The silver-oxygen system at elevated pressures and temperatures

Imperial Users onl

Synthesis and Studies in the Light Fastness of Azo Dyes

The aim of the work was to prepare polycyclic systems of types (A), (B) or (c) in which two or more aromatic rings are linked via the tetrahedral carbon atom of a spiro system and to use these as intermediates for the synthesis of azo-dyestuffs in which the aromatic nuclei are further linked to suitable chromophoric groups. Such spiro-intermediates have not, to our knowledge, been previously used for this purpose. It was considered that the derived dyestuffs, in which two planar chromophores are held at right angles and insulated from one another by a tetrahedral carbon atom, might show interesting and unusual properties. In practice, it was found that the spiro-2:2'-bisindane systems of type (A) were not readily prepared and while some compounds incorporating the spiro-1:1'-bisindane system (B) could be obtained relatively easily, they were not readily converted into dyestuffs. The spiro-9:9'-bifluorene system (c) was eventually chosen as the most convenient for the present work and the derived 2,2'-diamino compound was diazotised and coupled with a variety of 2-hydroxynaphthoic acid anilides. The resulting red dyestuffs were found to have a better light fastness than the corresponding non-spiro dyes prepared from 2-aminofluorene

Framework for developing reverse mortgage market in Malaysia

Malaysia is expected to become an ageing nation by the year 2020 when the population of the elderly people aged 60 years and above will hit the 10 percent globally recognised benchmark of ageing nation. Despite the fact that the elderly population are recognised as asset-rich, they are however considered to be cash-poor, thus becoming vulnerable to the risk of financial insecurity. In an attempt to trigger discussion into the possibility of providing elderly compliant financial product that can be used to address old-age financial needs, this research aimed at developing a framework for reverse mortgage market development in Malaysia. The research used convergent-parallel mixed-method research design in a qual-QUAN context to administer interviews and survey questionnaires to bank professionals and household heads in Johor state respectively. Using a critical case sampling strategy, a total of 9 bank professionals were purposefully selected from eight commercial banks and Bank Negara Malaysia to participate in the interview. In the quantitative strand, a multi-stage purposeful random sampling strategy was used to administer questionnaires to a total of 600 household heads/representatives in Batu Pahat District. A total of 223 questionnaires were finally used in the analysis. The qualitative data was coded, categorised and then later analysed using Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) Nvivo version 10. The quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling Software, SmartPLS 3.2.6. The findings revealed that various economic, socio-demographic, institutional/political and behavioural factors would exert varying degree of influence in the development of reverse mortgage market in Malaysia. Similarly, the findings suggest that although individuals showed high willingness to use reverse mortgage in the future, the financial institutions may be sceptical to provide the product unless there is strong commitment from the government

Defect Tracking System

The main purpose of this project is it is an online Bug Hawker system and which is used for providing the solutions to correct the errors. This application is a totally web based tool and any user can access this tool by registering into the software. This software works once we login into the software and we can choose the error what kind of error it is etc. from the dropdown list. This software also has the extra facilities like email notifications, generating the reports, user access control etc

Biomarkers of response to therapy in Ankylosing Spondylitis

Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the spine which leads to progressive spinal fusion and deformity. With improvements in MRI, this condition is now being recognized earlier. The treatment of this condition so far is limited to physiotherapy, NSAIDs and anti-TNF therapy. The assessment of response to therapy is largely subjective using clinical outcome measures such as the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI). This thesis describes the search for an objective measure of response to therapy in AS. It does so by studying two separate patient cohorts- one receiving anti-TNF therapy and the other receiving a novel oral phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor, apremilast, in a clinical trial setting. In addition to various clinical outcome measures and laboratory biomarkers, it also explores novel volumetric analysis of bone oedema lesions on MRI and its correlation to clinical indices. The results of this study indicate that apremilast improves clinical indices of response in AS and also modulates bone biomarkers. However, it may do so differently to anti-TNF agents with plasma sclerostin and RANKL: OPG possibly playing important roles in its mechanism of action. This study highlights the fact that different laboratory biomarkers may be modulated differently by different drugs. The novel volumetric analysis developed using Dynamika software showed promise with good correlation to established methods of scoring scans such as Berlin scoring. In particular, a novel biomarker, the product of the volume of the lesion and its intensity correlated well with changes in BASDAI in the anti-TNF cohort. However, there are a number of issues, notably inter-observer variability as well as time required to carry out the analysis, that need to be resolved. This could be done by developing automated regions of interest using this software on the basis of intensity of the lesions, hence providing an objective measure of response to therapy in AS.Open Acces

Student housing a resilient housing rental market: case of federal polytechnic neighbourhood Bauchi, Nigeria

In the last three decades globally higher institutions (HIs) have been experiencing an unprecedented upsurge in student population and student enrolment in His generally outstrip the HIs student housing. In many countries of the world like Nigeria, HIs are obviously incapacitated in accommodating the growing student population which compelled numerous students to overflow into their HIs’ neighbourhood seeking for alternative housing accommodation in the private housing rental market. Indeed the scenario of HIs student's housing shortfalls and increasing students housing demand evolved the interest of many people in a student housing rental market. This is because it has been uncovered that business in student housing rental is lucrative and guaranteeing business that ensured profit for a long term. This paper, therefore, explores the nature and landscape of student housing rental in Nigeria where the business is immature then drawn the conclusion

Challenges of Students Housing Provision in Malaysia

The world population has been growing tremendously, which surged up the demand and enrolment in educational institutions to unimaginable level globally. Similarly, Malaysia has witnessed tremendous growth in higher education both in the order and establishment of new higher education institutions (HEIs) to match up with the demand. However, there is no commensurate increase in the student housing facilities to match up with the growing enrolment and demand; hence, accommodate a certain proportion of the total students. The paper explored qualitative methodology data from in-depth expert interviews of selected public and private universities in Malaysia; discussed the problems of HEIs student housing provision to four identified themes: student enrolment, government policy, funding and land issues as what exacerbated the issues. Therefore, challenges for student housing provision are enormous; hence HEIs and Government cannot adequately respond and satisfy the demand unless private housing developers actively involved otherwise problems of student housing provision will continue to persist