Law and Orders: The Problem of Presidental Legislation

Kostnaden för att bygga hus stiger mer än kostnaden för vanliga konsumtionsprodukter vilket leder till allt dyrare hus. En anledning till detta är att byggprocessen inte hänger med i utvecklingen och att äldre metoder fortfarande används. För att få ett effektivare byggande behöver metoderna därför utvecklas eller nya metoder behöver träda fram, ett exempel på en ny metod är tredjepartslogistik som fler och fler byggföretag använder sig av. I denna rapport får du läsa om företaget Arcona AB (Arcona) som samarbetar med logistikföretaget Servistik och som vill undersöka hur arbetarnas attityd är till logistikkonceptet som Arcona använder sig av. Ett projekt, Bryggmästaren, är undersökt i det här arbetet och det är en ombyggnation från kontor till hotell i Stockholm city. Anledningen till att Arcona hade intresse av en attitydundersökning av deras koncept var för att de vill få fram information till möjliga förbättringar, för att se om företaget är på rätt spår med konceptet och för att se hur redan gjorda förändringar har påverkat arbetet på byggarbetsplatsen. Logistikkonceptet kan sammanfattas enligt följande. Lagbasarna på byggarbetsplatsen beställer material från olika grossister. Det beställda materialet levereras till Servistiks lager och tas emot, inspekteras och lagras. När materialet behövs på byggarbetsplatsen gör lagbasarna avrop till Servistiks lager som i sin tur packar ihop ordern och levererar det till byggarbetsplatsen. Väl framme lastar Servistiks personal av material och distribuerar runt det på byggarbetsplatsen. Leveranstiden från att avropet har gjorts till det att materialet är på plats på bygget är 3 dagar. Studien har baserats på intervjuer som har gjorts med Arconas egen personal och med underentreprenörer som har arbetat för Arcona på projektet Bryggmästaren. Åtta stycken intervjuer har gjorts på Arconas platskontor på Bryggmästaren varav en var via telefon. De intervjuade var platschefer, projektchefer, produktionsledare, projektingenjörer, lagbas och underentreprenör. Samtliga av respondenterna är positivt inställda till logistikkonceptet som Arcona driver i samarbete med Servistik. De tycker att det är en bra idé och att det låter bra i teorin men de menar också på att ifall det ska fungera så behövs det en viss utveckling eller förändring av konceptet för att det även ska gå att tillämpas i praktiken på ett framgångsrikt sätt. Ett antal förbättringsförslag som dyker upp är: Leveranstiden från lagret behöver minskas för att göra konceptet lite mer flexibelt. Materialkunskapen hos Servistiks personal behöver förbättras så att de har mer koll på vad som exakt kommer in till deras lager. Internetsidan för lagret som visar materialstatus på lagret måste förenklas så att allt ska gå smidigare

Mortality Trends and Disparities Among Racial/Ethnic and Sex Subgroups in New York City, 1990 to 2000

New York City census data for 1990 and 2000 for all-cause and disease-specific mortality adjusted by age were examined by race/ethnicity. Primary cause of death was coded as HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, diabetes, or cancer. For White, Black, Hispanic and Asian groups, relative mortality ratios (RMR) were derived for 2000 relative to 1990. Ratios of RMR’s for minority groups were derived relative to Whites. From 1990 to 2000, HIV, cancer, CVD, CHD, AMI, and stroke-related mortality decreased. Decreases in HIV-related mortality were notably less for minority males. Diabetes mortality rates rose dramatically, with Hispanic and Asian males having notably greater increases than White males. Increases in mortality among Asians exceeded those of other groups, and appear to correspond with increased immigration/acculturation. Mortality shifts among different diseases and racial groups should alert public health officials to consider immigration patterns in designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to prevent disease-related mortality, with a goal to eliminate disparitie

