Disaster risk management approaches in construction and built environment: A research collaboration networks perspective

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Currently there is no analysis of the development of disaster risk management literature in the construction and built environment context, the changes in its research paradigms over time and the role of different key players in the advance of its current body of knowledge. This study aims to address that gap by investigating the longitudinal data of disaster risk management literature published over the past three decades. Design/methodology/approach: A social network analysis approach is used in this study to show the overall development of the field and specifically the impact of research collaborations between different organisations and countries on research productivity. Findings: The results indicate that the focus of disaster risk management research in the built environment context is heavily biased towards reactive strategies (response and recovery) over proactive strategies (mitigation and preparedness). The findings also demonstrate that collaboration between disaster risk management researchers has a significant influence on their research productivity. Originality/value: The findings from this study should be of value to researchers, policymakers and academic strategists. This study for the first time shows the ability of the social networks paradigm to reveal frailties in research connections in the field of disaster risk management in construction and built environment and highlights where networking strategies are needed

The Effect of Motivation and Perceived Organizational Support to Commitment and Performance in Strategy Enhancing Performance Performance (Case Study PT Vale Indonesia Tbk)

For PT Vale Indonesia Tbk, performance is one of the important indicators for the company. Performance is also mentioned and described in the proceeds of the 2014 Joint Task Force which is the result of management agreements with trade unions as representatives of employees. To analyze the influence of motivation and perceived organizational support towards commitment and performance in employee performance improvement strategy at PT Vale Indonesia Tbk, used data collection technique through questionnaires distribution to selected employee as sample. Data analysis technique used in this research is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. This method is commonly used for the examination of relatively complex relations simultaneously with a sample of 202 people at PT Vale Indonesia Tbk. The results showed that commitment was positively and significantly influenced by Perceived Organizational Support and motivation, performance was positively and significantly influenced by motivation and Perceived Organizational Suppor, while commitment had positive and significant effect on employee performance at PT. Vale Indonesia Tbk, so the hypothesis in this research is accepted

Costing the ex situ conservation of genetic resources: maize and wheat at CIMMYT

Worldwide, the number of genebanks and the amount of seed stored in them has increased substantially over the past few decades. Most attention is focused on the likely benefits from conservation, but conserving germplasm involves costs whose nature and magnitude are largely unknown. In this paper we compile and use a set of cost data for wheat and maize stored in the CIMMYT genebank to address a number of questions. What is the cost of storing an accession of either crop for one more year, or, equivalently what is the benefit in terms of cost savings from eliminating duplicate accessions from the genebank? Relatedly, what is the cost from introducing a new accession into the genebank, given the decision to store it is revisited after one year? Does it make economic sense for CIMMYT to discard accessions that may be available elsewhere? As an extension of this line of inquiry it is possible to value the benefits from either consolidating genebanks or at least networking existing banks to reduce or eliminate duplicate holdings not needed for backup safety purposes. We present estimates of the size and scale economies evident in the CIMMYT operation as a basis for assessing the economics of consolidation. Genebanks represent a commitment to conserve seeds for the very long-run. In this study we report on these long-run costs for the CIMMYT genebank costs that are sensitive to the interest rate used and the protocols for periodically replenishing accessions that are shared with others or regenerating accessions whose viability gradually diminishes with age.Germplasm conservation., Gene banks, Plant., Maize Breeding., Wheat Breeding., Rate of return.,

MIP-TFMAA-co-TRIM as Selective Adsorption of β-sitosterol

A functional monomer of trifluoromethylacrylic acid (TFMAA), a cross-linker of trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) and a template molecule of β-sitosterol have been used to produce a molecularly imprinted polymer, MIP_TFMAA-co-TRIM by a polymerization process based on non-covalent interaction between the monomer and the template. After the removal of the template, we used the product of MIP as an adsorbent of β-sitosterol and determined the adsorption capacity. The adsorption-desorption process for β-sitosterol and the selectivity test for β-sitosterol and cholesterol were also studied. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and UV-vis spectrophotometry were methods for measuring the amount of .materials adsorbed. Langmuir and Freundlich equations were models used to study the adsorption isotherm of the removal of β-sitosterol. The adsorption of β-sitosterol on MIP_TFMAA-co-TRIM followed the Freundlich isotherm with a capacity of 0.61 mg/g. The first and the second adsorption-desorption processes showed that the recovery percentages of β-sitosterol from MIP_TFMAA-co-TRIM were 66.36 and 40.56%, respectively. The MIP was more selective for β-sitosterol than for cholesterol

