The appraisal and management of multi-storey dwelling blocks using large concrete panel systems

This exploratory study is concerned with the integrated appraisal of multi-storey dwelling blocks which incorporate large concrete panel systems (LPS). The first step was to look at U.K. multi-storey dwelling stock in general, and under the management of Birmingham City Council in particular. The information has been taken from the databases of three departments in the City of Birmingham, and rearranged in a new database using a suite of PC software called `PROXIMA' for clarity and analysis. One hundred of their stock were built large concrete panel system. Thirteen LPS blocks were chosen for the purpose of this study as case-studies depending mainly on the height and age factors of the block. A new integrated appraisal technique has been created for the LPS dwelling blocks, which takes into account the most physical and social factors affecting the condition and acceptability of these blocks. This appraisal technique is built up in a hierarchical form moving from the general approach to particular elements (a tree model). It comprises two main approaches; physical and social. In the physical approach, the building is viewed as a series of manageable elements and sub-elements to cover every single physical or environmental factor of the block, in which the condition of the block is analysed. A quality score system has been developed which depends mainly on the qualitative and quantitative conditions of each category in the appraisal tree model, and leads to physical ranking order of the study blocks. In the social appraisal approach, the residents' satisfaction and attitude toward their multi-storey dwelling block was analysed in relation to: a. biographical and housing related characteristics; and b. social, physical and environmental factors associated with this sort of dwelling, block and estate in general.The random sample consisted of 268 residents living in the 13 case study blocks. Data collected was analysed using frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviations, Kendall's tue, r-correlation coefficients, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis. The analysis showed a marginally positive satisfaction and attitude towards living in the block. The five most significant factors associated with the residents' satisfaction and attitude in descending order were: the estate, in general; the service categories in the block, including heating system and lift services; vandalism; the neighbours; and the security system of the block. An important attribute of this method, is that it is relatively inexpensive to implement, especially when compared to alternatives adopted by some local authorities and the BRE. It is designed to save time, money and effort, to aid decision making, and to provide ranked priority to the multi-storey dwelling stock, in addition to many other advantages. A series of solution options to the problems of the block was sought for selection and testing before implementation. The traditional solutions have usually resulted in either demolition or costly physical maintenance and social improvement of the blocks. However, a new solution has now emerged, which is particularly suited to structurally sound units. The solution of `re-cycling' might incorporate the reuse of an entire block or part of it, by removing panels, slabs and so forth from the upper floors in order to reconstruct them as low-rise accommodations.

Studies of skin antisepsis and enhanced penetration of chlorhexidine

Current evidence-based guidelines recommend that 2% (w/v) chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG), preferentially in 70% (v/v) isopropyl alcohol (IIPA), is used for skin antisepsis prior to incision of the skin. In this current study, the antimicrobial efficacy of CHG, six essential oils [tea tree oil (TTO), thymol, eucalyptus oil (EO), juniper oil, lavender oil and citronella] and novel benzylidenecarboxamidrazone and thiosemicarbazone compounds were determined against a panel of microorganisms commonly associated with skin infection (Staphylococcus epidermidis, S. aureus, meticillin-resistant S. aureus, Propionibacterium acnes, Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans) The results demonstrated synergistic activity of CHG in combination with EO against biofilm cultures of S. epidermidis, with significantly reduced concentrations of CHG and EO required to inhibit biofilm growth compared to CHG or EO alone. Skin permeation of CHG was subsequently investigated using an in vitro human skin model (Franz cell) and the penetration profile was determined by serial sectioning of the full thickness human skin. Two percent (w/v) CHG in aqueous solution and in 70% (v/v) IPA demonstrated poor skin permeation; however, the skin permeation was significantly enhanced in combination with 5% - 50% (v/v) EO. Detectable levels of CHG did not permeate through full thickness skin in 24 h. Skin permeation of 2% (w/v) CHG in 70% (v/v) IPA in the presence of 10% (v/v) EO was subsequently studied. The results demonstrated a significantly enhanced skin penetration of CHG after a 2 min application, with CHG detected at significant levels to a depth of 600 m with CHG in combination with EO and IPA compared to 100 m with IPA alone. Combination antisepsis comprising CHG and EO may be beneficial for skin antisepsis prior to invasive procedures to reduce the number of microorganisms on and within the skin due to enhanced skin penetration of CHG and improved efficacy against S. epidermidis in a biofilm mode of growth.

