disparities are evident in fire management strategies, land ownership structure, silvicultural practices, and forest planning approaches between the countries. These differences can be attributed to unique environmental and historical conditions, varying economic development levels, and distinct regulatory legislations. The outcomes of this study suggest that there are valuable forestry practices that each country can learn or adopt from the other, emphasizing the potential for mutual exchange and improvement in natural resources management practices.

Building Information Modelling Implementation in the Design Stage of Chinese Prefabrication Construction

Prefabrication construction has gained popularity in the construction industry during the last few years. Due to the complexity of prefabrication design, building information modelling (BIM) is adopted in the design stage to improve efficiency and accuracy. Many previous studies have examined the adoption of BIM in the design stage and explored the current practice of BIM adoption in prefabrication construction, however fewer first-hand investigations are made on assessing the adoption of BIM. This study aims to identify the opportunities and challenges of utilizing BIM technology in the design stage of prefabrication construction from the perspective of designers. A semi-structured interview was conducted for qualitative data collection and the data are analysed by thematic analysis. A total of eight designers from Chinese prefabrication construction projects were interviewed. The research identified 8 opportunities and 15 challenges of BIM adoption in prefabrication construction. The top four challenges are: (1) inaccurate prefabrication production drawings generated by BIM software, (2) late adoption of BIM in the design stage, (3) lack of communication platform for different designers, and (4) lack of sharing the updated design model among designers, manufacturers, and onsite engineers. These findings provide directions for improving BIM adoption in the design of prefabrication construction.

Modeling and Simulation of Consumer Preference Decision for Commercial Complex Location Based on System Dynamics

The influencing factors of consumer shopping behavior play a key role in the later performance of commercial real estate enterprises. On the basis of analyzing the influence factors of customer patronage and the influence factors of commercial complex site selection decision and their relationship, a causal relationship graph and a system dynamic model are established, which can describe the influence of customer preference on commercial complex site selection decision. And introducing customer subjective factors optimize the original pure objective factors site selection decision model. The model is implemented by using the system dynamics modeling tool Vensim. At the same time, the model is verified by using the data of the first-hand investigation. The results show that the calculated data of the model is in good agreement with the actual data. The results show that the system dynamics method can effectively simulate the influence of various factors on the decision-making of the commercial complex. As the forecast of the model, the key indexes of the decision-making of the city commercial complex are discussed, and the measures to be taken are put forward, which can provide reference for the decision-making of the location.

How Capability Reconfiguration in Coping With External Dynamism Can Shape the Performance of the Vietnamese Enterprises

The purpose of this study is to examine the direct and moderating effects of internal endowment and external dynamism on capability reconfiguration, which in turn has a positive impact on a firm’s post-reconfiguration performance. A researcher-designed survey questionnaire was developed based on multiple works and subsequently administered with a final sample of 266 Vietnamese small and medium enterprises engaged in manufacturing industries. As a result, we find that internal endowment and external dynamism positively impact a firm’s capability reconfiguration and post-reconfiguration performance consequently. This empirical research provides four major contributions that supplement the extant literature. First, the internal endowment sponsored by resource abundance and absorptive capacity enables both a firm’s capability evolution and capability substitution. Second, the external dynamism in terms of market turbulence, technology turbulence, and competitive intensity directly affects the enterprise’s capability reconfiguration and positively moderates the relationship between internal endowment and capability reconfiguration. Third, this study demonstrates that the firm’s engagement on capability reconfiguration once in line with external and internal factors can help maintain its post-reconfiguration performance. Finally, the primary data collected in Vietnam offers a firsthand investigation of the catching-up economy to be compared with the research findings available in developed countries.

The Dispossessed of Necropolitics on the San Diego-Tijuana Border

This article presents results of a first-hand investigation that took a year of ethnographic work (methods of observation and interviews) during 2016–2017, with the post-structural theoretical framework of Gilles Deleuze, on the United States–Mexico border, in the San Diego-Tijuana corridor. The Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies of the University of California San Diego, PREVENCASA A. C., and Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosi supported this research. In this research, statistical data, observations, and synthesis of in-depth interviews were utilized about those defined as the ‘dispossessed’: users of hard drugs, and/or in homelessness conditions of discrimination in a highly contrasting border such as that of the United States and Mexico. Among the main results are the relations between mental and embodiment limits, necropolitics and territory, as well as the approach of post-structural political discourses about the body and mind that allow us to understand the subjectivities in question, proposing two types of homelessness.

