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1 – 10 of 284The future construction site will be pervasive, context aware and embedded with intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to explore and define the concept of the digital skin of…
Abstract
Purpose
The future construction site will be pervasive, context aware and embedded with intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to explore and define the concept of the digital skin of the future smart construction site.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides a systematic and hierarchical classification of 114 articles from both industry and academia on the digital skin concept and evaluates them. The hierarchical classification is based on application areas relevant to construction, such as augmented reality, building information model-based visualisation, labour tracking, supply chain tracking, safety management, mobile equipment tracking and schedule and progress monitoring. Evaluations of the research papers were conducted based on three pillars: validation of technological feasibility, onsite application and user acceptance testing.
Findings
Technologies learned about in the literature review enabled the envisaging of the pervasive construction site of the future. The paper presents scenarios for the future context-aware construction site, including the construction worker, construction procurement management and future real-time safety management systems.
Originality/value
Based on the gaps identified by the review in the body of knowledge and on a broader analysis of technology diffusion, the paper highlights the research challenges to be overcome in the advent of digital skin. The paper recommends that researchers follow a coherent process for smart technology design, development and implementation in order to achieve this vision for the construction industry.
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Rosita Belinda Maglie and Laura Centonze
The purpose of this paper is to explore two channels of communication (i.e. texts and images) from a non-governmental organization website called #DisruptAging with the aim of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore two channels of communication (i.e. texts and images) from a non-governmental organization website called #DisruptAging with the aim of finding how multimodal knowledge dissemination contributes to dismantling misconceptions about the aging process.
Design/methodology/approach
This analysis is based on an integrated approach that combines corpus-assisted discourse analysis (cf. Semino and Short, 2004; Baker et al., 2008, Baker, 2010) and multimodal critical discourse analysis (Machin and Mayr, 2012) via the American Medical Association format (2007) and the suite of FrameWorks tools (2015, 2017), which are applied to the collection of texts and images taken from #DisruptAging.
Findings
A total of 69 stories corresponding with 218 images of older adults have shown to be powerful textual and semiotic resources, designed both for educational and awareness-raising purposes, to promote the so-called “aging well discourse” (cf. Loos et al., 2017).
Social implications
This discursive approach to the textual and visual material found in #DisruptAging hopes to influence the governing institutions that we construct, and the people who are given power to run them, with the goal of fostering fair treatment of older people within society.
Originality/value
There is a lack of studies investigating counter-discourse forms available online, which use textual and visual language to change the way society conceives the idea of aging.
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There is a renowned interest in adaptability as an important principle for achieving circularity in the built environment. Circular building adaptability (CBA) could enable…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a renowned interest in adaptability as an important principle for achieving circularity in the built environment. Circular building adaptability (CBA) could enable long-term building utilisation and flexible use of space with limited material flows. This paper identifies and analyses design strategies facilitating CBA to propose a framework for enhancing the implementation of the concept.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews were conducted with professionals experienced in circular building design to explore the questions “How do currently applied design strategies enable CBA?” and “How can CBA be implemented through a conceptual design framework?”. The interviews encircled multi-residential building examples to identify currently applied circular design strategies. The interviews were analysed through qualitative content analysis using CBA determinants as a coding framework.
Findings
The results show that all ten CBA determinants are supported by design strategies applied in current circular building design. However, some determinants are more supported than others, and design strategies are often employed without explicitly considering adaptability. The design strategies that enable adaptability offer long-term solutions requiring large-scale modifications rather than facilitating low-impact adaptation by dwelling occupants. The proposed conceptual design framework could aid architects in resolving these issues and implementing CBA in their circular building design.
Originality/value
This paper’s contribution to CBA is threefold. It demonstrates design strategies facilitating CBA, proposes a conceptual design framework to apply the concept and identifies the need for a more comprehensive application of available adaptability strategies.
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Ayodele Oniku and Anthonia Farayola Joaquim
The study aims to examine female sexuality in marketing communications and how it shapes the millennial buying decisions in the fashion industry. The focus of the study is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to examine female sexuality in marketing communications and how it shapes the millennial buying decisions in the fashion industry. The focus of the study is to connect fashion industry and marketing communication to understand how female sexuality influence buying behaviours and decisions of the millennial.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was underpinned by the dimensions of skin colour, brand image and market share in sexual appealing marketing communication, and the millennial in the study comprises youths between the age of 21and 40 years and demographically defined by Wells and Guber (1966) as bachelors, Full nests 1 and 2. Multistage stage sampling was used with a structured questionnaire.
Findings
Findings show that youths, 2019 buying decisions and behaviours are strategically influenced by different manifestations of female sexuality in the context of the study and equally affect market share and patronage.
Research limitations/implications
The study shows what shapes the marketing communication strategies of the rising fashion industry but is limited to the millennial buying decisions and not the larger fashion industry consumers.