Regional growth and SMEs in Brazil:a spatial panel approach

Cravo T. A., Becker B. and Gourlay A. Regional growth and SMEs in Brazil: a spatial panel approach, Regional Studies. This paper examines economic growth for a panel of 508 Brazilian micro-regions for the period 1980-2004, using spatial econometrics and paying particular attention to the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The findings indicate the presence of spatial dependence in the process of economic growth and the existence of two spatial regimes in Brazil. The human capital level of the whole population is an important growth determinant, but does not generate positive spillovers. Furthermore, human capital embodied in SMEs is more important than the size of this sector for regional growth and SME activity generates positive spatial spillovers. © 2014 © 2014 Regional Studies Association.

Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Voyage of the MS St. Louis: Lecture and Panel Discussion

This flyer promotes the event "Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Voyage of the MS St. Louis: Lecture and Panel Discussion" cosponsored by the Cuban Research Institute and the Ruth K. and Shephard Broad Distinguished Lecture Series.

Latin Artist Panel Discussion

This flyer promotes the event "Latin Artist Panel Discussion" hosted by the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum.

Huber Matos: His Life and Legacy (A Panel Discussion)

This flyer promotes the event " Huber Matos: His Life and Legacy (A Panel Discussion)".

A Panel Discussion on Representation of Violence in the Cinema

Lecture on the topic of the representation of violence in motion pictures, presented at Books & Books Coral Gables on January 29, 2013.

"A Special Relationship": The Political & Economic Links between Cuba & Venezuela, A Panel Discussion

This flyer promotes the event ""A Special Relationship": The Political & Economic Links between Cuba & Venezuela A Panel Discussion" in partnership with the Latin American and Caribbean Center.

Rumba Clave Blen Blen Blen: Film Screening and Panel Discussion with Director Arístides Falcón Paradí

This flyer promotes the event "Rumba Clave Blen Blen Blen: Film Screening and Panel Discussion with Director Arístides Falcón Paradí".

El Super, Film Screening and Panel Discussion

This flyer promotes the screening of the classic film El Super (1979), cosponsored by the FIU African and African Diaspora Studies Program, Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment, Exile Studies Program, and WPBT2.

Refining the diagnosis and EGFR status of non-small cell lung carcinoma in biopsy and cytologic material, using a panel of mucin staining, TTF-1, cytokeratin 5/6, and P63, and EGFR mutation analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The dichotomization of non-small cell carcinoma (NSCLC) subtype into squamous (SQCC) and adenocarcinoma (ADC) has become important in recent years and is increasingly required with regard to management. The aim of this study was to determine the utility of a panel of commercially available antibodies in refining the diagnosis on small biopsies and also to determine whether cytologic material is suitable for somatic EGFR genotyping in a prospectively analyzed series of patients undergoing investigation for suspected lung cancer. METHODS: Thirty-two consecutive cases of NSCLC were first tested using a panel comprising cytokeratin 5/6, P63, thyroid transcription factor-1, 34betaE12, and a D-PAS stain for mucin, to determine their value in refining diagnosis of NSCLC. After this test phase, two further pathologists independently reviewed the cases using a refined panel that excluded 34betaE12 because of its low specificity for SQCC, and refinement of diagnosis and concordance were assessed. Ten cases of ADC, including eight derived from cytologic samples, were sent for EGFR mutation analysis. RESULTS: There was refinement of diagnosis in 65% of cases of NSCLC to either SQCC or ADC in the test phase. This included 10 of 13 cases where cell pellets had been prepared from transbronchial needle aspirates. Validation by two further pathologists with varying expertise in lung pathology confirmed increased refinement and concordance of diagnosis. All samples were adequate for analysis, and they all showed a wild-type EGFR genotype. CONCLUSION: A panel comprising cytokeratin 5/6, P63, thyroid transcription factor-1, and a D-PAS stain for mucin increases diagnostic accuracy and agreement between pathologists when faced with refining a diagnosis of NSCLC to SQCC or ADC. These small samples, even cell pellets derived from transbronchial needle aspirates, seem to be adequate for EGFR mutation analysis.

Capital 2.0 capital formation and legal risk in a new global economic order from fiat to exit: including case studies of the proposed transatlantic trade and investment partnership between the United States and the European Union and the financing relation between the United States and the People’s Republic of China