A full moon in another land: The Moon Bridge in the Japanese garden of the Huntington Library

In 1913, a so-called Moon Bridge was built in the Japanese garden of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, USA as a fruit of the Japonism in the Western world at that time. The master carpenter was Toichiro Kawai, a Japanese immigrant from Yokohama who was originally a ship carpenter.The bridge is made of wood and shaped in the exaggerated arch form, which classifies the bridge as a “drum bridge” (Taiko-bashi) in Japanese culture. However, the unique structural form of this bridge, the “woven arch,” is rare in building history.This paper aims to explore why and how such a bridge appeared in such a place and time. For this purpose, we go from the historical background to its construction history, from the concept of the designer to the detailed design methods. Data come partly from the author's first-hand investigation and the limited local archive. The most interesting discoveries were made during the detailed on-site investigation, including the fact that the bridge is designed to express the metaphor of “perfection” (full moon) through its geometrical features, and the design is based according to traditional Japanese methods.

ITS-Frame: A Framework for Multi-Aspect Analysis in the Field of Intelligent Transportation Systems

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) have been developed rapidly over the last few decades because of global urbanization and industrialization. ITS involve a wide range of different technologies and applications such as automatic road enforcement, dynamic traffic light sequence, and as a result, a significant number of scientific papers have been published in the field of ITS. In this paper, we present a useful insight into the development of ITS area by systematically analyzing the publications over the period of 20 years. First, we identify the most cited papers and most impactful authors in the field. Second, in the aspect of topic analysis, we identify some active keywords. To do so, we develop a keyword co-occurrence network to find topics in the ITS field. Finally, for the collaboration pattern analysis, we construct two networks to interpret collaboration patterns, including a co-authorship network, and an author co-keyword network to show the development and research tendency of ITS. Some most interesting findings from our investigation include the following: 1) Besides the USA, China and Europe have begun to play an increasingly significant role in this field and 2) GPS , traffic control , and road safety show an upward trend from the analysis of the evolution of ITS research topics, given the rise of new research areas such as autonomous vehicles. Our first-hand investigation and analysis of the literature provides a valuable reference to research activities in the development of ITS field and presents worthy insights on the current status and future technical trends.

Cinematography and filmmaking research

This paper offers an overview of a recent practice-led doctoral enquiry which examined lighting techniques used by cinematographers and more widely amongst practitioners working with moving imagery. This research was completed in the Digital Cultures Research Centre at UWE Bristol and funded by the AHRC 3d3 Centre for Doctoral Training. The paper specifically reflects on three strands of enquiry which existed in dialogue with one another, showing how the mutual interaction and reinforcement between scholarly activity, collaborative film production and independent creative experimentation were fundamental to the approach and direction of the research. Amongst a wider contribution, this doctoral research can be seen as methodologically innovative, providing a more detailed first-hand investigation into lighting processes than is currently available by using autoethnographic methods to capture practical knowledge that is deployed in situ during moving image production. The paper discusses this novel use of autoethnography within practice-research and also explains how the resulting evidence was incorporated in the thesis through a layered approach to writing.

Direct Current Arc Investigations in Liquid Nitrogen Using Asymmetrical Electrodes

Liquid nitrogen (LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ) is one of the most effective insulation medium for the realization of a new and environment friendly power switchgear system. This novel power switchgear will be a promising alternative to the gas insulated switchgear system. Preliminary study about arc phenomenon is very important for the future design of this novel approach. The fundamental research on high-density arcs was demonstrated using LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> for the very first time and some important first-hand investigations were previously observed. These investigations were based on electrodes that were geometrically symmetrical. The thorough study of arc behavior in LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> , also demands the asymmetrical analysis be done in the same manner. These new results would further enrich our understanding of arcs in LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> and would be helpful for the future design of liquid nitrogen insulated metal enclosed switchgear (LNIS). The objective of this research is to study the arcing behavior in LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> using asymmetrical electrodes. The research investigates the arcing times, arc energies, LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> consumption rates, temperature difference after arc occurrence, and surface erosion of the electrodes due to arcing. Experiments were done at four different dc voltage levels (i.e., 200-500, with a 100 V step) and arcs were intentionally created on asymmetrical electrodes with different electrode arrangements and materials, respectively. The geometrical arrangements for the experiments are sphere-plane and rod-plane, whereas the electrode materials are aluminum alloy (Al6061), pure copper (Cu), and stainless used steel (SUS) type, respectively. Arcing times, residual voltages, arc voltages, and arc currents were measured using different apparatuses. The results are quite in agreement with the previous investigations done by the first author. LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> has the shortest arcing time in comparison to air insulation and sphere-plane quenches arcs quicker than rod-plane type electrodes in most of the cases. It was also observed that LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> consumption due to arcing is quite lower even at heavy interrupting currents and overall difference in temperature due to arcing is approximately zero when the volume of LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> is more than 100 L.

