Optimizing Owner∕Contractor Core Competencies for Capital Programs

This paper proposes a process to help managers of capital project organizations, within owner companies, select key competencies for their capital programs and, where appropriate, leverage contractor personnel and expertise. The process involves evaluation of owner and contractor competencies and determination of the best possible sourcing strategy for each competency required in the owner's capital program. The sourcing strategy is defined in terms of work relationships that clearly identify primary and secondary roles and responsibilities. The resulting work structure helps owners and contractors avoid gaps and eliminate overlaps in their work relationships. The proposed process also provides an approach to evaluate alignment of work structures between owner's corporate objectives and their capital programs. Work structure and alignment indicators consider project delivery approaches, contract types, organizational relationships, and other relevant factors such as proprietary technology. Thus, this paper provides a decision process that can help managers optimize owner and contractor competencies for capital program success.     

Two cooperatively social populations of the theridiid spider Anelosimus studiosus in a temperate region

The quality of an individual's odour can allow potential mates to discriminate against individuals of low social class, poor health status or unsuitable genotype. Competitive scent marking provides a further mechanism which could allow mates to discriminate between individuals of apparently high quality. The presence or absence of fresh countermarks from competitors within an owner's territory or area marked by a dominant animal provides a reliable indicator of the owner's ability to defend its territory or dominate competitors. This could be used by potential mates to discriminate between individuals advertising their apparently high competitive ability through their scent-marking behaviour and odour quality. We tested this by manipulating scent marks in the neighbouring territories of wild-caught male house mice, Mus domesticus. As predicted, oestrous females used scent marks to select males apparently able to defend exclusive territories over those unable to exclude intruders. Females were more strongly attracted to the odour of owners of exclusively marked territories and showed more sexually related behaviour when interacting with these males. Furthermore, while females preferred a territory containing a better protected nest site regardless of the owner's apparent competitive ability, they still used the presence or absence of intruder countermarks when selecting a potential mate. This suggests that females use scent marks as a reliable signal of the best-quality mate among neighbouring males independently of their nest location. Since assessment depends on both the territory holder's own marks and those of competitor males, countermarking is likely to be an important mechanism of competition for mates between neighbours. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour     

Liquid-Liquid Extraction Processes for the Separation and Purification of Rare Earths

A review of the literature on liquid-liquid extraction processes for the separation and purification of rare earths is presented. This review also discusses computer simulation programs used for the design and optimization of processes for the separation of rare earths. The lacunae in the computer simulation programs are highlighted and suggestions for future work are given.     

Television's impact on society.

"The advent of television has been a major phenomenon of American life in recent years. Judged by its rate of growth, the size of its audience, and the man-hours of attention devoted to it, television promises to become the nation's principal communication medium." Specific data are cited with regard to many topics including the following: dimensions of the medium, characteristics of the audience, owner's usage and opinion of TV, effects on other entertainment industries, effects on family and social activities, effects on children, political impact of TV, impact of TV on the economy, and the effectiveness of television advertising. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transverse Cracking of Concrete Bridge Decks: State-of-the-Art

This state-of-the-art paper presents the results of a comprehensive literature review of the cause of transverse deck cracking. It includes compilation of experimental and analytical research results as well as survey studies on the effects of different factors on concrete deck cracking. Consistent with the past work on the subject, causes of transverse deck cracking are classified under three categories, namely: (1) material and mix design, (2) construction practices and ambient condition factors, and (3) structural design factors. The literature review revealed that the first two items have been studied extensively over the past several decades, while literature is limited on the effect of structural design factors on deck cracking. This paper evaluates the existing work in depth and presents recommendations on mix design and construction procedures to reduce the potential for transverse deck cracking. Furthermore, areas for additional research are identified.     

Construction of a Semi‐Prefabricated Masonry Facade

One of the crucial problems that faces designers, construction managers, general contractors, and subcontractors is creating the most appealing facade of a building at the most cost‐effective price, while satisfying an owner's goal of exploiting the enclosed space to maximum advantage. A brick facade has long been considered a durable and aesthetic solution for the exterior walls. A stud wall with gypsum board sheathing is today's most economical and widely used interior perimeter material. The development of innovative construction techniques that combine this exterior facade with interior perimeter materials in the most cost‐effective and time‐effective manner is the object of continuing trial and error. The industrialization of construction components has long been considered but, as yet, is not widely used, although its future appears bright. This paper analyzes the advantages of a semi‐prefabricated facade based on specific experience.     

Design Review Checking System with Corporate Lessons Learned

Design reviews are critical to the success of a construction project. They eliminate costly rework and conflicts, and promote creative and innovative design and construction. This paper discusses a unique way to improve design reviews by gathering and including direct corporate experience that can be used company- and industry-wide. The Design Review Checking System (DrChecks) and the system called Corporate Lessons Learned (CLL) were developed by the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory to collect personal experiences and lessons learned on projects and incorporate these data into corporate knowledge, expressly for the design review process. DrChecks provides a framework for a standardized review process. Typically, exchanges of personal experience and knowledge have occurred informally by word of mouth. With DrChecks and CLL, direct personal experience can be collected into a database while the design review process is on-going. Lessons learned, success stories, and good work practices, which can be identified easily by experienced staff members, can then be shared throughout the organization. DrChecks and CLL both take advantage of the Internet and facilitate the management of design review process and the collection and reuse of corporate lessons learned asynchronously and remotely.     

