Life Cycle Model Research Articles

Media populism and the life-cycle of the Norwegian Progress Party

Abstract The paper examines the media attention given to the Norwegian Progress Party (FrP) during the parliamentary elections in which it participated between 1973 and 2017. Particular attention is paid to the ideas of media populism and the so-called life-cycle model that outlines the relationship between the different media types and a populist movement regarding its life span. Our data consist of media coverage of the parliamentary election campaigns in Norway in Verdens Gang’s (tabloid) and Aftenposten’s (legacy) newspapers between 1973 and 2017 in general (n=16,536) and the FrP’s media attention in these two major newspapers in particular (n=1,671). The research method employed was a quantitative content analysis. The media coverage of the FrP follows somewhat the life-cycle model, but the party’s internal development and status in the political field, immigration as an individual issue, and changes in political and the media environments seem more important factors for the media attention.

Validation of a Contrail Life-Cycle Model in Central Europe

In an industry beset by economic and environmental crises, air transport, the safest and most efficient long-haul mode of transport, is confronted daily with multi-criteria challenges to improve its environmental performance. The formation of contrails through the emission of water vapor and condensation nuclei in what are actually dry and clean atmospheric layers represents one of the most unpredictable, or measurable, environmental impacts of air traffic. Following the bottom-up principle to evaluate individual contrails in order to derive recommendations for trajectory optimization, not only the calculation of the radiative forcing of the contrails but also the modeling of their life cycle is burdened with uncertainties. In former studies for modeling the microphysical life cycle of contrails based on a 3-D Gaussian plume model, the atmospheric conditions, specifically the turbulence, were often unknown and had to be considered as a free input variable. In this study, an innovative photographic method for identifying and tracking contrails in Central Europe, connected with database access to Automatic Dependent Surveillance—Broadcast (ADS-B) data (i.e., aircraft type, speed, altitude, track, etc.), and a combination of measured and modeled weather data are used to validate the contrail life-cycle model (i.e., the assumed Gaussian plume behavior). We found that it is challenging to model the position of ice-supersaturated layers with global forecast models, but they have the most significant impact on the contrail lifetime. On average, the contrail’s lifespan could be modeled with an error margin of 10%. Sometimes, we slightly underestimated the lifetime. With the validated and plausible contrail life-cycle model, we can apply the climate effectiveness of individual contrails with higher certainty in trajectory optimization and compare it, for example, with economic aspects such as delay costs or fuel costs.

What are the main environmental impacts and products contributing to the biodiversity footprint of EU consumption? A comparison of life cycle impact assessment methods and models

PurposeRecent developments in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) target at better addressing biodiversity impacts, including the extended modeling of drivers of biodiversity loss. This led to the development of multiple LCIA methods addressing the area of protection of ecosystem quality (i.e, biodiversity loss) over time. This paper aims at systematically comparing available operational LCIA methods and models for assessing the main drivers of biodiversity impacts of EU consumption and unveiling similarities and differences among current methods.MethodsThis paper compares the biodiversity impacts of EU consumption by implementing eight LCIA methods and models: five full LCIA methods (namely, LC-IMPACT, Impact World + , Ecological Scarcity 2013, ReCiPe 2016, and Stepwise), a land-use intensity-specific LCIA model, and two approaches based on the GLOBIO model. The EU Consumption Footprint model is adopted as case study. The comparative analysis between the assessed methods aimed at identifying convergent and divergent results regarding the drivers of biodiversity impacts of EU consumption. The analysis focused on four different levels: impact category, representative product (modeled consumed products), inventory process, and elementary flow. The agreement among the methods in defining an element as relevant was evaluated. Finally, gaps among methods were assessed in terms of coverage of impact categories and elementary flows.Results and discussionThe analysis unveiled that there is a certain level of agreement among available LCIA methods and models regarding the most contributing impact categories and products to the overall biodiversity footprint due to EU consumption. Land use, climate change, and ecotoxicity had a major contribution to overall impacts, thereby highlighting their role as drivers of biodiversity loss. Biodiversity impacts were due to a limited number of consumed products, where food (meat), mobility, and household goods were identified as top contributors. Most contributing inventory processes and elementary flows were associated to most contributing representative products (e.g, animal feed). The relevance and presence of elementary flows in LCIA methods and models were heterogeneous for most of the impact categories.ConclusionsThe results of this study highlight the importance of impact category coverage in the assessment of biodiversity impacts. Limited coverage of impact categories (e.g, methods limited to assess land use) might underestimate the impacts of other drivers of biodiversity loss, especially climate change and ecotoxicity. Further efforts are required to assess the effects of spatial regionalization and the inclusion of missing drivers, recently developed in LCIA.

