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In recent years a new type of pavement has gained popularity in the United Kingdom this type is called Semi flexible Pavements (SFP). It consists of porous asphalt with high air voids between (25-35) % and is filled with cementitious grout materials. SFP is a combination road surface that incorporates the effects of both porous asphalt and cement paste grout. In addition it has proven to function well in strongly loaded freeways and airport pavement. The primary goal of this research was to assess the performance and durability of SFP contained sustainable grout material. The Reed Waste Ash (RWA) was adopted as a partial replacement for conventional grout material and Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) used in SFP. Also superplasticizer (SP) was used to improve the fluidity of grout and waste paper fiber (W-PF) was used as a modifier for asphalt binder. The indirect Tensile Stress (ITS) and Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR) tests were used to evaluate the resistance of new SFP to cracking and moisture susceptibility while the wheel track test was used to assess the resistance to permanent deformation. The results showed that the SFP containing OPC+10% RWA enhanced the moisture susceptibility of SFP up to 83.52 %. In addition, the result of the abrasion test of the SFP mixture containing OPC+10%RWA gives a great improvement, reached to 55% and 88% for unaged and aged specimens, respectively, when compared to the control mix. The rutting resistance was improved by 85% for the above mentioned replacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The professional skills required to be a successful engineer continue to grow and expand as the engineering disciplines evolve. In the United Kingdom, the Engineering Council has released the latest version of the Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes (AHEP). AHEP4 as it has become known covers a wide range of topics central to engineering disciplines. As well as traditional core professional and subject requirements for engineering this document introduces challenges for the future such as sustainability, EDI, and cybersecurity. In addition, there is an expectation that appropriate digital skills for engineers form part of the toolkit for engineers as they move towards chartered engineering status. This paper discusses the digital skills that will enable engineers to develop their skill set as engineering professionals, enhance their employability by developing digital skills in the context of their engineering specialism and ensure that they have the digital skills to enable their activities to contribute to the betterment of society. In the paper the work done to embed digital skills in the engineering curriculum will be discussed. We will then go on to discuss the work done with engineering employers to identify the digital skills expectations for graduates entering employment and finally how the continued professional development process for digital skills can be embraced as engineers move through their careers. The session will conclude with a discussion on how colleagues from the UK and from Malaysia can work together to develop a framework to support engineers in developing their digital skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching technical writing to engineering researchers particularly post graduate students is a demanding and complex task. Often the challenge faced by the language instructor is in having inadequate understanding on students' expected writing output which is engineering research publication. While the language instructors may find the language use aspect manageable, it is the understanding on expected writing output for engineering discipline that is a challenge; therefore, supporting language module developers to understand those expected outputs is essential and needed for the advancement in language teaching. In view on the need for the description of the targeted output which is engineering publication, this study focuses on supporting the understanding of engineering research publication specifically on drones. This study is aimed to describe the perimeter of research publication on drones written by prolific engineering writers. This paper uses bibliometric analysis method which is based on identifying the core research and authors, as well as the works that cited them. This study examines 275 research publications indexed in SCOPUS database and also investigates 1947 research publications that cited the 275 publications as reference source. The findings show that the publications are mostly articles, conference papers and reviews deriving mostly from the US, China and the UK whereas the citing documents are mostly from China, the UK and the US. This paper presents the description on the perimeter for both groups. Such description provides a ready narrative to language instructors as well as ready narratives and guidance on writing/content dimension for young scholars embarking on writing scholarly articles on drone research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021 the UK government published a review of lessons learned by the UK highways sector from extreme weather emergencies. As described in this paper, the review focused on the sector's engagement with integrated emergency management and managing highways as critical 'lifeline' infrastructure. Focusing on robustness, reliability, redundancy, rapidity, resourcefulness and recovery, the review identified the need to develop consistent rapid impact assessment reporting, linked to regional- and national-level mutual aid contingencies. Underpinning this was the need to strengthen highway engineers' ability to 'prepare for their worst day, rather than their average day'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rational for this research paper is to examine the challenges faced by international students with focus on Nigerian students embracing the British education system and impact on their motivation and academic performance. The paper presents a critical overview in relation to the barriers faced by Nigerian students in terms of obtaining and maintaining their visas, seeking employment, cultural integration, and access to education and how these challenges impact on their motivation and academic performance. The study utilizes both quantitative and qualitative research methods to provide a comprehensive analysis of the challenges faced by Nigerian students in regard to studying in the UK and keeping up to visa requirements with limited working hours given to study. To ascertain the degree of impact, a primary data was carried out to hear from few of the students. Findings of research shows that majority of the Nigerian students that came to study in the UK had high expectations with the hope that coming to study and work in the UK was the best option to escape from the problem of high unemployment and hardship faced back in their home countries. Some expressed the disappointments on how they struggled to find accommodation with family and not sure if coming to the UK was worth the money, they paid to facilitate their study visa. The most disappointed expectations were the cost of living and not being able to get the twenty hours jobs allowed to work while studying to help them with excessive cost of living. Some felt that more support is needed to help international students in their studies in the UK considering the high fees paid to gain British education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2020, UKRI/STFC's Scientific