Business development strategies used by general contracting construction companies in Texas for market diversification

The construction industry in recent times is seen to be highly competitive and dynamic. To remain progressive in such an environment construction companies need to be aggressive in terms of getting business. This is where the importance of marketing and business development comes into play. This thesis addresses the different business development strategies used by general contracting construction companies in Texas for market diversification. Initially, a framework is established for this study through the presentation of brief history and marketing theories. Then, through literature review, four common business development strategies are identified, which are in turn later used to compare the data collected from the industry. Data are collected via surveys of general contractors in Texas. Results show that companies which satisfied majority of the four characteristics identified previously showed better growth. Further conclusions are discussed and future recommendations are also presented

PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF IPOMOEA INDICA PLANT LEAF EXTRACTS

Objective: The objective of this study was to phytochemical analysis and antibacterial activity of the Ipomoea indica plant leaves extracts.Methods: The crude powder of the plant leaf samples of I. indica was extracted using methanol and aqueous solvents and subjected to qualitative phytochemical analysis. The antibacterial activity of the aqueous and methanol extracts was tested at different for concentrations. The extract was tested against bacterial strains like Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella typhi, and Escherichia coli.Results: The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, glycoside, reducing sugars, saponins, steroids and tannins in the solvent extract. The antibacterial activity was performed by using the disc diffusion method, where the largest zone of inhibition was obtained with aqueous extract 75µ concentration against Salmonella typhi (26 mm). The antibacterial activity was compared with the standard antibiotics like Streptomycin.Conclusion: This study suggests that the aqueous extract of the I. indica leaves possesses bioactive compounds with antibacterial activity against the bacterial strains, which can be used to formulate new antibacterial drugs for disease control

An Off-Chip Capacitor Free Low Dropout Regulator with PSR Enhancement at Higher Frequencies

Low Dropout Regulators (LDOs) are extensively used in portable applications like mobile phones, PDAs and notebooks. These portable applications demand high power efficiency and low output voltage ripple. In addition to these, the radio circuits in these applications demand high power supply rejection (PSR). The output voltage of a conventional DC/DC converter (generally switched mode) has considerable ripple which feeds as input to these LDOs. And the challenge is to suppress these ripples for wide range of frequencies (for radio units) to provide clean supply. Enhanced buffer based compensation is proposed for the fully on-chip CMOS LDO which stabilizes the loop for different load conditions as well as improve the power supply rejection (PSR) until frequencies closer to open loop‟s unity-gain frequency. The stability and PSR are totally valid even for load capacitor varying from 0 to 100 pF. The proposed capacitor-less LDO is fabricated in On-Semi 0.5 μm fully CMOS process. Experimental results confirm a PSR of -30 dB till 420 KHz for the maximum load current of 50mA. The load transients of the chip shows transient glitches less than 90 mV independent of output capacitance

Test Particle Acceleration In Three-Dimensional Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence

We perform numerical experiments of test particle acceleration on turbulent magnetic and electric fields obtained from pseudospectral direct numerical solutions of the compressible three-dimensional MHD equations. We find consistent acceleration of the particles to many times the plasma characteristic (Alfven) speed and extended power laws in the density distribution of energies. Scaling laws of maximum and mean energy of particles with the nominal gyrofrequency and the MHD electric field are observed and a simple estimate is presented

EVALUATION OF ROBOTIC CLEANING TECHNOLOGIES: PRESERVING A BRITISH ICONIC BUILDING

The engineering building of the University Leicester built-in 1963 has been a British icon for decades now. Applications of Robotic technologies are uprising nowadays, which provides a contingency to manipulate the benefits of robotics for executing challenging and precarious facade cleaning processes. This paper surveys the facade cleaning robotic technologies exist in the market. It exhibits the comparative analysis of four notorious robotic facade cleaning solutions namely Sky Pro, Gekko, BFMR (Building Façade Maintenance Robot) and Sirius_c. The comparison is executed using Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) techniques. This study analyses the performance of the robots based on the critical parameters such as water consumption, cleaning efficiency, cleaning dimensions and ease of implementation. Although none of these robotic solutions are implemented off the shelf, some adaptation on these solutions is necessary for the development of robotic techniques work successfully in real time. This paper proposes a hybrid robotic solution combining the vacuum pump adhesion and wheeled locomotion for the effective cleaning of the complex external building structure based on the MCDA and QFD analysis. It highlights the significant future research directions in this field

