Roles and Responsibilities of Stakeholders towards Ensuring Health and Safety at Construction Site

Health and Safety issues in the construction industry are of much concern to stakeholders, particularly because of their impact on the industry. This paper explored the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in ensuring health and safety at the construction site. A well-structured interview guide was adopted for the qualitative study. Content analysis was adopted for the analysis of the results. The study revealed that the twelve roles identified by the stakeholders are only limited to the few laws and regulations they are aware of. Whereas the Contractors identified provision of welfare facilities, provision of health and safety policy, and health and safety plan as their key roles, the Consultants’ role was mainly limited to provision of competent site agent and provision of site layout. Abiding by the contractors’ instruction was identified by the Construction Workers as their key responsibilities. The local government officials also identified enforcement of CHS laws and regulations and reporting of incidents to the appropriate authorities, whereas the traditional authorities identified the enforcement of CHS laws and regulations including bye laws and enforcement of customs as their key roles. The findings further show that the stakeholders failed to appreciate some key roles and responsibilities enshrined in CHS laws and regulations in Ghana. The findings contribute to knowledge on stakeholders’ responsibilities in ensuring CHS, and provide valuable reference and insight to practitioners on the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders. It is recommended to train and educate stakeholders on all the relevant laws and regulations on CHS in order to improve health and safety at the construction site. The government should also set up a body such as Construction Authority to educate, coordinate, monitor and audit the activities of stakeholders to improve CHS at construction sites.

Regulatory role of microRNA on inflammatory responses of diabetic retinopathy

The prevalence of diabetes has been increasing in the U.S., with diabetes as a significant concern for patients＇ physical and financial health. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of vi- sual loss in working-age of adults and is characterized by retinal neurodegeneration and microvascular abnormalities in the eye. Hyperglycemia is one significant risk factor for diabetic retinop- athy and can result in increased inflammatory responses and vascular dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms un-derlying these pathologies are not fully understood. Although treatments are currently available for the patients with prolif-erative diabetic retinopathy or macular edema, including laser photocoagulation, steroids, or anti-vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） injections, many patients fail to respond to these therapies. Therefore, it is imperative to develop additional novel therapeutics for diabetic retinopathy.

Influence of Building Information Modelling (BIM) on Engineering Contract Management in Nairobi, Kenya

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a technology and a process that has brought changes in the construction’s traditional procurement system. Kenya lacks contractual guidelines on implementation of BIM;this makes the adoption of BIM slow and difficult. Previous research has identified a gap in contractual relationships, roles and resulting risks. The objectives of this study were to investigate BIM adoption in Nairobi and to investigate the influence of BIM on Engineering Contract Management (ECM) in Nairobi Kenya. The survey research was a descriptive study with 175 responsive questionnaires. Respondents comprised of Civil Engineers, Construction Project Managers, Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Contractors and Facility Managers. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaire and in-depth interview. Descriptive analytics, correlation and Exploratory factor analysis methods were used to analyse quantitative data. Qualitative data was analysed thematically. It emerged that adoption level was at 56.6% and shallow understanding of BIM capabilities remains to be a barrier to its adoption and implementation. It also emerged that BIM improves ECM;when time, cost, quality, collaboration and return on investment improve, ECM becomes easier. Latent factors found in BIM and ECM relationship were Legal Implications, awareness and knowledge, efficiency, versatility, mandate and leadership, and competitiveness. Further, the study found out that BIM influence on ECM demands for establishment of standards, guidelines, policy, legal framework, and regulations, which can be achieved by amending the public procurement act which dictates the operation of all the other standard forms of contract. Further research should be conducted to measure whether the understanding of BIM had positively improved.

Potential therapeutic interventions based on the role of the endoplasmic reticulum stress response in progressive neurodegenerative diseases

In 1945,Porter et al.published an electon microscopy study of cultured chick fibroblasts in which they observed：＇a granular background and details of a darker lacelike reticulum which in places appears to be made up of chains of＂vesicles＂＇（Porter et al.,1945）.This constituted the first published observation of the endoplasmic reticulum（ER）and,while it was not evident at that time,this cytoplasmic system of interconnecting membrane-lined channels, comprising vesicles, tubules and cisternae, has numerous important functions.

Phosphatidic acid plays key roles regulating plant development and stress responses

Phospholipids, including phosphatidic acid （PA）, phosphatidylcholine （PC）, phosphatidylethanolamine （PE）, phosphatidylglycerol （PC）, phosphatidylserine （PS） and phosphoinositides, have emerged as an important class of cellular messenger molecules in various cellular and physiological processes, of which PA attracts much attention of researchers. In addition to its effect on stimulating vesicle trafficking, many studies have demonstrated that PA plays a crucial role in various signaling pathways by binding target proteins and regulating their activity and subcellular localization. Here, we summarize the functional mechanisms and target proteins underlying PA-mediated regulation of cellular signaling, development, hormonal responses, and stress responses in plants.

A new role for T cells in dampening innate inflammatory responses

The inflammatory response is an attempt by a host to protect itself against injurious stimuli and initiate the tissue healing process [1,2]. Although the production of both pro-and anti-inflammatory mediators which occurs mainly within tissues is a systemic process,