Computing Department (SCD) have developed several remote-first public engagement activities, drawing on its long and rich history of delivering face to face public engagement and outreach, as part of the wider STFC programme. With COVID19 restrictions lifted in the UK, STFC has been able to resume in-person public engagement, both on site and in public places. However, this has not meant a complete return to exclusively in-person engagement, but rather, recognising the clear benefits of remote engagement to meeting our strategic public engagement aims, STFC has produced a blended programme for 2022/23, with a mixture of in-person, remote and hybrid events. This paper presents how the remote activities have evolved since their initial creation, how the remote activities have become part of a blended programme and how the in-person activities in place since before the pandemic have been improved as a result of developing the remote activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High Speed Two, a planned high-speed railway in the UK, could play a key role in reducing national greenhouse gas emissions. The project has adopted whole-life carbon dioxide emissions reduction as a core project value and is using the PAS 2080 specification to implement carbon dioxide management. Effective leadership and governance, metrics, innovation and standards, and commercial solutions underpin the approach. This paper outlines the carbon dioxide management work undertaken to date, describes the proposed next steps to enhance the approach and summarises the lessons learned for other infrastructure projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK needs to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of its transport sector to meet its net-zero target. This paper considers the carbon dioxide cycle for two UK motorway bridges built in the 1960s. The emissions estimates are validated using both carbon dioxide emission intensity and by comparison with published data of similar assets, while user emissions are estimated from estimates of the number of vehicles using the assets. Conclusions on past and future carbon dioxide emissions are drawn from these examples. The work confirms that driving down user-generated emissions rather than capital or operational and maintenance emissions is the key to achieving net-zero targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People Like Me is an intervention activity for 11-to 16-year-old girls developed by the Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) Campaign and Professor Averil Macdonald. It is part of a long tradition of efforts—in the United Kingdom and globally—to tackle gender inequality in the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and to encourage more diversity in the scientific, engineering and technology sectors. The core concept of People Like Me is that raising awareness of the range of possible careers and jobs in STEM will encourage girls to continue studying science subjects in school and to aspire to STEM careers. This novel project focuses not on what scientists and engineers do, but on personality traits. People Like Me encourages girls to think about their natural strengths and characteristics, and recognize the same qualities in role models working in STEM who share similar characteristics. This paper explores the intervention's success in changing attitudes about STEM careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexually transmitted infections are highly prevalent in the United Kingdom, and chlamydia, which is largely asymptomatic, is the most common. Digital health is being integrated into health service provision to support the increasing demand for testing and treatment. However, with this integration, there is a need to ensure that the design, development, and deployment of digital health platforms are inclusive and accessible for all. This paper explores the needs of blind and partially sighted people when using an online sexual health clinic through interviews with seven blind and partially sighted people. The findings identified key barriers and facilitators that impact the accessibility of online sexual health clinics, including the accessibility of the visual content, particularly for self-testing and the need to consider the privacy of disclosing sexual health information. We align with the principles of Universal Design and, as such, present design recommendations to inform the design of inclusive online sexual health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously, the authors presented a 1/3 octave band heavy/hard impact prediction method based on force pulse measurements from a drop tower. Since then, we have been applying the method with a variety of success. Previous papers presented on this topic were based on above grade applications in North American buildings. This paper will be looking at a slab-on-grade construction in the United Kingdom. This paper will be focused on the accuracy of the method and possible modes of error. It is shown that improved methodologies to measure the force pulse increased the accuracy of the prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper p esents the key characteristics and benefits from production and installation of asphalt materials at reduced temperature by using warm mix asphalt (WMA). Two broad approaches to manufacturing WMA, namely foaming processes and additive technologies offer different range of working temperatures but having similar their design requirements. The recent update to the UK Specification for Highway Works is presented, and findings from 6-year performance monitoring confirmed satisfactory performance of WMA, in terms of maintaining good stiffness modulus and good resistance against rutting, moisture and age-hardening. The immediate benefit to producing LTAs is the reduction in energy consumption required by burning fuels to heat conventional asphalt mixture. Other benefits include lower carbon emission, better health and safety for workers, and less odours generated at the plant and the paving site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the increasing engagement of the UK physics community with recruitment, career progression, and retention of women at all stages of their involvement with physics. The report by the UK country team for ICWIP 2014 (Canada) summarised the role of the Institute of Physics in promoting physics and supporting physicists from schools through universities to industry In this paper we present a broad picture, with particular highlights of the last 3 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are ups and downs observed in shipbuilding growth. United Kingdom (UK) was the market leader in global shipbuilding before WWII. After that, Japan became the dominant shipbuilding nation in the 1960s and slowly lost its competitive advantage to the promising industrial nation South Korea, as they had the advantages of much cheaper wages, a suitable shipbuilding strategy, strong government support, and cheaper currency. South Korean shipbuilding overtook Japan's in 2003. In 2009, during and after the global financial crisis China became a global shipbuilding leader leaving behind South Korea and Japan by using the same strategy and technique of the two shipbuilding giants. China utilized the global financial crisis to develop its shipbuilding and they initially targeted the medium and small global market of containers, tankers, and cargo ships. Bangladesh is a maritime nation with a glorious shipping and shipbuilding history. However, the country has failed to keep pace with