Fixed Monthly versus Less Frequent Ranibizumab Dosing and Predictors of Visual Response in Exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Purpose. To examine temporal patterns of visual acuity (VA) response to pooled 0.3 mg/0.5 mg ranibizumab treatment in patients with age-related macular degeneration and identify potential baseline predictors of response. Design. Retrospective analysis. Methods. Results from 1824 ranibizumab-treated patients receiving fixed monthly, quarterly, or as-needed dosing after three monthly loading doses in four phase III/IIIb trials (ANCHOR, MARINA, PIER, and SAILOR) were analyzed. Results. At month 3, 14.9% to 29.4% of patients had gained ≥15 letters. Not all patients achieved peak gains at month 3; many continued to have VA increases throughout treatment. After three monthly loading doses, continued monthly dosing resulted in further gains, as there were more delayed 15-letter responders at month 12 (14.7–16.1%) than with less frequent dosing (5.0–6.0%). Monthly dosing also resulted in more patients maintaining VA gains at later time points. Early 15-letter responders had lower baseline mean VA than delayed 15-letter responders in ANCHOR and MARINA; no other differences in baseline characteristics were noted. Conclusions. Although some patients have rapid improvements in VA, others do not experience peak VA until later during treatment. Continued monthly dosing resulted in a greater percentage of patients gaining ≥15 letters than with switching to less frequent dosing regimens

Treatment of cystoid macular edema with the new-generation NSAID nepafenac 0.1%

Seenu M Hariprasad1, Levent Akduman2, Joseph A Clever2, Michael Ober3,4, Franco M Recchia5, William F Mieler1,61Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Vitreoretinal Service; 6Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; 2Vitreoretinal Service, Saint Louis University Eye Institute, Saint Louis, MO, USA; 3Vitreoretinal Service, Henry Ford Health Systems, West Bloomfield, MI, USA; 4Retinal Consultants of Michigan, Southfield, MI, USA; 5Vitreoretinal Service, Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Nashville, TN, USAPurpose: To describe the use of nepafenac 0.1% for cystoid macular edema (CME).Methods: This was a multicenter retrospective review of 22 CME cases (20 patients) treated with nepafenac 0.1% (six with concomitant prednisolone acetate 1%) from December 2005 to April 2008: three acute pseudophakic CME cases, 13 chronic/recalcitrant pseudophakic CME cases, and six cases of uveitic CME. Pre- and post-treatment retinal thickness and visual acuity were reported.Results: Following treatment for six weeks to six months, six eyes with uveitic CME showed a mean retinal thickness improvement of 227 ± 168.1 μm; mean best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improvement was 0.36 ± 0.20 logMAR. All three cases of acute pseudophakic CME improved after four to 10 weeks of nepafenac, with a mean improvement in retinal thickness of 134 ± 111.0 μm. BCVA improved in two patients (0.16 and 0.22 logMAR) but not in the third due to underlying retinal pigment epithelium changes. Thirteen eyes with chronic/recalcitrant pseudophakic CME demonstrated a mean improvement in retinal thickness of 178 ± 128.7 μm after nepafenac and mean BCVA improvement of 0.33 ± 0.19 logMAR.Conclusion: The positive outcomes of these 22 eyes strongly suggest that nepafenac 0.1% is a promising drug for the treatment of CME. Additional study under randomized controlled conditions is warranted.Keywords: macular edema, NSAID, nepafenac, cataract surgery, uveiti

Evaluation of total choline from in-vivo volume localized proton MR spectroscopy and its response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer

Results of the proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy carried out on normal, benign breast disease and locally advanced breast cancer patients are presented. The in-vivo MR spectra of malignant breast tissue of patients (n = 67) suffering from infiltrating ductal carcinoma are dominated by the water resonance, while the spectra of the unaffected contralateral breast tissue of these patients are mainly dominated by resonance arising from lipids which is similar to the spectra of normal breast tissue obtained from volunteers (controls, n = 16). In addition to the water and lipid peaks, in majority of the patients (~80%) the water suppressed spectra showed a resonance at 3.2 ppm due to choline containing compounds (TCho) before treatment. In patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy, absence/reduction in choline was observed in 89% of the patients. TCho was also observed in 2 of 14 benign lesions. The sensitivity and specificity of in-vivo MRS in detecting TCho in malignant tumours was 78% and 86%, respectively. Observation of TCho before treatment and its disappearance (or reduction) after treatment may be a useful indicator of response of locally advanced breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co