The ability to process large amounts of data and 1 to extract useful insights from data has revolutionised society. 2 This phenomenon-dubbed as Big Data-has applications for a 3 wide assortment of industries, including the construction industry. 4 The construction industry already deals with large volumes of 5 heterogeneous data; which is expected to increase exponentially 6 as technologies such as sensor networks and the Internet of 7 Things are commoditized. In this paper, we present a detailed 8 survey of the literature, investigating the application of Big Data 9 techniques in the construction industry. We reviewed related 10 works published in the databases of American Association of 11 Civil Engineers (ASCE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics 12 Engineers (IEEE), Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), 13 and Elsevier Science Direct Digital Library. While the application 14 of data analytics in the construction industry is not new, the 15 adoption of Big Data technologies in this industry remains at a 16 nascent stage and lags the broad uptake of these technologies in 17 other fields. To the best of our knowledge, there is currently no 18 comprehensive survey of Big Data techniques in the context of 19 the construction industry. This paper fills the void and presents a 20 wide-ranging interdisciplinary review of literature of fields such 21 as statistics, data mining and warehousing, machine learning, and 22 Big Data Analytics in the context of the construction industry. 23 We discuss the current state of adoption of Big Data in the 24 construction industry and discuss the future potential of such 25 technologies across the multiple domain-specific sub-areas of the 26 construction industry. We also propose open issues and directions 27 for future work along with potential pitfalls associated with Big 28 Data adoption in the industry. 29 I. INTRODUCTION 30 The world is currently inundated with data, with fast advanc-31 ing technology leading to its steady increase. Today, companies 32 deal with petabytes (10 15 bytes) of data. Google processes 33 above 24 petabytes of data per day [1], while Facebook gets 34 more than 10 million photos per hour [1]. The glut of data 35 increased in 2012 is approximately 2.5 quintillion (10 18) bytes 36 per day [2]. This data growth brings significant opportunities 37 to scientists for identifying useful insights and knowledge. 38 Arguably, the accessibility of data can improve the status 39 quo in various fields by strengthening existing statistical and 40 algorithmic methods [3], or by even making them redundant 41 [4]. 42 The construction industry is not an exception to the per-43 vasive digital revolution. The industry is dealing with sig-44 nificant data arising from diverse disciplines throughout the 45 life cycle of a facility. Building Information Modelling (BIM) 46 is envisioned to capture multi-dimensional CAD information 47 systematically for supporting multidisciplinary collaboration 48 among the stakeholders [5]. BIM data is typically 3D ge-49 ometric enc...

Writing is an important skill for language production. However, it is considered a difficult skill, particularly in English as a second language (ESL) contexts where students face many challenges in writing. Therefore, the present study was conducted with an aim to investigate problems in Pakistani undergraduate ESL learners' writing and factors that hinder their writing skills. It also aimed at obtaining suggestions on how to improve Pakistani ESL learners' writing skills. For this purpose, focus groups of Pakistani English language teachers'and undergraduate ESL learners were conducted. Writing samples were also collected from 30 ESL undergraduate learners to find the major problems in their writing. The interviews and essays were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The findings reveal that the major problems in Pakistani undergraduate ESL learners' writing are insufficient linguistic proficiency (including command over grammar, syntax and vocabulary), writing anxiety, lack of ideas, reliance on L1 and weak structure organization. These challenges are influenced by various factors including untrained teachers, ineffective teaching methods and examination system, lack of reading and writing practice, large classrooms, low motivation and lack of ideas. The study also sheds light on the remedial measures such as increased reading, conscious and incidental vocabulary teaching, writing practice, trained teachers, reforms in the examination system, and writing competitions.

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With the continuous increase in fossil fuels consumption and the rapid growth of atmospheric CO2 concentration, the harmonious state between human and nature faces severe challenges. Exploring green and sustainable energy resources and devising efficient methods for CO2 capture, sequestration and utilization are urgently required. Converting CO2 into fuels/chemicals/materials as an indispensable element for CO2 capture, sequestration and utilization may offer a win-win strategy to both decrease the CO2 concentration and achieve the efficient exploitation of carbon resources. Among the current major methods (including chemical, photochemical, electrochemical and enzymatic methods), the enzymatic method, which is inspired by the CO2 metabolic process in cells, offers a green and potent alternative for efficient CO2 conversion due to its superior stereo-specificity and region/chemo-selectivity. Thus, in this tutorial review, we firstly provide a brief background about enzymatic conversion for CO2 capture, sequestration and utilization. Next, we depict six major routes of the CO2 metabolic process in cells, which are taken as the inspiration source for the construction of enzymatic systems in vitro. Next, we focus on the state-of-the-art routes for the catalytic conversion of CO2 by a single enzyme system and by a multienzyme system. Some emerging approaches and materials utilized for constructing single-enzyme/multienzyme systems to enhance the catalytic activity/stability will be highlighted. Finally, a summary about the current advances and the future perspectives of the enzymatic conversion of CO2 will be presented.

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The Leeds Beckett repository holds a wide range of publications, each of which has been checked for copyright and the relevant embargo period has been applied by the Research Services team. We operate on a standard take-down policy. If you are the author or publisher of an output and you would like it removed from the repository, please contact us and we will investigate on a case-by-case basis.

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