Range expansion of Ambrosia artemisiifolia in Europe is promoted by climate change

Ambrosia artemisiifolia L., native to North America, is a problematic invasive species, because of its highly allergenic pollen. The species is expected to expand its range due to climate change. By means of ecological niche modelling (ENM), we predict habitat suitability for A. artemisiifolia in Europe under current and future climatic conditions. Overall, we compared the performance and results of 16 algorithms commonly applied in ENM. As occurrence records of invasive species may be dominated by sampling bias, we also used data from the native range. To assess the quality of the modelling approaches we assembled a new map of current occurrences of A. artemisiifolia in Europe. Our results show that ENM yields a good estimation of the potential range of A. artemisiifolia in Europe only when using the North American data. A strong sampling bias in the European Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data for A. artemisiifolia causes unrealistic results. Using the North American data reflects the realized European distribution very well. All models predict an enlargement and a northwards shift of potential range in Central and Northern Europe during the next decades. Climate warming will lead to an increase and northwards shift of A. artemisiifolia in Europe

WATER SAFETY MANAGEMENT, LEGIONELLA PREVENTION AND RISK MANAGEMENT IN HOSPITALS: A FRAMEWORK FOR ESTATES AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT IN ENGLAND

This study is the first to evaluate water safety and Legionella prevention from a management level perspective. It is an organisation’s duty to prevent any harm or risks potentially threatening the health of people. For that, certain processes are essential to be applied. They should be known by the people responsible and those, who are involved in any process serving to maintain health and safety, and to reduce known hazards. This thesis’s purpose is to create a significant contribution to knowledge by creating the first ever suggested framework for England. It makes a distinct and original contribution to knowledge as it is easy to understand and provides schemes and docu-ment templates for reference and for application. The specific aim of this research is to systematically identify the present situation of water safety and Legionella prevention in water systems in healthcare organisations, i.e. hospitals and hospital trusts in England. It seeks to create a framework guiding management processes to people re-sponsible to identify and better understand roles and processes to properly take action for the prevention of water system related infections caused by Legionella. The focus of the research lies in organisational structures from the point of view of Estates and Facilities Management. It anal-yses the current state of the process of Legionella prevention with a focus in England and with a different way of looking at the problem. In research papers the topic is neither very prevalent nor easily accessible at management levels. Methodology is built on a mixed methods research de-sign and a multilevel triangulation approach. An embedded design applies cases for analysis, that have been empirically collected during an exploratory first phase with cases in the UK, Germany and Switzerland. A consecutive country-specific phase fosuing the research more specific was applied for England. Data from interviews and documents was collected and analysed during the exploratory phase, which had a focus on taxonomy and to explore job descriptions and factors in hospitals that have a thematic connection to Legionella, risk management and water systems for the purpose of water safety management. This phase was also necessary to test the fluency of the procedures selected for data collection and verify and confirm the case strategy chosen. Re-search of the following phase collected and analysed data from interviews, a survey and docu-ments. The specific focus of this phase was to find patterns, define coding structures, build cate-gories, analyse and compare content by applying cycles of content analysis to find levels of ab-straction to create a draft version of a framework, which underwent a validation step in a final fo-cus group by experts in the field of risk management and water safety. Throughout the research process, the findings present a systematically reviewed and analysed picture of procedures of water safety management. It applies stakeholder analysis as well as pro-cess analysis, demonstrating levels of collaboration, risk management procedures, process man-agement, quality management, environmental management and knowledge management. The dissemination of the research’s output is a framework titled “Water safety management, Le-gionella prevention and risk management in hospitals: a framework for Estates and Facilities Man-agement in England”. It aims at closing the gap between theory and practice and complies with best practice. It translates given obligations into the professional field of Estates and Facilities Management and should be made available for transferring knowledge