the global shipbuilding race due to a few reasons. We must utilize our potential and opportunities to meet the challenges for sustainable development of the shipbuilding industry. This analytical paper will describe the potentials and challenges of local shipbuilding in a contest of global and will suggest a suitable shipbuilding market for Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a longitudinal study into two different national ecosystems for university technology transfer, which relates to the entrepreneurial university in Sweden and UK. The design issue has gained increasing interest. It is not clear to what extent, if any, the effects of policy are on the contingency of technology transfer ecosystem and organisation of the same, in a given country. Different European countries have different and long-standing traditions of policy development that affect the process of policy development regarding technology transfer, and it is not obvious how these policies and outcomes on design have emerged and developed historically. The research questions that the paper aims to shed light on is - Why is university technology transfer ecosystem, system and organisational entities with respect to what is labelled the entrepreneurial university design the way they are and what influence on the design do the different historical development trajectories of policy? The study builds on 106 retrospective and in-depth interviews conducted in UK and Sweden in 2003-2015 with UTT stakeholders from 20 universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A decade ago, there were calls for various sectors, including the construction industry to deliver social value through their construction and infrastructure work activities. Social value is economic, social, and environmental impacts on local communities from a construction organisation through the execution of its business. In the built environment laws and regulations are now in place to encourage the construction sector to shift toward social value creation. The United Kingdom, for example, has the Public Services (SV) Act 2012; the European Union has the Sustainable Procurement Directive 2014; and Malaysia has the Social Impact Assessment Act A1522. Despite the Act and Regulations were established, the current understanding and conceptualisation of social value, particularly in the context of project delivery, remains ambiguous. The construction industry is known for having temporary project coalition consisting of diverse organisations from all industry disciplines known as temporary multi-organisations (TMO) that leads to different interpretations of social value. The purpose of this paper is to investigate TMO's social value by examining the differences in what social value means/perspectives and practices and the tensions of those differences. This study employs an interpretivist paradigm, an abductive approach, and a case study design methodology to accomplish this. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from case studies involving 45 participants. The data was further analysed using thematic analysis. This study extends the body of knowledge by explaining different perspectives and practices of social value adoption within a TMO that holistically combines factors at the individual, organisation, and project levels through institutional logic and institutional work lens. This study contributes novel insights into the understanding of social value adoption in construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embracing the transformation and changes that innovation can bring is crucial for a business to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in such a complex, volatile and competitive environment. Ignoring the transformative nature of the business environment and keeping operating with a business model that is outdated and does not move with time, can be extremely detrimental to a company and it may ultimately lead to the cannibalization of the business itself. The business consultancy sector in the UK saw a dramatic increase in the number of firms operating in the field. This brings the need for business consultancies to differentiate through innovation in their entrepreneurial proposition whether in a product or a service, in a new way of operating, in the resolution of an issue or in the implementation of systems, production or quality that will change the way in which a firm creates, delivers, and captures new value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of digital data in the fourth industrial revolution brings different trends with new opportunities and challenges for the engineering design community. As an opportunity, these trends would impact engineering design. However, the challenge is finding applications for these trends in engineering design. Crowdsourcing is one of the trends inspired by digital data. It is outsourcing an individually performed task to be mass-performed. This paper explores the application of crowdsourcing in identifying engineering design problems. Identifying an engineering design problem is an aspect of engineering design considered challenging but necessary for inventions. Secondary data from 63 invention-related cases and an interview with a renowned UK inventor are presented. The data contains scenarios on how the engineering design problems solved to qualify for a UK patent grant or application are identified. Lessons from the case studies are presented and discussed, especially regarding crowdsourcing engineering design problems. These seem to be promising ways of supporting the identification of new engineering design problems with inventive benefits once solved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy is increasingly used and promoted. In the UK, for example, large scale renewable energy farms have been used to supply electricity with great effect. Given the large number of homes, there is considerable impact to be made by small scale residential renewable energy systems. Despite solar panels being the most common form of residential renewable energy technology, only 4% of buildings in the UK support solar technology of any kind. For direct electricity generation, silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) arrays are the most utilised, and when used in a residential setting, they are typically mounted on the sloped roofs. This is where the problem lies. The technology comes with a high cost, and there is further financial burden of installation and maintenance, making solar energy inaccessible for many UK homeowners. This paper presents a research and design innovation project to make PV technology more accessible in the UK. Edge Solar, the innovative, affordable, new PV system concept for UK homes may become a promising solution to significantly improve the accessibility to the PV technology and renewable energy at the household level in the UK and beyond with further development and commercialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gendered online abuse communicated via social networking sites is a global issue. This study investigates the online abuse received by women serving in academia, journalism, policing, and politics in the UK, USA and EU. It reveals that online abuse consists of seven elements: defamation, emotional harm, harassment, threat, belittlement, silencing, and criticism of appearance. Online abuse is misogynistic, frequently includes violent threats, and dismisses women's contributions to online discussions. The study also reveals that the abuse directed at women varies by occupation, with police officers