The construction industry needs modern construction methodology and technology to improve sustainability and production performance.Building Information Modelling(BIM)technology supports improving the quality of produ...The construction industry needs modern construction methodology and technology to improve sustainability and production performance.Building Information Modelling(BIM)technology supports improving the quality of products by reducing design and construction defects,risks to the health and safety of workers,and reduce overall project cost and delivery time.The BIM has capabilities,but it is still undiscovered and unable to exploit the full scale of its benefits in the Architectural Engineering and Construction(AEC)industry.There is a trend to adopt the BIM level 1,which is limited to 2D and only in a few cases 3D models uses in the design and construction of residential and commercial buildings,particularly in Nepal.Hence,this paper focuses on providing insight into the BIM benefits and identifies the potential barriers while adopting BIM Level 3 in Nepal.This was accomplished by developing a 4DBIM model of a multi-story residential building in Nepal and conducting the industry survey via focus group with the AEC professionals based on the developed 4DBIM model.A comprehensive literature review was conducted and presented the findings of the BIM benefits and barriers while adopting BIM.The study found that commercial and governmental projects can immediately be adopted BIM technology.It is concluded that the unavailability of skilled BIM users and the lack of proper policies for BIM adoption are key barriers in Nepal.Hence,the new policy is required to achieve and exploit the full scale of the BIM benefits and improve the project delivery in terms of quality,cost and time including the health and safety of workers and the sustainability of the AEC industry.展开更多
A common strategy for improving health behaviors is to emphasize the benefits and reduce the barriers to behavior change. This study investigated potential differences in perceived benefits and barriers related to par...A common strategy for improving health behaviors is to emphasize the benefits and reduce the barriers to behavior change. This study investigated potential differences in perceived benefits and barriers related to participation in physical activity (PA) between women in pre-maintenance versus the maintenance phase of PA behavior to determine if perceived benefits were greater and perceived barriers lower in women with more extensive and successful PA participation experience. Data were collected from a community-based sample (N = 113) of middle-aged African-American women. The sample was stratified into two groups according to how long they had been regularly engaging in PA (6 months or longer versus less than 6 months). Chi-square analyses were conducted to investigate possible differences between the two groups of women in regard to perceived benefits and barriers associated with PA. Descriptive data showed that nearly all of the benefits and barriers to PA were perceived as being important for a majority of the participants and chi-square and t-test results indicated few significant between-group differences (p < .05) in regard to these perceptions. Additional analyses indicated there was no significant between-group difference (p < .05) for Body Mass Index. The results suggest the benefits and barriers related to PA behavior are already valued and understood by many African-American women. Further, the results do not support the commonly held belief that effective health behavior improvement programming should emphasize the benefits and reduce the barriers related to the behavior. Practitioners should consider focusing on other evidenced based factors proven to promote PA behavior such as counseling regarding social support (e.g., buddy system) and increasing self-efficacy (e.g., goal setting) to initiate and sustain a physically active lifestyle.展开更多
文摘The construction industry needs modern construction methodology and technology to improve sustainability and production performance.Building Information Modelling(BIM)technology supports improving the quality of products by reducing design and construction defects,risks to the health and safety of workers,and reduce overall project cost and delivery time.The BIM has capabilities,but it is still undiscovered and unable to exploit the full scale of its benefits in the Architectural Engineering and Construction(AEC)industry.There is a trend to adopt the BIM level 1,which is limited to 2D and only in a few cases 3D models uses in the design and construction of residential and commercial buildings,particularly in Nepal.Hence,this paper focuses on providing insight into the BIM benefits and identifies the potential barriers while adopting BIM Level 3 in Nepal.This was accomplished by developing a 4DBIM model of a multi-story residential building in Nepal and conducting the industry survey via focus group with the AEC professionals based on the developed 4DBIM model.A comprehensive literature review was conducted and presented the findings of the BIM benefits and barriers while adopting BIM.The study found that commercial and governmental projects can immediately be adopted BIM technology.It is concluded that the unavailability of skilled BIM users and the lack of proper policies for BIM adoption are key barriers in Nepal.Hence,the new policy is required to achieve and exploit the full scale of the BIM benefits and improve the project delivery in terms of quality,cost and time including the health and safety of workers and the sustainability of the AEC industry.
文摘A common strategy for improving health behaviors is to emphasize the benefits and reduce the barriers to behavior change. This study investigated potential differences in perceived benefits and barriers related to participation in physical activity (PA) between women in pre-maintenance versus the maintenance phase of PA behavior to determine if perceived benefits were greater and perceived barriers lower in women with more extensive and successful PA participation experience. Data were collected from a community-based sample (N = 113) of middle-aged African-American women. The sample was stratified into two groups according to how long they had been regularly engaging in PA (6 months or longer versus less than 6 months). Chi-square analyses were conducted to investigate possible differences between the two groups of women in regard to perceived benefits and barriers associated with PA. Descriptive data showed that nearly all of the benefits and barriers to PA were perceived as being important for a majority of the participants and chi-square and t-test results indicated few significant between-group differences (p < .05) in regard to these perceptions. Additional analyses indicated there was no significant between-group difference (p < .05) for Body Mass Index. The results suggest the benefits and barriers related to PA behavior are already valued and understood by many African-American women. Further, the results do not support the commonly held belief that effective health behavior improvement programming should emphasize the benefits and reduce the barriers related to the behavior. Practitioners should consider focusing on other evidenced based factors proven to promote PA behavior such as counseling regarding social support (e.g., buddy system) and increasing self-efficacy (e.g., goal setting) to initiate and sustain a physically active lifestyle.
