The rise, development and internationalization of Japan's motor industry : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Geography at Massey University

The rise of Japan's motor industry to world prominence has been one of the most spectacular developments of modern times and has come to epitomize Japan's 'economic miracle' in the postwar era. The industry's phenomenal growth was the result of various factors. During its infant and developing phases these included: a legacy in terms of industrial expertise from before the War; a much improved labour relations climate; and the favourable economic conditions that prevailed both at home and abroad that provided the framework for an era of high-speed growth. The most significant factor though, was the support given by the government which considered the industry as economically 'strategic' and 'nurtured' it to growth — along with many of its supporting industries — with a wide range of industrial policies. Notwithstanding the contribution of these factors, however, the industry showed a remarkable resourcefulness and creativity of its own. Borrowing engineering and management techniques from abroad such as Quality Control, and experimenting with new indigenous concepts such as Just-in-Time, the industry was able to dramatically raise the quality of its products and its levels of productivity. Based on these strengths the Japanese automakers became, during the 1970s, major exporters of motor vehicles and were able to capture ever larger shares of foreign markets. In recent years, however, confronted with increased international trade friction, the erection of trade barriers in its major foreign markets, and the rising value of the yen, the industry has inceasingly sought to move operations abroad. These moves to overseas locations are on such an unprecedented scale that they are contributing to create a new international geography of motor vehicle production

Tax of Qualified Deferred Compensation Plan

One of the primary reasons for the steady growth in the number of qualified deferred compensation plans described in Section 401 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 19541 is their usefulness as tax planning devices. An important tax consideration in adopting such a plan is that the taxation of plan benefits to employee-participants or their beneficiaries, provided by current employer contributions, will be deferred to some future time. Because of the rapid changes that occur in the income tax law this article will cover general tax considerations applicable to such benefits that exist presently. Consideration will be given the taxation of usual plan benefits, but of necessity the article will not be all-inclusive nor will it cover all possible tax consequences

Mischievous metaphysics

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Congressional Record 8 August 1876

Includes speech by the Hon. L. Q. C. Lamar (Mississippi) in the House of Representatives, August 2, 1876: Policy of the Repubican Party and the Political Condition of the Southhttps://egrove.olemiss.edu/ciwar_clip/1005/thumbnail.jp

Assessing Morphological Changes of the Msimbazi River Using Satellite Images

This study assessed historical morphology changes of the Msimbazi River in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania, following heavy rainfall events using historical Google earth images. The erosion and sedimentation processes that cause morphological changes of a river are also associated with flooding within the river catchments. In this study, the bank-line movement, erosion and sedimentation areas and changes in river section width were analyzed under three-time periods: 2005- 2012, 2012- 2018, and 2018- 2020. Data shows that, the timing for floods coincides with the historical records for heavy rains. It was found that, area in the upper reaches of the river such as Kinyerezi suffer from river bank erosion most, as indicated by the large increase in river width. This has resulted into washing away of infrastructure including houses and loss of land. The river channel width at Kinyerezi has widened a lot since 2005, with some sections having widths of more than 90 m. On the lower reaches for example around Kigogo and Jangwani areas, deposition of the soil materials prevails, resulting into raised river bed and reduced river widths. As the river section an hence carrying capacity is reduced, inundation of river banks occurs. This is among the causes of river bank flooding reported at these areas whenever there is a heavy storm event. It is therefore recommended that interventions to solve the flooding events in Dar es Salaam city should also include preventing catchment and river bank erosion on the upstream areas

Laboratory-based clinical audit as a tool for continual improvement: an example from CSF chemistry turnaround time audit in a South-African teaching hospital.

Introduction: Timeliness of laboratory results is crucial to patient care and outcome. Monitoring turnaround times (TAT), especially for emergency tests, is important to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of laboratory services. Laboratory-based clinical audits reveal opportunities for improving quality. Our aim was to identify the most critical steps causing a high TAT for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) chemistry analysis in our laboratory. Materials and methods: A 6-month retrospective audit was performed. The duration of each operational phase across the laboratory work flow was examined. A process-mapping audit trail of 60 randomly selected requests with a high TAT was conducted and reasons for high TAT were tested for significance. Results: A total of 1505 CSF chemistry requests were analysed. Transport of samples to the laboratory was primarily responsible for the high average TAT (median TAT = 170 minutes). Labelling accounted for most delays within the laboratory (median TAT = 71 minutes) with most delays occurring after regular work hours (P < 0.05). CSF chemistry requests without the appropriate number of CSF sample tubes were significantly associated with delays in movement of samples from the labelling area to the technologist’s work station (caused by a preference for microbiological testing prior to CSF chemistry). Conclusion: A laboratory-based clinical audit identified sample transportation, work shift periods and use of inappropriate CSF sample tubes as drivers of high TAT for CSF chemistry in our laboratory. The results of this audit will be used to change pre-analytical practices in our laboratory with the aim of improving TAT and customer satisfaction

