Perceptions of Production Home Builders on Primary Causes of Delay in Homebuilding in Texas

On-schedule delivery of projects has been a concern and major criticism of the construction industry. The recurring failure in the on-time delivery of projects has emphasized the need for a systematic investigation of the causes influencing delay. This research has employed an extensive literature review and interviews to elicit the primary causes of delay. A questionnaire survey was used to find out the ranking of delay causes for nine production homebuilding companies in Texas, and the type of projects considered in this study were Single-family detached homes. Twenty-four causes of delay were inferred and ranked with respect to Frequency, Severity and Importance indices. The overall top two delay factors were: Shortage of labor and Delays in subcontractor's work/ inefficient planning and execution by subcontractors. Responses categorized in different cities and on the basis of years of experience of participants were also analyzed to determine any underlying relationship between their perspectives on factors causing delay. Spearman rank correlation test showed that there is an agreement in the viewpoints across cities and respondents with varying experience. The findings of this research might help the practitioners in anticipating the root causes of delay that might exist in their present or future projects, and thus, enhancing the on-time delivery of projects

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Apparel Industry: An Exploration of Indian Manufacturers’ Perceptions

In last few decades, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has marked its importance in scholarly research as evidenced by an increasing number of articles and journals dedicated to the topic (Dirnbach, 2008). This increase in popularity is in part the result of globalization and international trade (Jamali & Mirshak, 2006), as the era of globalization has meant that many apparel retailers do not own production factories, but have divested their manufacturing in favor of outsourced production. Availability of inexpensive labor and low production costs make developing countries attractive outsourcing locations. For this reason, India is emerging as one of the major players in the global apparel supply chain (Krishnamoorthy, 2006). The Indian textile and apparel manufacturing sector employs roughly 45 million people, making it the second largest provider of jobs in India after agriculture, and accounts for nearly 11% of the country’s total exports (Ministry of Textiles, 2012)

Perceptions of Production Home Builders on Primary Causes of Delay in Homebuilding in Texas

On-schedule delivery of projects has been a concern and major criticism of the construction industry. The recurring failure in the on-time delivery of projects has emphasized the need for a systematic investigation of the causes influencing delay. This research has employed an extensive literature review and interviews to elicit the primary causes of delay. A questionnaire survey was used to find out the ranking of delay causes for nine production homebuilding companies in Texas, and the type of projects considered in this study were Single-family detached homes. Twenty-four causes of delay were inferred and ranked with respect to Frequency, Severity and Importance indices. The overall top two delay factors were: Shortage of labor and Delays in subcontractor's work/ inefficient planning and execution by subcontractors. Responses categorized in different cities and on the basis of years of experience of participants were also analyzed to determine any underlying relationship between their perspectives on factors causing delay. Spearman rank correlation test showed that there is an agreement in the viewpoints across cities and respondents with varying experience. The findings of this research might help the practitioners in anticipating the root causes of delay that might exist in their present or future projects, and thus, enhancing the on-time delivery of projects

Comparison of the efficacy, safety, acceptability and fetomaternal outcomes of combination of mifepristone and foley’s catheter with foley’s catheter alone in induction of labour in term pregnancies with previous lower segment caesarean section

Background: Objective of the study was to compare the efficacy, safety, acceptability, fetomaternal outcomes of combination of mifepristone and Foley’s catheter with Foley’s catheter alone in induction of labor in term pregnancies with previous Lower segment caesarean section (LSCS).Methods: This was a prospective study of 36 women induced with mifepristone and foley’s catheter and 36 women induced with foley’s catheter alone at 37 weeks to 41+6 weeks with previous LSCS.Results: Mean bishop score on admission in combined group (2.44) was comparable with that of foley’s alone group (2.91, p=0.888). Mean Bishop score (BS) after foley’s expulsion in group A and group B was 7.46 and 6.33 respectively, which was statistically significant (p<0.001). In group A 69.5% of women delivered vaginally compared to 52.2% in group B which was comparable (p=0.230). Mean induction to delivery interval was significantly short in combination group (15.5±1.3 hours versus 20.8±1.07 hours, p=0.003). 50% women in group A required oxytocin for induction/ augmentation of labour as compared to 77.8% in group B (p=0.02). Failed induction was statistically higher in group B (p<0.05). No difference was found with regards scar dehiscence, scar rupture, Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), wound infection, puerperal pyrexia, Meconium stained liquor (MSL), fetal distress, mean birth weight, 1 and 5 minutes Appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration (APGAR) score, neonatal outcome, hospital stay.Conclusions: Priming with mifepristone before insertion of foley’s catheter results in significant change in BS signifying that combination promotes early cervical ripening as compared to foley’s catheter alone. Mifepristone plays significant role in cervical ripening, reduces induction to delivery interval, oxytocin requirement and failed induction