Amine-functionalized MCM-48 as Adsorbent of Zn2+ and Ni2+ Ions

A compound, 3-aminopropyltrimetoxy silane, has been used to modify mesoporous silica, MCM-48. The modified silica (NH2-MCM-48) was utilized to remove Zn2+ and Ni2+ ions from solutions. The mesoporous material was synthesized in the alkaline solution. Characterization of the unmodified materials was conducted by X-ray diffraction and FT-IR spectroscopy. The ions adsorbed on NH2-MCM-48 were studied at various pHs, contact times and initial ions concentrations. An Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) measured the ions content in the solution.. Pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models performed the kinetic adsorption. The adsorption isotherm was examined by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The result found that optimum contact time for the adsorption of Zn2+ ion was lower than that for Ni2+ ion. The adsorption followed the pseudo-second-order model with the adsorption rate of 4.56x10-2 g mg-1 min-1 for Zn2+ ion and 7x10-4 g mg-1 min-1 for Ni2+ ion. The optimum pH was 6 and 4 for Zn2+ and Ni2+ adsorption, respectively. The uptake of both ions from solutions by NH2-MCM-48 fixed better the Langmuir than the Freundlich model with the adsorption capacity of 0.55 and 0.43 mmol g-1, correspondingly. This research work provides valuable information on the interaction between the ions and the functional group of adsorbent

Adolescents' self-efficacy and digital health literacy: a cross-sectional mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: The internet and social media are increasingly popular sources of health information for adolescents. Using online health information requires digital health literacy, consisting of literacy, analytical skills and personal capabilities such as self-efficacy. Appraising trustworthiness and relevance of online health information requires critical health literacy to discriminate between sources, critically analyse meaning and relevance, and use information for personal health. Adolescents with poor digital health literacy risk using misinformation, with potential negative health outcomes. We aimed to understand adolescents' contemporary digital health literacy and compared self-efficacy with capability. METHODS: Adolescents (12-17 years) completed an eHEALS self-report digital health literacy measure, a practical search task using a think-aloud protocol and an interview to capture perceived and actual digital health literacy. eHEALS scores were generated using descriptive statistics, search tasks were analysed using an observation checklist and interviews were thematically analysed based on Social Cognitive Theory, focussing on self-efficacy. RESULTS: Twenty-one participants generally had high self-efficacy using online health information but perceived their digital health literacy to be higher than demonstrated. They accessed online health information unintentionally on social media and intentionally via search engines. They appraised information medium, source and content using general internet searching heuristics taught at school. Information on social media was considered less trustworthy than websites, but participants used similar appraisal strategies for both; some search/appraisal heuristics were insufficiently nuanced for digital health information, sometimes resulting in misplaced trust or diminished self-efficacy. Participants felt anxious or relieved after finding online health information, depending on content, understanding and satisfaction. They did not act on information without parental and/or health professional advice. They rarely discussed findings with health professionals but would welcome discussions and learning how to find and appraise online health information. CONCLUSIONS: Whilst adolescents possess many important digital health literacy skills and generally feel self-efficacious in using them, their critical health literacy needs improving. Adolescents desire increased digital health literacy so they can confidently appraise health information they find online and on social media. Co-designed educational interventions with adolescents and health providers are required

Peripheral blood RNA gene expression profiling in patients with bacterial meningitis