Bacterial pneumonia associated with corticosteroid therapy in three horses

Three horses developed severe pulmonary infections while being treated with systemic corticosteroids for other diseases. Two of them had an immune-mediated skin disease, compatible with a diagnosis of pemphigus foliaceus, and one had severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Case 1 developed diffuse pneumonia from which Streptococcus zooepidemicus and Bacteroides melaninogenicus were isolated, and it responded to antibiotic therapy. Case 2 developed septicaemia, pulmonary thrombosis and pneumonia associated with Escherichia coli, and died during a peracute illness with signs of disseminated intravascular coagulation. Case 3 developed focal pneumonia from which S zooepidemicus was isolated. This horse was destroyed at the owner's request and no treatment was attempted.     

Review of Design Guidelines for FRP Confinement of Reinforced Concrete Columns of Noncircular Cross Sections

Current international design guidelines provide predictive design equations for the strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) columns of both circular and prismatic cross sections by means of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) confinement and subjected to pure axial loading. Extensive studies (experimental and analytical) have been conducted on columns with circular cross sections, and limited studies have been conducted on members with noncircular cross sections. In fact, the majority of available research work has been on small-scale, plain concrete specimens. In this review paper, four design guidelines are introduced, and a comparative study is presented. This study is based on the increment of concrete compressive strength and ductility and includes the experimental results from six RC columns of different cross-sectional shapes. The observed outcomes are used to identify and remark upon the limits beyond the ones specifically stated by each of the guides and that reflect the absence of effects not considered in current models. The purpose of this study is to present a constructive critical review of the state-of-the-art design methodologies available for the case of FRP-confined concrete RC columns and to indicate a direction for future developments.     

Payment Timing as a Factor in Bid Evaluation

While the timing of payments to the contractor, in the course of the construction process, is an important factor in the project cost, it is not referred to either by the bid‐comparison procedures or by the contract terms, in almost all kinds of contracts used in construction projects. An attempt is made here to overcome the consequent disadvantages to the owner, by means of a procedure based on an obligatory schedule whose activities are appropriately related to the items of the bill of quantities, the whole set‐up forming an integral part of the bid and of the final contract. This enables the owner to prepare cash‐flow estimates for the bids, compare them according to the present value of all expected payments, and select the bid with minimum cost. Apart from this, the procedure neutralizes bid imbalances (regarding unit prices and the production schedule) and facilitates deferment of non‐critical activities, thereby reducing financial cost. The cash‐flow estimate of the winning bid serves as a basis for the owner's budget planning, with much higher accuracy in this function. The suggested procedure is adapted also for comparison of bids in which construction duration is determined by the bidder within a given interval.     

Improved Design Review through Web Collaboration

An in-depth analysis of the impact of Web collaboration has shown that it is a very effective medium for conducting design reviews and offers many benefits over traditional manual methods of comment collection and resolution. Findings from two federal agencies have shown a significant reduction in both the time required to conduct a design review and the number of required participating parties. An economic analysis of the impact of Web collaboration on the design review process done for U.S. Corps of Engineers projects indicates that using the Web for design review collaboration provides a 73% savings in meeting time and travel cost.     

Model Process for Implementing Maintainability

Most companies lack a formal method to address maintainability during the project delivery process, yet maintenance can seriously affect project costs. To address the opportunities available to companies through the effective inclusion of maintainability concepts, the Construction Industry Institute formed the Maintainability Research Team. Using a combination of recent literature, a questionnaire survey, personal interviews, and case studies with industry professionals, the research team organized maintainability best practices into a model implementation process. Developed from the owner's perspective, the model process has two levels: corporate and project. Milestones, steps, and activities further define each level. The benefit of the model process is that it provides owners with a starting point for implementing maintainability. This paper outlines the proposed model process and describes the potential roles and benefits of maintainability on various types of projects.     

Materials engineering and development for coal fired MHD power generators

This paper attempts to describe the unique stresses imposed on MHD generator materials. This is done by reviewing experimental test histories of two generator designs represent-ing extremes in operating conditions and materials selection. Related experimental work, bearing on the importance of coal-ash slag properties to design functions, is also re-viewed. This latter is particularly critical to U.S. MHD development goals. The range of engineering conditions and materials attending the tests described in this review sug-gests a breadth of design choice which is probably less real than apparent. Engineering development, currently in progress and planned, is directed towards quantitative deter-mination of specific design and material influences on generator performance and dura-bility. Material requirements are closely interrelated with thermal, electrical, and ge-ometric design conditions, as this review will show. Finally, MHD test experience sum-marized here affirms the necessity for close engineering design and test discipline in the development of materials for power machinery applications. This paper is based on a presentation made at a symposium on “Materials Requirements for Unconventional Energy Systems” held at the Niagara Falls meeting of The Metallurgical Society of AIME, September 22, 1976, under the sponsorship of Non-Ferrous Metals and Ferrous Metals Committees.     