Regulation of Serotonin 1A Receptor SUMOylation by SENP2 and PIASxα

Serotonin 1A receptors (5-HT1ARs) are implicated in the control of mood, cognition, and memory and in various neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. As such, understanding the regulation of 5-HT1ARs will inform the development of better treatment approaches. We previously demonstrated 5-HT1ARs are SUMOylated by SUMO1 in the rat brain. Agonist stimulation increased SUMOylation and was further enhanced when combined with 17β-estradiol-3-benzoate (EB), which are treatments that cause the transient and prolonged desensitization of 5-HT1AR signaling, respectively. In the current study, we identified the protein inhibitor of activated STAT (PIAS)xα as the enzyme that facilitates SUMOylation, and SENP2 as the protein that catalyzes the deSUMOylation of 5-HT1ARs. We demonstrated that PIASxα significantly increased in the membrane fraction of rats co-treated with EB and an agonist, compared to either the EB-treated or vehicle-treated groups. The acute treatment with an agonist alone shifted the location of SENP2 from the membrane to the cytoplasmic fraction, but it has little effect on PIASxα. Hence, two separate mechanisms regulate SUMOylation and the activity of 5-HT1ARs by an agonist and EB. The effects of EB on 5-HT1AR SUMOylation and signaling may be related to the higher incidence of mood disorders in women during times with large fluctuations in estrogens. Targeting the SUMOylation of 5-HT1ARs could have important clinical relevance for the therapy for several neuropsychiatric disorders in which 5-HT1ARs are implicated

Differential effects of sumoylation on the activities of CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPα) p42 versus p30 may contribute in part, to aberrant C/EBPα activity in acute leukemias

In this study, we have examined the role of post-translational modification of the myeloid master regulator C/EBPα by small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO). We have used transient transfection analysis, oligonucleotide pulldown assays and chromatin immuno-precititation in all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-inducible promyelocytic cell lines MPRO and NB4. We demonstrate that sumoylated wild-type p42-C/EBPα is associated with negative regulation of the myeloid specific lactoferrin (LF) gene in early myeloid cells and that a reduction in p42-C/EBPα sumoylation coincides with expression of the LF gene in maturing myeloid cells. In the acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line NB4 however, sumoylated p42 remains persistently bound to the LF promoter following ATRA-induction. This correlates with lack of lactoferrin expression in these cells. Changes in sumoylation status of C/EBPα thus appear to contribute to a switch that regulates transcriptional activity of this master regulator during normal neutrophil development. We also demonstrate that sumoylation of the AML associated dominant negative p30-C/EBPα isoform does not alter transactivation activity of the LF promoter. This may be because the p30 C/EBPα isoform binds to the LF promoter much less efficiently than its full length counterpart. Our data suggest that the activity of p42-C/EBPα in the developing neutrophil is more sensitive to changes in sumoylation than the p30 isoform. This difference may contribute to the leukemogenic potential of p30-C/EBPα

Development of a Practical Model for Targeting Patient Decision Support Interventions to Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening in Vulnerable Populations

We sought to develop a practical model for predicting probability of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening completion in a diverse safety-net population and a subsequent framework for targeting screening promotion interventions. Data used to construct the models was prospectively collected from a CRC screening intervention. Models were cross-validated by randomly splitting the data into training and validation samples. The predicted probabilities of screening completion from the final model were trichotomized into framework groups and cross-validated by defining cut-points in the training sample, applying them to the validation sample, and comparing across samples for homogeneity. The final model included demographic and simple psychosocial measures and predicted screening behavior adequately (AUROC=0.63). The framework groups (cut-points 0.62 (low), 0.74 (medium), and 1.0 (high)) were homogeneous across the two samples. The model and framework may be useful for designing and delivering targeted interventions to promote CRC screening. Future research should validate the framework groups

Trends in Intracranial Stenting Among Medicare Beneficiaries in the United States, 2006–2010

Background: It is uncertain how intracranial stenting (ICS) has been adopted nationally during a period characterized by a restrictive payment policy by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, humanitarian device exemption approval by the Food and Drug Administration, and insufficient evidence of effectiveness. We sought to determine the trends in rates of ICS use and associated outcomes in the United States. Methods and Results: From 65 211 328 Medicare Fee‐for‐Service beneficiaries hospitalized between 2006 and 2010 in acute care hospitals in the United States, we included patients with ICD‐9‐CM procedure codes for intracranial angioplasty and stenting, excluding those with a principal discharge diagnosis code of cerebral aneurysm or subarachnoid hemorrhage. We report operative rates per 1 000 000 person‐years and outcomes including 30‐day and 1‐year mortality rates. There were 838 ICS procedures performed among Fee‐for‐Service beneficiaries. The overall hospitalization rate for ICS increased significantly from ≈1 per 1 000 000 person‐years (n=35 procedures) in 2006 to 9 per 1 000 000 person‐years (n=258 procedures) in 2010 (P=0.0090 for trend). Procedure rates were higher in men than in women, and were highest among patients aged 75 to 84 years and lowest among those ≥85 years. The 30‐day mortality rate increased from 2.9% (95% CI, 0.1 to 15.3) to 12.9% (95% CI, 9.0 to 17.6), P=0.1294 for trend, and the 1‐year mortality rate increased from 14.7% (95% CI, 5.0 to 31.1) to 19.5% (95% CI, 14.9 to 24.9), P=0.0101; however, the annual changes were not significant after adjustment. Conclusions: ICS utilization in the United States has modestly increased during a period of inadequate supportive evidence. Humanitarian device exemption and a restrictive payment policy appear to have caused slow adoption of the technology