Vol. 2 No. 5; May 2012 Vol_2_No_5_May_2012 1. Design Engineer’s Role in Managing Front End Planning Information Ryan T. George, W. Edward Back, David Grau Abstract The front end planning process is known to be fundamental to project success. Successful planning, as the shared responsibility of a project team, is dependent on the provision of information that is complete, correct, and timely. Numerous authors have described the process and statistically validated its relevance and importance. However, few investigations have been conducted on the subject of how early project information is actually managed through the planning process. This paper summarizes a two-phased research investigation that examines how information supports the front end planning process. Based on the expertise of a group of industry members from major owner and contractor organizations, an extended front end planning process model is first developed. Based on surveyed data and through the front end planning activities in the process model, this research indicates engineers play an important and integral role in front end planning and therefore have significant influence on the likelihood of project success. Also, the information requirements for front end planning efforts leading to successful projects are indicated, and the front end planning activities for which information is commonly non-available are also identified. 2. The Effects of Posture Difficulty and Gender on Biomechanical Characteristics of Balance in School-Aged Children Christos Papadopoulos, Georgios Noussios, Maria Karabouka, Konstantinos Theodosiou, Evaggelia Gantiraga, Christina Evaggelinou, Evaggelos Manolopoulos, Ioannis Gissis Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the biomechanical characteristics of balance and postural control in three stances and based on gender. Postural sway parameters and centre of pressure (CoP) variations and kinematic data were calculated for 45 school-aged children (7-10 years), (n=20 females and n=25 males), who did not participate in sports, during three stances (normal quiet (NQS); Romberg-sharpened (RS); and one-legged (OLS)). Both groups demonstrated increased postural sway when the base of support was narrowed; however, boys exhibited greater CoP movement compared to girls while girls demonstrated better postural control. The results of our research could be useful to examine the specialized use of physical education in kindergarten and first grades of elementary school. 3. Three-Dimensional Modeling of Virtual Training System for Construction Machinery Xiaoqiang Yang, Jinhua Han, Hongewi Li Abstract The construction and optimization of the three dimensional model of construction machinery are presented in this work. The decomposition hierarchical structure model of excavator, a kind of typical construction machinery, is accomplished. The reconstruction method for three views of machine parts is proposed based on rapid 3D surface fitting as well as NURBS composite surface. On the other hand, the optimization of 3D model is addressed in detail. The optimizing process of 3D model of construction machinery is first presented. Then the structure optimizing method and model optimizing method are introduced respectively. The essential principle of scene blocking, structure adjustment and some key technologies of structure optimization are demonstrated. Accounting for model optimization involves deleting redundant polygons, rational use of texture, instantiation LOD and external importing techniques. The study on resuming the object’s properties of shape, material and surface provides visual and realistic training objects for the virtual training system. 4. Evidence and Ethics in Infrastructure Planning Keith McAllister, Liu Ping Hui, Stephen McKay Abstract Motivated by criticism of the new infrastructure planning process, the paper considers the role of the Infrastructure Planning Commission and National Policy Statements. Drawing upon lessons learnt from other jurisdictions where similar legislation, structures and procedures have been operational for some time, emerging issues regarding policy, practice and the role of participants are considered through an empirical investigation, in the context of professional ethics, legitimacy and evidence-based decision making. Remedies are suggested to potential operational problems and issues of structural concern are identified which have ramifications for wider planning practice. 5. Problems in the Unitary Quantum View of the World Leo G. Sapogin, Yu.A.Ryabov, V.A. Dzhanibekov Abstract The present article discuses the problems of new unitary quantum view of the world in its applications to the different aspects of the reality. 6. Some Biochemical and Haematological Studies on the Methanolic Extract of Anthocleista Grandiflora Stem Bark Odeghe Othuke B; Uwakwe A, A; Monago C.C Abstract This research was designed to access the interaction of Anthocleista grandiflora plant and chloroquine in mice induced with Plasmodium berghei with the aim of ascertaining the significance of such interaction in the treatment of malaria infection. A total of 89 mice were used for this study and were divided into six groups. Group 1 uninfected and untreated, Group 2 infected and treated with normal saline, Group 3 infected and treated with 300mg/kg b.wt extract, group 4 infected and treated with 500mg/kg b.wt extract, group 5 infected and treated with 700mg/kg b.wt extract and group 6 infected and treated with chloroquine (5mg/kg b.wt). The infected extract treated animals had significant (P<0.05) difference in PCV, Hb, WBC and platelet count from day 3 to day 14 when compared with the control. The elevated levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and urea in the malaria rats were significantly (p<0.05) decreased. 7. A Case Study Approach to EPCM in Light of Construction Project Success in Malaysia Mr Wai, Soon Han; Ms Md Yusof, Aminah; Ms Ismail, Syuhaida Abstract It is undoubtedly true that procurement methods are positively related to the success of any construction project. As the construction industry expand rapidly, the need for a variety of procurement methods increases simultaneously. Taking into account the dynamic nature of large industrial projects, a more flexible and effective procurement method is needed. To address the problem, Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Management (EPCM) is perceived as an alternative solution, though minimal works on the EPCM contract have been undertaken. Drawing from the analyses of data collected in case studies of EPCM construction projects, the results of this paper demonstrate that the EPCM contract is the ideal procurement method for warehouse projects with respect to the time, cost, and quality that a customer will demand. The limitation and future research directions related to the EPCM contract are also discussed in this paper. 