Project Life Research Articles

Dynamic Data Visualizations to Enhance Insight and Communication Across the Life Cycle of a Scientific Project

In scientific communication, figures are typically rendered as static displays. This often prevents active exploration of the underlying data, for example, to gauge the influence of particular data points or of particular analytic choices. Yet modern data-visualization tools, from animated plots to interactive notebooks and reactive web applications, allow psychologists to share and present their findings in dynamic and transparent ways. In this tutorial, we present a number of recent developments to build interactivity and animations into scientific communication and publications using examples and illustrations in the R language (basic knowledge of R is assumed). In particular, we discuss when and how to build dynamic figures, with step-by-step reproducible code that can easily be extended to the reader’s own projects. We illustrate how interactivity and animations can facilitate insight and communication across a project life cycle—from initial exchanges and discussions in a team to peer review and final publication—and provide a number of recommendations to use dynamic visualizations effectively. We close with a reflection on how the scientific-publishing model is currently evolving and consider the challenges and opportunities this shift might bring for data visualization.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) Application as Risk Mitigation Strategies in Building Refurbishment Project Life Cycle

Towards the implementation of inclusive sustainable cities development as one of the Sustainable Development Goals, the imbalance ratio of existing buildings to new construction became overwhelming challenges. Therefore, refurbishment of existing buildings is considered the possible solution to minimizes the environmental impact and upgrading the performance of an existing building to meet new requirements. However, building refurbishment is well-known as a project that comprehends riskier compared to new building projects which lead to limited applicability in current risk management implementation. Thus, in line with an era of digitization construction of the fourth industrial revolution (IR 4.0), the traditional risk management needs improvement from a manual basis to magnifying efficiency using integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) application. BIM is defined as an advanced technology that assists construction players to produce, communicate, and analyse building models by providing visual tools and a set of data. Therefore, the objective of this research is to identify the potential building refurbishment risk categories and to determine the most critical project lifecycle phase in implementing the BIM applications in order to mitigate the potential building refurbishment project risk. Also, to discover the relationship strength between these two variables. The quantitative method is applied by using a questionnaire form to the certified BIM experts. This research contributes a solid understanding and useful guideline for future practice reference and improvement within the Building Refurbishment Project.

Small satellite Extracurricular projects – Implementing a context‐driven SysEng engine for improved adaptability and student agency

AbstractUniversity student projects usually attempt to follow, and often fail to follow, industry frameworks and standards to ensure the success of their development effort. The typical student satellite project follows ESA ECSS or NASA project frameworks, prescribing document artefacts, project reviews, the project life cycle, and typical project processes. In the case of Orbit NTNU, this was done without understanding the underlying dependencies and supporting connections between artefacts, design steps, and project phases. This paper presents a framework for increased understanding of the purpose of common design artefacts and their interdependencies by applying model‐centric system thinking and systemigrams as a tool for highlighting relationships and dependencies within the SysEng discipline, thus enabling the students to complete well‐informed and planned design iterations that build a solid and coherent system understanding throughout the project lifecycle. The method is built to be adapted to the needs of the project team and can readily be used by 1st year university students with one semester of SysEng experience.

The creation of oneself in free time: educating for leisure

The building of itself is an act moved from the hopes and dreams of becoming. Dreams project a future that can be, and hope is the force required to achieve them. The life project is an exercise in awareness that begins with imagining what you want to be and be aware of the relationship with the world. Leisure is lived from internal motivations and is auto-condicionated to seek the opportunities realization of dreams. Education for Leisure must recover the ideals of life, learning to live the leisure, and spark the imagination for the realization of dreams. This paper presents the research results on what you want to be and how to realize them in their free time; this is a descriptive case study investigation with the phenomenological method.

