Representations of swine flu: Perspectives from a Malaysian pig farm

© The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below.Novel influenza viruses are seen, internationally, as posing considerable health challenges, but public responses to such viruses are often rooted in cultural representations of disease and risk. However, little research has been conducted in locations associated with the origin of a pandemic. We examined representations and risk perceptions associated with swine flu amongst 120 Malaysian pig farmers. Thirty-seven per cent of respondents felt at particular risk of infection, two-thirds were somewhat or very concerned about being infected. Those respondents who were the most anxious believed particular societal “out-groups” (homosexuals, the homeless and prostitutes) to be at higher infection risk. Although few (4%) reported direct discrimination, 46% claimed friends had avoided them since the swine flu outbreak. Findings are discussed in the context of evolutionary, social representations and terror management theories of response to pandemic threat

Analisis Supposed Capable Fault sebagai Data Dukung Rencana Tapak PLTN Bojonegara, Propinsi Banten

ANALISIS SUPPOSED CAPABLE FAULT SEBAGAI DATA DUKUNG RENCANA TAPAK PLTN BOJONEGARA, PROPINSI BANTEN. Lokasi sesar dan daerah beradius 150 km dari garis sesar atau zona sesar merupakan daerah yang tertolak atau dihindari dalam pemilihan daerah tapak interes PLTN. Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk mengidentifikasi keberadaan sesar permukaan atau sesar kapabel di lokasi tapak PLTN. Metodologi penelitian meliputi interpretasistruktur sesar, analisis seismik refleksi di darat dan laut, analisis seismotektonik, dan menentukan daerah terbebas bahaya pensesaran permukaan. Wilayah studi regional, yaitu radius 150 km dari daerah interes, mencakup Propinsi Banten, DKI Jakarta, Jawa Barat, dan Sumatera Selatan (sebagian Lampung). Hasil interpretasi citra landsat, struktur sesar memperlihatkan pola yang berarah timur laut - barat daya yang diwakili oleh Sesar Cimandiri, barat laut – tenggara yang diwakili oleh Sesar Citandui, Sesar Baribis, Sesar Tangkuban Perahu. Pola sesar yang berarah timur laut – barat daya diperkirakan merupakan pola struktur mendatar sinistral (left lateral faults), dan pola sesar yang berarah barat laut – tenggara merupakan sesar mendatar dekstral (right lateral faults). Berdasarkan data seismik di darat, sesar yang menembus sampai Formasi Cisubuh dikategorikan sebagai Supposed Capable Fault. Analisis sekuen stratigrafi seismik laut dikorelasikan dengan satuan umur pengendapan pada Zaman Plistosen, dimana terbagi dalam QT (Batas Tersier dan Plistosen Awal), Q1 (Batas Plistosen Awal dan Plistosen Tengah), dan Q2 (Batas Plistosen Tengah dan Plistosen Akhir), suppose capable fault menembus sekuen Plistosen awal hingga akhir. Hasil analisis seismotektonik terdapat sesar kapabel diperkirakan (supposed capable fault)

Assessing the effectiveness of business support services in England: evidence from a theory based evaluation

In England, publicly supported advisory services for small firms are organised primarily through the Business Link (BL) network. Based on the programme theory underlying this business support services we develop four propositions and test these empirically using data from a new survey of over 3,000 English small firms. Our empirical results provide a broad validation of the programme theory underlying BL assistance for small firms in England during 2003, and more limited support for its effectiveness. More specifically, we find strong support for the value of BL operators maintaining a high profile as a way of boosting take-up. We also find some support for the approach to market segmentation adopted by BL allowing more intensive assistance to be targeted on younger firms and those with limited liability status. In terms of the outcomes of BL support, and allowing for issues of sample selection, we find no significant effects on growth from ‘other’ assistance but do find positive and significant employment growth effects from intensive assistance. This provides partial support for the programme theory assertion that BL support will lead to improvements in business growth performance and stronger support for the proposition that there would be differential outcomes from intensive and other assistance. The positive employment growth outcomes identified here from intensive assistance, even allowing for sample selection, suggest something of an improvement in the effectiveness of the BL network since the late 1990s

