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Metastasis and chemoresistance are the leading causes of death in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) may be useful as diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic markers for HCC. In this study, we set out to investigate the possible role of miR-381 in HCC development and chemoresistance along with the related mechanism. Microarray-based gene expression profiling was carried out to analyze the expression of SET domain bifurcated 1 (SETDB1) and histone methyltransferase enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) followed by validation in clinical HCC tissues and cells. The potential binding between miR-381 and SETDB1 was found and verified. Then, the role of SETDB1 in HCC in relation to miR-381 and protein kinase B (AKT) pathway was explored through gain- and loss-of-function approaches. After expression determination of EZH2, SETDB1, miR-381, and AKT pathway-related factors, their reactions were analyzed and their functional roles in HCC progression and chemoresistance were investigated

Code and data associated with the manuscript, "Temporal Summation and Adaptation in Human Visual Cortex", by Jingyang Zhou, Noah Benson, Kendrick Kay, and Jonathan Winawer

Recent studies have shown that PM

The prevailing property management philosophy in China is outdated and is therefore not useful for improving the sustainability of buildings and their facilities. However, the introduction and integration of basic ecological concepts in the existing studies of ecological property management theory has been limited. The analysis related to the methods for and the influencing factors on ecological behavior implementation has hardly been covered. Based on the use of grounded theory, this paper conducts an in-depth analysis of property management ecological behavior by setting the influencing factors as the research target. First, a literature review is conducted to identify the definition of property management ecological behavior. Based on the theory of planned behavior, a preliminary theoretical model of the factors influencing ecological behavior in property management is constructed. Then, the research framework and a data analysis scheme are designed based on grounded theory. An in-depth review is used to gather information on property management in community and public housing. The interview data are coded and analyzed with the help of NVivo11 software to identify the influencing factors of the property management ecological behavior in China. Studies have shown that factors influencing property management ecological behavior include stimulus, status, scenario, and result. The stimulus factors include government regulations, market pressure, and social supervision. The status factors include scale, nature, capabilities, value, environmental awareness of managers, and financial situation. The scenario factors include service cost, resource availability, object factor, and owner willingness. The result factors include the profits of the company and the satisfaction of the owners. This study comprehensively identifies the influencing factors of the property management ecological behavior in China and enriches the definition of property management ecological behavior. A theoretical model of influencing factors of property management ecological behavior is built and employed to systematically analyze the characteristics of the ecological behavior of property service companies. This study provides a foundation for further analysis of the mechanisms guiding ecological behavior among property management companies in China.

Accurate assessment of a project's progress enables managers to control and manage costs and schedule. Automating the processes to monitor and inspect the progress of works in construction, and ensure that the data acquired and retrieved are able to produce an accurate ‘as-built’ model is an issue that has received ubiquitous attention in the literature. Emphasis has been placed on utilizing technologies such as mobile augmented reality, laser scanners, and computer visions to monitor and control physical objects that possess geometrical properties. Connected systems such as Electrical, Instrumentation and Control Systems (EICS), however, do not possess geometrical properties and as a result have been overlooked, receiving limited attention. This paper utilizes a digital System Information Model (SIM) to enable a project control system based on human-machine interactions, to be developed, in order to monitor progress during the construction of connected systems. By incorporating the design, schedules, activities, and tasks into a digital, cloud-based model, the system enables different parties involved in a project to synchronously work together. Information can be recorded, distributed and shared in real-time therefore significantly improving decision-making, the approvals process, and management of information. A SIM is discipline-specific and there is a need to ensure its interoperability with building information modeling software. Therefore, a bi-directional link between the SIM and the project's overall schedule and three-dimensional model needs to be developed in the future.

Mitochondria damage exacerbates NAFLD through trigerring AIM2 inflammasome activation and hepatocyte pyroptosis. This study provides novel insights into the underlying mechanisms of mitochondrial DNA synthesis in NAFLD and also suggests potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of NAFLD.

Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is a crucial physiological and pathological process takes place in the endoplasmic reticulum that usually induced by various intracellular and extracellular factors. It causes multiple diseases, including breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and premature ovarian failure that mainly associates with the ovarian granulosa cells. To effectively alleviate and cure the ERS and following diseases, molecular signaling pathways that are responsible for inducing ERS must be deeply investigated. There are many intracellular pathways to initiate the ERS, among which, detailed molecular mechanism the UFM1-specific ligase 1 (UFL1) gene induced analogous ubiquitylation related pathway is still unclear. However, some researches have reported that the UFL1 gene is responsible for initiating the ERS in the ovarian granulosa cell and premature ovarian failure. In this article, a new, highly possible molecular signaling pathway is proposed and hoping to provide a unique aspect for the following researches about ERS, especially in the ovarian granulosa cell.

