BackgroundXiao’er Fengre Qing Oral Liquid (XFQOL) is developed based on the classical traditional Chinese medicinal formula Yinqiao Powder. Compared to the original formulation, XFQOL exhibits enhanced heat-clearing, detoxification, and fever reduction, which can effectively address the common complications associated with influenza in children and is well-suited for pediatric use. However, there is currently a lack of high-quality evidence from clinical trials to support its efficacy and safety in clinical applications.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of XFQOL compared with Oseltamivir in pediatric influenza.MethodsA multicenter, block-randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, positive-drug-controlled, non-Inferiority clinical trial design was conducted. The study plans to enroll 420 pediatric participants, with 210 in each group. The experimental group will receive XFQOL with an Oseltamivir granules placebo, and the control group will receive Oseltamivir granules with a XFQOL placebo for 5 days, followed by a 2-day post-treatment observation. The primary endpoint was clinical recovery time, while secondary endpoints included complete fever resolution time, the area under the curve (AUC) of Canadian Acute Respiratory Illness and Flu Scale (CARIFS) symptom dimension Score over time, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndrome efficacy, disappearance rates for individual symptoms, incidences of complications and severe and critical influenza, the usage of acetaminophen, and viral negative conversion rate. Safety evaluation focused on adverse events (AE) and adverse drug reactions (ADR).ResultsA total of 418 participants were included in the Full Analysis Set, with 208 in the experimental group and 210 in the control group. Baseline characteristics were comparable between the groups. The median time to clinical recovery was 3 days for both groups, with a hazard ratio and its 95% confidence interval (experimental group/control group) of 1.115 (95% CI: 0.912–1.363). Non-inferiority testing demonstrated that the experimental group was not inferior to the control group. Subgroup analyses (positive for RT-PCR influenza, positive for RT-PCR influenza A, positive for RT-PCR influenza B) yielded results consistent with the primary endpoint. The median time to complete fever resolution was 32 h in both groups, with no statistically significant difference (P = 0.407). There were no statistically significant differences in the AUC of CARIFS symptom scores over time between the groups (P = 0.211). No significant differences were observed between the groups in the efficacy rates of TCM syndromes of Wind-Heat Invading the Defense Syndrome (P = 0.076) and Fright-complicated Syndrome (P = 0.168); however, significant differences were found in Phlegm-complicated Syndrome (P = 0.008) and Food-stagnation-complicated Syndrome (P = 0.024). The disappearance rates for individual symptoms, such as red and swollen pharynx, cough, copious sputum or audible phlegm sounds in the throat, and lack of appetite, showed statistically significant differences between the groups (P < 0.05), while no significant differences were observed for other symptoms. No statistically significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in the incidence of complications and severe and critical influenza, the usage of acetaminophen, and viral negative conversion rate (P > 0.05). The incidence rates of AE (P = 0.885) and ADR (P = 0.685) were comparable between the two groups, with no statistically significant differences observed.ConclusionThe efficacy of XFQOL in treating pediatric influenza (Wind-Heat Invading the Defense Syndrome) is non-inferior to Oseltamivir with respect to clinical recovery time. Additionally, its effectiveness in terms of fever reduction, symptom alleviation, incidences of complications and severe and critical influenza, the usage of acetaminophen, and viral negative conversion rate is comparable to that of Oseltamivir. Furthermore, it demonstrates good safety, suggesting its potential for clinical application.Clinical Trial Registration:clinicaltrials.gov, identifier ChiCTR2300076191.
Wind power has become a strategic cornerstone of China’s renewable-energy transition and industrial upgrading, making it essential to understand how policy interventions shape the behaviour of its industry chain. This study examines how major wind power policies issued between 2015 and 2024 transmit shocks across nine upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors. Using four contagion tests based on higher-order co-moments, combined with a policy sensitivity index, the analysis identifies distinct transmission patterns across policy types. The results show that market-mechanism reforms induce the strongest and most systemic contagion effects, reflecting their ability to align financial incentives with renewable-integration objectives. Upstream sectors—particularly equipment and key material industries—exhibit the highest responsiveness, while midstream construction and downstream operation and maintenance display more moderate and delayed adjustments. Development and construction policies generate broader but less intensive contagion, whereas industry-support measures trigger selective, sector-specific responses. These findings offer practical guidance for improving policy coordination, investment planning, and industrial upgrading within China’s wind power value chain. Future research could extend the analysis by incorporating firm-level data, longer policy cycles, and interactions with other structural shocks such as electricity-market reforms and climate-related risks.