most likely to receive abuse that denigrates their ability or appearance; politicians and journalists more likely to receive violent threats, and academics receiving both. The paper concludes by setting this empirical investigation in its wider context, with an overview of the regulatory and legislative response to online abuse across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This evidence based study is derived from other work in progress related to the history of engineering education in the UK. Its interest lies in the fact that in 1955/56 the British government created a sub-system of higher technological education in England and Wales that had as its objective, the education of highly qualified engineers and applied scientists for manufacturing industry. This sub-system came to an end in 1964/5. While it could have been the subject of an official evaluation, it was not. However, fortuitously, it was established during a period increasing interest in research in higher education, and several researches addressed various aspects of the system that, accidentally, make a retrospective, but partial informal evaluation possible. The discussion is presented in two papers because of the structure of the conference, and the need to provide the detailed explanation of the cultural system in which the development took place which would be of substantial length. That is the purpose of this, the first paper. Together these papers have a secondary function of showing factors that contributed to the success and failure of a major innovation in order that the mistakes made will not be repeated in the future: that is to foster learning of the collective past. Their final purpose is more international collaboration among engineering educators and its research fraternity. Since the social forces (attitudes, beliefs and values) at work in society ultimately determine the success or failure of educational innovations, part 1 (this paper) shows the importance of social class in what is valued and not valued in the English educational system. The academic is preferred to the vocational. Grammar schools and universities are associated with the academic. Technical and further education colleges with the vocational. The antecedent philosophy driving this innovation in degree level technological education, as expressed in the 1945 report of the Percy Committee on Higher Technological Education placed the Colleges of Advanced Technology (CATs) created in 1955/6 firmly in the vocational sector. The results of the investigations carried out in the CATs reported in part 2 (the second paper) showed that schoolteachers and their pupils tended to view the CATs as second class citizens: that most students had good experiences of industrial training although many believed it could be improved, and that the curriculum offered tended to model that found in the universities. The Robbins Committee believed that the curriculum offered was of degree level standard and recommended that the CATs be given university status, which they were in 1964/5. For the convenience of the reader part 1 is preceded by a list of abbreviations, and a time line. The research for the papers summarised in part 2 took place between 1960 and 1965. A note on problems of presenting studies about non-American systems of engineering and technological education at ASEE conferences is included in the introduction to part 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A former UK gasworks site has been cleaned up sustainably using solar power. The small but multi-award-winning project involved designing and deploying an in situ remediation system driven entirely by photovoltaic energy. Over 22 months it recovered 6100 l of hazardous coal tar and creosote from a 9.5 m deep infilled former gas holder tank in Gateshead, north-east England. This paper describes how options appraisal, stakeholder mapping and sustainability assessment led to a genuinely low-emissions, cost-effective and durable treatment solution with the highest health and safety standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical qualitative study reports a subset of findings derived from a wider narrative inquiry conducted in the UK. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with six participants: four who self-define as non-binary or neutrois and have lived experience of adoption, fostering or birth parenting and two social workers with experience assessing and supporting non-binary carers. Purposive followed by snowball sampling sought to include participants with a range of identities from this hard to access sample. A thematic analysis was employed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six stages and utilising an analysis framework integrating elements of cisgenderism, stigma theory and Foucauldian analysis of discourse and power. Findings showed three key themes emerged: 1). Barriers for non-binary carers, 2) Prejudice in adoption and fostering matching processes, 3). Intersectional disadvantage. Cisgenderism was found to affect non-binary carers at micro, meso and macro levels, ranging from the interactions people had with individual family members, friends and professionals, to organisational policies, procedures and responses, to overarching ways in which wider cisgenderist ideas have infused and influenced society. The stigma attached to non-binary identities is unearthed and unpacked to contribute to a developing conversation aiming to promote inclusion of non-binary identities within social and family life. The key finding of this study that non-binary people do experience specific detriment when trying to start or grow their families adds to a burgeoning conversation on the wider specific detriment that non-binary identity faces within contemporary society. This paper speaks to the ways in which cisgenderism can subtly and pervasively influence a devaluing of identities that sit outside of entrenched binary gender norms. The findings of this exploratory study are as such relevant not only to professionals and academics working with non-binary carers, but more widely to gender theorists and sociologists across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopting Suchman's (1995) conceptualisation of legitimacy within organisations, this study seeks to understand firstly, how entrepreneurship education itself has been legitimised, secondly, how entrepreneurship educators are legitimised, and lastly, how pedagogical approaches in EE are legitimised. The theoretical framework for the paper distinguishes between institutional legitimacy and strategic legitimacy. We seek to both understand how societal institutions (e.g. policy makers, industry) frame entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education, and how HE institutions in turn respond strategically to this framing. These legitimisation strategies can be framed as being 'pragmatic', 'moral' and 'cognitive' (Suchman, 1995). The study will draw on data drawn from the UK in the first instance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This evidence based study follows from a previous paper which described the origins of a unique sub-system of higher technological education that was fortuitously established by the British government in England and Wales in 1955, and lasted for a decade. Although no official evaluation was ever undertaken of the colleges that formed that sub-system, a number of investigations into different aspects of the diploma programme that was the core of the system were completed. The specifications of one of these studies accidentally required a study