Background: In western countries and China, back and neck pain has become a common problem that bothers daily life and severely influences the quality of our daily life. Among all factors that lead to chronic neck and back pain, IDD is the one that couldn’t be easily neglected. Methods: This study aims to figure out the critical genes and pathways involved in the development of IDD and provide a new aspect of following investigations on the etiology of IDD. We firstly systemically searched the GEO database and identified the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the expression profile dataset we selected. We secondly constructed the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network for DEGs, identified the top ten hub genes from the whole PPI network and found two statically and medically significant modules from the network, we then performed the GO and KEGG analysis on the DEGs, top ten hub genes, the PPI network and the two statically and medically modules. In the end, we provided the primers of the mRNAs of all DEGs, which will be useful for the validation experiment of this study. Results: FN1, MMP2, POSTN, COL3A1, TIMP3, FBN1, GJA1, TGFBI, EFEMP1 and ID1 were top ten hub genes identified from this study, and they may play a vital role in the development of IDD. Angiogenesis and integrin binging are crucial biological process and molecular function defined in this study, which are worthy of being intensely investigated.Conclusion: More studies on the top ten hub genes, the role of angiogenesis and integrin binding in IDD are urgently needed, which will benefit the prevention, screening, diagnosis and prognosis of IDD.

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading and fastest increasing causes of death in the world. It primarily happens in the people who have been exposed to high-risk factors for a long time, such as the hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, etc. Some similar analysis on HCC were published years ago, and results need updating. Methods In this study. We analyzed the gene expression pattern obtained from the GEO database in healthy tissue and tumor tissue and identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs), then GO and KEGG pathway analyses were performed subsequently on DEGs. We also used the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network drawn from STRING to find hub genes and analyzed their effects on prognosis and expression level in different stages of HCC from GEPIA. Furthermore, we analyzed the CDK1 in different species and established the phylogenetic tree of the CDK1 family by the MEGA-X (version 5) according to the amino acid sequence of CDK1 in different species. Results Among all DEGs identified in this study, the CDK1 is the most statically significant hub gene in the perspective of prognosis and differential ex pression. The expression level of CDK1 varies in different stages of HCC. The expression level reaches the highest in stage two and three and reaches the lowest in Stage four. And the human CDK1 gene and ape-like CDK1 gene subtype 5 may be homologous genes. However, human CDK1 gene and the gene encoding human CDK1 protein A chain may be heterozygous genes. Conclusion CDK1 is a gene with great significance in the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC, more studies that investigate deeply about the CDK1 is needed in the future.

Identifying potential hazards of construction project is a data-intensive process that involves various types of information such as site data, specifications, and engineering documents. Ho...

In this study, a theoretical analysis of load transfer component (LTC), experimental behavior enhancement of an LTC, and variable stiffness design of a fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) cable anchor system (CAS) were conducted. In addition, a resin-based LTC modified by two types of particles and three types of microfibers was investigated by analyzing a resin casting body (RCB). The results showed that failures in the RCBs modified by quartz sand (RCBQs), garnet sand (RCBGs), and sand and microfibers (RCBSFs) were caused by resin–sand interfacial debonding, microfiber debonding, pull-out, and fracture. The elastic modulus of the RCBQ/Gs and the RCBSFs were positively correlated to the sand and microfiber contents. However, the compressive strengths of the RCBQ/Gs initially decreased and subsequently increased with the increase in the sand content. The compressive strength of the RCBSFs typically increased with the increase in the microfiber content. In addition, the RCBSFs presented an optimal modified effect. The compressive behavior of the RCBSFs was appropriately described by a cubic polynomial fitting model with an R2 > 0.97. The optimal design of a variable-stiffness LTC was realized by decreasing the loading-end LTC stiffness and increasing the free-end LTC stiffness simultaneously.