Practical implications
The needs for fashion industry to understand the influence of increasing use of female sexuality in marketing communication on male and female consumers and the effects on their respective buying behaviours is strategic to the industry as shown in the study.
Social implications
Female sexuality in marketing communication is strategic to fashion industry in today's market among youths.
Originality/value
The millennial constitutes a larger percentage of the developing economy market with rising income thus the need to understand their buying behaviours in the fashion industry
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Supakorn Tultrairatana and Phenphop Phansuea
The purpose of this article was to investigate the relationship between symptoms related to air pollution, mask-wearing, mask choices and related factors.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article was to investigate the relationship between symptoms related to air pollution, mask-wearing, mask choices and related factors.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional study among outpatient department (OPD) pollution clinic patients at Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital (PCNRH) during 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Findings
The most common symptom after exposure to air pollution that affects treatment in the OPD is respiratory symptoms. A total of 45.7% (107/234) of the population wears a mask, 55.1% (59/107) of the population that wears a mask wears a surgical mask, and only 10.3% (11/107) of them wear an N95 mask. Mask-wearing and air quality index (AQI) onset were associated with the respiratory symptoms group, whereas wearing an N95 mask or surgical mask was found to be a protective factor for the occurrence of respiratory symptoms (adjusted OR = 0.065, 95% CI: 0.014–0.306, p = 0.001 and adjusted OR = 0.154, 95% CI: 0.058–0.404, p < 0.001, respectively). Therefore, the best practice in the face of air pollution, while the resolution needs a long period, is to wear a mask. In this study, the results showed that the best type of mask to prevent respiratory symptoms from air pollution is the N95, followed by the surgical mask; cloth masks are not recommended to use to protect against respiratory symptoms from air pollution.
Research limitations/implications
Wearing an N95 and a surgical mask can help reduce respiratory symptoms. Hence, in addition to establishing hospital measures, cooperation from local and government agencies is necessary to effectively and jointly build a national health public policy framework.
Originality/value
1. This study provides evidence of a correlation between symptoms associated with air pollution and related factors, in-hospital visits in Bangkok, Thailand. 2. In this study, wearing an N95 mask and a surgical mask were found to be a protective factor for the occurrence of respiratory symptoms.
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Jia En Lee, Mei Ling Goh and Mohd Nazri Bin Mohd Noor
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors which will contribute to consumers’ purchase intention on skin care products. Four factors, namely, brand awareness, brand…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors which will contribute to consumers’ purchase intention on skin care products. Four factors, namely, brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty, were included in this study.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 150 sets of self-administered questionnaires were distributed to students in a local private university in Melaka. Convenience sampling was used and data collected were analysed using SmartPLS to perform the measurement model and structural model.
Findings
Findings have showed that there are positive relationships between brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty and consumers’ purchase intention towards skin care products. Furthermore, it is concluded that perceived quality is the most significant factor in influencing consumers’ purchase intention.
Originality/value
Firms are able to benefit from this study by formulating their brand management tactics referring to the findings to have competitive advantage over their competitors.
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Margherita Lisco and Radhlinah Aulin
The reuse of timber building parts, when designing new buildings, has become a topic of increasing discussion as a proposed circular solution in support of sustainable development…
Abstract
Purpose
The reuse of timber building parts, when designing new buildings, has become a topic of increasing discussion as a proposed circular solution in support of sustainable development goals. Designers face the difficulty of identifying and applying different design strategies for reuse due to multiple definitions, which are used interchangeably. The purpose of this study is to propose a taxonomy to define the relationships between various concepts and practices that comprise the relevant strategies for reuse, notably design for disassembly (DfD) and design for adaptability (DfA).
Design/methodology/approach
Literature reviews were conducted based on research publications over the previous 12 years and located through the Web of Science and Scopus.
Findings
A taxonomy for the design process grounded on two strategies for reuse is presented: DfD and DfA. Based on previous work, the taxonomy aims to build a vocabulary of definitions in DfD and DfA to support other researchers and practitioners working in the field.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to the design phase of timber-based buildings. It does not take into account the other phases of the construction process, neither other kind of construction methods.
Practical implications
The application of the taxonomy can facilitate communication between different actors and provide a way for building product manufacturers to demonstrate their reuse credentials, enabling them to produce and promote compliant products and thereby support design for reuse strategies.
Social implications
This paper could contribute to a closer collaboration of all stakeholders involved in the building process since the very early phases of the conceptual design.
Originality/value
This paper contributes a comprehensive taxonomy to support the deployment of circular reuse strategies and assist designers and other stakeholders from the earliest of phases in the building’s life cycle. The proposed definition framework provided by the taxonomy resolves the longstanding lack of a supporting vocabulary for reuse and can be used as a reference for researchers and practitioners working with the DfD and DfA.
