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The aim of this review study is to present useful and practical expressions to compute the design vertical actions on load-bearing columns/walls of typical building structures on the basis of EN 1991: Eurocode 1.

It is derived by a typical case in which wind actions, snow actions and permanents actions are loading a roof construction. The results are finally used to calculate the loading on columns/walls. Both ultimate limit state and serviceability limit state are considered.

From an instructive point of view, the advantage of this method is that it is simplified, general, not time-consuming, and it can be standardised to typical building structures.

A number of example applications are introduced to illustrate the calculation procedure.

From an educational point of view, this problem is of interest to civil engineering students because the reviewed method is not cumbersome or time-consuming.

From an engineering educational point of view, this problem is of interest to civil engineering students because the reviewed method is not cumbersome or time-consuming.

New formulated expressions to calculate the loadings on structural membranes based on Eurocode are presented.

This paper aims to compare glued laminated timber and steel beams with respect to structural design, manufacturing and assembly costs and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

This paper presents structural design requirements in conformance with EN 1993: Eurocode 5 and Eurocode 3. With the help of these standards, expressions are derived to evaluate the design criteria of the beams. Based on the results of life-cycle analysis, the economic properties and environmental impact of the two types of beam are investigated. In this paper, the effect of beam span on the design values, costs and carbon dioxide emissions is analysed when investigating aspects of the structural design, economy and environmental impact. Different cross-sections are chosen for this purpose.

The study shows that the glued laminated (abbreviated as “glulam”) beams have a smaller tendency to lateral torsional buckling than the steel beams, and that they can be cheaper. From an environmental point of view, glulam beams are the more environmentally friendly option of the two beam materials. Furthermore, glulam beams may have a direct positive effect on the environment, considering the carbon storage capacity of the wood. The disadvantage of glued wood is that larger dimensions are sometimes required.

Wind load and the effect of second-order effects have not been considered when analysing the static design. Only straight beams have been studied. Furthermore, the dynamic design of the beams has not been investigated, and the bearing pressure capacity of the supports has not been analyzed. We have investigated timber beams with a rectangular cross-section, and steel beams of rolled I-sections, known as “HEA profiles”. The cost analysis is based mainly on the manufacturing and assembly costs prevalent on the Swedish market. The only environmental impact investigated has been the emission of greenhouse gases. The design calculations are based on the European standards Eurocode 5 and Eurocode 3.

To achieve sustainability in construction engineering, it is important to study the environmental and economic consequences of the building elements. By combining these two effects with the technical design of buildings made of steel and/or timber, the concept of sustainable development can be achieved in the long run.

The study concerns sustainability of building structures, which is an important of the sustainable development of the society.

The paper contains new information and will be useful to researchers and civil engineers.

The purpose of this paper is to advance a model that relates the criteria of sustainable development with the construction engineering of buildings. Moreover, a method to evaluate the building sustainability is suggested.

The method is based on calculating the weighted expected utility function of a building with respect to composite indicator.

Based on this integrated approach, a tentative index to evaluate the sustainability of buildings is proposed.

The study is limited to the assessment of the sustainable development of the built environment.

The feasibility of assessing the sustainability of a building using the sustainable index of buildings (SIB) is that it permits the decision-makers to study the potential improvement in the sustainable development of buildings in the long and short run. Moreover, the role of benchmarking in improving the sustainability performance of buildings is discussed in view of the suggested method.

The present method is practical and easy to use for ranking building (or a part of a building) according to the sustainable performance.

New methodology based on integrating the value-focused thinking together with the composite indicators is used to evaluate the sustainable development.

The purpose of this study is to attempt to compare experimental results for a number of models for the prediction of the drying time of new concrete floors. The investigated methods are the table method, the Swedish Concrete Association (SCA) method and the free computer programme TorkaS 3.2.

The comparison is based on moisture measurements of four different floor specimens. The specimens have different ratios (w/c = 0.38, 0.6 and 0.7).