Time-dependent reliability analysis of reinforced concrete beams considering marine environmental actions

Under marine atmospheric environments, reinforced concrete (RC) structures may suffer from structural deterioration induced by environmental actions, affecting structural performance and safety. Thus, it is essential to evaluate and predict the deterioration process of an RC structure subject to environmental actions. This paper proposes a novel and generic computational framework to assess the time-dependent reliability of an RC beam under environmental actions. This framework includes a comprehensive life-cycle performance assessment model that considers climate change, two-dimensional chloride transport, the coupling effects and corrosion non-uniformity of reinforcement, and the nonlinear behavior of RC beams, which is validated by experimental studies. Additionally, performance functions for an RC beam are established for different failure modes, and their time-dependent probabilistic information and reliability index are captured using the probability density function-informed method (PDFM). To demonstrate the computational processes of the developed framework under practical marine atmospheric conditions, illustrative cases are presented. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are validated by traditional Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). Results indicate that the proposed method is feasible and efficient, aiding the life-cycle design and maintenance of RC structures.

A LIFE-CYCLE INTERGENERATIONAL MODEL CONSIDERING SOCIAL SECURITY

The central objective of this paper is to deliver an intergenerational Life Cycle model considering the retirement process based on the pay-as-you-go system (PAYG). Our model is inspired by Baranzinis’ approach, where the optimal consumption analysis is made in a two-class type and restricted by the capital variation of each one. Our main results observe the equilibrium solution of the consumption and capital stock to both classes and conclude that the PAYG system does interfere with the results, as well as the time preference to leave or not inheritance. The methodology approached here is the Pontryagins’ Maximum Principle. We also applied a numerical simulation to ensure the robustness of our approach.

Beyond fitness: The nature of selection acting through the constructive steps of lifecycles.

We address the problem of defining selection and extracting the adaptive part of evolutionary change, originally formalized by Fisher and Price. Conventionally selection and adaptation are defined through fitness attributed to genes or genotypes chosen as units of selection. The construction through fitness is known to suffer ambiguities and omissions as a theory of change due to selection. We construct an alternative framing in which units of selection and fitness are replaced as the main abstractions by formal lifecycle models and reproduction rates through genetically distinct lifecycle realizations. Graphical representations of lifecycles express relations among reproductive stages that cannot be assigned to any one unit of selection. The lifecycle partition refines the statistics of overall reproductive success and resolves modes of selection that fitness either excludes or distorts through additive projections. We derive the Price equation in the basis of lifecycle realizations and compare it to the conventional Price equation for additive fitness of organisms. We show how the lifecycle approach recovers fitnesses acting concurrently at multiple levels, or contrasts forms of competition within and between levels that are invisible to additive fitness. Defining selection through lifecycles recasts population genetics from an object-focused to a construction- and process-focused representation.

Digital twin based lifecycle modeling and state evaluation of cable-stayed bridges

Digital twin based lifecycle modeling and state evaluation of cable-stayed bridges

Life cycle assessment of railway ties fabricated with ductile cementitious composites and carbonation curing

This paper evaluates the lifecycle economic and environmental benefits of implementing CO2 utilization and storage within advanced engineered cementitious composite (ECC) railway ties. Using CO2-treated ECC ties can yield lifecycle benefits primarily due to enhanced material properties – increased lifespan in this case – instead of due to the stored CO2 that would otherwise enter the atmosphere. Sequestration-based policies such as 45Q in the United States would therefore not incentivize deployment of ECC railway ties, despite their considerable CO2 avoidance opportunities. To reach these conclusions, cradle-to-grave lifecycle models were developed for ECC ties and conventional concrete ties and evaluated under 1000 possible use-phase scenarios. The models incorporated premature tie failures – consistent with real-world observations – that were used to study a wide range of non-linear impacts arising from the random nature of tie failures and replacements. The results show that past studies that neglected premature failure of ties may have underestimated lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of concrete rail ties by nearly three times. Overall, servicing a track with ECC ties instead of concrete ties can reduce the lifecycle costs and GHG emissions by 12% and 21% respectively, based on median values of 1000 model run results. The expected benefits would be larger for entities like Amtrak that plan to expand concrete tie infrastructure despite significant challenges with premature concrete tie failures. The results of this study suggest that the lifespan of ECC ties needs to be at least 25% longer than concrete ties to achieve net lifecycle benefits. The possibility of this should be tested and confirmed under real-world conditions.