Понимание идентичности в контексте культурно-исторической психологии

In the context of cultural historical psychology, it is proposed to view identity as an explication of a life project. A synergetic methodology is used, within which development is considered not only as a process determined by heredity and environment (internal and external), but also as a process of self-organization, leading to selfconstruction of the subject. In a constantly changing world, understanding identity as a stable structure of the subject’s representations, reflecting one’s actual state, is replaced by understanding the fundamental incompleteness of the “auto-project” text narrated by the subject of life, which implies the analysis of the (re)constructed author of this project. As it turned out, the growth of the complicated subject’s thinking leads to the organizational complication of the “auto-project” text. Three types of identity texts have been distinguished (personal, social, predictive), which differ by the methods of identity description. Personal identity is a collection of the descriptive characteristics of a subject. Social identity means the (re)construction of social space and the choice of social roles. The predictive identity as a representation of future vital roles provides an opportunity for the subject to plan the achievement of potential life goals. The expanded understanding of identity functions is revealed: starting as the knowledge about the self and the regulator of behavior in a social context, it becomes the instrument of self-organization, which allows making some adjustments into the life project of the subject. The depth of social identity (autonomous personality, representative of a group, citizen of society) will determine the scale of life tasks available to the subject. It is shown that as a result of the processes of circular causality, the increase in the complexity of thinking leads to the complication of the organization of any identity, which, being a tool for a self-development, provides some opportunities for the deployment of the existing human potential.

UNLOCKING PRIVATE INVESTMENT BY EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF EXISTING TOLL ROAD PPPs AGREEMENTS

Abstract - The inability of governments in many developing countries to provide basic infrastructure has encouraged the adoption of Public Private Partnership (PPP) schemes. However, many developing countries fail to attract sufficient private investment from the PPP market. This paper develops alternative schemes that can minimize the funding gap and promote sustainable infrastructure investment through modified PPP agreements at later stages of the project life cycle by making special tariff adjustments on existing toll roads. To answer research questions, both conceptual model development and empirical analysis are utilized. The study collects both quantitative and qualitative data for analysis and interpretatio. The results indicate that expanding the scope of existing PPP agreements increases the net present value as it allows for larger cash inflows at the start, leading to a faster payback period. Additionally, this scheme reduces the need for cash deficiency support during the initial period of operation. The alternative schemes encourage lower support for government subsidies, offer a reasonable tariff for users, and provide an attractive investment return for private interests.
 Keywords: Public Private Partnership; Concession Agreement; Toll Road; Sustainable Investment, Funding Gap

Evaluasi Kapabilitas Sistem Informasi Pasien ICU dan HCU Menggunakan COBIT 5 dengan Domain BAI

The hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and High Care Unit (HCU) systems are very important systems and are always used, so it is necessary to know the extent of their performance. Thus, the study aims to provide reference for xyz hospital regarding the condition (performance) of the current ICU and HCU patient systems. COBIT 5 is an information system capability evaluation framework with the build, acquire and implement (BAI) domain. Domain BAI focuses on developing, acquiring, and implementing information systems, applications, and services. It covers the entire IT project life cycle, starting with the planning and requirements gathering phases and continuing through the design, development, testing, and deployment phases. This study also uses qualitative approach with literature studies and quantitative approach for data analysis to measure capability level. Research respondents were heads and staff from the IT, ICU, and HCU divisions. The results of this study describe the level of capability achieved by hospitals in the BAI Domain, with an average score of 3.30 at the established level. This level illustrates that the application of information technology can achieve process results that are in accordance with the wishes of raft xyz management. This stage also illustrates that the xyz hospital has an information technology process that has been standardized thoroughly to achieve all processes. The results of this evaluation can also be guideline for the xyz raft house to make improvements and improve the performance of the ICU and HCU patient systems in meeting the needs of intensively treated patients.

"I Love You to Death": Social Networks and the Widowhood Effect on Mortality.

Research on "the widowhood effect" shows that mortality rates are greater among people who have recently lost a spouse. There are several medical and psychological explanations for this (e.g., "broken heart syndrome") and sociological explanations that focus on spouses' shared social-environmental exposures. We expand on sociological perspectives by arguing that couples' social connections to others play a role in this phenomenon. Using panel data on 1,169 older adults from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, we find that mortality is associated with how well embedded one's spouse is in one's own social network. The widowhood effect is greater among those whose spouses were not well connected to one's other network members. We speculate that the loss of a less highly embedded spouse signals the loss of unique, valuable, nonredundant social resources from one's network. We discuss theoretical interpretations, alternative explanations, limitations, and directions for future research.