Dynamic Control of Resource Logistics Quality to Eliminate Process Waste in Rebar Placement Work

Output-oriented resource control in the traditional planning methods is still prevalent in construction industry. It frequently causes unpredictable wastes leading to deterioration of the sequenced supply chains. On the other hand, the use of feed-forward control offers the opportunity for prevention by ensuring the high quality of necessary process resources. This paper, in turn, presents a dynamic control approach that highlights the effectiveness of feed-forward control on minimising process wastes. The field experiment in this paper presents the rebar supply and placement on an actual construction site. It aims to measure the responsiveness of pre-controlled resources to ever-changing process performance. Collected data during this field study provided the basic data for establishing statistical relationships between resource logistics quality and process performance. The research experiments found out two of the critical resource logistics: (1) Available number of workers; and (2) Distance between resource and final place. Finally the proactive control on these entities resulted in a dramatic reduction of process waste, leading to the improvement of productive work rate (31.0 to 53.3%). The main contribution of the research lies on the first-hand investigation from a very probable situation, which would benefit practical engineers and construction managers.

A study on health care consumers’ diabetes term usage across identified categories

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate health care consumers’ diabetes term usage patterns based on Yahoo!Answers social question and answers (Q&amp;A) forum, identified characteristics and relationships among terms within three pairs of related categories identified from the Q&amp;A log, and revealed users’ diabetes term usage patterns.Design/methodology/approach– The Q&amp;A analysis method allowed first-hand investigation of massive data from health care consumers. Visual term clustering analysis across categories was conducted using a multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) visualization method which provides an intuitive and interactive way to explore and discover term association patterns in a visual environment. Closely related categories were identified and corresponding visual term clustering analyses between categories (Sign &amp; Symptom and Organ &amp; Body Part; Diagnosis and Test; and Diagnosis and Medication) as well at the term level were analyzed.Findings– The findings show that there are close relationships between terms in two related categories. Related terms were grouped and patterns were revealed. All the stress values of the MDS analyses fall below 0.10 and RSQ for each of the combined categories is over 0.90 which indicate the investigated terms were well clustered in the visual analyses.Originality/value– The study provides a unique research methodology for similar consumer health research studies. The results of this study offer insight into consumer health term use behavior, and enrich existing thesauri and subject heading lists, enhance diabetes-related web sites or portals, and improve effectiveness of internal search engines.

The impact of an integrated approach to science and literacy in elementary school classrooms

AbstractThis study investigates the efficacy of an integrated science and literacy approach at the upper‐elementary level. Teachers in 94 fourth grade classrooms in one Southern state participated. Half of the teachers taught the treatment unit, an integrated science–literacy unit on light and energy designed using a curriculum model that engages students in reading text, writing notes and reports, conducting firsthand investigations, and frequent discussion of key concepts and processes to acquire inquiry skills and knowledge about science concepts, while the other half of the teachers taught a content‐comparable science‐only unit on light and energy (using materials provided by their districts) and provided their regular literacy instruction. Students in the treatment group made significantly greater gains on measures of science understanding, science vocabulary, and science writing. Students in both groups made comparable gains in science reading comprehension. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 631–658, 2012

Scope and Potentiality of 'Sarma’s Unified Script' (SUS) In Modernizing Languages

