149 research outputs found
Scientometric Indicators and Collaboration Network as a Potential Tool for Gift Author Detection
No full textBuying with impact: Stimulating sustainable public procurement in the construction sector through collaborative practices
No full textPublic organisations are shifting their focus towards the implementation of sustainability into their projects through sustainable public procurement, but recent studies indicated that the implementation is still lacking. Sustainable public procurement is only implemented in around 10% of the Dutch public procurement tenders (Yu et al. 2020). One of the reasons for the lack of implementation is the added complexity to the job of the procurement specialist. MVI platform helps these procurement specialists by guiding them through this complex task. During their work they found out that a lot of potential positive impact is lost at the start of a project. The most potential for impact is found in the civil construction sector, due to the size of its projects. Because of this potential, the graduation project is aimed at stimulating sustainable public procurement for civil construction projects. This graduation project focusses on the design of an intervention at the early stages of a project in order to start creating more positive social and environmental impact. This is done through the design of practices that support a pragmatic and collaborative approach. During these practices, a mix of vision, management and execution stakeholders come together to share ideas, discuss and prioritize in order to decide which role sustainability should play within the project. The community of practice theory and boundary object theory as well as the SDG procurement compass from MVI platform were used to give shape to the practices. During the graduation project, two practices were created in the form of online workshops. The first workshop focussed on the definition of sustainable ambitions within the project. During the second workshop, the participants formulated measurable goals and made a list of actions and key stakeholders. The workshops were tested during multiple case studies, and iterations on the workshops were made based on the received feedback. After iterations, the early stage intervention, also called SDG impact kick-off, is designed to be a set of three workshops. The ambitions -, actions -, and stakeholders workshop. Although it was not possible to measure the actual impact of the workshops on the projects that were used as case studies, the feedback and results from the workshop seemed promising. The workshops clarified how sustainability could be implemented and helped to create a concrete implementation plan. A plan that helps project leaders with integrating sustainability and helps procurement specialist with setting up sustainable public procurement procedures. All in all, these collaborative practices are believed to aid in the creation of more positive sustainable impact in construction projects. The workshops of the SDG impact kick-off form a beginning of a practice that makes sustainability an integral part of any project.https://open.spotify.com/show/6T1w8pZyeKlUX97snPBbjx Spotify link to the podcastStrategic Product Desig
Overview of the agricultural input sector in Ghana
No full textKnowledge of the characteristics and size of the agricultural input sector of a country is critical for policymakers to design appropriate interventions that not only foster growth in the sector, but also support the agricultural development goals of the country. In 2009, the International Food Policy Research Institute and the International Fertilizer Development Center jointly conducted a census of agricultural input dealers in Ghana to fill a critical data gap on the nature of the country’s agricultural input sector. This paper presents a detailed description of the sector’s structure, market practices, and supply chain. It also assesses the sector’s response to recently implemented fertilizer subsidies, and findings show that, despite the government’s goal of making the subsidy program supportive of the private market, the majority of fertilizer retailers were excluded from participating.agricultural input sector, fertilizer, agro-dealers network, vouchers, subsidies,
An evaluation of incidental metastases to internal mammary lymph nodes detected during microvascular abdominal free flap breast reconstruction
No full textThe Other Side of Silence: Using fiction to explore the resources and limitations in writing about women's lives
No full textThis dissertation consists of two distinct components: a creative manuscript, titled “The Other Side of Silence,” and an accompanying exegesis. Both pieces endeavour to answer key questions: What are the different ways fiction might be used to write about the life of a woman from the past? How might we write about such women, taking into account the constraints by which their stories have been forgotten, omitted or displaced? And what are the implications of foregrounding such silences in the writing and reading of narratives?
“The Other Side of Silence” tells the story of Alba, an Italian woman who, with her young family, is leaving her hometown of Salerno for Australia in 1952. The narrative focuses on Alba’s relationship with her mother, Serafina, who fears that Alba’s journey to Australia is motivated by a desire to distance herself from her past. Within this narrative I explore how each of these characters views and consequently deals with the past.
The exegesis discusses several texts that have influenced and inspired “The Other Side of Silence.” In reading contemporary texts about the lives of women in the past, I noted two distinct approaches in the ways women’s stories were written. Some writers use recuperative strategies that allow them to tell stories previously omitted from or distorted by historical discourse and dominant cultural ideologies. By contrast, other writers use poststructuralist narrative strategies to foreground the ways in which traditional realist narratives gloss over the gaps, contradictions and omissions in women’s stories. These alternative narratives indicate how revelation and closure in traditional realism can preclude the probing of some subtle and significant questions about narrating and making sense of women’s experiences. The exegesis examines the different ways writers have challenged and subsequently enlarged conventional notions of realist fiction to imagine and speculate on the possibilities for and limitations on narrative
“Emergency” definitive reconstruction of a necrotising fasciitis thigh debridement defect with a pedicled TRAM flap
No full textAbstractINTRODUCTIONNecrotising fasciitis (NF) is a rare, severe, rapidly progressing and life-threatening synergistic infection primarily affecting the superficial fascia. A novel method of definitive and aesthetic reconstruction of NF thigh defects by using a pedicled transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap without recourse to temporising skin grafts is presented.PRESENTATION OF CASEA 30-year-old parous woman presented in extremis with fulminant NF of her left anteromedial thigh. Following emergency radical debridement and intensive care stabilisation she was reconstructed 48h later in a single stage with a pedicled TRAM flap islanded on the ipsilateral deep inferior epigastric vessels. There was excellent contour restoration of her thigh and coverage of the exposed femoral vessels.DISCUSSIONPedicled flaps based on the rectus abdominis muscle provide a large, readily available reconstructive option for correction of substantial regional defects as herein illustrated. They are robust when based on dominant inferior vascular pedicle with a long reach and wide arc of rotation when designed transversely (as a TRAM flap).CONCLUSIONThis case also illustrates that definitive flap reconstruction of NF can be successfully undertaken in the emergent setting, thereby negating the need for large areas of skin grafting which can lead to contractures with consequent functional impairment and suboptimal aesthetic results
Brand Search.