of the system, or at the very least "pictures" of the functioning of different components of the system. Unfortunately the study of the system as a "whole" was never published. However, inspection of the other investigations suggests that taken together their parameters would provide an informal evaluation of this sub-system. The intention of this discussion is to undertake such an evaluation. But no attempt is made to incorporate into the discussion the results of work undertaken by other authorities that was tangential to or in any other way related to the development and demise of the sub-system. The system and its development described in the previous paper demonstrated the importance of understanding the culture in which educational decisions are made, for those decisions are a reflection of the society in which they are made. Opportunities taken, and opportunities lost are a function of those mores; for some a decision will be an opportunity to be taken, and for others it will be an opportunity lost. This study confirms the importance of "culture" in educational decision making, be it in terms of career choice, institutional status, or curriculum and teaching. Following a brief introduction, essentially a short precis of paper 1, answers to fourteen questions derived from the philosophy of the Percy Report, and other elements of its discussion are given in the light of the findings of the investigations undertaken. Taken together these papers raise questions about the scope of engineering education research. Most of the participants in the investigations reported here were working in social science departments; several in pursuit of higher degrees. Given that the Percy and other official committees used the term technology (ist) to describe engineers, and given that the public may think in this way if they are not thinking about IT and smart phones, might not a better expression of the area be engineering and technology education research? A list of abbreviations together with a time line is given at the beginning of paper 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new underground triple escalator has been provided at Bank Station in London as part of a major capacity upgrade project. Unusually, the inclined escalator tunnel was excavated uphill rather than downhill due to restricted access. Using a sprayed-concrete lining and no pilot tunnel, it was a first in the UK for a triple escalator. The new escalator intercepted several existing structures which had to be backfilled and then broken out, some just 0.5 m from operational Tube lines. This paper sets out design considerations, construction sequence decisions and operational risk management, and discusses the existing assets' response to uphill tunnelling based on a comprehensive monitoring scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 Lockdown created a new kind of environment both in the UK and globally, never experienced before or likely to occur again. A vital and time-critical working group was formed with the aim of gathering crowd-source high quality baseline noise levels and other supporting information. The acoustic community were mobilised through existing networks engaging private companies, public organisations, and academics to gather data in accessible places. A website was designed to advertise the project, provide instructions and to formalise the uploading of noise data, observations, and Soundscape feedback. The data was collected at 99 locations by 80 acousticians (64 male, 16 female) using professional grade calibrated instrumentation with 83% of measurements including spectral data. The locations covered 19 urban, 61 suburban, and 19 rural sites. The Lockdown 1 dataset consisted of a total of 1.6 GB of measurements and material (video, photos) covering 834 days between 1st April and 14th July 2020. This makes the award winning Quiet Project the largest ever noise and soundscape database ever recorded. The paper presents the quietest places in the UK and Ireland. As a government funded research project the databank will be made publicly available to assist future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the deadliest type of skin cancer, melanoma has a high mortality rate and takes away thousands of lives in the UK every year. However, if detected at earlier stage, the survival rate largely increases. With the development of machine learning, many well-known pre-trained models were used to detect melanoma accurately through imaging analysis. The overall performance is far beyond skillful human experts. This paper examined the performance of a pre-trained model—Visual Geometry Group network (VGG) on International Skin Imaging Collaboration (ISIC) 2019 challenge dataset in automatically classifying melanoma and non-melanoma diseases. The highest accuracy achieved was 0.9067 with AU ROC over 0.93. Ablation studies illustrated potential factors that could affect model performance, including training data size, frozen layers, classifier nodes and data augmentation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration across disciplinary boundaries is vital to address the complex challenges and opportunities in Digital Health. We present findings and experiences of applying the principles of Team Science to a digital health research project called 'The Wearable Clinic'. Challenges faced were a lack of shared understanding of key terminology and concepts, and differences in publication cultures between disciplines. We also encountered more profound discrepancies, relating to definitions of "success" in a research project. We recommend that collaborative digital health research projects select a formal Team Science methodology from the outset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the confidentiality management of tax accrual working papers. It states that in interim, taxpayers are advised to take necessary measures that may help them in protecting confidentiality of their tax accrual working papers. It mentions the legal framework of the disputes in Canada, U.S., and Great Britain on the ability of tax authorities to access the subjective analysis of taxpayers and the analysis of their professional advisers.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the way the UK population lived and worked during 2020. This paper explores the challenges faced while boring the west section of the Thames Tideway Tunnel in London, UK, with particular focus on the first national lockdown that began in March 2020. It discusses how the reduction in personnel triggered closure of the site, the technical challenge of safely stopping a tunnel boring machine for extended periods of time and the practical difficulties of creating a Covid-safe environment in a challenging space. This case study can be used to inform other underground construction projects coping with coronavirus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in Britain's biggest debt in over 60 years. However, the country also needs to invest over £600 billion in infrastructure to stimulate economic recovery as well as meet its target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. While the UK government's private finance initiative model for procuring public infrastructure has fallen out of favour, private investment can deliver major public benefits if properly managed. This paper highlights both good and bad outcomes of private finance initiatives around the world, and suggests how they can best be used to support the UK government's long-term aspirations to 'build back better' and meet its climate targets. The key is to focus