Service planning and delivery outcomes of home adaptations for ageing in the UK

In response to the impact of demographic change on the healthcare system, ‘ageing in place’ was introduced as a national policy to support elderly people living independently in their homes. Housing adaptation is essential for successful independent living and has been given increased political priority. However, adaptation policies and practice vary regionally, reflecting statutory limits, policy choices and local planning. This study investigated the current status of adaptation provision in different regions in the UK and assessed the effectiveness of local service planning and management. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory research strategy was employed. In the first quantitative phase, a questionnaire survey was carried out involving all 378 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. This was followed by a second qualitative phase involving individual interviews with five professionals and two clients and a focus group meeting with six key stakeholders. The study found that the current number of adaptations was relatively small compared with potential demands in most local areas, as was funding for adaptations. On the operational side, the adaptation process was fragmented, involving different service groups in many local authorities. There were disconnections between these groups, which often caused inefficiencies and poor effectiveness. Moving forward, local authorities need to have a clear vision of the overall need for adaptations and allocate sufficient resources. Practical guidelines are also needed for better integrated working and performance management

Babelian Reflections in Critical Tranquillity

This essay examines a literary, sociolinguistic condition of Africa in a reflective telescopic view that pans cultural experiences in temporal phases which are represented by tropes of the biblical Babel. Pre-Babel and Post-Babel are linguistic indices of speculation on either side of Babel in a notional Babelian linguistic continuum inhabited by experience that is in a state of flux. The discussion is speculative but based on observable findings indicating an emerging community that seems headed for a linguistic spot where it transforms into a polity without a language as languages go. English has grown on the back of literature, colonialism and technology to occupy the world stage as a global language; but the computer has proved noxious to the acquisition of language and communicational skills in newer generations of language users and has had a deleterious effect on a book reading and writing culture. Indigenous African languages are caught in a similar postmodern web but seem more threatened than English because of official nonchalance. African languages have been vulnerable since colonialism but newly emergent policymakers appear mostly unwilling to address and attempt to redress the situation. This essay contends that urgent deliberate drastic official pragmatic intervention is required to arrest and reverse the unsettling trend.Keywords: Babel, tropes, linguistic, literary, postmoder

Asset management of medium voltage cable networks

This paper describes the background to research currently underway associated with asset management (AM) of degraded cable networks in North Queensland. In the paper the main failure mode of cables installed twenty years ago is identified as the growth of water trees through the cable insulation. The costs of managing water tree degradation in a large distribution network are considered and the economics of cable replacement in a regulated monopoly are examined. Condition monitoring techniques for assessing the condition of cables are reviewed and the possibility of silicone liquid injection as an alternative to cable replacement is discussed: a research methodology to support improved cable AM is also presented

Sustainable Construction Practice in Nigeria: Barriers and Strategies for improvement

Purpose: Amidst all solutions posited to address sustainable construction practices in Nigeria, the implementation plans are repudiated by sustainable barriers. This study examines and confirms the strategy with the most significant impacts on the identified barrier to Sustainable Construction Practice (SCP). Design/Methodology/Approach: The study deployed a questionnaire survey to evaluate the perspective of 100 construction actors on the barriers and strategies of sustainable construction practice in Nigeria. Factor Analysis was employed to categorize key barriers and strategies into their underlying clusters for further analysis. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to confirm the constructs significant relationship and magnitude, thereby establishing the strategies with the highest impacts on the barriers to sustainable construction practices. Findings: The findings revealed three clusters of barriers and four groups of strategies to SCP, including techno-politic barrier, perception and awareness barrier, and sociocultural barrier. For the significant strategies, education and training, stakeholder regulation, incentive support and government and legislative support strategies were established. Overall, education and training strategy was identified as the most dominant and effective strategy to mitigate the barriers of SCP in Nigeria. Originality/Value: The paper establishes education and training as the key strategy to achieving sustainable quest in the AEC industry. The practical implication is that policy makers, educators and professional bodies can harness sustainable knowledge transfer through education and training to improve sustainable construction practices in Nigeria

Chemical composition, antioxidant, anti-lipooxygenase, antimicrobial, anti-parasite and cytotoxic activities of Polyalthia longifolia seed oil

This work investigates the chemical compositions of Polyalthia longifolia Thw. seed oil with the associated antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasite and cytotoxicity potentials. The oil of P. longifolia seed obtained by soxhlet extraction was trans-esterified and the fatty acid profile characterized using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH and ABTS assays. The anti-bacterial and anti-fungi properties of the oil were determine on clinical isolates of the organisms using agar diffusion method. The anti-inflammatory activities, cytotoxicity and anti-parasite potential were evaluated using lipooxygenase, mammalian cell and Toxoplasma gondii assays respectively. P. longifolia seed was observed to contain oleic (30.31%), linoleic acid (19.27%) and palmitic acid (15.11%) as the major fatty acids with low proportion of tricosylic acid (6.10) and stearic acid (5.56%). The oil had significant anti-lipooxygenase activity (IC50 = 0.70 ± 0.02 µg/mL) comparable to indomethacin (IC50 = 0.53 ± 0.07 µg/mL). The DPPH (IC50 = 55.91 ± 31.18 µg/mL) and ABTS (IC50 = 16.89 ± 15.50 µg/mL) antioxidant activity of the oil was lower to the ascorbic acid (IC50 = 0.34 ± 0.04 and 0.54 ± 0.04 µg/mL). The oil also showed activities against all the tested bacteria and fungi. The highest inhibition was recorded against S. aureus (17 ± 1 mm) at concentration 200 mg/mL. Further, the oils showed strong potential to restrict growth of Toxoplasma gondii in vitro, but the parasite growth inhibition was mildly abated in the presence of α-tocopherol. The seed oil of the underutilized P. longifolia possesses essential fatty acids which could be responsible for the numerous biological potentials which include anti-lipooxygenase, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasite, anti-microbial and cytotoxic activities. The incorporation of the natural oil into pharmaceuticals or cosmetics may enhance antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity potential of such products

Salas de coordenação de projetos em BIM: proposta de um método de avaliação

A Modelagem da Informação da Construção (BIM) foca em um modelo tridimensional que contém todas as informações da documentação tradicional 2D, e outras mais, num formato passível de processamento computacional mais útil. A coordenação de projetos desenvolvidos em BIM apresenta inúmeras vantagens quando comparada àquela baseada em CAD 2D. Porém, dada a drástica mudança na representação do projeto, existe a necessidade de modificações na infraestrutura física das salas de reuniões de coordenação para a obtenção do máximo benefício que o BIM pode proporcionar. Este trabalho visa ao desenvolvimento de um método de avaliação de salas de coordenação de projetos em BIM. Para a avaliação da qualidade de leiautes das salas foram propostos dez critérios e métricas. Com a finalidade de estabelecer uma relação de importância entre todos os critérios propostos foi aplicado o método AHP de decisão multicritério, baseado na análise de comparações em pares. Para a validação dos resultados foram analisados e avaliados 14 leiautes diferentes para uma mesma sala. O método proposto mostrou-se coerente como estratégia de avaliação e produziu resultados lógicos, sendo possível identificar as melhores alternativas. Os critérios e métricas apresentados são úteis para o projeto ou adaptação de ambientes para atender os usuários de salas de reuniões de projetos baseados em BIM