Thyroid autoimmunity and early pregnancy loss in Jos, Nigeria

Background: Early pregnancy loss is a challenging experience for both the patient and the physician; it is unfortunately a common complication of human gestation. Early pregnancy loss is defined as the termination of pregnancy before 20 weeks of gestation or with a fetal weight of &lt;500 g. Immunological disorders have been attributed to early pregnancy loss in addition to chromosomal abnormalities. Thyroid autoimmunity is one of the immunological causes of early pregnancy loss that has been poorly studied in sub‑Saharan Africa.Objective: This study was aimed at determining the relationship between early pregnancy loss and thyroid autoimmunity in Jos, North‑Central Nigeria.Patients and Methods: This was a case‑control study involving 44 women with a current history of miscarriage at an average gestational age of 11.57 ± 4.3 weeks (cases) and 44 pregnant women with previous history of delivery with no history of miscarriage(s) at a mean gestational age of 17.9 ± 4.9 weeks (controls). Serum thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) were assayed by Electro‑chemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) using Cobas e411 auto analyzer (by Roche). The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0.Results: TgAb was neither present in the cases nor in the control group. The prevalence for TPOAb was 11.4% for the cases and 4.5% for the controls. The difference in proportion was not statistically significant (P = 0.434).Conclusion: There was no statistically significant relationship between thyroid autoimmunity and early pregnancy loss.Keywords: Autoimmunity; pregnancy loss; thyroi

Diagnostic challenges in critical care management of fluid and electrolyte disturbances in a poor-resource setting: a survey of critical care doctors

Background: To determine the challenges in diagnostic support for adequate fluid and electrolyte (F/E) management in a poor-resource critical care setting.Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted between March and May 2017 in one hundred and four (104) doctors practicing in four tertiary hospitals in North-central Nigeria. These doctors were currently working in Accidents and Emergency Units (A/E), Intensive care Units (ICU) and Children Emergency Units and have worked for at least two months prior to the study. They were given a structured questionnaire to fill and return. The questionnaire among other things, addressed laboratory-related factors that affect management of F/E disturbances.Results: Unavailability of some laboratory tests, inaccuracy of laboratory results, incomplete test results and delay in obtaining results, hampered F/E management in critical care according to more than 75% of the surveyed doctors. About sixty percent of the doctors reported a turnaround time (TAT) of ≥3 hours for electrolytes and most emergency biochemical tests (except urine dipstick and Blood gases). Also ≤25% of doctors responded that electrolytes and most emergency biochemical tests (except urine dipstick and Blood gases) were offered in the ICU/Emergency unit laboratories. Ten percent or less of doctors reported that electrolytes and the emergency biochemical test were available by Point of care testing (POCT).Conclusions: There is an urgent need for the managers of healthcare in LMICs to establish functional laboratories in ICUs, explore the use of POCT and build capacity for diagnostic critical care

Assessment of iron Parameters and Transient Elastography (FibroScan) Pattern amongPatients with Chronic Viral Hepatitis Infection in Jos, Nigeria

Background:The long-termeffect of excess iron deposition in the liver include fibrosis and cirrhosis which may progress to hepatocellular carcinoma. We assessed iron parameters among patients with chronic viral hepatitis B and C infection (CVHBI; CVHCI) to determineif any correlation existed with the degree of fibrosis in the liver. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on 186 patients, made up of 132 patients withCVHBI and 54 patients with CVHCI. Serum ferritin and C-reactive protein were done by ELISA, serum iron and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) by colorimetric technique while transferrin saturation (Tsat) was calculated using serum iron and TIBC values. Liver fibrosis was assessed using fibroscan.Obtained data wereanalysed using SPSS version 20 and p values &lt; 0.05 were considered statistically significant.&nbsp; Results: The mean values for serum ferritin, iron, TIBC and Tsat were 218.1±325.6µg/L, 25.1±22.8µmol/L, 71.13 ± 35.92µmol/L and 45.2 ± 49.9% respectively. There were no significant differences in iron parameters between patients with CVHBI and CVHCI. Elevated serum ferritin was found in 15.2% and 20.4% of CHBVI and CHCVI patients respectively; while an elevated Tsat was seen in 22.7% and 24.1% of CHBVI and CHCVI patients respectively. Using a combination of elevated serum ferritin and Tsat, the prevalence of iron overload was found to be1.6%. Fibroscan scores did not differ significantly between patients with orwithout elevated iron parameters. Conclusion:Chronic viral hepatitis infection is associated elevated iron parameters though withminimal effect on liver fibrosis. Conflict of interest: Ni

Modification of WHO diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes: implications for classification of hyperglycemia in pregnancy

Background: Low and medium income countries (LMICs) especially in sub-Saharan Africa face unique challenges in screening and diagnosing hyperglycaemia in pregnancy. The implications of applying the 2013 WHO modifications for assessing hyperglycaemia in pregnancy in low resource settings are not known. We evaluated the significance of these recent changes in classification of hyperglycaemia among pregnant Nigerian women.Methods: We reviewed the records of Oral glucose tolerance test conducted on 600 pregnant women at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) between July 2012 and June 2016. The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Test for association was done using Fisher’s exact test. P < 0.05 was set as the level of significance.Results: The results show that 15.9%, 20.2% and 15.7% of the women had GDM according to WHO (1999), IADPSG and WHO (2013) diagnostic criteria respectively while 4.8% of the women had DM in pregnancy by WHO 2013 criteria. Overall, 30.2% and 23.9% of women who were classified as GDM by WHO 1999 criteria and IADPSG criteria respectively were qualified to be classified as DM in pregnancy according to the WHO 2013 criteria.Conclusions: The recent Modifications by the WHO 2013 guideline for classifying hyperglycemia in pregnancy may create non-uniform interpretation of OGTT. The confusion in classifying hyperglycemia among pregnant women referred between health centres may become more pronounced. There is an urgent need for a streamlined globally acceptable approach to assessing and classifying hyperglycemia in pregnant women