The complexity and uncertainty of engineering construction present significant challenges to construction safety. Smart sites are an important measure of the transformation and upgrading of China’s construction industry. In the context of smart site technology, the impact and the influence path of the smart site technology on the project safety supervision system was introduced in this study, which was mainly based on stochastic evolutionary game theory. Meanwhile, a stochastic evolutionary game model between construction workers and project safety management departments was conducted to improve the safety management strategy of smart sites. Matlab simulation experiments were applied to analyze the changes in safety strategy selection among different groups in the context of the presence and absence of smart site technology. The results show that the introduction of smart site technology could promote the strategy selection of construction workers to be more stable; however, reasonable smart site operation strategies should be formulated to control the management costs in case of negative effects. In addition, an appropriate increase in penalties could reduce the probability of workers adopting unsafe construction strategies. The results are beneficial in assisting the formulation of project safety management strategies in the context of smart sites, improving the level of construction safety management, as well as reducing the occurrence of safety accidents.
Kojo Kumah Darkwah, Linfeng Lu, Bingyou Liu
et al.
The construction industry faces increasing pressure to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Promoting sustainable practices, such as using hot-rolled H-shapes and minimizing welding, can address these challenges. This study introduces low-carbon H-shape bolted composite beams (HBCBs) as a sustainable alternative. Experimental and numerical investigations into the lateral-torsional buckling behavior of HBCBs demonstrated that high-strength bolts significantly enhance structural stability and capacity. A reliable simulation method was developed and validated based on experimental results. The study reveals that bolt spacing exceeding 1/15 of the beam span has negligible effects on load-bearing capacity, and HBCB performance reaches approximately 95% of plug-welded counterparts. Despite this, longitudinal slip reduction remains challenging, warranting further research to optimize performance.
This study, firstly, gives a summary about natural ventilation and particle dispersion, and, then, presents the research reported so far in these areas. As well as these, the research methodology, the sub-grid scale model equations used in the simulation, namely, Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE), Standard Smagorinsky-Lilly Model (SSLM) and Dynamic Smagorinsky-Lilly Model (DSLM), computational domain and other requisite conditions for the simulation have been illustrated. In order to ensure of the validity of the present results, direct comparisons with available experimental results have been made. These results show that the sub-grid scale WALE model is more accurate than the other models in the simulation of the particle dispersion in a model building with natural ventilation, and SSLM sub-grid scale model estimates the least particle concentration in the building. In addition, these results illustrate that the convective flux and turbulent diffusion flux have the key role in the pollutant transportation process around the entrance of model building. Also, the influence of convective flux is more than that of diffusion flux as one moves along the length of the model building.
Construction industry, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
The conversion of rice straw to bio-oil for substituting asphalt paving materials not only contributes to sustainable development in construction industry, but is also beneficial for resource recovery in agriculture. In this study, rice straw was pyrolyzed to produce bio-oil by using fluidized bed, and the influences of key pyrolysis conditions on product distribution were investigated. Bio-asphalt was prepared by high-speed mixing of pyrolysis bio-oil and petroleum asphalt, and comprehensively evaluated through rheological tests and continuous grading of performance grade (PG). Moreover, microscopic characterization was conducted to further explore the mechanism of bio-oil modification of asphalt. The test results indicate that the yield of bio-oil first rises and then drops with the increase of pyrolysis temperature. As the gas flow rate increases and the biomass particle size decreases, the bio-oil yield shows an increasing trend. The bio-asphalt containing bio-oil from lower pyrolysis temperatures has stronger rutting resistance and lower temperature susceptibility. As the pyrolysis temperature rises, the resistances of bio-asphalt to fatigue and thermal cracking are enhanced. According to continuous PG grading, the widest safe working temperature range is obtained at 450 ℃. Compared to base asphalt, bio-asphalt has superior fatigue and low-temperature performances at high pyrolysis temperatures. Additionally, it can be known from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy that the modification of petroleum asphalt by bio-oil is a physical fusion process.
Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials
Argalis Pauls P., Sinka Maris, Andzs Martins
et al.
Over the last decade, research has increasingly focused on reducing the use of natural resources and improving waste management in the construction industry. Various possibilities exist for reducing waste in this sector, ranging from using waste as filler materials to developing new binders and building materials. This study focuses on the development of bio-based building materials using waste from the manufacturing of wood-wool cement boards. The binder and filler materials were obtained from the manufacturing waste and used in this research. The developed materials were tested for their visual appearance, macrostructure, material density, thermal conductivity coefficient and compressive strength. The results showed promising data for the self-bearing bio-based building materials, which had similar thermal properties to other bio-based materials and could be used as thermal insulation materials with a thermal conductivity coefficient of 0.0827–0.1172 W/(mK). The material density of the developed bio-based composites was found to be 430–617 kg/m3. By incorporating manufacturing waste into the production process of bio-based building materials, it becomes evident that overall waste from manufacturing plants can be significantly reduced, and the sustainability aspect of wood-cement board manufacturers can be enhanced.
Abstract From medical to aerospace applications, construction on the Earth to construction on the other planets, additive manufacturing (AM) technology, which is commonly known as 3D printing, has revolutionized manufacturing and construction industries. In other word, other Renaissance era has been started by the born of AM technology. Since the early stage, AM technology developed the initial concepts such as workforce, production time, and costs to an advanced level. With further progression and introduction of multifunctional materials to 3D printing technology, a new chapter of attempts towards mechanization in many more industries, eliminating excessive components needed for fabricated devices, and post-fabrication processes has been launched, which undoubtedly are able to push limitations forwards automation in building and construction industry. Despite of passing almost three decades since the genesis of AM technology, its application in construction industry has not reached to its real potential due to the various numbers of reasons including inappropriate available 3D printing techniques for large-scale construction, limitations in the materials, economic issue due to the expensive equipment, etc. Appearance of new 3D printing methods suitable for structural printing such as contour crafting and binder jetting, have provided new paths towards automated building and construction industry. However, in respect of material science, numerous challenges must be addressed including developing smart cementitious composites suitable for 3D structural printing, reinforcement of cementitious composites during printing process, and 3D printing of fibre-reinforced cementitious composites. Achieving to high-performance printed cementitious composites are another challenge ahead. Highly likely, construction of real habitats on the other planets such as the Mars and Moon, would not be a dream if we could cope with present hurdles in 3D structural printing and develop innovative generation of 3D printers, such as robotic 3D printers. Hence, due to the important role of cement-based materials in the future of automated construction industry, this paper makes an attempt to represent a critical review of materials and methods for AM of cementitious composites, and will address challenges and future possibilities of this beneficial field of science.
Okeke Francis O., Nnaemeka-okeke Rosemary C., Awe Foluso C.
The social sustainability transition in the construction sector seeks to improve safety and health of workers, gainful employment and total inclusiveness. However, it is novel in the Nigerian construction industry and a less debated domain within this framework is how employment requirements provide opportunities for the socially disadvantaged such as the poorly educated, youths, immigrants and disabled individuals to be employed in the construction industry. In Nigeria alone, there are over 27 million disabled human species, most of who are living in extreme poverty with poor quality of life. Furthermore, there are evidence of development projects designed and built in developing countries that have failed socially and many mass housing scheme in Nigeria suffices as examples. Drawing on a systematic review of relevant literature, this research qualitatively examines social sustainability practices in the Nigerian construction industry, and highlight strategies for diffusing the approach at each phase of the project life cycle. The outcome of the result will initiate a novel research domain and promote sound academic debate towards improving total inclusiveness in Nigerian and Africa’s built environment. The potential impact of this research is that it will contribute to the knowledge base of the social sustainability concept and provide an alternative solution to the increasing shortage of skilled labour force in the construction industry. Its conclusion surmises that social procurement is a strategic tool for creating employment for the disadvantaged in the construction sector.