8. Hydrological Implication of Solid Waste Disposal on Groundwater Quality in Urbanized Area of Lagos State, Nigeria Afolayan, O.S; Ogundele F.O; Odewumi, S.G Abstract Waste is discarded materials of no further use to the owners and the pattern of its generation is a function of the level of urbanization, industrialization and economic status of society. The most convenient strategy of solid waste disposal is landfill which are usually sited in abandoned excavated sites. The quality of the groundwater which is the major source of potable water are affected by the waste disposal sites. The objective of this work is to examine the impact of solid waste disposal sites on the ground water quality of the residential areas boundary the sites. For empirical and experimental examination of the concentration of contaminant in the groundwater of the studied area, fifteen(15) wells were sampled for laboratory analysis. The results were analyzed with standard statistical package and compared with WHO,2004 and NSDWQ,2007 standard limit. The statistic correlation analysis indicated the that pH of the water has close relationship with many heavy metals and physicochemical parameters. Temporal variation between closed and operational landfills were compared. Therefore, concentration of some parameters like TSS, 0C, pH, and Nl are more concentrated around closed landfill than operational and parameters like Cl, Cd, Fe, and Pb are higher around the operational landfills than old one even above the standard limit around existing landfill. Concentration of pH is averagely neutral around Solous and 2 while alkaline around Solous 3.Closed landfill has the capability of generating certain pollutants than existing landfill, conversely some pollutants can also be highly generated in operational landfill than the former. In conclusion, groundwater contamination is the function of types of waste, season, topography, soil, underlying geology, surface water ingression and direction of groundwater flow. 9. B2B E-Commerce for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME): A Conceptual Framework Adrian Besimi Abstract Web Services or the SOA architecture are one type of a solution for the struggle of SMEs to enter the B2B marketplace. The combination of Web Services with ebXML standards and the power of e-marketplaces can be an option for SMEs to participate in the biggest money making electronic market in the world. The three-layered conceptual framework for B2B designed for SMEs is presented in this paper. 10. Melting Temperature of Lithium, Sodium and Potassium at High Pressures Chuanhui Nie, Shangyong Huang, Wei Huang Abstract Based on Lindemann’s law and the Debye model, the melting temperature Tm of metals has been argued. It’s found that the melting temperature appears to be decided finally by the second Grüneisen parameter q ,which is assumed to have a power form of volume in the preset work. Hence we can obtain a new expression of Tm different from that of the prior works. Good agreement between theory and experiment is found. 11. High Frequency of Nucleophosmin Mutations in Thirty Two Iraqi Adult Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia Ethar Kadhim Dhahir, Maysaa Abdul Razaq Dhahi Abstract Background: Genetic characterization of all AML patients at presentation is nowadays regarded as mandatory to determine treatment choices. In Iraq no previous study on genetic level that determine the frequency of NPM1mutations in adult AML patients was previously done and for this reason the current study was designed. Methods: Thirty two adult AML patients in addition to 15 healthy were enrolled in this study. The AML cases were classified according to the FAB classification. Molecular analysis for nucleophosmin mutations was done using Single Strand Confirmatory Polymorphism- Reverse transcriptase- Polymerase Chain Reaction with specific primers. Results: The NPM1 mutations were found in 46.88% of adult AML patients , whereas the control group showed absence of these mutations. The NPM1mutations were detected non significantly in older age and female gender AML patients, (P>0.05). Furthermore; patients with the NPM1 mutations showed lower blast cell % and higher platelet count as compared to non mutated cases, and were mainly FAB M1and M3, (P>0.05). Moreover, higher failure rate of induction therapy was found in adult AML patients without NPM1 mutations 55.55% as compared to NPM1 mutated patients 44.44% , but this finding was not significant, (P= 0.453). Conclusions: Molecular detection of NPM1 mutations in Iraqi adult AML patients was reported for the first time where the frequency of NPM1 mutations in adult AML patients was higher than that reported in different studies worldwide. NPM1 mutations were associated with good prognostic factors in AML as female gender, lower blast cell percent and higher rate of response to induction therapy thus , this mutation is can be considered in risk stratification of AML patients. 12. Adsorption Performance of Packed Bed Column for the removal of Lead (ii) using oil Palm Fibre Nwabanne, J. T.; Igbokwe, P. K. Abstract The adsorption performance of packed bed column using activated carbon prepared from oil palm fibre (OPF) for the removal of lead (11) from aqueous solution was investigated. The influence of important parameters like inlet ion concentration, flow rate and bed height on the breakthrough curves and adsorption performance was studied. The result indicated that adsorption efficiency increased with increase in the inlet ion concentration and bed height and decreased with increase in flow rate. Increasing the flow rate resulted to a shorter time for saturation. The result revealed that the throughput volume of the aqueous solution increased with increase in bed height, due to the availability of more number of sorption sites. The adsorption kinetics was analyzed using Thomas and Yoon and Nelson kinetic models. The kinetic data were well described by both models. The maximum adsorption capacity, calculated from both models, increased with increase in flow rate and initial ion concentration but decreased with increase in bed height. For Yoon and Nelson model, the rate constant increased with increase in flow rate, initial ion concentration and bed height. The time required for 50% breakthrough decreased with increase in flow rate, bed height and initial ion concentration. The kinetic data correlated well with both models. The comparison of the experimental breakthrough curve to the breakthrough profile obtained from Yoon and Nelson method showed a satisfactory fit for activated carbon derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch. 13.