No full textConsumers frequently buy the products they find most easily. This has forced manufacturers and retailers to invest in package design, shelf layouts, and expensive advertising campaigns to facilitate findability of their products. Surprisingly, there is no research in marketing that investigates how consumers localize products, which we call brand search. This dissertation investigates the brand search process and develops a statistical model that describes the eye movements of consumers while they are searching for a specific product. The proposed model uncovers the search strategies of consumers and suggests which marketing tools manufacturers and retailers may use to influence this process.
Antioxidant flavonoids from Epimedium wushanense
No full textTwo new flavonoids, wushanicaritin (1) and wushankaempferol (2), along with 24 known flavonoids were isolated from the whole herb of Epimedium wushanense T.S. Ying (Berberidaceae). On the basis of NMR and ESI-MS spectroscopic analysis, structures of compounds 1 and 2 were elucidated as 8-gamma-hydroxy-y-gamma,gamma-dimethylpropyl-3,5,7-trihydroxy-4'. methoxyflavone and kaempferol 3-O-alpha-L-[2,3-di-O-beta-D-(6-E-p-coumaroyl) glucopyranosyl]-rhamnopyranosyl-7-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside, respectively. DPPH radical scavenging activity tests indicated that 1 (IC50 35.3 mu M) exhibited antioxidant activity comparable to Vitamin C (IC50 32.0 mu M). while 2 (IC50 443.7 mu M) showed weak activity. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000300201300006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Chemistry, MedicinalPharmacology & PharmacySCI(E)PubMed12ARTICLE144-488
Opportunistic internal mammary lymph node biopsy during microvascular free flap breast reconstruction: A useful technique?
No full textUse of polypeptide neuroprotection for prevention of postoperative cognitive dysfunction after cardiac surgery: a pilot prospective randomized placebo-controlled clinical study
No full text<p><strong>Aim.</strong> The study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of polypeptide neuroprotection using brain protein “Cellex” for prevention of postoperative cognitive dysfunction after cardiac surgery.<br /><strong>Methods.</strong> Our study included 60 patients undergoing elective cardiosurgical operations, who were randomized into two groups. In the “Cellex” group, the patients received 1.0 ml of “Cellex” subcutaneously daily during 8 days, beginning from the preoperative day, while the control group patients were given a saline placebo. The cognitive function was assessed using a Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) test on the day before surgery and also at Days 3 and 7 postoperatively. The plasma concentrations of S100b protein were measured before surgery, and at Days 3 and 7. The patients’ gas exchange, hemodynamics and cerebral oxygenation were monitored. In addition, the efficacy of “Cellex” and the severity of cognitive dysfunction were evaluated intraoperatively under cardiopulmonary bypass.<br />Results. The duration of intervention and mechanical ventilation, as well as hemodynamics and cerebral oximetry data did not differ significantly between the groups. There was a transient decline of cognitive functions and an increase in plasma concentration of S100b at Day 3 after surgery in both groups (p&lt;0.05). At Day 7, the MoCA score was still decreased in the control group (p&lt;0.003), but returned to the baseline in the “Cellex” group. These effects became more pronounced after cardiopulmonary bypass. The intraoperative PaCO2 correlated with cerebral oxygenation surgery by the beginning and at the end of surgery (rho = 0.305, p = 0.033 and rho = 0.533; p&lt;0.001). <br />Conclusion. The perioperative use of “Cellex” can attenuate cognitive dysfunction after cardiac surgery, especially when following interventions under cardiopulmonary bypass.</p><p>Received 25 May 2017. Revised 9 November 2017. Accepted 13 November 2017.</p><p><strong>Funding:</strong> The study was carried out with support of the “Farm-Sintez” company’s grant. The money was spent for purchase of the preparation, the authors’ honoraria and purchase of a kit for determining S100b protein concentration. The sponsors’ support had no impact on the study design and data acquisition, analysis and interpretation. The “Farm-Sintez” company’s representatives were not participating in the preparation and publication of the article.</p><p><strong>Conflict of interest:</strong> The study was carried out with support of the “Farm-Sintez” company’s grant.</p><p><strong>Author contributions</strong><br />Conception and study design: M.A. Putanov, M.M. Sokolova, P.I. Lenkin, M.Yu. Kirov <br />Data collection and analysis: M.A. Putanov, M.M. Sokolova, P.I. Lenkin, I.G. Baskakova, A.N. Kiriluk, D.N. Kazarinov, K.M. Checkaya, T.S. Isakova, M.A. Rumyanceva, V.Yu. Slastilin <br />Statistical data analysis: M.M. Sokolova <br />Drafting the article: M.A. Putanov, M.M. Sokolova <br />Critical revision of the article: M.Yu. Kirov <br />Final approval of the version to be published: M.A. Putanov, M.M. Sokolova, P.I. Lenkin, V.Yu. Slastilin, I.G. Baskakova, A.N. Kiriluk, D.N. Kazarinov, K.M. Checkaya, T.S. Isakova, M.A. Rumyanceva, M.Yu. Kirov</p></jats:p
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