Objectives: The aim of present study was to find genetic pathways activated during infection with bacterial meningitis (BM) and potentially influencing the course of the infection using genome-wide RNA expression profiling combined with pathway analysis and functional annotation of the differential transcription. Methods: We analyzed 21 patients with BM hospitalized in 2008. The control group consisted of 18 healthy subjects. The RNA was extracted from whole blood, globin mRNA was depleted and gene expression profiling was performed using GeneChip Human Gene 1.0 ST Arrays which can assess the transcription of 28,869 genes. Gene expression profile data were analyzed using Bioconductor packages and Bayesian modeling. Functional annotation of the enriched gene sets was used to define the altered genetic networks. We also analyzed whether gene expression profiles depend on the clinical course and outcome. In order to verify the microarray results, the expression levels of ten functionally relevant genes with high statistical significance (CD177, IL1R2, IL18R1, IL18RAP, OLFM4, TLR5, CPA3, FCER1A, IL5RA, and IL7R) were confirmed by quantitative real-time (qRT) PCR. Results: There were 8569 genes displaying differential expression at a significance level of p < 0.05. Following False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction, a total of 5500 genes remained significant at a p-value of < 0.01. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the differential expression in 10 selected genes. Functional annotation and network analysis indicated that most of the genes were related to activation of humoral and cellular immune responses (enrichment score 43). Those changes were found in both adults and in children with BM compared to the healthy controls. The gene expression profiles did not significantly depend on the clinical outcome, but there was a strong influence of the specific type of pathogen underlying BM. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that there is a very strong activation of immune response at the transcriptional level during BM and that the type of pathogen influences this transcriptional activation

Adapted MMSE and TYM cognitive tests: how much powerful in screening for Alzheimer�s disease in Iranian people

Alzheimer�s disease (AD) is a major global health priority and providing an efficient way for early diagnosis of people developing dementia is important. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE, total score = 30) and Test Your Memory (TYM, total score = 50) are widely used as screening tests for cognitive function. In the present study 174 subjects including healthy people (CON group) and those having Alzheimer�s disease (AD group) were introduced to MMSE and TYM cognitive tests adjusted to Iranian population. Sensitivities and specificities with optimal cut-off scores, area under curve (AUC), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were measured for both tests. The MMSE scores of the CON and AD groups were 23.77 ± 0.327 and 10.88 ± 0.762, respectively. The TYM scores were 44.32 ± 0.389 and 14.37 ± 1.368 in the CON and AD participants, respectively. Findings in the MMSE test were: AUC = 0.962, optimal cut-off score = 18.5, sensitivity = 0.90 and specificity = 0.96. Values in the TYM test were: AUC = 0.991, optimal cut-off score = 31, sensitivity = 0.90 and specificity = 1. We found no correlation between the cognitive performance and age in the CON group but a positive correlation in the AD patients. On the other hand, t-test analysis indicated that achievement of the test scores are significantly sex dependent, with more scores attained by the females. Taken together, in regard to correct classification rate (CCR); the TYM test seems to be more appropriate for cognitive screening in our study. However, considering an analogous AUC, both tests are comparable and have high sensitivity and specificity for discriminating between people with and without AD. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Does this case hold the answer to one of the worse types of pain in medicine--that of loin pain haematuria syndrome (LPHS)

A patient with loin pain haematuria syndrome suffering chronic throbbing pulsing pain overlaid with prolonged periods of incapacitating colic and overnight vomiting was presented 10 months following diagnosis. Ultrasound was normal. No renal or ureteral stones, or filling defects were seen on CT. At cytoscopy, bladder and urethra were normal, and bloody urine effluxed from the left ureteric orifice. The ureters were normal at diagnosis, and developed new abutting non‐penetrating calcifications by 8 months. Pain episodes of complete incapacitating intensity of 2–4 h duration were reduced to 10 min with 5 mg crushed tadalafil administered at onset. If tadalafil was delayed to after onset, the original course of agony resulted. Daily tadalafil reduced loin pain intensity, but not the exacerbations. Tadalafil efficacy may indicate that the pain exacerbations are due to spasm of ureter smooth muscle. 5 mg tadalafil taken at onset alleviated severe loin pain exacerbations in this case of loin pain haematuria syndrome