The results show that there is a good agreement between the table method and the measured values on the specimens with high water-cement ratio (w/c = 0.6 and 0.7). However, the deviation becomes greater at lower water-cement ratio (w/c 0.38). TorkaS also resulted in a good agreement with the measurements. However, it is noted that as the drying time increases, the programme exhibits a slow dehydration trend at higher w/c ratios. The SCA method shows various results within the permissible deviation. Moreover, the moisture distribution in concrete with high w/c ratios is found to be mainly influenced by moisture diffusion and little by self-desiccation.

This study is limited to concrete slabs that are drying from one side in an enclosed building with an heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system operating normally. Moreover, this study concerns concrete without special additives (e.g. silica fumes), which can be used in some specific cases to accelerate or retard the hydration (cure) process.

These compared methods are used widely in Sweden; therefore, it will be interesting to understand their applicability range. Another focus in this paper is to investigate how the effect of self-desiccation of concrete is related to the w/c ratios, taking into consideration the result of these prediction models.

The paper can suit academic researchers, as well as the commercial industries, in a sense that the comparative study will pave a way to the best method to be used for drying time estimation.

The paper contains new information and could be useful to researchers and commercial industries.

This paper aims to understand the effect of different foundation designs of passive house on the resultant thermal bridges, at the junction between a wall and a slab on grade.

The linear thermal transmittances of some newly developed foundations of passive house are determined. The investigated foundation designs are L-element, U-element and foundation with foam glass technique.

It is found that the special design of passive house foundation can considerably influence the heat flow through thermal bridges. In this context, it is proposed a new foundation design of passive house, which has relatively low heat loss through thermal bridges. The results are compared with the “default” ISO values used to evaluate the effect of thermal bridges in typical buildings. It is found that there is large difference between the calculated linear thermal transmittances at the investigated foundations of passive house as compared to typical buildings.

The results can hopefully be used to improve the energy efficiency of the passive house.

Sustainable solution of buildings.

A new foundation design of passive house is suggested to reduce heat loss through thermal bridges.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of peer learning and formative assessment as two creative learning methods in engineering learning environments. The results show that both models have yielded promising results with regard to meeting the criteria for the expected learning outcomes of the curriculum. However, the integrated model has resulted in better results than the model of formative assessment. The paper discusses also some practical and theoretical aspects related to the learning models.

It is advanced two general learning models; in the first model, the formative assessment is integrated with peer learning and in the second one, the formative assessment is solely used to enhance the learning. A field case study is conducted to investigate the effect of using the learning models on the expected learning outcomes of the students in an engineering course.

The results show that both learning models have yielded promising results with regard to meeting the criteria for the expected learning outcomes of the curriculum. However, the integrated model has resulted in better results than the model of formative assessment.

The two models can be applied for the engineering course that has both practical and theoretical aspects. It is expected that areas of expertize in engineering education can be developed very well with the models.

The results show that the two learning models have yielded promising results with regard to meeting the criteria for the expected learning outcomes of the curriculum and that formative assessment link to good learning practice does indeed give improved learning.

Increase the effectiveness of learning in engineering education.

Case study based on observation and planning.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a practical model of work integrated learning for undergraduate engineering students in relation to Conceiving-Designing-Implementing-Operating standards 7 (Integrated Learning Experiences) and 8 (Active Learning). Moreover, it is discussed the role of cultural-social perspective and peer learning in enhancing the developed learning model from a pedagogical point of view.

The model is based on an organized collaboration with the industrial partners in the surrounding geographic region. As a part of the collaboration, each participating student is guaranteed internships at a chosen company over the summer period. In the model, company-based projects are integrated with some of the study program courses. Moreover, the participating students are given a possibility to perform their final thesis at the chosen company.

