Project governance: case studies on financial incentives

Appropriate financial incentives within construction project coalitions can contribute to effective project governance. However, the dearth of primary research material is partly attributed to the lack of a suitable methodology with which to study projects. Social network analysis (SNA) is proposed as an analytical tool to explore coalition governance. Primary data are presented for three European case studies employing quite different approaches to the use of financial incentives in project governance. The case studies investigate pain share/gain share arrangements implemented under a prime contracting procurement approach; an unusual use of activity-related penalties in the French system of procurement; and the use of guaranteed maximum price supplements within a UK standard form of (without contractor's design) building contract. The use of SNA enables the observation of a number of transaction sets and the formulation of a framework for the quantification of construction project governance. The first case study demonstrates the decentralization of client-orientated financial management, from consultant quantity surveyor to a number of multidisciplinary cluster leaders. The second case study illustrates the importance of incentive contiguity in effective project governance. The third case study uses SNA to demonstrate the way in which financial governance could be transformed through the transference of client-orientated financial management from the client and their professional adviser to the main contractor.

Les incitations financières appropriées, dans le cadre d'un fonds commun relatif à un projet de construction, peuvent contribuer à une gestion efficace du projet. Or, la pénurie de matériel de recherche primaire est attribuée, en partie, à l'absence d'une méthodologie appropriée permettant d'étudier de tels projets. Dans cet article, l'auteur propose l'analyse du réseau social (SNA) comme outil analytique permettant d'explorer la gouvernance collective. L'article présente des données primaires concernant trois études de cas européennes employant des méthodologies tout à fait différentes d'utilisation des incitations financières dans la gouvernance du projet. Ces études de cas portent sur les mécanismes de partage des difficultés/partage des gains mis en ?uvre au titre des approvisionnements par un maître d'?uvre, sur l'usage inhabituel de pénalités liées à l'activité dans le système français des approvisionnements et sur l'usage de suppléments de prix garantis et maximaux dans une forme standard du SNA, au Royaume-Uni, permettant l'observation d'un certain nombre d'ensembles de transactions et la formulation d'un cadre pour la quantification de la gouvernance du projet de construction. La première étude de cas démontre la décentralisation de la gestion financière orientée ‘client’, du consultant métreur-vérificateur vers un certain nombre de responsables de groupes pluridisciplinaires. La deuxième étude de cas illustre l'importance de la contiguïté incitative dans une gouvernance de projet efficace. La troisième étude de cas utilise la SNA pour démontrer comment pourrait être transformée la gouvernance financière en passant d'une gestion financière orientée ‘client’, du client et de son conseiller professionnel, vers le maître d'?uvre.

Mots-clés: modèles de développement, collaboration, gouvernance, incitations, contrats de maître d'oeuvre, approvisionnement, dynamique du projet, organisation du projet, analyse du réseau social, intégration des équipes.     

Detecting 6 MV X-rays using an organic photovoltaic device

An organic photovoltaic (OPV) device has been used in conjunction with a flexible inorganic phosphor to produce a radiation tolerant, efficient and linear detector for 6 MV X-rays. The OPVs were based on a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). We show that the devices have a sensitivity an order of magnitude higher than a commercial silicon detector used as a reference. Exposure to 360 Grays of radiation resulted in a small (2%) degradation in performance demonstrating that these detectors have the potential to be used as flexible, real-time, in vivo dosimeters for oncology treatments.     

OLES: an instrument for refining the design of e-learning environments

Abstract Designing and implementing effective e-learning is a complex process, which involves many factors. Lecturers need to constantly consider, evaluate and adjust these factors to provide effective e-learning environments for students. In this paper, we report on the design and development of the Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES), an instrument which can be used to gather and represent data on students' 'actual' (experienced) and 'preferred' (ideal) learning environments. We describe the use of this instrument in blended learning environments with university classes, illustrating how OLES can be used by educators striving for good practice in the design of effective online learning environments.     

Chromatic contrast sensitivity: the role of absolute threshold and gain constant in differences between the fovea and the periphery

A model of foveal achromatic and chromatic sensitivity [Vision Res. 36, 1597 (1996)] was extended to the peripheral visual field. Threshold-versus-illuminance functions were analyzed to determine effects of eccentricity on absolute thresholds and gain constants of chromatic and luminance mechanisms. The resulting peripheral model successfully predicted peripheral contrast sensitivity as a function of wavelength, for both white and 500-nm backgrounds. We conclude that the short-wavelength-sensitive cone opponent mechanism may mediate thresholds in Sloan's notch in the normal periphery and that interpretation of reduced chromatic sensitivity in the periphery requires an explicit model of how eccentricity affects both the gain constant and the absolute threshold.     