A STUDY OF COMMON UNETHICAL PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES TO COMPLYING WITH A CODE OF CONDUCT AMONG PROFESSIONALS IN THE MALAYSIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

The construction industry is a complex and demanding commercial area. As in other disciplines, ethical practices in the construction industry are crucial. The quality of the project, customers' trust, and investors' confidence in the construction business are all negatively impacted by unethical acts and the practices themselves. Hence, the goal of this study is to identify the most prevalent types of unethical practices among professionals in the construction industry and to evaluate the obstacles that prevent them from upholding the code of ethics. A quantitative approach was used to collect empirical data by sending the questionnaire survey amongst professionals in the construction industry, such as contractors, consultants, and project managers. The collected data was analysed using a descriptive version of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows Version (SPSS) 29 software, such as mean score, percentage, and frequency. The study found that unethical practises like rate overpricing, bid cutting, delay, and short payments; bribes for projects; nepotism; use of lower-grade materials than specified; tender manipulation; and contractors' personnel failing to dispose of waste in an appropriate, safe, and environmentally acceptable manner are still common and persistent. This is true even though the majority of organisations have their own standards of conduct and professional bodies that encourage good ethics. The main obstacles to eliminating the unethical conduct mentioned above are greed, acceptance as standard procedure, ignorance of laws and regulations, lack of authorization for the compliance department, cognitive biases and psychological tendencies, and insufficient support from the government. It is hoped that the study's findings will significantly help regulatory agencies and legislators recognize and prevent unethical practices, and the study also suggests that there may be fewer unethical practices in the construction industry if there are adequate punishments for unethical practices at different stages of a project's life cycle and more people know about the ideals of ethical practices at different stages.

X-Polli:Nation: Contributing Towards Sustainable Development Goals Through School-Based Pollinator Citizen Science

As the citizen science (CS) community flourishes, there is an opportunity to reflect on how practitioners can widen participation and work with participants as co-researchers to investigate and take action around global challenges. Through the lens of one CS case study, the X-Polli:Nation project, we report on how technologists, ecologists, and education specialists repurposed older projects by cross-pollinating ideas with children and teachers in the UK and in Italy to create Artificial Intelligence–enhanced tools appropriate for teaching sustainability in schools. Taking part in an actionable CS cycle, children learn about pollinating insects, record scientific data, create flowering habitats, and communicate their importance. Through this process, X-Polli:Nation demonstrates relevance across a number of Sustainable Development Goals (e.g., SDG 4, Quality Education; SDG 10, Reducing Inequality; and SDG 15, Life on Land), and applies the underlying SDG principle “leave no one behind.” We go on to investigate if, and how, young people would like to deepen their engagement with the SDGs, and we report that taking action and communicating the importance of the SDGs were of paramount interest. The challenge of building sustainability into an already crowded curriculum can be alleviated by understanding its value, considering the audience, and adapting to new contexts. The considerable benefits include raising awareness about global sustainability issues and giving children the confidence to become passionate environmental stewards, all the while extending the life of older projects and thus making CS methods sustainable too.

The relationship of social isolation and sleep in older adults: evidence from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies

Objectives This study aimed to explore the relationship between social isolation and sleep in later life and the role of loneliness in this relationship. Methods In Study 1, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the correlation between social isolation and sleep in community-dwelling older adults (N = 108). This relationship was assessed using subjective and objective measures. Moreover, we examined the mediating role of loneliness cross-sectionally (Study 1) and longitudinally (Study 2). Longitudinal study was based on three waves of data from the National Scale Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 1, 554). Results The results showed that social isolation was robustly associated with sleep in the general population of older adults. Specifically, subjective social isolation was associated with subjective sleep, and objective social isolation was associated with objective sleep. The results of the longitudinal study showed that loneliness mediated the reciprocal link between social isolation and sleep across time after controlling for autoregressive effects and basic demographics. Conclusions These findings address the gap in the literature on the link between social isolation and sleep in older adults, extending the understanding of improvement in older adults' social networks, sleep quality, and psychological well-being.

Financial and environmental impact analysis of developing common pasturelands

The present study analyzed environmental benefits and economic feasibility of developing pasturelands in Tonk district of Rajasthan, India. The project evaluation techniques such as internal rate of return, benefit-cost ratio, payback period and net present worth were used for assessing the financial viability. Quantification of the environmental benefit in term of carbon sequestration was done analysing total soil organic carbon concentration using isotopic mass spectrometer. Assuming project life of 7 years and discounting rate of interest 10.5 per cent, analysis showed that net present worth of the project was Rs.32.28 lakh and payback period was just 6 years. The internal rate of return of the project was 74 per cent and discounted benefit-cost ratio was 2.17. Carbon concentration in intervened pasture land was increased by ~10% over without intervened pastureland due to better development of grasses at top 15 cm of soil layer. Monetising carbon credit, additional benefit of $12.24 per ha was attained with pasture land development in the form of carbon credit.

