Building inspection in multi-dwelling housing and the perception of building quality

Principal-agency problems due to hidden incentives might be amplified, for example, under circumstances when unjustified trust in an inspector is associated with higher perception of building quality. This paper sets out to determine whether a significant difference exists in the owner’s perception of the building quality based on the perception of the inspector and the inspection process within multi-dwelling housing. A principal-agent theoretical perspective and the question of trust is applied on data from a survey sent to 1563 housing cooperatives in Sweden and analysed using a one-sided ANOVA as well as Kruskal-Wallis and post-hoc Dunn’s test. The major finding is that differences in perception associated with the company size of the developer, the timing of the inspection as well as the complexity of the process for the owners affects reported defect. The main implication is that efforts to address shortcomings related to the gap between the developer and the owner, in the context of building quality and perceived severity of defects, need to be customised to different owner groups. A better understanding of the inspection process by the owner improves active participation, which leads to efficient quality improvement. Society benefits from improved comprehension and utilisation of the results

Sustainable business practices

The current demanding business environment requires corporations to act fast in finding effective solutions to problems given the myriad of challenges they face (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2001). The challenges include the impact of climate change on business practices, natural resource consumption, chemical pollution, technological change etc. Moreover, the forces of globalization, heightened concerns about the deteriorating quality of the physical environment and increased stakeholder power are also increasingly having a real influence on business practices (Rainey, 2008). Since 1992, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has encouraged the adoption of the concept of ecological efficiency (eco-efficiency) to support business efforts aimed at addressing some of these challenges. The aim of eco-efficiency is to reduce the amount of energy and materials used in production processes to achieve economic and environmental benefits (WBCSD, 2000). In particular, eco-efficiency indicators (EEI) were developed, some tailored for business purposes while others have generic application. The aim of this study was to investigate how corporations with ambitions of achieving sustainable development use the concept of eco-efficiency. Specifically this involved an assessment of the application of eco-efficiency indicators within corporations to illustrate their effectiveness when utilized to achieve sustainable development. A qualitative approach based on a literature review formed the basis of the research approach. Empirical data for the study was derived from journal articles reviewed from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) library and other organization websites. The triple bottom line perspective which requires corporations to pay attention to economic, social and ecological aspects (Elkington, 1999) was used as the grand theory for the thesis. The findings were that: corporations in different sectors use different eco-efficiency indicators which presents a challenge of comparing best practice; the triple bottom line framework does not provide enough grounds for understanding the required cooperation and manifest interdependencies between the different domains of sustainable development (SD); eco-efficiency indicators are inadequate as a solution for corporations especially small companies, to move towards sustainable development, because of the high costs, data intensity and lack of attention to social development, associated with their implementation. In view of the above findings, the study proposes that more needs to be done to find sustainable and affordable democratic indicators, tools and concepts that capture all the aspects of sustainable development.I takt med förändringar i samhället möter företag ett stort antal utmaningar som är förknippade med förväntningar på uttryck för ansvarstagande. Till dessa utmaningar hör miljöförändringar, teknisk utveckling och sociala frågor som blivit allt mer internationella till sin karaktär. Globalisering bidrar till komplexitet i vilken politiska, etiska och miljömässiga aspekter av företagande blir allt mer viktigt i såväl strategiska som operativa beslut. Sedan 1992 har en internationell organization, WBCSD, World Business Council for Sustainable Development arbetat med hållbarhetsrelaterade frågeställningar ur ett företagsperspektiv. De uppmuntrar företag att arbeta med effektivitetsfrågor speciellt miljöeffektivitet. Som ett led i deras arbete har de utarbetat så kallade mljöindikatorer (eco-efficiency indicators, EEI). Några av dessa indikatorer är generella och andra är mer skräddarsydda för speciella industiella behov. Syftet med studien är att kartlägga hur resultaten från studier av företag med hållbarhetsambitioner inbegriper miljöeffektivitet. En gedigen litteraturgenomgång av akademisk litteratur som är tillgänglig vid Sveriges lantbruksuniveritet, webbsidor och böcker inom området utgjorde empiri i studien. Den teoretiska ramen för genomgången bygger på Elkingtons väl etablerade ”triple bottom line” (1999) – i vilken ekonomi, miljö och sociala värden balanseras med hållbarhetsmål i åtanke. Resultaten visar industriell specialicering vid mätning av miljöeffektivitet, vilket utgör en utmaning i jämförelser av resultat. Vidare innebär en fokusering på miljöeffektivittetsmål risk för en suboptimering om målet är hållbarhet, eftersom optimala miljölösningar ine alltid innebär optimala ekonomiska eller sociala lösningar. En ytterligare utmaning är att hitta indikatorer som kan fungera för både små och stora företag. Många redskap utvecklas med stora företags behov och förutsättningar i åtanke, vilket inte alltid gör dem lämpliga för små företag. Genomgången inom området pekar på behov av att utveckla redskap, hjälpmedel för företag som balanserar indikatorer som visar olika hållbarhetsaspekter, är tillämpart i företag av olika storlekar och i olika kulturella kontexter

Chronic kidney disease in patients admitted to the medical ward of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital in southwestern Uganda: Prevalence and associated factors