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Anne van Stijn and Vincent Gruis
The transition to a circular economy in the built environment is key to achieving a resource-effective society. The built environment can be made more circular by applying…
Abstract
Purpose
The transition to a circular economy in the built environment is key to achieving a resource-effective society. The built environment can be made more circular by applying circular building components. The purpose of this paper is to present a design tool that can support industry in developing circular building components.
Design/methodology/approach
The tool was developed and tested in five steps. In Step 1, the authors analysed existing circular design frameworks to identify gaps and develop requirements for the design tool (Step 2). In Step 3, the authors derived circular design parameters and options from existing frameworks. In Step 4, the authors combined and specified these to develop the “circular building components generator” (CBC-generator). In Step 5, the CBC-generator was applied in the development of an exemplary component: the circular kitchen and tested in a student workshop.
Findings
The CBC-generator is a three-tiered design tool, consisting of a technical, industrial and business model generator. These generators are “parameter based”; they consist of a parameter-option matrix and design canvasses. Different variants for circular components can be synthesised by filling the canvasses through systematically “mixing and matching” design options.
Research limitations/implications
The developed tool does not yet support establishing causal links between “parameter-options” and identification of the most circular design variant.
Practical implications
The CBC-generator provides an important step to support the building industry in developing and implementing circular building components in the built environment.
Originality/value
Whilst existing tools and frameworks are not comprehensive, nor specifically developed for designing circular building components, the CBC-generator successfully supports the integral design of circular building components. First, it provides all the design parameters which should be considered; second, it provides extensive design options per parameter; and third, it supports systematic synthesis of design options to a cohesive and comprehensive circular design.
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Ying Li, Li Zhao, Kun Gao, Yisheng An and Jelena Andric
The purpose of this paper is to characterize distracted driving by quantifying the response time and response intensity to an emergency stop using the driver’s physiological…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to characterize distracted driving by quantifying the response time and response intensity to an emergency stop using the driver’s physiological states.
Design/methodology/approach
Field tests with 17 participants were conducted in the connected and automated vehicle test field. All participants were required to prioritize their primary driving tasks while a secondary nondriving task was asked to be executed. Demographic data, vehicle trajectory data and various physiological data were recorded through a biosignalsplux signal data acquisition toolkit, such as electrocardiograph for heart rate, electromyography for muscle strength, electrodermal activity for skin conductance and force-sensing resistor for braking pressure.
Findings
This study quantified the psychophysiological responses of the driver who returns to the primary driving task from the secondary nondriving task when an emergency occurs. The results provided a prototype analysis of the time required for making a decision in the context of advanced driver assistance systems or for rebuilding the situational awareness in future automated vehicles when a driver’s take-over maneuver is needed.
Originality/value
The hypothesis is that the secondary task will result in a higher mental workload and a prolonged reaction time. Therefore, the driver states in distracted driving are significantly different than in regular driving, the physiological signal improves measuring the brake response time and distraction levels and brake intensity can be expressed as functions of driver demographics. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study using psychophysiological measures to quantify a driver’s response to an emergency stop during distracted driving.
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The authors aim to develop a conceptual framework for longitudinal estimation of stress-related states in the wild (IW), based on the machine learning (ML) algorithms that use…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors aim to develop a conceptual framework for longitudinal estimation of stress-related states in the wild (IW), based on the machine learning (ML) algorithms that use physiological and non-physiological bio-sensor data.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors propose a conceptual framework for longitudinal estimation of stress-related states consisting of four blocks: (1) identification; (2) validation; (3) measurement and (4) visualization. The authors implement each step of the proposed conceptual framework, using the example of Gaussian mixture model (GMM) and K-means algorithm. These ML algorithms are trained on the data of 18 workers from the public administration sector who wore biometric devices for about two months.
Findings
The authors confirm the convergent validity of a proposed conceptual framework IW. Empirical data analysis suggests that two-cluster models achieve five-fold cross-validation accuracy exceeding 70% in identifying stress. Coefficient of accuracy decreases for three-cluster models achieving around 45%. The authors conclude that identification models may serve to derive longitudinal stress-related measures.
Research limitations/implications
Proposed conceptual framework may guide researchers in creating validated stress-related indicators. At the same time, physiological sensing of stress through identification models is limited because of subject-specific reactions to stressors.
Practical implications
Longitudinal indicators on stress allow estimation of long-term impact coming from external environment on stress-related states. Such stress-related indicators can become an integral part of mobile/web/computer applications supporting stress management programs.
Social implications
Timely identification of excessive stress may improve individual well-being and prevent development stress-related diseases.
Originality/value
The study develops a novel conceptual framework for longitudinal estimation of stress-related states using physiological and non-physiological bio-sensor data, given that scientific knowledge on validated longitudinal indicators of stress is in emergent state.
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