Due to society's biased perception of coal enterprises, Mining Engineering students’ cultivation faces problems such as students' unwillingness to engage in mining work and the decoupling of graduates' abilities from job demands. The teaching and research team conducted in-depth research and exploration on the cultivation model of applied mining engineering professionals, and constructed a university-enterprise cooperation model for talent cultivation guided by the spirit of "hard work, innovation, unity and selflessness." This model effectively solves the bottleneck of mining engineering talent cultivation in local colleges and universities and meets the new requirements of the current era's development. After years of exploration and practice, mining engineering students not only love enterprises but also significantly improve their comprehensive innovation abilities.
Coal is an important guarantee of energy security, and energy enterprises urgently need a large number of applied technical and management talents who love their jobs and can adapt to the needs of modern industry development. However, the talent cultivation of mining engineering majors has faced problems such as the decoupling of graduates' abilities from job demands due to society's biased perception of coal enterprises [1]. The teaching and research team adheres to the educational philosophy of "demand-oriented, student-centered, and quality-based" and conducts in-depth research and exploration on the talent cultivation model of applied mining engineering professionals. With the establishment and practice of the practical teaching system for cultivating applied mining engineering talents and the construction of an intelligent mining engineering course system for regional coal industry transformation needs, the team has constructed a university-enterprise cooperation model for talent cultivation guided by the spirit of "hard work, innovation, unity, and selflessness."
Lorenzo Fabian, Susanna Pisciella, Chiara Semenzin
The research deals with the adaptation of the built landscape of the North East and, more generally, of the construction industry Italian, to the transformations necessary to achieve climate neutrality. The particular geographic and settlement configuration of the Triveneto region and the current structure of the energy sector lead to the construction of scenarios for two of the area’s most energy-intensive and emissive sectors, the industrial and residential sectors. The rationale with which the topic of retrofitting is approached follows two distinct strategies: on the one hand, the construction of regulatory scenarios, which visualise what would concretely happen in the area by applying the indications contained in the European Green Deal and derivatives, at project dates 2030 and 2050. On the other hand, the construction of scenarios that look at the same vulnerability but through the possibility of an active adaptation, which implies a change of habits before that of the built territory.
Abstract This paper examines the issues related to the implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the construction industry and the various initiatives and approaches that are being used in various countries around the world to promote effective BIM implementation in their construction industries. Objectives of Study The effective implementation and use of BIM remains a major issue for the construction industry. Whilst the technology underpinning BIM has been around for well over a decade BIM implementation and take-up has been relatively slow in the construction industry compared to industries such as manufacturing and engineering. The purpose of this study is to investigate the initiatives and approaches that are being used by countries that are leading the way in the field. Methods The methodology for this paper is based on a literature review of the key global trends in relation to BIM implementation and then a detailed investigation of implementation strategies that have been developed in a range of countries and regions such as North America, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Australia. Results The research reveals that there BIM implementation has gained considerable momentum over the past few years. A number of countries are developing successful implementation strategies with North America, the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian region generally leading the way. A key finding was the importance of coordinated government support and leadership as a critical driver for BIM implementation. Other important strategies were found to be the development of national and global BIM standards, legal protocols to address liability issues, BIM certification, education and training and articulating the business case for BIM implementation. Conclusions The paper concludes with a range of strategies and recommendations that flow from the research findings.