“SUS” stands for Sarma’s Unified Script. It is the latest Unified Script invented and published in November, 2009. Alike earlier unified scripts this one also claims to be capable of writing all the languages of the world. None of the unified scripts invented prior to the invention of “SUS” could satisfy the purpose. We would have to wait for a few years to see if “SUS” can really “write all languages of the world”. However, from the firsthand investigation it may be seen that “SUS” has made use of principles and systems which were never by the inventors of the unified scripts. Also its scripts are so simple that the new learners may need 1/4th or less time to learn those. Men’s profound love is generally associated with their mother tongue or language. Whatever difficult or bad-sounding their mother-tongues might be, they cannot tolerate its alteration. In East Pakistan in 1952, the common people even sacrificed their lives for the cause of their mother tongue, Bengali. Same however, is not the case with the scripts, with are used merely for writing the language. In any language the scripts act like carry-bags and serve the purpose of transportation. So, it is easily possible to replace one type of script by another, so long the new script does not change the verbal language including sound and general character of the language. In fact many prominent languages of this world have changed their scripts for genuine reasons. In order to learn a language, the children need lot of time, stationary and energy. The more complicated are the scripts the more will be the investment. On the other hand, the investment will be less for less complex scripts. In such a reality shifting from the complex to the simple one may result in tremendous saving. A person proficient in writing in one language needs to learn another new set of scripts in order to learn a second language. This problem would cease to exist if there exists an easy and generally acceptable set of scripts capable of writing all languages. From time immemorial, “Unified Script” i.e. the script capable of writing all the languages is the dream of the experts. Kublai Khan, the king of Tibet initiated one such endeavor in 1260 A.D. The Lama who was assigned this task invented the script “Phags Pa” first time in 1269. Vitaly Vetash, an artist and a linguist from Russia worked for 22 years from 1977 to 1999 and invented Interbet. It is now known to all that none of these inventions could in fact satisfy the multifarious needs of various languages. In November 17, 2009 two persons (Bijon B. Sarma and Mira Sarma Parai) invented “SUS” (Sarma’s Unified Script) and published the principles in a book (Ref. 01). Time is still immature to comment if or how far this Unified Script would be able to meet the writing needs and expectations of various languages. However, in view of the fact that SUS, the latest unified script utilized some unique and novel principles, there are reasons to believe that it would be able to meet the needs of all languages. In the above mentioned book the authors have merely explained the basic principle of “writing all languages of the world by using a single set of self-generating scripts”. It means, if various languages intend to accept it as their writing media, then they would have to make manipulations, modifications etc. in order to meet their specialized needs and characters.

Factors in reliable treatment plant operation for the production of safe water

This contribution to the International Congress on Production of Safe Water, Izmir, Turkey, 20-24 January, 2009, relates to general aspects of a water supply undertaking rather than to particular technologies or chemistries for water treatment. The paper offers a "creative problem solving" approach following Fogler and LeBlanc (Strategies for creative problem solving. Prentice Hall, NJ, 1995) as a model for generating sustainable solutions when water quality and safety problems arise. Such a structured approach presents a systematic methodology that can promote communication and goal-sharing across the inter-related, but often isolated and dispersed, functions of water scientists and researchers, engineers, operations managers, government departments and communities. A problem-solving strategy, or "heuristic", invokes five main steps (define; generate; decide; implement; evaluate). Associated with each step are various creative and enabling techniques, many of which are quite familiar to us in one form or another, but which we can use more effectively in combination and through our increased awareness and practice. For example, taking a fresh view of a problem can be promoted by a variety of "lateral thinking" tools. First-hand investigation of a problem can trigger new thinking about the real problem and its origins. A good strategy implementation will always address each and every step (though not necessarily every possible technique) and will use them at various stages in the search for and implementation of solutions. The creative nature of our experience with a problem-solving heuristic develops our facility to cope better with complex formal situations, as well as with less formal or everyday problem situations. A few anecdotes are presented that illustrate some of the author's experiences relating to factors involved in safe water supply. Here, the term "factors" may signify people and organisations as agents, as well as meaning those aspects of a problem situation that need to be taken into account.