Multi-Criteria Decision-Making in Public Procurement: An Empirical Study of Contractor Selection for Landslide Rehabilitation

When carrying out construction work, identifying the best contractor is a critical component of the project life cycle in the construction industry. The investor must use effective and efficient strategies to create a competitive bidding environment in public projects. The research presented in this paper was conducted to demonstrate the competitive nature of public procurements, where contractors compete to present the best bid and win the contract. To award the contract, the best offer must be selected. Based on different strategies and multi-criteria decision-making approaches this study proposes a method for identifying the most suitable strategy out of eight bidding strategies on four different lots, resulting in the most suitable one for landslide rehabilitation in the Brčko district. The results reveal the optimal approach to follow to minimize time and financial losses in the case of landslide rehabilitation during periods of market instability. Such research findings validate the efficiency of the bidding strategies-based decision-making support. The proposed method allows for compromise on both the completion date and the lowest bid made by the winning contractor.

The Mediating Role of Social Participation in Motoric Cognitive Risk and its Relation to Depression and Loneliness in Older Adults.

Motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR) reduces the quality of life, independence, and social interaction in older adults. Social participation is a potentially modifiable factor that benefits cognitive and mental health. This study explored the mediating roles of social participation between MCR and depression and between MCR and loneliness. We performed a secondary analysis of data from the 2015-2016 National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. Slow gait speed and cognitive decline were used to assess MCR. Mediation analysis was applied to two models, both of which used MCR as an exposure and social participation as a mediator. The outcomes were depression and loneliness for each model, respectively. Among 1,697 older adults, 196 (11.6%) had MCR. The mediating role of social participation was statistically significant in both models. The indirect effect (β=0.267, p=0.001) of MCR on depression through social participation comprised 11.97% of the total effect (β=2.231, p<0.001). The indirect effect (β=0.098, p=0.001) of MCR on loneliness through social participation was 19.48% of the total effect (β=0.503, p<0.001). Interventions to increase social participation may reduce depression and loneliness of older adults with MCR.

The architecture of mental health: identifying the combination of apartment building design requirements for positive mental health outcomes

Housing quality is a crucial determinant of mental health. While the construction of high-rise buildings is a popular policy strategy for accommodating population growth in cities, there is considerable debate about the health consequences of living in poorly designed apartments. Drawing on three Australian state government apartment design policies introduced to improve apartment design quality, this study aimed to identify the combination of design requirements that were optimally supportive of positive mental health. K-means cluster analyses identified groups of buildings (n=172) that were homogenous in their implementation of a mix of n=80 measured design requirements. Positive mental health was measured using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS). Linear mixed-effects models controlling for demographic characteristics, self-selection factors and clustering of participants within buildings compared residents in the different clusters. Residents in the "high policy performance buildings", characterised by having a greater implementation of n=29 design requirements across nine design elements, had significantly higher (+1.96 points) WEMWBS scores compared with residents in the "low policy performance buildings". This study is the first to empirically identify a mix of policy-specific architecture design requirements that are associated with positive mental health in apartment residents. These findings provide vital empirical evidence to inform national and international apartment and high-rise housing policies, and design instruments and practices to protect people's health in apartment dwellings. The High Life project is funded by a Healthway Research Intervention Project grant (#31986) and an Australian Research Council (ARC), Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) (DE160100140). NE is supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project (LP190100558). SF is supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship (FT210100899).

Did Resilience and Socioeconomic Status Predict Older Adults' Finding a Silver Lining in COVID?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic stretched our limits-physically, mentally, and economically. However, some older adults report that it led to positive changes. This study aims to understand whether prepandemic resilience, education, or income predicted older adults' subsequent likelihood of reporting positive changes in their lives during the pandemic. We use data from the National Social Life, Heath, and Aging Project, an ongoing panel study with a COVID-19 ancillary supplement (N = 2,650). The study results aligned with the fundamental cause theory. In demographically adjusted models including resilience, education, and income, as well as the effect of the pandemic on employment and a COVID-disruption score, the odds of reporting any positive change were 2.6 times higher for those with an associate degree (p < .01) and 4.7 times higher for those with a bachelor's or higher (p < .001), compared to those without a high school degree. In contrast, neither resilience nor income was significantly associated with endorsing a positive change. We also categorize specific changes thematically coded from open-ended responses and examine their demographic distributions. Categories include spirituality, home organization, hygiene practices, and increased quality time with others. These findings show that older adults with more education could navigate COVID-19 challenges in a way that improved their perspectives on at least one aspect of their lives.