Development of FRP Reinforcement Guidelines for Prestressed Concrete Structures

Several national programs define the testing protocols and design guidelines for fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement in concrete structures. This paper offers a review of these documents, comparing the materials testing and design philosophies for FRP reinforcement of different working groups. The work references Canadian, European, and Japanese efforts to codify these materials and assess the relative merits of each approach. The emphasis is on prestressing applications since the demands for sustained load capacity and full bond are more severe than for reinforced concrete.     

On the Distributors and Design Criteria for Gas-Solid and,Gas-Liquid-Solid Fluidized Beds

Fluidized beds are well known for their versatile applications in chemical, metallurgical, mineral and bio - processing industries. Inspite of their several potential uses, the design and selection of the fluidized bed reactor is still empirical. One of the key parts which influences the reactor performance is the distributor/grid which has been recognized as the heart of the fluidized system. Distributor also called grid in fluidized bed plays a vital role in assessing the hydrodynamics and performance of the reactor. Though the importance of the distributor has long since been recognized, not much seems to have been done on basics of its design aspects. In the context of significant developments that have taken place in the field in the last decade the need exists for a comprehensive review updating the available information on the role of distributors and their design for the fluid bed system. Hence a state-of-the-art review of a wide range of distributors/grids has been attempted in this paper and the need for careful consideration of the design principles is discussed. Prediction of operating flow rates as influenced by distributors, pressure drop criteria pertinent to stability of operation, the choice of grids or distributors and their types from laboratory scale to commrecial size units, design models and the role of plenum chamber and pumping requirements are all critically reviewed and analyzed. Nomographs for the distributor design and the scope for future research stressing the immediate needs are presented.     

An exchange theory of money and self-esteem in decision making.

This article addresses the relationship between money and self-esteem, both of which human beings desire. Money is used to purchase products. It may also indicate its owner's competence. Self-esteem is the subjective evaluation of the self, and people want to maintain their good self-image. The exchange between money and self-esteem may follow 3 principles: augmentation, substitution, and competition. A superior payoff augments utility of self-esteem. Money and self-esteem partially compensate for one another when an option contains an abundance of one type of utility and lacks the other. Money and self-esteem compete against each other when decision makers have to choose between the two. Empirical evidence has shown that meaning of money, situational need for money, self-esteem boost, and ego threat influence the exchange between money and self-esteem. The theory presented in this article bridges research in psychology and findings in economics and provides an integrative perspective on understanding human decision making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thermal Effects on Skewed Steel Highway Bridges and Bearing Orientation

An investigation is conducted to characterize and quantify external effects in composite steel highway bridges under thermal loading. Based on the results of a literature review, including thermal and thermoelastic analyses as well as current design code provisions, a simple but realistic thermal loading is developed for winter and summer conditions for AASHTO load and resistance factor design (LRFD) Zone 3. Three cases of bearing orientation, representative of current design practice, are examined. Parametric studies are then conducted. Hypothetical bridges are designed for a range of different span lengths, section depths, widths, and skews. Each bridge model is tested under all three constraint cases and both winter and summer thermal loading. Variations in structural response with each parameter are plotted, and the relative influence of each parameter is discussed. Design equations to predict the observed displacements and restraint forces at the bearings are then developed by a systematic regression procedure. The applicability of these proposed design equations is demonstrated by examples.     

Impact Mechanics and High-Energy Absorbing Materials: Review

In this paper a review of impact mechanics and high-energy absorbing materials is presented. We review different theoretical models (rigid-body dynamics, elastic, shock, and plastic wave propagation, and nonclassical or nonlocal models) and computational methods (finite-element, finite-difference, and mesh-free methods) used in impact mechanics. Some recent developments in numerical simulation of impact (e.g., peridynamics) and new design concepts proposed as high energy absorbing materials (lattice and truss structures, hybrid sandwich composites, metal foams, magnetorheological fluids, porous shape memory alloys) are discussed. Recent studies on experimental evaluation and constitutive modeling of strain rate-dependent polymer matrix composites are also presented. Impact damage on composite materials in aerospace engineering is discussed along with future research needs. A particular example for the design of a sandwich material as an impact mitigator is given in more detail. This brief review is intended to help the readers in identifying starting points for research in modeling and simulation of impact problems and in designing energy absorbing materials and structures.     

充填采矿法设计工作与分析

对充填采矿法设计工作进行回顾与分析，肯定了成绩，找出了不足，以期提高我院采矿设计水平。     

The Role of Representative Design in an Ecological Approach to Cognition.

Egon Brunswik argued that psychological processes are adapted to environmental properties. He proposed the method of representative design to capture these processes and advocated that psychology be a science of organism-environment relations. Representative design involves randomly sampling stimuli from the environment or creating stimuli in which environmental properties are preserved. This departs from systematic design. The authors review the development of representative design, examine its use in judgment and decision-making research, and demonstrate the effect of design on research findings. They suggest that some of the practical difficulties associated with representative design may be overcome with modern technologies. The importance of representative design in psychology and the implications of this method for ecological approaches to cognition are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)