First order sigma-delta modulator of an oversampling ADC design in CMOS using floating gate MOSFETS

We report a new architecture for a sigma-delta oversampling analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in which the first order modulator is realized using the floating gate MOSFETs at the input stage of an integrator and the comparator. The first order modulator is designed using an 8 MHz sampling clock frequency and implemented in a standard 1.5µm n-well CMOS process. The decimator is an off-chip sinc-filter and is programmed using the VERILOG and tested with Altera Flex EPF10K70RC240 FPGA board. The ADC gives an 8-bit resolution with a 65 kHz bandwidth

Improvement measures to achieve sustainable construction labor performance

Construction industry is the largest industrial employer of the world. However, construction labor suffers from declining productivity, job satisfaction and wellbeing. Given its volume and labor extensiveness, measures undertaken to improve labor sustainability of the construction industry would have high impact for the future. To improve the sustainability of labor performance, this paper suggests decision-making measures at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Data is generated through targeted interviews of the top management of the five biggest Norwegian construction contractors. The measures suggested by the interviewees are analyzed and complemented with theory through a systematic literature review, resulting in the development of 45 measures to achieve sustainable labor performance at strategic, tactical, and operational decision-making levels. Due to strict labor laws and regulations, some frequently reported measures in literature do not hold relevance to the Norwegian construction industry. However, the quality of data and unique position of the Norwegian construction industry magnifies its relevance to the global construction industry

Validated High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method for Analysis of Cefadroxil Monohydrate in Human Plasma

Purpose: To develop a simple, rapid and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the determination of cefadroxil monohydrate in human plasma.Methods: Schimadzu HPLC with LC solution software was used with Waters Spherisorb, C18 (5 μm, 150mm × 4.5mm) column. The mobile phase was sodium dihydrogen phosphate buffer pH 4.0 and methanol in a ratio of 96:4. Flow rate was 1.5 ml/min and injection volume was 100 μl. Peak response was detected at 260 nm.Results: System suitability results revealed that the coefficient of variation (CV) for retention time, peak response, tailing factor and resolution of six replicate injections was < 3 %. The method was selective to determine cefadroxil in plasma because there was no peak interference of plasma with cefadroxil at its retention time (7.792 min). Linearity was in the range of 0.5 - 30 μg/ml with slope and intercept of 41694.53 and 22614.87, respectively (R2 = 0.9953). Limit of detection (LOD) and lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of the method were 0.03 and 0.06 μg/ml, respectively. Absolute recovery of cefadroxil from plasma was in the range 71 - 90.4 %, while inter-day and intra-day analysis showed satisfactory precision and accuracy; thus, the method was reproducible with the range of CV, i.e., 0.35 - 4.01 and 1.88 - 7.9 % for interday and intraday precision, respectively.Conclusion: The developed method being simple, rapid, reproducible can be suitably employed in pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence studies of cefadroxil monohydrate.Keywords: Validation, Cefadroxil monohydrate, Human plasma, Pharmacokinetics Bioequivalenc

Sum-Rate Maximization for UAV Relay-Aided Fluid Antenna System with NOMA

Fluid Antenna System (FAS), Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) have been explored as promising technologies for sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks. However, a single technology alone will not be sufficient to meet the stringent performance requirements of 6G. Thus, in this paper, we propose a NOMA-based UAV Relay-Aided FAS to address this challenge. Specifically, we jointly optimize the active port, power allocation, and UAV altitude to maximize the achievable sum-rate of Ground Users (GUs) while satisfying minimum rate requirements. To tackle this non-convex optimization problem, we decouple it into two sub-problems: a large-scale fading optimization problem and a small-scale fading optimization problem. We demonstrate that the large-scale fading problem can be solved using a one-dimensional search method, while the small-scale fading problem can be addressed with closed-form expressions. Our simulation results show that FAS consistently outperforms Traditional Antenna System (TAS). Moreover, the combination of FAS and NOMA greatly benefits from the joint optimization of both small-scale and large-scale fadings in UAV relay-aided communications, resulting in substantial performance improvements over the existing TAS and Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) combination