on specific projects and to structure deals to provide quality, value for money and longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embracing the transformation and changes that innovation can bring is crucial for a business to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in such a complex, volatile and competitive environment. Ignoring the transformative nature of the business environment and keeping operating with a business model that is outdated and does not move with time, can be extremely detrimental to a company and it may ultimately lead to the cannibalization of the business itself. The business consultancy sector in the UK saw a dramatic increase in the number of firms operating in the field. This brings the need for business consultancies to differentiate through innovation in their entrepreneurial proposition whether in a product or a service, in a new way of operating, in the resolution of an issue or in the implementation of systems, production or quality that will change the way in which a firm creates, delivers, and captures new value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on Building Information Modelling (BIM) focused on the design and construction stages of engineering projects. Fewer studies investigated the use of BIM in refurbishment projects. The aim of this research is to examine the process of hotel refurbishment in an operational environment and how this can be enhanced in BIM environments. The research approach is qualitative however quantitative data were used to complement the qualitative data. Questionnaires were completed by industry professionals in the UK. Themes were identified across hotel refurbishments in varying properties. The findings suggest that a close integration between the construction team and hotel operation is paramount to achieving a successful hotel refurbishment process and highlight the role of the project manager in facilitating communication across stakeholders. This reflects the essence of working in interdisciplinary collaborative BIM environments however BIM is not widely implemented in many refurbishment projects. The research contributes by proposing procedures for undertaking refurbishment in operational hotels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on Building Information Modelling (BIM) focused on the design and construction stages of engineering projects. Fewer studies investigated the use of BIM in refurbishment projects. The aim of this research is to examine the process of hotel refurbishment in an operational environment and how this can be enhanced in BIM environments. The research approach is qualitative however quantitative data were used to complement the qualitative data. Questionnaires were completed by industry professionals in the UK. Themes were identified across hotel refurbishments in varying properties. The findings suggest that a close integration between the construction team and hotel operation is paramount to achieving a successful hotel refurbishment process and highlight the role of the project manager in facilitating communication across stakeholders. This reflects the essence of working in interdisciplinary collaborative BIM environments however BIM is not widely implemented in many refurbishment projects. The research contributes by proposing procedures for undertaking refurbishment in operational hotels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK's national railway network has evaluated climate change impacts, risks and adaptation solutions. This review establishes the case for greater attention to be given to the vulnerability of rail transport beyond the mainline network. By considering the resilience of high-speed rail, mass rapid transit systems and light rail transit systems, the overall resilience of journeys can be improved. To this end, this review establishes current knowledge, practice and policy relating to rail beyond the mainline and outlines the next steps to achieve resilience. By providing this overview of advances, challenges and opportunities, practitioners and academics alike will be stimulated to pursue further resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interest for need of electrical energy extends everywhere on the world. Along these lines, various countries started to look for trade wellspring of essentialness, as a result of weariness of typical fuel. Microbial fuel cells (MFC) were considered as promising strategy to create power from wastewater with the assistance of common microorganism present in the wastewater just as treat the waste water in the treatment interaction. In this cycle the microorganisms present in the wastewater move from a diminished electron benefactor to an electron beneficiary at a higher electrochemical potential. It has been demonstrated in the prior investigation that the MFC has great capacity in treating journal wastewater and home-grown wastewater and the energy creation is acceptable. In this research study a new breed of fuel cells utilizing the microorganisms to generate power from biomass is being discussed. This paper discusses the comparison of power density generated in a microbial fuel cell using 2 different membranes, that is proton exchange membrane and reverse osmosis membrane. The microbial fuel cell uses glucose as substrate with yeast cell used for the aerobic oxidation of the substrate. The test rig of a microbial fuel cell has been fabricated using a proton exchange membrane obtained from NCBE, UK. The same fuel cell assembly has been utilized for conducting experiments to study the effect upon using reverse osmosis membrane. The extractable force of a biofuel cell is the result of the cell current and cell voltage. The pace of electron move from the outside of the metabolites has been interceded utilizing a go-between reagent. Methylene blue is utilized as the go-between reagent in both the layers led utilizing the microbial energy unit. The proton acceptor utilized in the two frameworks was Potassium hexacyanoferrate (III). The outcomes demonstrated that a most extreme force thickness of about 190 m W/m2 can be accomplished utilizing a converse assimilation film which is practically like the force densities of the proton trade layer. Thus, from the test examines, it was apparent that the proton trade layers can be supplanted by switch assimilation layers in light of the fact that industrially accessible RO layers are somewhat less expensive and simple to obtain than PEM. It was additionally demonstrated dependent on an examination there is a successful decrease in BOD and COD substance just as great energy age bring about the wastewater treatment measure. On the off chance that a similar hypothesis executed for an enormous scope, it can uphold achieving economic development and it helps in achieving Reduce, Recycle and Reuse during the time spent treating the wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many arts organisations can generate large amounts of value through their activities and networks, but often find it difficult to gather, analyse and evidence the data that can inform business decisions and leverage opportunities for product and service innovation. Compared to larger corporations, the creative ecosystem in which they operate depends on "quick business" and requires them to be more agile, adaptive and faster when identifying hidden potential within their networks. Moreover, their interdisciplinary and collaborative ways of working create emerging opportunities for spin-off companies and other entrepreneurial ventures. This study (part of the Arts API Project) aimed