МЕСТО ТЕСТИРОВАНИЯ В РАЗЛИЧНЫХ МОДЕЛЯХ РАЗРАБОТКИ ПРОГРАММНОГО ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ

The main models of the software development lifecycle are considered, as well as the place of testing in them

Supporting product lifecycle collaboration and knowledge-related evaluation: an active-passive collaboration mechanism and fuzzy evaluation method

Collaboration is essential to improve the efficiency of product research and development (R&D), shorten the R&D cycle, and reduce the R&D costs in complex product lifecycle model management (CPLMM). However, disorganized processes and the unreliability of the result evaluation remain enormous challenges for efficient collaboration. This article proposes an active-passive collaboration mechanism to enable a regulated collaboration system, which can direct the self-organized collaboration of stakeholders. C-D-Petri Net is presented for the formal collaboration process modeling. The result evaluation in active-passive collaboration involves multi-source knowledge across disciplines and phases. To address the unreliable collaboration evaluation (Co-evaluation) caused by insufficient evaluation knowledge and weak correlation between expertise and evaluation task, the collaborative fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (CFCE) model is established to support Co-evaluation actions, and its core improvement lies in the definition and introduction of collaboration volume. Finally, a simulated aircraft horizontal tail control system is regarded as an engineering application case to demonstrate and verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The S curve: A dynamic view of in ERP evaluation

Previous Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) evaluation methods using closed-form solutions have ignored the unique characteristics of ERP’s life cycle. We propose a lifecycle model based on simulation and stochastic processes to capture and evaluate ERP’s value, including additional key factors. Our results show that accounting for the life cycle, ERP value differs from traditional wisdom and supports decision making from various factors and scopes, considering ERP’s implementation’s unique characteristics.

Qualitative analysis of a tourism area life cycle model for interacting tourism destinations

An extension of the tourism area life cycle (TALC) model is proposed by considering two interacting tourism destinations. Three types of interaction dynamics are investigated: competition, mutualism (or cooperation) and predator–prey. Using dynamical systems theory, aqualitative analysis of the proposed model is performed and all possible tourist equilibria are identified. These three interaction dynamics are then discussed from the perspective of nation-branding and competitive identity in the context of the race for soft power, and further illustrated empirically with examples from Malaysia and the Middle East.

The Role of Sustainable Project Management in Facilities Management

Growth in facilities management (FM) and project management (PM) have been remarkable over the last decade. Simultaneously, the adoption of sustainability principles among organisations has also increased. The purpose of this study was to determine the connection between sustainability in PM and FM. Specifically, this research study aimed at understanding the common principles involved in both PM and FM that allowed sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be achieved by the United Nations in 2015 and to be an integral part of the European Green Deal in 2019. A systematic literature review of more than 200 different resource materials was performed, 55 of which were finally selected as falling under the scope of the study. The chosen literature was published between 2001 and 2020, except for the Brundtland Commission Report, which was published in 1987. Based on the collected material, a simplified facility lifecycle model was produced to illustrate the connection between sustainability in FM and PM. Developing this model will help practitioners and researchers incorporate PM as a function of FM, including the application of sustainable activities in different phases of a facility’s lifecycle.

CHANGING SECURITY WITH EVERY SPIRAL

The Microsoft SDL integrates security and privacy considerations at every stage of development, assisting programmers in creating highly secure software while also addressing security compliance needs and lowering development costs (“[1]”). The software model: Spiral is crucial to this lifecycle's perspective. Microsoft has proposed the Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (Microsoft SDL), a software development method based on the spiral model, to assist developers in producing software or applications while lowering security concerns, addressing security flaws, and even lowering development and maintenance costs. Training, requirements gathering, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and reviews are the seven phases that make up the process which is further explained in twelve different methodologies of the lifecycle model created by them. KEYWORDS: Microsoft, Software Engineering, Spiral Mode.

The role of digital technology in communication and information flow in the Australian Superannuation industry

Successful retirement planning critically depends on access to accurate and up-to-date information. In this paper, we focus on the Australian Superannuation industry to examine the influence of digital technology in facilitating communication and information flow among its various actors. Using a qualitative research methodology, we conducted 22 semi-structured interviews with various industry actors including Superfunds, fund members, consultants, IT and digital solutions providers, and representatives from industry regulators. Our findings highlight the need for these actors to enhance their resource and knowledge-sharing capabilities, consumer need recognition, and information flow to ultimately enable Superfund members to improve their retirement planning and financial well-being. JEL Classification: D14 Household Saving • Personal Finance, D15 Intertemporal Household Choice • Life Cycle Models and Saving, J26 Retirement • Retirement Policies and J32 Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits • Retirement Plans • Private Pensions