Background: In tropical Africa, although chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common, there are few data about its’ prevalence among patients admitted to a general medical ward. Aim: We proposed to determine the prevalence of CKD among patients admitted to a general medical ward in Uganda. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study consecutively enrolling adults admitted to the medical ward of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital over three months. We collected socio-demographic and clinical data including presenting symptoms, history of diabetes, hypertension, and use of nephrotoxic medication. Consenting patients provided spot morning urine specimen for measurement of urine albumin and we also drew patients’ blood for measurement of markers of renal function, complete blood count, hepatitis B surface antigen, and HIV. We also performed renal sonography for all included patients. We defined CKD as a glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) less than 60ml/min/1.73m².We used logistic regression to assess for factors associated with CKD. Results: Of the 372 patients enrolled, 57 (15.3%) had CKD. Body swelling (OR=2.79, 95% CI 1.53-5.07; p=0.001), active urine sediment (OR=3.13, 95% CI 1.64-6.41; p=0.016), microalbuminuria (OR=1.92, 95% CI 1.07-3.43; p=0.028), history of hypertension (OR=3.65, 95% CI 1.69-7.90; p=0.001), and high blood pressure (OR=3.34, 95% CI 1.33-8.40; p=0.010) were independently associated with CKD. Conclusion: Chronic kidney disease is common with hypertension as the etiology and associated with body swelling, active urine sediment and microalbuminuria among patients admitted to a general medical ward in southwestern Uganda. Screening for CKD of patients at risk should be prioritized in general medical wards.Key words: Chronic kidney disease, epidemiology, nephrotoxicity, poor resource setting, Ugand

Analysis of factors influencing reported housing maintenance costs in Sweden’s public and private rental sectors

The reported maintenance costs per unit area within the public rental housing sector in Sweden are consistently higher than those within the private rental sector. This paper uses crosssectional panel data analysis as well as a questionnaire survey sent to 196 managers in the private and public housing sectors to identify the factors that might explain this divergence. The findings indicate that “fundamental” factors such as the age of the houses or the composition of the tenants cannot explain the observed difference. However how the activities are classified and the timing of the measures are factors that can. The conclusions from the study are that the public companies should act more as the private sector in their accounting; wait longer than they currently do before carrying out some renovations; and that they should be more stringent when determining the resources to spend on large-scale maintenance and/or renovation projects

Critical reflections on the concept of maintenance

The purpose of the paper is to critically evaluate the conceptual distinction between investment and maintenance. The study starts from a number of definitions in the literature and discusses these from the perspective of standard investment theory. The article argues that the standard concept of investment covers all relevant decisions and also puts the focus on the future consequences of decision and not whether it restores an earlier standard or not. The research implications are that investment and maintenance planning need to be analysed together and that the distinction between investment and maintenance is uninteresting from a decision theoretic and resource allocation perspective. The practical implications of the article are that what usually is called investment planning and maintenance planning need to be integrated. The originality in the paper lies primarily in the questioning of the usefulness of the concept of maintenance in a dynamic age where the relation to earlier characteristics and functions becomes less and less interesting. The role of the maintenance concept is now primarily related to various administrative systems (accounting, taxation) but is not so relevant from a forward looking resource allocation perspective

Clustering based on adherence data

Adherence to a medical treatment means the extent to which a patient follows the instructions or recommendations by health professionals. There are direct and indirect ways to measure adherence which have been used for clinical management and research. Typically adherence measures are monitored over a long follow-up or treatment period, and some measurements may be missing due to death or other reasons. A natural question then is how to describe adherence behavior over the whole period in a simple way. In the literature, measurements over a period are usually combined just by using averages like percentages of compliant days or percentages of doses taken. In the paper we adapt an approach where patient adherence measures are seen as a stochastic process. Repeated measures are then analyzed as a Markov chain with finite number of states rather than as independent and identically distributed observations, and the transition probabilities between the states are assumed to fully describe the behavior of a patient. The patients can then be clustered or classified using their estimated transition probabilities. These natural clusters can be used to describe the adherence of the patients, to find predictors for adherence, and to predict the future events. The new approach is illustrated and shown to be useful with a simple analysis of a data set from the DART (Development of AntiRetroviral Therapy in Africa) trial in Uganda and Zimbabwe

Exploring the third delay: an audit evaluating obstetric triage at Mulago National Referral Hospital

BACKGROUND: Mulago National Referral Hospital has the largest maternity unit in sub-Saharan Africa. It is situated in Uganda, where the maternal mortality ratio is 310 per 100,000 live births. In 2010 a ‘Traffic Light System’ was set up to rapidly triage the vast number of patients who present to the hospital every day. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the obstetric department’s triage system at Mulago Hospital with regard to time spent in admissions and to identify urgent cases and factors adversely affecting the system. METHODS: A prospective audit of the obstetric admissions department was carried out at the Mulago Hospital. Data were obtained from tagged patient journeys using two data collection tools and compiled using Microsoft Excel. StatsDirect was used to compose graphs to illustrate the results. RESULTS: Informal triage was occurring 46 % of the time at the first checkpoint in a woman’s journey, but the ‘Traffic Light System’ was not being used and many of the patient’s vital signs were not being recorded. CONCLUSIONS: It is hypothesised that the ‘Traffic Light System’ is not being used due to its focus on examination finding and diagnosis, implying that it is not suitable for an early stage in the patient’s journey. Replacing it with a simple algorithm to categorise women into the urgency with which they need to be seen could rectify this

Стенд динамических испытаний пружин

Полезная модель относится к области общего машиностроения, а более конкретно к стендам динамического испытания пружин, и может быть использована в машиностроении, приборостроении и других отраслях промышленности для испытания пружин сжатия, растяжения и кручения