Due to anisotropy of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) material, the anchoring of large-tonnage multiple-tendon FRP cable is a challenge. To solve this problem, a large-tonnage FRP cable anchor system (CAS) was designed numerically by optimizing five key anchorage parameters affecting the anchor efficiency and implemented in three full-scale basalt FRP (BFRP) cables with 37 Φ7 tendons. The numerical results showed that the cable radial displacement increases with the spacing of tendons increasing. The cable radial compressive stress and displacement decrease with the thickness of the load transfer component (LTC) increasing. Increasing anchor length and conical angle have significant reducing effect on the cable axial displacement but a negligible effect on the cable radial displacement. Experimental verification showed that the mean anchor efficiency and ultimate load of the BFRP cables were 95% and 1919 kN, respectively. The maximum axial strain difference of the BFRP cable at the loading and free ends increased with the load. The shear stress of the center BFRP tendon first increased rapidly, then decreased slowly, then increased gradually again, and finally decreased quickly. The axial strains and shear stress of the BFRP cable in the anchor zone were consistent with the FE results, and were proved to follow linear and cubic functions, respectively.

In this study, an evaluation framework for the reliability of a fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) cable-anchorage system was established. We first developed a simplified 3D finite element (FE) model for an effective FRP cable anchorage, in which layers of FRP tendons were equivalent to several concentric rings. The performance of the anchorage system was evaluated using the maximum Tsai–Wu failure index (FImax) of all cable elements. By feeding 1600 samples generated from the above FE model, a back-propagation neural network (BPNN) was trained to rapidly predict FImax. Assuming that the overall failure was controlled by the weakest part, the reliability index β of the entire system can be calculated from FImax through a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. The β of the prototype anchorage system reached 4.3635. Under a deterministic design load Fd, giving a target reliability index βT = 3.7, the design-to-ultimate ratio was estimated to be 0.532. The sensitivity analysis suggested that the FImax was most sensitive to the longitudinal tensile strength of the FRP cable and the thickness of the load transfer component (LTC, also known as load transfer medium or LTM) at the loading end.

Prefabrication construction method has been considered an effective way for enhancing the environmental performance and sustainable development of the construction industry. Many countries have imposed policies to stimulate the implementation of prefabrication. However, the efficiency of the incentive policies in China did not turn out as expected because of the existing benefit game between real estate enterprises and the government under the influence of consumers' purchasing intention. An evolutionary game model was established on the basis of 16 variables influencing the strategy selection of game players for determining the effective incentive policies. The interaction effect of the two players’ behaviours was discussed. Four probable scenarios of evolutionary stable strategy (ESS) exist in the game. However, the probabilities of “Incentive” from the government and “Implement” from real estate enterprises depend on the values of the 16 variables. The simulation of the evolutionary system was conducted to analyze the critical variables influencing the game. The increase of reputational incentives, financial incentives, the acceptance level of consumers and penalty and the reduction of additional costs can speed up the achievement of ESS between the government and real estate enterprises. Incentive policies should focus not only on real estate enterprises but also on consumers, manufacturers of prefabricated components and contractors.

In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model of multiple-tendon fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) cable-anchor system (CAS) was established to reveal the stress and deformation of an FRP cable. The model was firstly validated by the previous experimental results. The failure mechanism of FRP cable was clarified through FE analysis. Three types of optimizations, including changing the spacing of the FRP tendons, conducting the radial variable stiffness of the load transfer component (LTC) and changing the inner cone form of the anchorage, were conducted to improve anchor behavior. For FRP tendons, the radial compressive stress, as well as the relative radial displacements, were found to be nearly identical at different positions. An evident uneven axial tensile stress was observed for both the intra- and inter-tendon scenarios, in which the maximum axial tensile stress occurred in the outermost layer tendon. The failure of the FRP cable was dominated by the excessive tension-bending stress and radial compressive stress at the loading end. Applying radial variable-stiffness LTC was found to be the most effective method, and was validated in different tendon diameters and number of tendons.

The quality of information contained in tender documentation produced using Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) and provided in a hard-copy format to an electrical engineering contractor for a port expansion facility, which formed an integral part of an Iron Ore mega-project is analyzed. A System Information Model (SIM), which is an object oriented approach, was retrospectively constructed from the documentation provided to assist the contractor with their tender bid preparation. During the creation of the SIM, a total of 426 errors and omissions were found to be contained within the 77 tender ‘drawing’ documents supplied to the contractor by an Engineering, Construction, Procurement and Management (EPCM). Surprisingly, 70 drawings referenced in the tender documentation, and the Input/Output lists and Cause/Effect drawings were not provided. Yet, the electrical contractor was required by the EPCM organization to provide a lump sum bid and also guarantee the proposed schedule would be met; the financial risks were too high and as a result the contractor decided not to submit a bid. It is suggested that if the original tender documentation had been prepared using a SIM rather than CAD, the quality of information presented to the contractor would have enabled them to submit a competitive bid for the works. The research concludes that the economic performance and productivity of mining projects can be significantly improved by using a SIM to engineer and document electrical instrumentation and control (EIC) systems.