to examine the networks of arts organisations to understand some of their defining features and characteristics. The project aimed to show that by visualising and analysing relational data, it was envisioned that arts organisations would be able to operate on a more evidence-based, commercial and entrepreneurial basis, enabling better informed decision making and more defined business strategies. This paper focuses on the role and value of big data in the Arts and Humanities, provides the context and background to the Arts API Project and outlines the methodological approach, presenting one particular aspect of the larger research project. Adopting the technique of Social Network Analysis (SNA), the networks of five UK-based art organisations were visually mapped and analysed using measures such as Density, Connectivity, Centralization and Clique Participation Index. Within the limitations of the study, the findings reveal valuable insights on the effect of de/centralisation of information flow within creative networks, the importance of maintaining a balance between weak and strong network ties and mitigating risk by distributing responsibility across networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Completed in 2019, the Thameslink Programme was a £7 billion scheme sponsored by the UK government to transform north–south rail travel across London. One of the most challenging elements was the redevelopment of London Bridge station. Following an earlier paper on the collaborative partnership between the client and delivery team, this paper focuses on the engineering challenges. These included removal of 140 Victorian arches to create a large new concourse beneath the platforms, design of bridges to cross the concourse that could be constructed in island sites between live tracks, and fabrication of modular platforms and canopies with hundreds of individual units to follow the curve of the tracks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The starting point for this study is the simulation study of Metcalfe et al. (2018) which suggested that retention times of the order of 10 h are required for natural flood management storage features to have a maximum effect on large flow peaks. A analysis of the celerity characteristics for some log jams at Tebay Gill, Cumbria (upland UK), suggests that the impacts of storage in slowing the celerities is only of the order of minutes. An analysis of storage-discharge dynamics based on observations at 4 jams reveals that the dynamics of storages can be represented with time constants of between 3 and 213 min, still well short of those required to maximise the effects for larger flood flows. That is not to say that there will not be reduction in flood peaks for smaller events, only that for large events the effects will be limited. A spreadsheet tool for retention times has been developed to help in the design of new schemes that is freely available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK's Higher Education landscape embraces global diversity, with the country ranking second as a destination for international students. However, limited research attention has been given to understanding the challenges faced by these students, particularly regarding language proficiency and cultural adaptation, which affect their sense of belonging. This study aims to address these challenges by investigating the impact of ScLINGO, a web-based gaming platform, on enhancing language skills and fostering social integration among international students, including those studying to become health professionals. Drawing on existing literature, the study seeks to fill this gap and promote sociocultural adaptation through a digital gamified language-learning tool. ScLINGO offers personalized bingo cards and interactive language exercises to familiarize players with everyday phrases and enhance language proficiency, encouraging both independent learning and collaborative interaction. The study navigates through three phases of game development, informed by insights and feedback from practitioners, students, and technology developers. By promoting cross-cultural competence and communication, the study aims to create a more inclusive higher education environment. ScLINGO's pilot phase addresses the rationale behind the game, building-up phases, and stakeholder feedback, anticipating its role in addressing cross-cultural maladjustment and facilitating effective support mechanisms for international students. Ultimately, the findings aim to contribute to the development of support systems facilitating international students' transition and adaptation to diverse cultural and learning contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seminal paper by Hestenes and Stieffel [7] has given rise to an extensive investigation, leading to the development of effective conjugate gradient (CG) methods. In this paper, a new CG algorithm with exact line search which guarantees sufficient descent is proposed. The proposed method is a modified three-term type CG algorithm where the initial search direction is slightly deflected from the currently used Steepest Descent (SD) method. The proposed method is compared with the existing CG methods. These methods were tested using the standard unconstrained optimization functions. Experimental results provide evidence that the proposed method is in general superior to the classical CG methods and has a potential to significantly enhance the computational efficiency and robustness of the optimization method. These algorithms have been carried out by MATLAB R2016a, Intel(R) Core™ i3-7100U CPU @ 2.40GHz RAM 4.GB PC environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section presents several organization and management theory conference paper abstracts, including an ethnographic account focused on issues of identity and place in a Great Britain-based institution of further education, an exploration of how managers can draw upon their informal relations to create new knowledge, and a dynamic framework to assess how a firm strategically allocates its limited resources between improving its competitive position relative to rivals and its collective position shared with rivals.

Fully functioning hospitals are the backbone of society. The current design of hospitals in the UK and elsewhere tends to over-emphasise empirical knowledge and experimental research, but limits their ability to cope with new infectious diseases and increasing global connectedness. For example, around one-fifth of UK Covid-19 cases, including the majority of infected hospital healthcare workers, were infected in hospitals. This paper discusses a new agent-based modelling approach to developing more flexible and efficient hospital layouts that are better able to control the spread of infectious disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge of new product development (NPD) has seen a growth in literature on both idea generation and sustainability, but these two areas have not yet fully been integrated. The development of products from agricultural waste has particularly been overlooked, although the need to utilise sustainable materials and reuse waste is increasingly acknowledged. Our paper answers the question: How can different sources of agricultural food waste be utilized to create new product opportunities? We present a new framework for the identification and evaluation of NPD opportunities. This framework offers a new perspective to conceptualise different types of waste and identify their relative sensory, nutritional and functional properties. We