‘War on Terror’: the African Front

The establishment of the US Joint Task Force for the Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti at the end of 2002 heralded a strong intention that international terrorists would be sought in the east of the African continent. This paper has as its central focus first-hand investigation work carried out in Kenya in the aftermath of the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia at the end of 2006. It seeks to address the way in which the various countries in the Horn of Africa operated with one another in order to carry out a process of secret detention and rendition in a bid to keep suspects beyond the law. This paper examines the way in which men, women, and children were detained, questioned, and transferred to other countries with the complicity of various African states and the acquiescence and help of Western allies. Many of the processes that were implemented derived from measures already seen elsewhere in the world, including the use of detention without charge or access to legal recourse, the use of chicken wire fencing to house detainees as in Guantanamo Bay, and the application of the legal innovation ‘enemy combatant’ to those rendered. This paper shows that the conduct and practices of the United States in the War on Terror have been extended to the treatment of detainees in the Horn of Africa.

Lg Attenuation near the North Korean Border with China, Part I: Model Development from Regional Earthquake Sources

We have collected broadband data from three seismic networks—two portable and one permanent—in a remote part of northeast China bordering North Korea. The combined network coverage allows first-hand investigations of seismic- wave propagation in a region of import for nuclear test ban monitoring research. Application of the reversed two-station method to the newly acquired data has pro- duced stable measurements of the quality factor Q ( Q0f η ) for Lg waves. The re- sults, a weighted regional average over 23 interstation paths involving 51 events and 21 stations, point to 1 Hz Q (or Q0) of 345 and η of 0.38 in a jarring incongruity with what appears to be a popular perception of the region as being of very low attenuation for Lg waves. The results also show that Lg Q varies from one interstation path to another. The highest Lg-wave attenuation (110 <Q 0 < 140) is found along intersta- tion paths that crossed two recently active volcanoes (Huangyishan and Chang- baishan). The subregion exhibiting the next highest Lg attenuation is Bohai, an extensional basin known to feature above-average heat flow.

Towards a new transatlantic zone

Transatlantic learning is something I always want to do. In order to know more about what transatlantic learning is and what the benefits are, the author conducted a first-hand investigation, the overall aim of which was to increase knowledge of the area. In addition, the author aims to apply the knowledge gained to current practice.

Ethical ethnography as an appropriate research methodology for ANT

The use of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a useful lens in helping to uncover complex issues in healthcare settings is only recently being discussed (Wickramasinghe et al., 2007a c). However to date, these studies are mute on a suitable research methodology. Researchers entering healthcare environments are often faced with unfamiliar work patterns and may lack knowledge of the industry within which they are working. Physical immersion into the healthcare environment under investigation can be beneficial as this objective standpoint allows the researcher the opportunity to experience the dynamic feel of the situation, improving observational skills, providing valuable insights into the operations of the organisation under investigation and contributing rich and pertinent data to an academic setting. Ethnography is a research methodology well suited to such first-hand investigation. This paper will focus on ethnographic immersion and its importance to facilitating the use of ANT as a useful lens for analysis.

Did the Nissan Revival Plan lead to the break-up of the keiretsu system?

Although the keiretsu system has received much attention as a source of Japanese industrial competitiveness, Carlos Ghosn, at the time of the announcement of the Nissan Revival Plan (NRP), emphasised that in the case of Nissan, the keiretsu system had not functioned well. This paper examines the changes in Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)-supplier relationships in the Japanese automotive industry after the NRP implementation, mainly focusing on the movement of Nissan and its keiretsu suppliers. It illustrates the realities of such changes and their effects on each supplier using the data collected not only from the available literature, but also from first-hand case investigations. In addition, it focuses on the production side of the reformation in Nissan and the involvements of parts suppliers. In conclusion, this paper suggests that the importance of keiretsu in the functional aspects of Japanese OEM-supplier relationships has continued or even increased after the NRP implementation.

Where have all the consonantal phonemes of Akan gone

Schachter & Fromkin’s (1968) stated in the preface that This is a preliminary report on research that we have conducted over the past few years, under U.S. Office of Education Contract OE-6-14-028, into the phonology of the major Akan dialects of Ghana: Akuapem, Asante and Fante. No one realizes better than we how that “preliminary” a report this is, but we hope that, by issuing it in its present form, we can elicit comments from interested scholars that will assist us in preparing a contemplated revision of the report. We recognize, in particular, that our first-hand investigation of the Fante dialect has been far from thorough, and expect that more errors will be found in our analysis of this dialect than in our analyses of the other dialects with which we have been concerned.