Governments in Australia place great emphasis on the development and expansion of their rail networks to improve productivity and service the increasing needs and demands from businesses and commuters. A case study approach is used to analyze the cost performance of 16 rail projects constructed by a contractor between 2011 and 2014, which ranged from AU$3.4 to AU$353 million. Findings indicate that scope changes during construction were the key contributors that lead to the amendment of each project’s original contractual value. As a result, there is a need for public and private sector asset owners to establish a cost contingency using a probabilistic rather than a deterministic approach to accommodate the potential for scope changes during construction. To improve cost certainty during the construction of rail projects, it is suggested that use of collaborative forms of procurement juxtaposed with the use of Building Information Modelling and Systems Information Modelling are implemented. The utilization of such technological and process innovations can provide public and private sector asset owners charged with delivering and maintaining their rail networks with confidence projects can be delivered within budget and are resilient to unexpected events and adaptable to changing needs, uses or capacities.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Specific information of pancreatic cancer datasets. Table S2. LogFC and p values of top 20 differentiated miRNA expression in pancreatic cancer in GSE41369 dataset.

Based on the theory of Planned Behavior, this study firstly explored the relationship between the behavioral intention and the actual behavior of consumers and real estate enterprises when choosing prefabricated residential buildings. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was adopted, being supported by the questionnaire data from 310 respondents of 14 prefabricated building demonstration cities in China, to achieve the purpose. The results show that there is a gap between the behavioral intention and the actual behavior of consumers and real estate enterprises. The moderating effect of reputational incentive policies and financial incentive policies was examined to bridge the gap. It shows that reputational incentive policies and financial incentive policies are an effective way in promoting the behavioral intention and actual behavior of real estate enterprises when adopting prefabricated residential buildings, but they all do not work for consumers. The findings can help government understand the preference of consumers and real estate enterprises, so as to use governance incentive policies more wisely and rationally under various circumstances.

OBJECTIVES: Cruciferous vegetable consumption is associated with favorable health outcomes that are attributed to bioreactivity of isothiocyanates. These compounds exert effects that contribute to prevention of disease, in large part through attenuation of inflammation and oxidative stress. However, much about isothiocyanate metabolites and their role as biomarkers of crucifer intake remain unknown. METHODS: In a clinical trial, we tested the utility and limitations of 2-thiothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (TTCA), an isothiocyanate-derived metabolite, as a urinary biomarker of broccoli beverage intake in a randomized crossover clinical trial where 50 participants consumed either a glucoraphanin-rich (GRR) or sulforaphane-rich (SFR) beverage. RESULTS: Compared to run-in and wash-out periods, we observed significantly higher urinary TTCA after broccoli beverage consumption. Measurements also showed that TTCA was present in beverage powders and in all tested cruciferous vegetables. GRR resulted in excretion of ∼87% of the ingested TTCA while SFR resulted in excretion of ∼176%. Elevated urinary TTCA was also observed in rats administered 100 µmol/kg sulforaphane (SFN). Unlike SFN, TTCA did not activate nuclear factor-like 2 (Nrf2)-mediated cytoprotective signaling. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, TTCA appears to be a common isothiocyanate-derived metabolite that has the capacity to be utilized as a biomarker of cruciferous vegetables that would be beneficial for objective and quantitative tracking of intake in studies. FUNDING SOURCES: Breast Cancer Research Foundation, NIH R35CA197222, R21AI122071, R01GM125944, R01DK112854, AHA17GRN33660955 and Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Research Foundation, Shandong Academy for Chinese Medicine 2015–317.