Supporting SMEs through Government Purchasing Activity

As major consumers of goods and services, governments have an opportunity to support SMEs directly through their purchasing policies. This study examines the experience of SMEs in the north-east of England in their attempt to supply UK public sector organizations, and finds that, despite recent initiatives, barriers are being experienced by the majority of SMEs surveyed. The findings suggest that both government and small business sectors face challenges, such as resolving policy conflicts, managing resource demands and facilitating organizational change, in overcoming these barriers. Further investigation is required to inform the resolution of these demands

Assessing inequality in the registration of births in Samoa

The report of inequalities in birth registration in Samoa highlights several key findings: - Children under one year have the lowest registration rates. - Geographical disparities: Children in remote districts and on the island of Savai’i are less likely to be registered. - Socioeconomic factors: Lower registration rates are associated with mothers having lower educational attainment and families in the lowest wealth quintile. - Other factors: No significant impact was found for the child’s sex, religion, household head’s sex or education, child’s disability status, or whether parents live with the child. This report suggests several interventions to improve birth registration rates, such as economic incentives, better coordination with birthing centers, partnerships with community organizations, mobile registration services, and improving the registration system’s infrastructure. This kind of assessment is vital for identifying and addressing disparities in civil registration systems, ensuring that all individuals are included and can access their rights and benefits.Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health InitiativeEXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................... vi 1 BACKGROUND..........................................................................................................................................................1 2 THE SAMOA CIVIL REGISTRATION AND VITAL STATISTICS SYSTEM .............3 Management of notification of births ...........................................................................................................4 Community births and deaths ..........................................................................................................................7 The Life Data System ...........................................................................................................................................7 3 METHODOLOGY................................................................................................................................................... 10 Using census data to estimate births ........................................................................................................ 10 Variables assessed for birth registration completeness and their limitations........................ 13 Death registration completeness................................................................................................................. 14 4 RESULTS..................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Factors associated with inequalities in birth registration................................................................. 16 Child’s age ................................................................................................................................................... 16 Region and district of residence........................................................................................................ 17 Wealth quintile ........................................................................................................................................... 20 Mother’s education .................................................................................................................................. 21 Factors with lesser impacts on birth registration completeness .................................................. 22 Sex of the child.......................................................................................................................................... 22 Mother’s age............................................................................................................................................... 23 Religion......................................................................................................................................................... 35 Sex and education level of head of household ............................................................................. 35 Child’s disability status........................................................................................................................... 37 Parents residing in the household ..................................................................................................... 38 5 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING BIRTH REGISTRATION..39 6 NEXT STEPS FOR INVESTIGATING INEQUALITIES IN BIRTH AND DEATH REGISTRATION.............................................................................................................................. 41 7 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................................43 8 ANNEX 1: SAMOA CRVS STAKEHOLDERS ............................................................................4

Labour productivity statistics: a reality check for the Norwegian construction industry

Construction is one of the largest sectors that drive the global economy, yet it has failed to receive the necessary attention from the policymakers and investors. The existing construction statistics report the declining state of labour productivity. However, existing statistics often fail to reflect the true scope and economic impact of construction. They mainly account for on-site construction activities, but overlook the manufacturing of construction products and services in construction labour productivity statistics. The aim of this research is to investigate macro-economic labour productivity and identify the methodological problems inhibiting the effective measurement of construction labour productivity. The paper opted for academic literature review and a case study strategy for data collection. The findings reveal that many productive construction activities related to construction products and services are excluded from the construction labour productivity statistics. The results suggest that Norwegian construction labour productivity is not declining and is actually a productive industry in terms of value added per working hour. Although special reference has been made to the Norwegian construction industry, the same approach holds validity at the international arena of construction statistics. The study offers insights and lessons to construction industries of other countries facing similar productivity related issues