Modular construction is considered as a preferred construction method over conventional construction due to a number of benefits including reduction in project completion time, improved environmental performance, better quality, enhanced workers' safety and flexibility. However, successful implementation of modular construction is hindered by various risk factors and uncertainties. Therefore, it is imperative to perform a comprehensive risk assessment of critical risk factors that pose a negative impact on the implementation of modular construction. Moreover, there is also a relatively less rate of modular construction adoption in developing countries, highlighting the need to focus more on underdeveloped regions. This study aims to propose a risk assessment framework for identification, evaluation and prioritization of critical risk factors affecting the implementation of modular construction in Pakistan. 20 risk factors were identified from previous literature which were then evaluated to shortlist the most significant risks using Fuzzy Delphi. The most significant risk factors were then prioritized using a novel Full-Consistency Method (FUCOM). The results specified 'Inadequate skills and experience in modular construction', 'Inadequate capacity of modular manufacturers' and 'Inability to make changes in design during the construction stage' as top three critical risks in the implementation of modular construction. This is the first study to propose a risk assessment framework for modular construction in Pakistan. The results of the study are useful to provide insights to construction industry practitioners in highlighting and eliminating risks involved in modular construction planning and execution.
In response to sustainable development goals, the architectural industry aims to decrease the high proportion of emissions and energy use in the construction sector. Therefore, the design method of building performance optimization (BPO) has been advocated in recent studies as a method for accomplishing high-performance building design. However, BPO remains difficult to implement in practice due to the lack of a definite process and supporting tools for architects/designers in the early design process. The purpose of this paper is to propose a BPO framework and integrated design decision support (DDS) interface to provide a visual and science-based analysis and assist designers working with high-performance building façade designs. The framework and DDS tool are then tested by designers through a practice design of the headquarters façade. All the designers started and implemented the facade optimization design in a short training session, although they reported that the developed support tools still needed to be improved in terms of also integrating optimization tools. The characteristics of the user interface help considerably with comparing and making decisions in optimal solutions. The results emphasize the importance of developing design support tools for practical adoption from practical designers’ perspectives.
Nguyen Thi Thu Nga, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Vu Quoc Vuong
et al.
Cement concrete has always played an essential role in the general development of the construction industry. Many studies improve the properties and durability of cement concrete by adding chemical additives and mineral additives. One of them, fly ash, is one of the most preferred applied mineral additives. Currently, the demand for fly ash is becoming an urgent problem, as it is also can reduce environmental pollution from by-products of thermal power plants not only in Vietnam but also all around the world. To evaluate the factors affecting compressive strength of concrete, such as fly ash, type of cement used, date and designed concrete grade, we based our study on the design of experiment (DOE). The influencing variables have different levels of investigation, which are based on previous studies. With the useful statistical analysis tools, the number of experiments, and the results of the experimental analysis, we can see the influence of each element and their interaction on the compressive strength of the concrete. On that basis, it is possible to choose the option with reasonably selected ingredients to achieve the expected optimal compressive strength.
Xiaoe Zhu, Rita Yi Man Li, M. James C. Crabbe
et al.
Safety training enhances hazard awareness in the construction industry. Its effectiveness is a component of occupational safety and health. While face-to-face safety training has dominated in the past, the frequent lockdowns during COVID-19 have led us to rethink new solutions. A chatbot is messaging software that allows people to interact, obtain answers, and handle sales and inquiries through a computer algorithm. While chatbots have been used for language education, no study has investigated their usefulness for hazard awareness enhancement after chatbot training. In this regard, we developed four Telegram chatbots for construction safety training and designed the experiment as the treatment factor. Previous researchers utilized eye-tracking in the laboratory for construction safety research; most have adopted it for qualitative analyses such as heat maps or gaze plots to study visual paths or search strategies via eye-trackers, which only studied the impact of one factor. Our research has utilized an artificial intelligence-based eye-tracking tool. As hazard awareness can be affected by several factors, we filled this research void using 2-way interaction terms using the design of experiment (DOE) model. We designed an eye-tracking experiment to study the impact of site experience, Telegram chatbot safety training, and task complexity on hazard awareness, which is the first of its kind. The results showed that Telegram chatbot training enhanced the hazard awareness of participants with less onsite experience and in less complex scenarios. Low-cost chatbot safety training could improve site workers' danger awareness, but the design needs to be adjusted according to participants' experience. Our results offer insights to construction safety managers in safety knowledge sharing and safety training.