The interorganisational influences on construction skills development in the UK

The UK construction skills shortage problem is well documented. To alleviate this, there is a political shift of emphasis in the UK towards employers and employees/ learners playing a more proactive role in skills development. This research seeks to examine the mechanisms that can enable such a demand-led skills development system to materialise. A desktop review and key-stakeholder analysis were undertaken to identify who participates in skills development in the construction industry in the North East of England. Exploratory interviews adopting an interpretive approach were undertaken with a sample of the key stakeholders to examine the pluralistic nature of skills development provision and the implications for the learner negotiating this environment when trying to develop skills. The interim findings suggest that whereas organisations consider skills development to be important, specific training for “upskilling” can be difficult to recognise and even more difficult to gain funding for. The complexity and fragmentation of the existing framework consequently subjects vocational skills development to the initiative and goodwill of employers, thereby reinforcing the voluntarist nature of skills development that is typical in the UK. The findings also suggest that skills development practices, at times, occur informally at the workplace and enabled through a network of local organisations. These findings highlight a need for further investigation into the efficacy of the inter-organisational dynamics and informal practices that could potentially make a demand-led skills development system a reality

Pyridazinediones and amino acid receptors: theoretical studies, design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel analogues

http://www.pharmacol.usyd.edu.au/thesis This thesis is primarily concerned with a class of chemical compounds known as pyridazinediones, being 6-membered aromatic rings containing two adjacent nitrogen atoms (pyridazine), doubly substituted with oxygen. In particular, the work focuses on pyridazine-3,6-diones, derivatives of maleic hydrazide (1). Understanding of the chemistry of these compounds is extended, using theoretical and synthetic techniques. This thesis is also concerned with two very important classes of receptors which bind amino acids in the brain: firstly, the inhibitory GABA receptor, which binds g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) (2) in vivo, and for which muscimol (3) is an agonist of the GABAA subclass; secondly, Excitatory Amino Acid (EAA) receptors, which bind glutamate (4) in vivo, and in particular the AMPA subclass, for which (S)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazol-4-yl)propionic acid (AMPA) (5) is an agonist. The connection between pyridazinediones and amino acid receptors is the design, synthesis, and evaluation of structures based on pyridazinediones as potential GABA and EAA receptor ligands. Techniques of theoretical chemistry, molecular modelling, synthetic chemistry, and in vitro pharmacology are used to explore pyridazine-3,6-dione derivatives as ligands

Work-based learning: effectiveness in information systems training and development

The ability to use methodologies is an essential ingredient in the teaching of Information System techniques and approaches. One method to achieve this is to use a practical approach where students undertake ‘live’ projects with local client organisations. They can then reflect on the approach adopted with the aim of producing a ‘reflective methodological practitioner’. This paper focuses on the use of experiential learning in a modular course at the University of Central Lancashire to produce these ‘methodological practitioners’ and is based on the experiences of the authors in running this module. A model is presented which outlines three viewpoints of the project. This is in line with a ‘soft systems’ perspective in analysing the three views of the project or problem situation. It reports the results of investigations into one of those viewpoints [that of the students]. This is approached by a survey undertaken amongst students to obtain their views on the determinants of project success and failure

Newfoundland and Labrador’s Vital Signs: Portrait of a Foundation-University Partnership

Vital Signs, a national program of Community Foundations of Canada, produces annual reports of the same name that examine the quality of life using statistics on fundamental social issues. With these reports, community foundations are able to present a comprehensive and balanced picture of well-being in their communities. The Vital Signs report for Newfoundland and Labrador is produced in partnership between the Community Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, a university research unit with expertise in both promoting community-based research and making academic information accessible to the general public. This article examines the origins of this collaboration and the lessons that have been learned from it, and discusses how the report addresses a need for community knowledge in Newfoundland and Labrador

Dietary Prebiotics and Bioactive Milk Fractions Improve NREM Sleep, Enhance REM Sleep Rebound and Attenuate the Stress-Induced Decrease in Diurnal Temperature and Gut Microbial Alpha Diversity.