present a case study of a UK tomato grower, using data gathered from interviews, attendance of meetings, observations and secondary data. Tomato production creates significant volumes of waste from unripe, imperfect, damaged and overripe fruits. Furthermore, processing tomatoes (for ketchup, passatas, juices, etc.) generates other kinds of waste such as seeds, skins and water. We show how firms can uncover new product opportunities through an analysis of each of these properties. For example, in tomato juice production around 5% of the raw material goes to waste since skins and seeds cannot be used. However, skins and seeds are nutritionally, sensorially and functionally useful and versatile. Nutrition: skins and seeds are rich in essential amino acids, minerals, fatty acids and lycopene, an antioxidant with several reported health benefits. Sensory: skin contains crystalline cellulose which can improve mouthfeel of food in low fat products, while seeds can increase hardness in flat breads. Functional: skins are partially permeable to liquids and gases, giving them potential for packaging and biodegradable tableware, while seed powder can be effective in removing organic dye molecules from coloured textile effluents. On the basis of our analysis we conclude that by examining the nutritional, sensory and functional characteristics of tomato waste, this can lead NPD managers to explore new alternatives in industries different from the original source of waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic forced firms worldwide to find new ways to use technology to digitize their innovation management. Against this backdrop, there is a growing interest in the question of how virtual collaboration and the associated use of ICT (Information Communication Technology) changes traditional innovation management processes. Using an affordance lens, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a heterogenous group of innovation managers from different industries to provide an exploratory view on innovation management during the pandemic. Our findings unveil three key affordances related to ICT-enabled innovation management processes: flexibility & speed, global collaboration, and information & data sharing. However, these affordances also come with a set of constraints, including individual constraints (e.g., lack of digital literacy or face-to-face creative exchanges), as well as structural constraints such as reliance on haptic artifacts for physical innovation infrastructure (e.g., laboratory work). In light of these findings, we conclude by proposing an ICTdriven strategic renewal of traditional innovation management processes toward a hybrid innovation management model that leverages the advantages of both virtual and physical innovation spaces and mitigates the constraints accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on 1 February 2020. This step has significant effects on the regulation of cross-border legal relationships, involving the United Kingdom. The current paper focuses on jurisdiction for the resolution of disputes arising from insurance. It is an important financial service on the internal market entered into in large quantities and a typical example for legal relationships, in which there is a significant difference in the financial possibilities or legal knowledge of the parties. These two features of insurance result in the fact, that the relevant legal regulation should ensure the efficient functioning of financial markets and the protection of consumers at the same time. Brexit gives an opportunity to summarize the main characteristics of the EU regulation on jurisdiction for legal disputes arising from insurance with special regard to the protection of weaker parties. At the same time, the analysis of this topic in a changing legal environment makes an outlook to the future of jurisdiction possible in respect of cross-border legal proceedings, arising from insurance and involving the United Kingdom. As the paper offers a synthesis of the normative environment and the related jurisprudence, the analysis can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the specificities of jurisdiction rules in insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread roll-out of electric vehicles (EV) is one important action sought by governments around the world to tackle climate change and to improve air quality in urban centres. However, this extensive rollout of EVs is likely to bring important challenges to the energy system, potentially requiring new generation capacity and network reinforcements [1]. It has been recognised that the timing ('smart' vs 'dumb') of EV charging could potentially increase or mitigate the undesired impacts of the EV rollout [2]. In the case of the UK, it is expected that most cars and vans will be electric by 2050. Also, it is expected that by 2050, 75% of EVs will be charged in a smart way [3]. Currently, EVs represent around 7% of newly registered cars in the UK [4] and it is assumed that most of them are charged in a 'dumb' way, in free 'on the street' charging. So the path to reach the expected 75% smart charging is not clear. Many studies have been developed to analyse the impact of smart EV charging. However, most of them do not consider different smart charging adoption pathways and normally they only analyse the implications of a large penetration of EVs in the power sector, not considering, for example, the changes on emissions, fuel use and consumer costs. The work developed in this paper aims to provide insight on this issue, analysing the implications of a large penetration of EV under different smart chaging adoption pathways, using the UK TIMES energy system model. Preliminary results show that the speed in which smart charging is adopted can have important impacts on the level of network investments, and thus higher costs for the final consumer; where a slow adoption of smart charging could result in around 70% extra network investment costs, relative to a faster implementation of smart charging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vast volume of documentation was generated by the £3 billion electrification of the Great Western railway in the UK. It was therefore critical to have early agreed requirements and well-configured information management systems, automation and visualisation to control and manage documentation effectively. Displaying the right information at the right time to the right people gave the programme team full control to make informed decisions, as well as ensuring correct instructions were given to the supply chain. This paper presents some challenges faced by the programme regarding data and information management, and the solutions developed to resolve them. These ranged from better application of available systems and processes to the development of visualisation tools and automation to accelerate the final stages of the programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare the results of two models for the breakup of ejecta particles for a simple test problem. We conclude that while they operate in significantly different manners, their overall results are quite comparable. We note that the χ2 distribution function widely used in particle breakup modelling is not in fact consistent with the distribution proposed by Hiroyasu & Kadota based on their original experiments, which may resolve the disagreement in particle radius distributions observed in subsequent work. This paper is UK Ministry of Defence © Crown Owned Copyright 2020/AWE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]