Following the intrinsically linked balance sheets in his Capital Formation Life Cycle, Lukas M. Stahl explains with his Triple A Model of Accounting, Allocation and Accountability the stages of the Capital Formation process from FIAT to EXIT. Based on the theoretical foundations of legal risk laid by the International Bar Association with the help of Roger McCormick and legal scholars such as Joanna Benjamin, Matthew Whalley and Tobias Mahler, and founded on the basis of Wesley Hohfeld’s category theory of jural relations, Stahl develops his mutually exclusive Four Determinants of Legal Risk of Law, Lack of Right, Liability and Limitation. Those Four Determinants of Legal Risk allow us to apply, assess, and precisely describe the respective legal risk at all stages of the Capital Formation Life Cycle as demonstrated in case studies of nine industry verticals of the proposed and currently negotiated Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States of America and the European Union, TTIP, as well as in the case of the often cited financing relation between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. Having established the Four Determinants of Legal Risk and its application to the Capital Formation Life Cycle, Stahl then explores the theoretical foundations of capital formation, their historical basis in classical and neo-classical economics and its forefathers such as The Austrians around Eugen von Boehm-Bawerk, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek and most notably and controversial, Karl Marx, and their impact on today’s exponential expansion of capital formation. Starting off with the first pillar of his Triple A Model, Accounting, Stahl then moves on to explain the Three Factors of Capital Formation, Man, Machines and Money and shows how “value-added” is created with respect to the non-monetary capital factors of human resources and industrial production. Followed by a detailed analysis discussing the roles of the Three Actors of Monetary Capital Formation, Central Banks, Commercial Banks and Citizens Stahl readily dismisses a number of myths regarding the creation of money providing in-depth insight into the workings of monetary policy makers, their institutions and ultimate beneficiaries, the corporate and consumer citizens. In his second pillar, Allocation, Stahl continues his analysis of the balance sheets of the Capital Formation Life Cycle by discussing the role of The Five Key Accounts of Monetary Capital Formation, the Sovereign, Financial, Corporate, Private and International account of Monetary Capital Formation and the associated legal risks in the allocation of capital pursuant to his Four Determinants of Legal Risk. In his third pillar, Accountability, Stahl discusses the ever recurring Crisis-Reaction-Acceleration-Sequence-History, in short: CRASH, since the beginning of the millennium starting with the dot-com crash at the turn of the millennium, followed seven years later by the financial crisis of 2008 and the dislocations in the global economy we are facing another seven years later today in 2015 with several sordid debt restructurings under way and hundred thousands of refugees on the way caused by war and increasing inequality. Together with the regulatory reactions they have caused in the form of so-called landmark legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, the JOBS Act of 2012 or the introduction of the Basel Accords, Basel II in 2004 and III in 2010, the European Financial Stability Facility of 2010, the European Stability Mechanism of 2012 and the European Banking Union of 2013, Stahl analyses the acceleration in size and scope of crises that appears to find often seemingly helpless bureaucratic responses, the inherent legal risks and the complete lack of accountability on part of those responsible. Stahl argues that the order of the day requires to address the root cause of the problems in the form of two fundamental design defects of our Global Economic Order, namely our monetary and judicial order. Inspired by a 1933 plan of nine University of Chicago economists abolishing the fractional reserve system, he proposes the introduction of Sovereign Money as a prerequisite to void misallocations by way of judicial order in the course of domestic and transnational insolvency proceedings including the restructuring of sovereign debt throughout the entire monetary system back to its origin without causing domino effects of banking collapses and failed financial institutions. In recognizing Austrian-American economist Schumpeter’s Concept of Creative Destruction, as a process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one, Stahl responds to Schumpeter’s economic chemotherapy with his Concept of Equitable Default mimicking an immunotherapy that strengthens the corpus economicus own immune system by providing for the judicial authority to terminate precisely those misallocations that have proven malignant causing default perusing the century old common law concept of equity that allows for the equitable reformation, rescission or restitution of contract by way of judicial order. Following a review of the proposed mechanisms of transnational dispute resolution and current court systems with transnational jurisdiction, Stahl advocates as a first step in order to complete the Capital Formation Life Cycle from FIAT, the creation of money by way of credit, to EXIT, the termination of money by way of judicial order, the institution of a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Court constituted by a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of International Trade and the European Court of Justice by following the model of the EFTA Court of the European Free Trade Association. Since the first time his proposal has been made public in June of 2014 after being discussed in academic circles since 2011, his or similar proposals have found numerous public supporters. Most notably, the former Vice President of the European Parliament, David Martin, has tabled an amendment in June 2015 in the course of the negotiations on TTIP calling for an independent judicial body and the Member of the European Commission, Cecilia Malmström, has presented her proposal of an International Investment Court on September 16, 2015. Stahl concludes, that for the first time in the history of our generation it appears that there is a real opportunity for reform of our Global Economic Order by curing the two fundamental design defects of our monetary order and judicial order with the abolition of the fractional reserve system and the introduction of Sovereign Money and the institution of a democratically elected Transatlantic Trade and Investment Court that commensurate with its jurisdiction extending to cases concerning the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership may complete the Capital Formation Life Cycle resolving cases of default with the transnational judicial authority for terminal resolution of misallocations in a New Global Economic Order without the ensuing dangers of systemic collapse from FIAT to EXIT.

Genome Wide Association Studies of Phagocytosis and the Cellular Immune Response in Drosophila melanogaster.

