Abstract The evolving dynamics of the construction industry have sharpened the need for quantity surveyors (QSs) to reinterpret their role, expanding beyond traditional commercial management practices to encompass broader strategic functions such as value optimization and interdisciplinary collaboration. At the same time, professional overlaps and cross-boundary practices have become an increasing challenge to the quantity surveying profession, leading to potential conflicts and quality compromises in construction projects. However, there is markedly less research on the negative effects of cross-boundary practices for the quantity surveying profession, particularly regarding professional identity and long-term industry implications. Therefore, this study aims to recognize the challenges posed to the quantity surveying profession by cross-boundary practices and to examine the underlying reasons for these challenges. A comprehensive literature review and 25 semistructured interviews were conducted with two samples: QS professionals and non-QS professionals, to collect data. The content analysis method was used to analyze the gathered data. The core quantity surveying functions, such as taking off quantities, preparing bills of quantities, and contract administration, are increasingly performed by non-QS professionals in the construction industry. Even if there are positive effects, including knowledge transfer and reducing the scarcity of QSs through cross-boundary practices, the negative consequences, such as lowering project quality and harming the professional image of QSs, were found to be more significant. By empirically investigating the causes and effects of cross-boundary practices in quantity surveying, this study addresses an overlooked vulnerability in the construction industry and fills a critical gap in the literature on professional role integrity and industry standards.
The yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor (L.) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), is a significant stored-product pest, a valuable insect for animal feed production and a study system for immunology and entomopathogens, including entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs). However, the efficacy and biocontrol potential of Australian EPN isolates against this host remain unexplored. We evaluated the virulence, establishment rate and reproductive potential of 17 Australian EPN isolates of Heterorhabditis and Steinernema in T. molitor larvae under laboratory conditions. All isolates successfully infected, killed and reproduced within T. molitor larvae, although their performance varied markedly. Heterorhabditis indica Hi.LMBT, Hi.LMI2 and Hi.HRN2 emerged as the most virulent isolates. EPN establishment rate in the host differed strongly among isolates, ranging from 5.8 to 17.2%, with Steinernema feltiae Sf.ECCS and Heterorhabditis marelatus Hm.ENCB showing the greatest establishment rate in the host. Reproductive potential ranged from similar to 56,000 to similar to 140,000 IJs per larva, with S. feltiae Sf.Y13 and Heterorhabditis zealandica Hz.NAR4 showing the highest reproduction. Multivariate and correlation analyses indicated substantial within-species variation for EPN species represented by multiple isolates, and that virulence, establishment rate and reproductive potential in T. molitor were not correlated with each other among isolates. Our results highlight considerable potential of Australian EPN isolates for mealworm control, while showing that candidate selection should not rely on virulence alone. Instead, effective screening should integrate virulence, establishment rate and reproductive potential to identify promising isolates that warrant further evaluation under realistic stored-product conditions.
Fluid flow through porous media is important in applications such as water treatment, energy recovery, and material processing. Pore-to-pore conductance provides a reduced description of local hydraulic transport, but classical formulations generally rely on simplified throat geometries and a limited set of structural descriptors. In this study, a hybrid mechanistic–data-driven framework is developed for modelling pore conductance in uniform sphere packings with different porosities. The packed beds are generated using the discrete element method (DEM), and fully resolved computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations provide pore-scale pressure and velocity fields. Machine learning (ML) is used to predict the CFD-derived pore-to-pore pressure difference from throat-centre velocity and a progressively enriched description of the surrounding pore–throat–pore geometry. A comparative conductance is subsequently calculated from the predicted pressure response and evaluated against representative analytical formulations. Model performance is evaluated using five-fold cross-validation. In a controlled comparison using the same learner, progressively adding the particle-spacing and adjacent-pore descriptors reduced the pressure-difference RMSE from 0.150 to 0.0031 Pa, while the ML-derived comparative conductance showed closer agreement with the CFD-based reference than the selected analytical models over the sampled packings. Across the investigated particle Reynolds-number range, the conductance distributions show modest flow-condition-dependent shifts. The proposed framework therefore combines mechanistic pore-scale definitions with data-driven learning to extend conductance modelling for irregular pore–throat configurations in sphere packings.
Abstract Owing to the drastic environmental change and frequently occurring disasters like bushfires in Australia and New South Wales (NSW) in particular, this research study aims to develop an unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) assisted bushfire detection and prevention system. A rule-based verification framework is developed to identify critical infrastructure impacted by bushfires using a metaheuristic optimization algorithm, with reliance on real-time data. Moreover, the affected area coverage of UAVs is maximized by considering limited resources and energy constraints for better precision of results. Finally, a mathematical optimization model is developed and tested for path planning of different UAV populations in affected bushfire regions. Within the realm of competing techniques for UAVs path planning, this research study extensively scrutinized and assessed four distinct optimization algorithms, including whale optimization algorithm (WOA), grey wolf optimizer (GWO), and particle swarm optimization (PSO). Results indicated that our proposed model, efficient particle swarm optimization (EPSO), consistently outperforms other techniques across all cases. However, the degree of its superiority varies among different scenarios. In Case 3, EPSO exhibits the most dominance, presenting notable improvements with approximately 18.35% to 54.47% reductions in cost and time compared with WOA, GWO, and PSO.
Aim: Population-level evidence linking animal protein supply with dementia incidence remains limited. This study examined global associations between national animal protein supply and dementia incidence within an ecological framework of nutritional and epidemiological transition.Materials & methods: Harmonized population-level data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations statistical database (FAOSTAT), the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations data platforms were analyzed for up to 204 populations. Animal protein supply was examined in relation to total dementia incidence and female–male differences in dementia incidence using correlation analysis, partial correlation, polynomial modeling, principal component analysis, multivariable regression and stratified analyses by income, development and regional groupings.Results: Animal protein supply was positively associated with total dementia incidence. Associations were non-linear, with steeper increases at low-to-moderate supply levels and attenuation at the highest levels. Associations were stronger in low- and middle-income and developing settings than in high-income or developed contexts. Animal protein supply remained positively associated with female–male incidence differences after adjustment; independence from total incidence and mediation through it were not directly tested.Conclusion: Animal protein supply may operate as an ecological marker of nutritional and epidemiological transition rather than as an isolated dietary exposure. These findings support context-sensitive interpretation of diet–dementia associations in global cognitive ageing research.
