University of Salford

About: University of Salford is a education organization based out in Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 13049 authors who have published 22957 publications receiving 537330 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Salford Manchester & The University of Salford Manchester.

Criteria for contractor selection

Abstract: This paper is concerned with identifying universal criteria for prequalification and bid evaluation, and the means by which different emphases can be accommodated to suit the requirements of clients and projects. The information, assessment and evaluation strategies currently used by procurers for screening contractors are considered, and the results are reported of an extensive literature review and a Delphic interview study with a small select sample of construction professionals with extensive experience in prequalification and bid evaluation processes. The findings indicate that the most common criteria considered by procurers during the prequalification and bid process are those pertaining to financial soundness, technical ability, management capability, and the health and safety performance of contractors.

An efficient algorithm for the “optimal” stable marriage

Abstract: In an instance of size n of the stable marriage problem, each of n men and n women ranks the members of the opposite sex in order of preference. A stable matching is a complete matching of men and women such that no man and woman who are not partners both prefer each other to their actual partners under the matching. It is well known [2] that at least one stable matching exists for every stable marriage instance. However, the classical Gale-Shapley algorithm produces a marriage that greatly favors the men at the expense of the women, or vice versa. The problem arises of finding a stable matching that is optimal under some more equitable or egalitarian criterion of optimality. This problem was posed by Knuth [6] and has remained unsolved for some time. Here, the objective of maximizing the average (or, equivalently, the total) “satisfaction” of all people is used. This objective is achieved when a person's satisfaction is measured by the position of his/her partner in his/her preference list. By exploiting the structure of the set of all stable matchings, and using graph-theoretic methods, an O(n4) algorithm for this problem is derived.

A review on the mechanisms of blood-flow restriction resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy

Abstract: It has traditionally been believed that resistance training can only induce muscle growth when the exercise intensity is greater than 65% of the 1-repetition maximum (RM). However, more recently, the use of low-intensity resistance exercise with blood-flow restriction (BFR) has challenged this theory and consistently shown that hypertrophic adaptations can be induced with much lower exercise intensities (<50% 1-RM). Despite the potent hypertrophic effects of BFR resistance training being demonstrated by numerous studies, the underlying mechanisms responsible for such effects are not well defined. Metabolic stress has been suggested to be a primary factor responsible, and this is theorised to activate numerous other mechanisms, all of which are thought to induce muscle growth via autocrine and/or paracrine actions. However, it is noteworthy that some of these mechanisms do not appear to be mediated to any great extent by metabolic stress but rather by mechanical tension (another primary factor of muscle hypertrophy). Given that the level of mechanical tension is typically low with BFR resistance exercise (<50% 1-RM), one may question the magnitude of involvement of these mechanisms aligned to the adaptations reported with BFR resistance training. However, despite the low level of mechanical tension, it is plausible that the effects induced by the primary factors (mechanical tension and metabolic stress) are, in fact, additive, which ultimately contributes to the adaptations seen with BFR resistance training. Exercise-induced mechanical tension and metabolic stress are theorised to signal a number of mechanisms for the induction of muscle growth, including increased fast-twitch fibre recruitment, mechanotransduction, muscle damage, systemic and localised hormone production, cell swelling, and the production of reactive oxygen species and its variants, including nitric oxide and heat shock proteins. However, the relative extent to which these specific mechanisms are induced by the primary factors with BFR resistance exercise, as well as their magnitude of involvement in BFR resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy, requires further exploration.

Flame-Retardant Treatments of Cellulose and Their Influence on the Mechanism of Cellulose Pyrolysis

Abstract: Cellulose, either as a major component in wood or as the prime textile fiber cotton, is most frequently implicated in fire, causing injuries and fatalities [1] When ignited, cellulose undergoes thermal degradation, form-ing combustible volatile compounds which become involved in the propaga-tion of fire Fortunately cellulose has a chemical composition which makes it easily amenable to interactive flame-retardant treatments Because flam-mability is a relative rather than an absolute concept, there are no truly flame-retardant fabrics, and the best that can be attained is some given level of flame resistance Barker and Drews [2] proposed that with cellulose, the problem of fire can be described as two distinct phenomena, glowing and flaming, which present different potential hazards and should be ap-proached in different ways Glowing is a direct oxidation of solid cellulose or its degradation products It is generally a slow combustion and is of great concern for only specific items, such as c