Architectural heritages, especially heritages of tourism, were destroyed in the process of urban reconstruction of China because of lacking protection from stakeholders. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify the critical stakeholders to perform the responsibility of protection. The paper, focusing on architectural heritage of tourism, aims to identify the most important stakeholders for making them realize their critical roles in maintaining architectural heritages. Moreover, this paper also aims to evaluate the enthusiasm of stakeholders. As a result, the stakeholders with high importance and enthusiasm would be the critical stakeholders in maintaining architectural heritages. Thirteen stakeholders were selected through comprehensive literature review and the reality of China. A questionnaire survey was conducted with the qualified respondents in Mainland China. A five-point Likert scale and other statistical methods were used for achieving the results of evaluation. The findings demonstrated local government, central government, real estate development enterprise, expert groups, administration of architectural heritage protection, and construction company of architectural heritage are considered as the critical stakeholders for the sustainable development (SD) of architectural heritage of tourism. Finally, some helpful implications were introduced for improving the efficiency of participation and cooperation among all stakeholders.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are increasingly being used in industry.To evaluate the acute toxicology of ZnO NPs in Mice.ZnO NPs were intratracheally instilled into mice at different dose (200, 400, 800 μg/kg), which was 1, 2, or 4 times of accumulative intake in one week according to the threshold limit value. Acute toxicity was assessed by animal mortality, organ/body weight ratios, hematology, blood biochemistry, and histopathology as well as by the determination of cells, proteins, and lactate dehydrogenase activity in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.Exposure to ZnO NPs also resulted in bodyweight loss and a higher level of total cell number, total protein, and hydroxyproline content in BALF. Nitric oxide and malondialdehyde levels in the lung homogenates were also increased. In addition, inflammatory and hyperplastic changes in the lungs were observed.Threshold limit value (5 mg/m

Short-term power flow analysis has a significant influence on day-ahead generation schedule. This paper proposes a time series model and prediction error distribution model of wind power output. With the consideration of wind speed and wind power output forecast error’s correlation, the probabilistic distributions of transmission line flows during tomorrow’s 96 time intervals are obtained using cumulants combined Gram-Charlier expansion method. The probability density function and cumulative distribution function of transmission lines on each time interval could provide scheduling planners with more accurate and comprehensive information. Simulation in IEEE 39-bus system demonstrates effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm.

Northern China has rich wind power and photovoltaic renewable resources. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Units to meet the load demand and limit its peaking capacity in winter, to a certain extent, it results in structural problems of wind-solar power and thermoelectric. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a plurality of units together to ensure supply of heat load on the premise, by building a thermoelectric power peaking considering thermal load unit group dynamic scheduling model, to achieve the potential of different thermoelectric properties peaking units of the excavation. Simulation examples show, if the unit group exists obvious relationship thermoelectric individual differences, the thermal load dynamic scheduling can be more significantly improved overall performance peaking unit group, effectively increase clean energy consumptive.

Quality of CAD generated 'As-built' documentation is evaluated for a High Voltage Switchgear System.CAD drawings are used to create a Systems Information Model.Significant errors, omissions and information redundancy identified in the CAD drawings.CAD drawings took 10,680 man-h to develop compared to 80 man-h required to construct a SIM.A SIM should be to design and document electrical control instrumentation systems. The quality of computer-aided-design (CAD) generated 'As-built' documentation is evaluated for a High Voltage Switchgear System (HVSS), which forms part of a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition up-grade within a geo-thermal power plant. A total of 267 CAD drawings for the HVSS were used to create a Systems Information Model (SIM) whereby the physical components and associated connections were constructed in an object orientated database. Throughout the modelling process a considerable amount of errors and information redundancy were identified and examples are presented. The production of the CAD drawings took 10,680 man-h in stark contrast to the 80 man-h required to construct the SIM, illustrating the efficiency and effectiveness of SIM compared to CAD for the documentation of electrical instrumentation and control systems (EICS). To realise this significant potential cost and productivity saving requires a shift in mindset and a move beyond the use of CAD, to an object oriented SIM, with a 1:1 relationship between objects in the model, and components in the real world.

The electrical instrumentation control systems (EICS) ‘As-built’ documentations of a copper mine were found to possess a significant errors and omissions, which hindered the asset owner’s ability to undertake effective and efficient operations and maintenance. A Systems Information Model (SIM) was used to retrospectively create a connected system to ensure all physical equipment and the associated connections that were constructed are modelled in an object-orientated database. In creating the SIM, the existing errors and omissions in the ‘As-built’ documentation were quantified, and cost savings that could be achieved for a future planned copper mine, with a similar design, were identified. The limitations of using conventional computer-aided-design (CAD) to design and document EICS are discussed. It is recommended that retrospectively creating a SIM can provide owners and operators with significant productivity benefits as well as ensure the asset’s integrity. The case study presented provides asset owners and operators with the empirical evidence to challenge conventional thinking surrounding the design, engineering and documentation of EICS using CAD and alternatively consider the use of SIM.