Онтология жизненного цикла разработки программного обеспечения

The article highlights the problem of presenting knowledge on the models of software life cycle, the importance of which can be explained by the rapid progress of software engineering methods, by the absence of a formally easily extensible knowledge model in this subject area, and by the fact that cycle time selection models and the proposed development methodology have a significant impact on the success of software projects. System analysis 
 of the main types of software development methodologies, life cycle models and their phases has been carried out. The results of studying the representation of software life cycle models in the form of ontologies are presented. The ontology “Software development life cycle” (SDLC) has been developed. It is designed to represent knowledge about various models of the software life cycle, phases (stages) of the life cycle inherent in different models, and the possibility of describing the recurrence of phases. The ontology allows describing models both within predictive development methodologies (waterfall, incremental) and within agile development methodologies (Scrum, Kanban). Classes, properties and axioms of the ontology are described, on the basis of which it is possible to produce a formal logical inference. The SDLC ontology is developed on top of the Semantic Web formats (in OWL language), published in the public domain and presents a developing, easily extensible project. This can probably be used in the field of software development for practical or research purposes. There is also introduced the idea of a software shell that uses the presented ontology, which will allow, according to the given parameters, to choose the most appropriate methodology for the project, which will simplify the development process, avoid errors and reduce development time.

Aggregate health shock and retirement decision

AbstractThe retirement of old workers increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and health concerns are considered to be a critical factor. To understand the effect of pure health concerns during the pandemic, we analyze the impact of the aggregate health shock on retirement decisions using a life cycle model. The aggregate health shock changes the economy from the normal state to the pandemic state, where the probability of adverse idiosyncratic health shock increases, especially if agents are working. Simulation results suggest that the shock accelerates the retirement of agents aged over 60. The increase in retirement is significant even though the shock is expected to be temporary. Also, the effect hinges on the assumption that working poses a greater risk of receiving a negative health shock than retiring. Even accounting for the large income and wealth changes that US households experienced in 2020, a counterfactual experiment suggests that the aggregate health shock plays a prominent role in increasing retirement.

A system dynamics-based life-cycle carbon footprint calculation model for integrated energy stations

In recent years, countries around the world have been placing increasing emphasis on energy saving and emission reduction. As part of the energy system, integrated energy stations play an important role in the low-carbon transition of the energy sector. However, most of the existing studies on carbon emissions from integrated energy stations focus on the operation phase or a single module within it and lack analysis and prediction of carbon emissions from all phases of the integrated energy station. In this paper, based on the perspective of life cycle assessment, system dynamics is used to establish a life cycle carbon emission model for integrated energy stations from four phases: production & materialization, construction, operation & maintenance, and disposal & recycling. This paper takes wind power integrated energy stations as an example, simulates the characteristics of the life cycle carbon emissions of integrated energy stations, and identifies the key factors affecting the carbon emissions. The simulation results show that the carbon emissions of the integrated energy station are mainly concentrated in the production and operation of the energy station, and the increase in the service life of the energy station will not have a significant impact on the total carbon emissions. This paper provides the theoretical guidance and decision-making basis for the formulation of low-carbon emission reduction measures for integrated energy stations.

Design and BIM-based technology on a new cross-sea bridge in Xiamen, China

The Xiamen Second East Cross-Sea Bridge in China is a continuous steel box-girder bridge completed in September 2022. Innovative design and construction technologies helped to improve design, delivery and long-term performance. Building information models were extended from design and construction process simulation to systems for safety, quality management, monitoring and maintenance. This paper describes how whole life-cycle digital modelling significantly improved project management, construction quality and overall costs.

Life cycle-oriented low-carbon product design based on the constraint satisfaction problem

The design and development of low-carbon products have become a recent global concern due to serious greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The design phase determines 70 % of the environmental performance of the product, which covers complex life cycle information and diversified constraints, resulting in low efficiency of life cycle modeling and difficulty in realizing design automation. Therefore, this study proposes a life cycle-oriented low-carbon design strategy based on the constraint satisfaction problem to express the association mechanism of life cycle information and constraints and efficiently generate the low-carbon design solution. Specifically, the hierarchical life cycle-oriented low-carbon design model is proposed to manage the associations of life cycle information in terms of function, structure, design feature, and machining feature. On the basis of the model, the constraint-based design space is constructed to explicitly express all the feasible design options and the constraints of the product, which can effectively support the automation of product design. Then, all design options and the constraints for product design are transformed into a constraint satisfaction problem, which can be optimized by the proposed hybrid optimizer algorithm. This algorithm supports the efficient optimization of complex products in large-scale design space, and the low-carbon design solution is effectively generated. An example of the low-carbon design of a wind turbine is given to demonstrate the capability of the suggested method, indicating that they have reduced the carbon emission of the wind turbine nearly by 19.82 % in comparison with the existing design solution, and the material acquisition and manufacturing stages generated the highest carbon emissions, accounting for 47.94 % and 56.42 %, respectively. This work effectively standardizes products’ life cycle design information and various design constraints and provides a targeted strategy for guiding designers to implement low-carbon design through the life cycle.