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Many foods naturally contain dietary Cr, but lost during processing and cooking. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been associated with poor glycemic control and low Cr status. The objectives of the current study were to evaluate the dietary Cr intake and its relationship with diabetes risk factors in moderately obese subjects with T2DM.

Thirty‐six subjects (age: 26–65 years) were recruited through local advertisements. Subjects were taking stable doses of oral antidiabetic medication(s) excluding concomitant insulin. Subjects had HbA1c ≥7 per cent, persistent impaired glucose control (2 hour glucose >200 mg dL⁻¹) and at least a one‐year history of T2DM. Demographic characteristics, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), family and medical history were recorded. Three‐day dietary intakes were collected and evaluated for Cr and nutrient content using Nutritionist V software. Plasma glucose, circulating insulin and lipid profile were analyzed. Homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (IR), beta cell function (BCF) and derived ratios were calculated. Morning void urinary chromium levels were also measured.

It was observed that mean dietary Cr intake of adults (30 mcg) was below the suggested recommended daily intake (RDI) of 120 mcg day⁻¹. These estimates correspond to approximately 16.4 μg Cr per 1000 Kcals. A significant correlation was observed between dietary Cr and fasting insulin (p<0.05), total‐C (p<0.05), LDL‐C (p<0.01), triglycerides (p<0.05), BCF (p<0.05), TG/HDL‐C ratio (p<0.01), HOMA BCF (p<0.05) and with atherogenic index in plasma (p<0.05).

In this study, the consumption of chromium is less than the RDI. Overall the results suggest that the US diets are inadequate in the essential metal chromium. Further studies are required to explore the relationship of Cr absorption with dietary Cr intake and risk factors in T2DM.

The publication presents an analysis of the cost and schedule performance of incentive/disincentive projects and case studies toward developing a systematic disincentive valuation process, with Construction Analysis for Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies (CA4PRS) software integration that aids agencies in minimizing the likelihood of court challenges of disincentives.

From a California transportation database, the authors performed cost and schedule analyses of 43 incentive/disincentive (I/D) projects and case studies on four of those I/D projects. Interviewees included subject matter experts from transportation organizations to ensure applicability and maximum value-adding, and the process was implemented on ten California transportation projects and monitored for performance.

The presented process mitigates the contractor's ability to claim disincentives as penalties in a court of law through the following: (1) all calculations are performed using project-specific bases, backed by estimations of actual incurred costs; (2) the CA4PRS software allows for estimation transparency and (3) the clarity of cost inclusions reduces any chances of “double-dipping” between disincentives and liquidated damages.

Transportation agencies have historically faced legal challenges to their enforcements of disincentives. As agencies continue to apply disincentives on more megaprojects, contractors will likely attempt to pursue legal challenges more frequently. The presented process mitigates the likelihood of these challenges going to court and increases the accuracy and efficiency of disincentives.

While there have been publications that discuss the legal challenges of imposing disincentives, they mainly provide guidelines and lack applicable processes. Existing literature that does present incentive/disincentive valuation process focuses on incentive valuations and neglects the disincentives' legal challenges. The following publication fills this gap by presenting an applicable disincentive valuation process for transportation projects which incorporates the guidelines for legal mitigation.