The mining industry in Australia is in a period of intense introspection as it seeks to improve its productivity and competitiveness in global markets. With mining projects experiencing increasing overruns on capital expenditure, there is a need to re-examine existing business practices to address the prevailing productivity crisis that the industry is experiencing. In addressing this issue, within the context of electrical instrumentation and control systems (EICS), a case study that examines the development of a systems information model (SIM) to improve productivity during the engineering, construction, maintenance, and operations processes of a magnetite iron ore processing plant is presented and discussed. By transforming the established document oriented information exchanges that are typically used in EICS projects to a more collaborative data-sharing environment, processes were streamlined and errors, as a result of duplication and inconsistency, were significantly prevented from occurring. While still working within the restriction of discipline-specific models, the creation of a SIM is the first step towards an integrated and interoperable data without a reliance on drawings.

The rate of digital disruption is escalating and placing increasing pressure on organisations to adopt emerging technologies in order to improve their productivity and bottom-lines. Unfortunately, however, many organisations are often being seduced by the purported benefits of disruptive technologies often based on embellished or even falsified claims. This is particularly true in construction, where organisations are being required to embrace disruptive technologies (e.g. Building Information Modelling and Industry 4.0) to address performance and productivity issues. Unsubstantiated claims about expected benefits subvert the justification and benefits realisation process as the change management that is required is downplayed or ignored. It is, therefore, imperative that the business case as part of the process of evaluation, is based on evidence to enable the development of a change management and implementation strategy. In this paper, we present an overview of a longitudinal line of inquiry that sought to examine the benefits of disruptive technology, namely Systems Information Modelling (SIM). Our research revealed that more than a 90 % cost reduction to document electrical systems and a corresponding improvement in productivity was achieved. We suggest that engaging in the process of critical thinking, possessing a conscious awareness and healthy scepticism of technology places organisations in a position of control. As a consequence, organisations are better-positioned to understand the nature of technology and ‘how’ value can be generated from potential new ways of working.

As the creators of the external benefits of prefabricated construction implementation, the government, real estate developers, and homebuyers have the right to allocate the external benefits. However, there is no effective quantitative method for achieving this goal. Therefore, this study aims to develop a quantitative analysis model for the reasonable allocation of the external benefits among the creators. The externality theory and bargaining theory were introduced to this study as the research foundation. Through literature review, the environmental benefit quantification index was defined. A bargaining model including Game 1 and Game 2 was designed for determining the external benefits allocation ratios for each player. In Game 1, the government was considered as the agent of homebuyers to conduct the bargaining game with real estate developers. Game 2 reflected the bargaining game process between the government and homebuyers for sharing the ratio of external benefits achieved from Game 1. The powerful position in bargaining game and discount factors of each player were considered as the critical factors influencing the distribution ratio because the value will change with the development of prefabricated construction. A prefabricated construction building was selected as a case to illustrate the applicability of this proposed model. The distribution result is that the government, the real estate developers, and homebuyers should share the external benefits of prefabrication implementation by 38%, 35%, and 27% respectively. This study contributes to aiding the creators to achieve optimal benefits allocation and thus motivates the enthusiasm of practitioners in prefabricated construction implementation.

The responsibility borne by governmental departments measured by a set of indicators is a key factor affecting the performance of urban sustainability. Thus, responsibility analysis can guide the selection of sustainability indicators. In line with the principle of Management by Objective (MBO), this paper aims to introduce a responsibility-based method, named Strategic goal-Responsibility department-Response (SRR), for selecting sustainable urbanization indicators. By applying this method, indicators are selected from the perspective of concerned departments’ responsibility. In developing the SRR model, the tool of Responsibility Assignment Matrix is used to identify the concerned departments who assume responsibilities in the process of implementing sustainable urbanization. The content analysis is used to analyze the work scope and definitions of the concerned departments and sustainable urbanization indicators that can measure the responsibility performance of the concerned departments are filtered out. A case study of Jinan city in China is used to demonstrate the procedures of using the proposed method. Based on the strategic goals of Jinan city, 20 responsibility departments and 152 initial indicators are identified by using the SRR framework. The case study reveals that the method is a feasible and effective tool in assisting policy makers to select sustainable urbanization indicators.