Phagocytosis of bacteria by specialized blood cells, known as hemocytes, is a vital component of Drosophila cellular immunity. To identify novel genes that mediate the cellular response to bacteria, we conducted three separate genetic screens using the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP). Adult DGRP lines were tested for the ability of their hemocytes to phagocytose the Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus or the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli. The DGRP lines were also screened for the ability of their hemocytes to clear S. aureus infection through the process of phagosome maturation. Genome-wide association analyses were performed to identify potentially relevant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the cellular immune phenotypes. The S. aureus phagosome maturation screen identified SNPs near or in 528 candidate genes, many of which have no known role in immunity. Three genes, dpr10, fred, and CG42673, were identified whose loss-of-function in blood cells significantly impaired the innate immune response to S. aureus. The DGRP S. aureus screens identified variants in the gene, Ataxin 2 Binding Protein-1 (A2bp1) as important for the cellular immune response to S. aureus. A2bp1 belongs to the highly conserved Fox-1 family of RNA-binding proteins. Genetic studies revealed that A2bp1 transcript levels must be tightly controlled for hemocytes to successfully phagocytose S. aureus. The transcriptome of infected and uninfected hemocytes from wild type and A2bp1 mutant flies was analyzed and it was found that A2bp1 negatively regulates the expression of the Immunoglobulin-superfamily member Down syndrome adhesion molecule 4 (Dscam4). Silencing of A2bp1 and Dscam4 in hemocytes rescues the fly’s immune response to S. aureus indicating that Dscam4 negatively regulates S. aureus phagocytosis. Overall, we present an examination of the cellular immune response to bacteria with the aim of identifying and characterizing roles for novel mediators of innate immunity in Drosophila. By screening panel of lines in which all genetic variants are known, we successfully identified a large set of candidate genes that could provide a basis for future studies of Drosophila cellular immunity. Finally, we describe a novel, immune-specific role for the highly conserved Fox-1 family member, A2bp1.

Experimental and numerical studies of hydrodynamic interaction of two bodies in waves

This thesis focuses on experimental and numerical studies of the hydrodynamic interaction between two vessels in close proximity in waves. In the model tests, two identical box-like models with round corners were used. Regular waves with the same wave steepness and different wave frequencies were generated. Six degrees of freedom body motions and wave elevations between bodies were measured in a head sea condition. Three initial gap widths were examined. In the numerical computations, a panel-free method based seakeeping program, MAPS0, and a panel method based program, WAMIT, were used for the prediction of body motions and wave elevations. The computed body motions and wave elevations were compared with experimental data.

External school evaluation : teachers’ perspectives : two case studies from Northern Portugal

The external evaluation of non-higher education schools in Portugal has been developed by the General Inspectorate of Education since 2006. A first cycle of evaluation was completed, covering all educational units in continental Portugal up to 2011. The model of evaluation has since been subject to alterations, and a second cycle of evaluation is now coming to an end. The current model of evaluation is based on documental analysis, analysis of students’ results, and panel interviews with a variety of representatives of the school community, and addresses three domains: results, provision of educational service and management. This paper is part of an ongoing research project, developed by 6 universities and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/CPE-CED/116674/2010) which intends to analyse the impacts and effects this process of external evaluation has had on Portuguese schools. This project includes a variety of perspectives and methodologies. In particular, we will focus on two case studies undertaken in two schools from the northern region of Portugal, and more specifically on the perspectives expressed by the teachers of those schools. These particular schools were chosen because they have been evaluated twice and represent different educational levels (basic and secondary), contexts and results. These case studies included the analysis of documental data, interviews to key informants and a questionnaire directed to teachers (n = 141) – the latter will be the main focus of this paper. Teachers are essential elements of the school community when considering the impacts of external evaluation, as any changes directed at teaching practices, student evaluation, among others are only possible through their direct action and implication. Therefore, their perceptions on the process and its impacts are crucial to the understanding of what does and does not change in schools as a consequence of external evaluation. Although teachers’ opinions are not homogenous and each school reveals a number of differences when it comes to teachers’ perceptions of School Evaluation, it was possible to stress some areas as the most and as the least consensual. Teachers in both schools agree External School Evaluation (ESE) is useful for the identification of the schools’ strengths and weaknesses, values students’ external evaluation results, imposes a model for schools internal evaluation (and in fact contributes to the very existence of internal evaluation practices), and contributes to schools improvement. However teachers in both schools do not believe ESE contributes to teachers’ autonomy produces changes in how curriculum is managed, or leads to innovative teaching practices. These results point to a greater emphasis on change at the levels of school management, self-evaluation and particularly internal evaluation, but little impact on the teaching practices. We believe the classroom is at the core of school practices and teaching processes are essential to any measure of school quality and to their impacts on student learning.