Severe, repeated or chronic stress produces negative health outcomes including disruptions of the sleep/wake cycle and gut microbial dysbiosis. Diets rich in prebiotics and glycoproteins impact the gut microbiota and may increase gut microbial species that reduce the impact of stress. This experiment tested the hypothesis that consumption of dietary prebiotics, lactoferrin (Lf) and milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) will reduce the negative physiological impacts of stress. Male F344 rats, postnatal day (PND) 24, received a diet with prebiotics, Lf and MFGM (test) or a calorically matched control diet. Fecal samples were collected on PND 35/70/91 for 16S rRNA sequencing to examine microbial composition and, in a subset of rats; Lactobacillus rhamnosus was measured using selective culture. On PND 59, biotelemetry devices were implanted to record sleep/wake electroencephalographic (EEG). Rats were exposed to an acute stressor (100, 1.5 mA, tail shocks) on PND 87 and recordings continued until PND 94. Test diet, compared to control diet, increased fecal Lactobacillus rhamnosus colony forming units (CFU), facilitated non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep consolidation (PND 71/72) and enhanced rapid eye movement (REM) sleep rebound after stressor exposure (PND 87). Rats fed control diet had stress-induced reductions in alpha diversity and diurnal amplitude of temperature, which were attenuated by the test diet (PND 91). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed a significant linear relationship between early-life Deferribacteres (PND 35) and longer NREM sleep episodes (PND 71/72). A diet containing prebiotics, Lf and MFGM enhanced sleep quality, which was related to changes in gut bacteria and modulated the impact of stress on sleep, diurnal rhythms and the gut microbiota

The Application of Long Run Incremental Cost Model in the Jordanian Telecommunication Industry & its ability to Support the Financial Performance in these companies (Descriptive & Comparative Study: Jordanian Telecommunication Industry)

This Article aims to show the efficiency of application of LRIC (Long Run Incremental Cost) Model in the JTI (Jordanian Telecommunication Industry) at the financial level, especially in the scope financial performance, and the role of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) in the application of this model, and the extent of cooperation that has occurred between the companies and this Commission. This paper tries to highlights the legislations and the legal versions issued by Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and governmental entities and the extent of commitment the Jordanian Telecommunication companies by these legislations & Legal terms. The study found a full compliance of these legislation and the regulations which issued by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission by Jordanian telecommunications companies under study, Zain & Orange Telecom company, , as well as contribute to raising the level of financial efficiency on the financial performance scope. And the researchers found that the Zain Company witnessed an increasing Growth in the item of: Customers, Revenue, EBITDA or EBIT and Net Income after apply the LRIC model. Also the Gross Revenue had a negative Growth between the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. And there is an increasing in the capital expenditures between 2011 and 2012. Keywords’: (LRIC) Long Run Incremental Cost, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), Jordanian Telecommunication Industry (JTI), Jordan Mobile Telephone Services Company (Zain), Jordan Telecom Company (Orange)

The Effectiveness of Application LRIC (Long Run Incremental Cost) in the Jordanian Telecommunication Companies

ThisStudy aims to investigate in the effectiveness of application LRIC (Long RunIncremental Cost) in the Jordanian Telecommunication Companies, to achieve themain goals of this study, the researcher decides to distribute Questionnaire tothe financial decision makers in these companies which are represented by:Financial Managers, Cost Accountants, Accounts managers (Chief Accountants) andQuality Assurance Managers.The researcher used several axes to thequestionnaire which presented to the target audience in the three companies(Orange, Zain & Umniah), and these axes were formulated in: FinancialPerformance, Operational Performance & Competitive Performance, throughthese axes the researcher put some questions he think it would be able todisclosure of the fact the application of the LRIC model in the companiesabove.The result of this study came under the researcher expectations, whereindicates the existence of a correlation between the applying LRIC models onthe Jordanian Telecommunications Companies and (Financial Performance,Operational Performance & Competitive Performance) But in varying degrees.Keywords: (LRIC) Long Run Incremental Cost,Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), JordanianTelecommunication Industry (JTI), JordanMobile Telephone Services Company (Zain), Jordan Telecom Company (Orange)

A truncation error model and its application to the accuracy analysis of constraint violations

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77162/1/AIAA-1993-3707-458.pd