A Proposed Management System for Construction Practices during Sustainable Buildings Life Cycle

For many years, the construction industry damages have been overlooked such as unreasonable consumption of resources in addition to producing a lot of construction waste but with global awareness growth towards the sustainable development issues, the sustainable construction practices have been adopted, taking into account the environment and human safety. The research aims to propose a management system for construction practices which could be adopted during constructing different types of sustainable buildings besides formulating flowcharts which clarify the required whole phases of sustainable buildings life cycle. The research includes two parts: theoretical part which generally ,handles the sustainability concepts at construction industry and specially buildings .But the practical part comprises investigating the professional opinions in construction industry about applications possibility of sustainable requirements and global criteria to construction of sustainable buildings in Iraq where the weakness and strength points in the essential requirements for achieving the sustainable construction practices have been diagnosed and the development needhas been specified. The utilized statistical analysis of questionnaire results show readiness of buildings sectors to implement the sustainable practices. The different strategies and techniques in the proposed management have been employed for getting the sustainable procedures of sequences practices within project life cycle.

Identification and evaluation of collaborative relationships of internal project stakeholders: a social network analysis approach

PurposeThe present research is trying to construct the network of relationships between different department of an organization during the design and development of car engine. Analyzing the structure of the network, finding the patterns of collaborations, and determining the important departments are the main purposes of the present research.Design/methodology/approachImproving relationships during a project life is an effective way to enhance employee performance in project-oriented organizations. This paper examines the collaborative relationships between internal project stakeholders through social network analysis (SNA) in a project for the design and development of car engine. In the first step of the research, the network of internal stakeholders was studied based on collaboration in the common activities performed by the resources. Then, the network of correspondences between internal stakeholders was studied. Finally, the two networks were integrated into a single network.FindingsIn the integrated network, the “fuel and combustion department” had the largest degree centrality (i.e. highest collaboration with others). The “integration department” was found to have the highest closeness centrality (i.e. more rapid access to other nodes). Furthermore, the “procurement department” had the highest betweenness centrality (i.e. the most strategic department). Our results revealed the potential capabilities of SNA method for the project management in the vehicle industry.Originality/valueThe obtained results of the present research show us the value of applying SNA methods and concepts to analyze the inter-organizational network of the Project Stakeholders relationship.

Evaluation of the Social Mobilization Component of the Second Year of Life (2YL) Project on Immunization Coverage in Adaklu District, Ghana.

Evaluation of the Social Mobilization Component of the Second Year of Life (2YL) Project on Immunization Coverage in Adaklu District, Ghana.

An Assessment on Quality of Life and Happiness Indices of Project Affected People in Indian Coalfields

Coal deposits are generally found in either riverine and/or beneath forest area. The coerced displacement of project-affected people (PAPs) for coal mining endangers the in situ conservation of their life/livelihood. It accounts for a heavy price against the mineral value mostly harvested by distant stakeholders. A study on quality of life (QoL) enroute happiness indices of PAPs is undertaken with reference to CSR/resettlement and rehabilitation initiatives undertaken by mining companies in coalfields of Jharkhand. This study aims to analyze elements influencing quality of life and happiness indices such as job/income opportunity, housing affordability, health security, infrastructure, social relations, environment sustainability, inclusivity, equity and diversity. Data were collected directly from PAPs using a questionnaire survey method and almost 501 responses received to assist in development of the model. Multivariate statistical analysis has been used with application of structural equation modeling methodology for data analysis. The result shows vital relations among the constructs introduced based on human, social, natural, physical and economical concerns. The findings also indicate inadequate resettlement and rehabilitation initiatives undertaken by project proponents towards restoring life quality. Thus, the conceptual framework customized to mining area is developed and validated for rendering a qualitative life-ecosystems to the PAPs.