Contrast media-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging visualizes myocardial changes in the course of viral myocarditis

BACKGROUND: The course of tissue changes in acute myocarditis in humans is not well understood. Diagnostic tools currently available are unsatisfactory. We tested the hypothesis that inflammation is reflected by signal changes in contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS AND RESULTS: We assessed 44 consecutive patients with symptoms of acute myocarditis. Nineteen patients met the inclusion criteria revealing ECG changes, reduced myocardial function, elevated creatine kinase, positive troponin T, serological evidence for acute viral infection, exclusion of coronary heart disease, and positive antimyosin scintigraphy. We studied these patients on days 2, 7, 14, 28, and 84 after the onset of symptoms. We obtained ECG-triggered, T1-weighted images before and after application of 0.1 mmol/kg gadolinium. We measured the global relative signal enhancement of the left ventricular myocardium related to skeletal muscle and compared it with measurements in 18 volunteers. The global relative enhancement was higher in patients on days 2 (4.8+/-0.3 [mean+/-SE] versus 2.5+/-0.2; P<.0001); 7 (4.7+/-0.5, P<.0001); 14 (4.6+/-0.5, P<.0002); and 28 (3.9+/-0.4, P=.009) but not on day 84 (3.1+/-0.3; P=NS). On day 2, the enhancement was focal, whereas at later time points, the enhancement was diffuse. In patients with evidence of ongoing disease, the values remained elevated. CONCLUSIONS: Acute myocarditis evolves from a focal to a disseminated process during the first 2 weeks after onset of symptoms. Contrast media-enhanced MRI visualizes the localization, activity, and extent of inflammation and may serve as a powerful noninvasive diagnostic tool in acute myocarditis.     

Exploring the potential of problem-based learning in nurse education

Despite the increased attention that problem-based learning has received as an appropriate pedagogical technique for educating adults for professional practice, reports that evaluate the process are rare and usually relate to professions other than nursing. A study was undertaken in order to discover the graduates' own perceptions of a problem-based learning programme and its effectiveness in preparing them for the reality of their chosen profession. Twelve practising graduate nurses who had completed the programme were interviewed according to the ethnographic method. Three categories were identified from the data: 'and all of a sudden...', which describes the transition from PBL student to staff nurse; 'not an unthinking assistant', where the characteristics that the PBL graduates believe make them different from traditionally trained nurses are described; and 'the buck stops here', which describes the sense of personal responsibility that the graduates experience in terms of their learning and actions.     

Transduction of normal and malignant oral epithelium by particle bombardment

Considerable basic research, mostly in the past 20 years, has elicited greatly increased knowledge concerning the structure and function of cell adhesion molecules. Scores of individual adhesion molecules have been identified and categorized as to major structural features, ligands recognized, and pattern of expression. Recent attention has been focused on the interaction of cell adhesion molecules with intracellular components, and the role of cell adhesion molecules in mediating cell signal transduction. Ongoing efforts to develop specific pharmacological agonists and antagonists for adhesion molecules holds great promise in clinical medicine. Abciximab (Reopro), a monoclonal antibody inhibitor of the platelet integrin alpha IIb beta 3, is currently approved and available to improve vessel patency in patients undergoing angioplasty. Similar approaches to develop adhesion-based therapies to block angiogenesis, tumor progression, and/or metastasis are under development and hold promise for patients with cancer.     

Psychopathology in young adults with congenital heart disease. Follow-up results

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs inhibit constitutive (COX-1) and induced cyclooxygenase (COX-2), blocking prostaglandin production. We have compared the effects on nociceptive reflexes of meloxicam, which is COX-2 selective, with indomethacin, which is non-selective, using an in vitro spinal cord preparation. Cords were taken from naive rats, and from rats with carrageenan-induced hyperalgesia of one hindpaw. Reflex thresholds were lower in carrageenan preparations. Superfusion with meloxicam (10-100 microM) dose-dependently inhibited baseline reflexes and wind-up in normal and carrageenan preparations, whereas indomethacin (100-300 microM) had no effect. Thus meloxicam inhibits spinal reflexes, whereas indomethacin does not, despite its high affinity for both COX isoforms. We conclude that meloxicam has spinal antinociceptive actions which cannot be explained by the current concept of COX inhibition.     

Determination of naringenin and its glucuronide conjugate in rat plasma and brain tissue by high-performance liquid chromatography

An isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic method with ultraviolet detection was utilized for the investigation of the pharmacokinetics of naringenin and its glucuronide conjugate in rat plasma and brain tissue. Plasma and brain tissue were deproteinized by acetonitrile, then centrifuged for sample clean-up. The drugs were separated by a reversed-phase C18 column with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-orthophosphoric acid solution (pH 2.5-2.8) (36:64, v/v). The detection limits of naringenin in rat plasma and brain tissue were 50 ng/ml and 0.4 microg/g, respectively. The glucuronide conjugate of naringenin was evaluated by the deconjugated enzyme beta-glucuronidase. The naringenin conjugation ratios in rat plasma and brain tissue were 0.86 and 0.22, respectively, 10 min after naringenin (20 mg/kg, i.v.) administration. The mean naringenin conjugation ratio in plasma was approximately four fold that in brain tissue.