A number of positive effects have been observed and documented as follows: first, the integrated learning improves the learning process for the students, where learning, knowledge and practice are integrated into the engineering curricula; second, the general quality of the study programs in the faculty has been developed and improved based on the professional skills as required by modern industrial companies; and third, the obtained advantage for the industrial partners has been to establish professional contacts with the students as well as the possibility to be acquainted with potential future employees.

The feedback the authors received so far from the industrial partners has been positive. A detailed evaluation will be made at a later stage when more information is available.

The developed learning model supports the expected learning outcomes, especially with regard to interpersonal skills, teamwork and communication. As a part of the collaboration, each participating student is guaranteed internships at a chosen company over the summer periods. The authors consider this collaboration as a “win-win situation” for the three parties involved in the learning model: the students, the university/faculty and the industrial partners.

Case study based on observations and evaluation of a developed learning model.

The purpose of this study to investigate the synthesis of new Cr(III), Fe(III), Ni(II) and Cu(II) Schiff base complexes by a simple technique (microwave technique). The evaluation of the prepared complexes as pigments as corrosion resistant was also explored.

The Schiff base complexes were prepared by using microwave method (green chemistry), and then, the physico-chemical requirements according to standards for the synthesised pigments were investigate.

The prepared complexes exhibit good physical, mechanical and corrosion properties as pigments in paint formulations.

The simple technique used for synthesis of metal complex pigments will significantly increase the cost saving for the manufacturing of such pigments category. Also, the used technique is considered a green method (eco-friendly), as there no organic solvent was used.

The evaluation of the prepared complex pigments as corrosion resistants was also studied.

It is a simple technique, green synthesis (no solvent used) is involved and high yield is obtained.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial motivation and pharmapreneurial intention among pharmacists in Jordan.The authors also assessed the moderating effect of gender and the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between these two variables.

This study is a quantitative study targeting pharmacists and using a nonprobability sample. A structured questionnaire was distributed through official channels to the entire population of registered pharmacists in Jordan. SmartPLS 3 was used for carrying an advanced structural equation model analysis, and SPSS 26 for the descriptive statistics.

The three entrepreneurial motivation variables (behavioral control [BC], risk tolerance and desirability of self-employment) affected pharmapreneurial intention, with BC contributing more to pharmapreneurial intention among pharmacists in Jordan than the other variables examined. On the other hand, gender and COVID-19 did not moderate this relationship.

The authors find that entrepreneurial motivation affects pharmapreneurial intention. Consequently, the authors provide insights to policymakers and educators regarding dovetailing the recent financial literacy programs implemented in Jordanian schools with medical education in Jordan to better motivate the formation of pharmapreneurial intention.

Policymakers and educators should be dovetailing the recent financial literacy programs implemented in Jordanian schools with medical education in Jordan to better motivate the formation of pharmapreneurial intention.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine pharmapreneurship in Jordan.

This study aims to investigate the implication of top executives’ number of years of experience (tenure) on corporate risk-taking behaviour and corporate performance in Malaysian corporations.

To test the hypothesis efficiently, the authors have extracted the data from Bloomberg for 788 listed companies of the Malaysian Stock Exchange. The methodology entails ordinary least squares regressions, quantile regression and dynamic system generalized method of moments model.

First, the authors show that executive management tenure has a significant negative relationship with corporate risk-taking. It means that the long-tenured executives tend to undertake less risky strategies and decisions. Second, this study reveals that the longer executive management tenure has a positive relationship with corporate performance. Third, the moderating effect of corporate risk-taking with executive tenure (Tenure dummy*Risk) has a negative relationship with the corporate performance by 1%.

It implies that the appointment of experienced executive management contributes towards corporate performance directly. However, experienced management trends take less risk, which eventually results in mitigating the corporate performance. On that basis, the findings are significant in highlighting the usefulness of executive leadership term and offers insights to academics, practitioners and policymakers.

This paper is novel since it is unique in evaluating the executive tenure and the preferences to handle risk strategies and how that impact the firm performance.