The Right Hon. Earl De La Warr, P.C., J.P., in his inaugural address to the Congress, expressed his appreciation at being elected President for the ensuing year. He continued : “ Your task, whether you be members or officers of local authorities or members of other professions, is to prevent sickness and disease, rather than to cure it, or, rather, I should put it more positively by saying that you give us the conditions which we need for living healthily. . . . As an agriculturist I cannot but notice your interest in both farming and veterinary problems. You have given time to them in your discussion programme and also in the arrangements that you have made for visiting neighbouring farms. Three years ago I set myself the task of having an all tuberculin tested estate and I am proud to tell you that three‐quarters of my tenants have already achieved that happy state of affairs. Perhaps you will allow me to mention one point here. The cleaning up of our dairy herds and of our milk supplies is of first‐rate importance in any scheme for improving the national health. I hope that in your travels round you will see something of the progress that has been made in clean milk production. The proportion of milk produced on T.T. farms is increasing; this is shown by the fact that the percentage was 18?4 in 1947, 22?2 in 1948 and 25?9 in 1949. It has risen by over 100 million gallons even during the last statistical year, and the first six months of this year look like giving us an almost equally large increase. The inspection of cowsheds has now become the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture, but you can still help to encourage clean milk production by your influence on the distributive and consumer side. Not all consumers, by any means, realise the significance of designated milk. You could give them guidance. It is very important also that farmers and landowners should feel that you are their friends and that you consider their efforts to improve this milk to be worth while. If the impression was ever given that doctors and public health authorities rely so much on pasteurisation that it does not really matter very much what sort of milk is produced, great harm might be done. The decision to enter the T.T. scheme involves quite a considerable risk of cows failing in the test, and a considerable initial expenditure of both effort and money. Nobody is ever the worse off for a bit of encouragement, and if you feel able to give it, so much the better for us all. Certainly I for one have a possibly old‐fashioned feeling that, pasteurised or not, I should prefer my milk to start its life clean, all the more so in view of the fact that by no means every pasteurising plant is completely infallible and independent of the care with which human beings operate it. . . . I close by offering you the consolation of not being very much in the news, of not receiving the thanks or gratitude that is due to all the services that you administer, for the sound and simple reason that you are doing them too well to attract attention.”

Business failure has evolved a major research domain, both of corporate finance generally and of construction management, equally. Much of this attention has focused on assessing business “health” to predict longevity, but less so, on causal agents of failure. The aim of this study is to synthesise published knowledge in the subject domain to explore construction failure agents.

Extant literature drawn from both corporate finance and construction management disciplines are synthesised. Subjective, textual analysis is undertaken and causal agents thematically grouped. A failure relationship model is derived that conceptualises construction business failure in relation to its operating universe.

Generic failure agents (GFA) (ordered, based on percentage frequency among the literature observed) are shown to be: managerial, financial, company characteristics, and macroeconomic. The first three are proffered to reciprocally interact within a “universe” defined by the latter. Numerous sub‐causal agents (SCA) are attributed to each generic agent. The role of innovation is suggested to hold potential negative (as well as positive) impacts on mitigating GFA and SCA.

Limitations relate to synthesis of contemporary published evidence, so a progressive iteration would be empirical study of identified agents within live construction environments. An implication is the call for research realignment; from emphasis on business health assessment, to that of root causal agents.

Advancement of theory relating to business failure has significant implications for construction management research.

The failure relationship model and its linkage to innovation is novel.

THE Reference Department of Paisley Central Library today occupies the room which was the original Public Library built in 1870 and opened to the public in April 1871. Since that date two extensions to the building have taken place. The first, in 1882, provided a separate room for both Reference and Lending libraries; the second, opened in 1938, provided a new Children's Department. Together with the original cost of the building, these extensions were entirely financed by Sir Peter Coats, James Coats of Auchendrane and Daniel Coats respectively. The people of Paisley indeed owe much to this one family, whose generosity was great. They not only provided the capital required but continued to donate many useful and often extremely valuable works of reference over the many years that followed. In 1975 Paisley Library was incorporated in the new Renfrew District library service.

WHEN A biography of Dante Gabriel Rossetti was returned to Kendal library by post from Oxford University with a stamp on the date label of 5 Feb 1916 no one considered this to be very startling news. There was a compliment slip inside apologising for the delay (‘It was lurking in one of our darker corners’). I sent them a brief note thanking them, and that I thought was that.

THE idea of a central service and supplies organisation for libraries—a “Library Centre”— such as exist abroad and are described in Library Supply agencies in Europe, is like most ideas in librarianship, not a new one, even taking into account the establishment of Norway's Biblioteksentralen over 60 years ago in 1902, which at that time was called Folkeboksamlingenes Ekspedisjon. This idea, like so so much else, seems to have originated in the fertile brain of Melvil Dewey, taking its final and lasting form as the Library Bureau, established by Dewey himself in 1882.