Outsourcing and financial performance: A negative curvilinear effect

This study asks how a firm's degree of outsourcing across all activities influences financial performance. We argue there is an optimal degree of outsourcing, where firms outsource some activities yet integrate others, and that deviations lower performance in a negatively curvilinear fashion. We find empirical support, using 1995 and 1998 data on a sample of manufacturing businesses in the Netherlands, and show that the steepness of the curve increases under conditions of high uncertainty. We show the magnitude of the uncertainty effect on performance outcomes through a post hoc scenario analysis. Thus we provide a specific, theoretically and empirically grounded prediction of how outsourcing affects performance with implications for theory and practice

Risk management of water systems in residential homes : The ‘process’ of Legionella prevention

In the present study data was collect and analysed to gain evidence for the present situation of Legionella risk management and prevention of water systems in different buildings in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. These buildings comprise retirement homes, care homes and dwellings for people with a disability. According to given legislation, standards and technical rules, duty holders are liable for the quality of drinking water distributed by the water system in a building. Showers represent a frequently used, aerosol-generating device in the domestic setting and have been proposed as a source of Legionnaires’ disease, caused by Legionella bacteria. This study investigated the prevalence of Legionella in showers which are recognised as a potential source of risk of contamination for users. During a field campaign, data from ten buildings were collected. Water was sampled from showers and analysed with reproducible sampling procedures. As a second source of data, information concerning technical specifications and operating parameters of the (hot) water systems and shower facilities was collected from the operating manager through a semi-structured questionnaire. Based on the microbiological results provided by the classical culture method, a Legionella contamination was detected in two objects. Three additional care facilities showed raised results according to a different method applied. Evaluation of the responses given in the questionnaire revealed that control functions and documentation seem to be either unsatisfactory within the institutions, or are missing completely. Although the small size of the sample in this study does not permit generalizable statements, the results provide a solid foundation upon which further investigations can be based

Risk Management - Hygiene and Legionella in water systems in hospitals: Relevance for Facility Management and Facility Services

To guide readers properly, it is necessary to say that this article is part of an ongoing research project. It is divided into four sections. For the purpose of introducing into the topic, a concise summary of the contextual framework and theoretical background is presented first. Here the authors introduce on the topic of hygiene, Legionella and risk management in the context of Facility Management and Facility Services. After sharing the perspective from the research project's context, section two reveals findings of a literature review, which worked out a potential search strategy for people new to the topic. It is also useful for people responsible, who wish to get deeper knowledge about the topics 'responsibility of stakeholders' and the ‘process’ of Legionella prevention. With the contents of section three shifting from research to (legal) practice, some responsibilities of stakeholders and the ‘process’ of Legionella prevention are presented. As the field work of the research project is still running, and participants (interview partners) are still needed, the last section of this article informs briefly about characteristics of the research project

Field study of natural, mechanical and hybrid ventilation systems of 27 office buildings in the temperate zone country Switzerland

Analyses in this study focus on characteristics of three different clusters of ventilation for office buildings. These comprise natural, mechanical and hybrid ventilation. In a major project study, extensive data was collected from 27 office buildings. Besides physically measurable parameters, psycho-social-oriented surveys of building users and information about building-specific constructional or building technology were compiled. In a selection, results of indoor air quality (IAQ) and indoor environment quality (IEQ) were compared with current standards. Thom’s Discomfort Index (DI) suggested that, for all three clusters, populations feeling discomfort are to be expected during the summer months. Responses for certain aspects corresponding to IEQ and IAQ showed a remarkable seasonal divergence of satisfaction with air temperature for naturally ventilated buildings. The appearance of stagnant air is found to occur in its strongest form in naturally and hybrid ventilated buildings. Mechanically ventilated buildings were reported as having the lowest values for satisfaction with air humidity in winter. Each ventilation system comprises characteristic advantages and disadvantages. A tendency might favour, at least seasonally, mechanically or hybrid ventilated buildings. Differences between these two systems are not significant in this sample. The result raises the question of how much technical effort is actually necessary to provide satisfactory ventilation