Rapid Assessment of Insect Fragments in Flour Milled from Wheat Infested with Known Densities of Immature and Adult \u3ci\u3eSitophilus oryzae\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Milling wheat, Triticum aestivum L., infested with low densities of internal feeding insects can result in flour containing insect fragments. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforces a standard or defect action level stating that a maximum of 75 insect fragments per 50 g of flour is allowed. However, the relationship between level of infestation and number of resulting fragments is not well documented, and a more rapid method for enumerating insect fragments is needed. We characterized the number of insect fragments produced from milling small lots of wheat spiked with known densities and life stages of Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Insect fragments were enumerated with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), a quick nondestructive procedure, and with the industry standard flotation method. Results showed that an individual small larva, large larva, pupa, or adult produced 0.4, 0.7, 1.5, and 27.0 fragments, respectively. NIRS-predicted counts of ≤51 (from small larvae), ≤53 (from large larvae), ≤43 (from pupae), or 0 (from adults) indicated that there weresample, because the upper bound of associated 95% inverse prediction confidence intervals was less than the standard; NIRS-predicted counts of ≥98, ≥117, ≥108, or ≥225 fragments (same life stages as above) signaled that these flour samples contained \u3e75 actual fragments. These data suggest that NIRS could be adopted for rapid assessment of insect fragments resulting from relatively low levels of infestation with immature life states, but that it was not accurate enough for enumerating insect fragments, relevant to FDA standards, resulting from adults

3. Launching the New Enterprise

As the academic year of 1945-46 approached, the intensity of activity in preparation for actually opening the school in the fall term became overwhelming. Incredible though it may seem, Ives and Day were able in a period of a few weeks to assemble the nucleus of a faculty, several of whom formed a continuing source of counsel and advice both during the school’s formative years and thereafter. Includes: The First Dean and the School’s Dedication; A Participant’s View of the Early Years; Ives Moves On; Several Views of Martin P. Catherwood; The Founders

Identifying factors associated with concordance with the American College of Rheumatology rheumatoid arthritis treatment recommendations

BACKGROUND: Factors associated with care concordant with the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) recommendations for the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are unknown. METHODS: We identified a national cohort of biologic-naive patients with RA with visits between December 2008 and February 2013. Treatment acceleration (initiation or dose escalation of biologic and nonbiologic DMARDs) in response to moderate to high disease activity (using the Clinical Disease Activity Index) was assessed. The population was divided into two subcohorts: (1) methotrexate (MTX)-only users and (2) multiple nonbiologic DMARD users. In both subcohorts, we compared the characteristics of patients who received care consistent with the ACR recommendations (e.g., prescriptions for treatment acceleration) and their providers with the characteristics of those who did not at the conclusion of one visit and over two visits, using logistic regression and adjusting for clustering of patients by rheumatologist. RESULTS: Our study included 741 MTX monotherapy and 995 multiple nonbiologic DMARD users cared for by 139 providers. Only 36.2 % of MTX monotherapy users and 39.6 % of multiple nonbiologic DMARD users received care consistent with the recommendations after one visit, which increased over two visits to 78.3 % and 76.2 %, respectively (25-30 % achieved low disease activity by the second visit without DMARD acceleration). Increasing time since the ACR publication on RA treatment recommendations was not associated with improved adherence. CONCLUSIONS: Allowing two encounters for treatment acceleration was associated with an increase in care concordant with the recommendations; however, time since publication was not

Pioglitazone, Vitamin E, or Placebo for Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Background Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is a common liver disease that can progress to cirrhosis. Currently, there is no established treatment for this disease. Methods We randomly assigned 247 adults with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and without diabetes to receive pioglitazone at a dose of 30 mg daily (80 subjects), vitamin E at a dose of 800 IU daily (84 subjects), or placebo (83 subjects), for 96 weeks. The primary outcome was an improvement in histologic features of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, as assessed with the use of a composite of standardized scores for steatosis, lobular inflammation, hepatocellular ballooning, and fibrosis. Given the two planned primary comparisons, P values of less than 0.025 were considered to indicate statistical significance. Results Vitamin E therapy, as compared with placebo, was associated with a significantly higher rate of improvement in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (43% vs. 19%, P=0.001), but the difference in the rate of improvement with pioglitazone as compared with placebo was not significant (34% and 19%, respectively; P=0.04). Serum alanine and aspartate aminotransferase levels were reduced with vitamin E and with pioglitazone, as compared with placebo (P Conclusions Vitamin E was superior to placebo for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in adults without diabetes. There was no benefit of pioglitazone over placebo for the primary outcome; however, significant benefits of pioglitazone were observed for some of the secondary outcomes. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00063622.

Existence, uniqueness, and nondegeneracy of positive solutions of semilinear elliptic equations

We study positive solutions of the Dirichlet problem: Δ u ( x )+ f ( u ( x ))=0, x ∈ D n , u ( x )=0, x ∈∂ D n , where D n is an n -ball. We find necessary and sufficient conditions for solutions to be nondegenerate. We also give some new existence and uniqueness theorems.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46528/1/220_2005_Article_BF01468138.pd