A comparative analysis between SA and USA women entrepreneurs in construction

Women increasingly 'make the leap' into 'traditionally male' entrepreneurial ventures. This dissertation reviews relevant literature on what, how many, why and where women entrepreneurs in construction found their niche markets, which aspects make women unique, how poverty and unemployment hurt women and what entrepreneurial barriers women experience, comparing a developed (USA) and developing country (SA). A survey instrument was developed to test the constructs empirically and case studies illustrate the models of success. Given the excellent results of the Cronbach Alpha and Factor Analysis, the instrument developed proved to be reliable and valid and could be used for similar studies. The case- and empirical studies analyse women ownership attitudes and push and pull factors to determine why women became entrepreneurs in construction. The main findings are: 1. Women took up their rightful place as construction entrepreneurs. It is a myth that they are only labourers. 2. Differences and similarities; SA-USA: In the USA women are mostly ‘Corporate Entrepreneurs’ and in SA they are mainly ‘Entrepreneurs’. They agree that their associations are successful in promoting women in construction. 3. Positive pull factors are the main reason why women are in construction as they demonstrate entrepreneurial behaviour and characteristics. 4. Negative push factors, e.g. “need to make a living” are a lesser reason. 5. Gender discrimination can become fatal barriers for successful women entrepreneurs. 6. The majority of respondents see themselves as successful and intent on developing key aspects of their businesses to expand their competitive edge. 7. SAWiC played a pioneering role in developing a database to prevent clients from justifying their non-compliance of the law in terms of non-availability of women entrepreneurs in construction.Thesis (PhD (Entrepreneurship))--University of Pretoria, 2006.Business Managementunrestricte

An assessment of the needs of women-owned construction enterprises in South Africa for construction empowerment, development and sustainability (CODES)

Purpose of this paper: This paper reports on the findings of a needs assessment study of South African (SA) Women-Owned Enterprises in construction. The study was done in preparation for the rolling out of an empowerment initiative in South Africa. The study builds on the lessons learnt and recommendations from the ʻWomen-helping-Womenʼ study. Design/methodology/approach: Relevant literature was reviewed. A survey instrument was developed and professionally facilitated workshops, supervised by stakeholders, informed the needs assessment. Findings: Fair procurement, women friendly construction sites, a construction bank and relevant career-aligned training with mentoring will enable the respondents to transform their enterprises to be sustainable multi-skilled independent entities that are able to construct the infrastructure needed. Research limitations: Findings are based on views from respondents in SA registered with the Construction Industry development Board (CIDB) and also with legitimate e-mail addresses. Practical implications: Given the professionally facilitated workshops and stakeholder involvement in the instrument developed from start to finish the findings of the study proved to be reliable and valid and could be used for similar interventions. Value of paper: Knowledge sharing for auctioning by government, the building industry, development finance institutions and women associations on the critical skills shortage, gender equity and empowerment added value

Diagnostic performance of Elecsys immunoassays for cerebrospinal fluid Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in a nonacademic, multicenter memory clinic cohort: The ABIDE project

Introduction: We compared the automated Elecsys and manual Innotest immunoassays for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in a multicenter diagnostic setting. Methods: We collected CSF samples from 137 participants in eight local memory clinics. Amyloid β(1–42) (Aβ42), total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) were centrally analyzed with Innotest and Elecsys assays. Concordances between methods were assessed. Results: Biomarker results strongly correlated between assays with Spearman's ρ 0.94 for Aβ42, 0.98 for t-tau, and 0.98 for p-tau. Using Gaussian mixture modeling, cohort-specific cut-points were estimated at 1092 pg/mL for Aβ42, 235 pg/mL for t-tau, and 24 pg/mL for p-tau. We found an excellent concordance of biomarker abnormality between assays of 97% for Aβ42 and 96% for both t-tau and p-tau. Discussion: The high concordances between Elecsys and Innotest in this nonacademic, multicenter cohort support the use of Elecsys for CSF Alzheimer's disease diagnostics and allow conversion of results between methods

Does automatic transmission improve driving behavior in older drivers?

Background: Most older drivers continue to drive as they age. To maintain safe and independent transport, mobility is important for all individuals, but especially for older drivers. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether automatic transmission, compared with manual transmission, may improve the driving behavior of older drivers. Method: In total, 31 older drivers (mean age 75.2 years) and 32 younger drivers – used as a control group (mean age 39.2 years) – were assessed twice on the same fixed route; once in a car with manual transmission and once in a car with automatic transmission. The cars were otherwise identical. The driving behavior was assessed with the Ryd On-Road Assessment driving protocol. Time to completion of left turns (right-hand side driving) and the impact of a distraction task were measured. Results: The older group had more driving errors than the younger group, in both the manual and the automatic transmission car. However, and contrary to the younger drivers, automatic transmission improved the older participants’ driving behavior as demonstrated by safer speed adjustment in urban areas, greater maneuvering skills, safer lane position and driving in accordance with the speed regulations. Conclusion: Switching to automatic transmission may be recommended for older drivers as a means to maintain safe driving and thereby the quality of their transport mobility